“There were three of us girls, Ella Mae, Sara and me; I was the oldest.”

Where were you raised?

“Well, I was born in Roswell, but we moved to Alpharetta when I was in the 8th grade so I could go to school since Milton, that was Milton County and Milton High was the only high school, so we moved to Alpharetta so I could go to school.

Where did you live in Alpharetta?

“Well we moved on Providence Road. Ted’s people lived on Providence road a little father down the road.”

Did you know Laura Huddleston, Ted’s mother?

“I didn’t know that family.”

Who was your teacher in school?

“Donehoo. He was the pastor of the Baptist Church, and a teacher at the same time, the best teacher they ever had.”

Do you remember Preacher Couch the first time he preached here?

“He was a preacher? I remember the name but I don’t remember him.”

Which church did you attend?

“First Baptist, but when I was first born I attended Mount Olive.”

What other teachers taught when you attended school?

“Mrs. Norman taught.”

We found out that they sold the old court house for $306. Did you ever hear about that?

“No I never heard about that.”

Do you remember going to June Singing?

“Oh yes, there wasn’t much else going on. We had a new dress. You hardly ever saw a car. I remember my Grandad was the first one to buy a car. We rode from Alpharetta to Roswell in a car.”

How long did it take you?

“I don’t remember. That was something else!”

What was your father’s name?

“Oscar Stroup.”

What was your mother’s name?

“Ora West.”

Do you remember your Grandparents names?

“William and Mary West. I don’t remember where they lived. Jacob and Sara Stroup. They lived in Roswell.

What did you do for entertainment?

“Not much. We’d go to June singing and go to Church. Some of us played ball but not me--I wasn’t much of a ball player. We played play house when we were little.”

When did you get married?

“I graduated in l927 and got married in 1928. I was sick and got behind in school and graduated late, and I was the only one in the class. There were not many people to ever graduate in Milton County at that time. When I lived down by Big Creek I had to walk about three miles to school we never heard of a bus so we walked.”

Did you live on a Farm?

“All any of us ever did was farm. We picked a lot of cotton and had a big vegetable garden. We had to can a lot we hardly ever went to a store we did everything for ourselves. The only way we had to go was horse and wagon, but I remember a long time ago, we had a surrey, a long time ago, we didn’t have that long. That was a cotton picking time!”

What other things were important to you?

“My mother died when she was 38 so that left Dad with all of us kids and I was the oldest so we just had to take care of ourselves so we just had to take care of ourselves. There was no such things as Medicare or any welfare, so we just took care of ourselves . We really took good care of each other.”

Did you drive the horse and wagon?

“I remember riding in the wagon and going to church. Mama and Daddy sat up on that spring seat and us kids back in the back on a quilt. Mom and Dad and me joined because I had joined at Mt. Olive and they had joined at Harmony Grove.”

Do you remember the old court house?

“In the back of that was woods and people would come in their mules and wagons and tie them to a tree.”

Do you remember the Old Soldiers day celebration?

“Ted’s brother, Will, was in WWI and got wounded and he was in a long time after that. He was a big hunter. He had a lot of dogs. That went on a long time.”

Did you know about the flu epidemic that killed so many people?

“No I never heard about it.”

Esta seemed to be getting tired and we asked if we could come back again and she was delighted. She will think about it and tell Judy or Larry when we can come.