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"Let the record be made of the men and things of to-day, lest they pass out of memory to-morrow and are lost. Then perpetuate them not upon wood or stone that crumble to dust, but upon paper, chronicled in picture and in words that endure forever." --Kirkland

MEMOIRS OF LAURA COOPER GONNAM
Written by Laura Cooper Gonnam 1957-1964

Transcribed by Kerry L. Gonnam 1994

Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3

Things went along smoothly for a year or more and Mother had gone to visit her sisters in Livingston County and I was left with the home, my brothers, Father, and the butter to care for and sometimes it would be quite late at night before I would get through and get to bed. Father had hired a tramp or floater as they were called to help out with some of the farmwork and he was one of the dirtiest men we ever had. His bed looked as though a hog had slept in it and his hands were never clean. So one night I was out in the wash house rinsing out some overalls to hang out on the line before going to bed, intending to iron them next morning, and Billy drove in and tying his horse, came in to see what I was doing. I was very tired and much of the clothes belonged to the new man so I fairly exploded and by the time I finished I guess Billy thought I felt that way about all hired men. At any rate, he just turned around and walked out remarking he'd see me sometime. I just sat down and cried, but he drove off and it was weeks before I saw him again. In the mean time, Father had let the man go and Mother was home and things were running more smoothly for all but me and I was sure one sad chick. It was Chautaqua time and the neighbor girls south of us named Aker came down and wanted me to join the crowd driving down to Ottawa (30 miles west) to hear some good speakers and wonderful singers. (I found out later why those young people wanted me to go with them. As none of them had ever been to that kind of a meeting and I had gone several times with my folks and my Aunt and knew what to do, where to go, and how to act.) They said they would find someone to take me, but one of the Winsor boys (Clive?) came and asked me to go with him. It was at his father's home we had gone to the S.S. picnic on July 4th that time. I had never liked this boy; but, I thought I could stand going once anyway, so I said yes. Mother had been called to her folks again in Livingston County, so again I was trying to take her place. Father did not like this new boy any better than I did, so told me to watch my step. We started about 6:30 in the morning and everything went along very nicely until dinner time. There was a large screened building with long tables and we had to get tickets at the door before we went in. There were many people camping on the grounds and we had to stand in line a long time before we could get in. All at once a real old man came running up with a ladies white shoulder shawl on his arm and pushed in front of us. I had seen him pushing an old lady in a wheelchair, so I knew he was a camper or a regular as they were called. Mr. Clive grabbed the old fellow and pushed him off the steps and the old man fell down onto the lovely white shawl. I jumped down and helped the old fellow to his feet while Clive stood over him and threatened to knock him down again if he tried to get in. I turned to Clive and said, "You fool, can't you see he is a regular and has been in before and has gone only for the ladies wrap. Behave yourself before the Park Police arrest you." and looking up I saw the police coming real fast. I brushed the old man off and said, "Go on in, Grandpa. This fellow won't bother you again and if he does I'll call the police myself." At least 25 were standing around by that time and Mr. C. looked rather sheepishly in the building. (Later May McGuan told me the other group of S.S. class had seen it all and that Billy had jumped to his feet and said a swear word; but, never went any farther. I guess he saw I had the situation well in hand.) I was so mad by this time I never saw any of them. We ate our dinner and the dessert was blackberry pie and ala mode was 20 cents more so for meanness I ordered that for I had made up my mind that that dinner was the last one Mr. C. would ever buy for me and I intended making it cost plenty and it did. All the excitement had caused Alice Aker to have a headache, she was one of my neighbor girls, and in a few moments she began to have a violent nose bleed. So her sister Georgia and I took her to the big rest tent where there was a cot and she could lay down. We did all we could for her but could not stop it. At last the nurse came and said for me to go to the cook house and get a pan of ice and we would try that. I grabbed the pan and ran out the back way and was taking a shortcut when I ran around a tent and stumbled and would have fallen flat if Billy had not been right there and caught me. Saying, "What in thunder is wrong now!" I quickly told him and he grabbed me by the hand and said, "Come on." and away we ran for the ice. I told the cook the nurse had sent us for it so she gave me the pan full and away we ran back. I handed the ice to the nurse and Billy pulled me outside the tent and said, "Listen, if you have any more trouble come to me. I'll be right over on the outside seat and will be watching for you. If you don't want to go home with that idiot, I'll see you get home all right." But I told him I thought I could manage everything and thanked him. But he said, "You remember." as he went back to the rest of the crowd. The ice helped Alice and our bunch decided to start for home early. It's needless to say our ride home was a very quiet one and Clive's horse made good time; but, it was near midnight when I went into the house. I thanked him for taking me and added I was more than thankful to be home and said, "Now you get for home and don't you come back." and he got. I knew Father was awake and up; but, I never let on and went to bed, but I did not sleep much. I was too nervous. Next morning I told Father what had happened and I did not omit how helpful Billy had been and he said, "There is a real fellow." Mother came home in a few days and before the week was over Billy had driven out the 6 miles and taken me for a ride and we talked things over and two years later we were married just 6 years to the day he went to work for Holroyds on Dec. 6, 1905.

He made a splendid husband and a kind and loving father for our five children. When I think of the many things that have happened during those 51 1/2 years we were together I wonder how he ever put up with some of my capers. He often said, "You don't have that red hair for nothing my little lady." I guess he thought I could care for myself and when I got mad, which was often, he knew it. Any way, we got along fairly well. We went to Marseilles when we were first married and he took care of a livery barn and boarded the horses of 3 doctors and the undertaker. He often was called to drive the big black team on the hearse and we had a very good business for three years. But after the Interurban street cars came there was not enough business to keep 3 livery barns again, so Father helped Billy get a rented farm to work and we moved to my Father's until the farm was vacant and we could move in. Our first child, a boy, Harvey, was about 1 year old. We had not been out in the country very long when Billy became very sick with appendicitis and was taken to Chicago by Dr. Wilcox to the F. Willard Hospital and operated on. And thankful to say it was a success, but he was very weak and thin and never seemed to have many real well days after that. The farm where we moved was 2 1/2 miles south and west from my folks and the house needed a lot of cleaning up done on it. The room we had to use as a kitchen had no plaster on and had never really been finished inside so Father and Billy put a wall on of tan tar paper roofing with laths and little tin disks and made a nice looking room and much warmer. I made curtains of nice white flour sacks and they built a corner cupboard for my dishes and put a sink on one side of the room and a pump from the cistern saved many steps. We lived on that farm 3 years and our oldest daughter Mary was born their on Dec. 2, 1907. Later we moved to my Father's place and then to the Wilson farm where both Byrl and Jesse were born. When we were moving onto the Wilson place from my Father's farm I was hurt quite badly. We had loaded a hay rack with furniture and a spring wagon with dishes, looking glasses, and cleaning things and my nearest neighbor, Mrs. Don Schroeder Bretz, was with us helping to pack and we were going to get settled enough that night to stay in our new home. Harvey and Mary were at school and had been told to come thru the field to the Wilson place that night. A neighbor young man named Vern Johnson was driving for Dora and I and our team was an old team of mules, very gentle and would stand for hours. Dora got out and so did Vern and began to unload the back of the wagon. As I handed the various things to them by leaning over the back seat. I turned around to get out I fell and caught my left leg between the wagon box and the left wheel and fell to the ground with my leg hanging in that fashion. I could hear something tear, but supposed it was my dress; but, when they tried to get me up, I could not stand on my left leg so they let me lay there till Billy could reach the yard. He was just behind us with the rack wagon of furniture. Together they put me in the wagon of furniture and took me back to the other house and called the Seneca Dr. Coulter. I was bedfast for days and then in a wheel chair for several months as I had torn the ligaments from my knee, but went to our Wilson home in a month and my folks moved back to their farm home.

