My grandfather, A.J., was the judge in our little county seat in Iowa. He had been an attorney who handled everything as attorneys must in rural areas. But he did have a specialty in accretion and evulsion law which was still being developed as our county bordered on the Missouri river. And he did have a rather good reputation in the Midwest for that specialty. The great dams that came along later made most of that area of law irrelevant. But in my grandfather's time it was a big deal. My grandfather was also a Methodist and a teetotaller. Now the law of our great land has always had a little problem with private stills. Martinis come and go but White Lightning always seems to have it's problems and it's following.
My grandfather also followed the stills, except that he had an ax in the trunk of his big Buick Roadster. A bootleggers blood would run cold at the sight of that big car going down his road And Grandfather did personally go out and bust up a good many stills. He always took the sheriff along with him to observe the proprieties. The problem was that Grandfather didn't really trust the sheriff. He was pretty sure that the sheriff was just a bit too friendly with some of the bootleggers. On the occasions when A.J. had told the sheriff ahead of time when and where they would be going, they had arrived to find an empty clearing just once or twice too often. So Grandfather started showing up at the sheriff's house just a bit late for supper and saying, "Let's go!" The sheriff had little choice but to grab his hat and go with the judge. And down the road they would go in that big Buick. And another still would be in pieces by dark.
So the big thing was, if you were a bootlegger in our county you tried to figure out if Effie was fixing supper early. And if she was, you might give some real thought to moving your still. It might not survive the evening.
Showing posts with label Iowa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iowa. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Effie's Quilts
My Grandmother had a huge bedroom in the old house. It was part bedroom part work area. And it seems now to me that there was almost always a quilt frame up there. Her quilt frame held about a half of a double bed quilt. And something was always going on there. Her name was Effie. No bit of fancy or bright or unusual material escaped Effie's stash box. Effie made quilts. She called them "crazy quilts" but each was a witty, whimsical piece of original art. My father and grandfather's old neckties were a favorite material of hers. I remember in particular a little black felt Scottie dog on the satiny background of a red necktie that I had always loved to see my father wearing. His tail was up and you could tell it was just about to wag and his little button eye had a glint to it.
As a young woman Effie had gone to "normal" school. That's what they used to call teacher's colleges. And, yes, there were institutions of higher learning that just taught how to be a teacher. They were nearly all women's colleges. She was a teacher and a very good one. Her best friend had been Katie, the wife of a local attorney. Katie had many children (eventually 10) and all had been Effie's students at one point or another. All except the last one. And baby Katie and her mother died within a few months of each other. Katie's husband Alfred was just decimated. And Effie mourned for her dear friend. Effie helped A.L. (as he was known) with the children as much as she could.
A.L. and Effie were married about a year and half after Katie's death. If they weren't head over heels in love with each other then love surely grew between them because by the time I came along they were certainly devoted to one another. My mother, Harriett, is their only child together. Elizabeth is the daughter of Effie's sister who died when Elizabeth was just a baby. And then Elizabeth was theirs. She just came by a little different route to get to be their darling daughter. So Effie came home from her wedding to a household with 6 children still at home. If she wasn't accomplished at household skills then, she got that way pretty fast. But she was teacher and a good one. And she could manage children. Two essential points for her situation.
I asked her once why on earth she would marry a man with that many children? She looked at me and said, quite honestly I believe, "I was either truly in love or just plain crazy, don't know which."
We have already talked about her stationery. And how she wrote to everyone and kept up with them. She also volunteered at church and was in the garden club and the ladies aide society. And she had all those children to raise. And this woman had a husband who by that time was the district judge. And whatever social obligations attended with that were taken care of in good order too. He was a very happy husband. How she did all that I don't know. But I do know that I don't complain about having too little time without thinking of her. There was always time to talk to a child, I know that. My Uncles and Aunts have told me that. And she made quilts too! Wonderful magical creations. One for each of her children (she had no "steps" in her mind, they were hers).
I learned how to embroider and do hand stitching on one of those quilts. Don't know which one. But there was plenty of practice to be had. I imagine quite a few other little girls in our family did as well. "Aunt Effie" (and she was everybody's Aunt Effie) never turned down a little girl's willing hands, trained or not. She was always happy to show another one how thread a needle and hold it and how to stitch.
My Aunt Ruth, Uncle Arch's wife gave me hers after I was all grown up. She found out that I never got one. Effie ran out of time finally. And I treasure that quilt and I love my Aunt Ruth for her good heart and treasure her memory right along with my Grandmother Effie's. Just a memory, but a very happy one.
Until next time, happy searching!
