Carry A. Nation
When Carry Nation was ousted from the Christian Church by her husband, David
Nation, for helping a young pregnant girl, she had her own Sunday School in her
home. My father, Rye Woodward, attended this school without his mother's
permission. Tom McNeal, who came to Barber County on Dick Woodward's wagon,
says in his book that the Lord directed Carry to Kiowa to wreck her first saloon.
Dad told the following story:
One morning Carry Nation came to Vernon Lytle's store, where Rye Woodward
worked. When he said, "Good morning, Aunt Carry, what can I do for you this
morning?" her reply was, "Go spit out your tabacco, young man, and I'll tell you!"
(Dad chewed tabacco nearly all his life). His grandfather, John Lytle had given
it to him when he was only five years old. He obliged and as he came back to Carry,
she said, "What do you think of me anyway, Rye?" His answer was, "Oh, Aunt Carry,
I think you are an old crank." "That is right, Rye, that is right, and you never
saw a crank in your life that didn't turn something, and I am going to turn
something someday!!" She bought a lap robe and the next day drove to Kiowa for her
first saloon wrecking.
Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas, pg. 343
Submitted by: Virginia Woodward Measday