They used the old type of Lion Brand coffee at two pounds for a quarter, and the usual stick of candy once a month or so. They had plenty of eggs and bread, for Mrs. Curwood raised hens and young chickens. Above all else, the neighbors nearby thought the world of the Curwoods and considered them “real, down-to-earth country people.”
As the winter of 1886 at last settled over them, Jimmie’s father and his family settled down to a long, cold winter, snug and secure in their own home, which by now was nearly paid for. The migration to Ohio had proved itself successful in every respect. No longer did Jimmie persist in his childish devilment, for there was neither the place nor the time for it.
CHAPTER TWO
A CHANGE COMES ABOUT
At the beginning of the winter of 1886 Jimmie found a new friend in Clarence “Skinny” Hill, a new boy who had moved into the neighborhood. Despite this newly formed friendship, “Whistling Jeanne” remained Jimmie’s great comfort. For no matter how tired he might be at the end of the day he could always turn to her for encouragement and fun.
Usually their nightly visits would begin just as darkness would settle over the Ohio countryside. In the winter they would sit before the great open fireplace and talk and plan. By summer they would be sitting on the Fisher’s front porch steps and watch the sun sink beneath the western horizon and twilight creep upon the world.
For it was there on the Fisher front steps that Jimmie and his Jeanne would dream and plan for the future. Many are the nights that these two were to be found there, with Jeanne telling him what would be the wisest thing to do and how to set about doing it. He always listened attentively and throughout his life he never forgot what she told him. To him her words were words of wisdom and law, and he knew she was right. She never told him anything that wasn’t true. Of this he was sure.
It was just about this time in Jimmie Curwood’s life that everything which was to prove itself worthwhile later in his life’s work began to unfold.
Through constant reading, thinking and planning he had developed a mania for wanting to see stories of his own in print by setting the words down himself. Many were the times that his parents would have to speak to him a dozen or more times a night in order to get him to turn out the lights and go to bed. Seldom did Jimmie mind them on this account if he could get around it, for by now he was deeply engrossed in his childish writing career.
As for his ravenous reading, the boy could not put a book down until he had read completely through it and thoroughly understood it. He craved to express himself on paper and tried desperately to develop characters such as those of famous writers whose stories he had read.
His appreciative sense of good writing at that age was truly unusual.
Like every other youngster Jimmie had to have his play as well as his work. Thus his playtime had to cut in on his writing somewhat. So he alternated his time between Jeanne, Skinny, his writing and his working hours. Through this routine he managed to keep himself quite busy throughout the day. At times he felt as if he had too much to do, but still he enjoyed it all for life had taken on a new meaning.
As each succeeding day passed by the little farm began to mean more to him than just a place in the country where hard labor was prevalent; it became, instead, a place where one’s creative and imaginative powers could function more properly. At that age little Jimmie Curwood, the former “Tom Sawyer” of Owosso, was hoping for solitude so that he could think more clearly and thus be able to turn his characters into more lifelike people.
The remainder of that year passed rather uneventfully until the day of his eighth birthday. On that day his father presented him with his first gun, a brand new rifle.
The most amusing and yet the most serious incident that occurred in all of Jimmie’s young life while on the farm in Ohio, was the night that he “got religion.” He was nine years old.
It seems that a certain “Parson Brown” was holding revival meetings at the little town of Joppa, which was just a mile distant from the Curwood farm. Jimmie decided to see what it was all about. He had heard his parents speak of “the meetings” that were being held in Joppa, quite often. That night he trudged across the open fields, half afraid and hardly knowing what to expect.
That night at Joppa, in the little country church as the excitement grew to a fever’s pitch, Jimmie sat back and listened intently until he could no longer suppress himself. He jumped up from his seat and ran to the front of the church proclaiming that he had been saved and that the Holy Ghost had entered his body and soul.
Young Jimmie was truly inspired and this incident played an important part in his later life.
Until that moment his ideas concerning God and Heaven above had been practically the same as those of any other normal boy or girl. That heaven was just a place where all good people go, and that God was their protector. Tonight all this was changed and at the age of nine years Jimmie Curwood had already found God. It was a wonderful thing for this lad to be able to do, and it must have remained as an inspiration with him all the days of his life. Little did he realize, however, the predicament it would get him into in the days to come.
At that meeting when he rushed to the front of the church to Parson Brown proclaiming his faith and his belief, all eyes, of which there were many, were focused upon the figure of the small boy. Pleasing smiles came to every face when they discovered that a small boy was claiming his Maker. It was a wonderful sight as the Parson led the congregation in prayer and in song for the young boy as he knelt there before the improvised altar. This was the important thing in his young life that led Jim Curwood to the heights of success he later attained. For he admitted to the public many years later this same admission of faith.
“It was only through God Almighty that I have reached the pinnacle of fame and success that I have.”
Shortly after the meeting had been adjourned, with the usual benediction, Jimmie cut across the fields and through the dark woods that he had heretofore been afraid to cross at night. He felt no fear, for the spirit of the Holy Ghost was strong within him. He was reported to have said a few days later:
“An angel went with me.”
From all indications one is led to believe that the angel that guided and went with him was none other than the lovely Jeanne Fisher.
The following morning Jimmie awakened still feeling strong with the religious spirit.
He felt strong with the spirit which had entered his body the night before and he wanted the whole world to know all about it. Little did he realize the blow that his inflated and loving disposition was to receive in a short time. His parents thought it fine for this thing to have happened to their son, but at the same time felt that other people might object to it. Unfortunately enough, Jimmie could not control himself and so to his schoolmates he told of his wonderful experience. As he spoke of the new faith that had become his, his schoolmates promptly laughed in his face.
“Ha! Ha! You’re crazy, Jimmie Curwood. You’re crazy!”
Then everyone took up the chant. On that day Jimmie found himself involved in a total of five different fights, for he could not stand to have anyone say that he was crazy because he believed in something which was wonderful and something which had taken possession of his mind, body and soul. However, like all youngsters eventually come to find, Jimmie found that the flesh is weaker than the soul. From that day forth Jimmie was still given drubbings from time to time.
During those hectic days one person other than his family stood beside him to comfort and