Amanuensis Monday: Abraham Steinbruch will, 1801

This is the will of my 6great-grandfather Abraham Steinbruch (also spelled Stainbrook). I love how, reading it aloud, you can practically hear his German accent in his misspellings of various words. It does, however, make it somewhat difficult to read. In this transcription, I have added bracketed "translations" whenever it seemed a particular word might cause consternation. (Bracketed words or phrases followed by a question mark continue to indicate an uncertain transcription, as usual.) There are, I admit, still a few places where I remain puzzled. What, for instance, is meant by "one Hough the jois"? I suspect "Hough" may be a misspelling of "half," but that doesn't seem to quite work in the context of the passage. It doesn't help that I have no idea what "jois" could mean. Still, I think I have managed to make sense of most of this will.

Abraham Steinbruch's Will, In the name of God Amen I Abraham Steinbruch of Penns Town-
ship County of Northumberland in the State of Pennsylvania Yeoman, being, weak in Body but of
sound and perfect mind and memory considering the uncertainty of this mortal life Do make and pub-
lish this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following - ( that is to say first I Give
and bequeath unto my dearly beloved wife Eva my best bed and bed sted and one cow the Joise
in the Stock and however those come on my place to live is to find for said cow sufficient
and good food and baster [pasture] for said cow and one Sworm of Bees, one Iron pot her spinnen weel,
ten buchel of weed ten buchel of Rye fore Buchel of buckweed fore buchel of Indian corn
one Hough the jois one quarter of acer of flacks [acre of flax] to be sowed in good Ground the said
witto [widow] to find the sack one Protor tick fore Buter spones [Butter spoons] and also to live in my Dwell=
ing House to have and to hold all the above artigles ass long my said wife Remains
a witto & no longer _ Item I Give and Devise unto my son Jacob Steinbruch his Heirs and
assigns for ever one hundred and twenty five acres my land & allowance of six per Cent un=
divid being measured of from any plantation and to being the same he at present lives on, and
to be cut of in manner to begin at the corner of Philip Jordon then along miller's line and
then to the old place of said A. Steinbruch then a strate line to make up the [Cumparonent?]
of acres of Land as aforesaid and that to be cut of after my Desd. and further is my will that
my son Jacob is to have the above described land free and clear of all the rest of my Children
and in the rest of my Estate my son Jacob is to fall in with the rest Schare & Schare alike _
Item I Give and Devise unto my Son fridrig his Heirs and assigns forever the sum of thirty
pounds which is all he is to have and now more becose he went and dit live me fore years be=
fore his age _ Item further is my Will that my sons that is to say Aberham & Beter is
to have of out the rest of my Estate Share & Share alike _ Item further is my will that my
Dathers that is to say Barbara and Mery and Catharine is to have of out of the rest of my
Estate Share and Share alike to them or to their heirs or assigns _ And further I do appoint my
Dearly and beloved frands John Prentzius and John Herman my whole and sole Exeds. of this
my last will and Testament hereby revoking all former wills by me made and Gave
them bower [power] to act in my Estate the same as if I was present my self In witness whereof
I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal the fifteenth Day of April in the Year of our Lord
one thousand eight Hundred and on, 1801. Abrah Stein bruch (seal) Siened Sealed published & Declared
by the above named Abraham Stainbrook to be his last will and Testament in the presence of us
who have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses in the presence of the Testator [no at least?]
under tint the words forever before sinet [signed] Jacob Bishop Johannes Zoutour Johannes Herman
Northumberland County ss,, Be it remembered that on the fourteenth Day of may in the year of our
Lord 1801. before me Jeremiah Simpson Register for the County afsd personally cometh Jacob Bishop, John
Pontius & John Herman the three subscribing witnesses to the foregoing will who being duly sworn accor=
ding to Law, saith they were personally present & did see Abraham Stinebrook the Testator sign seal
and declare the foregoing writing to be his last will & Testament, and that at the time of his so pub=
lishing the said Will he was of sound and disposing mind & memory as the Deponents do believe accor=
ding to the best of their Knowledge._ And that they repectively subscribed their names as witnesses
at the same time in the presence of each other._ and further saith not Jacob Bishop Johannes [Pontius?]
Johannes Herman Sworn & Subscribed the day & year afsd; cer. Jacob Simpson Regr.
Be it remembered
that on the Fourteenth Day of May in the year of our Lord 1801. before me was proved
and approved the last will & Testament of the said Abraham Steinbruch Deceas'd, Of which the forego=
ing, Record is a true Copy, and Letters Testamentary issued in due and Common Form of Law to John Pontz=
ius and John Herman, Executors therein named, on the same Day, Witness my Hand._

Jeremh. Simpson Regr.

Source:

Northumberland, Pennsylvania, Wills, 1772-1907; index, 1792-1930, Abraham Steinbruch's will, p. 245-246, vol. 1 (image 143 of 811 "Wills, no. 1-3 1772-1845"); digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 30 Dec 2024).

Amanuensis Monday: 13 Feb 1797 deed from the Heirs of Absalom Fox to David Fox

This deed immediately follows the deed presented in last week's post, and was created on the same date of 13 Feb 1797. Again, the heirs of my 6great-grandfather Absalom Fox were granting land to one of their own, this time to my 5great-grandfather David Fox.

 

[p. 682]

The Heirs of the

Estate of Absalom

Fox deced

To

David Fox

This Indenture Made this thirteenth Day of February

in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and Ninety seven

Between Christion Fox (widow) Charles Fox and Mary his wife Bonham

Fox and Temperance his wife, Sampson Sargant and Ivy his wife, David

Sutton and Anker his wife, Mary Fox, Jonathan Fox and Rebekah Fox all of the

County of Washington and State of Pennsylvania of the one part and David Fox

of the same place of the other part Witnesseth that the said Christion Fox (widow)

Charles Fox and Mary his wife, Bonham Fox and Temperance his wife,

Sampson Sargant and Ivi his wife, David Sutton and Anker his wife,

Mary Fox, Jonathan Fox and Rekah Fox has this Day Bargained Released and

[p. 683]

Confirmed unto the above mentioned David Fox his Heirs and assigns

for ever a Certain Tract of land Situate on the waters of Ten Mile Creek

Beginning at a Walnut Tree thence by land of Philip Friend North Sixty seven

Degrees East forty three perches to a white Oak thence by land of James Graham North

Twenty eight Degrees West One hundred and twenty two Perches to a Hickory

thence by land of Henry Shidler North fifteen Degrees West One hundred and

twenty perches to a Stake, thence by land of Henry Hash South fifty two

Degrees West Sixty one perches to a Black Oak Noth thirtyseven Degrees West

fifty nine perches to a Stake, South thirty seven Degrees West One hundred

and thirty two Perches to a Post, thence by land of Tobias Friend South

thirty four Degrees East Seventy six perches to a Post then by land of

David Fox South Twenty eight and a half Degrees East One hundred and

Sixty nine perches to a White Oak North fifty degrees East One hundred and

thirteen perches to a State & South fifteen Degrees East Twelve perches to

the Beginning Containing Two hundred twenty eight acres and seventy

one perches and allowance of [CPCent?] for Roads &ca which land was Survey

ed in pursuance of a Warrant Granted to Absalom Fox the Seventeenth Day

of November (1787) for which a Patant Issued for the Land Office of the State

aforesaid to Absalon Fox Dated the Seventeenth Day of January (1792) and

was Inrolled in the Rolls of for the State of Pennsylvania Patent Book No 18.

