Monthly Archives: August 2010

Recollections: Me, Joe and cigarette loads

Posted by on August 30, 2010 No comments

Van and Lucille Craddock with sons Larry and JoeVan and Lucille Craddock with sons Larry and Joe

I’m sure I’ve already explained my chronological handicap so I’m now officially invoking that as a waiver concerning the accuracy of all dates used in this story. Having said that I believe this took place sometime between 1962 and 1964.

For as long as I can remember I’ve had a condition that a doctor compared to calluses on my vocal cords. It causes my voice to sound raspy and unpleasant. My mom, knowing it bothered me, tried numerous times to find someone who could correct it. That didn’t happen but lots of other stuff did … including this.

For a year or so, mom regularly took me to Children’s Hospital in OKC. The main thing I remember about those visits was the colored lines on the floors that led to different places in the hospital and were used in guiding you to your next location. “Follow the yellow line to the ENT clinic” and such. Afterwards, on the walk back to the parking lot, we usually stopped in a little corner drug store that had lots of other stuff like comic books, candy, and of all things prank items! On one occasion Joe (my 1 ½ year younger brother) and I managed to persuade mom to let us buy some so we each bought a box of cigarette loads.

We couldn’t wait to get home and as soon as we did started carefully poking loads down into cigarettes wherever we found an open pack laying unguarded. At one point, I stumbled across a cigar still wrapped in cellophane and couldn’t resist the challenge. After several minutes of patiently working at it I finally managed to push a cigarette load a good ½ an inch down into the cigar using a toothpick and leaving very little evidence it had been tampered with. We were having so much fun watching our victims’ (mostly dad) reactions to a cigarette exploding in their face that we were always on the lookout for another opportunity.

Meanwhile, dad was beginning to lose patience with us and finally after having tobacco blown up his nose for the umpteenth time announced “OK you boys! That’s enough of that.” And just as we were about to leave, disappointed that our fun was finally over we stopped, turned around, and sat quietly on the couch after hearing him say “I’ll just smoke this cigar … I know you haven’t messed with it.” :)

If you’ve ever seen a cigar all mushroomed out at the end after having blown up in the face of a cartoon character then you know exactly what this looked like. We laughed uncontrollably and as we ran out the door I’m pretty sure what I heard was … “you little shits!”

Dad was a good-hearted man and I have no doubt that he got a bigger kick out of seeing us laugh about our never ending pranks than we did doing them. It didn’t really matter how serious he tried to look … he couldn’t hide the laughter in his eyes.

Larry Craddock

If you enjoy reading these stories be sure to encourage them by leaving comments. Did you pull pranks on your family as a kid? Tell us about it by emailing me at connection@craddock.org and as always please send pictures.

Craddock Lore: Cottonwood Grove

Posted by on August 21, 2010 No comments

David Craddock and FamilyDavid Craddock and Family

It’s always good to get back home. For me home is Caddo county, Oklahoma. I went back for a visit a couple of weeks ago. Not much had changed, but honestly I didn’t expect it to, change travels slowly back home. My family has lived in Oklahoma since 1897, several years before Oklahoma became the 46th state in the union. My great grandfather Alonzo Shields Craddock, newly married to Ada Susan Church, moved in 1902 from Stroud, Oklahoma to a farm that was seven miles north and two west of Verden, Oklahoma; known then as Cottonwood Grove.

The property in Cottonwood Grove was won in the Indian Territory Land Lottery of 1901 for a ticket costing the sum of one dollar. As I said earlier my great grandfather Alonzo moved there in 1902. He put up a tent and began work on a house which he completed in 1903. My grandfather Van was born in that tent just before the house was completed. That house is still standing, I recently made a trek out there with my father and found it but not until after I spent some time fighting my way through overgrown brush, weeds and low hanging tree branches. I am told that there were occupants only 5 or 10 years ago.

In around 1908 my great great grandfather David W. Craddock moved to Cottonwood Grove which had been renamed to Verden by this time due to the fact that there was another Cottonwood Grove somewhere in the state. He moved to a small community name Dutton which is a few miles north of Verden. I drove by there but all that is left is one house and a sign that says… well… Dutton. In 1911 David was elected Marshall, the old jail is still standing and let me tell you its kind of spooky in there. I also want to point out that if my math is correct the house my grandfather built is older than this jail.

