SYNOPSIS OF THE LIFE OF MY FATHER, JAMES HENRY NEWCOMER, -as compiled by himself-

Dad, parents and siblings circa 1925

THE EARLY YEARS

I was born 11 September 1920 at Waterloo, Iowa. My parents had moved from Greentop, Missouri to Waterloo in 1916 because there were good paying jobs in the factories.  In 1918 or 1919 they bought the house I was born in,  for $2300.  I lived here until I got married to Esther Reinhardt on 29 July 1941, at which time we made our home in the upstairs four rooms of her parent's house. Esther was the only child and the upstairs rooms of the 2 story house were unused.  We remodeled, made a kitchen in one room and furnished it with built in cupboards, sink, gas stove refrigerator and table.  I lived there until I went to the Army December 1942.

I didn't realize it until later in life that I had come from sturdy hardworking pioneer stock.  Poor as measured by material possessions, but proud and independent and hard working.  Mother performed all the necessary household tasks such as scrubbing clothes on a washboard, cooking for eight (the last of the six children was born in 1922), canning everything she could grow or have given to her, sewing nearly everything we wore, making quilts, hanging wallpaper, cleaning house, washing dishes, etc. Of course, when the older girls got old enough, they helped with many of these chores.

My sisters, brother and me

Back in those days, carpet, or rather, room sized rugs, were rolled up, taken outside,  hung over the clothesline and beaten with a carpet beater to remove the dust.  Control of flies, and there were many, was primitive.  When the house got too full of flies we would  all line up at one end of the house, advancing so as to shoo the flies out of the opposite end of the house where someone was holding the door open!

I only remember a few things as a young child.  One Christmas, before I started school, I got a toy set of tools in a carrying box.  Among other items, it had a hammer and saw.  At that age I spent most of my time on or near the floor, and to try out the saw, I started sawing the center leg of the dining room table before I was stopped.

ENTERTAINMENT

When I was very young, less than 5,  I remember Mother putting me out in the backyard to amuse myself while she did her outside work. She gave me a large spoon and I would dig in the hard ground close to the house. every once in a which she would come out to check on me and invariably I would be in the sun.  She would keep scolding me to stay in the shade.  I don't think, at the time, I know the difference. The word "shade" was not part of my vocabulary. A little later on, I was allowed to play on the sidewalk that ran in front of the house, but was restricted to that area between the "big tree" and the corner.  That amounted to about 3/4 of a city block. This way Mom could look out the dining room window or the front door and check up on my whereabouts.  There was always the worry of traffic on  the street because it was also Highway 218.

There was a  Christmas eve, when we were all assembled in the parlor around the tree, Dad came in dressed as Santa. Of course, I didn't know it was Dad, but neither did I believe in Santa Clause.  Amidst a few HO, HO, HO's, he passed out large oranges to everyone.

Occasionally Mom and the older girls would fix a picnic lunch and we would go to some meadow or pasture, lay out the food on a cloth and eat. Sometimes, we would have a bat and ball to play a game of workup.  One time,  we had to move before we were through eating, because a bull didn't look very friendly.

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