Some of the places where Fishers spent time, where we lived, worked and played.
Bemis Brothers factory in Bemis (now part of Jackson) Tennessee. First established in the early 1900s, this cotton mill was where the Fisher family made the transition from a basically agrarian economy to the more steady paycheck of industry. Thomas Monroe Fisher and his older boys, Benton, Claude and Connie, began life long careers in the textile industry here. Up until this time, Tom Fisher had scratched a living from farming on the shares (raising crops for land owners, receiving lodging and a percentage of the crop in return) and cutting timber for wagon parts or barrel staves when that work was available. He worked hard at whatever he did and was considered a better than average farmer. He was in demand as a tenant farmer. But the cotton mill had something that farming and timbering could never provide and that was a steady dependable income. Once they began to work in the mill, they never went back to farming.
This house (pictured in 2001), at 15 Young St, Bemis, TN, is where Benton and Acenah Fisher made their home and raised 13 children. Benton worked at the cotton mill and then worked a shift as a projectionist at the local movie theater to provide for his growing family.
The old movie theater in Bemis, TN (pictured in 2001) was built, like most of the town of Bemis, by the company to provide for the entertainment of the community which was comprised of employees of the cotton mill.
When Tom Fisher moved his family from Tennessee to Texas in 1920 they went to work in the cotton mill at Bonham. The house pictured is one of several they lived in during their four year stay. The picture was made in 1998. The oldest son, Benton, went back to Tennessee and married Acenah Mills. Claude, the next oldest, soon met and married Lois Nicol. Connie began dating Leta. The family lived in the the lower floor and the upstairs was rented out for extra income. Tom's wife, Frances, was a good manager.
In 1924, they moved into a house like this one (pictured in 1998), behind the cotton mill at McKinney, Texas. Back then, these "mill houses" lined several streets in the area adjacent to the factory. In 1998, there were only two left standing.
This building, in McKinney, Texas (pictured in 1998) was the cotton mill where the Fishers worked when they lived there, 1924-1928. Chester Fisher, at age 14, got his first real job here. It was also here that Bert got sick
When Bert was diagnosed with cancer of the sinuses, he began to make weekly trips to Dallas for radiation treatments, when it became obvious that these treatments were doing no good, the family began to seek alternative treatment. Connie, who had married Leta, had moved to work in the Pioneer Mills cotton mill in Guthrie, Oklahoma. He wrote to his father, Tom Fisher, saying there was a doctor in that area who was having some success treating cancer, so Tom took Bert to Guthrie. Treatment was expensive and the whole family helped out. At one point, knowing they needed cash, Chester went to his boss at the McKinney mill and asked for an advance on his pay. The foremen told him he couldn't draw his pay unless he quit. That's what Chet did. He drew his pay and took money to Tom in Guthrie. The foreman in McKinney understood the situation and held his job for him till he came back. On one such trip, his Mother, Frances, wrote to him from McKinney informing him that he should find work in Guthrie because his job had been given to someone else. It wasn't long before the whole family had moved to Guthrie and been put to work in the cotton mill there. Frances was put in charge of the Pioneer Mills boarding house. Bert's condition continued to worsen. He kept working because he said it kept his mind off his problems. The family's religious life was a bit varied. Frances leaned toward her Mother's roots in the Church of Christ and the Christian Church. Claude, Chester and Kathlyn had been saved and baptized in the Pentecostal Church. Bert was saved in the Baptist Church and was counseled regularly by the local Baptist minister. This was the topic of conversation one day in the kitchen at the boarding house and Kathlyn asked the black lady who worked with them there what church she belonged to. "Oh", she said, "I'm a Baptist. It's the only church it says to join in the bible. The bible says, 'Join the Baptist'". As the summer of 1928 came to a close, it became all too obvious that nothing was going to stop the cancer that was killing Bert. In desperation, Tom Fisher bought a contraption that was advertised as a cure and marketed by a fellow in California. It was a coil of copper wire, in a circle about a yard in diameter and wrapped in cotton and leather. It carried an electrical current when plugged into a wall socket and the idea was to place the effected part of the body in the circle and let the tissues absorb the healing electricity. We don't know how much of their hard earned money was spent on this thing but it was of no value to Bert. It was called an Ionaco. Tom used it some and always said it seemed to soothe his aches and pains. Acceptance at last settled in and Bert made his final wishes known. He wanted to go back to Bemis with Benton and he wished to be laid to rest at Bonham, Texas. So Tom went with Bert back to Tennessee to stay with Benton and his family. On September 30, 1928, Bert passed away. They took him back to Texas and buried him in the Willow Wild Cemetery at Bonham.
Link to the last letter Bert wrote home.
By the summer of 1935, all the Oklahoma Fishers had moved on to Sand Springs, Oklahoma to work in the Commander Mills cotton mill there. Chester had met and married Martha Anderson in Guthrie. Tom and Frances were the last to get moved, in June of 1935 and Tom died the next day. They took him back to Guthrie for burial.
Commander Mills in Sand Springs, OK. The mill operated from about 1920 to 1964.
From 1913 to 1964, Fishers had worked in cotton mills in three states. In all that time, Tom Fisher and/or one or more of his children were employed in a cotton mill.
Check stub from a week's pay in 1937. Jesse Weaver was the daughter of Aunt Lula Roark Weaver.
Kathlyn Fisher, on the right, with a co-worker in the spinning room at Commander Mills.
The Star theater was one of two movies in downtown Sand Springs. The other show was the Harmony theater. The shows changed twice a week, on Sunday and Wednesday. Many a Fisher spent many a Saturday afternoon at the Star. (Raton Pass was released in 1951)
Hottest ticket in Sand Springs.
Actually, this is one of the more expensive tickets sold for a show at the Star. A kid could get in for a dime for many years before the price started gradually climbing.