19 posts from 2007

Irish Washerwoman was one of many songs Laura wrote about Pa playing in her books. She mentioned this one twice, in Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie.

 

I became seriously interested in bluegrass about 10 years ago. Over the past few years, the Chieftains have teamed up with some of the bluegrass greats and created some outstanding music. The videos below is a wonderful example, with the Chieftains joining Earl Scruggs on Sally Goodin. Below that is the Chieftains and Ricky Skaggs performing Cindy and Cotton Eye Joe. Both these songs are from the CD "Down the Old Plank Road" and is a very worthwhile purchase. These videos were taped in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry.

Manchester lies a few miles west of De Smet. Harvey Dunn was born on a homestead in Manchester in 1884. Grace and Nate Dow also lived in Manchester.

Sadly, today if you google Manchester, all you see is web sites with photos and videos of the 2003 tornado. On my trip to De Smet in September of this year, I visited Manchester and looked at the monument that was erected close to the town square this summer. It was dedicated on the anniversary of the tornado that destroyed the town in 2003. I hate I never explored the town before it was wiped off the map. I am collecting all the postcards and info I can find to help form a image in my mind about life in the town and surrounding area.

Dean Butler created Legacy Documentaries as a offspring of his original company Peak Moore Enterprises, Inc. According to the Legacy website, they create documentaries that "captures life's defining moments".

There are clips of the various productions created by Legacy. All of them are quite good, but two stand out as my favorites. One is about Michael Landon with interviews with cast members and the other covers Marines visiting the island of Iwo Jima decades after the historic landing and battle.

You can see some of the clips on the Legacy website at:  http://legacydocumentaries.com/

I recently won a collection of Missouri Ruralists and have had loads of fun looking through them and scanning the covers and the articles by LIW.

Here is the article from the February 1, 1922 issue. The subject concerns the light within us and judging others by the notion of right and wrong that is inside ourselves.

The following is a transcribed version of the article.

As a Farm Woman Thinks

 

BY MRS. A. J. WILDER

 

 

A WONDERFUL way has been invented to transform a scene on the stage, completely changing the apparent surroundings of the actors and their costumes without moving an article. The change is made in an instant. By an arrangement of light and colors the scenes are so painted that with a red light thrown upon them, certain parts come into view while other parts remain invisible. By changing a switch and throwing a blue light upon the scene, what has been visible disappears and things, unseen before appear, completely changing the appearance of the stage.

 

This late achievement of science is a good illustration of a fact we all know but so easily forget or overlook-that things and persons appear to us according to the light we throw upon them" from our' own minds.

 

When we are down-hearted and discouraged, we speak of looking at the world thru blue glasses; nothing looks the same to us; our family and friends do not appear the same; our home and work show in the darkest colors. But when we are happy, we see things in a brighter light and everything is transformed.

 

How unconsciously we judge others by the light that is within our­selves, condemning or approving them by our own conception of right and wrong, honor and dishonor! We show by our judgment just what the light within us is.

                                                                

What we see is always affected by the light in which we look at it so that no two persons see people and things alike. What we see and how we see depends upon the nature of our light.

 

A quotation, the origin of which I have forgotten, lingers in my mind: "You cannot believe in honor until you have achieved it. Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window thru which you must see the world."

I recently won a celluloid badge for the De Smet Lodge of the IOOF (International Order of Odd Fellows). It is quite elaborate and made around 1895 by the Whitehead & Hoag Company of Newark NJ.

The De Smet Lodge was number 58. It was organized and recognized in 1884 at the ninth annual Territory of Dakota session held in Mitchell.

I will be adding to this entry as I find out more information. So far I have found the following two De Smet residents were officers of the IOOF.

Grand Patriarch: C. H. Tinkham, of DeSmet, 1896-7

President Rebekah Branch: Mrs. Hattie L. Bradley, DeSmet, 1900-1

The following is an article from the August 29th De Smet Leader. The St. Thomas and De Smet cemeteries have been surveyed and marked.

The new areas of St. Thomas and De Smet cemeteries have been surveyed and marked.

The Rev. Cathal Gallagher, pastor of St. Thomas Catholic Church, said the new area of St. Thomas Cemetery contains 520 new graves. The new area contains six sections of 15 lots. Each lot contains six graves.

There are 19 sections of 12 lots and five irregular sections in the new area of De Smet Cemetery. Each lot contains 6 graves. There are 1,526 new graves that have been added.

Fr. Gallagher said a meditation area is planned surrounding a cluster of trees. That area which will measure 40 by 50 feet, will conain a labyrinth made of large boulders.  It will also feature a waterfall.

Fr. Gallagher said the senior class at De Smet High School is taking the lead in completing the meditation area. This group has lost two classmates to auto accidents—Derek Sckerl and Tyler Bau—and this is an active way for them to remember their classmates, Fr. Gallagher said.

Ron Golden and his son Ryan of Madison on August  18 did the survey work. Using a global positioning system  (GPS).  Golden located and marked each section, each lot and each grave. A group of adults and students from De Smet schools staked the lots and graves by driving numbered iron rods into the ground.

Those helping with laying out the cemetery included Matthew Aughenbaugh , Andrew Foley,  James Kerstin, Gerry Skyberg, Merle Klinkel, Roger Osthus, Lance Cundy, Tom Koeller,  Jordan Purintun, Britton Spader, Cameron Garry and Mike, Kris and Daryn Warne.

Fr. Gallagher said a number of people have been involved in cleaning up fallen trees and branches from recent storms. Gerry and Ron Skyberg planted new trees for every tree that did not make it through the winter. And Harold Groenwold has mowed the area throughout the summer.

More information is available from the respective cemetery boards. De Smet Cemetery is represented by Bob Montoss, Merele Klinkel, Sam Geyer, Roger Osthus and Ron Skyberg.

St. Thomas Cemetery is represented by Mary Widman, Traci Schoenfelder, Jack Jensen, Val Gross, Jim Kott, Ryan Schoenfelder and Rod and Denise Cundy.

A few weeks ago, I traveled to the Florida panhandle to attend the family reunion of Peter Ingalls descendents. The family members welcomed me and made me feel right at home. I have not seen that much food in a long time and it was delicious. The Ingalls family in the Westville area have recently discovered their connection to Laura Ingalls Wilder and they are very interested in learning all they can.

The attached photos consists of the old Reese homeplace in Pitts, Florida, and headstone images of the infant children of Joseph and wife Elizabeth. Joseph Carpenter married Elizabeth Reese, who was a native of Pitts. Supposedly Joseph and family lived in the Reese homeplace with Elizabeth's family. Although the Quiner/Carpenter family history doesn't mention it, the Reese descendants claim that Joseph and his family returned to Pitts from Wisconsin and were having serious financial problems. According to family members, they lived in a barn on the Reese property during this time. One of their infant children died in the early 1900s and is buried behind the homeplace. This would be the correct time frame.

This is one of the photos I took photos of at HH Library. Rose Wilder Lane as a nun?! Perhaps it was her Halloween costume that year.

Note: HH Library let me take photos of the photos in their files at no charge. Matt, one of the archivists, mentioned that researchers can bring their laptop and scanner and scan them at no charge. Same goes for the documents and letters in the RWL collection.

The following excerpt is from an undated letter from LIW to RWL. It is probably sometime in 1938 as Laura and Rose have been bantering, arguing, etc back and forth about the Silver Lake book. Laura did not want to include the part of WG and Plum Creek at the beginning of Silver Lake, but Rose did. Personally, I am glad Rose won out. The WG portion fills in some of the blank spaces about Mary, etc. and sets the tone for my favorite LH book of all. Once again, the spelling is Laura's.