Jimmy Carter, in his memoir An Hour Before Daylight, recounted the number of tramps that frequented their home in depression-era Georgia. He admired his mother who never turned one away, always providing food and water for the unexpected guests. Equally admirable, in the eyes of the future president, was that most of these men were polite, honest, and educated, sincerely on a quest to find gainful employment. Confused by the unusual number of visitors she received, Mrs. Lillian Carter inquired with the matron of the neighboring farm as to the number who frequented her residence.