As a young woman Effie had gone to "normal" school. That's what they used to call teacher's colleges. And, yes, there were institutions of higher learning that just taught how to be a teacher. They were nearly all women's colleges. She was a teacher and a very good one. Her best friend had been Katie, the wife of a local attorney. Katie had many children (eventually 10) and all had been Effie's students at one point or another. All except the last one. And baby Katie and her mother died within a few months of each other. Katie's husband Alfred was just decimated. And Effie mourned for her dear friend. Effie helped A.L. (as he was known) with the children as much as she could.
A.L. and Effie were married about a year and half after Katie's death. If they weren't head over heels in love with each other then love surely grew between them because by the time I came along they were certainly devoted to one another. My mother, Harriett, is their only child together. Elizabeth is the daughter of Effie's sister who died when Elizabeth was just a baby. And then Elizabeth was theirs. She just came by a little different route to get to be their darling daughter. So Effie came home from her wedding to a household with 6 children still at home. If she wasn't accomplished at household skills then, she got that way pretty fast. But she was teacher and a good one. And she could manage children. Two essential points for her situation.
I asked her once why on earth she would marry a man with that many children? She looked at me and said, quite honestly I believe, "I was either truly in love or just plain crazy, don't know which."
We have already talked about her stationery. And how she wrote to everyone and kept up with them. She also volunteered at church and was in the garden club and the ladies aide society. And she had all those children to raise. And this woman had a husband who by that time was the district judge. And whatever social obligations attended with that were taken care of in good order too. He was a very happy husband. How she did all that I don't know. But I do know that I don't complain about having too little time without thinking of her. There was always time to talk to a child, I know that. My Uncles and Aunts have told me that. And she made quilts too! Wonderful magical creations. One for each of her children (she had no "steps" in her mind, they were hers).
I learned how to embroider and do hand stitching on one of those quilts. Don't know which one. But there was plenty of practice to be had. I imagine quite a few other little girls in our family did as well. "Aunt Effie" (and she was everybody's Aunt Effie) never turned down a little girl's willing hands, trained or not. She was always happy to show another one how thread a needle and hold it and how to stitch.
My Aunt Ruth, Uncle Arch's wife gave me hers after I was all grown up. She found out that I never got one. Effie ran out of time finally. And I treasure that quilt and I love my Aunt Ruth for her good heart and treasure her memory right along with my Grandmother Effie's. Just a memory, but a very happy one.
Until next time, happy searching!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Effie's Stationery
Effie loved flower arranging. She was quite good at it too. In fact, she was artistically talented and very inventive. One day as she was in the back yard "visiting" with her flowers she spotted a small feather in the flower bed. She picked it up and, looking at it, decided it looked like a flower. She put it in her apron pocket where it stayed until later in the day. With Alfred gone, Harriett and her husband, Deke, had moved into the big old home place with her. It was too big for her to keep by herself. Then those horrible days when Deke became ill. And then too quickly he was gone. Then it was just her and her girls. But she once again had a family to care for. A very small family but she was glad to have her girls there.
Christie came home from school later that afternoon. After Christie had her snack, they both went to the big work room for homework time. A quilting frame was set up in the middle of the room and Alfred's old partners desk sat down at the end. Christie put her homework down on her side of the desk and Effie got some stationery out of the drawer along with her old fashioned quill type pen and a bottle of ink. It was then she remembered the feather. Quickly she made a few light strokes in the upper left hand corner of the page and glued the feather at the top of one of them. And sure enough. It looked like a fluffy little flower, quite a pretty one too. And the first letter was written on Effie's stationery.
That stationery would be treasured and coveted by most of the family in years to come. But for that day, it was just something a little different to do with a piece of paper.
Her home had a huge back yard. At the very back was a fenced in chicken yard and Effie kept chickens. Each spring the new chicks would come (much to Christie's delight) and were kept in an incubator on the enclosed back porch until they were ready to move into the chicken house. Effie kept a large vegetable garden and each fall vegetables were canned and put into the big freezer in the basement. Kettles of the best cream of tomato soup in the world were made and canned in the big pressure canner. She had lovely flower gardens with fruit trees and grape vines and gooseberry bushes. She fixed breakfast, lunch, and dinner for her little family because in a small town people go home for lunch. Effie made crazy quilts. As a former teacher she tutored her granddaughter in special subjects and projects. And, of course, there was the church, the garden club and her canasta club, all which received her willing and unstinting efforts. If you asked her, she would tell you that she didn't work, she stayed at home.