We had moved to the home farm as my folks had gone to spend the winter in Neb. with my oldest brother, Howard, who had been sent to stay with Father's brother , Owen, at Hansen, Neb. when he had the asthma so bad the Dr. said a dryer climate might cure him. He was only 19 years old when he left Ill. But my folks did not care for Nebraska, so came home and went to live in the Zion church parsonage on the north side of the church. There were 4 rooms and a pantry and a back porch enclosed with boards and a cistern pump in it and 3 bedrooms upstairs and an attic storeroom over the kitchen. Of course, all the rooms were very small, but liveable. There was a good well of water in the yard and a big garden space with berry bushes and some apple, cherry, and plum trees, also a good old fashioned barn for their team of driving horses, a small pen for a hog, a small chicken house, and a pasture for their Jersey cow. So they were very comfortable. They took care of the church and at that time every seat would be filled every Sunday, some folks driving 5 and 6 miles to services (that was before autos came in use). The church has now been sold and moved to Ottawa by another group of religious people. The ones left who did attend Zion now go by auto to Morris, Seneca, Verona, and Mazon to services. The parsonage has been burned many years ago and that lot sold, but the lot where the church stood has grown up to weeds, a sad ending to one of the most beautiful and well kept country churches in Grundy County where often there was not standing room in the larger building for regular Sunday services. An annex of a large dining room and a kitchen had been added to the regular building during the stay of Rev. Albert Buxton and family, in 1899 & 1900. They lived in Verona as most of the ministers and their families thought our country schools were not taught well enough for their children and Verona was the other half of the parish. At one time Verona had preaching in the morning during the summer and Zion in the afternoon. Then, the next 6 months, it was just the reverse. I think it was about 1886 when the first minister moved to Verona to live and the parsonage at Zion was rented to various families, and all attended Zion Church. Most all the ministers we had were from cities and knew nothing about making gardens, milking cows, or caring for chickens. But, the members of the church kept them in vegetables, meat, poultry ready to cook, butter, milk, and eggs and they counted that as money in their salary, which of course was small. But, a little money in those days went twice as far as it does now, in 1960.

FUNNY THINGS THAT HAPPENED THEN------

We had a new minister and family move to Verona in early Sept. one year and he had preached his first sermon on Sunday at Zion. He had one horse hitched to a light, two-seated, open buggy with no top on it; not like most of our buggies were made. He had brought his wife, her mother, his sister, and his 2 college daughters with him. When they drove into the church yard the black horse was white with lather and breathing very hard and it was time for the services to begin; so, some of the men told them to go in, that they would take care of the horse. They found that the breast strap that helped the horse pull the buggy had broken and it was pulling the buggy by its knees. How that poor horse ever got that buggy load to Zion that day no one will ever know.

The next day, or Monday, we were up early and I went to the wash house and began our weekly wash. We had a machine that was run by hand. I had built the fire in the old cook stove in the wash house and put on the soft water in the big wash boiler and filled the tub to suds the clothes in after they were run through the washer and boiled on the stove and after the sudsing I rinsed them in another tub of clear water, starched what was needed, and then hung the wash out on the lines in the yard east of the house. That was our way of washing in those days and it took a long time, generally all day. Mother was making the soap used in those days of wood and lye and crackelings from the lard made at butchering time and was out in the yard watching the fire made under the big iron kettle; and I was out hanging up the clothes from my second machine of washing; when I happened to look toward the road south of the farm home and saw the minister coming with his load of women. I knew what that meant. It was about 15 to 11, so I dropped my clothes and ran to Mother and told her. "Well," she said, "If we have to feed that bunch along with our own seven, I guess we better quit this work right now and start cooking dinner. Finish your hanging up and come on in the house." So I did. How well I remember that dinner. I fixed potatoes enough for threshers I thought, went to the basement and got 1/2 gal. of fried down sausage and 2 qts. of peaches, also pickles and jam and went to the garden for cabbage and beets. Lucky for us we had baked 8 loaves of bread on Saturday besides cookies and cake, so I could put on a very good dinner in a hurry. The company ladies all went to the parlor and one daughter began to play the organ and the other took some books and went out to our yard lawn swing and the older ladies began their knitting and rocking on the front porch while Mother and I got the dinner. By the time our men came in from the field and were ready to eat we were ready and called everybody, 13 of us. I am superstitious so I waited on the table and did not sit down at all. After they had all eaten and left the table, I sat down to eat. I told Mother to go out on the porch and visit with the ladies. The piano playing daughter went to playing again, the other one went to the yard swing to study, and I ate, put the food away and did the dishes. Then I went to the wash house again. I was just a little disgusted with those girls who were only about 2 years older than I was for not helping me with the dishes; so I never went near them. At last the piano lady came out to the wash house and said she wanted to give me an organ lesson before she left, because she wanted to get up a class to take lessons and help pay for her lessons as she would go to Joliet every week to take these. So, I dried my hands and went in and she proceeded to give me a lesson and had me run the scales. I let on I didn't know anything about music at all till she got done; then I opened the hymn book and played hymns for a long time and they all came in and sang. She looked like 15 cents when her folks found it was me who was playing and not her and she said at last, " Folks, she has only 3 fingers and a thumb on her left hand and plays better than I do." I never answered but went out to my washing again hoping they would not stay for supper for by that time I was getting tired and wished I could go visiting and have someone get supper for me. Some city people look down on the country people, but some times they have to admit we are not all freaks. That young lady got up a class of young girls and taught music till cold weather when she wanted them to come to Verona to the parsonage. One by one they dropped out and at last only the ones that lived in Verona took lessons. If I remember, they only stayed 2 years and then moved on, but I cannot be sure just where they were sent.

