This picture of Doug and Hattie Coley was probably taken before World War II ended in 1946 by the Navy uniform.  This picture might have been taken in front of Grandma Coleys home by the looks of the large tree in the front yard.  No paved street for sure.....

Doug and Hattie Coley around 1946, photo courtesy Charles Ackerman

Above picture of Uncle Doug while in the US Navy.  I remember Doug talking about his ship getting sunk in the Pacific and the survivors in the water for days before getting rescued.

Pix of Uncle Doug with his Number One Bird dog Jack.  I remember when ole Jack died.  Doug had him placed in a baby casket and buried him at his home on Maple Lane.  Jack was one awesome bird dog.  The little fellow with him is Aunt Mollie Bowers baby boy, Ricky. 

Doug Coley and his bird dog Jack.

Doug and Mollie Bowers April 1956

The Coley Klan with spouses taken April 1956.  Eloise Coley and Mollie Bowers the only ones left!

Below a few pixs of Doug at Grandma Coleys home place back in the mid to late 1960s and will insert a few here, of which I already have a hyperlink to a couple of them on the  memories from the past page home page.

The Cedar Wardrobe in the back ground was made by William Coley, brother of Jesse Mack Coley.

I went quail hunting with Uncle Doug Coley many times and he was an awesome shot with a gold trigger Browning Sweet Sixteen gauge shotgun that had a Poly-Choke on it.  Aunt Hattie prepared BBQ quail that was boiled in BBQ sauce and served them over a bed of white rice of which was outstanding and fall off the bone good!  I have never been able to harvest enough wild quail to make a large serving of them since I have never owned a bird dog.  I have the Winchester model 67 single shot .22 caliber rifle that he once owned and gave it to me, however when I came back home from a two year of duty in Morocco, Africa in 1967, the rifle wasn't in my gun cabinet and later found it in the Old Ben Deese Pawn Shop that was beat and banged up; looked like it had been through a hay bailing machine and purchased it for something like 20 bucks.  Still shoots true to this day though!

Doug would raise quail from the eggs and turn the adults loose back in the wild at Joel Price's farm in Lilesville and other select locations.  Dr. Sorrel had a home and cabin near Smith's Creek (old Wheel Barrow Road) of which has been renamed Dr. Sorrel Road and he also raised quall to release back into the wild as well.  I helped Uncle Doug lay some stones around the ends of a large metal culvert pipe under the road going to Dr. Sorrel's home back in the late 1950s to 1961.  Doug also raised Pheasants back in the middle 1950s but don't remember what he did when them; release, sell or eat them.

I still have fond memories although at the time it didn't seem "fond" of processing our own hogs and cleaning out the intestines of Mr. Pig to stuff the sage and red pepper sausage into the hog casings.  It took the better part of a day to do all the processing for a couple of large hogs weighing from 200 to 600 lbs. each and a Yorkshire will go grow much heavier than that in a single season.  My Uncle Douglas Ross Coley was in charge of this and wish I had paid more attention to the details but that is youth for you!  Most everything was used except the hog's squeal and hair.  Finished products such as salt and brown sugar cured hams, hot link sausage, liver pudding, liver mush and souse meat to name a few of the items; even the brains for fresh brains and eggs...go ahead and grin or squirm.  There was a large wooden "salt" box on the back of Grandma Coley's back screened in porch used during the salt curing process of the hams.  Many rural homes/farms during that time period had a wooden or block/brick smokehouse with a dirt floor for the processing and curing of meat also.  

Myself and Brother Allen would work with Uncle Doug and Uncle Baxter Bowers during the summer months who were brick masons and we mostly rolled the bricks and mortar, helped build scaffolds, mix mortar, etc.  Doug had me laying brick to the line when I was around 16 years old but it didn't take too many summers of that type of manual work to realize I definitely wasn't going to become a brick mason.   Doug paid myself $ 5.00 a week and Allen $ 2.50 a week and Doug sure got the better end of that deal not having to hire an extra full time employee and pay them regular wages.  The average minimum wage in 1960 was $ 1.00 per hour.  I was working with Uncle Doug one summer in the early 1960s when the ole Pickle Factory now Wansona was having renovations done with Mr. Tom Little the Contractor,  Uncle Doug and maybe Baxter doing the brick work and I was helping them at the time, whereas at the end of the Week, Mr. Tom Little "slipped" me a twenty dollar bill and said to buy myself a suit of clothes.  I am sure the light bulb came on as to being very under paid for the manual labor that I was doing.  I didn't buy a suit of clothes with the twenty dollar bill as advised by Mr. Tom Little but purchased a .22 caliber bolt action repeating rifle from Sears and Roebuck Company....grin if you must! 

I will take the Brain over Brawn work any day of the week as far as earning a living goes of which I have pretty much done that since getting out of service until my retirement in March of 2012......grin if you must!  There isn't anything wrong with a career that entails manual labor and without those type of professions, we would still be back in the Stone Ages!  There is a huge demand for plumbers, electricians, heating and air, carpenters, etc., since much of the current folks want to sit behind the screen of a computer, laptop, IPad or IPhone and create calloused buttocks instead of their hands and there is a good chance carpal tunnel syndrome is lurking down the road for their hands!

I would get invited over for a T-Bone Steak meal and Aunt Hattie prepared the steaks in the oven broiler.  She served sides of sautéed onions and potato wedges that were boiled first and then deep fried, drained on paper towels and topped with butter.  The steaks would melt in your mouth!

Aunt Hattie Coley also taught yours truly how to tell time as a young lad and that was several decades before the digital clocks.

Below is a pix of Doug and my Mom with some string art that Doug had finished and made for her while he was in the VA hospital in Salisbury.  Doug suffered from alcoholism and most of the pictures you see of him, he has a cigarette in his hand and that is proven to be bad for your health as well.  Doug had a heart of gold when sober and a very caring, loving and giving person and cancer finally took his life. 

Photo courtesy of my lovely sister Susan Pettigrew of Reidsville, NC.

Below are pictures that Aunt Mollie Bowers took of Doug on his birthday April 24, 1982 and my sister SusieQ had copies of them in one of her photo albums which I scanned today.  They are mounted under plastic acetate that has stuck to the picture so had to scan it with the plastic on top of it and they came out exceptional well for their present condition.

Doug and his wife Hattie Coley 1982.

Doug with his birthday cake that my bride aka Joyce Porter made for him with a picture of a bird dog on the cake.  He managed a small grin on that pix too!

Another pix of Uncle Doug and Aunt Hattie Coley in 1982.

Doug with Mickey Porter 1982.

Doug with my brother Joe Porter taken in 1982.

Doug and Aunt Mollie Bowers 1982.

Doug while he was still in high school, worked part time for a general contractor named Coke Ingram who was also a brick mason.  Doug also trained under a stone mason named Rufus Thompson, whereas Doug used those skills later to become a top brick mason in the county.  

Doug died on June 26, 1982 only 56 years old.  Doug and Hattie did not have any children together.  I can't help but get sad each time I post some of the ole pixs of family and friends that are now deceased and it makes myself more acutely aware of just how short life really is and to enjoy each and every day the best we can and give God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, the praise, glory and honor in all things.

Web published updates by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 06-22-15, 06-28-15, 06-30-15, 07-01-15, 07-06-15, 07-20-15, 07-25-15 and 08-21-15.