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Note: [master1.FTW]
Freeman Lacy was orphaned at 13-14 years of age. He stayed with various relatives, but apparently never really settled in. He would not go to school, even before his parents death, something that he later regretted. He plowed gardens, delivered groceries, worked in a skating rink, and various other jobs around the booming sawmill town of De Ridder. In his young adult life, he worked as a fireman, mechanic's helper, mechanic, and various other jobs having to do with locomotives and other steam powered machinery for the railroads and logging industry. Later he became an engineer for the Lake Charles & Northern Railroad and pulled the passenger run between De Ridder and Lake Charles. When the last of the big pine trees were gone, Southern Pacific bought the small railroad line and laid off many of the employees. Freeman basically returned to the old homestead to spend the rest of his life farming. He had other jobs along the way, but never left his farm unattended for any length of time. He outlived two wives, fathered his last child at 70 years young, worked circles around men half his age, and raised a garden until the year before his death.
Steve Lacy
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