One other minister and family I will never forget lived in the Zion parsonage at the time my Aunt, Miss Lida (Funk) Marsh, was teaching at the Gorham School. This man had 2 nieces that made their home with him and both attended Gorham School. Their names were Barr, and his was Puffer and he had 2 small children. His wife was a writer so the girls did much of the housework. Ministers did not get very much money for their services, so what writing his wife could sell helped a lot, and as I told before, much of their living was furnished by the members and very little needed to be bought except sugar, flour, coffee, tea, salt, and spices. With their schoolwork the girls did not have much time to cook and in those days boughten bread, cake, and cookies were an unheard of luxury as everything was made in the homes. I can remember seeing my first boughten gingersnap when about 12 years old, they were small and so hard they could not be eaten until soaked in milk or water. This minister made all the bread and did the washing, but the girls did the ironing nights after school. There was a large, long row of rhubarb by the garden fence and they all seemed very fond of it. Most everybody had plenty of rhubarb and sought many ways of using it. My Mother always canned mulberries, raspberries, and grapes and mixed some with the rhubarb for sauce or pies, so I had seldom eaten it just in plain sauce as it was very tart and neither my Father nor my Grandfather cared for it that way. We were used to it "doctored up" as my Grandfather used to say. May, the youngest of the girls, had begged for me to stay all night with them some night so my Mother had finally given in and I was to stay on a Monday night and go to school the next day and come home with Aunt Lida on Tuesday night. Well, I went. Now at home when I got home from school, Mother always gave me a glass of milk to drink and either a slice of bread and butter to eat or 2 large cookies and then I could wait to eat supper when the men came in at 6 o'clock or 6:30 at night; but, when we got to the parsonage we went right out to swing and play jump the rope; then we walked over into the church yard and looked for 4 leaf clovers. About 6 o'clock Edith, the older sister, called us to come to supper. By that time I was very hungry and when we sat down and grace was given, I was surprised to see only bread and butter and rhubarb sauce to eat and water to drink. What a difference if I had been at home. We would have had either ham and eggs or cold sliced ham or scrambled eggs, fried or warmed up cooked potatoes, cabbage salad and bread and butter, cookies or plain cake, and all the milk a child could drink while the older ones would have hot tea; if very warm, cold tea and cold milk. I began to wonder if this was all we were to have to eat, and it was. I tried my best to eat my dish of sauce, but it had very little sugar in it and was so tart it made my tongue sting. At last they noticed I wasn't eating much and the minister told Edith to get more sugar and put on my sauce and she told him they didn't have any more and he said he would have to see about more the next day. Child-like I said, "Why how will you drink your coffee in the morning without any sugar, won't it be kind of bitter?" "We don't drink coffee." the minister's wife said, "Do you?" "No, I don't." I said "But Mother always fixes me a cup of milk with sugar and puts a few drops of coffee in it to give it a flavor and the rest all drink coffee." "Well, I never heard of pampering children so." she said. "Yes," I said, My Mother says she never saw little starved children like yours, but she would sure like to have them for awhile and feed them up and put a little flesh on their poor little bones." "Well, I never!" gasped the minister's wife and May jumped up and said, "Come on Laura, we must find a birds nest in the hedge before it gets too dark." So away we went and stayed out till dark and went right up to bed as soon as we got in the house. What my Mother would have done to me had she heard what I told that night I have no idea. But, Edith told my Aunt next day and they had a big laugh over it. Needless to say they never asked me to stay again over night, but from then on their dinner pails had a different look. What did we have for breakfast the next morning? Exactly the same thing we had for supper except the sauce was warm. Yes we had water to drink, too; but, I never saw the woman or her children before we went to school the next morning. As soon as I got there I went to my Aunt Lida and told her how hungry I was, so she gave me a big fat sugar cookie and sent me outside to eat it and at noon she gave me a sandwich and a piece of cold chicken. Never had anything tasted as good before and when I got home that night I told my Mother I never intended to set my foot in that parsonage again while those people were living there and I never did. Years later the lady and her 2 children came to visit many of the former members of the church and stayed several days with my folks. The children were still very thin and white, and both died of TB in later years. In fact, all that family is gone, also Edith; but, May was still alive in 1910. I do not know where she is now in 1962, perhaps gone to her reward. I understand the minister's wife sold a number of her books and various writings and that they were considered very good. She was a very nice person and very kind and friendly and everyone seemed to like her very much. My Mother always had an extra place for any minister or their family. Many came back to visit and several wrote to me when my Mother passed away in 1934. Now in 1963 the ministers nor their families make no calls on the families of the church, only those who are members of the board. It looks to me as if they were doing as little as they could to get the people to come to church and draw their money as soon as it is collected. They do not stay as long at their appointment as they did years ago and the country churches are being removed as fast as they can and deserted and if people want to go to church they have to drive miles, sometimes, to towns. However, the autos have helped to shorten the miles. Many times they do not feel welcome in the city and town churches and quit going anywhere. Sometimes they feel their clothes are not good enough, so stay home on that account.

BOOK II

MY MEMORIES..........

In my other book I told how I met Billy; but not why or how he came to come to Illinois from Indiana or anything about his parents or family. His father was a French Canadian and one of three boys. I do not remember if there were any girls or not as he never said. His (Billy's) mother was born near Marion, Indiana and her maiden name was France and one of her brothers was sent to Australia to be a government post office worker for the U.S. and another was the co-owner of a large sheep and goat ranch in southern Texas and Mexico--his name was James France. Napolean Gonnam (American way of spelling)(French way was Gannom) was a railroad engineer on the Pennsylvania line and met Rachel France in a RR restaurant where she was a waiter and married her soon after meeting her. He told me it was love at first sight. They had 14 children and four are left now in 1960. (Omer died in July 1961 of cancer.) There were so many bad wrecks on the RR that after a few years of worry Mother G. begged Father G. to find some other kind of work. She had been raised on a farm so he bought a small farm near Dunkirk, Ind. that had only a few acres of workland on it and the rest timber, so, he cleared the timber off and made a very good producing farm. He worked very hard and raised livestock and took much pride in his horses; in fact, had some of the best in that neighborhood. His neighbors all called him Frenchy; but, none ever asked for help without getting the best he had to give. As Frenchy had been raised a Catholic he wanted his children brought up that way; so, when Billy was 12 years old the children all came down with diptheria and 4 of the younger ones died and a tiny baby was born but only lived a short time. As they were in quarantine a neighbor lady of their faith got the holy water and she and Mother G. baptized the baby. Father G. went to the priest and wanted to bury the 5 children in the Catholic cemetery, as it was the first deaths in the family he bought a lot ; but, the priest refused to let the tiny baby be buried with the others saying it had not been properly baptized and a heated argument followed. So there was a small cemetery on the corner of Mother Gannom's parents' farm. He decided to bury all of them there and he never allowed any of the family to go to church again; but, sent the children to a Methodist Sunday School at a small town near called Millgrove. But, about a year before Father G. died a new priest came to town and visited them and so he and Mother G. were taken into the Catholic church again and their funerals were held from it; but, they are buried in the little cemetery with the children, not in the big cemetery. A beautiful big stone is on their lot with a nice cross carved on it and it stands out among all the other stones and the French spelled name is in large plain letters, GANNOM. His brother Lewis would not spell his name that way, so Billy always used the name GONNAM as his Uncle Lewis had.

One hot day in the summer of 1899 Father G. was grubbing out a huge tree stump and had a sunstroke and was in bed for months. Billy was about 14 then and had to take over the farm work. His next younger brother was 10 and the youngest 8; so, the 3 boys done the best they could and got the crop in and raised enough to feed the stock. At last their Father was well enough to get around and when Billy was about 16 he was badly hurt by having a riding horse fall on him and was laid up a year or more. As the brothers were old enough to help, Billy went to work for a cattle feeder. He drove a big team of bay horses and was so small he had to climb into the manger to get the harness on them and out on the divider pole between them to finish getting them ready to hitch on the big wagon to haul the feed out for the cattle. He was paid $15.00 a month and his board of 3 meals a day. (The people he worked for feeding cattle were named Smoot and we went to see them one time when back there on a visit. But Mrs. Smoot had died and Mr. Smoot was sick in a hospital and no one was allowed to visit him as her death had nearly caused him to lose his mind, so, we never got to see him. He died a short time after that.) He was then 18 and he said felt himself a man so a year later he and a neighbor friend older than he decided to see the West, so took a train for Kankakee, Ill. and then to Wauponsee Station. They got there about 10:30 AM and went over to the store and asked if the men knew of anyone who needed men to work. There were several men there and one by the name of Henry Warning hired Billy and took him home at once. I do not remember where the other man went, but not far away. I think to a Newport east of town. Billy ate his dinner and no one even spoke a word of English, but talked together in German while they ate. Then the younger man took him to the barn and they worked all PM. At supper the same thing happened and no one spoke a word to him. After supper the young man said, " You can sit in the kitchen awhile till you go to your room upstairs. I'll call you in the morning." So the time went. He told me later if he had been able to get a train that night he would have gone as far away from that place as he could get. But the next morning, he and Henry, the son, had to go and help a neighbor shell corn and then found out people could talk English and would visit with him so he got acquainted with some of the nice friendly boys down the road aways and they asked him to come over that night. Their names were Ed and Allie McGuan (---and we have been friends ever since. The Allie McGuan's moved to Iowa and we have been to visit them many times for he married the May James I was visiting when I met Billy the first time. They have 4 children, 3 boys and 1 girl, all married now and doing well. Allies always come to visit us when they come to visit in Ill. as 3 of their children live near here, the youngest is in Arizona.) He stayed with the Warnings till threshing was over and then went to Fremont James' till corn husking was over and then went to Frank Holroyds' on Dec. 6 and stayed there 6 years till we were married. He had bought himself a bicycle and rode into Morris and around the country and as soon as he could get money together he bought himself a horse to ride and later on bought a buggy. He said he never regretted coming to Illinois; but, he never was so homesick in all his life before and he hoped no one would ever be like he had been. He went back to visit his folks several times; but, always came back. He said he was not needed at home as the farms were so small and wages were so little compared to Ill. His parents wanted him home and tried every way to coax him to stay with them; but, he would not. After we were married they wanted us to stay but he said no. He was doing so well out west he could not return, only on visits. I wrote them every 2 weeks and tried to make up for his not liking Ind. To tell the truth, neither of us would have been happy there for any length of time.