I had a great time roaming around Caddo and Grady county Oklahoma for the afternoon. It was fun walking over the same ground that my grandfathers had walked over one hundred years ago. Some of the stories that I have heard about them could be turned into blockbuster movies while others are a bit mundane but they all remind me of who I am and partly why I’ve become that way. Hopefully the stories that I leave to my grandchildren are a bit easier to find and are more thoroughly documented. Better yet I hope to actually meet all of my grandchildren so that they have more than pictures and stories.

I hope that more of you will put your memories down to be read by those that come after us. Contact me at connection@craddock.org with your own stories and be sure to send pictures. If you need any help let me know. I know a thing or two about computers and the internet and I don’t mind helping at all. Your feedback is very welcome I’d love to know what you think about the Craddock Connection.

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David Craddock and FamilyDavid Craddock and Family

Recollections: Icy Roads and Broken Necks

Posted by on August 19, 2010 No comments

Grandma Lucille with grandkidsGrandma Lucille with grandkids
I spent a lot of my time at Grandma Lucille’s house between the years of 1973 – 1976. I remember that Doug and Angie lived there. Grandma worked a lot, so I stayed at her house and watched them for her. They really didn’t need me to since Grandma was only a few yards away. Anyway, one winter I remember Grandma getting us up early so we could have biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, toast and jam, she always seemed to fix the biggest meals you’ve ever seen, and don’t think it went to waste. By the time she kindly offered you the last little bit in the bowl, you knew you were going to burst.

This morning she wanted to get an early start due to the roads being a sheet of ice and she was taking us all to school that morning. I knew from previous trips with Grandma that she hated those icy roads going into town. I also knew that it would take us 30 minutes to go 2 miles because she always drove extra careful with one foot slightly on the gas and the other hovering over the brake.

The road from Grandma’s house to downtown is winding and has a huge hill, kind of dangerous on a good day if you are not watching your speed, but absolutely dangerous on a wet or icy day. As I said, Grandma had gotten up early so we could make the 2 mile trip to the school. You could tell she was worried when we all had to do a flat-foot skate to the car holding on to one another’s hands, with Grandma behind us saying “you kids be careful, we’d never make it to the doctor if one of you fell and broke your neck”. I can remember we all giggled about that, thinking as young kids do, break a neck?

Once we got to the car, I piled into the front seat with Grandma and Doug and Angie took the back seat. We slowly began our trek out of the driveway. I swear it was ten minutes later before we hit the highway which is only about 200 feet from her house. Once on the highway we began to creep downtown. Grandma slightly tapping the brakes every ten feet after giving the tiniest bit of gas. She had both hands firmly planted on the steering wheel and you could see her knuckles turning white, her body sitting rigid in the seat, head forward leaning to see the roads ahead, eyes unblinking and a look of sheer consternation on her face. We all stayed quiet, for what reason I don’t know, because the further we went the more Grandma muttered under her breath saying stuff like “we ain’t gonna make it — you kids be still”. I don’t think we moved a muscle, heck I don’t think we were even breathing but she kept on saying that over and over.

Once we got down the road a ways by the Church of God, we started to slide a little bit. This terrified us all, and I remember vividly Grandma saying “Oh my goodness, you kids hang on we’re headed for the ditch”. Her knuckles whiter than ever, her hands hanging onto the wheel and her leg straight as she pushed on the brake. I’ll never forget the 2 full circles we did right in the highway going a blazing 3 miles per hour. We stopped nicely into the drive of one of the homes just off of highway 281. Grandma turned around and true to form said “It’s a good thing we didn’t go into that ditch, or somebody would’ve broken their necks.” All of us kids busted out laughing. Grandma had a grin on her face too. We slowly made our way to the school and bustled out of the car with Grandma telling us to hang on to one another til we got to the school. She didn’t say it but we knew she was thinking “or you’ll break you necks”.

Sure miss those days of carefree abandon and the beautiful and caring woman that let me know I was loved more than anything.

Lynne Morris McCafferty

If you have any childhood memories that you would like to share with us, please send me an email at connection@craddock.org. Be sure and send pictures.

Recollections: Mom, Dad & Fishing

Posted by on August 17, 2010 No comments

Van and Lucille CraddockVan and Lucille Craddock
 

My mother was one of a kind. I think the Lord started her out in the hole just to give everyone else a fighting chance. She had a built-in business savvy and an endless supply of fresh ideas for something new to try. And try she did … which kept dad at his wits end most of the time. He was much more laid back and usually content with things the way they were.

