Joe Neal Pitts was born Jan. 29, 1920, on the farm of grandparents, Michael Farmer Buttram and Sarah Etta Miser Buttram, Sunny Slopes Orchard Farm, two miles east of Pea Ridge, Ark.
He was the fifth child, all boys, born to Charles Calvin "Choc" Pitts and Phebe Buttram Pitts. Choc was the son of William Robert "Bob" Pitts and Oma Anne Cox Pitts of Brightwater, Ark. Charles Calvin "Choc" was born June 16, 1885. Phebe Buttram Pitts was born Dec. 31, 1886. Stanwix Henderson Pitts was born July 30, 1910, Felix Calvin Pitts was born Feb. 21, 1914, Charles Farmer was born Jan. 20, 1916, and Robert Howard "Bob" was born Jan. 15, 1918.
On Feb. 11, 1863, Michael Farmer Buttram married Sarah Etta Miser, the daughter of George Washington Miser and Jane Potter Miser. They were married by the Rev. Elijah Heneger Buttram at the Buttram's Chapel, two miles east of Pea Ridge. Michael Buttram and Sarah Etta were both awarded 80 acres of land of the G.W. Miser farm. They built a log home on the east side of the land. In 1873, Sarah Etta received her heritage from the G.W. Miser Trust Fund. Michael and Sarah bought 30 acres from Sarah's brother, Jordan Miser. Sarah then had a well dug and a 32-foot-square house built with lumber hauled from the Van Winkle Mill in War Eagle, Ark.
The house had two bedrooms, a kitchen and dining room combined, and a living room with a stair to the loft. There was a covered front porch across the front. The front porch had a banister and steps. A smokehouse was built about 20 feet northeast of the house. The well was rigged with a windmill pump. About 200 feet east of the well the pond was dug. About 1880, Mike and Sarah bought another 30 acres, containing a small house that had been built by Professor John Raines Roberts, and a well with a wellhouse. This completed the 220-acre Sunny Slopes Orchard Farm. The orchard was set out later. Joe's mother, Phebe, and all of the boys to date were born in "Sarah's House."
Grandfather Michael Farmer Buttram was killed in an accident when a tree had fallen on him Nov. 11, 1897. After the death of her husband in 1897, Sarah deeded her son, Fred, 60 acres on the northwest part of her property, containing the small house that was built by Prof. Roberts. Then she and son, Jim, continued tending the large apple orchard on the 160 acres.
In 1898, Sarah rented a Sorority House in Fayetteville and enrolled Josie and Mary in the University of Arkansas. She enrolled Phebe in the University High School. She also boarded other students including her two nephews, Hugh and Wilson Miser. In 1902, Jim married Sadie Head and moved into the old log home on the east side of the original 160 acres. Grandmother Sarah then deeded Jim 60 acres and Martha and Mattie 60 acres with an understanding that Phebe would receive the Sarah House and 40 acres at her death.
When Joe was born in 1929, Grandmother Sarah was 70 years of age and it was said that she carried Joe around the rest of her life. Grandmother Sarah died one day after Joe's second birthday on Jan. 30, 1922. Joe then had to fend for himself among four older brothers at the tender age of 2. Brother David was born June 15, 1922.
The first thing that Joe could remember was that Choc had torn out the stairs to the loft and had sealed off the loft. He stacked them between the kitchen door and the smokehouse. Joe didn't remember the stairs being in the house. Charles, Bob and Joe were playing on the stacked stairs and Joe had somehow fallen and hurt himself. Joe remembers his aunt Ula Buttram picking him up and taking him into the house. The outcome of the accident was that Joe had obtained a rupture on his right side. It was years later that Joe realized how serious the rupture was.
In those days and times, operations weren't a general practice, so Joe had to learn to live with the rupture. Probably the next thing Joe remembers was that his father, Choc, was working on the railroad between Neodesha and Wichita, Kan., as a brakeman. Choc would come home about once a month. He would deadhead from Neodesha to Avoca and then walk the six miles home. Wix, being 11- or 12-years old, thought that he was now the ramrod of the Pitts farm. One day Mother had Wix harness up Dan the horse and hook him to the buggy. She then sent him on some kind of errand. Some time later the boys were playing in the yard when they heard some kind of music coming up the lane. It was Wix and he had tied the reins to the buggy seat and Dan was guiding himself. Wix was sitting in the middle of the seat playing a French harp.
The first stock I remember being on the farm was Dan the horse, Molly the cow and Kaiser Bill the collie dog. There were pigs in the pen but they weren't named. There were surely some cats because Mother wouldn't let a cat in her house, but her love for cats she would feed every stray cat in the neighborhood. A few days after Wix came up the lane playing the harp, it was Christmas Eve. This was the first Christmas Eve Joe could remember, he didn't really know what to expect. It was a really cold night and the boys were hovered around the King heater stove when out of the front bedroom came Santa Claus. He didn't have a long white beard, in fact he was wrapped in one of mother's blankets. How Joe knew it was Santa Claus was all of the boys were hollering, "Here comes Santa Claus!"
He gave each of the boys a sack and in each sack the contents were the same. It contained a popcorn ball, a big, red apple, an orange, two or three pieces of rock ribbon candy and a toy. The only differences in the sacks were the toys. Joe remembers that he got a spinning top in his sack. After the sacks were distributed, Felix and Charles jumped Santa Claus and tore off his blanket. It turned out to be Wix. While all of the boys were enjoying their fine Christmas, Wix gave us some more music on his new French harp. Several other events that took place while the Pitts family lived in Grandmother's house may not be in sequence but this is how Joe remembered them.