This post covers our years in Westminster, leading up to the move to White Marsh. There isn’t much I remember about Westminster at this point, other than old photographs, Super 8 home movies, and family stories. I’m relying heavily on my mother’s memoirs and conversations with my father.
Note About Barbara Moten’s Memoirs
When my mother was diagnosed with stage four cancer, she asked what we wanted from her. I asked for her memories—written or recorded—because I realized I didn’t fully know her as a person. Over the course of a year, she poured herself into that work and gave me a large binder before she passed.
Her words now sit beside my own as I piece together my childhood. In some places, I’ve paraphrased her memories through my younger lens to keep the story moving, but her voice remains at the heart of it.
The journal is extensive. It took years to read, and some parts still hurt. Memories fade unless they are retold. Through these posts, I carry her voice forward alongside mine.
House Hunting
After my birth, my parents started looking for a home to live in. They didn’t have much luck with a real estate agent; he would only show them townhouses where my father grew up. My parents went to Westminster to look at a house in the paper. It was about 100 years old, sat close to the road, had a one-car garage, a smokehouse, and a storage shed. It sat on an acre of land, an hour and a half from my grandparents.
Transitioning
My parents gave notice at the apartment where they were living, and they would be moving out. When my father went to the closing in March, he was told he couldn’t qualify for the loan until he was 21, which was two weeks away on April 11th. Since notice was already given at the apartment, we ended up living in my maternal grandparents’ camper.
The Move
We moved around April 1976. The house’s layout was a bit odd, with two front doors. To get to the bathroom, you had to go upstairs and through the bedroom. The grate in the bathroom floor looked down on the stove.
The Da Da Ac Do
My dad purchased a Farmall M and had to drive it 30 miles back home in the cold. He plowed up the back yard and planted a large garden. I used to say “Da Da Ac Do”, which was “Daddy Tractor.” The tractor was kept in the garage while the cars were parked in the driveway beside the shed.
Heating & Insulation
The house had the original cedar-shake roof, which had to be redone in 18 squares while Mom was pregnant with my brother. At that time, the attic was also insulated, and more floorboards were added. The house was heated with oil. To keep from running out of fuel, Dad purchased a Franklin Wood Stove from Montgomery Ward. My parents would sleep in the living room during the winter, keeping the stove going. My brother and I slept in the room just above the wood stove. The back bedroom would be closed off, helping save on heating costs.
Finding The Light
One of my mother’s recollections was that she had a pole lamp with two separate lights shining on the cribs of my brother and me. The light wouldn’t turn on. When she turned on the other light over my crib, I was found holding the missing light bulb.
Fifteenfold Bitten
Later, when we had our own beds, Mom ran up to the room when my brother was screaming. She found that I had bitten him 15 times. As a result, she rigged up a zip-a-babe (Baby zipper harness/leash) for me to wear at night so I couldn’t bite him. My paternal grandmother was distraught when she found out, and children’s services came out to investigate. Mom showed them that I couldn’t reach the box of toys under my bed while wearing it. This seemed to satisfy the lady.
Play Yard
A play yard was built beside the house, where the cars were parked. There was a swing set and a latched gate, so Mom didn’t have to worry about us getting into the road or the crops. Part of this is that there was a flowerbed along the house, and I got into the cactus where needles were all over my belly once. A neighbor helped Mom remove the needles.
Toddlers on the Roof
The house had no air conditioning. Slider screens in the windows helped circulate air. A state trooper stopped by one summer to let my mother know my brother and I were on the porch roof. Mom shouted our middle names, heard us scrambling back inside, and then came downstairs. At that point, the officer said “Good day,” and turned away. Mom asked us if we wanted to go out and play, and quickly followed up that we had already been out, so no swings today. We didn’t go out on the roof after that.
A Homestead with Pets
Dad had a dog, Fanny. Mom also had a dog named Kelly. There were other animals, including meat rabbits bred and chickens for eggs. Sometimes my parents would sell the extra eggs. We had an incubator to hatch the eggs, and my parents would candle them and turn them every day until it was time to watch them hatch.