She bought stationery at the Rexall drug store down town. The kept a nice line of boxed stationery. And now she bought a couple of extra boxes and began to experiment with the feathers and light wispy pen strokes. She began to hear back from recipients of her letters asking where she got that lovely stationery. They wanted some. She made a few extra sheets of stationery every time she sat down now. Slowly, slowly a couple of extra boxes accumulated. Over the years, if you were good, very good, if you graduated high school or college with honors and you were also very lucky, you would get a box of that stationery. Most family members upon receiving their longed-for box of stationery would would lock it away with the other valuables with one exception. They would use just one sheet. That was the thank-you letter to Aunt Effie. Well, if you were even luckier you might get to use a second sheet. But that's a story for another day.
Christie came home from school later that afternoon. After Christie had her snack, they both went to the big work room for homework time. A quilting frame was set up in the middle of the room and Alfred's old partners desk sat down at the end. Christie put her homework down on her side of the desk and Effie got some stationery out of the drawer along with her old fashioned quill type pen and a bottle of ink. It was then she remembered the feather. Quickly she made a few light strokes in the upper left hand corner of the page and glued the feather at the top of one of them. And sure enough. It looked like a fluffy little flower, quite a pretty one too. And the first letter was written on Effie's stationery.
That stationery would be treasured and coveted by most of the family in years to come. But for that day, it was just something a little different to do with a piece of paper.
Her home had a huge back yard. At the very back was a fenced in chicken yard and Effie kept chickens. Each spring the new chicks would come (much to Christie's delight) and were kept in an incubator on the enclosed back porch until they were ready to move into the chicken house. Effie kept a large vegetable garden and each fall vegetables were canned and put into the big freezer in the basement. Kettles of the best cream of tomato soup in the world were made and canned in the big pressure canner. She had lovely flower gardens with fruit trees and grape vines and gooseberry bushes. She fixed breakfast, lunch, and dinner for her little family because in a small town people go home for lunch. Effie made crazy quilts. As a former teacher she tutored her granddaughter in special subjects and projects. And, of course, there was the church, the garden club and her canasta club, all which received her willing and unstinting efforts. If you asked her, she would tell you that she didn't work, she stayed at home.
She bought stationery at the Rexall drug store down town. The kept a nice line of boxed stationery. And now she bought a couple of extra boxes and began to experiment with the feathers and light wispy pen strokes. She began to hear back from recipients of her letters asking where she got that lovely stationery. They wanted some. She made a few extra sheets of stationery every time she sat down now. Slowly, slowly a couple of extra boxes accumulated. Over the years, if you were good, very good, if you graduated high school or college with honors and you were also very lucky, you would get a box of that stationery. Most family members upon receiving their longed-for box of stationery would would lock it away with the other valuables with one exception. They would use just one sheet. That was the thank-you letter to Aunt Effie. Well, if you were even luckier you might get to use a second sheet. But that's a story for another day.
~~The End~~
Crandall Note: My box of stationery is locked away with valuables in a safe. I get it out and look at it once in awhile and I see my Grandmother sitting at that partners desk with her old fashioned pen and her jar of ink and the feathers scattered out. I didn't get many of her letters because I lived with her. But those who did treasure them. Written in Spencerian script and containing a wealth of homey information, they are each one priceless.
Until next time.....Happy Searching!
Friday, July 15, 2011
2 Sisters, 1 Horse
This true story happened to Elizabeth and Harriett, Crandalls both, in the mid 1920's.
~~
Once upon a time in a very small town in Iowa, there lived a very large family. In the family there were the Father and the Mother and 6 boys and 6 girls. Some of the children had grown up moved on to start their own lives and families, but there were still 4 boys and 2 girls at home. The 2 girls were the youngest of the whole family. One day as a treat for the girls, the father borrowed a horse from a farmer in lieu of a debt the farmer owed him. And the little girls squealed in delight. The little girls were named Elizabeth and Harriett. The father said, "Now girls I want you to take turns riding the horse. Elizabeth you are the older and I expect you to share and let Harriett ride her share too." And he went inside to work on his papers.
Elizabeth turned to Harriett and said, "I'll go first and then I'll let you ride. You wait here in the shade of this tree." And Harriett nodded and waited. Elizabeth rode the horse through their very, very big back yard, past the cherry tree, past the gooseberry bushes, down the side fence past the apple tree all the way to the chicken yard at the very back and then around the clothes line and carefully avoiding her Mother's vegetable garden coming back up the other side through the hollyhocks behind the garage to where Harriett waited. Riding the horse was so much fun, Elizabeth didn't want to get off. But she had promised her Father that she would take turns with Harriett. And so she did. She came back to where Harriett waited and got off the horse. She told Harriett to ride the same places where she had ridden and helped her up onto the horse.
