I HEAR OLD REUBEN MOANIN’
BY
WOODROW HAND1
written ca. 1939
The scene may be any place in Shelby County where there is a crew of men working. A foreman walks up and spots a loafer. He yells:
“I hear old Reuben moanin’ so stop mashin’ him.”
It is the new method of telling loafers they’d better get the Hell back to work; or go home and stay there.
Expression was born in Helena
The expression was born in Helena after a cyclone in 1933. All the man power in town had to go to work rebuilding. Naturally, there had to be a goodly number of foremen.
One of these, Reuben Simmons, directed the trucking crews and spent most of his day riding a truck. He rode to the chirt pit to boss the loading; then rode back and bossed the unloading.
It was necessary that two men ride each truck. Therefore, with Reuben, it made three on the narrow seat and somebody had to sit on somebody.
Helena, Shelby County, Alabama
Thus, when a foreman walked beside his crew of workers one day putting a tune to “I hear old Reuben moanin’” It was immediately understood that somebody was being more trouble than he was worth.
It took hold. Reuben, being a petty road official whose work carried him over the county, was well known by working men. The saying spread.
1During the 1930s, Great Depression era, many writers were employed to interview people and write stories about life in the United States. The program was named the U.S. Work Projects Administration, Federal Writers’ Project and it gave employment to historians, teachers, writers, librarians, and other white-collar workers. The story above is a transcribed, unedited story from a WPA writer Woodrow Hand, Alabama.
ALABAMA FOOTPRINTS Confrontation:: Lost & Forgotten Stories
Prior to statehood, Alabama was a vast wilderness with a large Native American population. It is only natural that when new immigrants from other states arrived, conflicts over the land would arise. Soon, these small conflicts exploded into war.
Alabama Footprints Confrontation is a collection of lost and forgotten stories that reveals why and how the confrontation between the Native American population and settlers developed into the Creek-Indian War as well as stories of the bravery and heroism of participants from both sides.
Some stores include:
- Tecumseh Causes Earthquake
- Terrified Settlers Abandon Farms
- Survivor Stories From Fort Mims Massacre
- Hillabee Massacre
- Threat of Starvation Men Turn To Mutiny
- Red Eagle After The War
ALABAMA FOOTPRINTS Confrontation:: Lost & Forgotten Stories (Volume 4) (Kindle Edition)Causey, Donna R
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About Donna R Causey
Donna R. Causey, resident of Alabama, was a teacher in the public school system for twenty years. When she retired, Donna found time to focus on her lifetime passion for historical writing. She developed the websites www.alabamapioneers and www.daysgoneby.me All her books can be purchased at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. She has authored numerous genealogy books. RIBBON OF LOVE: A Novel Of Colonial America (TAPESTRY OF LOVE) is her first novel in the Tapestry of Love about her family where she uses actual characters, facts, dates and places to create a story about life as it might have happened in colonial Virginia. Faith and Courage: Tapestry of Love (Volume 2) is the second book and the third FreeHearts: A Novel of Colonial America (Book 3 in the Tapestry of Love Series) Discordance: The Cottinghams (Volume 1) is the continuation of the story. . For a complete list of books, visit Donna R Causey
Related Posts:
Wolf Brand – made in Shelby County, Alabama in the 1930s
An old Native American legend from Coosa, Alabama about where they came from
Tombstone Tuesday: Sometimes epitaphs have warnings to those still living
The story of rain in Mobile, Alabama
Pilot intentionally crashes his plane in Alabama – amazing archival film.
TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: Humorous Epitaphs from the west
Singing Schools were very popular in Alabama – this is how they were organized
Have you heard these sayings? Then you live in the south
QUILTING PARTIES – They were once an important party of an Alabama woman’s life
Joe’s tall tale – the writer wondered if it was really true. . .
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