Field Finds: Points and Ponderings

By Barbara and CW Bynum

This book is a memorial to C. W. Bynum. He was a passionate lifelong arrowhead hunter and collector. His plan was for himself and Barbara to write the book together during their retirement. This book documents three collections. First, a pictorial display of some of his collection, then a section of poetry mostly by Barbara, and finally a documentation of a collection of old-time herbal remedies.

CW was a masonry instructor at Wallace College, and he would ask his students to get remedies from the old folks they knew he loved reading them and wanted them included in the book. So much knowledge about the arrowheads in this book was lost when CW died, but the points remain as a reminder of him to his family. This book was written so that the author and whoever else is interested can remember the feeling of walking in the Alabama fields after a rain with a beloved companion looking for treasure. It was a good journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887933573

Barbara

She is a 56 year old grandmother. Who loves doing things with her granddaughter. So she thought she would capture those moments in a story.

Book preview

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Field Finds

Points and Ponderings

Barbara and CW Bynum

Copyright © 2023 Barbara and CW Bynum

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2023

ISBN 979-8-88793-356-6 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-88793-357-3 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Preface

Our Story

The Missions

The Points

The Ponderings

Folk Remedies

Acknowledgments

About the Author

For CW, my love

To

Jenny, Mac, Alex, Susannah, and Samantha, my joy

Preface

I am writing this book for one reason: because I can. This past year has been difficult for me. For the first time in my life, I am alone.

CW died on May 16, 2020, of complications of bladder cancer and pulmonary fibrosis in the time of COVID-19. We did not say goodbye. They rolled him from our home to the ambulance. I was not allowed back in the emergency room with him. I was not beside him holding his hand as he left this life. That is part of my grief, the regret that I was not there with him. I have spent many hours praying that I would be able to tolerate being alone for the first time in seventy years, and with the help of Jesus Christ and many, many others, I am progressing.

This book is a project CW and I worked on together, often while driving cross-country on long trips to visit family in Kansas and to perform missions for the church. We spent many hours walking and talking and planning this book. Unfortunately, we did not start writing. The last thing he said to me was, I need air. I am writing it because I still have the air that he needed, and it is a tender mercy to be able to help him with this, our last project.

CW and I began this book to provide a record of our story and to document three collections:

A pictorial record of Native American artifacts that he and I collected together over the past fifty years.

Poetry I have written over the years, plus a few from my daughter, granddaughter, and CW.

A collection of folk remedies. CW kept a notebook of what he called old-timey cures, included in this book primarily for entertainment. They are not intended as prescriptions for health problems or as a replacement for necessary medical treatment.

The arrowheads (also known as points) pictured in this book were mostly found in Barbour County, Alabama. CW and I found them while walking through plowed, rain-washed fields. A lifetime of field finds, points, and ponderings are recorded in this book for our children, Jenny, Mac, and Alex, and our grandchildren, Susannah and Samantha.

My husband and I hunted together, walking quietly, slowly looking for a small flake of flint just a little smoother and shinier than usual. We carried turners (long sticks) to touch the rocks. Most of the time, an arrowhead is not fully exposed, only the corner or the tip can be seen. If it feels firm when touched, the hunter stops and kneels down to examine it. An actual find in a field is very unusual; sometimes eight hours of hunting will yield only one or two points. Therefore, many hours can be spent pondering. We were a good team: he found more points, I found more poetry.

Points can be picked up, examined, collected, and kept. Ponderings are invisible and can be kept only if captured by a pen. We have found them both while walking together in the beautiful fields of Alabama. At the end of the day, he could show his finds, and I could write my lines.

Chapter 1

Our Story

And He shall turn the heart of the Fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.

—Malachi 4:6

CW

Cherry Wayne Bynum was born at home in Barbour County, Alabama, on July 25, 1950. He was the last of ten children of Malcolm Curtis Bynum and Bessie Wilkerson Bynum. I have heard several different stories of how he got his name; however, when asked about his unusual first