Harriett rode off. But she was 2 years younger and not as good at riding as Elizabeth. Harriett let the horse get her too close to the cherry tree and she got smacked in the face by the branches. And when they passed the gooseberry bushes she got her ankles scratched. The horse went right under a branch of the apple tree and Harriett had to duck down fast! They passed the chicken yard safely enough but the clothesline was coming next! Harriett ducked down in anticipation of coming disaster but the horse turned and went around the clothes line. And headed for the fence of her Mother's vegetable garden!! "Turn him to the left," yelled Elizabeth. Harriett pulled the reins back and to the left and the horse went a little faster - straight ahead. At the last moment, the horse turned toward the hollyhocks. Harriett had to grab the pommel of the saddle to stay on the horse so sharply did he turn. And they were off for the hollyhocks. Right into the hollyhocks and through the lovely pink flowered stalks to the garage. Then, finally, they got to the place that Elizabeth waited. "Oh my, Harriett, you need to learn to use the reins more, you didn't even try to turn the horse until you got to the garden."
"I was so busy getting smacked by the cherry tree and scratched by the gooseberries and ducking under the apple branch, I forgot about the reins." Harriett said, her knees shaking as she got off the horse. "I wouldn't have remembered at the garden if you hadn't yelled to do it."
At that moment the back door opened and their Father came out, his eyes snapping. "Girls! Your Mother tells me her hollyhocks are trampled flat! Have you been riding that horse over her flowers?"
Harriett looked at Elizabeth and Elizabeth looked at Harriett and they both looked at their Father. "I d-d-d-didn't mean to, Father, the horse just kind of w-w-w-went there," said Harriett in a small shaky voice.
Then as their Father took a little better look at Harriett, his eyes softened and he said, "You do look a bit the worse for wear. Perhaps we should put the horse away now."
"Oh no, oh no, we want to ride more!" said both girls together.
"Well, alright, but I think you should both ride together and Elizabeth can rein the horse. Maybe you are still too small to ride by yourself, Harriett." said their Father.
And so the girls got back on the horse, Elizabeth in front and rode around the yard several times without incident. And they were making their 5th circuit of the yard past the cherry tree, when the horse edged a bit too close to the gooseberry bushes. But Elizabeth turned the reins and he went away from those thorny bushes and headed straight for the middle of the apple tree. And again Elizabeth tugged on the reins and the horse turned and passed the chicken yard at the very back and headed toward the clothesline. That horse headed straight for the clothesline and he was speeding up too. Elizabeth tugged on the reins and the horse just kept going toward the clothesline. Elizabeth said very loudly, "Duck down, the clothes line!" And she ducked down. But Harriett was looking at all the pretty hollyhocks laying on the ground and feeling sorry that she had not kept the horse out of them and she did not even hear her sister talking to her. And that horse went right under the clothesline with Elizabeth laying down close to his neck. Harriett stopped very quickly as the clothesline came up tight right under her chin and then stretched a little bit as the horse continued on. And suddenly she was not on the horse any more, she was hanging on the clothesline like a clean wet dress. Then the clothesline was springing back the other way and Harriett was going with it. Back though the air toward her Mother's garden where she lit with a thump right in the middle of a cabbage plant.
Their Father and Mother came out of the back door and ran for the vegetable garden. "Are you alright, Harriett?" cried their Mother. "What happened?" called their Father. As they both started checking Harriett for damage and injury Elizabeth explained how the horse went under the clothesline and how she told her sister to "duck" but she hadn't. And she told then how the clothesline went right under Harriett's chin and then kind of stretched forward. And it quit stretching forward and Harriett flew backward into the garden and thumped down onto the cabbage plant. Elizabeth saw that her Mother was close to tears as she saw that Harriett was not badly hurt and said, "Dear Mother, did we break the cabbage?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth saw Harriett go off the back of the horse on the clothesline. Elizabeth wondered that Harriett didn't even make a squeak as it happened. As quickly as ever she could she turned the horse around and yelling for their Father and Mother headed back for the garden where the dazed Harriett was sitting on a cabbage plant.
Later that afternoon the Dr. had assured them all that Harriett would be fine. She would have a sore throat for a few days but there were no broken bones and she would recover well. Harriett was enjoying the little pad of paper they gave her to write communications. And as the Dr. was leaving, she scribbled very quickly, "May I ride the horse, please?"
~ The End ~
Crandall Note: Harriett was my mother.
Hope you enjoyed this little family story. Until next time - Happy Searching!
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