____________________________________________________________________________ Writes Letter On His 75th Birthday. Langley Correspondent Gives Brief History of His Life, Struggles For An Education. This is Sunday, the 22nd day of January, 1928, and is the 75th birthday of this writer. According to the record in the Bible, I was born in Carrol Parish, Louisiana, Jan. 22nd 1853. (I) was brought up without an education as far as book learning was concerned. I got what little I ever had by picking up scraps of old newspapers, reading what I could get together of them and would sometimes get hold of an almanac and would read that. I finally got a Blue Back spelling book and an arithmetic (book) and finished up my education. So you all can give a pretty close guess at my education. I drifted north with my father's family during the Civil War and about the year of 1872 I found myself in the north part of Pike county and am now living about seven miles from where I first stopped, where I find good health and good people, no frog ponds, no mosquito dins and alligator pools, but plenty of squirrels and old field rabbits. We are expecting the Sheriff and his force to pay us mountain folks a visit now in a few days to take up what loose change we have and maybe some that is not loose. This letter is concluded Monday morning. Mrs. Sarah Bankston, wife of W.S. Bankston, of Newhope, departed this life Sunday at 2:20 o'clock p.m. Aunt Sarah as she was generally known and called was about 77 years old and has been in poor health for several years, and was a sister of this writer. Burial will be this afternoon at what is known as the Lowery Grave yard. Pete Jones ____________________________________________________________________________ Pike County Courier, Volume 40, Number 4, January 27, 1928, page 1, column 5. ____________________________________________________________________________ HTML file and design by David Kelley, 1997. All rights reserved.