Dunkirk was a nice large town, nice homes and stores and a large Ball glass factory there and a glass dish factory and several of his relatives worked there; but, Billy would rather farm and be out in the open. Most of the factory workers, especially the men, drank and Billy was not of their class at all as he had never drank a drop in his life and never felt he needed that to make a man of him. But both his brothers drank and to this day have barely the clothes they wore.. One has been married 3 times, the other one 4 times and he is still batching for himself. Dunkirk has 8 nice large churches, also several schools in various parts of town and a very large high school and many lovely people that we have met the times we visited there; but, Billy never seemed to care to go very often. As his brothers thought he was doing so much better than they were he was feeling himself above them; which was not true at all, but, he was so disgusted with the way they lived and drank and quarreled among themselves he said he felt better far away from them and that they had as good a chance to make decent men of themselves as he had. And if they could not see the good of being decent and well respected, there was nothing more to be done about it.

Both of them came to visit us. The younger one, Edward, asked at once where he could go for a drink of beer or some other kind of liquor. I never saw Billy turn any whiter and after a few moments of silence from all of us he quietly told him, "We are not that kind of people and none of us know any place that you can go to get it unless you want me to take you back to the train for you will not need any thing to drink while you are visiting my home but tea, coffee, milk, and water." Ed looked down and said, "All right." and he stayed 3 weeks and seemed to have a good time for Billy took him many places and towns and to farm sales as it was winter time, and not once did he come in with the smell of anything on his breath and when he got home he told the girl he later married he never had a better time in his life and he wanted a home as near like Billy's as he could get and that he was choosing her because she was the nearest like Laura he had ever met, even to the reddish colored hair. When I told Billy what Ed had said to Hazel he said, "Good girl. I knew they would like you." and gave me a friendly pat on my head as was his way many times. He was not one to kiss and fuss over anyone, especially in public; so, his pat meant his approval of anything he considered I had done well.

The other older brother, Omer, came once before bringing his second wife and 2 children from Michigan to visit us for several weeks and help husk corn. His first wife, Imo, had died when her baby was born and he had given the little girl to Imo's mother, Mrs. Wise, to raise for him. He was very much upset and grieved much over Imo's death as they had been very poor and he felt she might not have had the proper food before Merceline was born. But later I learned Imo had a fever when a child that had left her a diabetic and had needed medical care that even their Doctor did not understand about. Merceline grew to be a very pretty child, lovely red curls that reached her waist, a sweet lovable child with big blue eyes that almost talked when she looked at you. She stayed with the Wises until Mr. Wise died and Mrs. Wise had to go to the hospital for treatment and then she went to her father. By that time Omer and Bertha had 4 children and as she had always been alone, they did not always agree. She was bright in school and at 15 got a job as waitress in a large store that served lunches. On graduation she left her father's home and I do not know where she is now. Her Grandmother Wise died before she graduated from high school.

Her Father, Omer, ran a lunchroom and a cigar store for awhile and lost it drinking and his wife, Bertha Upp, had to go out to work to make enough to feed the 4 children. After awhile he disappeared and Bertha did not know where he had gone. Bill, the oldest boy, got a job as a golf caddy boy and worked at that after school and Saturdays and Sundays. Eva, the oldest girl, got a job in a 10 cent store, and Harold took a paper route and delivered groceries for a neighbor's store. Myra was to small to work out so she helped her mother what she could. Bertha took most any job she could find and as it was in the days when the Red Cross had sewing classes, she was put in as instructor of that. About 3 years later, Zella, the oldest sister of Billy's, was doing a washing for some sick woman on the back porch when a tramp came up and asked for some food. As it was early in the morning she still had the coffee pot warm and told him to wash up on the bench on the porch while she fixed him some breakfast. She came out in a few minutes with toast, eggs, and bacon and coffee and was horrified to find the tramp was her own brother Omer. He told her he had traveled all over the west and generally rode the freight rods to save money he got while working at various jobs. She made him take a bath and gave him clean clothes from things given her to make carpet rags from for some neighbor and made him go to bed while she washed the clothes he had taken off. She told me afterward she never washed dirtier clothes and she had been washing for years as that was the way she had raised her 3 children and kept them in school. Her home was one her Father had bought and put in trust for her as long as she lived. Her husband had proved to be a no-good and drank so much she divorced him when the youngest boy was old enough to go to school. The husband died several years later in the county home. He would not work and if he did every cent he got was spent for drink. Her children are all married. The oldest son and wife have visited us twice and have made a lovely couple. Zella's youngest son has a truck business in Hartford City the last I heard. The daughter lives in Oklahoma and has quite a large family. She was named Laura after me as Billy's family all seemed to like me very much and Billy's Father had said he thought Billy had found a very good wife and that he was well pleased to call me his daughter.

When we visited them he and I had long visits together and he asked me all about my religion and if I seen that the children were being sent to church and Sunday School. I told him all about my great grandfather being a circuit rider in the early days and as much as I could remember about the church and religion I had been raised in and that we attended very nearly every service. He seemed very pleased and said so and was glad Billy had picked such a good mother for his children. About that time Billy came out of the house and came to us and his Father told him what we had been talking about. He made no comment, only that he thought we were sane enough to raise our children in such a manner that they would never disgrace the Gonnam name and there it ended. I have often wondered why the old gentleman was so anxious to find out just what religion we favored. Knowing that he was sick and hardly able to work much, perhaps he was wondering just how much he himself had and if he should return to the way he was raised. At any rate, when we left for home he shook hands with me and said, "See that your children attend church services every Sunday. I am glad you are trying to raise them the best you know how." I never saw him again as he was taken very ill and Billy went back alone when he passed away as I was not able to travel as our third son had just been born and I had my hands full caring for him and the other three.

