Log Cabin Quilt Block
Betty and Raymond saved money and eventually made their home on a farm in Lexington, Indiana, but the purchase of their first farm was a test of patience. Laura Robbins and her brother inherited the Lexington farm Raymond and Betty wanted to buy. Laura wanted a new car, specifically, a blue four door Chevrolet. Her husband refused. Laura’s brother refused to sell the farm unless Raymond could get Laura’s husband to agree to the car.
Raymond, an employee of McCammon Prather Chevrolet, asked Mr. Prather about the situation. Mr. Prather told him to order the blue car saying it could always be put on the lot for sale if the Robbins decided not to buy it. Raymond delivered the car to Laura Robbins’s driveway and the sale of the farm was finalized.
Betty and Raymond saved half the money for the purchase of the farm, but they needed to borrow the remaining four thousand. The key to obtaining a loan at that time was to buy a farm with a tobacco base and they planned to raise the tobacco together. Betty didn’t really have very much to do; just restore the house, the yard, the garden, the kids, their clothes, the laundry and the meals………. so she tried to help with the tobacco. It turned out she was very allergic.
Raymond took on the farming, tobacco, and kept his full time job of sales. Raymond’s mother worried that her son had bitten off more than he could chew. Neighbor Grover Martin taught Raymond the art of raising tobacco and they eventually used the tobacco money to buy Betty’s first electric Singer sewing machine!
Many have speculated that Betty’s mother paid for their farms or at least gave them low interest loans. Those that know Raymond know his thriftiness, and those who knew Betty knew her resourcefulness, and those that know the family know they know how to work. Ruby did not supply funds, but there was a perk from having Ruby as a mother-in-law………….. they were able to “order the blue car” that started the whole thing.
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