"I came into this world on August 25, 1919. I was delivered by Kate Winningham, a local midwife. Doctors were seldom called unless birth complications were anticipated. I was born in the family home in the 7^th civil district of Overton County, where my four older brothers and three sisters were born and raised. At the time of my birth, my siblings ranged from 23 years of age to 8 years of age. My mother was 39 and my father was 45. My oldest brother, Hershell, had just returned from France at the conclusion of World War I. My oldest sister, Maude, was already married and had a baby girl named Delma. I was an uncle long before I knew the meaning of the word.

"My birth certificate does not record the hour I was born. My father, years later, told me my mother prepared a peach cobbler for dinner on the day I was born. In those days, dinner was served as the mid-day meal and supper as the evening meal. My father invited a friend, Yancy Spicer, who had brought some work for father to do, to stay for dinner. After seeing the advanced stage of my mother’s pregnancy, Yancy said, "Joe, if I had known that Sallie was this far along, I would not have accepted your invitation." The peach cobbler became a Sells family tradition for my birthday every year.

"Sometime prior to my third birthday, my father purchased a general merchandise store and house located in on a small tract of land in the center of the Independence community. The store, along with an elementary school and several surrounding farmhouses, comprised the core of the community. The property was located on the main road, about midway between Livingston and Willow Grove. A small secondary road crossed the main road exactly in front of the store. The residence was located on the west side of the road and the store on the east side. The Independence school was located on the southwest side of the secondary road within a few hundred yards of the store and house.

"Sometime around 1921, my father moved the family into a new location. He did not sell the family home and property where the eight Sells children were born until around 1925. He sold the house and the store to Bennie Chat Clark who operated the store many years. Father purchased a house and 25 acres of land about 1/4 a mile south of the store. The house was several years old and had been modified and renovated several times. Originally it must have been a 1 or 2 room log cabin. An open hearth wood-burning fireplace with a stone chimney was used for heating the house. When the family moved in, the house contained four rooms. The main entrance room was used as a combination living and bedroom. Kerosene lamps were used to provide light after darkness. The second room was used as a bedroom. It contained two double beds and two five-drawer dressers. The kitchen contained a pie-safe, a cupboard for storing dishes and a large wood burning cook stove with a baking oven and food warmers on top. "A reservoir for heating water was on the side. The fourth room was used as a dining room. It contained a large wooden table covered with an oil cloth. On one side of the table was a large wooden bench the children used when seated at the table. Usually five or six cane-bottom straight back chairs were available for use as needed around the table. A door from the dining room provided exit to a small stoop and the backyard.

"About 50 feet from the back of the house was a hand dug well, walled or lined with stones from which water was obtained for family use. The water table in this area was near the surface of the earth. A bucket tied on the end of a rope would be lowered by hand into the well. When the bucket filled with water, it was pulled by hand to the surface and emptied into the "drinking" bucket. Everyone drank from the same dipper. Further from the rear of the house was a hen house. Nesting boxes were installed in one end of the house to allow for a convenient place for the hens to lay their eggs. Occasionally a hen would hide her nest and stay in seclusion until she brought forth her brood of little chicks. Still further to the rear was a barn that housed the farm animals.

"The outside ‘privy’ was located down a path along side of the garden about 300 yards from the house. The Sears Roebuck catalog sure was better than the red and white corn cobs we had to use in the barn.