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Note: When I first met my husband Bill, I thought he was one of a kind. I was wrong! He was one of a "bunch" -- a bunch of DeLoaches, that is. His sense of fun, his quirky enjoyment of a good practical joke, his slightly off-kilter perception of the rest of the world, his open, friendly, "I never meet a stranger" attitude --- well, let's just say he "came by it honest." As you read "True Tales of a Southern Family," you can picture yourself sitting in a front porch swing on a warm summer day, surrounded by the laughter of friendly folk. "Set a spell," hear the tales, and enjoy. . .

Here is one of the tales. . .

"Bit By A Rattlesnake"

A favorite story told time and again to several generations of DeLoaches was about Bill's great-uncle, Clayton DeLoach. He was from the Nevils-Denmark area outside of Statesboro, Georgia. At the time of our story, he was a teenager.

One hot afternoon, Clayton was in the country cleaning fencerows with a sling blade. He stumbled onto a big rattlesnake. Shaken, he quickly got out of harm's way and continued chopping down the overgrown brush.

A couple of hundred yards down the fencerow, Clayton felt a sharp pain. Something bit his leg! Alarmed, he thought, "The rattler!"

He was way out in the country without a horse or mule, far from home or any other farmhouse. He knew there was no chance to find help.

Resigned to his fate, he walked to the middle of the dirt road. He kneeled down and smoothed out a place in the dirt with his big, calloused hand. Grabbing a twig, he wrote:
"Clayton DeLoach
Killed by a rattlesnake."

Then he stretched out on the road, resting his head in the crook of his arm. Knowing he would soon meet his Maker, he fell peacefully asleep.

A couple of hours later --- he woke up!

Come to find out, he had unknowingly hacked into a hornet's nest, and an angry hornet had flown up the leg of his overalls and stung him.

Shrugging his shoulders, Clayton grabbed up his sling blade and headed for home!