Dad's stories gave a very similar impression: Jesse Calvin could be very strict and patriarchal, and also favored or disfavored certain children (Dad, Cal, and Priscilla seemed to be on the disfavored list - very interesting because I think Dad and Cal looked the most like Jesse Calvin), but Agnes was a loving and much loved mother. Dad said that his Mother taught them how to recognize wildflowers. Dad called his parents Mommie and Poppie. He remembered them doing many chores together: Poppie used to knead the bread because it was too heavy for Mommie - imagine how much bread they needed with about 8 or more kids in the house. Because Dad and Uncle Jim were separated by 27 years, Dad thought that all 11 children were at home only once, for a Sunday dinner.
Dad talked a lot about their home in Polley. It had been built as a saloon and dance hall for lumberjacks, but then the town voted against the saloon, so the building was available at a bargain price. The downstairs had the print shop in front, and living rooms in back. The upstairs was one big room with a large stage at one end, and the kids all slept upstairs with curtains to divide the room into different bedrooms. The kids used the stage to put on plays and recite poetry. Isn't it easy to imagine Dad or Aunt Isa or Uncle Al on a stage? The oldest children did have it tougher. In part, probably, because they were quickly displaced by new babies, and had to take responsibility for the younger children. From Aunt Rose's stories, when she and Priscilla were little, their parents had more time to relax and tell stories after supper every night. Dad and Rose and Carol have all mentioned that there was a room with a large table strewn with magazines. Someone once told me a story about choosing Carol's name from the latest issue of Colliers.
This is the way I understand it, "Woody" also may have fallen out of favor. however us younger children were always taught to honor our older brothers and sisters.
Yes kneeded the bread and on occasions, probably Sunday mornings, would make what he called tortillas, (other families called them dough gobs) fried bread dough about a 1/2 inch thick. We would eat these with a mixture of syrup/honey and butter which was called mixum-muxum. maybe, the family reunion in ???? was to be the firsttime as adults that we would be together but Cal died on the way to Wiscosin so it never happened. Yes the printing shop in front with a large stove, and the gas engine powered washing machine, then a room of sorts where Mommie and Poppie and the babies slept and the library was kept and the guns 30-30 rifle, marlin 22 rifle and 32 colt automatic pistol then a lean to type room on the end which was a kitchen/dinning area and setting area. Yes magazine were stored upstairs. Sunset, Colliers and probably Staurday Evening Post. We recieved the Milwakee Journal newspaper by mail with its traditional green sheet. One of the mags had a Charles Atlas ad which I sent for his booklet "Dynamic Tension" on boby building
When the radio would work (It had car battery for the six volt vacuum tube filiments and a 150 volt dry cell for the other vacunm tube circuits) we could listen to some of the news, feature programs and prize fights. Poppie was a great fan of "Joe" Lewis, We listen to station WCCO out of Minneapolis
Carol Lapham-Bartlett on September 28, 2007 11:19 AM
The two preceding are from Rosemary & Jim. I put them in the family history. Jim's comments are in response to Rosemary's information. I wish I could scroll back and read the above 2 articles while I write this as I have some comments of my own to make. Our house had an outside stairway until about 1937 or so. give or take a year. When we had the house re-roofed Poppie had the inside stairway put in. The stairway had a trap door and the aforementioned large table also had several spindles and a bunch of window glass on it. One time Boy Adams wanted to play with Nina Smith and me and He kept pushing the trap door up with his head. I kept jumping on the door. Finally head and door connected and he was knocked down the stairs. He just missed running one of those sharp spindles through him. Of course, by this time Poppie had passed on. This kind of behavior would not have been tolerated by him. Regarding Tortillas, which we called tartiyas, were made when mommie was making bread and there was no bread for lunch. She would cut off a hunk of bread and put it in the frying pan. Like Jim said, mixum, muxum. This could be any combination of butter and a sweetener: sugar, syrup, honey. Maybe even molasses on occasion. Ugh! Poppie usually made the pancakes for breakfast. He would make them, Mommie would cook them for the kids and Poppie, when Poppie was through he would take over the job while Mommie ate and the kids finished up. Then, all of the batter left was poured on the griddle and a giant pancake