TX BIOS:  Mrs. Sarah Bonds
   Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress.
   
   Washington, 1994.
   
   Preceding element provides place and date of transcription only.
   
   This transcription intended to be 99.95% accurate.
   
   For more information about this text and this American Memory
   collection, refer to accompanying matter.
   
   U.S. Work Projects Administration, Federal Writers' Project (Folklore
   Project, Life Histories, 1936-39); Manuscript Division, Library of
   Congress.Copyright status not determined.
   
   00011
   
   [Karen?], Ivey G.
   
   November 22, 1936.
   
   Lubbock County
   
   District 17
   
   Public Gatherings.
   
   Quiltings.
   
   Pg. 1 Bibliography
   
   Mrs. Sarah [?] Bonds,
   
   [?] 17th St.,
   
   Lubbock, Texas.
   
   When Mrs. Sarah H. Bonde [came?] Lubbock in July 1921, the First
   Methodist [?] was already established here. The Reverend E. [?].
   White, former pastor of the first Methodist Church of Waco, was at
   that time pastor of the Lubbock Church. Mother [?], as most of her
   friends lovingly call her, worshipped at this church until the little
   church was built on the corner of 19th Street and Avenue J. then she
   moved her membership there, as this was only two blocks from her home.
   
   "I had accompanied Brother and Sister Write one afternoon on a trip to
   one of the circuit churches. "Mother Bonds [?] " And coming home they
   pastor told me that we were going to build another church in Lubbock."
   
   "Well, Brother Edgar, I am so glad". Mother Bonds said she told him.
   "I like the First Church, but it seems like there just isn't much for
   me to do there, I want to be at work, I want to serve the Lord."
   
   "You will have some work to do over there," She said he promised her.
   "Sure enough, I did too, and I enjoyed it so much."
   
   "In June [?] we had a tent meeting [it?] was grand. [we?] had one [?]
   feature about it [?], and that was that the wind was so terrific that
   we had a hard time keeping the tent up. The men would go up there and
   retie the ropes [?] it all fixed up for [??], then as like as not it
   would blow and flop as all during the sermon that some of the women
   would get real nervous.
   
   "But we finally got our [?] church built". Mother Bonds went on.
   "Brother Dickinson was the first pastor we had and after that we had
   Brother Walker with us."
   
   "The ladies of the church did all they could to help out with the
   finances, [we?] had some rummage sales, I used to not [?] in things
   like that, and would not take 00022my part in them". Mother Bonds
   folded her tiny hands in her lap and gazed at the blue [?] flames in
   the little gas heater. "I got to thinking things over though, and I
   [?] to see/ these things some differently to what I did a few years
   ago - I guess that it is the understanding and wisdom that comes with
   age [DEL: . :DEL] I am getting close to 70 now, and have decided that
   if we need money to carry on the good work of the Lord , - it is [DEL:
   [?] :DEL] alright to make it doing these things, if we do not [?] the
   Lord's house by holding these socials and markets in the church. Now I
   still think that any money exchanges should not be conducted in the
   temple of God, [DEL: and :DEL] when we had our rummages we had them
   down town and I went in and [?] what I could to help raise the money.
   I said to myself, "Here is a dress that some woman can get a lot of
   good wear out of and it will bring in another quarter for the church'.
   So it helped two ways".
   
   "One of the nicest things we ever had was a quilting. Each member gave
   a dime, or what ever she felt that she could spare to give on the
   quilt and we put the amount given on a little block and put the
   member's name on the block, if she wanted it on there, [?] [DEL: som
   :DEL] some /of the members only put the amount given and left their
   names off. One member did that who had given $10.00 on the quilt."
   Mother Bonds smiled and grew silent for a moment, while her eyes took
   on a dreamy expression.
   
   "When we got enough blocks we pieced them up and set to work to quilt
   it out". The little old lady roused herself and continued. "Some of
   the members lived so far out that they could only get in once in
   awhile to work on it. But my, how we did enjoy the times we did all
   get together [DEL: . :DEL] [gatherings?] like that are good for
   women".
   
   "Did we sell it? of / course we sold it, though it was not so easy to
   do, money was kind of scarce then, and one of the members finally
   bought it for $5.00, but all together that quilt brought the church
   $90.00. It certainly did help us out."
   
   "Do I remember who [DEL: give :DEL] gave the $10.00 [why?] yes I
   reckon I do alright - I do not see though that there is any need to
   tell that - but I [DEL: give :DEL] gave it myself". The dear old lady
   laughed and her face flushed with embarrassment. "I got a good deal of
   pleasure of [?] work though and I am happiest when I am working for
   the Lord. Every time I take the 00033[?] out to use it, I get to
   thinking of the [?] we all worshipped in the little church on the
   corner. Nearly everybody was nice to us and helped us all they could
   in [?] things [DEL: , :DEL] [we?] had our quilt on display at [?] for
   awhile down town for [?], before I bought it."
   
   Another old custom, now about crowded out of our fashionable churches,
   that [??] / Bonds likes is the children's penny jar. She says it gave
   each child an opportunity to make an individual offering which
   sometimes meant some little personal sacrifice on their parts and
   helped to train them to feel that they had an obligation to the church
   and that the penny jar was a beginning of their education in learning
   to meet their [?] responsibilities toward helping to carry on and
   promote the christian work being done by their church and other [DEL:
   [?] :DEL] religious organization. Besides the good it does the little
   children, Mother Bonds says that the pennies count up and really help
   the church more than some people realize. She illustrated this by
   explaining that in one town [DEL: [?] :DEL] where she lived , in the
   pennies saved from the children's penny jar helped[?] pay the pastor's
   salary. The little fellows, she said, felt a great pride in having
   helped[?] pay the preacher.
   
   The Methodist Church on the corner of 19th Street and Avenue J. was
   discontented when it was decided to build a larger church in the
   southwest part of town. This property was sold and in [1929?] the
   Asbury Church was erected on Avenue U, just south of 1st street. [?]
   D. B. Dock was Presiding Elder of this district at that time and
   Reverend G. P. [??] was pastor in charge of the new church.
   
   "Yes, I like the new church," Mother Bonds said proudly," Only it is a
   little far [?] me to go at my age". and she added wistfully, "Now that
   I am so alone [DEL: [?] :DEL] all the church work and the gatherings
   that the women have mean even more to me than they did in the years
   before my husband died, these things help me to pass the time[?] [I?]
   can stand the loneliness better when I have something to do, and can
   work for the Lord."

************************************************************************
USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE:  These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced 
in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or
persons.  Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must
obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative
of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of
this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives
to store the file permanently for free access.

http://www.usgwarchives.net/

Thanks to the Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/txcat.html
***********************************************************************