An Attempted Break-in, In The Middle of the Night

My father was a Methodist minister. We were living in the parsonage in Dancyville when the event I am about to tell happened.

Each November all the ministers in the Methodist Memphis Conference would convene for a week to end the year's business and pastorates be assigned. This was a very important event for all the Methodist ministers. Daddy would always arrange for one of his male friends to come to the parsonage the nights he was away, to protect us. When we lived in Dancyville his friend who always stayed with us was a fine young man, his church member Mr. Vernon Rogers. He was also available to help Daddy drive to his churches in bad weather as he was a skillful driver and my Dad could hardly guide a car in excellent weather, so "Mr. Vernon", as we children called him, was our family helpmate.

This particular November, Daddy had gone to Memphis to the Conference. The week prior to his leaving the churches had held their final year's business settlement and paid Daddy the balance of the year's salary, so he had left a few hundred dollars in cash in the bottom dresser drawer, intending to deposit it as soon as he returned. He never kept cash at home, and this was unusual that he did it this time. The community was small and it was generally known that the business settlement was made, as it was an annual custom.

The leaves had fallen on the yard from the maple trees and it was a bright moonlit night, this particular night. We had all been in bed several hours; it was around midnight or a little after when I was awakened by loud noises at the back door, sounding like intense efforts to break the locked door in. My mother had been awakened too, but described herself as being too paralyzed with fear and unable to speak. The instant I heard the awful noises I began screaming as loudly as I could, "MR. VERNON, MR. VERNON, GET THE GUN." (Daddy did not own a gun, but Mr. Vernon always brought his gun when he stayed as our protector.) Mr. Vernon heard me and jumped up and got the gun. We looked out the double windows in time to see two men rushing off in the leaves (moonlight made it visible).

We never knew if the men knew about the payment and suspected it might be in the house, of if there was another motive, but it was the most frightening thing I remember happening in my childhood. But thank goodness, I was able to scream and Mr. Vernon was there with us, and they were scared off without being banned.

The next day word spread throughout the small town that two black men had tried to break into the preacher's house.