Page 329. To have and to hold the said Tract and parsel of land with

the appurtean thereunto belonging unto the said David Fox and his heirs

To the only proper use benefit and behoof of him the said David Fox his

Heirs and Assigns forever from us and each of our heirs and from any person

or persons Claiming or to Claim in under through or by us or any of our

Heirs shall and will Warrant and forever Defend In Witness whereof

the said Christion Fox (widow) Charles Fox and Mary his wife, Bonham Fox

and Temperance his wife, Sampson Sargant and Ivy his wife David

Sutton and Anchor his wife Mary Fox, Jonathan Fox and Rebekah Fox

lawful Heirs of the Estate of Absalom Fox deceased has hereunto Set their hands

and Seals this Day and year above written_ Christion her x mark Fox (seal)

Charles Fox (seal) Mary Fox (seal) Bonham Fox (seal) Temperance

Fox (seal) Sampson Serjant (seal) Ivy her x mark Sargant (seal) David

Sutton (seal) Anchor Sutton (seal) Jonathan Fox (seal) Mary

Fox (seal) Rebekah Fox (seal) _ Signed Sealed and Delivered in presants

of Isaac Leet jur _ Mary Sutton _ Isaac Leet

 

[p. 684]

Washington County Ss

(seal) This Day Personally appeared before me the Subscriber one of the

Justices of the Peace in and for the County of Washington Christion Fox widow

of Absalom Fox deceasd Charles Fox and Mary his wife, Bonham Fox and

Temperance his wife, Sampson Sargant and Ivy his wife David Sutton

and Anker his wife, Mary Fox, Jonathan Fox and Rebekah Fox and all

Ackowledged the within Indenture well knowing it to be a Deed of Conveyance

to be their Act and Deed the women being examined seperate and apart from

their Husbands each one for themselves acknowledged that they became a party

thereto of their own free will and accord without the controul of their Husband

or any other person and allowed the same to be Recorded as such In Testamony

whereoff I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal this thirteenth Day of

February 1797                                            Isaac Leet

Recorded and compared with the Original the 21st February 1797.

Samuel Clarke Recorder

 

As mentioned above, this deed was created on the same date as the one to Jonathan Fox presented last week. It was also witnessed by the same witnesses, so I will not repeat my comments.

Somewhat strangely, there is one more similar record I have found, created on the same day, but recorded not on a consecutive page, but actually in a different deed book. But that will come later.

Source:

Washington, Pennsylvania, Deed books, 1781-1886; deed index, 1781-1924, 1M-12: 682-684 (images #379-380 of 420), The Heirs of the Estate of Absalom Fox to David Fox, deed, 13 Feb 1797; digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, "Deeds v. 12, 1M 1796-1797," FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 29 Sept 2024).

Amanuensis Monday: 13 Feb 1797 deed from the Heirs of Absalom Fox to Jonathan Fox

Last week I alluded to the number of deeds regarding the Fox family in 1797-1798. Three have been found, all dated 13 Feb 1797, in which one of the heirs of Absalom Fox is granted land by the remaining heirs. However, there were more than three heirs of Absalom Fox, so I will need to look into whether the land was divided only three ways and the other heirs perhaps had other inheritances, or whether there are more of these deeds that I have yet to find.

Absalom Fox was my 6great-grandfather, and his son David was my 5great-grandfather. This first deed is to David's brother Jonathan. I love how these deeds name all the heirs.

[p. 680]

The Heirs of the )

Estate of Abolam )

Fox )

to )

Jonathan Fox )

This Indenture Made this thirteenth Day of February

in the year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and Ninety seven

[p. 681]

Between Christion Fox widow of Absalom Fox decd. David Fox and

Sarah his Wife, Charles Fox and Mary his Wife, Bonham Fox and

Temporance his wife, Sampson Sargant and Ivy his wife, David

Sutton and Anchor his wife, Mary Fox, and Rebekah Fox, all of the

County of Washington and State of Pennsylvania of the one part and

Jonathan Fox of the same place of the other part Witnesseth that the said

Christion Fox Widow, David Fox and Sarah his wife, Charles Fox and Mary

his wife, Bonham Fox and Temporance his wife, Sampson Sargant and

Ivy his wife, David Sutton and Anchor his wife, Mary Fox and Rebekah

Fox Hath bargained Released and Confirmed and for ever Quit Claim of

and to a Certain Tract of land hereinafter described unto Jonathan Fox his

Heirs and Assigns forever a Certain Tract of Land Situate on a Branch of

Ten Mile Creek Beginning at an Elm Tree Thence by land of David

Sutton North Seventy Degrees West Eight perches to a Stone North forty

Degrees West Seventy six perches to a Stone North fifteen degrees West

Tenty eight perches to a white Oak Thence by land of David Frazee North

thirty degrees East Seventy eight Perches to an ash, Thence by land of Philip

Luallen South forty seven degrees East Two hundred and two Perches to

a Stone Thence by land of Charles Fox South Twenty six Degrees West

fifty two Perches to a Stone thence by land of sd. David Sutton North

forty six and a half degrees East Ninety six perches to the beginning

containing Ninety eight acres and three Quarters of an acre Strict Measure

being part of a Tract of Land Called "Fox Hill" which was Surveyed in

Pursuance of a warrant granted to Absalom Fox Dated the 26th of January

and by Pattant 14th Day of October in the year 1788 which is Inrolled in the

Rolls Office for the State of Pennsylvania in Patent Book No.  Page

To have and to hold the said Tract and Piece of Land with the Appurten=

=ances thereunto belonging or in anywise appurtaining thereto unto the said

Jonathan Fox his Heirs To the only proper use benefit and behoof of him

the said Jonathan Fox his Heirs and Assigns for ever from us and

[ower?] heirs and from any Person or Persons Claiming or to Claim in under

through or by us or any of our heirs shall and will warrant and Defend

for ever. In Witness whereof the said Christion Fox as above David

Fox and Sarah his wife, Charles Fox and Mary his wife, Sampson Sargant

 

[p. 682]

and Ivy his wife, David Sutton and Anchor his wife, Mary Fox and

Rekah Fox Heirs of the Estate of Absalom Fox decd. have hereunto set their

hands and Seals this Day and year above written Christion her X mark Fox (seal)

David Fox (seal) Sarah Fox (seal) Charles Fox (seal) Mary

Fox (seal) Bonham Fox (seal) Temperance Fox (seal)

Sampson Serjant (seal) Ivy her X mark Sergant (seal) David Sutton (seal)

Anchor Sutton (seal) Mary Fox (seal) Rebekah Fox (seal)

Signed Sealed and Delivered in Preasants of us  Isaac Leet [poz?]

Mary Sutton   Isaac Leet

Washington County [sall?]

