Wisdom in Council

By Jennie Curtis

“The South--where roots, place, family, and tradition are the essence of identity.”
--Social historian Carl N. Degler

Farming has been an intricate part of southern culture over many generations. Take a drive through any small rural town here in the Sandhills and be treated to a wide variety of farm stands loaded with seasonal produce grown in and around this diverse area. A well-known and highly respected member of the farming community here is Mr. John Council, owner of Council Farms in Shannon, N.C. When I shook Mr. Council’s hand for the first time, his strong confident grip transported me into a different time and place. The dark brown skin of his hand was weathered with the many seasons; each line and callus told a story of how this life had shaped him throughout his now more than 70 years. As his hand embraced mine in a gesture of warm welcome and friendship, I was filled with a great interest and appreciation for the life he had chosen and the peace of mind that it awarded him.

Born into a family of sharecroppers in Robeson County, N.C. when segregation was alive and well, he was given his first mule to farm with at the age of five. Stop and think for a few minutes back to what you possibly might have been up to at the age of five…. I think I was learning how to tie my shoes and ride a bike with training wheels. Everyday he was responsible for that animal’s welfare and the equipment that he used to farm the fields with the skill of a grown man. Education consisted of little two-room school house miles down the road that he would attend on the rainy days. He lamented that most often he was so far behind it made learning the basics difficult and that the fields always took first priority. He did eventually learn to read and write but stated, “All of the education I have ever needed was given to me by the land.” Unaware of the hardship he was suffering at the time, he spoke fondly of his childhood memories spent with his family.

When he grew old enough to step out on his own, he moved to Camden, N.J., to see what the world outside of his small county held. He met and married his wife Willie Agnes, and through hard work he was able to purchase nine acres to farm. For the next thirty-five years they farmed their small plot while raising children in a time of great economic change. Mr. Council spoke of having to take many different outside jobs to feed his family from serving as a maintenance man for company such as Sears and J.C. Penny to fixing equipment for other farmers -- truly a man of all work. Every skill that he pulled from was self-taught while working the farm. As times progressed from the days of mule and plow to tractors and gasoline, he had to gain a new set of skills. Although he spoke of having no great love for any of these outside jobs, his joy for farming kept his love for life firmly rooted in the soil that he tended everyday.

In the early 1990s, he returned to North Carolina to aid his ailing father and purchased sixty-eight acres four miles outside of Raeford, N.C., in a tiny hamlet called Shannon. Devoting himself completely to the land, he and his now extended family have spent the last sixteen years building a working farm from the ground up. Priding himself on growing vegetables and raising animals as “only God would have me,” Council Farms is as natural as it gets. Although the farm is not certified organic, every leaf, fruit, egg and slab of bacon is nurtured in a completely organic environment. Following age-old methods passed down through generations, Mr. Council is passing along this hard earned and immeasurable wisdom to his children and grandchildren before he leaves this earth. In a time when carrying on the family business is becoming extinct because so many children show a lack of interest in the history that they were raised in and around, it is a relief to find a family so committed to carrying on the family name and the great expanse of knowledge that will be used and preserved for future generations to come.

Our little piece of Southern culture can be visited at the farmers market in downtown Southern Pines. When I visited Mr. Council on a fresh, bright Saturday morning, I was treated to a view of everything that his family can produce and love he has not only for the beautiful produce, meat and eggs that his farm provides this community but to an insight into the immense joy he feels in watching his grandchildren care for a way of life that he treasures. I and many others seemed drawn to the Council’s farm booth, not because it had the greatest display or the brightest banners with modern equipment, but rather the feeling that behind the modest and well-maintained setup was a type of quality we rarely find in any supermarket, small or otherwise these day. Mr. Council was quick to say that he has no regrets for choosing this way of life; the deep roots that connect him to the land he farms are all he will ever need to be happy. As I shook his hand in a friendly farewell, I felt somehow there can be no greater wisdom to part with than that.

Work Cited

Council, John. Personal interview. 29 May 2010.

Note: Jennie Curtis prepared this paper for HUM 122 as a student in the baking and pastry arts curriculum at Sandhills Community College. She is the pastry chief at Ashten’s Restaurant in Southern Pines, NC.

