Bramblet, James

James Bramblet was born on Big Bear Ridge just above Kendrick, Idaho, on 2 March 1924. His parents were Jewell Mathew Bramblet (1884-1954) and Effie Lillian Kittrell (1891-1942). He had an older brother, Everett Eldon, who became a preacher. His second brother, Jewell Lyle, was born in 1917 in Montana and also became a pastor. One sister, Mildred Fern, was born in 1921 in Morrowtown, Idaho. The other sister, Mary, was born in 1930 on Camas Prairie. The family farm had a large barn built by his grandfather, a granary, a chicken house, a woodshed, smokehouse, an underground cellar, and an outhouse. There was no running water in the houses James grew up in, so carrying water was a daily chore. They milked the cows and fed the animals twice a day.

At the age of twelve his parents sold the farm and they moved to Texas Ridge, near Deary, Idaho. James started public school at age six in 1930 in a one-room school house. There were about twenty students in all eight grades taught by one teacher. He remembers playing games at recess such as “gray wolf,” “kick the can,” and basketball among others. In order to continue on to high school, every student had to pass a state achievement test.

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