Singleton writes of Peterman woman who built her own house in the 1970s

George Buster Singleton

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Dream comes true for Mrs. Louise Bradley” was originally published in the Dec. 21, 1972 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

Everyone during a lifetime, at one time or another, becomes acquainted with a desire for something special. This may be something that one could do without, or it may be something that if acquired, would make life much easier for the person involved. Louise Bradley of Route 1 Peterman is one of these persons whose continued desires have become a reality.

Louise is over 66 years old and a widow. Her husband passed away almost seven years ago. She is alone except for her two grandchildren whom she takes care of. She is at the age when most people have either retired or are thinking of retiring. She is at the age when most are ready to settle back and enjoy their home and their grandchildren. But Louise has not been that lucky.

For many years she has had an obsession to own a house of her own. As the months turn into years, and with the death of her husband, Louise watched as her dream began to slip farther and farther from reality. She knew that if she was to make her dream come true, the time was now. She knew that because of her age, it wouldn’t be long before she would be unable to do anything about the house she wanted so much.

On the 15^th of December 1971, Louise decided that it was time, and with her own hands began the job of building the house that she had waited so long for. She knew that the job would be a long hard one, with problems a plenty facing her. So with a lot of determination and very little money, the construction started.

The lumber came from different sources – a few planks here and a few planks there. All from old houses that had been torn down around the area. Secondhand bricks and concrete blocks for the foundation that the house would rest on came from various places.

The pieces began to fit together – her dream house was becoming a reality. Her goal was to have the house where she could move into it by Christmas 1972 and she has done just that. There is much to be done yet, but she says that being there in the house she can do small jobs like nailing up the walls and hanging the doors in her spare time.

The job is not over for Louise. She has steps to build and doors to hang. She has walls to put up and many other things to do that will take numerous hours of hard work to complete.

Then there’s the well. Somehow she has to dig a well. A new house is not complete without a well for water. Right now the job of carrying water almost a half a mile takes up too much time. It takes her and the grandchildren away from work that they need to be doing on the house.

After talking to Louise Bradley and listening to her story, I’m sure the well will come after a time. A person with her determination won’t let a small thing like digging a well stop her. And this year at Christmas time I’m sure that this stout-hearted woman knows, more than anyone else, that the greatest gift of all is the gift that comes to those who believe and keeps on believing.

[This story also included a photo taken by Singleton that carried the following caption: Mrs. Louise Bradley, tools in hand, stands before her new house which she built herself. She started it last December and it is now complete enough so that she and her two grandchildren can move in. There is still much to be done, but at last her long-awaited dream has become a reality.]

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)