Billy was always sorry his Father could not have visited us and seen where we lived. His Mother and youngest sister and his Mother's brother from Texas and Mexico spent several weeks with us one fall. And his oldest sister and her 3 children spent several weeks with us one summer and we all had a wonderful time. Omer went home to his family when Zella got him cleaned up; but, soon took to drinking again and Bertha divorced him as he did nothing to help her or the children. He went to work in some factory and met a woman he later married. She was a widow with 3 children all grown. Then Omer lost his job and they went to Peoria, Ill. and he found work where his oldest son had and one Sunday drove into the yard just as we were ready to go to church. Billy and I stayed home, but sent the children on. I got as nice a dinner as I could on short notice and they left before dark and said they would see us again. His son, Billy, named after my husband, decided to go back to Marion, Ind. and work for a bakery and before long Omer and Clara followed him. Bertha wrote that Omer could not find work, so Clara was taking in washings to support them. At last Clara wrote me about how hard a time they were having so Billy had me write and tell them he would give Omer work on the farm and a house to live in if they wanted to come. They replied as quickly as they could, so Billy sent Byrl, our second son, with a truck to bring their things and them. They soon bought a second hand car and we gave them rugs and used furniture and helped them all we could. At that time they were living on Rome Maier's farm south and east of us and the land we worked called the Wilson homestead had an empty house. Omer moved over there so he could be there to feed the 100 head of cattle Billy was feeding on that place as the Maier farm had no accommodations for cattle feeding. Byrl had just been married to Kathleen Madison and they moved to the Maier farm in place of Omer. In June of that year Jesse volunteered for the Army in World War II as an airman, so made more work for Billy and Omer. His boy Billy the 2nd had also joined the Army and men were being needed in the different factories and both men and women worked in them. So as soon as corn husking was done, Omers' packed up and left one night, never telling us they intended going. When Billy heard the cattle bellowing at the other place he came and told me something was wrong over there and we went over. The house was empty and the cattle had not been fed and there was no signs they had been fed since the day before in the morning. No water in the tank for them to drink, so it took some time to get things going over there. Later we learned Omer had been drinking and that Clara had often done the chores best she could. We also learned later they had got groceries various places promising to pay later and left never paying a cent. Well, we got that mess cleared up as best we could and Billy said, " Now that is enough helping people that don't have sense enough to help themselves." We have not seen nor heard from them since and when Billy died they did not come or even write so I guess that chapter is ended.

The other brother, Ed, has been out here twice; but, got one of our neighbors cornered at Billy's funeral and tried to find out how much property and farmland Billy had accumulated, but the man told him he did not know, had never heard, and etc., so Ed went home no wiser than he came. Later on that man came and told us what had been asked; but, said he was so disgusted he would not have told him anything anyway and that he was very much surprised to think he would even ask such things. All of them were very jealous of what Billy had done. Billy's oldest sister, Zella Luzadder and her oldest son and his wife and Ed and his small grandson were the ones that came to Billy's funeral. The youngest sister, Lila, had been in an auto wreck and hurt very badly and her husband killed; so is in a mental sanitarium now at Fort Wayne, Ind. There are times she knows folks that go to see her, but not always. I write to her, but she cannot answer, so someone else answers the letters. Sometimes it's a nurse or some person visiting there that does the writing for different ones who are not able to write. (She has recovered and has married again and lives in Ohio. Her new husband is a house painter and is busy much of the time. I hear from them quite often; but, he does the writing. He is some years older than she is.)

I wish we knew more about Billy's relatives in Canada and Australia; but, they were never very good to write to each other so he knew very little about any of them. Once, when we were visiting back at his folks, we visited several cousins and I saw my first gas well that furnished enough gas to light the house and cook with and had been able to heat the house; but, was getting lower so were planning to use coal heating stoves. We went to visit the glass dish factory and we got several pieces of nice glassware. The next summer two couples came to our farm and stayed overnight on their way to Iowa to visit more relatives; and were quite surprised to see such large fields and so many cattle and hogs on feed, as farms near them were small and few livestock were kept. The men worked in factories away from home and the women cared for the livestock. Our house on the farm was large and old but in good repair and the driveway was toward the house and another to the barn and they called it a park and said we had a mansion and landscaped lawns. We had our regular farm meals, but to them it was a banquet. I could not understand why as we always used what we raised and I tried to use as many as I could in various ways every day, and as I remember it, to us, was just an ordinary meal, served country family style. One time we went to a homecoming at Marion, Ind. on the train and while there I had my first waffles and barbecued spare ribs. We watched the parade and saw the different entertainment on the streets. Some were fancy dancers, sleight of hand, and talking performing animals. We ate our meals at the church eating places; all splendid home cooked meals and very reasonable.

Birthday Celebrations

Once, when I was a little girl about 5 years old, my Grandfather Cooper said we were going to celebrate our birthdays by having lemonade made with powdered sugar and eat sugar cookies every day beginning on May 11th, his birthday, until June 28th, my birthday. So he asked Mother if she would make his favorite cookies and every day about 2 o'clock we would see him look at his big silver watch he carried in his pocket and come to the house and make 2 large glasses of real lemonade and call me to get the cookies and we would have our little party. This lasted every year until he passed away, the year my youngest brother was born. If I happened to be at school at the hour he would wait till I got home and have it all ready. I sometimes wondered if he wished I was a boy and could carry on the Cooper name; if so, he never let on. He would sit for hours telling me of his home in Ohio and Ind. and about their coming to Illinois to buy a farm to raise his boys on. Of the friends they made with the Indians and how they would bring fresh caught fish, fresh killed game & wild fowl to trade for Grandmother's bread, ginger cake, and cookies, once asking for homemade soup and wanting her to tell how she made it and what all she put in it to make it so different from what their squaws made. It was hard sometimes to make them understand; but when they did, they would laugh and clap their hands to let her know, they were quick to learn. Once a young man brought her a wild duck that the arrow had gone through its body, and an older Indian with him clapped his hands and took the duck outside and brought her in another that had been shot in the head and he had wrung its neck. She was very glad for the exchange and gave them extra bread, but the older man took it all for himself; so she tried to let the younger man know he was to come back later; and he did and brought both duck and a nice string of fish and would not take anything she tried to give him. He covered his face with his hands and wiped his eyes to show her he was sorry for what he had done before. He came many times later and always brought her nice gifts. Once he brought her a nice pair of beaded moccasins made of deer hide. Grandfather kept them in a safe place in his room, but after he died my Uncle Owen Cooper from Nebraska took everything he could find of clothes and keepsakes and took them home with him. Why, I do not know as Grandfather was a large, heavy-set man and Uncle was tall and thin and every bit of clothing would have to be altered to fit him. One thing he took that I have always felt bad about was the quilt top that Grandmother had made in applique yellow roses on white blocks, but had never been quilted. I had always been told it was to have been mine for I was often in Grandfather's room and he would show it to me and talk about her and want me to learn to sew and take neat tiny stitches like she had done, but uncle took it. and Father never missed it for a long time as there was a lot of sickness and my youngest brother had been born the very day before Grandfather passed away.

One time when Mother and I were visiting my brother in Nebraska he took us to visit Aunt Selina and I asked about the quilt. She told me it would be mine when she passed away and the people that were living with her after Uncle passed away were in the room and heard her tell me. But, when she died they sold all her things, quilt top and all. I wrote them and asked about it and the man wrote I could have it for $25.00 as he knew the people who bought it. I was so hurt and disgusted I never replied, as at that time we did not have the money to spend on quilt tops, no matter who made them. What a lovely thing it would have made to leave my children--Their Great Grandmother's work. I know both my daughters would have loved it.

My two brothers had asthma very bad and my youngest brother Clinton died from an attack that ran into pneumonia; but, my brother Howard went to Nebraska to a much dryer and warmer climate and does not have much trouble anymore. One remedy we often used to help their breathing was burning blotting paper that had been soaked in saltpeter and then dryed. It made a blue flame and they inhaled the smoke, a very peasant smell. We always kept plenty on hand and ready to use at a moments notice. My Mother and I took turns sitting up nights with the boys and keeping the blotters burning so they could breath. I have told many people about this home remedy and they have used it.

