To help me achieve the goal of graduating from high school, she sacrificed and arranged for us to move to better surroundings.

That was in was 1880 and I was twelve years old. And other members of our family had begun to take an interest in helping us out. My Uncle Jim, who was a barber, move with us into a house we rented. It was near the First Congregation Church on Main Street, and had a view of the Housatonic River.

The house had no plumbing or electricity, like most houses then. But I did have my own bedroom, which for me was a luxury.

We lived there for four years. During that time I worked a variety of odd jobs: mowing lawns, distributing tea from new A&P chain store, delivering newspapers and chopping wood.