Mr. Barnette and a Puppy
Barnett lived across the street. One day, his horse got loose and came over to our animals. Their children were playing with my brother and me, and told Mom about the horse. She grabbed an apple and some carrots, told everyone to stay back, and lured the horse with them, then grabbed the harness. The neighbor’s kids grabbed some rope out of the shed, and Mom walked him back to a fenced area. Mom tied him to the fence. Mr. Barnette came by later and asked if our family would like a puppy. Someone had given the puppy to his daughter, who worked at the hospital. Neither Mr. Barnette nor his daughter could keep it. The dog was called Barnett, and sometimes, jokingly, Varmit.
Note: I believe this is the dog I came to know as Barnie.
A Goat Named Quartnee
My brother and I drank the milk quickly, so my parents got a White Saanen goat that gave a quart at each milking twice a day, named Quartnee. My mom was no longer running to the store every few days for more milk as our family was becoming more self-sufficient. Dad always had cream for his coffee, and Mom started making cheese with the extra milk. Quartnee needed to be bred once a year, and she ended up having four baby kids, which were sold off to make some money.
A Buck for Breeding
Later, my parents got a buck for Quartnee to breed with. He used Fanny’s old doghouse. At one time, the goat kicked the back side of his house off. Mr. Smith was going to fix it after work. My Aunt visited, asking to take my brother and me down to our paternal grandmother’s house. Mom declined, as we had a doctor’s appointment the next day. My Aunt noticed and asked about the doghouse, and Mom told her Mr. Smith intended to fix it. Someone from animal control showed up the next day to take a look, but it had already been fixed. Mom was upset with my Aunt for calling Animal Control on her.
Bumper Crop
We had a bumper crop of corn, and parents picked 20 dozen to sell to their parents and coworkers. They both got orders for 40 dozen ears for the next day. They got up early the next day to fulfill the orders. Later, the rest were canned.
Oil Lamps
During the power outages, it took quite some time for power to be restored. After a nearby house was hit by a tornado, Mom asked Dad for some oil lamps for Christmas. She would find they were more efficient when set before mirrors, reflecting more light.
During power outages, our house became the place for neighbors to come. We had a wood stove, oil lamps, and games. Everyone else’s houses were electric, so they couldn’t cook. Neighbors would bring their children to watch my brother and me, keeping us busy and helping Mom relax. For dinner, the older kids would be instructed to pull some jars from the canning shelves. A big pot on the wood stove would be used to make wonder soup with tomatoes, corn, green beans, potatoes from the fridge, onions, meat from the freezer, and noodles from storage.
Demolishing the Living Room Wall
The living room was fairly large, but there was a wall near the back. There was a hallway behind it, but you had to go out of the kitchen into the laundry area, then down the hallway to reach a storage room. My parents decided to knock down the wall to reach the storage area more easily. As they did, a Heckle & Jeckle cartoon came on the TV singing the song, Give Us a House to Wreck. My parents found it to be funny.
A Bit Behind
In the summer of 1978, a lady stopped by the house to check on my brother due to his complications during birth, including not breathing. This was a regular occurrence that they would visit. He checked out just fine, but the lady tested me as well, and I was behind for my age. She would inform the school board to let me start in the fall. I started school, but in November, we moved.
Christmas
Circa December 1976
Christmas of 1975
This is where my first Christmas was held (timeline is off – may have been at studio apt). We had a real live tree that would be planted later. There were decorations, Christmas stockings, and toys. Later, my family visited my paternal grandmother for dinner and dropped by my maternal parents before heading back home. Later that night, it started snowing, and the ground was glistening.
Christmas of 1976
My brother got to experience his first Christmas at the house as well. Again, our family got a live Christmas tree. My brother got a Johnny Jumper and a few baby toys. By then, I was walking, so I picked up some older things. We headed back to my paternal grandparents again. My mother noted in her memoirs that we never got much, even though we were her first grandchildren. I don’t recall this; Dad’s side of the family was the only one that gave us anything.