I remember an old boot jack used by both my Father and Grandfather being fastened on the wall near the floor by the outside door to remove their boots, as all men and boys wore boots made of leather that often reached above their knees. I asked my Father why they were so tall and he said no snake could jump that high and the fangs would not strike through the tough cowhide the boots were made of. In damp weather they always put grease on them; either wagon wheel grease or old lard, to keep the leather soft and let the boots slip on easy; otherwise they would be very hard and hurt their feet. Many of the boot soles were made of wood and I have 1 skate made of wood with an iron runner and a leather strap to fasten around the ankle to hold it on and 2 iron screws on the inside of the heel and part of the foot to help hold the skate on. Grandfather brought it from Ohio. The mate to the one I have my Uncle Owen Cooper took when he gathered up all that Grandfather left when he died and it is in Hastings, Neb. at the big mansion called "The House of Yesteryear", a wonderful building filled with things used in early days. I also have a potato masher made of walnut; was just a piece of stovewood that my father made for Mother one rainy day shortly after they were married. She was getting dinner and he said' "Let's have mashed potatoes." and she said, "I have no masher." so he made her one and she used it as long as she lived and was able to keep house
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In early days all the carpets were made of woven rags and floors were covered from wall to wall. In the spring they were taken up and the long strips cut apart and washed and then sewed together to make the large floor covering. Then straw was put on the freshly scrubbed wood floor and the carpet laid down. A small wooden stick with short nails driven in was used to put the carpet up to the corners and to make it smooth and then tacked down. Later years old newspapers were used instead of the straw for padding as was not so dusty. All of the worn clothing was cut in strips and taken to someone that had a loom and woven into strips as long as the lady stated that would reach across the room. Then she would use a large needle and carpet twine to join the strips together to make the rug or carpet she needed. I have one such stretcher my mother and I used many times.

There was no refrigeration in those days and it was very hard to keep milk, butter, and meat fresh very long. Nearly all houses had a basement or cellar under the house. Many had a cave or small building partly underground to use. My Grandmother Funk had one of these. A 10 ft hole was dug near the house; some 10 ft long and about as wide, but many were not as large. The walls were cut smooth and sometimes stones were laid on the sides, many times not, and the dirt floor pounded firm and smooth and hard. Logs or boards were put over the top in a v shaped roof and a window put in one end covered with screen wire inside, many times put on outside; but Grandmother's was inside and could be put in or taken out and the glass paned window raised or lowered as was needed. Then dirt was put all over the log or board roof and a door put in one end and steps cut to go up and down and a flat door to cover the steps made on the slant so water and snow would run off. This cave or cellar was nice and cool in the hot summer and milk and cream was many times as cool as if it had ice in it. Meat was cooked and canned in glass jars same as fruit and many times put in stone jars and covered with lard and kept nice and fresh tasting as when first cooked. Lard was cooked and put in stone jars and set on the dirt floor. Seldom was there any dampness there to hinder walking in anytime, if there was boards were laid down to walk on and set things on, shelves were made and fruit jars set on them. Some basements under some of the houses had a long square box set on the floor and water from a field tile run thru to keep the milk and butter cool. But our home place had a stone cemented floor and had several windows set in just under the house floors. These we kept closed in the daytime, but as soon as the sun went down we opened them and for many years my folks made and sold butter from 2 to 20 cows and my Mother took many prizes at fairs for her butter. I helped make and sell thousands of lbs. of butter to steady customers in Morris each year at $.20 /lb. We delivered it in jars every 2 weeks, sometimes more often if they wanted us to. We always got cash for it when ever we came. If our customers did not need butter we took it to the store and often got $.15 /lb for it; but, took groceries instead of money.

We children were always glad when Father brought us oranges or bananas and canned pineapple as we did not get such things, only at Christmas time, and was a real treat any other time of the year. We raised most all our fruit and berries and apples were put in a straw filled hole in the garden and covered with dirt to keep it from freezing and when we needed either apples or potatoes Father would take a pail and go dig into the pile and get what was needed and cover the hole again. Even cabbage, turnips, rutabagas, and carrots were holed up for winter's use because they were raised on the farm and could not be purchased in small country stores; only in large cities and they were very high in price.

Putting up ice for summer use was one of the winter jobs done after a hard and long freeze. Many farmers had a small tight building that they used for an ice house. Many neighbors went to gather and help with the ice harvest. As soon as a pond or small river froze over it was tested and ice would be from 12 to 25 inches thick. Men used saws made for that purpose and cut blocks of ice and it was hauled by hooks to the shore and put on sleds and taken to the ice house and packed in thick sawdust in layers so when it was needed for use they could start on a layer and put the sawdust that had covered what they needed onto the rest. Ice was wrapped in heavy blankets and taken home and put in many thicknesses of paper and more blankets and chunks were cut off as needed. Every family had an ice cream freezer and many made a custard of eggs, milk, sugar, and flour to cook to a thick custard; then it was thinned with nice thick sweet cream, flavored to suit the family with either vanilla or lemon extract and placed in the can and when the cover was tight the ice was crushed and mixed with coarse salt and a crank turned until the cream mixture was frozen so thick they could no longer turn the crank. Then the dasher was taken out and the lid put on again and more ice and salt placed in the wooden tub around the can and left to ripen for an hour or so. No birthday party or church supper was complete without that wonderful ice cream; but, now as I write on Feb. 17, 1961 very few farms have a freezer, nor hens to lay the nice fresh eggs, or a cow to give the good rich milk and cream that we used years ago. Ice cream is bought the same as eggs and milk and cream and most women use a box preparation for a cake to go with the boughten ice cream. Some of this ice cream when melted is like a sponge; no taste, just a white mass and cold.

The good times we neighbors had 50 years ago are no more and young folks get in their high powered cars and drive 50 to 60 miles to towns and watch movies, later going to taverns where they drink beer and smoke and stay out till near morning and don't get home (some don't) till early hours of the morning unable to do a decent days work or even care to. Years ago our transportation was a horse and buggy. Picture shows were outside in the summer and people sat out on the streets and watched the pictures put on the side of a nice building and all the family enjoyed the lovely stories and beautiful scenery shone and when a song was put on the screen everybody sang and all the family enjoyed visiting after with their neighbors and getting a few needed groceries. They went home and all were in bed by 11:30 or 12 midnight. No one had to lay awake and wonder where their children were or if they would ever see them alive again as is the case today.

Of course we had to use kerosene lamps, but they gave a good clear light. There were many different kinds; some hung in the center of the room and could be raised or lowered to suit the family. Of course these lamps had to be washed, trimmed, and filled almost every day; but, we did not think it a task anymore than we did washing the dishes or sweeping the floor. Every one had a small lamp they used in their bedroom and some of the lamps used in the kitchen were fastened on the wall and a bright reflector that one could turn to send the light anywhere in the room we wished. The men folks had kerosene lanterns they carried about the out buildings with them and would hang them up on nails to keep the stock from knocking them over while feeding or cleaning and bedding them down for the night. Many used candles made from tallow rendered from beef and mutton or from berries gathered in some of the timbers. I have helped make all kinds and it is a very fascinating job. I can remember the first matches we used and before that we used paper rolled into a tiny roll and lighted in the front of the stove or fireplace; or often just a tiny chip of wood would be used. I have sat for hours helping make lamp or candle lighters when I was a small girl. Before the kerosene lantern was used a can with holes punched in it with a handle to carry it by and a candle fastened on the inside was used; but, was hard to light once the wind blew the candle out.

