William B. Roberts

Early childhood found me in a small Kentucky home with 5ft ceilings, dirt floors, a cistern for water, and an outhouse for personal matters. The most memorable moment was when Uncle John traded 12 good laying hens for a coon dog. Grandma hit the ceiling! That wasn t too hard to do, it being only 5 feet tall. Dad and mom moved a lot in those early years until Dad finally took a long spell in the hospital at age 3. Kind of got bounced around a bit from there until age 8. I think they call it orphan. Anyway, a great family took me in and gave me a downright proper upbringing. I got hooked up with 4-H and scraped up enough to buy myself a registered Jersey calf. It must of been a good pick because Ames Shalimars Beauty went on the win the Ozark Empire Fair and there I was a full blown celebrity at age 10...well, for 15 minutes. Wrapped up high school in 3 years and college in 3 1/2 years. Seemed I was in a big hurry. Signed a contract to teach 6th graders and settled into my profession when the Draft Board came calling saying they wanted me. I called them up and said, Fine by me but I signed a contract to teach school so you will have to wait until June. Draft Board snapped back, Your contract doesn t interest us, you ll report as ordered. So, I trotted down to the Naval Reserve and signed up to be a sailor, since I didn t particularly care for the way the Draft Board was ordering me around. Taught 6th grade another year and drove a stage coach that summer. Pete, Tobe, Beck, and Kate were my mules and we became great friends! Didn t really care for those sink or swim kisses, though! Ok, that is a joke...kind of hicky, right? Hey if you ain t smiling then stop reading now! That s an order soldier. Anyway, did a spell in the U.S. Navy. Bottom line, I should have been an officer. That s a whole other story we ll save for another time and space. I returned to teaching after military service, 4th grade, and within a few years started buying multi