Clem

*Clement Phillips was born December 16, 1880 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, he became known as Clem. “He was five years old when he arrived in Florida. It is reported that Clem did not have a pair of shoes until he was 16 years old. He earned them by cutting cordwood at night when his dad was asleep. He did not have time to get an education, his father believed in working hard and there was no time for sitting around attending school. Times were hard and the family needed all its members to work the farm so they could make ends meet.” Author Notation: It is not believed his father was not in favor of education, only that times were so difficult he needed everyone, that could, to help with the farm and make it a successful enterprise.
   “Clem Married Ursula (aka. Sula) Elizabeth Goswick on December 31, 1905 at Braden River, Florida. Sula, she preferred this name, was born on November 11, 1887 in Boydsville, Arkansas, to John Henry and Christina (Arnold) Goswick. John Henry was born in 1865 in Arkansas and died about 1897 in Clay Co. Arkansas at the young age of 32. Christina, preferred to be called Tina, was born on October 8, 1865 in Arkansas and died after 1890 in Arkansas at the estimated age of 25.”
    “Sula's parent's died when she was young, about 10 when her father died. John Henry knew he was going to die, so he found a home for Sula with the Bodenheifers. The Bodenheifers moved to Florida, date unknown.”
   “Sula was tall and slender with long dark hair and probably weighed less than 100 pounds. She was very religious and did not believe in doing anything on Sunday. She would go to church in a horse drawn buggy. She didn't believe in playing cards, dancing, or smoking. She canned everything and worked all the time. She raised chickens and made donuts to sell in the store. She had lots of common sense and everyone seemed to like her. The inscription on her tombstone is "She was a kind and loving wife and mother and a friend to all." She helped Clem become successful by running the store while he farmed. Clem probably would have been more successful had she lived.”

    “Clem and Sula had three girls and a boy. Agnes Josephine, born December 13, 1906, in Braden River, FL. Mildred Corinne, born June 3, 1910, at Laurel, FL. Verna Clementine, born in Laurel, Fl. on April 16, 1917. Arnold Creighton, born on December 26, 1921, in Laurel, FL. He would die at the young age of 10 on April 1, 1931.”
    “Mildred came home from high school with a cold. Sula also caught a cold and then Clem. Before she was completely well, Sula had to get up to deliver the mail. Clem was Postmaster of Laurel, FL. from 1917 to 1925. Sula had a relapse and it turned into double pneumonia. She was very weak. They even cut her long hair hoping to save her but it didn't, she died.
   January 8, 1923. Verna wanted to go to the funeral but they wouldn't let her. Claud Regan picked her up and carried her to his mother and sisters; she spent the night with them. Aunt Josephine and Uncle Will kept Arnold in Sarasota till school got out, they wanted to adopt him, but Clem said no.
It was very quiet in the house when Sula died, the clock even stopped. Sula was 35 years old when she died. She was buried in Osprey, FL. by a Baptist Church.”
   “After Sula died, Aunt Rose Wilson would come by a few days a week and help out. She talked Clem into sending Mildred and Agnes to a boarding school at Mt. Vera near Orlando. Aunt Rose would bring her collie dog "Brownie" with her. Clem enjoyed setting the cats on Brownie. Aunt Rose would hear Brownie and call Clem and ask, "What are you doing to Brownie? He would always say, "nothing!" He loved to tease and tell tall tales, he was quite a talker.” “It is said that he had so many whippings as a child, that he never whipped any of his kids. He would holler or fuss at them, but not spank them.”

“Clem hired Negro cooks to help. One was called Foxes and another was named Patsy Morgan. Agnes and Mildred and their friends enjoyed telling jokes to them. One of the cooks would get so excited she'd roll on the floor. She cooked the best sweet potato pie and steak with onions.”
“In 1925, there were plenty of sawmills behind Laurel; Clem kept the store open till he was sure no one else would come. Sometimes he would stay open till midnight on Saturdays.”
“Agnes fell in love and married Samuel (Sam) Syble Sylvester Shaw from Pawnee, Oklahoma. He was born (date unknown) about 1900. They went to Sarasota and got married December 1925. On April 3, 1927, Theodore Franklin (Teddy) Shaw was born at the Bayside Hospital in Tampa, FL.”

