Mr. Tuba

1. Growing Up in Missouri

1 News spread quickly in our small town of Marionville , Missouri. In mid-June 1947, when the preacher of my church heard that I would be “running away with the circus,” he drove to our house and asked to speak with my mother and me. As always, Mom greeted the preacher cordially and invited him into our parlor, a room kept prim and proper for the visits of preachers and insurance salesmen, every doily in place and everything clean and orderly. Reverend Gilbert was assigned the most comfortable chair while Mom sat on the front edge of another chair holding a handkerchief in her lap. I sat on the piano bench, in front of our old upright piano. After friendly exchanges about the weather, vegetable gardens, and everyone’s health, Reverend Gilbert took a big breath and extolled lavishly about what a fine young man I was, what a great job I was doing as junior superintendent of the church and as president of the Methodist Youth Fellowship . I enjoyed that part of his visit. But suddenly his manner changed; his voice became dark and ominous and he stated, “From what I hear, this young man is going into a life of sin!” He then continued to express, throughcombinedlectureandsermon,hisopinionsandwhathehadheard Growing Up in Missouri CHAPTER ONE 2 Mr. Tuba about the decadent morals of show business people, circus people especially , and how, as an innocent seventeen-year-old youth, I could easily be corrupted by association and temptations. I was mesmerized by his tirade, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Mom slowly stand and inch crab-like toward the door, so as not to turn her back on the preacher. Then, just as she reached the door and the preacher took another deep breath to continue, Mom suddenly turned, and with a voice and conviction I have heard neither before nor since, said, “Reverend Gilbert, you don’t seem to have much faith in Harvey, but I do, and I’d like you to leave now!” I was dumbfounded, as was the preacher, who said no more and left. Wow,Ithought,Momjustthrewthepreacheroutofourhouse!Ididn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. I was admiringly respectful of Mom, for although she was obviously deeply hurt by the preacher’s words and attitude , she handled the matter beautifully and firmly. I never spoke to her about it, but, throughout my life, I have often thought about my mother’s faith in me, expressed that day, and it has given me confidence and the courage to tackle the next thing that needed to be done. Phillips Family Legend In the summer of 1861, Miles and Mary Phillips (my great-grandfather and great-grandmother) were asked to a meeting at the Shelbyville, Tennessee, schoolhouse near their home. As the meeting was called to order by their member of the state House of Representatives, they noticed rather cool feelings from some of their neighbors. The representative advised the gathering that the nation was in deep trouble over slavery. He noted that two or three states had already withdrawn from the nation and there would likely be more. He wanted to know the opinions of his constituents. Miles Phillips stated that Tennessee should stay with the union and solve any problems with slavery locally. Several in the gathering expressed different views. Miles and Mary discussed the safety of their family: Jesse, eighteen; Steve, almost sixteen; John, fourteen; James Anderson, twelve (my grandfather ); and Wesley, nine. When they got home from the meeting, Jesse 3 Growing Up in Missouri told them he was going to join the Union Army the next day. Early the next morning, Jesse saddled his horse and tied it to the hitching post near the porch. He said he would be leaving after breakfast and asked his mother to fix him a couple of ham sandwiches. Just before breakfast was over, several men on horseback came into the yard. Mary went out on the porch and asked the riders what they wanted. The leader told her he needed to talk to Jesse. Jesse said the man was Bully Smith, leader of a gang that had robbed farmers in the county and left several dead. Jesse, who had a .38 revolver, said, “Mom. Let me kill him now and scatter his gang before they do something to us.” She said, “No, son. He just wants to talk...