This Day Personally appeared before me the Subscriber a Justice of the

Peace in and for said County Christian Fox widow of Absalom Fox decd David

Fox and Sarah his Wife, Charles Fox and Marah his wife Sampson Sargant

and Ivy his wife, David Sutton and Anchor his wife, Mary Fox and

Rebekah Fox and acknowledged the within Instrument of writing it being

a Deed of Conveyance to be their Act and Deeds the several Women being

examined Seperate and apart from their Husbands, each one for themselves

acknowledged that they became a party thereto of their own free will and

accord without the controul of their Husbands or any other Person allowing

the same to be Recorded as such In Witness whereof I have hereunto set

my hand and seal this thirteenth Day of February 1797

Isaac Leet

Recorded and compared with the Original the 21st February 1797

Samuel Clarke Recorder

 

One of the witnesses, Mary Sutton, was probably related to both David Sutton (the husband of Absalom's daughter Anchor) and Sarah Fox (the wife of Absalom's son David Fox). They were siblings, and also had a sister named Mary. I have no marriage recorded for Mary, so her surname may still have been Sutton at this point. Their mother was also sometimes called Mary, and I have no death date recorded for her, so she may still have been alive at this point. She would have been about 53 years old, so it seems likely. Those two seem to be the most probable candidates.

 

The very next deed in the book is to my 5great-grandfather David Fox, but we will look at that one later.

Source:

Washington, Pennsylvania, Deed books, 1781-1886; deed index, 1781-1924, 1M-12: 680-682 (images #378-379 of 420), The Heirs of the Estate of Absalom Fox to Jonathan Fox, deed, 13 Feb 1797; digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, "Deeds v. 12, 1M 1796-1797," FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 29 Sept 2024).

Amanuensis Monday: 1798 deed from William Wells Esquire to David Fox

This deed could prove quite interesting when I get to the point of analysis, as there are a number of deeds within the Fox family during this and the previous year. Most of them are in Washington county, Pennsylvania, but this one is in Hamilton county, Ohio. The buyer, David Fox, is my 5great-grandfather.

 

[p. 256]

This Indenture made the sixteenth day of Feb-
-ruary in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and ninety eight between Wil-
-liam Wells Esquire of the county of Hamilton
in the Territotory of the united States north west
of the River ohio of the one part and David
Fox of the same place of the other part wit-
-nesseth that the said William Wells for and
in consideration ot two thousand and eighty
Dollars to him in hand well and truly paid
at or before the ensealing or Delivery of these pre-
-sesnts by the aforesaid David Fox the receipt
whereof the said William Wells doth hereby ask-
-nowledge and thereof & therefrom doth acquit exon-
-erate and discharge the aforesaid David Fox
his heirs and assigns forever, have given granted
bargained sold aliened, released enfeoffed conveyed
and confirmed and by these presents do give grant
bargain sell alien release, enfeoff, convey, and con-
-firm, unto the said David Fox his heirs and
assigns forever. All that entire section numbered
Thirteen, situate lying and being in the fourth Town-
-ship in the third or military range in the miami
purchase in the county of Hamilton and Territory
aforesaid containing six six hundred and forty
acres. To have and to hold the above described
premises to the said David Fox his heirs and
assigns to the only proper use, benefit and behoof
of the said David Fox his heirs and assigns
forever. And the said William Wells for him-
-self his heirs executors and administrators doth
covenant grant and agree to and with the said
David Fox his heirs & assigns that all and singular
the above described premises against all and every
lawful claim and demand whatsoever to the said
David Fox his heirs and assign will forever
warrant and defend by these presents. In Witness
whereof I the said William Wells have hereunto set my

[p. 257]

hand and seal the day and year first above written.
Signed Sealed &c )
in the presence of ) Wm Wells (seal)
Jno. S. Eano )
Levi Woodward ) Territory of the United states
North West of the River ohio Hamilton ss.
Before me Aaron Cadwell Esq. one of the Jus-
-tices of the court of Common pleas in the county
aforesaid came personally Wells Esquire the within
grantor who acknowledged the within Instrument
of writing to be his voluntary act and Deed for
the uses and purposes therein contained agreeable
to the statute &c In Witness whereof I have
hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal at Sin-
-cinnati the seventeenth day of February in the year
of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and
ninety eight.
Aaron Cadwell (seal)

Source:

Hamilton, Ohio, Deeds 1787-1877 ; index 1787-1878, C-1: 256-257 (image #145 of 557), William Wells Esquire to David Fox, deed, 16 Feb 1798; digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, "Deeds v. C-D 1796-1807," FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 Sept 2024). 

 

Amanuensis Monday: 6 May 1813 deed from Josiah Lockhart and Nancy his wife to Josiah Wade

I don't really have much to say about this one. Apart from Josiah Wade, who is almost certainly my 4great-grandfather, none of the names of either the sellers or the witnesses ring any bells for me. I have yet to do any research on the land, so there is nothing for me to comment on there. So I guess I'll just dive in.

[p. 266]

Lockhart to Wade
Recorded October 27th 1813
Joseph Darlinton Recr A.C.


This Indenture made
this 6th day of May in the year
one thousand eight hundred and
thirteen between Josiah Lock-
hart and Nancy his wife of the county of Adams and
State of Ohio of the one part and Josiah Wade of the county
aforesaid and State aforesaid of the other part Witnesseth
that the said Josiah Lockhart and Nancy his wife for
and in consideration of the sum of two hundred and forty six

[p. 267]

Dollars current money of the United State of America to them
in hand paid the receipt whereof we hereby acknowledge and
forever acquit and discharge the said Josiah Wade his heirs Exe-
cutors and administrators have granted bargained sold aliened and
confirmed and by these presents doth grant bargain sell alien
and confirm unto the said Josiah Wade his heirs and assigns
forever and all that tract or parcel of land lying and being in the
county of Adams and state of Ohio situate and lying on Kites
fork of Eagle Creek apart of the tract No 651 entered in the
name of William Holliday and Patented to Robert Lockhart
and conveyed by deed to the aforesaid Josiah Lockhart bounded
and described as follows Beginning at an ash and Ellem near
a branch the East corner to said Survey runing [sic] West on hun-
dred and eighty poles to a sugar tree and Maple thence north
One hundred and forty poles to two ashes thence East one hun-
dred and eighty poles to two hickerys [sic] thence south one hun-
dred and forty poles to the beginning containing one hundred
and fifty seven acres and Eight poles Together with all im-
provement water courses profits and appurtenances whatso-
ever to the said premises belonging or in any wise appertain-
in and the reversions remainders and profits thereof and all the
estate right title interest property claim and demand of
they the said Josiah Lockhart and Nancy his wife of
in and to the same To have and to hold the lands hereby convey-
ed with all and singular the premises and every part and parcel
thereof with every of the appurtenances unto the said Josiah
Wade his heirs and assigns forever to the only proper use and
behoof of him the said Josiah Wade his heirs and assigns for
ever And the said said Josiah Lockhart and Nancy his
wife for heirs executors and administrators do covenant pro-
mise and agree to and with the said their heirs
and assigns by these presents that the premises before mentioned
now are and forever hereafter shall remain free of and from all
former and other gifts grants bargains sales dowers right and
title of dower judgments executions titles troubles charges and
incumbrances whatsoever done or suffered to be done by they the