“The story is told that Sam, one night, (May 1928), left to go buy a loaf of bread; he was never seen or heard from after that night. His boat, that he used to cross the river, was found not far from where he tied it up. Most family members believe an alligator got him even though no remains were found. Agnes was pregnant, so she returns to her father's home and takes up nurses training at Sarasota Hospital. Not long after starting the training, Agnes comes home one night and tells her father she has dropped the training. She gets a job working at the crate mill, but soon after, she goes to Missouri to stay with Sula's sisters. Clem and Verna never saw her again. She died on November 4, 1928 after giving birth to another son in Memphis, TN. She had uremia poisoning and double pneumonia.” **November 1, 1928 was the date of birth of the boy. An uncertified death certificate lists his death as November 29, 1928 it was later found out that many death certificates were falsified so adoptions could be made. Information now indicates that he was adopted soon after birth. There was a death certificate in the name of Theodore Franklin Shaw, January 12, 1929 Teddy Shaw was adopted in Memphis; his adopted name is Robert Francis Duncan. He used the nickname Bobby most of his life. Bobby died April 25, 2004 in Inverness, Mississippi.”
“Shortly after Agnes had married, Clem sold the store to F. W. Harp. Clem subdivided his orange groves and land. He sold it off, some parcels he sold a half dozen times, because the buyer would only make one payment and no more. So, he sold it to someone else. It is told that he lost $70,000! He was able to buy the Ranles place on the bay, lived there about six weeks, and sold it, making about $6,000. He buys a new house in East Manatee; it has four rooms and a porch. He bought fancy window shades with fringe on them for all the windows. They moved in during the Christmas holidays. Mildred came home from Mt. Vera to go to school in Bradenton. Verna went to the Manatee School. Clem would drop the kids off at school, and then he would go down to "Liars Comer" in Bradenton at the square in front of the courthouse. This was the place men would hang out when they had nothing to do. He'd pick Mildred up at 3 :00 p.m. from school. He was always home at night. He took his kids to tent shows and county fairs. He didn't spend much money, but they went anyway. On Sunday, they'd go to the beach or Laurel or someplace as long as there was money for gas. A mental note here, during this time, gas was only five to eight cents a gallon! They really enjoyed life during those six months. It was the only time Clem did not have to worry about money.”

“Clem changed his Sunday routine of taking the children out for the day. Clem would go see Aggie every other Sunday. It is said he courted her for three years. During this time, Mildred was dating and Verna and Arnold would be home alone scared to death.”
“In June 1926, Clem bought a grocery store in Manatee near the crate mill. It was on old Sarasota road in town. There was a store and barber shop in back with about 5 acres of land.”
“Clem and Aggie married December 18, 1927. He didn't tell anyone. He told them he was going hunting at Uncle Paul's. He married at a time when there was no money. Verna told Arnold and Arnold told Mildred that their daddy got married. Verna stayed with George and Vera Boyd. Arnold went to school with Mildred. They went to Mildred's Christmas play on a Wednesday. Boy, was Mildred Mad! She didn't come out of her room for three days. She didn't like Mrs. Aggie married to her daddy.”
“Aggie was a spotless housekeeper and a good mother to Verna and Arnold. She gave Verna a 13th birthday party, the only birthday party she ever had. Meals were always on time. She taught Verna lots of things and made clothes for her. Verna loved her stepmother. The years with Aggie were some of the best she had.”
“Things went from bad to worse financially. The gas station didn't make any money so Clem rented one further out near the country club. That was no better. They closed the road and he had two robberies. The filling station failed and he lost the house so they moved back to Laurel to farm there. Their old house was rented so they lived in another one. He farmed with Charlie Harp.” The depression days were here. It is hard to explain, if you have never had money, then you got along, but after you have it (money) and lose it, its worse.
“In 1930, about a week before Aggie died, she had caught a bad cold. Clem called the doctor from Sarasota, but she did not get any better.

