It is told that a bantam hen made her nest somewhere around the engine and hatched little chickens. They let this hen and her little chicks ride back and forth on this train. Also, this little train would bring in all the materials to the mill and, in turn, would take out all of the manufactured products that were to be shipped far and near. So the train really served a good purpose for many years. Believe it or not, this little train still runs. My brother, the late H. Paul Bridges, was president of this little railroad in the last several years.

One of the funny things told about Mr. Haynes and his railroad is that when he had completed his railroad, he sent passes to the large railroads—the Southern, the Seaboard, the C. C. & O, and I don't know how many—for complimentary rides on his railroad. The officials, in turn, sent him some passes to ride their railroads, so, you see, he got the better end of the bargain!

I want to go back and say just a little bit about Mr. Raleigh Haynes' funeral, which was held at the Cliffside Baptist Church on February 9, 1917. There were about three thousand people who attended this funeral! The church and school building, which was nearby, both of these buildings could not accommodate all of these people, and a lot of the people had to stand outside. I was just a little girl about nine years of age, but I can remember seeing that black, horse-drawn funeral carriage carrying his body to the church and then over to the cemetery, which stood back of the church. It is all very vivid to me, even today. Mr. Haynes had planned for his funeral, and he had told all the men that he wanted to speak at his service and many wonderful things were said as a tribute to him and the accomplishments during the life that he had lived.

I want to tell a little bit about my own family. My father, Boyce Bridges and my mother, Retter Daves Bridges, moved to Cliffside in the year 1904. My father lived there and worked in the mill for forty years before he passed away. My mother was quite adept in sewing, crocheting, embroidering, making tatting-all types of needlework, and she was constantly busy. Some of the young women who were getting married, were planning their trousseau, came to my mother to do the embroidery that was used back then on the lovely, long petticoats that they wore. She made a lot of centerpieces, as they were called. She did beautiful work. One of these centerpieces she sent to the Rutherford County Fair had bleeding hearts on it, and she won a prize—a beautiful oak rocker—on this centerpiece. They were never people of great wealth; my father worked and provided well for his family. He saw that we all had a good education. Not all of us graduated from college, but we were all well fitted to go out and take our places in society. We were brought up in a Christian home.

I can remember when we would be practicing for our Christmas program at the church. We would have to go at night. Of course, in those days, we had no cars, but my father would always go with me, take me by the hand, take me to the church for the practice. The same thing was true of our school programs, if we had to do any practicing at night. My mother always made a good home for us. We grew up in a happy atmosphere.

My brother, the youngest of the five children, Boyce, Jr. was a fighter pilot in World War II. His plane was shot down over Germany. He landed his plane and got out and was then killed. That was a tragedy for our family and we suffered along with many others who lost their young men of their families during that time.

My sister Wytle, the next youngest, never married. The next sister Inez was twice married. She passed away about six weeks before my husband passed away. She died January 15, 1978. Her second marriage was to E. G. Stewart of Longview, Texas. My older brother who was just three years younger than I was also in World War II, but the Lord let him come home. He became superintendent of Cliffside Mill, later was general manager, and in 1955, he retired from the mill and went into The Haynes Bank and was, for several years, president of that bank until it merged with First Citizens Bank and Trust Company, and then he was vice-president until he retired this past December 198l. On June 6 of this year, he passed away, 70 years of age. He had married Hazel Haynes, daughter of Dr. Grover Haynes, Sr. and granddaughter of R. R. Haynes. My sister Wytle who was next to the youngest child, died in 1967 suddenly from surgery.

I am the oldest child and the only one left of the family. My mother lived nine years after my father passed away. She was able to stay in pretty fair health and live a good life, keeping her mental faculties, until about two to three weeks before she passed away, at the age of 72. My father was 6l when he went away.

 

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