Chester & Isabel Wood, Chemung, NY
Couple plans an old-time holiday,
written by Garth Wade, Star Gazette, Elmira, NY (December 20, 1980)
written by Garth Wade, Star Gazette, Elmira, NY (December 20, 1980)
There's going to be an old-fashioned Christmas at Chester and Isabel Wood's place on the Wynkoop Creek Road in the Town of Chemung. The artificial tree will stay in its box, replaced by one that grew in the woods. Some tree ornaments will be replaced by popcorn balls constructed by the Woods and their kin. And, says Isabel, there will be some riding down hill if the snow holds.
Isabel, 76, says she won't join the riding down hill gang. Not because it's beneath her dignity. "I can't find a hand sleigh," she said. "They've all got toboggans and I don't like 'em." Other than that, her biggest problem would be getting back up the hill because ailing knees have put a hitch in her git-along, she said.
Part of any Christmas is reflecting on past yuletides and Chester, 72, and Isabel have a lot to reflect on, good and bad.
The Woods live on the 100-acre farm where Isabel was raised. The couple raised four of their own on the same spread. Daughters, Frances, Dorothy and Mary and their families live nearby. Son, Chester Jr., lives in Elmira. All will gather at the homestead Christmas Day.
The elder Chester was born near Cortland and moved to Isabel's neighborhood at a young age. Both settled down to working for a living after they finished eighth grade.
Isabel is used to rugged work. She helped on the farm and drove a milk truck for nine years before she married Chester. The truck was a Model T Ford that Isabel used to pick up milk from farmers along Wynkoop Creek and deliver to a creamery in Chemung. Isabel's helper was her kid sister, the late Cecile Campbell. The sisters handled 100 to 150 milk cans a day, each weighing about 85 pounds. Isabel also worked alongside men firing the boiler at a saw mill. The boiler provided steam to power the saws. She worked in the cellar, the men worked upstairs, she said. "They didn't dare to come down, I'd hit them with a slab." You might say Isabel was a pioneer in the women's liberation movement. She did a man's work for a man's wage. "I don't believe in women's lib," she said. "If a woman wants to work, go ahead and work and keep her damn mouth shut."
Chester has worked a number of places including the state highway department and Kennedy Valve. His working career ended in 1965 while he was employed by the Chemung Town Highway Department. He was driving a tractor towing a stone rake on a dirt road when the tractor jumped out of gear on a hill. Chester says he was forced to ride it out after the brake failed. He couldn't jump because of barbwire and thorn brush on either side. The tractor went off the road after missing a last curve and safety. The rig mowed down one tree but disintegrated against a second tree. Chester ended up under the stone rake. His right leg was crushed and had to be amputated, his left leg was shattered. Today, Chester has an artificial leg but still needs crutches to get around. He uses a wheelchair around the house.
Tough life or not, Isabel is happy with the way her's has gone. "Why not? I don't know there's anything I'd change." Chester said, "I'd like to have her mother and father back. They were two people I thought the world of." He recalled how Isabel's folks watched the Wood's kids so he and his wife could work the fields and woods. One year, '39 or '40, Chester and Isabel and a neighbor cut 1,800 face cords of wood out of the nearby woods, Chester said. Isabel handled the team of horses that dragged the logs out of the woods, he said. Winter idleness gets to Isabel who likes to keep busy. She can't wait 'till spring so she can attack her garden again.
Meanwhile, Isabel says she'll sit around "cus him out." Chester says they hate each other. But you know it's not true because he says it with a grin, and because Isabel leaned over and gave him a smooch.
Isabel, 76, says she won't join the riding down hill gang. Not because it's beneath her dignity. "I can't find a hand sleigh," she said. "They've all got toboggans and I don't like 'em." Other than that, her biggest problem would be getting back up the hill because ailing knees have put a hitch in her git-along, she said.
Part of any Christmas is reflecting on past yuletides and Chester, 72, and Isabel have a lot to reflect on, good and bad.
The Woods live on the 100-acre farm where Isabel was raised. The couple raised four of their own on the same spread. Daughters, Frances, Dorothy and Mary and their families live nearby. Son, Chester Jr., lives in Elmira. All will gather at the homestead Christmas Day.
The elder Chester was born near Cortland and moved to Isabel's neighborhood at a young age. Both settled down to working for a living after they finished eighth grade.
Isabel is used to rugged work. She helped on the farm and drove a milk truck for nine years before she married Chester. The truck was a Model T Ford that Isabel used to pick up milk from farmers along Wynkoop Creek and deliver to a creamery in Chemung. Isabel's helper was her kid sister, the late Cecile Campbell. The sisters handled 100 to 150 milk cans a day, each weighing about 85 pounds. Isabel also worked alongside men firing the boiler at a saw mill. The boiler provided steam to power the saws. She worked in the cellar, the men worked upstairs, she said. "They didn't dare to come down, I'd hit them with a slab." You might say Isabel was a pioneer in the women's liberation movement. She did a man's work for a man's wage. "I don't believe in women's lib," she said. "If a woman wants to work, go ahead and work and keep her damn mouth shut."
Chester has worked a number of places including the state highway department and Kennedy Valve. His working career ended in 1965 while he was employed by the Chemung Town Highway Department. He was driving a tractor towing a stone rake on a dirt road when the tractor jumped out of gear on a hill. Chester says he was forced to ride it out after the brake failed. He couldn't jump because of barbwire and thorn brush on either side. The tractor went off the road after missing a last curve and safety. The rig mowed down one tree but disintegrated against a second tree. Chester ended up under the stone rake. His right leg was crushed and had to be amputated, his left leg was shattered. Today, Chester has an artificial leg but still needs crutches to get around. He uses a wheelchair around the house.
Tough life or not, Isabel is happy with the way her's has gone. "Why not? I don't know there's anything I'd change." Chester said, "I'd like to have her mother and father back. They were two people I thought the world of." He recalled how Isabel's folks watched the Wood's kids so he and his wife could work the fields and woods. One year, '39 or '40, Chester and Isabel and a neighbor cut 1,800 face cords of wood out of the nearby woods, Chester said. Isabel handled the team of horses that dragged the logs out of the woods, he said. Winter idleness gets to Isabel who likes to keep busy. She can't wait 'till spring so she can attack her garden again.
Meanwhile, Isabel says she'll sit around "cus him out." Chester says they hate each other. But you know it's not true because he says it with a grin, and because Isabel leaned over and gave him a smooch.