An Early Women's Support Group: A Lifeline

In 1926 Charles Ralph Gregory, Sr. died. He left his wife, Pearl, with their six children and a 320-acre homestead. The Texas Draw Community Club was especially supportive for Pearl at this time. Pearl had been a member of the club for over a decade. Previously she had been a major source of support for the other members, especially when they had children. Pearl was always there to deliver their babies, and she stayed on to help the mothers for a while after each delivery as the women set up schedules to assist each other. However, now, for the first time, she found herself in dire need of assistance from the other club members.

Texas Draw was an area of western Whitman County that stretched from about 3 miles northwest of Winona, Washington with various branches north to about a mile south of Revere and a few miles south of Ewan. Along the draw and neighboring branches there resided over a dozen farm families. They were somewhat isolated, so around 1914 many of the farm wives decided to form the group.

We think of women's support groups as being something fairly new and a modern invention. However, that is exactly what they formed a century ago-a women's support group. Besides Pearl Gregory and her closest friend, Edith Brown, two women who lost their husbands to pneumonia in 1926 and 1927, respectively, there were about a dozen other farm wives in the support group. Some of those included the wives of the farm families of Conover, Gailey, Gallaher, Henderson, Jordan, Knott, Lamb, Maxwell, McCucheon, Sayles, Sharp, and Wendover. These were strong women who had a valiant pioneer spirit. They were resolute and resourceful.

This was a tough, dry, windy, dusty area in which their husbands had to work long hours in order to raise a crop. The wives had to be equally hard-working, strong-willed, and supportive of their husbands. These women had long work days and continuous tasks to perform. They all milked cows, fed livestock, prepared and canned food, and tended large gardens-gardens that were necessary for sustenance, not just hobby gardens.

The farm women were responsible for the cleanliness and organization of their households and their children. Almost all of these women had children at somewhat regular intervals-usually each bore a child every 18 to 24 months. The women kept track of each other's pregnancies and arranged a schedule to help those most in need of assistance. Of course, Pearl gained a lot of experience as a mid-nurse, and she proved to be an essential member of the club. But with the death of Charles, Sr., her world drastically changed; she became dependent upon the active club and its supportive members. Without such a support group, Pearl would have lost everything.

Please consider my newest historical, World War II, creative non-fiction book: Dismounted Liberty, under the pen name Chris Gregory. It's now available in paperback through Amazon or ask for it at your local book store. Also, it's available in kindle format from Amazon and can be easily obtained and read on your iPhone. Dismounted Liberty, in that eBook edition on Amazon, will soon be free for a few days.

Learn more at http://www.BuckshotPie.com and click on the Amazon button or the Author's Page link.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8902949