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Wilson reflects on life in Bourbon County
Ruth Wilson, who turned 99 years old on Oct.23, is humble.
"I never did anything very spectacular in my life," Wilson said. However, she said she has lived a good life.
Wilson has lived long enough to have great-great-grandchildren and each year her descendants get together to celebrate her birth. She was released from Mercy Hospital Fort Scott and admitted to Medicalodges Fort Scott for rehabilitation on Oct.18. On Oct. 19, she was released for a few hours to be at the family birthday party in her honor, at the Uniontown Community Building, then returned to the nursing home.
During her stay in the hospital, Wilson said her children told her later that there were a few times during her hospital stay they thought they would lose her.
"The Lord wasn't ready for me...he has some more work to do on me," she said.
Born on Oct. 23, 1914, the third child of Lee and Mamie Shull of Uniontown, Wilson has lived her whole life near Uniontown.
"I was born and raised on the same farm my dad was born on," she said. Wilson had eight siblings: Dorothy Shull Sylvester, George Shull, Virgil Shull, Chester Shull, Mary Shull Turner, Nellie Shull Kirker, Irmal Shull Callahan and Charles Shull.
Her family attended Mt. Orum Baptist Church when she was a child.
"Ethel Hall was my Sunday School teacher at Mt. Orum," she said.
"I remember one time I had my songbook in my lap, when I got up to leave church I forgot to lay it down. When I got to the car, I told dad. He said 'You can take it back next Sunday, that'll be alright.'
I thought everybody in church thought I was stealing it," she said.
Two siblings are living from her family.
"Only two are living; Mary in California and Charles in Maize," she said.
"I married Earl Wilson on Jan.16, 1931 during the Depression. Those were hard times. Jobs were scarce. We moved to the farm in 1940 and I've lived there ever since. Life was better moving to the farm. Eventually we bought the farm and at least we made a living there," she said.
"We had six kids, Earlene (Wilson Sales) who lives in Texas; Raymond (Wilson) who lives in California; Richard (Wilson, now deceased), Rhonda (Wilson Winship) who lives in Overland Park; Judy (Wilson Ramsey) is on a farm close to me and Bill (Wilson) is from Texas.
"We farmed 160 acres. Then you could make a living on 160, but you can't anymore," she said.
She said their family rules were "No lying and no stealing. That's the way I was raised. I had to do the spanking. There dad just talked," she said.
One memory of raising kids on the farm was her son, Richard, picking gooseberries and selling them for 25 cents a gallon.
"We also had a big strawberry patch. Earl liked to help me garden. Every spring, he'd plant another row of strawberries. I canned a lot, but sold some to neighbors. We'd pick them in a milk bucket. I'd take the milk bucket full to the house, while Earl picked. I poured them out on a round table and told the kids, 'When I come back I want them all done and I don't want them splattered on the walls' and they did it. But they hoped they never saw another strawberry as long as they lived," she said with a smile.
Wilson worked at Stroud's Store in Uniontown for a few years.
"But Earl was farming and said 'It's hard to come home and get my own dinner,'" she said, so she quit her job at Stroud's.
When her son, Bill, was a freshman at Uniontown High School she went back to work in town.
"The superintendent of schools asked if I'd come and work in the kitchen," she said. Wilson worked there for 16 years.
She is proud that all but one child attended college.
"That was important to me. The boys were in the Navy and when I 'd write, I'd tell them I hoped they were giving a lot of though to their future," she said.
Earl died on Dec.21, 1988.
"We were married for 59 years. We buried him the day before Christmas. My good friends at church fed us Christmas dinner down at the church," Wilson said.
The Uniontown Baptist Church was where Wilson was baptized and the family attended.
"I believe the Lord has given me the strength to go on. He watches over me. I've had good health all my life," she said.