[p. 268]

said Josiah Lockhart And the said Nancy Lockhart his
wife and their heirs all and singular the premises hereby
bargained and sold with the appurtenances unto the said
Josiah Wade his heirs and assigns against him the said
Josiah Lockhart and his heirs and all and every other per-
son or persons whatsoever doth and will warrant and for
ever defend by these presents In Witness whereof We the
said Josiah Lockhart and Nancy Lockhart hereunto
set our hands and seals the day and year first above written
signed sealed and delivered in the presence of us } Josiah Lockhart (seal
Nancy Lockhart (seal)
Matthew Campbell Aaron Moore
State of Ohio Adams County ss
This day the within named Josiah Lockhart and Nancy
Lockhart his wife personally appeared before me the sub-
scriber a Justice of the peace for the county aforesaid and
severally acknowledged the within signing and sealing
to be there act and deed for purposes therein mentioned
the said Nancy Lockhart being by me first fully in-
formed of the contents of the within deed also examined
seperate [sic] and apart from and out of the hearing of her hus-
band declared that she executed the same and relinquished
her right of dower to the premises therein mentioned freely
and of her own voluntary will and accord without the co-
ersion or compulsion of her husband In Witness whereof
I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 20th day of
May 1813 Aaron Moore (seal)

Source:

Adams, Ohio, Deeds, 1797-1900, 7: 266-268 (images #515-516 of 575), Josiah Lockhart and Nancy his wife to Josiah Wade, deed, 6 May 1813; digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, "Deeds, v. 6-7 1806-1814," FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 5 Aug 2024).  

 

Amanuensis Monday: 19 Feb 1814 deed from William Wade and Josiah Wade and Sydney his wife to Joseph Wade

I love this deed because, although it does not lay out what the relationship between these individuals is, it suggests a familial relationship between them. Josiah Wade is almost certainly my 4great-grandfather (the relationship remains unproven), and Sydney was the woman he married in 1809. This marriage was over a decade after the birth of my 3great-grandfather, so she was probably not his mother.

The William Wade in this record probably refers to Josiah Wade's father. Josiah has no known brother named William, and the birth of his son William was still four years away.

Most exciting to me is the presence of the name Joseph Wade, which is the name of my 3great-grandfather, Josiah's probable son. He would have been of an age at this point--about 17 years old--to possibly be investing in his first land. However, this Joseph could also be Josiah's brother of the same name. And the payment of $100 suggests someone with some means. At the age of 17, one might expect a property purchase from his father and grandfather to be more of a token amount. Tracing this property through its sale or inheritance will probably be able to solve the question of which Joseph Wade is the buyer.







[p 103]

Wade to Jos Wade ) This Indenture made this nineteenth day of
February in the year of our Lord one thousand
Eight hundred and fourteen between William Wade and Josiah Wade
and Sydney Wade his wife of the county of Adams and State of Ohio
of one part and Joseph Wade of the county and State aforesaid of the
other part Witnesseth that the said William Wade and Josiah Wade
and Sydney his wife for and in consideration of the sum of one hun-
dred dollars current money of the United States of America to them
in hand paid the receipt whereof they do hearby [sic] acknowledge and for
ever acquit and discharge the said Joseph Wade his heirs Executors
and administrators hath granted bargained sold aliened and con-
firmed and by these presents doth grant bargain sell alien and confirm
unto the said Joseph Wade his heirs and assigns forever all that tract
or parcel of land lying and being in the county of Adams situated on the
East fork of Eagle Creek Beginning at a white oak and hickory a
corner to Arthur McFarland and running thence South forty nine

[p 104]

Degrees West forty two poles to a Stake near a white Walnut
thence South three degrees ten minutes West forty seven poles to a
buckeye and Walnut thence South forty five west forty five poles
to a Sycamore on the bank of the Creek thence north fifty degrees
West one hundred and forty poles to a stone at the state road thence
South forty tow and a half west Sixty Six poles and nine tenths of
a perch to a Stone in the Division line between Robert McDaid
and William Wade thence with said line North thirty minutes West
one hundred and Sixteen poles to a black Walnut north East cor-
ner to said McDaid thence South Eighty Eight degrees East fifty
Eight poles a white oak thence South two degrees West forty two
poles to a white oak thence South Eighty Eight East one hundred
and sixty three poles to the beginning corner together with all im-
provements water courses profits and appurtenances whatsoever to the
said premises belonging or in any wise appertaining and the reversions
remainders and profits thereof and all the estate right title interest pro-
perty claim and demand of them the said William Wade and Josiah
Wade and Sydney his wife of and and to the same to have and to hold
the lands hereby conveyed with all and singular the premises and
every part and parcel thereof with every of the appurtenances unto
the said Joseph Wade his heirs and assigns forever to the only pro-
per use and behoof of him the said Joseph Wade his heirs and assigns
forever and the said William Wade and Josiah Wade and Sydney
his wife for themselves theare [sic] heirs executors and administrators do cove-
nant promise and agree to and with the said Joseph Wade his heirs
and assigns by these presents that the premises before mentioned now are
and forever hereafter shall remain free of and from all former and other
gifts grants bargains sales dowers right and title of dower judments
executions titles troubles charges and incumbrances whatsoever done
or suffered to be done by them the said William Wade and Josiah
Wade and Sydney his wife and theair [sic] heirs all and singular the
premises hereby bargained and sold with the appurtenances unto
the said Joseph Wade his hiers and assigns against them the said
William Wade and Josiah Wade and Sydney and thare [sic] heirs
and all and every other person whatsoever doth and will warrant
and forever defend by these presents In Witness whereof they the
said William Wade and Josiah Wade and Sydney his wife have

 

[p 105]

hereunto set their hands and seals the day first above written
Signed Sealed and delivered in the presents of us ) William Wade (seal)
Edmund Wade, Amos Duncan interlined before ) Josiah Wade (seal)
signed on the fif- ) Sydney her + mark Wade (seal)
teenth line
State of Ohio Adams County Ss
This day personally appeared before me the subscriber a Justice of the
Peace in and for the county aforesaid William Wade and Josiah Wade and
Sydney his wife and acknowledged the within signing and sealing to be
there act and deed for the purpose mentioned also Sydney Wade being sepe-
rate and apart and out of the hearing of her said husband declared that
she relinquished her right of dower to premises therein mentioned freely
and of her own Voluntary will and accord without the coercion or copulsion [sic]
of her husband In testimony wheareof [sic] I have heareunto [sic] set my hand and seale
this 19th day of February 1814 Aaron Moore (seal)
Recorded the 17th day of August 1814
Joseph Darlinton Recorder A.C.

The names of the witnesses are also of interest. Edmund Wade could have been either Josiah Wade's brother or his son; he had both relations of that name. The other witness, Amos Duncan, could have been a father-in-law or a brother-in-law. Sydney Wade's maiden name was Duncan.

Source:

Adams, Ohio, Deeds, 1797-1900, 8: 103-105 (images #72-73 of 549), William Wade and Josiah Wade and Sydney Wade his wife to Joseph Wade, deed, 19 Feb 1814; digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, "Deeds, v. 8-9 1814-1817," FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 5 Aug 2024).

