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Letter about living in Detroit, written by Georgene (Sanders) Birchett
(Match the numbers in the letter to the corresponding numbers below the
letter for complete names and relationships)

Momma and Daddy (1) got married 1922 and went to Detroit to live and work.
Grandpa Sanders (2) lived at Atwood [Oklahoma] at that time.

In 1927, Momma and Daddy decided to go to Atwood for me to be born. I  was 6
weeks old when Mattie and Nolton Floyd with Gervis and his siblings, (3)
came by Atwood  in a car on the way to California.  Mattie's brother, Ben
Clement lived in the Los Angeles area, and said that there was work out there
for Nolton, so they were going out there.  It was not a problem to talk Momma
and Daddy into bringing me and going along.  That trip was what Gervis was
talking about when he used to tease me and say that he had to carry me all
the way to California.  Dirt and Gravel roads about all the way, and bridges
were rare.  So, Mattie always made Gervis, (age 17),  get out and carry the
baby, (me),  and walk across any bad places, such as a rickety bridge
crossing.  Momma was a nursing mother and Aunt Mattie took her over and
wouldn't let her lift a finger.

Momma and Daddy stayed in the Los Angeles area for a few months, not long, and
then started to go back to Detroit on the train.  They stopped in Cheyenne,
Wyoming to visit with Uncle Jess and Aunt Mary, (4) and came by West Texas
to see Momma Jack (5) and Aunt Carrie (6)  who lived not far from each other
in neighboring towns.  Aunt Carrie and family was on a large farm outside of
Memphis, TX.  There is a photo of me, about 6 mo. old and the studio frame
has "Memphis, Texas" stamped on it.

I guess they stopped by to see Grandpa Sanders in Atwood, and then back to
Detroit.  They stayed there until early 1929, and the Dr. said that I would
get Rickets if they kept me in the city, so they moved to Atwood.  By that
time Momma and Daddy had bought the house Grandpa lived in and where I was
born, so that is where we lived all during the 1930's and into the 1940's.
We moved to a 2nd house in Atwood in 1939.

Grandpa Sanders died Oct. 9, 1941, and Daddy soon went back to Detroit
because Uncle Will Lingo (7) had written that work was opening up. Pearl
Harbor was that Dec.7.  Momma and I stayed in Atwood to finish the school
year, and we took in a boarder, one of the lady teachers at the school.  By
the end of May 1942, Momma and I closed the house and went to Detroit on the
bus.  We stayed with Uncle Will Lingo and Aunt Ina (8) all summer.  Daddy
worked, Momma helped Aunt Ina and I had a good time.  I was 15 years old.

I skipped summer school, and Momma and I went back to Atwood to open the
house and get ready for keeping teachers.  We had 2 that year.  After that
1942/1943 school year was done about the end of May 1943,  Momma and
I went back to Detroit for the summer.  By that time Daddy had found a
sleeping room in the basement of Mr. and Mrs. Guy Gibbs house on Meyers Rd.
Mrs. Gibbs had an extra room for me in the basement, and Momma and I just had
a fine time while Daddy worked.

I was 16 years old, and got a job in Federal's Dept. store.  Didn't get to
work long, the race riots started and Momma made me quit my job.  One of the
things that happened during the rioting was to turn over street cars with
the people in them and I had to ride a street car to work and back.  Momma
thought it was too dangerous for me.   So, she and I just shopped around
locally, and went to the movie that was just across Grand River Blvd. from
where we lived.  Daddy always took us out on a Saturday night for an all-nighter.

When the summer was over, Momma and I went back to Atwood and kept 2 teachers
again.   The following spring, I was 17, and we spent the summer in Detroit
once more.  The next spring, I had turned 18 in March, graduated high school
in Atwood, and Daddy came home for my graduation.

After that, we got on the bus and went to Groom, TX. and visited with Momma
Jack and Uncle Ed (9) for a week.  Then, we got on the train at Groom, and
went to Los Angeles to visit with Ben Clement and Mattie Floyd and other
relatives.  We stayed all summer again, and again, I had a ball while Daddy
worked and Momma just stayed around with 'Aunt' Clara, ('Uncle' Ben Clement's
wife.)

We went back to Atwood about the 1st of Oct.  I started to school in OK City
and that didn't last long.  Married your father (10)  the following Feb. 27,
1946.

Daddy and Momma went back to Detroit and got an apt and stayed, that time.
They finally sold their house at Atwood, about 1950, I guess.  Your Dad and
I were in Ohio for about 5 years, and we were close enough to go for
week-ends to visit with Momma and Daddy in Detroit sometimes.

Your Dad went to Okinawa for 21 months for the Korean war, and Dale (11) and
I lived in Holdenville while he was gone.  Dale was about 2 and 1/2 when he
and I went on the train to Detroit from Holdenville, and visited for about a
month.  We
were in Detroit one more time after that, when we were stationed in Rapid
City,
South Dakota.  It was about 1958.  When we had leave, we stayed about a week
with Moma and Daddy.

Love, Mom

  1.   Thelma Ioma (Ragland) Sanders & Samuel George Sanders.
  2.   James Wesley Pinkney Sanders (father of Samuel)
  3.   Mattie & Nolton Floyd, and children, including Gervis. (Mattie cousin
of
        Samuel)
  4.   Jesse & Mary (?) James (Uncle to Thelma Sanders)
  5.   "Mama Jack" Malinda Jackson (James, Ragland) Lingo (Mother of Thelma
         & sister to Jesse James)
  6.   Carrie Kay (Ragland) Bruce (sister to Thelma)
  7.   William Pleasant Lingo (brother-in-law to Malinda, uncle to Sam
Sanders)
  8.   Ina (Hiliker) Lingo (wife of Will Lingo, from Michigan area)
  9.   George Edward Lingo (husband of Malinda, brother to William, uncle to
        Samuel Sanders)
10.   Raymond George Birchett
11.   Dale Ray Birchett (first child of Raymond and Georgene)