MORE MEMORIES OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY

Rozella E. Ovrebo's Memories
 
I was not a resident of Greenup but my father was born there and his family lived there so we visited often.  I returned a few years back and tried to find the place where my grandparents lived.  It was difficult because there is now a main road between that place and the center of town.  I discovered that there was  a day care center located there at that time and the operator very nicely showed me around.  I believe the home is still there but the yard has been opened up as a play area. It looked different from my memories. 
 
My parents Murl and Dolly Darling Boggs are buried in the Greenup Cemetery along with my older sister Louella who died before I was born.  My father's parents are also buried there.  They are Henry and Ella Boggs.  My uncle Orville Boggs is also buried there.  He was killed in WW1 and the American Legion Post carried his name as well as that of another soldier who also died in that war.  I have pictures from the Greenup paper of the parade the town had for them when their bodies were returned to this country.
 
My father's sister Edith Boggs married Charles Smith and lived on his farm place not far from Greenup.  When it was sold I had the impression , which may not be true, that the land was purchased for a new high school.  My aunt Edith was a rural school teacher and most summers I spent a two week vacation at their farm.  I also remember that most every summer My mother, my sister and I would go blackberrying on that farm to obtain blackberrys for canning.  Every night we would use a needle to pick out the chiggers that buried themselves in our skins. Blackberry is still my favorite Jam and pie.  We would often go there for Sunday dinners and would have the best slow fried chicken.  I still yearn for the taste of that chicken.  After dinner we would spend the rest of the day  making and eating home made ice cream.  The churner had to be changed several times to feed everyone.  It only made a quart at a time.
 
There was a creek running through the farm where my step-cousin and his friends had a swimming hole.  One day I was invited to go with them.  They swung on the grape vines over the water shouting in great glee.  They persuaded me to try it.  I either slipped or the vine broke and I landed in a sea of mud.  Needless to say my aunt was not too happy to see me in that condition. 
 
My grandmother specialized in gooseberry and rhubarb pies.  She grew two kinds of gooseberries, green and one that appeared to be slightly blue in color.  Every time we visited she always had gooseberry and rhubarb pies for my father.  
 
There were sad times also.   Burials were different in those days,  I remember going to grandma and grandpa's home for wakes and the body would be laid out in the casket in the bedroom off the living room.  I have followed a procession to the Greenup Cemetery several times.
 
My father was a railroader so we got railroad passes and often took the train to Greenup.  At other times we drove.  On every trip we visited the Candy Kitchen for the best ice cream I have ever tasted.  I remember Greenup being a quaint town with it's town square and main street with all the stores on the first floor and with living quarters on the second floor.  It seemed there was a continuous balcony over the sidewalk where the living quarters were.
 
These are some of my memories.  I'm sure I will think of others but they do not come at this time.  I do own the 1968 Cumberland County Biographical.  I have used it many times to try and locate my relatives. 
   
Rozella E. Ovrebo
If you would like to know more and send a message to Rozello Email Me and I will forward it to her


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