He found it hard to break away, so even when he married he took Mother to the farm in Iowa. Edd was born there, (1884) (Bronson, Iowa)
then dad moved to Souix City. I was born here. "Dad moved to souix city, a thriving pioneer town, where there was much building, He became a plasterer and brick mason. i dont know how or where he learned the trade, but he must have been good at it because he did quite well" (1886)
Dad got itchy feet, when were babies we he went to Virginia, bought land, part of old Summer Hill Estates. (1886-1890) ?
Mother was broken-hearted when Dad ecided to leave to raise cattle in Nebraska.We stayed in WV, while dad got estbalished in the cattle business in Nebraska In partnership with with his dad, his brother George, and his cousin Charlie. Mother was in demand for her sewing, six months there.
Tiresome trip on the train left to imagination, until we arrived at Mullen. A dark, rough looking stranger, with a lantern came toward us...that was dad but Edd and I didnt recognize him. (1887-1893 ?)
He took us to the hotel. Dad told the ranch was sixty miles away. With a wagon...made the trip in two days.
(Virginia Settlement, Ne) a little sod house, Grand dad and a cowpoke lived with us,five other children besides us.
We fought prairie fires, blizzards, cattle thieves, and cattle disease for a whole year. We were wiped out, with a wagon...made our way to Johnstown, Ne. about 100 miles distant. Edd and i entered school in town (Johnstown, teacher named Mr. Stevenson. (>1890 ? ?)
Dad found a grassy valley near Woodlake. Before we moved Edd got the measles.
Although we were delayed in moving to the ranch, from then on things went well for us. Dad acquired more land and bought stock. Grand Dad wanted to give up the Big Creek (Edd born farm?) ranch and go in with us. 1895?
He had made an unfortunate second marriage. When Uncle George and Cousin Charlie Amick pulled out of the partnership, Grand Dad brought his wife and her grown sons out from Salix, Iowa to help him, but it did not work out. All they wanted was to get his money and then boot him out. They had a dreadful quarrel, parted, and the wife and her sons went back to Salix to live, so Grand Dad came to live with us again.
By that time, Edd was fourteen...so we were sent to Woodlake, Mr Stevenson again being our teacher. (1898)
Meanwhile affairs at the ranch were going badly. Grand Dad made trips to Sioux City on the pretext of buying more cattle, but instead he went back to his wife and always parted with the check which was drawn on the joint account with Dad. He would come home empty handed and with no explanation. Dad had a heart attack while fighting a prairie fire wind-whipped into an inferno, which burned us out, even threatened the house and every one in it. Mother was worn out and ill.
The partnership with Grand Dad threatened to ruin us, so the ranch was sold and we moved to Walla Walla. Dad sent word that he wanted me to visit Aunt Carrie and Uncle John while I was so near them, so I spent six weeks there.
87 yr. old Grand Dad was making his home with Aunt Carrie. He had just gotten home from the hospital, and had sat in a dentist chair for the first time, and had parted with a tooth. What a man! Aunt Carrie was his favorite daughter, and since he thought I looked like her I was always his favorite grand child. To make this record complete I should tell you what I know about Dad's sisters and brothers and about their families. After all you might want to follow up on that history sometime. If so you need all of the information I can give you, and then some. Dad's sister Mary married Charlie Sluyter. They owned a lot of rich land and a lot of stock. Their home was near Salix, Iowa. They had two children, Willie and Ruth. I have already told you about Aunt Carrie and Uncle John Lee. They got to be quite wealthy. Their three sons were Willoughby, Harry and Claude,--fine boys. Harry got to be a prominent doctor in Detroit. Aunt Martha married into the Currier family, strict, stuffy, thrifty New Englanders. They owned a lot of rich land, had fine homes, owned the bank, the coal yard and the lumber yard, and other business property in town. Uncle Ethan was a pillar of the church, and a highly respected citizen. They had five children, who lived in Oakland, Calif. the last I heard. Uncle Marshall moved to Fresno, Calif. He had two or three children. I never saw any of them. Uncle Ruben moved to Santa Anna, Calif. I saw him just once. He had two or three children. Uncle George, the youngest member of the family, was considered a nare-do-well, but as far as I know he never did anything bad. He had a large family, all of whom turned out very well, much to the surprise of the rest of the family. Uncle Samuel became mentally ill so had to be sent to an institution. I never saw him.