The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

The Callans and McClarys
was old enough to drive to
school himself, he went to sleep
once driving and ran off the
road.
Clinton started high school
in Blackwater but when the
depression hit he had to drop
out. He went another year at
Pilot Grove by staying in town
with his aunt Eva, and he eventually
graduated from Blackwater
High School in 1934 at age 20,
the oldest student in the class.
He wanted to go on to college
and his mother wanted him to be
a minister, but there was no
money for college. Representatives
from Bolivar Baptist College
came to discuss options, and
offered scholarship assistance.
But even if he had been able to
find work also, there still would
not have been enough money for
expenses and support of his
mother at home. He and Buster
had worked as farm laborers
from the time they were old
enough, and cut wood when they
did not have other employment.
But Buster did not go to high
school and had left home.
When Clinton was six he
got to go to the State Fair at
Sedalia, which was a very special
occasion:
“My Aunt Eva and I went
on the train from Pilot Grove,”
he once told Bert McClary. “She
bought me a ten-cent ring and
soon after I returned home, I
jumped out of the loft of the log
barn, caught the ring on a nail
and off came the little finger of
my right hand at the first joint.”
Stella said he cried and said “I’ll
never have no finger no more.”
The doctor tried to reattach
the finger, but was not successful.
It was treated all winter with
various remedies including German
green soap and burned
powdered alum. Stella said it stunk
and drained all the time. They
changed the dressings twice a day,
and sometimes he came home
from school at noon to change the
dressings. Bert recalls always being
aware that the finger was partly
missing, because when Clinton
drove a car or used a hammer, the
stump of his finger stuck out
without grasping. It was especially
noticeable when he wore gloves,
because the whole finger of the
glove would stick out.
When Clinton’s grandfather
(John) McClary was in his early
60s, he came to live with them.
He was “a great old man” and
Clinton learned much from him,
and probably respected him
more than his own father.
Clinton said “There were many
happy occasions during this
time—birthdays, church and
school picnics, and also 4 th of
July celebrations at Choteau
Springs, and family reunions.”
During the two years
Highway 40 was being built
through their neighborhood,
Clinton would take water from
the spring in a barrel to the
horses and workers. He would
also put watermelons in the
spring to cool, and sell them to
the workers.
Clinton dated various girls
while he was in high school,
sometimes with his brother
~ 74 ~
Buster, going to social events
such as dances at Choteau
Springs, or going to Boonville.
The family moved to the
Billingsville area in 1935. There
he met Helen Gerhardt, who
lived just down the road. Helen’s
brother Hubert, Bert’s namesake,
was killed in a hunting
accident in 1936. Stella and
Clinton took food to the family.
From that night on he and Helen
dated until they were married in
1938.
Stella and Clinton moved to
Boonville in the fall of 1936 and
Clinton started to work at the
Hamilton-Brown shoe factory.
When there was another opening
he “hounded his boss” until
they hired Stella also. During the
next several years he drove a
freight delivery truck and worked
in a laundry.
Helen and Clinton had five
children, born from 1941
through 1955: Judith Kathryn
(Judy); Hubert Clinton (Bert,
Nancy McClary’s father); Mary
Linda (Linda); Kathy Merlene,
and Jane Elizabeth (Janie).
Clinton continued to work
various blue collar jobs such as
freight delivery, clerk, and
duplicating machine serviceman
(in Columbia). In 1960 he was
employed by the City of
Boonville as meter foreman for
the water department, and
retired after about 20 more years
in this job. Helen did not work
outside the home, but did
supplement the income with inhome
work, specializing in
laundering and ironing curtains
and operating a day-care center
(the first licensed day-care center
in Boonville).
Clinton usually worked a
second job part-time and he also
mowed lawns in the summer.
The children all had jobs
through high school to provide
their own spending money.
Income was limited for this
family of seven but Clinton and
Helen managed to support four
children through college. Two
are nurses, two are pharmacists
and one is a medical transcriptionist.
In the families of the
children there are an additional
four nurses, a family practice
physician, a podiatrist, an anesthesiologist,
and two pharmaceutical
company representatives.
Clinton and Helen lived at
607 (later changed by the post
office to 513) LeRoy Street from
1942 to 1963, renting at an
unbelievably low cost. They
purchased the house in the late
1950s. They purchased a larger
house about one-half block away
in 1963.
Clinton always maintained a
very large garden during the
years the children were at home
because home-grown produce
was less expensive, but he continued
gardening throughout his life
because he enjoyed it. His
garden gave him much pleasure
and was almost a work of art in
the way he maintained it. The
children also got to help; they
remember many hours of pulling
weeds, “suckering” tomatoes,
and picking worms off the
vegetables. He had many flowers