Joy Neal Kidney's Blog, page 44
January 2, 2023
See this Blazing Star Quilt, from 1845, at the Iowa Quilt Museum
“Made 1845 Grandma Runkle & Eve”
This exquisite Blazing Star quilt is part of the “These ARE Your Grandmother’s Quilts” exhibit at the Iowa Quilt Museum in Winterset, Iowa, which runs from December 20, 2022-March 12, 2023.
Christiana (Mark) Runkel (1797-1881, buried at Lebonan, PennsylvaniaIt was probably made by Christiana (Mark) Runkel, great great grandmother of Guy Kidney, and her sister Eve Mark in Pennsylvania. (The name has been spelled Runckel, Runkel, and Runkle.)
Nicholas (1716-1774) and Elizabeth Runckle were German immigrants in 1743, arriving aboard the Loyal Judith, settling in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Their son John Runckle married Maria Catharina.
John and Maria’s son John Runkel, who was baptized in 1779.
That John Runkel’s son Henry married Christiana Mark, who most likely made the quilt with her sister Eve Mark. Christiana (Mark) Runkel is most likely the “Grandma Runkle” on the embroidered tag on the back.
This visually stunning treasure is exquisitely hand pieced, appliqued, and quilted. It was brought to Carroll County, Iowa, after the Civil War by veteran Amos Mark Runkel, son of John and Christiana.
Guy Kidney at the grave of his great grandfather, Amos Mark Runkel, a Pennsylvania Civil War veteran, at the Veteran’s Administration Cemetery, Hot Springs, SDAfter his first wife died in childbirth with their seventh child, Amos Mark Runkel (1836-1914) and his children came west to Carroll, Iowa. He remarried Margaretha Lange Daniels, a German immigrant and widow with six children, who ran a brewery in Carroll. Together, Amos and Margaretha had two daughters, including Guy’s grandmother, Teresa (Runkel) Walker.
Teresa Walker handed down the quilt to her youngest child, Carol, who is Guy’s mother, now age 99. Carol Walker Kidney Herman gave the heirloom quilt to Guy in 1992.
The Runkle Blazing Star Quilt has been shown at the 1983 Invitational Quilt Show at Iowa State University, in the Scheman Continuing Education Building art gallery, Ames, Iowa. Also at the 1993 Quilt Extravaganza IV at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines.
Information from: Runkel Family Bible, now owned by Guy Kidney
Some Early Lineages of Berks County, Pa., by Beulah Hix Blair, 1959
December 30, 2022
The New “Leora Book” a topic on The Culture Buzz
John Busbee’s irrestible review of Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots is on page 5 of the Jan/Feb2023 issue of Iowa History Journal.
This week, on his weekly radio program, The Culture Buzz, he interviewed the owner and publisher of Iowa History Journal, Michael Swanger. Here are the compelling stories in the new issue.
Toward the end of the 14-minute interview, John and Michael included a few words about the newest “Leora book,” if you’d like to listen in.
John Busbee (left) is a creative projects developer, recipient of the 2014 Iowa Governor’s Award for Collaboration & Partnership in the Arts, produces The Culture Buzz weekly radio program since 2007, and is a regular contributor to Iowa History Journal and other publications.
He wrote the foreword to Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression and has edited the last two books. He is an encourager extraordinaire, who’s interviewed me a couple of times on The Culture Buzz.
Journalist Michael Swanger (right) is the publisher and editor of Iowa History Journal. This is their 15th year of publication.
December 28, 2022
Christmas in Northern Minnesota, Early 1900s, a Blizzard and a Child With Pneumonia
Key West, in the SW corner and east of Grand Forks, ND, was less than 100 miles from the Canadian border.The Goff family arrived in northern Minnesota in a blizzard the spring of 1903. When the mother, grandmother, and children got to Grand Forks, North Dakota on the train, they all had caught colds and were met by Grandpap Goff to take them by bobsled and bundled up with quilts the last thirteen miles. There was no school in winter, since the weather was too unpredictable and dangerous.
“One Christmas while in Minnesota,” Leora Goff Wilson wrote in her memoirs, “we were invited to Bertie Burris’. They had been to our place for weekends a few times. It was a nice clear morning and we [Sherd, Laura, and nine children] all got into the bobsled with plenty of straw and comforters. Merl brought his sled (Christmas present for all) and tied it on behind and rode on it some ’til we noticed his nose was frozen white.