was made for the dogs. The outside stairway: In icy weather when the steps were slippery, Poppie would come upstairs and carry us down the slippery steps 'piggy back' one by one. This was an "Adventure." Poppie was a good story teller and would tell us about his adventures when he was a kid. He cowboyed for a while and would tell us that when the cook got drunk he would do the cooking. Very believable as Poppie made the best baked beans I have ever eaten. Just barely juicy underneath and a nice thick crust on top. Delicious covered with butter and eaten with home made bread! Poppie also read to us and we grew up on tales from Edgar Alan Poe and O'Henry. And, lots of poetry. Isa wrote a lot about our family life. Maybe Dorothy or Henry have some of these stories and can put them in the family history. All for now, Aunt Carol, Mom or Grandma
Your comment about reference books reminds me of a story. Once, when my brother Ben, was home from Colorado in the 1980's, Dad and Ben and I got into a discussion about just exactly where Jesse Calvin had worked as a forest ranger in Colorado. It wasn't long before we had the encyclopedia and a US atlas out on the kitchen table. I remembered something I had heard, I thought from Aunt Rose, so perhaps this is repeated from person to person, that "if you have three Brothers in a room, pretty soon the reference books will be out." Ben (my brother) smiled, and said, "Are you sure you need three?"
In one of your earlier postings, you mentioned that the large printing press in the front room at Polley was not used. I wonder if this was a consequence of the Depression? Surely it was used in earlier years? This is where we need Dad or Aunt Sis or Aunt Isa or Uncle Al to fill in the details, but alas, that's not possible. Uncle Jim, was your father printing a newspaper when you were a child? He did two papers in earlier years, one the usual town paper, and the other a personal project named "The Homecrofter." At one point, he owned a second print shop in Hawkins. My dad moved to Hawkins to run that one, and therefore graduated from Hawkins High School rather than Gilman.
Rose
Rosemary Brothers (daughter of Ben and Jo) Madison, Wisconsin
I am looking for a Jim Brothers who knew my brother Bradley Simmons when they were in the Army and possibly in Vietnam . Im hoping this is the Jim Brothers. bjd112@aol.com
Dad's stories gave a very similar impression: Jesse Calvin could be very strict and patriarchal, and also favored or disfavored certain children (Dad, Cal, and Priscilla seemed to be on the disfavored list - very interesting because I think Dad and Cal looked the most like Jesse Calvin), but Agnes was a loving and much loved mother. Dad said that his Mother taught them how to recognize wildflowers. Dad called his parents Mommie and Poppie. He remembered them doing many chores together: Poppie used to knead the bread because it was too heavy for Mommie - imagine how much bread they needed with about 8 or more kids in the house. Because Dad and Uncle Jim were separated by 27 years, Dad thought that all 11 children were at home only once, for a Sunday dinner.
Dad talked a lot about their home in Polley. It had been built as a saloon and dance hall for lumberjacks, but then the town voted against the saloon, so the building was available at a bargain price. The downstairs had the print shop in front, and living rooms in back. The upstairs was one big room with a large stage at one end, and the kids all slept upstairs with curtains to divide the room into different bedrooms. The kids used the stage to put on plays and recite poetry. Isn't it easy to imagine Dad or Aunt Isa or Uncle Al on a stage? The oldest children did have it tougher. In part, probably, because they were quickly displaced by new babies, and had to take responsibility for the younger children. From Aunt Rose's stories, when she and Priscilla were little, their parents had more time to relax and tell stories after supper every night. Dad and Rose and Carol have all mentioned that there was a room with a large table strewn with magazines. Someone once told me a story about choosing Carol's name from the latest issue of Colliers.
Yikes! I could go on way too long . . .
Rose
Hello Each, wherever you maybe.
Some comments. James D. Brothers (Uncle Jim)
This is the way I understand it, "Woody" also may have fallen out of
favor.
however us younger children were always taught to honor our older
brothers and sisters.
Yes kneeded the bread and on occasions, probably Sunday mornings, would
make what he called tortillas, (other families called them dough gobs)
fried bread dough about a 1/2 inch thick. We would eat these with a
mixture of syrup/honey and butter which was called mixum-muxum.
maybe, the family reunion in ???? was to be the firsttime as adults that
we would be together but Cal died on the way to Wiscosin so it never
happened.