Reading out loud to the family was almost a nightly duty and my Father was a good, clear reader and read many interesting books to us. Mother would knit or crochet or sew by hand and show me how to piece quilts; and all would be very quiet so every word could be heard. We took some weekly papers: The Morris Herald, The Chicago Inter-Ocean, The Youth Companion, and Prairie Farmer. Comfort and Womans World came once a month with stories, recipes, and poems. Our Zion Church had a nice Sunday School Library and all were good clean homey stories so we always had a supply of good clean reading to use. Everybody hurried thru the evening chores and were ready to sit and listen to Father's reading. Of course, we had the best book of all. "The Bible" and it was always read night and morning and all knelt and each said a short prayer asking God's care and guidance for the day. Every home and family worshipped; but, I do not know of many who do now. They feel that is old-fashioned along with many other things long ago enjoyed.

I have a blue and white pieced quilt my Grandmother Funk gave my Mother when she was married. I think they call the pattern flower basket and double wrench(?). It is getting very badly worn, but I still keep it. She also made me a nine patch quilt for my little bed of pink and white pieces and of my little dresses and aprons. It still can be used, but I do not let it be used much any more. The blue quilt is 85 years old and the pink one 78. I hope to leave something for each of my grandchildren that I have made; perhaps they will enjoy it; but, I do not know as times have changed so much since I was a child. I have a child's Bible that my Grandfather Cooper bought for me before I could read and every night he would read to me one or two chapters and explain the pictures to me. It is about worn out; but, I still like to get it out and reread again the stories he read to me.

MY FOLKS ENJOY A WINTER IN NEBRASKA

After Billy and I moved onto the home place, Father, Mother, and Clinton decided to spend the winter with Howard in Hastings, Nebraska. He was not married and boarded with an old lady and worked for the Burlington RR, so he hunted for our folks a furnished house for the winter. Some friends of his wanted to spend the winter in Texas, so he asked for their house. It was not too far from the Methodist Church or downtown stores, so they enjoyed that winter very much and made many friends. As I remember, our winter was very mild and not much snow and the grass stayed green. One day I was waiting for dinner to cook and was writing a letter to the folks out west when the house began to shake and dishes rattled in the cupboard and the floor dipped and trembled and our old dog Colly laying on the front doorstep began to bark and howl as if someone was hurting her. I ran to the window and saw her looking up at the house standing quite a distance from the house. The phone began to ring and a neighbor wanted to know if we were all right and what made the noise and why was the house shaking. Our Central Phone lady came on and told us that it was an earthquake shock. I understand it was the first one ever felt in Illinois; but, not the last for several weeks later Billy and the man helping him build fence felt another tremor. He was just ready to drive a staple into the fence post and the post kept moving about and he asked the man if he was pulling the wire tighter and he said NO!, it was moving so fast he could not get ahold of it to pull. That one lasted about 3 minutes we were told later. Since that there have been several later shocks in other parts of Illinois, but we never felt them.

THANKSGIVING REMEMBRANCES

The first dinner I can remember was eaten with the Perry Goss family. Mary Goss, who was teaching in Chicago, was home that day and her brother Charles, also Eva and Julius, and my Aunt Nancy Funk who was visiting us, and my Father and Mother and me and my Grandfather Cooper who was a brother-in-law of Mrs. Goss. Aunt Frances we called her and Mr. Goss, Uncle Perry. I do not remember if any more of the older Goss children were at home as they lived in Kansas and Iowa and So. Dakota. I remember a large seat or long window bench on the southeast side of the little kitchen, built from the big chimney to the east side of the wall. There was a south window and an east one I could look out of to watch the dog and several cats setting in the cellar door in the sun. All the men folks were in the big sitting room visiting and Mother, Aunt Nancy and Mary Goss were there also; and as usual Mary had the floor. I remember Mother and my Aunt had taken some needlework and Eva and her mother were getting dinner. I can see the big iron cookstove and the various kettles of iron and the big oven and the monstrous big turkey in a big black pan and oh how good everything smelled. I went into the big long pantry where Eva was getting jellies and pickles into dishes and taking them to the table that was set at one end of the big kitchen. Of course, I was underfoot and always just where Eva did not want me to be, so she gave me a big can of different kinds of buttons to play with and at last Julius came out and began to play with me. He asked me if I liked apples and of course I said yes, and he wanted to know what color I liked best and I said red because we had so many red Jonathans and Winter Snows in our cellar and he said, "Don't you like yellow apples , too?" "I don't know, I never saw any." I replied and he said, "Well you come with me down to the basement and I'll show you some." So we went and there in a big barrel were the big yellow ones. So we carried a big pan full up stairs and later on he peeled one for me. Charles Goss sat very close to my Aunt Nancy and they talked in undertones to each other, but the men had hard work visiting as Mary Goss talked all the time and so loud it was hard for the men to hear each other. At last dinner was ready and we were called to take our places at the table. I was set up on the dictionary and the big family bible on a pillow on a chair and at last all were ready and as usual Uncle Perry asked my Grandfather to ask the blessing, but Mary Goss was talking and her Father turned to her and said, " Be quiet till Brother Wm. can say grace." When they were ready to eat I turned to Mary Goss and said, "Don't you know you talk too much?" and my Father grabbed me by the arm and gave me a big shake and said, " Hush, you do too. Now quiet down and eat your dinner." and I knew he meant just that. After dinner Julius took me for a ride on his sled as there was a light snow on the ground and Mother helped with the dishes and Charley and Aunt Nancy went for a walk down to the Woodbury School that today (Nov. 1961) is still being used as a schoolhouse. The men folks went out to the barns to look at the hogs and cattle. Uncle Perry was feeding for market that winter. I think Julius must have been 17 or 18 years of age then; but, we were always the best of friends and when we went to church at Zion he always hunted me up and visited awhile. Some of the boys would laugh and make fun of him and say I was a little pest; but Julius always said I was his cousin and a good girl. We always visited his home and after he was married and I was married too, our families were the best of friends. He and his wife and their three boys have all passed away as well as all our folks, my husband also, and I am the only one left of that Thanksgiving Day at Uncle Perry's.

But I must tell you about my Aunt Nancy and Charley Goss. That day they took that walk to the schoolhouse he asked her to marry him and gave her a beautiful amethyst set ring. Why she took it I do not know because she had come to have Mother get her things ready to marry a United Bretheren Minister, Rev. Richard Beck and later when she told Charley he made her keep the ring and he went to Australia and died there in 1900. He never married. But, Aunt and Uncle Beck, as we called him, lived for years and raised a large family. Our Mary has the ring as Aunt gave it to Mother and she gave it to Mary as a graduation gift from High School in Morris. It is a beautiful stone and real gold band beautifully carved, a real heirloom. I always felt sorry for Charles Goss every time I looked at that ring. I have often wondered if Aunt Nancy did not wish she had married him instead of Uncle Beck as she had to work very hard and more many times with that large family and there seldom was any money so she could visit her folks. I hope she was happy in her chosen work as a minister's wife. Her children all had college educations but one and I understand he has made a place for himself, also a good name, as a highway policeman in Iowa. The daughter and two of the boys have passed away as well as Aunt and Uncle Beck. One boy lives in Florida after being a teacher for soldiers' children in a Tennessee camp for a long time. As none of them ever wrote to any of us, I know little about them. In those days an educated person (for many [not all, but some] of them did) felt they were so far above farmers or their families that they were not good enough to associate with; that to work in the dirt was degrading, so we just paid no attention to them.