Helen and Ruby Burris, daughters of Estella and Burt Burris. Stell was a daughter of Dave Branson. This was taken in or around Polk County, MN, about 1903 (but soon moved back to Guthrie County, Iowa).“We were over halfway to Burris’, 5 miles (Burns’ lived about 7 miles from us) when one of those sudden blizzards began. We finally got to Burris’ and the youngest of their two girls, Helen, about 2 years old, was sick with pneumonia. The hired man, who was Artie Walters from Iowa, had ridden a horse several miles to get a doctor to come out.
“We couldn’t turn back and go home in the storm – no phones to let us know. The turkey was in the oven roasting and, with what we brought with us, and all put together, we had a delicious Christmas dinner. As many of us as there were, including little ones, all were pretty quiet.
“The storm blew over by 3 or 4 p.m. and we left for home. The hired man was up all night, so he was asleep all day. We were a thankful family to get back home safely and Helen Burris was getting better fast.”
How amazing Leora remembered the details of this Christmas decades later. She was in her early teens when they lived in northern Minnesota. I’m thankful for all the memories she recorded.
Story from Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots
December 26, 2022
Christmas 1952: All Nine Grandchildren
Alas, Leora Wilson didn’t start keeping a diary until 1958. She filled in one from the bank during 1946, but it was made of cheap paper, which now is fragile.
I’d hoped to find1952. Nothing, but a Christmas card to me (she must have sent them to her other grandchildren as well) and photos of all of us arriving at her little house in Guthrie Center, where she made a home for her own mother, the Sunday after Christmas, which was December 28.
She printed a note to her oldest granddaughter inside the card.
We’d just arrived from our farm south of Dexter, all bundled up in the snow–Joy, Doris, Gloria, and Warren Neal (wearing buckle galoshes). The leggings Gloria and I wore came with our coats and were worn under our dresses. Yes, dresses in those days.
Mom’s sister’s family, who farmed near Earlham: Darlene (carrying baby David), Robert, Sam, Dennis (in front) and Richard Scar.
Their oldest brother’s family, who lived in Des Moines by then: Evelyn, Donna (carrying a doll), Delbert, Leora Darlene, and Delbert Ross Wilson.
Grandma and her mother (Laura Goff) always used Great Grandmother’s Noritake china from the bargain basement of Omaha’s Brandeis department store (from 1939). They usually served roast beef, broccoli, cottage cheese, and whatever else Mom, Darlene, and Evelyn brought with them.
Laura (Jordan) Goff, Guthrie Center, IowaThese family photos show all nine of Leora Wilson’s grandchildren. Delbert’s family would eventually move to California, where he got a job with the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Seventy years later, there are just four of us grandchildren living: Dick and Bob Scar, Joy and Gloria Neal.
December 23, 2022
Christmas 1946: War’s Aftermath
Christmas 1946
Earlier that year, Clabe and Leora Wilson had been notified that their son Dale had been officially declared dead. That same week, a telegram had notified them that Danny’s remains had been located in Austria, and that he had been Killed in Action on the date he was reported MIA.
By the end of 1946, the war had been over for more than a year. Their oldest son Delbert and his family, including toddler Leora Darlene and baby Donna, were living with them then in the little house south of Perry.
That spring, Clabe and Leora had taken their first longer drive in the Plymouth. Clabe had only driven home from Des Moines, but they decided to spend Mother’s Day in Omaha with Leora’s mother.
Later that month, they took flowers to Violet Hill Cemetery on Decoration Day. A cenotaph was placed next to Junior’s grave, to remember his brothers Dale and Danny who’d been killed in action in 1945.
Junior Wilson’s grave is on the left. The cenotaph to the right memorializes Dale and Daniel Wilson.
The surviving Wilson siblings: Delbert Wilson, Darlene (Wilson) Scar, Doris (Wilson) Neal, Donald Wilson. October 1946, Perry, IowaIn September, 1946, Clabe collapsed and was hospitalized for a stroke. He lasted until October, when he died of a stroke and a broken heart.
Leora spent that Christmas at home with Delbert’s little family, and with visits from Doris and Warren with their two daughters, and with Darlene and Sam and their two sons.