 

Amanuensis Monday: Christmas dinner at home (Elsie's Christmas book part 5)

Now, wasn't that clever of me? I very carefully arranged this transcription of Elsie's Christmas Book to conclude during the Christmas season... and then forgot to schedule the publication date. So here it is, a week late, and after the conclusion of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Oops.

Fanciful image of a dragon playing Snap-dragon, from Robert Chambers' Book of Days (1879)
The original uploader was Ziggurat at English Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Here he comes with flaming bowl,
Don't he mean to take his toll,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!

Although Elsie makes no mention of a rhyme, which she surely would have done had she remembered one, she does recall a game of snap dragon. This is a game with which I am familiar in only a literary sense; it is not commonly played in my part of the world. Knowing it as a game from Victorian England (although apparently it originated much earlier), I often wondered whether my Victorian English ancestors participated in it, and here Elsie gives me the answer to that question.

Our Christmas dinners were a lot like we have today, with the exception of plum pudding, mince pies, mince meat tarts. Mother used to make me a white cake with lemon filling and soft white frosting. I couldn't eat raisins for some reason and all her Christmas dessert had a lot of raisins. I still like that kind of white cake.

The turkey was always placed in front of Dad at the table. Always at the head. of the table., that was his seat always andevery day, of the week. We all were at the table together every meal, that we were home. Especially for dinner. Imagine eight at the table every day and most every meal. Thats what it was like after all Mothers children were grownup.

Dad would say a grace and give thanks for the day. He'd stand up with the craving knife an the steel to sharpen the knife. He would hold the knife in one hand and the steel in the other. He would rub them both together a few times and then he would start to carve the turkey. He was pretty good at it. I often wondered if the knife needed sharping every time.

He would ask us what part we wanted. White or dark. He usualy gave the drum stick. I never asked for it but he would say I know what part Sis wants and it was the drum stick. As I grow older I told him "Dad I think some of the others would like the drum stick." So he started to cut some of the meat off and make more drum sticks, we always had such big turkeys, there was enough for everyone.

He had a little saying while craving "You can have the wings and toes but I'll take part of the parson's nose." The parsons nose was the part the tail feathers came out.

Dad had to have Brussel sprouts, if possible and Mom liked a little bit of celery, her words. Dad's dessert for Christmas was "little pigs in a blanket." They were made from little sausages rolled up in pie crust and baked.

Once Dad placed a lot of raisins on a heat proof platter and poured brandy over them, then he lit the raisins they flamed up. He told us to go ahead and eat some of them. I was afraid of the fire, we were told not to play with fire My brothers were really eating the raisins, saying they were good. Dad asked why I was afraid of them. The boys weren't. So very cautiously I took one at a time. They didn't burn at all, just no heat. They went out before you got to your mouth. I didn't eat many as I never liked raisins anyway. It was exciting to watch my brothers eating them. Dad called them snapdragons. Now I know how the fellows that swallow the flaming sword or sticks fool us. The fire goes out as soon as it hits your mouths. Alcohol is a cool flame.

One night Santa came to our house early. We were going to have dinner early as Dad had an appointment for the evening. We were just a bout thru when Dad excused himself and said he'd be back as early as possible. He got up from the table and went into the bedroom. He came back all excited and in a hurry. "Santas been here I believe, theres something in the bedroom and the window is open." We all jumped up and ran as fast as we could to the bedroom. Dad was still mumbling "He must have come thru the window." He had us convinced. Behold he had been there. And left a lot of toys. The window was wide open and the curtains were waving in the breeze. No one in his right mind would open a window in the dead of winter. Our bedrooms were real cold in the winter time. Just a potbelly heater and the kitchen range to heat the whole house.

I am sure Dad never intended to go to any meeting that night. He stayed home and seemed real happy to enjoy our gifts.

This time we never had to wait for Santa to come, he was ahead of himself, no waiting, we still hated to go to bed Christmas Eve. It was so much fun staying up and playing with our toys. We got some real toys this year.

I enjoyed writing this, as it brought many memories.

Elsie May Crocker

April 15, 1990 

Citation:

Elsie Crocker, "Christmas on the Farm when I was a Small Child" (typescript, 1990); copy in possession of Amber Brosius, 2020.

Amanuensis Monday: Christmas dinner with neighbors (Elsie's Christmas book part 4)

On the fourth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Four calling birds
Three French hens,
Two turtledoves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

 

Contrary to popular belief, the Twelve Days of Christmas refers not to the days leading up to Christmas Day, but actually begins on Christmas Day and ends on Epiphany, the day celebrated as the arrival of the Wise Men. Therefore, it is currently still Christmas, and I am still fully justified in sharing Aunt Elsie's Christmas stories. Next week's transcription will also arrive during Christmas, and I will endeavor to complete the transcription in that week, and thereby avoid the sin of unseasonality.

Mom always left her shopping until the day before Christmas. Getting her last minute preparations for a large dinner the next day. I don't see how she did it. Christmas dinner was always on time with out fuss. Dad always wanted his meals on time, all the time.

We always had plum pudding and mince pie and fruit cake. A old English tradition. We loved to watch her make her plum puddings and mince meat and her fruit cake. If we were lucky she would give us a taste of the candied fruit, raisins or currants.

A day or so ahead she made her mincemeat tarts. To be heated up the day of the dinner. She would make a sauce for the pudding the last minute, it was served warm. This sauce had brandy and vanilla flavoring. This time of the year was the only time I ever saw brandy in our house. I think they kept it on the top shelf of the pantry. Dad called it "Chinese tea" No one was suppose to touch it, used for medicine only. Dads words no one was to mess with it. To my knowledge no one ever did.

There were no mixes of any kind, Mom made everything from scratch. She had her own measuring devices. Like a measuring cup she had a tea cup, and a ordinary teaspoon, a tablespoon, a dessert spoon (a spoon less than a tablespoon) a pinch of this and a handful of that. I have to have good recipes. Let the other fellow do the guess work.

We had a large round table that sat eleven or twelve, five of us and neighbors family of four and a hired man or two.

I can't remember when we never has a turkey for Christmas. Of course it usually was one we had raised. Whether we bought or raised our own we had to dress it. The legs and the head were removed. Then Mom would pour boiling water over the feathers. We then picked off all the feathers and that left a lot of pin feathers. My job was to pick the pin feathers out. You had to be careful not to break the skin, when cooking the juices would leak out. The pin feathers are feathers not fully grown.

The enterals were removed, saving the liver, heart, gizzard and the neck. Wash the turkey very good inside and out. The liver, heart, gizzard and neck are cooked until tender. Can put in the gravy or in the dressing.

Everyother Christmas we had the neighbors over or they had us over. The Church's that were our neighbors had a girl my age and a boy Bill's age. Margart was the girls name and Charly was the boys name.

This was the Christmas we were going to the neighbors (the Churchs). for dinner. We got up early. It had snowed during the night. It was beautiful everything completely covered. The white glistening snow was just like a winter-wonderland, not a mark any where. A unbeleivabe fairyland.

We were thankful for having all our animals save and warm in their housings. This day they would stay inside and eat and stay out of the cold.

