Return to the Land

untouched by mankind. From that morning on for the rest of my life fishing for native brook trout always reminded me of my father and fishing on the North Fork stream.

Childhood eventually faded into young adulthood for Stafford who began looking to what the future had in store. He attended the one room school on Kimberling a short distance from home and being a good student was encouraged to further his knowledge. The next step in education would be at Bland High School which was located a considerable distance from Kimberling. Unable to commute daily, even by horse, arrangements were made for him to live with the well respected Dr. Jacob Adam Wagner and his wife Josephine in the town of Bland. Josephine Miller Wagner was John Harvey Miller ’s sister and Dad’s aunt so that made Dr. Wagner, known to him as Uncle Jake, his uncle by marriage. He was influenced by the good doctor, which began to form impressions on what he’d like to become. After completing high school at Bland he applied and was accepted to Hiwassee College in Tennessee in 1917. His older brother Edgar also began at Hiwassee College and they roomed together. Dad’s curriculum was directed toward pre- med preparation. I’ve heard him talk about his days in chemistry and that he must have had an inquisitive mind for he would have discussions with the professors and on one occasion the dialogue centered around the theoretical topic of the splitting of the atom.

Check written to Hiwassee College on May 31, 1918 Shortly thereafter Stafford entered the military

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