There was one day I was visiting Grandma Peggy's farm that I will never forget. It really brought the reality of life home to me.

Word had come after I left home that yellow fever was raging in Memphis, Tennessee. The mayor of Holly Springs refused to quarantine the Memphis citizens. He kept the doors of our town open to them, and eventually the fever set in there. We felt confident that my father would take our family away to the country.

That day I was sweating off a malarial fever that was common in that area. Grandma Peggy and my aunt and uncle were out in the field picking the first fall's cotton. I was aroused to go to the door when three horsemen who were friends of my parents came by.