We even hated to disturb the out side walks. We had to tho in order to care for the animals. Our dog seemed to like it, but I don't think he knew what it was. He would get in a drift and had a hard time getting out. Us children had a lot of fun watching him. We were there ready to help him if he needed it, but he seemed to enjoy every minute of it.

My dad and my brothers cleaned off the sleigh and got the horses hitched to the sleigh. We would carry some warm blankets to keep us warm. The boys wore jeans, but not the girls We had to wear dresses all the time. It wasn't lady like to wear any kind of trousers. Thats by we had to wear long black stockings in the winter time to cover up our long jhons. Long jhons had long legs, sometimes you had to fold the legs at the bottom to fit the stockings. At Easter, off came the long johns. Then our legs would be cold, but we never complained for they might put them back on us.

We wore the warmest clothes we had. Mittens and scarves were a must. Our noses were as red as a big red cherry. We would blow out our mouths covered by scarves, to see how much steam we could make. It looked like smoke curling up. This would make our scarves wet, our scarves were wrapped around our neck and over our mouths to keep the cold from our lungs. The scarves would get wet and the dampness would freeze and make frosty ice crystals, it would look funny.

The ride to our friends was fairly short, but very pretty. The snow on the fences and bushes side of the road made us feel we were in a different world. The horses didn't seem to mind the snow, they seemed to pick up their feet a little higher, as tho they were strutting. Ever once in a while we would see small tracks acrossing the road probably some rabbits hunting some thing to eat.

The neighbors welcomed us with open arms, everyone talking at once. Asking how was the roads, did you have any trouble getting here. What did Santa leave?

In side it was real nice and warm. The smells were wonderful. The chattering soon lessened. The fresh air gave us an appetite. We would eat right away as Dad had to have his meal at noon. The dinner was very good, but they never had all the goodies as Mom made.

We played with their toys for a while and then went outside to play in the snow. Mostly snowing snowballs at each other.

It was time to go home, saying our good byes, we felt bad that we had to leave our friends behind. We had had a super day. They lived just a short ways, away from us. Mother would say "just a stones throw away."

We had a very nice dinner but my brothers missed the plum puddings and mince pie. The ride home was great but not as pretty as the ride in the morning, the roads were slushy from the traffic We couldn't see the tracks of the little rabbits.

It is interesting to hear about the English Christmas traditions that traveled to the U.S. with the Underwood family, and ponder how they were lost before my generation. I have never so much as seen a plum pudding in person, let alone tasted one. I did taste mincemeat once, but it was not at a family Christmas celebration. Fruit cake, too, has disappeared from our family table, although I suspect that one was not a great loss.

I also find it interesting to discover that my great-grandmother's style of cooking did not work for Aunt Elsie. All of the Underwood girls were fantastic cooks by the time I knew them, and I had supposed they had learned it from their mother. However, it seems that Elsie, at least, must have learned her skills elsewhere. It makes me wonder where, as well as how her sisters learned to cook.

 

Citation:

Elsie Crocker, "Christmas on the Farm when I was a Small Child" (typescript, 1990); copy in possession of Amber Brosius, 2020.

 

Amanuensis Monday: O Christmas Tree (Elsie's Christmas book part 3)

To read from the beginning of Elsie’s Christmas book, click here.

It’s time for part 3 of Elsie’s Christmas book. This time Elsie discusses her Christmas tree and the things under it, as well as some activities in the snow.

I remember the first real live tree we had, I wasn’t very old then. Mom decorated the high branches and Bill, Walter and I did the lower ones. This was a special event. We weren’t used to such luxuries, but I must say greatly appreciated.

Dad had bought some clip on candles. The candles could be lit. The holders were clipped on the boughs. He had a pail of water handy in case of fire. He saw to it we were all together around the tree. Then he lit the tree. How beautiful we were spelled bound for a few minutes.

Dad didn’t leave the candles burning only a few minutes. The tree was still pretty and smelled so good, we kept it until New Years night. I still like to keep my decorations up until New Years.

Our stockings were filled with a orange in the toe some hard candy and a lot of peanuts in the shell. We liked the evening and shell peanuts and eat them. Once in a while we would get mixed nuts. Maybe a stick of peppermint. A small doll, a cloth book, pictures to finish with yarn, a toothbrush, anew comb, maybe some kind of a book. We got what Santa could afford to give us, but he never forgot us.

One Christmas I got a bake set, the set contained flour, salt, baking powder, and you had to add some water to mix so you were able to roll it out a little thicker than pie crust. The set contain the rolling pin, a cutter and a pan to bake them in. So my brother Bill and I decided to make these crackers. We used Mom’s oven to bake them. We were proud of them, but no one wanted any so we were happy we ate them all. I had helped Mom but not really to bake anything from the beginning, this time was my very first. My brother and I were pretty proud they turned out as well as they did. We used a fork to make the holes in them.

One year my brother Walter got a race horse set. He had been very ill that year, so Santa was very good to him. He shared it with our brother and me. We spent many of hours watching which horse would win. That was one of the joy of sharing.

I always wanted a doll even if it was a very small doll I enjoyed sewing for it and made many clothes for it. Mother never sewed but our neighbors did and I was given a lot of pretty pieces of material. My doll was the best dressed doll in the neighborhood.

Sometimes we got paper dolls that had their paper clothes to cut out They were fun too.

One year I got a big doll with brown curly hair, that went to sleep. She didn’t sleep long My little sister poked her eyes out. Mother fixed the eyes but the doll don’t go to sleep again.

 

I don't know what ever happened to Elsie's childhood dolls, but this one belonged to Elsie's sister, my Grandma Aileen. She has had a visit to a doll hospital in later years, and is thus in tolerable condition despite her age. (Before the doll hospital, she was rather terrifying.)

 

One Christmas Santa forgot to bring me a doll. I was unhappy that I cried but no one ever knew. That year Santa brought me a comb and brush set. I was always breaking the other combs my hair was so thick. I guess that was the sign I was growing up.

In Idaho Christmas always seemed to be a beautiful day. There was clean white snow everywhere. On every thing a winter wonderland. It was pretty but very cold. Icicles hanging from the roofs of all out buildings, including the house. The icicles hung from six to twelve inches long. The sun during the day would melt the snow as it ran off the house would freeze making more icicles and adding length to the other icicles there. The warmth of our stoves made the roof warm, which made the snow melt.

Some of the mornings I would get up and seeing my mom looking out the window, I would ask her what she was looking at. She would answer me “Oh, I was just looking out to see if we are going to be snowed in.”

Sometime we knocked the icicles doun and made ice cream, of course we had to break the icicles up and add salt to it. It freezes faster with salt.

We made ice cream in the snow, by using a tin bucket with a clencher lid (so the lid couldn’t come off and let the snow in the ice cream.) We used eggs, milk, and sugar. Of course we flavored with vanilla. We’d find a big drift of snow, then place our bucket in the snow. After a while we would lift the lid and see how it was doing. We took turns, turning the bucket. The ice cream was like our ice milk we have now.