A Hardworking Woman of the South

by Lindsey Irby

A “blast from the past” was heard when I asked with my grandmother about her struggles in life throughout the years. I always knew she was a hard-working woman, but I never knew what a strong independent Southern person she really is. My grandmother’s name is Frances Irby, but I call her Granny. She resides in Pinebluff, but she was born in Kannapolis. The experiences and accomplishments she has achieved are unfathomable, and I admire her determination to achieve her goals. She shows all characteristics of a person from the South, and she has had very difficult experiences throughout her life.

First, as I asked many questions during the interview, I was absolutely intrigued by the hardships that her mother, three sisters, and one brother had to overcome. She explained, “Because there was very little money for medical treatment, my mother doctored us with folk lore medicines and techniques that she learned from her mother. For example, when one of us had a cold, she treated us with cough syrup she made by boiling wild cherry bark, a bud of mullin stalk, sugar and lemon juice. She treated us with croup or chest congestion by making a solution of kerosene, camphor, and turpentine and applying it to the chest area, and also covering the chest with a piece of outing flannel and kept us in bed or in a warm room.” Her father and mother divorced when she was six years old. While being the oldest was tough, she still had time to bring her vivid imaginations to life. As a child, Granny and her siblings would use bricks as cars and build a track to race them. “We would dig under roots and go over them, and we would remember exactly which brick was ours. We would rip up old cloths and make a playhouse with the pieces. We were all creative, and people nowadays have lost that sense of creativeness,” she said. Her mother, my great grandmother named Annie Morgan, was a single woman who was looked down upon for being divorced. “My mother had to learn to be both mother and father to all of us. She had to assume total responsibility for caring for the farm animals, gardening, and other activities that were considered to be male chores, such as building pig pens and chicken coops which she learned to do on her own.” My granny had to learn to be a responsible, determined woman at a very young age. I could see the remembrance of her past bringing a sense of a bittersweet happiness to her eyes.

Secondly, Granny stopped going to school after the ninth grade. “Education was not pushed or thought about because we were poor, but my mother wanted us to finish high school, even though none of us did. As I worked jobs that made little pay, I decided one day that I was not going to live like that for the rest of my life.” She later got her GED and completed her master’s degree. She has been a registered nurse, a nurse in the emergency room, and a member of a psychiatric unit. Also, she has taught nursing students since 1982. She was the director of nursing, and division chair of health science at Richmond Community College. My granny achieved many more accomplishments, but none of them would have happened if she had not gone to college. Granny is now retired with Social Security and state retirement, and she still teaches clinical once a week. She is completely satisfied with her life. She has no financial problems, and every accomplishment she has earned will never be taken away from her. “Education is the key to having a great life, and nobody can ever take your education away from you. You can have a million dollars and it be gone in a blink of an eye, but you will never ever lose your education.” My granny’s words of wisdom really motivate me to achieve whatever I want to do and stretch my limitations to the maximum while doing so.

Furthermore, I asked her about Southern culture and characteristics of the people in the South. She stated, “People from the South are at a slower pace than people up North. They would push and shove to get on a train up there and not have any manners about it. Southern people stop to talk to you, even though they do not know you. Manners are another thing you will find in the South. Many people are involved in church, and integrity is important to them. Honesty is very important, and I believe us all to be hard workers. Homemade specialties and recipes are passed down from generation to generation, and you can only find that in the South. Also, family is most important to me.” Then I asked what her expectations were for our family’s traits and she replied, “Helping each other, always being reliable, honest, caring, hard working, to have manners, respect, and to have an education.” She has been through a tremendous amount of trials and hardships, but she has surpassed every single one of them. I think that is the best Southern trait ever.

In conclusion, my granny is absolutely amazing. I have learned so much, and I am completely captivated by the struggles that my granny has overcome. She transformed from being a poor, uneducated, Southern farm girl to an independent, educated, strong Southern woman. She shows true Southern culture. I now have stories to pass on to my children in the future about how wonderful their great grandmother was and pass on some of her hard-working Southern skills to them. No matter how impossible a task can seem, my Southern roots have taught me that anything can be conquered with a little hard work.

Work Cited

Irby, Frances. Personal interview. 30 May 2010.


Note: Lindsey Irby, who is pursuing an associate of science degree at Sandhills Community Community and plans to transfer to N.C. State University, wrote this paper for HUM 122.