The Child Of The Ice Moon

On the sixth day of November in the year 1901 Benny D. was born. He was the fourth of five children born to Daniel and Henrietta Hart. Physically he was not terribly robust and Henrietta feared that the saying passed down to her from her mother concerning babies born as the winter season began would hold true for this child, also. “Love not too well the children born when the Ice Moon rises, for they will not long be with you.” How could she not love this smiling infant? His sandy brown hair, slightly protruding ears and most of all the deep chin cleft mirrored his father’s features more than any of her other children.

Her first son, Albert, called Ab for short, was a few months shy of eight years when Benny was born. Ab was tall for his age, slender of build with dark hair and eyes. He was something of a dreamer, in those spare moments of the day allotted to him as free time. Those times were few and far between for he and was already, so his father declared, “Daddy’s right hand man”. He and Daniel worked the farm together. Ab would have preferred to be attending the school in the town east of them but that privilege was reserved for those times of the year when the fields lay fallow and there was not too much snow covering the ground as to make the five mile hike to the school house impossible. In the school, he told his sisters, were
books! Books that could be handled and read by anyone, at anytime! They told stories of far off places and the strange people who lived in those places.

The sisters were not impressed. Ethel was the older of the two. At six years, she was short and slender and her dark hair framed a longish face. She was the practical one and caring for the new baby had became her willing task.

Marion, May for short, was at four, a lively child. Physically she was as short and dark as her older sister but on the chubby side with a sunny disposition. Giggling and laughing at even the slightest excuse she brought the sun into the small farm house even on the cloudiest of days.


It may have been the first year of a new century full, or so people said, of all sorts of unimaginable possibilities, but life for a tenant farmer and his family was no different now than it had been one hundred or even one thousand years ago. Mr. Marlow, the land owner, lived in a fine house in the Abilene. Once a year, in the autumn after harvest, Daniel would
walk into Stamford, the town nearest their isolated farmstead, and take the train to Abilene. Once there, he’d report the harvest yield to Mr. Marlow and receive his share of the profits for the year.

Mr. Marlow, unlike many land owners, was a man who respected his tenants and paid them fairly for their work. When Daniel came for his annual visit Marlow would take the time to chat a while about the weather, ask about Daniel’s family and listen eagerly as Daniel passed on the latest gossip from Stamford. Before leaving for home Daniel always made an obligatory stop at his sister-in-laws home. Although Dell was Henrietta’s older sister and the family resemblance was unmistakable but their dispositions and outlook on life were as different as night and day. Dell’s husband, Ralph, was a prospector of sorts and was absent from home more often than not. He always, it seemed, was on the verge of finding the ‘big one’ or striking it rich. Dell was childless, a mercy no doubt with her uncertain living conditions, and she stayed home and did laundry and cleaning for some of the more affluent Abilene residents. Perhaps both factors contributed to her sullen nature. At any rate, it was never a pleasant visit and Daniel always left for home, thinking how fortunate he was to have picked the sweet natured one of the pair.

Ralph finally did strike it rich. Early in the same year that Benny was born Ralph and a couple of his cronies discovered oil in the Spindletop area near Beaumont in the southeastern corner of the state. Dell, always the frugal one, had somehow managed to put a side a rather large sum of money from her wages and they sunk it all into buying up as many acres of mineral rights as possible. The small shanty on the outskirts of town was soon replaced by a mansion in the most fashionable district. Imagine the consternation of the rich folk when their former laundress and cleaning girl took up residence in their very midst.

When Benny was five Henrietta conceived and bore her last child. A healthy boy who she named Malcolm. He was as sweet in nature as his mother, with straw blond hair, Etta’s dark eyes and Daniel’s prominent chin cleft.

At her now wealthy sister’s urging, Henrietta packed up the children the year after Malcolm was born and made the trip to Abilene with Daniel. It was a grand vacation. Dell, in a rare show of generosity, took Etta shopping and outfitted each of the children in the very latest fashion Abilene had to offer. She even arranged a trip to the local photographer and had a family portrait done for them. Daniel and Ab both stubbornly refused to have any part in this particular activity. Daniel begged off by feigning important business with Mr. Marlow while Ab escaped simply by being absent when the idea was suggested and when it was carried out. He had discovered the public library on the day of their arrival and thereafter was seldom present except for the evening meal. Both his parents were semi-literate at best and his mother especially approved of his attempt to acquire whatever book learning he could during there time in Abilene.

He had discovered much about the world outside their corner of Texas during those few days. In particular he had become an avid fan of the infant hobby of aviation. He had actually seen an airplane on the ground and, after hanging around and asking endless questions for a couple of days, was given a short ride in the craft by the wealthy owner. Needless to say, that event was never shared with either of his parents. But, the fire had been lit and the boy was inflamed with the single-minded idea of somehow, some way owning and flying his own airplane. Independence in the form of a job with Uncle Ralph in the oil fields was the answer to the boy’s prayers.

After a giddy week of ‘big city’ life the family left for home and reality. Ab did not return home with them.