Christmas after the chores were done we could do what ever we liked. We loved to play in the snow, making angels snowmen and making forts. We would have two forts a small distance apart then we would get in one and some of the others would get in the other. One would throw snowballs back and forth. It was fun snowballing but some of the boys would get water soak them, then they hurt when they hit you.

Even with wool mittens our hands would freeze, it was so cold. We had to change clothes when we came in to the house Mom made us soak our hands in cold water first than warm before we went to the stove. She was afraid chilblains. If they got warm to fast they would hurt. Mother never like to have us eat the first snow as she said all the germs in the air was in it.

The description of making ice cream in the snow reminded me of someone I knew years ago. Beginning in high school and on through college, I worked in an old-fashioned ice cream parlour, complete with a soda fountain. We had a number of regular customers, and I got to know some of them pretty well. We would chat while they enjoyed their ice cream treats. To this day I can still remember the usual order of a number of these people—as in, they could come in and say, “I’ll have the usual,” and I knew what to make.

This particular person’s favorite was caramel butter pecan ice cream, but how he wanted it served would vary. Sometimes a cone, sometimes a dish, sometimes a sundae… if he’d ever said “I’ll have the usual,” I wouldn’t have known what to do. We often chatted about many things, but one of the things that has stuck with me through the years is his memory of making “snow cream.” His description of the process was rather similar to the process Elsie described for making ice cream, except for a couple things. Firstly, I was under the impression (whether correct or not, I cannot say) that the snow cream used snow as an ingredient as well as a way to chill it, and secondly, the snow cream was flavored with maple syrup.

Citation:

Elsie Crocker, "Christmas on the Farm when I was a Small Child" (typescript, 1990); copy in possession of Amber Brosius, 2020.

Amanuensis Monday: The Schoolhouse and Santa (Elsie's Christmas book part 2)

Last week I discovered that Aunt Elsie really had written a Christmas book and I transcribed the first two pages. Now it is time to transcribe a couple more pages.

You may remember that she was telling about how they would prepare for Christmas in the one-room schoolhouse she attended. Here she continues:

The last school day before Christmas we would have a party. All the children were looking forward to it. We were to ask all our parents to come and enjoy our labors of preparing for the special day.

 

This is the second of the two photos I have showing the actual school room Elsie describes. Elsie is sitting in the front row, second from the right, in a white dress. Her brothers are also in the photo. Bill is in the second row on the very end, wearing overalls. Walter is standing behind him, on the very end of the third row, also wearing overalls.

 

I think all the parents were there, dressed in their best. We had a small program, then a sing along where every one joined in, parents and all. Some of us had to recite poems. My poem Dad told me. I was in the first grade. It was like this.

“The first time I stepped upon the platform”
My heart went pitty pat
For I thought I heard
Someone say Who’s little girl is that?

Refreshments were much the same as ours now: coffee, cookies and a mince ham bun sandwich. The children got lemonade. The very last thing the teacher would hand out a red mesh stocking, she had made out of the red mesh, she had bought for maybe five cents a yard. She sewed these stockings by hand or on a sewing machine she peddaled with her feet. Those days men worked for fifty cents to a dollar a day.

In the toe of the stocking was a apple or a orange, a little candy and a few peanuts with the shells on. Sometimes a small candy cane. Gee! We were happy we could hardly wait to get home to see just what we had. We’d put everything back in the stocking to admire for a while. Little things meant so much.

We got our chores done early that evening. Of course the chickens had to be fed, eggs gathered, woodboxes filled, the cows milked, horses beded doun. See that all gates closed, feed the dog. The dog always slept under our porch outside. We also helped Mom with the dishes.

Sounds like a lot of work but we had a lot of hands. Many hands make light of the work. We all had our jobs to do If we got thru our jobs we would help the others get theirs done. Then the evening was ours to do what ever we wanted to do.

I liked to sit on my dads lap and comb his pretty hair. At one time Dad had a mustache, I loved to curl his mustache. It curled up on the ends just like Grandpa Gene’s. Dad had some wax he used on the tips.

It was time to hang up our stockings for Santa to fill. We each hung up our own clean stocking. We didn’t have a fireplace We laid them on the couch all in a row. We called the davenport a couch those days. Dad would smile seeing three different size stockings all in a row. I was afraid the boys having the largest stockings would get more than I but Santa saw to that. But I was mistaken, we all got the accurate amount.

The excitement of Santa and his eight reindeers, with his big sack of toys, kept my brothers and I wide awake.

We had a lot of snow, so we were expecting to hear his sleigh bells. It seemed so long before morning, we tossed and turned, so hard to settle doun. Wondering what he would leave us.

My brothers room was next to mine, so we could holler back and forth, making it more difficult to fall a sleep. We listened real hard for his sleigh bells in the snow.

This was a long night however we finally fell asleep Early the next morning we were awake. The first one awake would wake the others. One of us would tiptoe doun the stairs, to see if our stockings were filled. Then he or she would tip toe back up the stairs and tell the others. He had been there, what a rush, everyone jumped up at once. We ran doun the stairs into Mother’s and Dad’s room to a waken them. Of course they were already awake, with all this excitement going on, how could they sleep? They seemed as happy as we were, with our gifts.

Looking back we never received much but no one could have been happier.

Our stockings were filled with nuts and candy, not so full you couldn’t take a hold of the top and carry them around.

Sometimes we had different kinds of candy allways wrapped in tissue paper, when it was put in our stockings. There was no waxed paper, aluminum foil or saran paper. Plastic was unheard of.

 

 

A platter of ribbon candy, a favorite of my mom's as well as Elsie.
Photo by Travel Photographer from StockSnap

We had peppermint sticks or hard candy with soft fillings, with different fillings and colors. We always liked these soft fillings, it was a surprise to see what color was inside. There was some round, round and flat with a pretty flower in the middle of it. These we never could [figure out] how they got the flower so perfect in the middle. We also had ribbon candy, it was different, it had different color stripes, it was about one and half inches wide and looped and pushed together like soft according pleats. This ribbon candy is still sold in the special stores today, at Christmas time. Also the candy sticks of different colors and flavors.

We didn’t get all this candy all at once but what Santa wanted us to have or what he could afford. Sometimes Santa gets short of money. He has a lot of children to visit.

When I was a little girl we were told, if we had been bad we wouldn't get any thing. He was supposed to have fairies to help him check up on us, if we had been naughty or not.

 

This time it is a little easier to choose a stopping point, as the subject changes slightly after this.


The reference to “Grandpa Gene” and his mustache puzzled me. I knew he wasn’t one of Elsie’s grandfathers; she never met either of hers, and their names were William and George anyway. After some cursory research, I am still puzzled. I am supposing that “Grandpa Gene” was a figure in popular culture at some point during Elsie’s life, obviously at a point prior to her writing of this memoir in 1990. Since I could find no mention of anyone with that nickname before 1990, I suspect that it may have been a local figure, well known in the Portland, Oregon area to a certain generation, but without a national audience to remember him frequently online.
 

I also chuckled at “We called the davenport a couch those days,” as one would be hard-pressed to find many people who still call a couch a davenport! Well, at least around here. Perhaps it is still common in other parts of the world.

Citation:

Elsie Crocker, "Christmas on the Farm when I was a Small Child" (typescript, 1990); copy in possession of Amber Brosius, 2020.

