Happy National Pig Day! When I saw that it’s National Pig Day it made me think of a story about my 2nd great grandpa Ervin “Poppy” Alonzo DRAKE. There are other posts about Poppy and you can find them at:

Ervin Alonzo Drake, 1940 (includes a photo of Poppy and his family);

Take It Easy (in the middle of the post, there’s a brief section about Poppy’s daughter Pearl and it does mention the hog attack in that post);

Poppy Makes a Comeback (includes a photo of Poppy and Annie).

In addition to the pictures in the posts above, here is a bonus picture of Poppy that I love:

Note to reader: I’m writing this story at the end of February – the end of Family History Writing Month. I’m in a creative mood and I wanted to write this brief story using the facts I found, but I also wanted to write the story as if it were in a novel. I wrote it both ways so I could decide which to publish. As it turns out, I want to publish both. So today you’ll get the facts – part 1. Tomorrow you’ll get the creative short story as part 2. I hope you enjoy both.

Dad’s Version

Dad was about 15 or 16 years old when Poppy was attacked by the hog, so he does remember when it happened. His version is below.

Dad said Poppy was old when this happened. Old enough that Poppy had stopped going to church because he didn’t feel up to it anymore. Dad recalled Poppy was in his mid-80’s when he was attacked by a feral boar. Poppy was sitting on his porch in the house he lived in down by the creek [Note: I believe this was his residence in the Poyner area over by Southwest City at the place that had a cave on it.] He had a barn and a sort-of-fenced barnyard. The hog came up in the back yard and Poppy tried yelling at it to make it leave but the hog wouldn’t leave. Poppy thought he could run the hog off so he got off the porch and the hog retreated into the barnyard. Poppy continued to advance on the hog and it attacked Poppy. It gored him with its tusks and bit him on the legs and buttocks. Dad said the hog tore chunks out of Poppy’s thigh. Poppy was in the hospital for a few days but didn’t want to stay there so they released him and he stayed with his nephew, John DRAKE, so John could make sure infection didn’t set in on Poppy’s legs and bottom. Poppy stayed with John for a few weeks after he was released from the hospital. Dad said Poppy was never the same after the feral hog attacked him. Poppy walked with a limp after that and his health went downhill fairly quickly. Dad said Poppy died a few years after that attack.

Dad had a lot of memories about Poppy. He recalled that Poppy had cancer both before and after the hog attack. Before the attack, Poppy had cancer removed from behind his ear – probably a skin cancer. Dad was about 10 or 11 years old when this cancer was removed. After the hog attack, Poppy had cancer again and it killed him. Dad recalled the attack being just one feral hog.

What the Newspaper Said

Now, let’s look at the newspaper’s version of this same story which is a little different.

Poppy would have been 85 years old when this happened. EIGHTY-FIVE! Let that sink in! Now, why on Earth would he try to separate two fighting male hogs at age 85?! I’m not sure why Poppy thought he could separate two fighting boars at his age (or even if that’s what really happened), but he paid a price for it. As Dad said, Poppy was never the same and his health began to decline after that.

My personal opinion about the newspaper article is that the author took liberties with the story. I can’t think of a single logical reason that, at 85 years old, Poppy would think it was a good idea to put himself in the middle of 2 boars fighting – whether tame or feral. He was smarter than that. Nonetheless, I’m grateful to the author for recording the story and, in all honesty, I can’t say what really happened because I wasn’t there.

After ‘The Great Boar Fight’

Three and a half years after ‘The Great Boar Fight’, Poppy passed away. Dad had a lot of fond memories of Poppy and loved him dearly. Some of Dad’s best childhood memories are of times he spent with Poppy. He mentioned that he wished all kids could have a chance to spend time with their great-grandpas and feel as loved as he felt.

I hope you get a chance to spend time with your grandparents or great-grandparents this week if you’re fortunate enough to still have them around. They are treasures! If you can’t visit them today, call them up and wish them a happy National Pig Day! Don’t forget, tomorrow is the more creative version of this story!

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Resources

“The Local Scene,” (Miami News-Record, Miami, Oklahoma), 9 Nov 1960, local news article; Newspapers, https://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 26 Feb 2024, page 7, col 1.

Drake, Roy. Interview. By Lisa Williams, 26 Feb 2024.

Drake generation family photo dated Feb 1959. Privately held photo.