Mary Ethel
Orene Burgess Clifford came from Southern Illinois, to Gainesville, AR in a covered
wagon with her Mother Florence Higdon Burgess and her Father James Oscar
Burgess along with Brothers Gilbert and Gene, Sisters Frankie, Carrie, and
Rena. Her Grandfather James had migrated from Ireland in 1860. He got off a ship
in New York, (age 17 or 18) and having no source of income, walked across the
street to a Union Recruiting booth and joined the Union Army as a water boy.
Somewhere along the way he became familiar with the Navy and after the war
found himself Captain and half owner of a Riverboat. His partner was a
Riverboat Gambler. They sold the boat and built the first brick building in
Greenville, MS. It was a hotel and a bar on the first floor with a house of ill
repute on the second floor. The Gambler owed a debt of $5,000.00 and booked
passage up North to pay off the debt, never returning.
I don’t know
a lot about how James Jr. was born, but at some point, his father took him or
at least left him in Southern Illinois with a woman and her daughter. The woman
treated James well but the daughter was a tyrant, often beating James with a
stick of firewood.
James was
told by his father that on the event of his death James should come to Greenville
and remove a stone from the fireplace where money or inheritance would be
found. James did travel there on word of the death of his father. But when the
Lawyers let him in the house, someone had already removed all the contents
behind the stone, leaving James a long, hungry journey by foot back to Gainesville,
AR.
Mary married Thomas Jewel (T.J. or Tom) Clifford. Their primary residence was a
Duplex 2 storied house at 901 Rector Rd, built by Toms Mother Bertha B. Good
Clifford. Bertha sold a pair of mules for the lumber to build the house. She
then borrowed the mules to haul the lumber to the house site; paying two men to
rough frame the house which she then finished roof and all. Tom, a
Plumber/Master Pipefitter, his wife Mary and their son Jerry lived in one side
of the duplex and Tom’s sister Zula Loften with sons Joe (Sonny) and Richard
Loften in the other side. In time, Tom and Mary bought the other half of the
duplex from the Loften’ s.
After the end of WWII Tom and Mary had a Baby Boom son named Larry, and two
years later a daughter Nancy. Jerry had joined the Navy just after the Korean
War ended and was quite surprised his parents started a second family.
Mary took a trip to Flint, Michigan to visit family working up there and her
Mother’s Sister Rose. She came back to Paragould a day or two early and found Tom
building a fishing boat in her kitchen. Piles of sawdust and debris greeted
her. She of course threw a fit and told Tom if he could build a boat in the
kitchen at least she could get a flour bin and nice cabinets built. She did
that very week.
Mary was
well known for her cooking and baking. As members of North End Mission, later
Calvary Baptist Church, Mary always kept her table open for several different Pastors,
Evangelists, Music Ministers and of course family. Guests would literally pass
out after their Sunday meals and take naps much of the afternoons in the
Clifford living room. There was a couch and chair, a recliner, a chase lounge,
a rocking chair and of course a carpeted living room floor, and in the summer a
hammock and porch swing out back. After naps, there were always plenty of leftovers
before heading back to Church for the Evening Services.
Even as a kid I was amazed at the amount and variety of foods my Mom could
produce in that little Kitchen. Before Daylight on Sunday Mom would start
browning fried chicken. She’d have to break off cooking and drive our family
car to pick up about a dozen or so ladies for Church, (Bertha Lloyd, Hattie
Tucker, Shirley Latham, and many I can’t remember). The Church didn’t have a
Church Bus so Mom supplied that service. She’d have to make two trips before
Church, two trips after Church and then run home to finish getting the meal on
the table. Sunday meals were a major operation. It took a 3-quart pressure
cooker filled with potatoes to make enough mashed potatoes for the throng.
There would be corn, green beans, and often sweet potatoes, rolls, at least two
skillets of fried chicken, and white milk gravy. There was a little kids table,
a breakfast bar, and the large dining room table. Even then some people had to
take a plate to the living room. Many times, Mom would feed 25 people on
Sunday.
Mom was famous in the neighborhood for all sorts of pies and cakes. There was always
a plate of fried pies on the breakfast bar, along with leftover bacon, sausage,
biscuits and white gravy from breakfast. As a boy I could walk by any time of
the day and grab a snack. She made every kind of treat, cupcakes, cookies
including vanilla and chocolate swirls, chocolate chip, sugar, and oatmeal, and
even huge 4-5-inch cream puffs. Mom always kept wax paper rolls of cookie dough
ready to slice off and bake in the refrigerator.
One of the families who were regular guests was the Tommy McDaniel Family with
their son Gene McDaniel and his sister. Tommy was Music Minister at Calvary for
quite some time. Mom always had a Folger’s Coffee Can filled with Sugar Cookies
for Gene and one with Chocolate Chip Cookies for his sister.
Mary Clifford has been gone for many years now,
but many people still remember her name from the 30 years she worked in the
Church Nursery.