I’ll confess up front that I’m chronologically handicapped so forgive if me if these dates aren’t exactly right … they’re fairly close though. I think it was about 1963 or 64 … I was 12 or 13. Mom and dad were running a little tavern out of the house on the hill just north of Binger, Ok and a group of contractors who were in the area building garages and barns would stop in most evenings for a cold beer before calling it a day. Mom talked them into building a bare structure on a concrete slab with nothing but a roof, siding, doors, and windows … and plumbing for little of nothing and dad agreed to finish it out.

Dad was a pretty good carpenter and he started building partitions from the plans he and mom drew up shortly after the contractors finished the building. I did mention that mom was always ready with new ideas didn’t I? Yeah I thought so. Well, this was no different. I distinctly remember on more than one occasion Joe and I would be watching dad drive concrete nails through the base of a 2×4 partition into the concrete slab lined up perfectly with the line he and/or mom had drawn on the floor when she would walk in with a pencil and a tape measure and start with “You know Van, I was thinking … if we’d just move that wall a few inches to the …”.

Depending on how many times that had already happened that day he would do one of two things: if this were only the 3rd or 4th time today, he’d just stop hammering and start pulling up nails without saying anything; however, if it had happened much more than that he’d just lay his hammer down and say “You boys want to go fishing?” And sure enough we’d go fishing. That was just his way of handling more ideas and changes than a normal man could cope with in one day :)

They were quite a pair. I wish I could tell them just once more how much I love them. Thanks Mom for teaching us to not be afraid to try; thanks Dad for demonstrating love through patience.

Larry Craddock

If you have any childhood memories that you would like to share with us, please send me an email at connection@craddock.org. Make sure and send pictures.

 

Craddock Lore: Crossing the Canadian

Posted by on August 12, 2010 1 comment

Lon and Ada CraddockLon and Ada Craddock
I’ve been called crazy more than once. Jumping from one tree to another fifteen feet in the air, failed double gainers at the local swimming pool, learning to speak Arabic to become a military linguist, attempting to tell the story of a family that is dispersed across at least three continents… getting strange looks from people is something I’ve grown accustomed to throughout my life. Apparently the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I’ve heard many a story about the dare devil that is my father. In fact this seems to be a trend that goes back at least a hundred years.

As I’ve mentioned before, my great Aunt Faye had many a story to tell. This is the story of the trip from Stroud, Oklahoma to what is now Verden, Oklahoma by my great Grandfather Alonzo and his new bride Ada Susan … passed on to my by my Aunt Ada.

In 1901 or 1902 Lon and Ada Craddock set out from Stroud Indian Territory, to start their new married life together. They were heading for Cottonwood Grove, Indian Territory; now Verden Oklahoma. Ada was leaving her family the Thomas Churche’s behind.

In a wagon loaded with all they owned, they arrived two days later in El Reno, Indian Territory. They bought some food and Lon got his bride a sack of bulk candy. They drove South until they came to the South Canadian River. From recent rains it was swollen bank full. Many wagons and hacks were camped on the north side to wait until it ran down some. Ada begged Lon to make camp with the other travelers to which he stated, “I’m going over”.

No bridges in those days in Indian Territory. He said “I’ll tie the wagon bed to the running gears and Bird and Snip

will swim us over. Get a good hold”. Then with a whip and loud yelling he pulled into the angry water for what Ada said seemed like a life time. He pulled them to a stop on dry ground on the south side, just north of Minco.

Lon said the yells and cheers for them from across the river must have turned to quiet prayers for all seemed still except his, Ada’s, and the horses breathing. He said “Ada hand me a piece of candy”. She handed him an empty sack, and said “I feel sick, I must have eaten it all”. He said; “I’ll bet I have the sweetest woman south of the Canadian River”. He always thought that to be true and it was.

Determination to not let the world slow you down is a good character trait in my book. One that I’ve seen in many of my relatives. I’ll bet if the truth were know, there are hundreds of stories just like this one with a Craddock member squarely in the middle. Comment below and tell me about some of them or just let me know that you’re there. I’d love to hear from some of you. Let me know how you like what we are doing here and what suggestions you have to make the Craddock Connection better.

If you enjoy reading these stories, email me at connection@craddock.org with your story and make sure and send me some pictures.