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| Robert Polley's birthplace. The house was purposely burned in 2010. |
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| Robert Polley's birthplace as seen from the south. The house was burned under control. |
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| Robert Polley's birthplace as seen from the north. |
From there, my family moved to the Applegate Place over by Niblick Cemetery [this is just west of the current farm, then north up a dirt road about two miles]. The plat maps show this being owned by Albert A. Applegate and Clara A. Applegate (Miller).
From there, we moved to Tom Young’s place when I was two years old.
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| Tom Young's Place, north of Eminence Christian Church, being remodeled in 2012 |
Then from age three to age nine, we lived at the George Quisinberry Place just south of Kickapoo Creek. I attended Mount Zion school which was a 1.9-mile walk each way. I usually chose to take the road instead of the (shorter) fields due to the mud and numerous fences I had to cross. "This was a one-room schoolhouse, and you could actually get pretty smart by listening to the teacher when she taught the other grades. I remember my teacher catching two boys whispering in class one day. She went right over there and caught them and slapped one of them right upside the face! I never whispered in that class."
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| Mount Zion School, just east of George Quisinberry's farm |
"I can remember the flood of 1929. Boy, that water came all the way up out of the creek right up to the house." "I can also remember my mother and the others crying on the front porch here when Kenny died. There used to be a porch on the front of this house here, and that addition on top did not exist." [Kenny was born June 26, 1926, and died September 24, 1928]. "I can also remember walking out drinks and food to my dad in the field here" [just south of the home]. "I also used to have to walk to school every day."
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| The site of the old Mt. Zion School, east of George Quisinberry's farm |
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| George Quisinberry's Farm, just south of Kickapoo Creek |
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| George Quisinberry's House, though the top addition did not exist during the Polleys' stay |
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| 1930 United States Census showing the Polley family while on the George Quisinberry farm |
George Quisinberry came to my dad and told him that he would like to farm the land himself, so we had to move yet again. We moved to Ben Wade's place just east of Atlanta, Illinois, a few miles to the north of the Quisinberry farm. I attended Clear Creek School where I finished fourth grade. I had to walk two miles to school, through the snow, rain, whatever, uphill both ways [This statement is frighteningly true! The distance is exactly 2.0 miles, and it is literally uphill both ways!] I attended Atlanta Elementary School for 5th and 6th grade. I would also walk to the Atlanta school from the Wade place.
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| The site of the old Clear Creek School, just east of Atlanta, Illinois |
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| The Ben Wade place after purchased by Arthur Begolka (1955 picture) |
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| The old Ben Wade farm with the house recently destroyed (it was in existence in 2011) |
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| The Ben Wade Farm prior to home being destroyed, Atlanta, Illinois |
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| The George Opperman Farm, northeast of Lincoln |
George told my dad about a farm over by Meredosia, though. My dad bought those 80 acres out in Chambersburg on the Illinois River, so we moved out there in order to farm that piece of land. Henry Bock, our neighbor just south of George Quisinberry, was just the best neighbor you could ask for. He had five sons and also trucks, and his sons used those trucks to move our family out to Chambersburg in 1940. The land was not available when we arrived, so we had to wait until the spring. The owner then decided not to sell, so my dad had to get a lawyer in order to get his money back. We never did get the land, but I stayed until the harvest was done that fall.
The following 1940 census shows Robert Polley (aged 15 years) and family living in Chambersburg Township. His father Alva is a farmer working the land and paying $10 rent each month for the home.
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| 1940 United States Census of Chambersburg Township, Pike County, Illinois |
So I started my junior year at Chambersburg High School, but in November after the corn harvest, we moved back to Atlanta, just north of Eminence Christian Church. Henry Bock's sons would again help us move back. We would live with Frank Ferguson (my cousin) on his farm. I attended Armington Hittle Township High School for 11th and 12th grade and graduated in 1942 at the age of 17. I could ride a bus to school in the morning, but I went out for baseball, and those of us on the sports teams had to walk home. We were living at the Ferguson place when we learned that Pearl Harbor had been attacked in 1941.
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| The Ferguson Farm in 1955 |
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| The Ferguson Place today, just north of Eminence Christian Church |
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| The Ferguson Place |
After I graduated, I spent the summer shucking corn. I worked for Fred Zollars on his 200 acres. The work consisted of milking two cows, taking care of horses, cutting weeds, working hay, and other jobs. Fred had a stationary baler, and a bull rake with two horses. One day I got my rake caught and reached in to get it. Fred immediately grabbed my arm and said, "Bob, I can get a new rake, but I can't get a new you." Without Fred, I may have lost my hand that day!
I would live with Fred Zollars throughout the week, and Mom and Dad would pick me up on the weekends. We would attend church together on Sunday.
I would also work for Henry Amburst on his farm just down the road from the Zollars' farm, helping work the hay. [Unbeknownst to Robert Polley, he would later own this farm himself...this is the 80 acres.]
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| The 80 acres farm owned by Maggie Houser (1955) |
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