Leora Wilson with five of her six grandchildren, October 1946, Perry. Kids: Robert Scar, Joy Neal, Donna Wilson, Leora Darlene Wilson, Richard ScarIn just three years, Leora had lost three sons and was widowed. How grateful she was for her four surviving children, and for those six grandchildren.
Story from Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II
December 21, 2022
Dexter’s Presbyterian Church Choir, all School Kids
Aunt Nadine Shepherd was the main organist (pump organ) and pianist for the Dexter Presbyterian Church. About as soon as her own kids and nieces and nephews could read music, she gathered us into a children’s choir, along with other youngsters in the church.
During the 1950s, we’d all had a terrific music teacher, Ruth Sellers, at school, which was just a couple of blocks from the church. So it was even handy for us to walk there for practice after school.
It wasn’t long before we became the main choir, especially since most of our fathers were farmers and there were seasons of the year that they just couldn’t get to choir, even in the evening.
Back row: Bruce Atherton, Vince Wells, Joy Neal, Susan Shepherd, Judy Neal, Bonnie Johnson, Bob Cook, Jane Neal
Front: Gloria Neal, Dixie Thomas, Sandra Grant, Carolyn Cunningham, Patty Wells, Kenny Shepherd, Glenn Heckman
At first we wore short white surplices with dark dickies.
December 19, 2022
Home for Christmas 1944
Christmas 1944
This was Clabe and Leora’s first Christmas in their very own home, which was one of Leora’s goals in life. With all five sons in the military, they just couldn’t handle the landlord’s farm near Minburn any longer. In October 1944, the Wilsons bought a small home on five acres a mile southeast of Perry. The buildings were pretty run down, but they enjoyed painting and fixing things up, especially because they owned them.
The house on the Perry acreage. Clabe had cut down a chicken crate so it would fit in the trunk of the Plymouth, in order to move Leora’s little flock. (The sheep belongs to a neighbor.)Another of Leora’s goals had been high school diplomas for all seven children. Junior graduated from Washington Township School in 1942. The only goal left to fulfill was to have family nearby.
Their adult children spent Christmas 1944 across the globe–from Italy to the Pacific Ocean.
Both daughters were married and all five sons were serving their country, two in combat, one Missing in Action.
That Christmas their oldest son Delbert was running an Attack Teacher at the Naval Submarine Base at New London, Connecticut, where he lived with his wife Evelyn and six-month old Leora Darlene.
Donald Wilson, having survived the sinking of his ship over two years earlier, was again in combat in the Pacific, aboard another aircraft carrier, the USS Hancock (CV-19). His wife Rose had moved back to Washington State near her father.
Doris lived in Marfa, Texas, where her husband Warren was stationed as an Advanced Instructor in the AAF. Their baby, Joy, was six months old.
Darlene lived on a farm near Earlham, Iowa, with her husband Sam and two-year-old Richard. They were expecting another baby in the spring.
Dale had been missing in action in New Guinea for over a year. Earlier in 1944, notes from people on the west coast had told about hearing a short-wave Japanese broadcast naming Dale as a POW, but this was never confirmed.
Donald wasn’t the only Wilson in combat that December. Danny, a P-38 pilot in Italy, had already completed his first missions.
—–
By Christmas, Junior expected to be in Advanced Training in Texas, probably fighter planes because of his age. “They want the younger boys in the fighters—they can stand more strain and their reflexes are faster.”
“I suppose you are having pretty cool weather up there now,” he wrote home. “Probably have some good coon hunting weather.” They had a pet coon on a long chain at the base and they could pet him just like a kitten. Junior didn’t think he’d kill any more of them.
Junior sent home more money, “maybe help buy a bucket of coal or a big box of bran from the Thriftway,” he said.
He supposed his parents were having fun fixing up their new home. He thought it was pretty close to the Wiese Airport, where he and Danny once ran a fox through the airport and several miles north. He figured they might have hiked right through their yard.
Is the car standing up okay? he wanted to know. Maybe a good little pickup would be handier for the “Wilson ranch.” Junior said he wouldn’t trade five acres of black Iowa soil for five sections of Texas rock and clay. “They raise mostly cotton in this part of hell,” but wrote it was a little better there than the western part with its blowing dust storms.
Home for Christmas
Junior managed to get home for that Christmas, their first son to see the “Wilson ranch.”
