Yesterday I received a call from Tommy Rahn an old friend and neighbor who lived in a nice home which was located at what is currently the main entrance to the Liberty County High School. Tommy is the Grandson of Mr Quarterman who lived in the big red two story structure which many will remember as the Kozma house.  Tommy told me that originally the Quarterman family and the Rahn family owned all of the land from the highway to the swamp from my Fathers place on the east to John Mann road on the west. I would guess that distance to be just over a half mile. I don't know how many acres it would compute to be. I imagine it would bee more than sixty acres but not a hundred. When I discover a more accurate estimate I will inject it into a future writing on this matter.
     Not trying to inject anything into this writing but the fact is that when a traveler passed through Hinesville on the way east the Homer Smith homestead would be the last occupied by white people before approaching the McIntosh community which was composed of predominantly Negros as they were referred to at that time. I feel like I might just as well clear the air on this matter as the entire world seems to get "hung up" on political correctness these days. I simply had the experience of growing up with my Grandma being our neighbor to the west and all beyond her were white until you reached the western edge of Hinesville a distance of  about seven or eight miles.
     On the other hand when traveling east after passing the Smith homestead all of the neighbors were black until you reached the railroad which bisected the McIntosh community at a right angle with the Old Sunbury road which also bisected the community. You might say that McIntosh community was clustered around the crossroads of the highway and the railroad. My childhood and early adulthood was a time of racial segregation of white and colored people.
     On the eastern side of our place our next door neighbor was the Perry family. Their house was located less than 150 feet from our back porch. The Perry's owned a five acre tract which rested between the road and swamp and the original Quarterman place and the Octavia Sullivan place.  The Perry's were excellent neighbors and all to the best of my knowledge became good citizens and many of their descendents are still active in our area.
     The Perry family as I knew it was the Mother Martha and several sons and daughters and their home was simply a structure of pine wood framed square divided into four rooms with a gable parallel  with the highway. There was a front porch with a shed roof which was a few feet inset on either side so that the porch itself was about two thirds as wide as the house. The front door was just to the left of center so that when you entered you were in the left front of the four rooms. The four rooms were clustered around a chimney which was placed near the center of the house. Attached to the rear of the house was a small uncovered wooden platform at their back door. Their icebox was on that deck.
     As I sit here thinking of these reflections of my childhood it suddenly strikes me as being almost unbelieveable to say that I recall a time when we had no refrigeration but I most certainly do remember just exactly that. In my earliest recollections I remember seeing the green ford truck which Mr Butler drove coming down the road with the heavy canvass cover protecting the load of ice from the wind and sun. On ice day I would see Mr Butler as he stopped by the Downs house first and then the Rahn's, Quarterman's, Grandma's and then into our driveway delivering to each household and after leaving our house he went next door to the Perry house and then proceded toward the mill. The ice truck did not go to every house because some people did not have ice boxes. I suppose I speak of about 1946 or most certainly 1947 and I suspect that I remember some things from 1945 when I would have been two years old. As I write these thoughts I am drawn back into time.
     I do not know how far back my memory reaches. June and I have often discussed our early recollections as we traveled together up the road of life.I say up the road because we were getting older so we were going up the road towards "FOOLS HILL" for some.