Monroe's Memoirs

By Monroe Tipton © 1984

Issue: June, 1984

I want to tell you about a man I knew back some time ago. He is deceased now. His name was Robert, of whom we will call Bob. Now as far as I know, Bob had never been out of Carroll County, Virginia but once in his life and that was in the edge of West Virginia for a few days.

Bob was never married but he had a terrible crush on a lady by the name of Mabel. Mable was the wife of Bob's nephew, Jack. Jack has been dead for a long time.

Let me point out that from his early life, Bob was troubled with asthma. At times he could not get his breath hardly at all.

Now Bob never owned anything at all. He would stay with some of his sisters, taking turns.

I could tell exactly when Mabel was coming for Bob would get his hair cut, shave, take a bath and put on clean clothes. Sure enough, in a little while Mabel would come. (She lived in Pulaski.) Every time she came, Bob would have an attack of asthma and couldn't get his breath hardly for 2 or 3 weeks. I always thought it was the perfume she was wearing.

I remember one time several people came with Mabel and they were going to Flournoy's chinquapin patch. Bob and Mabel were going through this patch of woods. Bob had to take a few steps and rest. He told Mabel all this land as far as she could see was his and he was going to give it all to her. He said, "You see those huge trees. I'm going to have them sawed and you'll be rich." Mabel asked him how he got all this. Bob told her he helped build the Suez Canal and also helped make the Natural Bridge, saved his money and bought all this. He could sure make up some imaginary things. He never owned anything. He also said all machinery and trucks were powered by coal back then.

Well, everyone else had got to the chinquapin patch and got all they wanted. Mabel and Bob never got to the patch. We finally had to put out a search party. We found them sitting behind a log with Bob having another asthma attack. He could hardly get to the house and was that way for about 3 weeks.