Amanuensis Monday: Christmas on the Farm (part 1)

I can’t believe it. I can not believe it. After all these years…

I have always been a festive person, of the type who not only doesn’t mind, but actually enjoys hearing Christmas carols and seeing tinsel and holly long before Thanksgiving. So it should come as no surprise that I spent a portion of yesterday watching holiday videos on YouTube. With a renewed interest, I watched histories and recipes regarding a traditional English Christmas. I contemplated attempting a plum pudding, despite having never seen one in person, and was fascinated with the game of “snapdragon,” in which children snatch raisins from flaming brandy. To any British readers, this may seem a natural and ordinary part of Christmas, but to a plain Oregonian like me, it seems exotic and frightening. I wondered how my British ancestors celebrated Christmas and whether they had ever played snapdragon. I thought about Aunt Elsie’s typescript, remembering that she had written “My Christmas book is separate form this one,” and I wished that such a book actually existed.

Yesterday, when I should have been strapping on my face mask and heading to the mall to finish up my Christmas shopping, I opened up my cedar chest and began flipping through the family files that Dad and I had hurriedly organized a few months ago, with the intention of scanning some of the more interesting items. And I did. I found some of my grandpa’s Army records, including his discharge papers, which I will examine more closely later. I found the pages torn from the Wade family Bible. I found the missing Civil War pension papers for Allen C. Wade. And then I found about a gazillion copies of Elsie’s typescript, all bound. (I will finally be able to make sure the pages of my copy of the typescript are in order!)

Curiously, only one of the bound volumes was in the blue cover I remembered. The rest had red covers. I opened one up, and a chill ran up my spine.

CHRISTMAS ON THE FARM WHEN I WAS A SMALL CHILD

read the first line. Was this truly the missing Christmas book? I read on… and on… and on. I closed the book with an exhaled “huh!” and a chuckle. I had actually found it. The lost Christmas book really did exist.

Naturally, the next step is to transcribe it. The same policies I used for the original typescript will apply to this one, namely:

• I intend to retain all of Elsie’s original spelling and punctuation except in the case when it is an obvious typographical error or when the meaning becomes unclear. Most of the manuscript was typed with the caps lock turned on, so the choices in capitalization are mine.
• Elsie used few titles or divisions in her manuscript. All titles (i.e. title of the blog), except those included in the text, are my own. The divisions will be at my discretion and seldom original to the manuscript.
• The original typescript was just that: a typescript. I hope to sometimes include relevant pictures. Any comment or caption to a picture is my own, and not original to the manuscript.
• Once or twice there are stories or names that would not measure up to today’s standards. Remember, this was nearly a century ago, when people had different notions about what was and wasn’t acceptable. I do not believe in revising history to suit modern tastes. This does not imply approval of the old attitudes, but rather an idea that we cannot deny our past and must be able to face what we were in order to move forward.

Now I will present the first couple of pages.

Christmas on the farm when I was a small child

Elsie Crocker

This farm was located ten miles from Boise Idaho and six miles from Meridian Idaho. Right in the middle of the fertile valley of Boise, Idaho. The place my dad had been looking for.

This ranch was called “Shaw’s and Dorr’s Orchard”. It was owned by two families, that lived in Boise. They visited the ranch often. They each had a family. The Dorr’s had a boy my age. The Shaw’s had a girl, whose name was Inez Shaw, whom my sister Inez was named for.

We stayed on this ranch for five years. We had a new house and all the necessaries when we moved in. They had a well dug and had it run by a motor. This was great, lots of nice pure water to drink. It was used for the animals and gardens.

Dad had hired men to help build the sheds, barn, and pig pen. We had two horses, one cow whose name was Queenie. One horse was coal black, his name was “Nig” The other horse was named Dick He was a pretty roan, with a white star on his forehead. Dick was a high spirited, but Nig was slow and easy. My mother thought Dick had a lot of “spunk”

We finally got turkeys, chickens, a couple of pigs, and our first big black and white dog, which we all loved. We called him Blackie, he would wake us up every morning.

Dad planted all kinds of fruit trees. The trees were small, so we had to wait a few years for their fruit.

Dad’s real job was to plant eighty acres of prune trees.

We finally got a root cellar where we kept our milk, eggs and fruit cool. The summers in Idaho were very hot Things spoiled fast in the heat. We never had an ice box, refrigerators were unheard of.

We felt fortunate to have a real nice house to live in. Lots of good pure water to use anyway we needed. Good rich soil to grow vegetables, chickens for all the eggs, we needed, and Queenie to give us milk and enough to feed the animals. Milk to drink and whipping cream for cakes and goodies. Yes we made our candy and pop corn balls. Money was scarce but money isn’t everything, Dad would say. We had each other and we were very happy.

Dad liked to see things grow, therefore we always had a lot of vegetables and flowers. Dad always planted violets close to Mothers bedroom window, she loved the scent of violets and always did.

Dad would plant a lot of popcorn between the rows of squash, pumpkins, and melons. The summers are real hot and dry just the right for growing melons. Oh! How good they are right off the vine. We had enough to share with neighbors and school friends.

We dried the popcorn on a spread out canvas or by twisting the tops together and hung up by the tops on a nail in the woodshed.

The popcorn had to be real dry to pop good. The ones that didn’t pop we called “old maids”. I think we still call them that.

My brothers and I had to shell the popcorn. We’d take two ears and rub them together. After the first kernels loosened up the others would come off easy. You had to be careful shelling the corn, because the popcorn had sharp points as sharp as a needle. That’s the way we could tell the popcorn from the regular corn. I think they have popcorn different now, without points.

A few days before Christmas we would pop a lot of corn getting ready to take it to school, where we would thread it with cranberries to make garlands. We used a needle and a strong thread. The red and white was very pretty.

Our tree wasn’t fir or noble as we have now. These kind of trees were scarce in Idaho. They had a few shipped in. I suppose they have all kinds there now.

The school was a one room school with all eight grades one teacher for all eight grades. My brothers went there with me or I with them. It was nice to have some help making our decorations, from the older students.

Our school Christmas tree was one the older boys, cut from the vacant lot next to the school house This tree was a willow or a shrub bush, no matter we loved it just the same.

We made ring chains and cranberry and popcorn garlands. We made other ornaments out of what ever we had to work with. The teacher had a beautiful honeycomb big bell in the middle of the room. She kept this always for the next Christmas. It was snowy white.

We would make paper doll strings, folding the paper many times and cutting a string of paper dolls, and holding hands.

Of course we had to clean out our desks to be all clean for Christmas.

This was a special day!

 

This is one of two photos in my collection showing the actual schoolroom Elsie describes. Elsie is sitting in the front row, closest to the camera, wearing a white dress. Walter is in the front row closest to the teacher, wearing overalls. Bill is, from the camera's perspective, directly in front of Walter, in the second row, also wearing overalls.

 

I will arbitrarily end there, as this memoir is difficult to divide into chapters. 

 

To continue with the next installment of Elsie's Christmas book, click here.

Citation:

Elsie Crocker, "Christmas on the Farm when I was a Small Child" (typescript, 1990); copy in possession of Amber Brosius, 2020.