  “Lizzie, the Negro cook, fixed breakfast, left the house, and did not return. It was later found out that she had seen a puff of smoke appear over the house and she knew Mrs. Aggie had died. It was a very sad Christmas. Mildred had been in Missouri with her Aunts when Aggie passed, she returned home the day after Christmas.”
    “Aunt Mary took Clem Jr. after he came home from the six weeks stay at the hospital. He was so tiny; no one thought he'd make it. They fed him with a medicine dropper. He really didn't come to life till he was 6 months old.”
    “On April 1, 1931, Arnold died. It was a very bad blow to Clem Sr. it is said that Clem Sr. never got over Arnold's death. It was almost more than anyone could stand. Arnold had a cold but not enough to kill him. It was discovered that about a week before he died, a neighbor said he fell off a small chicken house. He almost cried but did not. He got up and went on playing. It was thought that he got hurt inside; maybe he burst a blood vessel. The night before he died, he started spitting up blood and talking out of his head. Clem Sr. sent Verna over to get Mrs. Harp and sent for a doctor. Arnold died before the doctor got there. They listed pneumonia as the cause of death. He was buried two days later.”
    “Clem Sr. ends up losing the home place due to unpaid taxes. He moves out near Uncle Paul and Aunt Lula. It was about a quarter of a mile from Uncle Paul in Erie. They could live and farm rent-free. There were only three neighbors in the area. Clem made a little money that year, but he owed so much that it was really hard times. Verna went to school one year without books. They had no lights, only kerosene lamps. You had to fill them before dark.

  They had a fireplace and cooked on a wood-burning stove. There were many times that they did not have enough to eat. Uncle Paul and Aunt Lula made sure they did not have to worry about having enough food and clothes. Aunt Rose bought Verna what she wore and her dad did get her some shoes.”
“During the summer, Clem Jr. got sick. Having money for car gas was always a problem now. Verna rode the bus to school for the first time; it even stopped at the front door. Mildred was working in the tomato canning plant trying to help make ends meet.”
“In October of 1932, the association found them a place in Bradenton. They moved there on Cortez Road. From then till 1935, were a lot of hard times. The house had four rooms. It had a pretty fireplace, a pump in the kitchen, electric lights, and a path to the back.” (It is assumed that this reference to a path is referring to the location of the "Out-House.") “Verna could now iron without getting smut on the clothes from the kerosene lamps. There were 20 acres with five acres being a grove. The next summer, Mildred went to St. Louis to work. She bought clothes for Verna and sent money when she could.”
“The association (the name of this association is not known to this writer) gave Clem Sr. money to live on until he made a crop. He had bad luck farming and ended up on relief. That's a real heartbreak for a man to do, especially if he is proud like Clem Sr. was. That was the last place he owned. Verna didn't have any money for clothes. She did work at the canning plant for about 4 weeks. Things got worse and the association wouldn't give Clem Sr. any more money.
In September of 1935, there was a bad hurricane and the roof blew off the house. It rained for three days. There was no dry place in the house. Clem Sr. went to the Red Cross for the roof, but he was so proud, he only asked for half the cost, so they weren't much better off.”
    “During the hurricane, Aunt Mary Phillips (Sam's wife) died of a stroke. She lived up at Oak Knowles, near the Rye Bridge in Manatee County; they had to take her out by boat. Nine months later, Uncle Sam married Mary's sister Hattie. Clem Sr. ends up losing the 20-acre farm to a sharp talker named Armstrong. It seems that Armstrong talked Clem Sr. out of getting a government loan on the property and taking out a loan with him. Armstrong forecloses the first time Clem Sr. gets behind on payments.”
    “They move to Arcadia, FL. 50 miles away. That was a real let down. They found a large house behind the hospital; the rent was free, but they could not afford to have the water turned on. Verna got her first real job taking care of a lady with a broken hip. She was paid $3.00 a week and stayed 6 months. It wasn't a bad job; you just had to be there all the time. Mildred came home in November, She didn't have enough money to go back to St. Louis, MO. so Verna loaned her $8.00.”