But one time Aunt Nancy brought her sons and their wives to visit Mother after my folks had left the farm and moved to Morris to live. Mary was at home and we were cleaning house and were papering one of the bedrooms upstairs and had worked all day, very hard. We had baked 6 loaves of bread and a plain cake along with everything else and had gotten dinner for our 5 men and 2 extra men who were putting up hay. About 5 PM a car drove in and in it was Aunt Nancy and 3 of her sons and their wives. She let us understand they had come to the country for their supper as my Mother was not feeling well. The young ladies asked to go to the bathroom at once to freshen up and were horrified to find a part of that place was outside down a long cement walk. So, while they were getting acquainted with that part of the farm Mary carried up a large pitcher of water and got our wash bowl lavatory ready upstairs for them to use. Then she and I began supper while they washed up and Aunt showed the boys the barns, cribs, orchard, and garden. We fried 3 large pans of fresh potatoes and made 3 dozen eggs into deviled eggs and made cabbage slaw, set the table and fed the company before the men folks were ready for supper. By the time they all had eaten we were out of bread, cookies, cake, eggs, and also potatoes and had to have some dug up before we could have dinner the next day. We went to bed that night so tired we never wanted to see city company again and we have never seen any of those relatives but Aunt Nancy to this day. I have often wondered just what those new married ladies would have fed us in those same circumstances; but then they could have sent downtown for supplies. However, we were 6 miles away from any store and our men were using the car, so we did the best we could. That was just one of the experiences we farm wives encountered. Some times I wonder just how we did all that we did and stayed sweet and sane at the same time, but we did, and for one I am very thankful to have had the experience.

SOME TIMES WE HAD VERY FUNNY THINGS HAPPEN------

Now for a funny thing that happened at the Wauponsee Station store. Many years ago a wonderful Christian family by the name of Harper came to the little town and William, the father, began to work for Mr. Gorham and Mr. Newport in the store waiting on trade and driving the wagon out into the country gathering up the eggs, butter, and other farm produce in exchange for groceries ordered the week before. One morning when he was very busy sweeping out the store, one of our near neighbor women drove up to the hitch rack and tied her horse and came into the store with a jar or earthen crock in her arms. Making sure there was no one else in the store but Mr. Harper she said, " I wish you to exchange this fresh churned butter for some more that someone brought in yesterday. Who all did?" and he hastily named several who had brought in butter; "But why?" he asked. "Well," she said, " a mouse was drowned in that cream and if I did not know about it or had not seen it I could eat the butter; but knowing it I just cannot. It is nice clean fresh butter just churned this morning, but I want some different." "Oh never mind," said Mr. Harper, "I'll fix that." and he went down into the small cellar where they kept the butter, lard, and meat. He grabbed a jar and ladled her own butter into it and took it up and put it on the scales and it weighed a small amount more as the jar he used was a little heavier than the one she had brought in. He hastily tied it up and got her a few things she needed and she left, more than happy to think she had some butter someone else had churned that week. On the next delivery day he came to our house and seemed very much disturbed and asked for my Father at once. Mother called to Father who was mending fence near the garden and he came in at once and Mr. Harper told him he had done such a terrible thing he wanted to know what to do about it. and told the story I have just written. By the time he finished my folks were almost overcome with laughter, but he was so earnest and worried over what had happened he could not see anything funny about it all. As soon as my Father could talk he told him not to worry any more, that he had done the only thing he could do under the circumstances and nobody had been hurt. Mr. Harper and his whole family were good people, wonderful Christians, and has since passed to the better world, as well as his wife and several of their children and all of my family and the lady and almost all of her family who ate the butter. My Father told me never to tell any one about what Mr. Harper had told us, that it was all confidential business; but, today thinking about Wauponsee Station and many things that were enjoyed there I felt that I might write about the poor mouse that caused so much trouble. I wonder how many of us have eaten much worse taken from the cream our purchased butter is made of because out of 100 families I have in mind there are just 2 I know who make there own butter. Eat and be happy for you don't know any different. For me, I'd love to have some old homemade butter to eat on my homemade bread, for I do bake yet at nearly 80 yrs.. of age.

THE DAY WE FOOLED THE OLD HENS-----

Many years ago there were very few of the different kinds of chickens we see listed at the hatcheries now and many were just everything and called barn chickens. They were every color and size. So my Mother wanted something different and sent off for some Large White Cochen eggs, but we only raised 2 out of the 15 eggs. At last Mother heard of some near Coal City that were for sale, so she bought them and got them home. There were 5 hens and a rooster, large and white with a ring of black feathers around their necks like a necklace. Also, black feathers on their feet and the hens weighed 7 lbs. each and the rooster 9 lbs. We had a nice place for them in the orchard in a rabbit box and pan with nests made in a big box at one end. Each day the hens would set on the nest and cackle as if they had laid an egg, but we never found an egg. At last Mother set me in the window of the parlor and told me to watch very carefully and see what happened. After awhile a hen went on the nest and later began to cackle and every one of the others started to run to her and they ate that egg in less time than it takes to tell it. I told Mother what I had seen and she was sure disgusted. So we took some common eggs and opened the ends of the shell very carefully and got the contents out and mixed it with mustard and red pepper and very carefully put it back in the shell and pasted paper over each end. Next day Mother fed the chickens as usual and put the doctored eggs in the nest. In a little while one hen went in to lay and on discovering the eggs called all the rest to the feast. Pretty soon they all came out with their mouths open and dashed for the water pail and just stood around looking at each other with their mouths open. That day we got 3 nice cochen eggs and never again did they try to eat eggs and strange to say, they did not cackle any more either. So Mother raised a nice lot of lovely chickens and sold many eggs and chickens to different neighbors. No doubt that was a mean thing to do but we were desperate and thank goodness it worked

MY LITTLE ROOSTER---

The next spring some friends gave me a pair of banty chickens. The little rooster thought he was king of the chicken yard and was the first to crow in the morning and the last one at night. We called him David and Mother's big white cochen Goliath. Our barnyard was very muddy after a big rain and the chickens were all out to get fish worms and the two roosters got in a fight. After several rounds Goliath knocked David down and stepped. on him and held him down in the mud. Goliath was so very tired he just stood there getting his breath and looking all around to see where David was. At last he walked away and poor little David got up and walked away and after that when ever he saw Goliath he made himself very scarce and went as fast as he could in the other direction. I had 11 tiny chicks hatch out and found homes for most of them that fall. I always loved every animal and fowl and made pets of many of them. One year after Harvey and Mary were going to school and we lived on the Wilson place, we had a young Plymouth Rock rooster that from the very first was much larger than any of the baby chix and grew so fast. He was larger than any chicken on the farm; in fact, he was the size of a large turkey gobbler. He was very tame and would eat out of our hands and made the most peculiar noise like he was trying to talk to us. He would turn his head first one way and then the other and if we spoke to him he would answer us at once in that queer way. He lived to be 2 years old as he was such a pet we could neither kill him nor sell him; but one morning we found him dead under the roost. We never knew what caused his death as he seemed all right when they were fed that day. We had a large black dog come to us about the time our big chick was hatched and they became good friends. We used coal stoves in 3 rooms and every morning Billy would empty the ashes into a large metal wheelbarrow and when they were cool would haul them down to the hog pen and fill holes up, but as soon as the ashes were put in the barrow to cool our big dog would jump up into the mess and curl up and keep warm. Before very long the big rooster would come and sit on the side by the dog and seem to fall asleep too. Now very few people use coal stoves or even coal furnaces, all oil or bottle gas. I doubt if many even know how to build a fire in a stove using coal or wood.