Bruce and Halley had no children of their own, but adopted Alexander Forrest, born 1884, son of Samuel Dickenson Forrest and Cynthia Belcher, after his mother died in 1886. Alexander appears in the 1900 household of Bruce and Halley as Forrest Lee.

Bruce married 2nd LaDora (Baker) Johnson April 22, 1919


The following excerpt is taken from a book called Dear Christy written by Christine Cooper Moon (p 96):


One summer when I was about twelve years old, we were
spending some weeks at Mama Gran s house and decided to walk
across the pasture to a neighbor s pond. The old people who
owned the pond were really only cousins to Mama Gran, but I
always called them "Aunt Hallie" and "Uncle Bruce/*

Aunt Hallie came down to the pond to visit with us while we
fished, saying, "Jest thought Yd saunter down to watch a spell/

With that she sat down on the bank, pulled a little clay pipe
from the pocket of her full-gathered skirt and, after filling it with
tobacco from a small cotton sack, began puffing contentedly.
Well, that was the first time in all my twelve years of life I d
seen a woman smoke and a pipe at that! IVe since learned that
many of the older women smoked, especially in the pioneer
days, but smoking wasn t common in central Missouri in the
early 1900 s until women began smoking cigarettes a few years
later, following World War I,

Later, after we had had good luck pulling out little catfish
and perch, ranging in sizes from six to twelve inches long, we
decided to quit fishing. Taking our poles with their cord lines,
corks and sinkers, we rolled the lines along the length of the
poles, stuck the sharp fishhooks into the old corks, and leaned
the poles up against the fence. Then we emptied the remainder
of the fat fishing worms from the old tin can out into the pond.

Aunt Hallie said, "I jest took a fresh baking of bread out of
the oven before I sauntered down, so iffen you ll come up to the
house I ll give you a fresh loaf to take home with you to eat
with your fish for supper."

When we got to the house Aunt Hallie cut a thick slice of still



97

warm bread from the big loaf; then, placing a covered glass
butterdish of homemade butter along with a black bone-handled
knife near me, she said, "Now, eat your fill."

In the meantime, Mama Gran had decided to buy a pound of
freshly-churned country butter from Aunt Hallie. The butter was
twenty cents for a big pound-mold of butter. This mold was
round and had the imprint of a flower on the top, with leaves
and fancy designs around the edges. The butter was made from
rich sweet cream, beyond description in its goodness. Mama
Gran handed Aunt Hallie a fifty-cent piece, so Aunt Hallie went
over to the old flour chest, raised the lid, rolled up her sleeve
and shoved her arm, shoulder-deep, into the flour, bringing up a
little drawstring money pouch from which she produced the cor
rect change. This was something novel in the way of a hiding
place for money, to say the least.

Aunt Hallie and Uncle Bruce were the quaintest and dearest
little old couple imaginable. They were a childless couple who
loved all children. She dressed in an old-fashioned style, even
for those days of the early 1900 s. Her dresses were of the old
Mother Hubbard style, hanging full and straight from the yokes
of the long-sleeved waists. Over this Mother Hubbard, Aunt
Hallie wore a checked gingham apron tied around her waist, the
apron strings ending in a big bow at the back. On her head she
usually wore an old split bonnet. Her gloves were half-handers
(gloves with open finger ends), made of a black mesh-like mate
rial which was hand-knit. She carried with her a fancy little
woven basket with a double handle which she could slip over
her arm. She held this on her lap whenever she rode to town in
the buggy.

In the basket would be a few pounds of fresh-churned,
molded butter "pats" to exchange at the grocery store in turn for
the few things they needed, such as salt, sugar and coffee. The
farm yielded almost everything else, in one form or another. The
corn for corn meal, the wheat for flour, were taken to the mill
to be ground and made into these products. Even the coffee
was sometimes bought as beans, while still green, then roasted
and ground. Aunt Hallie was one of those housewives who clung



to the old ways though they were no longer necessary. Because
they had been customary when she was young, she still con
tinued these practices. Salt was more often bought by the big
bairelful on these farms.

Aunt Hallie and Uncle Bruce had developed one modern
taste they both liked pineapple; and on the trips I remember,
large cans of pineapple were always included on their list of
things to get from the store with their butter money and the
money from the case of eggs they also carried to town.

Uncle Bruce was just as picturesque as Aunt Hallie. He had
white chin whiskers that grew on up the sides of his face; and
about all of his face that could be seen were his big kind eyes,
his nose, and his lips that were full and rosy-red above the
whiskers. He wore homemade blue gingham shirts, and galluses
( suspenders ) to hold up the old, nondescript black wool trousers
that had probably not been pressed for years. These were his
"going-to-town pants." For everyday wear he wore black cotton
trousers of a washable material, which Aunt Hallie kept "done
up." On his head in summer he wore a wide-brimmed, cheap
straw hat; and in winter he wore an old black plush cap, turned
brownish from age.

Every Saturday it was their custom to go over to town three
miles away, driving in their old buggy pulled by one old horse
that plodded along the road with its head hanging dejectedly
low. Neither they nor the horse ever seemed to get in a hurry,
and every Saturday, rain, or shine, they stopped by Mama Gran s
house to see if she would like anything from town. Whether
Mama Gran had sent for anything or not, they always drove up
near the back door when they returned to visit awhile. They
just sat with folded arms in their buggy while they talked. On
days when I would be visiting at Mama Gran s, there would
also be a little paper sack of hoarhound candy they had gotten
in town for me.