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How Big Mama Paid
For Her House
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Mozelle "Big Mama" Wells Williams and her home in
Collegeport
Courtesy of Anthony Doubek |
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I like the story of how Big Mama bought
the place that Sisty and Cyndy later owned. She was
(renting) living in the house in downtown Collegeport that
we now call the Blackwell house because Robert Blackwell
owned it when we were kids and that is why I call it by
that name
Anyways she was determined to buy her own
house. So she, with Johnny and Sisty’s help, borrowed
Daddy’s little Farmall tractor and planted 30(??) acres of
cotton. Johnny was about 16 years old and Sisty was about 11
years old. Papa was working away from home during this time.
So they planted and worked the cotton field themselves. I am
sure they got some help from Daddy and other relatives when
the relatives could spare the time. Sisty said Big Mama,
Johnny and Sisty picked the cotton with the help of Mrs.
Liggett’s maid, the only black person living in Collegeport.
Big Mama made $800.00 on her cotton crop.
She took the $800.00 and bought the house from Tex Spates
and lived there the rest of her life.
When my grandmother made up her mind to
do something, she would “bust a gut” to get it done. Maybe
Sisty is a little like Mozelle because she says not to tell
her she can’t do something, because she will show you she
can do it. One way or another!!!
Inside Big Mama’s $800.00 house was an
oak buffet with a mirror, that we all called ”THE FOUR
DOLLAR THING”. It got its name because that is what Big
Mama paid for it at an auction. $4.00
Courtesy of Pat Clemens
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The "SURP" Hole
Many
will remember C. J. “Charlie” and Mozelle (Wells) Williams who lived
just south of the school and across the street from the Presbyterian
Church. Here they raised their family of six children: Seth “Finny”,
Earl Lee “Babe”, Willard “Bea”, Dorothy “Dot”, Jerry Hubert “Johnnie”
and Jeanette “Sisty” who all attended school at Collegeport. For many
years, the Williams water well served the community. Besides providing
water for their own home, the church was plumbed to the well before the
loop of steel pipe turned north and under FM 1095, and to the East to
the schoolhouse and to the West to the Mopac House. Charlie looked
after the home and property for R. E. “Bob” and Vivian Smith who owned
the Hurd House. He was active as a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church
and helped build the present sanctuary in the mid-1950’s. In later
years, Mozelle faithfully walked to church on Sundays--just across the
way, and was active in the “Women of the Church” group. Her
grandchildren knew her as “Big Mama,” and fondly remember her
home-cooking. Cyndy and Anthony recently related a story about one of
her staple recipes--Homemade Biscuits.
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“Big Mama’s” Biscuits |
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2-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Mix together and cut in 1/2 cup lard
Stir in 1 cup buttermilk until just mixed
Bake at 450o
for about 10 minutes or until browned.
Anthony recalls that Big Mama would make a hole in the flour
and pour in the buttermilk. She would pinch off little bits
of the lard and add this to the milk. Then just using her
hand she would go under the dry flour and flip it into the
liquid turning the bowl as she went until it formed the
dough. She would turn this onto a floured board, and pat it
out to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut with a round cutter
or a glass. I also remember times she would just tear off
pieces of the dough and make the biscuits in her hand. She
put the biscuits in a round pan, with the sides touching,
and always made a “baby” biscuit for the center. She would
take her knuckles and press a dimple into each biscuit,
adding a bit of bacon drippings from a teaspoon.
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For
a treat, the kids would call for a “SURP” hole, which was a biscuit she
would poke with her finger to make a hole into the center and fill with
Log Cabin Syrup (SURP). Anthony remembers the syrup coming in log
cabin-shaped cans that could later be used as a bank.
Courtesy of Anthony Doubek
& Cindy Young
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Williams Family
in front of the Blackwell house
Back row: Charlie "Papa", Earl Lee "Babe", Seth
"Finney" his wife Faye, Dorothy, Willard B. and his wife Ruby Lee
Corporon Williams, Mozelle standing in front of men
Front row: Jeanette "Sisty," Johnny, holding
Jeanice and Pat
Photo courtesy of Jeanette Angelo and identifications courtesy of
Pat ClemensBackground: Carl &
Lora Boeker house behind the car; at right Federated church in the
distance and Dean & Dorothy Franzen Merck House in foreground
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