His mother spent Christmas Day writing letters. “Clear and cold,” she reported to Danny. “Junior came yesterday about 10:30 A.M. Came walking in from Perry. He gave us hints in his letter we received on Friday that he might get to come, so we looked for him at the train Sat. night. Junior sure looks good. We are having a good visit, going to be too short.”
They’d driven over to Darlene and Sam’s farm, where Richard was having a good time with his Christmas toys.
Junior Wilson with his nephew, Richard Wilson Scar“Will be wonderful when all you boys are home together!” she continued to Danny. She could imagine them all telling of their different experiences, and the rest would just enjoy listening.
No one had dry batteries to sell, so they had no radio. They hoped to figure out a way to use the car battery for it.
Junior also wrote Danny before catching the train in Des Moines. He had to be at Aloe Army Air Field, Victoria, Texas, before midnight the 30th. They were to start flying the AT-6, then P-40s.
Their folks were looking good, he said, and the ranch was a pretty nice little place–good soil, house pretty good, and they were keeping him well fed.
Clabe and Leora took their youngest son to catch the train for Texas on a bright moonlit night. The moon was so bright the snow sparkled.
“We were sure lonesome when Junior left,” Leora wrote Danny, “Just like when any of you are home and go so far away—will be so wonderful when you can be at home.”
They were glad to stay busy as it kept their minds occupied. Otherwise, they worried. About Donald, in combat in the Pacific. About Danny, in combat in Europe. And Dale, wherever he was.
Story from Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II
December 17, 2022
SPAM (and a Letter Jacket)
There was a Scout who enjoyed campouts. I got a kick out of it when it was his patrol’s turn to plan the meals for a weekend. That included shopping for everything.
He also liked SPAM. He’d heard of it but had never tasted it, so we bought a small can. He was hooked. Every weekend his patrol was in charge, all the kids knew they’d have “SPAM McMuffins” for breakfast
It earned him the nickname of SPAM.
His Grandma Doris bought a Valley High School letter jacket for his academic and music (three choruses) awards. He paid to have the name on is changed from DAN to SPAM!
I’m not a fan of SPAM (I think it’s the texture) and a lot of people really dislike it. But a surprising 17-minute story about it on Our American Stories changed my mind about its food value. (One of my favorite WHO-Radio personalities admitted that he enjoys toasted SPAM and Velveeta cheese sandwiches!)
Since SPAM is a product of Hormel, the SPAM Museum is in Austin, Minnesota. Hey, it looks like fun! You can even buy SPAM cookbooks there. I wonder if any include an Iowa Scout’s version of SPAM McMuffins.
Who’s ready for SPAM Figgy Pudding?
SPAM
There was a Scout who enjoyed campouts. I got a kick out of it when it was his patrol’s turn to plan the meals for a weekend. That included shopping for everything.
He also liked SPAM. He’d heard of it but had never tasted it, so we bought a small can. He was hooked. Every weekend his patrol was in charge, all the kids knew they’d have “SPAM McMuffins” for breakfast
It earned him the nickname of SPAM.
His Grandma Doris bought a Valley High School letter jacket for his academic and music (three choruses) awards. He paid to have the name on is changed from DAN to SPAM!
I’m not a fan of SPAM (I think it’s the texture) and a lot of people really dislike it. But a surprising 17-minute story about it on Our American Stories changed my mind about its food value. (One of my favorite WHO-Radio personalities admitted that he enjoys toasted SPAM and Velveeta cheese sandwiches!)
Since SPAM is a product of Hormel, the SPAM Museum is in Austin, Minnesota. Hey, it looks like fun! You can even buy SPAM cookbooks there. I wonder if any include an Iowa Scout’s version of SPAM McMuffins.
Who’s ready for SPAM Figgy Pudding?
December 15, 2022
“Shelter of the Cross” – signed Poster Print by Photojournalist David LaBelle
“Once or twice a year, if I am lucky, I make a photograph that reaches a lot of hearts. This image, which took me several weeks to capture, has many people asking for prints. I decided to have a poster print made that is more affordable than my other prints, so more folks can enjoy this.
“These signed prints I titled SHELTER OF THE CROSS are 13×18 (16×11 actual image size) and will sell for $60.00, which includes shipping in the U.S.
“You can contact me via email: labelledave@gmail.com”
Website for David LaBelle
