All Anybody Ever Wanted of Me Was to title: Work : The Memoirs of Edith Bradley Rendleman Shawnee Books author: Rendleman, Edith Bradley.; Adams, Jane publisher: Southern Illinois University Press isbn10 | asin: 0809319314 print isbn13: 9780809319312 ebook isbn13: 9780585029658 language: English Illinois--Social life and customs, Illinois-- Rural conditions, Tenant farmers--Illinois-- Social conditions, Rendleman, Edith subject Bradley,--1898---Childhood and youth, Women--Illinois--Biography. publication date: 1996 lcc: F546.R46 1996eb ddc: 977.3/903/092 Illinois--Social life and customs, Illinois-- Rural conditions, Tenant farmers--Illinois-- subject: Social conditions, Rendleman, Edith Bradley,--1898---Childhood and youth, Women--Illinois--Biography. Shawnee Books Also available in this series The Next New Madrid Earthquake A Survival Guide for the Midwest William Atkinson Vicarious Thrills A Championship Season of High School Basketball Paul E. Bates Vernacular Architecture in Southern Illinois The Ethnic Heritage John M. Coggeshall and Jo Anne Nast The Flag on the Hilltop Mary Tracy Earle A Nickel's Worth of Skim Milk A Boy's View of the Great Depression Robert J. Hastings A Penny's Worth of Minced Ham Another Look at the Great Depression Robert J. Hastings The Music Came First The Memoirs of Theodore Paschedag As Told to Thomas J. Hatton Southern Illinois Coal A Portfolio C. William Horrell Always of Home A Southern Illinois Childhood Edgar Allen Imhoff Heartland Blacksmiths Conversations at the Forge Richard Reichelt Fishing Southern Illinois Art Reid A Southern Illinois Album Farm Security Administration Photographs, 19361943 Herbert K. Russell All Anybody Ever Wanted of Me Was to Work The Memoirs of Edith Bradley Rendleman Edited by Jane Adams Southern Illinois University Press Carbondale & Edwardsville Copyright © 1996 by the Board of Trustees Southern Illinois University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 99 98 97 96 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rendleman, Edith Bradley, 1898- All anybody ever wanted of me was to work: the memoirs of Edith Bradley Rendleman/edited by Jane Adams. p. cm.(Shawnee books) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. IllinoisSocial life and customs. 2. Illinois Rural conditions. 3. Tenant farmersIllinoisSocial conditions. 4. Rendleman, Edith Bradley, 1898Childhood and youth. 5. WomenIllinoisBiography. I. Adams, Jane (Jane H.). II. Title. F546.R46 1996 977.3'903'092dc20 [B] 94-37252 ISBN 0-8093-1931-4 ISBN 0-8093-2059-2 (pbk.) CIP Title page photo: Edith Bradley Rendleman, 1995. Geneva Wiggs Photography The paper used in this publication meets the minimumrequirements of American National Standard for InformationSciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed LibraryMaterials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. TO MY PARENTS Elijah Bradley and Sarah Penrod Grammer Bradley Contents Plates ix Editor's Preface xi Map 1 xvii Union County in the Mid-Nineteenth Century Map 2 xix Union County in 1900 Map 3 xx The World of Edith Bradley Rendleman's Memoirs Introduction 1 Jane Adams 1. The Hard World I Was Born Into 24 2. First Memories of Home 36 3. Spice Cake and Fried Squirrel 51 4. Bringing in the Harvest 66 5. Farm Chores and High Jinks 83 6. A One-Room School with a Potbellied Stove 94 7. "Jump, Edith!" 110 8. Having the Time of Our Lives 128 9. Bedbugs, Fleas, and Hired Hands 141 10. My World Comes Apart 152 11. Carrying On 176