Johnston Family Stories, told by Tataw...

I remember when I was a teenager, there was a well at the Johnston place. It was about 3 ft high with wood around it and a lid. It was about 60 feet deep. One night, our dog jumped on and fell in. Daddy heard her the next day swimming around. He let me down on the well bucket and put a board on it. He let me down by hand and I was a teenager at the time. I hooked the rope on the dog and he pulled her out. Then he let me out next. Mom was about to have a fit.

The Johnston family homesteaded. They had orchards and raised fruit. It was a big operation. They had orchards all around. They had a concrete tank they built under the ground they'd keep oil in. When I was young, they'd quit using it. Once someone had set the oil inside on fire. They used the oil to light smudge pots to use to keep the crops from freezing.

Uncle Ned Johnston was dating a girl and they were planning on getting married later. They were going to build a house on top of that tank and use it as a basement. He ended up not marrying her, so that plan fell through. He didn't marry until he was up in his 30's.

I remember my uncles on my daddy's side made, "Home Brew" using some kind of berries. It was like a beer and it would take about a week to brew it. They would hide it out.