Benny took Ab’s place in the fields and in truth that was all for the best. He did seem to have his father’s instinctive love of the land and he delighted in the orderly flow of the seasons. The plowing, planting, cultivation and harvest were all time of joy for him as he assisted nature in growing of grains and vegetables. In his mind he could picture happy families in those far off almost mythical cites of Chicago and St. Louis gathered around heavy laden dining tables. All of them enjoying the fruits of his labor. Shortly before Benny’s eleventh birthday his parents, deciding he was old enough to watch the now fallow farm fields and that the girls were old enough to care for Malcolm, took the train to Abilene on the annual visit to Mr. Marlow as well as the annual visit to Aunt Dell and Uncle Ralph. During the three days they were to be absent Benny planned to work from sunrise to sunset caring for the animals, and cleaning up the fields in preparation for the early spring plowing. This would be his big chance to prove to his parents just how good a farmer He could be.

The first two days proved uneventful. True, Malcolm had gotten into the milk pail and spilled the milk on the barn floor. Benny was supposed to be watching him but had become preoccupied with one of the draft horses who had somehow lost a shoe the previous day. Just that quickly the milk went over. To a little boy trying so hard to prove himself it was a disaster but nothing like that which was yet to come.

The dawn of the third day brought an icy blast from the north accompanied by rain which froze even as it fell from the sky. Soon everything, the road to town, the house and the trees surrounding it were covered in ice. Following his father’s example in years past, Benny, slipping and sliding on the ice, managed to get from the house to the barn dragging a rope behind him. The rope secured to a ring sunk in the door jamb of the house and a similar ring at the barn door allowed a secure hand hold to steady the boy as he slowly, carefully walked the icy path between the two buildings. More important, it would provide a sure guide in the event the storm changed from ice to the wildly blowing drifting snow so common to the high plains area. As often happens with autumn storms this one blew through in less than a day and the following morning the sun came out and the ice began to melt.

By afternoon the wagon track to town was a muddy quagmire but the children could see in the distance a wagon coming up the track from town. “The parson’s given Mamma and Papa a ride, bless his soul.” The sharp eyed Ethel exclaimed as she spotted the distinctive black mare pulling the wagon.

As the wagon drew closer several people could be seen in the wagon by as far as the children could see their parents were not among them. “I suppose,” Benny stated, “They’re just doing’ their Christian duty coming out to check on us. Them knowing’ Momma and Papa are away an all.”

As the wagon pulled into the farmyard the serious faces of the townsfolk said louder than any words that this was more than a visit to check on the children’s well being. The parson, the school teacher and the town marshal all looked as if they’d rather be any place on earth than at the Hart family farm.

The parson, his arm across Benny’s shoulder gently led the children into the house and told them to sit down. “I’ve got a terrible thing to tell you children. God help me, I don’t know how to do this.”

“Poor babies,” sobbed the schoolteacher, as she busily dabbed at her already puffy red eyes with a linen hanky.

“Oh, hush, Emily,” the parson scolded, “You’re not helping’ matters any with all that carry-on.” Turning back to the silent children, he began again. “There was a terrible train wreck yesterday during the storm, children. Dang it! There’s no easy way to say it. Your Mamma and Papa were killed in the wreck. I’m sorry, so very sorry.” His voice trailed off as great tears ran silently down his weathered cheeks.

The unbelieving children just sat, silent for a few moments, and then May burst into tears which of course caused Malcolm to cry also. Benny manfully fought back the tears but eventually he too, wept silently for his parents. Ethel, stony faced as ever stood with clenched fists at her side and said only one word. “No.” As thought with that word she could cancel out the upheaval now shattering her family.

It was decided that the children would be brought into town until word could be sent to their aunt in Abilene. Benny protested that his father had put him in charge of the farm and that he wasn’t leaving it untended. Finally he was persuaded to go when the marshal promised to see that he was given a ride out to the farm to at least tend to the animals each day until other arrangements could be made.

Those ‘other arrangements’ of course included Mr. Marlow finding a new tenant for the farm. The house and its furnishings, the outbuildings and the animals, and the fields all of course belonged to Mr. Marlow. When it was decided that he children would go to Abilene to live with their Aunt they left the only home they’d known with little more than their clothing and a very few personal belongings.

The pastor, himself flagged down the train that morning just one week after the accident and saw to it that the children were settle in their seats. He stopped long enough to have a word or two with the conductor to be sure they got off at the correct stop and then he was back on the wooden plank platform beside the track waving to the serious faced children as the train started rolling down the track. As it picked up speed he exhaled a great sigh, and almost to himself muttered, “Poor tikes, I do wonder what will become of them.”

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A word or two of explanation.

This story was written as a Birthday Present for my younger brother. Our father (Benny) died when my brother was only two years old and this is the way I chose to pass on some of things I remember being told about our father’s childhood.

With the exception of Mr. Marlow, the pastor, the school teacher and the town marshal, all the people portrayed in this story are real people and part of my family heritage. The main events in this story, the train wreck, death of the parents and the children going to live with their aunt I also know to be true. The incidents surrounding and explaining these events come
from my imagination coupled with half remembered bits of conversation with those who lived through these events as well as possibilities hinted at in family documents and records.

Bt.