My maternal grandmother often crocheted something for us. I suspect that it was this second Christmas in 1976 when I got the crocheted letter blocks spelling out my full name, Lewis Edward Moten III, in capital letters. Each one was about six inches square. None of my other siblings had them.
Christmas of 1977
From the stories growing up, dad was coming home one night, and a drunk driver came into his lane and hit him. The other driver died instantly, and Dad was flown by helicopter to a hospital. Dad remembered nothing about the helicopter flight. Sometimes he prayed to god for a sign, and Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on the door. Later, the insurance company paid my father a small sum, which helped him buy a house in White Marsh, closer to our grandparents.
Later Revelations
When my mother wrote about the incident, she revealed more details about what happened and the events that unfolded between the accident and our move. I also found more information in a newspaper about the accident.
A Few Beers
My father worked shifts from 3 to 11 PM and got home late, and the roads lacked streetlights. Mom would usually be up late watching TV with a shotgun by her side for protection. During the Christmas season, Dad called home after work and said he was going to stop and have a few beers. At the time, he was usually home by 12:30 AM, but since he was staying out late, she expected him home by 2 AM. Mom called the state police, but they had no accidents reported.
The Accident
Dad was less than 10 miles from home when he got into an accident at 3:16 AM. The driver, David Gough of Perry Hall, MD, was traveling in a Dodge pick-up truck towards Finksburg on Route 140 in the wrong lane. Dad was in his truck and collided with him at the top of a hill.
At 6 AM, a state trooper knocked on the door and told Mom that her son, Lewis, had been in an accident. Mom corrected him and said that “My son Lewie is in his crib sleeping. You are talking about my husband.” He explained that he was finishing paperwork for a different accident, and he was sent to notify her of Dad’s accident. The trooper also called my maternal grandparents and Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith came over immediately and watched over the animals. Mom got my brother and me dressed and dropped us off at our grandparents’ while Mom went to Johns Hopkins Hospital in the city.
Shock Trauma Unit
Dad was taken to the Institute for Emergency Medical Services. He was in the shock trauma unit and couldn’t have visitors. He had broken his top jaw in three places, bottom jaw in four places, cracked a few ribs, had a broken nose, and damaged his knee. There were many surgeries. Dad spent three weeks in the trauma unit until he was moved to a regular room.
Wife and Mother-in-law Tensions
My paternal grandmother was upset that Mom wasn’t visiting or giving Dad attention during that time. Mom was an hour and a half away, caring for the animals and two toddlers, and was upset that her mother-in-law and stepsisters never offered to babysit my brother and me. Mom was already going every other day to check in on Dad. During this time, Dad was visited by Jehovah’s Witnesses. He started reading the bible more.
Dad Gets Out
Dad eventually got out of the hospital and stayed at his mother’s house to recover and have his dressings changed every other day. She was closer to the hospital and didn’t have animals or young children to care for. Dad was still eating through a straw, and Tylenol was not available in liquid form to take care of the pain at this time. Grandmom convinced him to consult with a lawyer.
Dad Comes Home
Eventually, Dad came back home because Grandmom wouldn’t let the Jehovah’s Witnesses in her house. Mom had trouble trusting Dad after he said he’d spoken with a lawyer and was trying to get my brother and me. The Jehovah’s Witnesses visited our home.
Why We Left
Dad was tired of the hour-and-a-half drive each way to work. After the accident, he wanted to move closer to work. Mom and Dad looked at a few houses and settled on the one in White Marsh. For her, it had a large eat-in kitchen, a living room, and a dining room. The entire first floor was panelled, with three bedrooms upstairs and a dormer attic with a storage room. The basement had half for my brother and me to play, and the other half could be a “refund area” (what we’d now call a sanctuary). The lot was almost an acre with a two-car garage.