Yes the printing shop in front with a large stove, and the gas engine
powered washing machine, then a room of sorts where Mommie and Poppie
and the babies slept and the library was kept and the guns 30-30 rifle,
marlin 22 rifle and 32 colt automatic pistol
then a lean to type room on the end which was a kitchen/dinning area and
setting area.
Yes magazine were stored upstairs. Sunset, Colliers and probably Staurday
Evening Post. We recieved the Milwakee Journal newspaper by mail with its
traditional green sheet. One of the mags had a Charles Atlas ad which I
sent for his booklet "Dynamic Tension" on boby building
When the radio would work (It had car battery for the six volt vacuum
tube filiments and a 150 volt dry cell for the other vacunm tube
circuits) we could listen to some of the news, feature programs and prize
fights. Poppie was a great fan of "Joe" Lewis, We listen to station WCCO
out of Minneapolis
I will work on more later JDB
Our house had an outside stairway until about 1937 or so. give or take a year. When we had the house re-roofed Poppie had the inside stairway put in. The stairway had a trap door and the aforementioned large table also had several spindles and a bunch of window glass on it.
One time Boy Adams wanted to play with Nina Smith and me and He kept pushing the trap door up with his head. I kept jumping on the door. Finally head and door connected and he was knocked down the stairs. He just missed running one of those sharp spindles through him. Of course, by this time Poppie had passed on. This kind of behavior would not have been tolerated by him.
Regarding Tortillas, which we called tartiyas, were made when mommie was making bread and there was no bread for lunch. She would cut off a hunk of bread and put it in the frying pan. Like Jim said, mixum, muxum. This could be any combination of butter and a sweetener: sugar, syrup, honey. Maybe even molasses on occasion. Ugh!
Poppie usually made the pancakes for breakfast. He would make them, Mommie would cook them for the kids and Poppie, when Poppie was through he would take over the job while Mommie ate and the kids finished up. Then, all of the batter left was poured on the griddle and a giant pancake was made for the dogs.
The outside stairway: In icy weather when the steps were slippery, Poppie would come upstairs and carry us down the slippery steps 'piggy back' one by one. This was an "Adventure."
Poppie was a good story teller and would tell us about his adventures when he was a kid. He cowboyed for a while and would tell us that when the cook got drunk he would do the cooking. Very believable as Poppie made the best baked beans I have ever eaten. Just barely juicy underneath and a nice thick crust on top. Delicious covered with butter and eaten with home made bread!
Poppie also read to us and we grew up on tales from Edgar Alan Poe and O'Henry. And, lots of poetry.
Isa wrote a lot about our family life. Maybe Dorothy or Henry have some of these stories and can put them in the family history. All for now, Aunt Carol, Mom or Grandma
Thanks so much for posting all your comments!
Your comment about reference books reminds me of a story. Once, when my brother Ben, was home from Colorado in the 1980's, Dad and Ben and I got into a discussion about just exactly where Jesse Calvin had worked as a forest ranger in Colorado. It wasn't long before we had the encyclopedia and a US atlas out on the kitchen table. I remembered something I had heard, I thought from Aunt Rose, so perhaps this is repeated from person to person, that "if you have three Brothers in a room, pretty soon the reference books will be out." Ben (my brother) smiled, and said, "Are you sure you need three?"
In one of your earlier postings, you mentioned that the large printing press in the front room at Polley was not used. I wonder if this was a consequence of the Depression? Surely it was used in earlier years? This is where we need Dad or Aunt Sis or Aunt Isa or Uncle Al to fill in the details, but alas, that's not possible. Uncle Jim, was your father printing a newspaper when you were a child? He did two papers in earlier years, one the usual town paper, and the other a personal project named "The Homecrofter." At one point, he owned a second print shop in Hawkins. My dad moved to Hawkins to run that one, and therefore graduated from Hawkins High School rather than Gilman.
Rose
Rosemary Brothers (daughter of Ben and Jo)
Madison, Wisconsin