Joy Neal Kidney's Blog, page 49

Those Goff Reunions

The Goff reunions were part of my childhood. They were held at Springbrook Park north of Guthrie Center, Iowa, which was a WPA project during the Great Depression. We enjoyed all the food and getting to play in the water. The adults enjoyed the food and talking, talking, talking.

Children of Nathan P. and Elizabeth (Norris) Goff: Back: Jane Powell, Emma Barnes, Alfred Goff, Martha Van Arsdol. Front: (inset) Adeline Anderson, John Broderick Goff (father of Milton Sheridan “Sherd” Goff), Mary Simmons, Sarah Clements, Milton Goff. Milton is the oldest, born in 1840, and Martha the youngest, born 20 years later. All born in Indiana.

I only knew a few people there, but my Grandma Leora knew all of them! They were related through her father Sherd Goff’s grandparents, Nathan P. And Elizabeth (Norris) Goff.

Nathan and Elizabeth had 11 children, all born in Indiana. One died as a child and one never married. The family came to Madison County, Iowa, in 1863.

While staying with my folks right before Guy left for Vietnam in July of 1969, we attended a Goff reunion. It was held at the park in Winterset, which is the seat of Madison County. Grandma Leora rode there with us.

As the caretaker of the family photos, letters, and clippings, I learned that one year there was a mini-reunion of Goffs, and that it was held at the Sherd and Laura Goff home in Dexter, which still sits along the highway and directly across from what is now the Dexter Park.

The B.J. Black and Ed Taggart families and Frank Barnes. All cousins. Lucille Black in the picture was chosen as Iowa’s Healthiest Girl at the Iowa State Fair one year. Dexter, Iowa, August 14, 1927. (Ones I recognize in the front row are Dale, Danny, Darlene, and Doris Wilson, with their dad Clabe behind Darlene. Sherd Goff at right with white hair. His wife Laura in is next, then Leora Goff Wilson. The smallest boy is Junior Wilson, who is looking at his cousin Merrill Goff.

Frank Barnes, Clarence Taggart, Wayne Black, Gladys Taggart Root, Lucille Black (Iowa’s Healthiest Girl this year at the Iowa State Fair), Aunt Mary (Goff) Bonine, M.S. Goff and Therma Black sitting.

As I combed through the letters and clippings of the Clabe and Leora Wilson family, working on Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression, I noticed that nearly every summer, one of Leora’s brothers would drive to Dexter from Omaha, pick up his mother (Laura Goff) and whoever else wanted to go to the Goff Reunion at Springbrook Park north of Guthrie Center. In 1931, Doris (about 13) and her cousin Maxine Goff (about 10) went with them. Grandmother took bananas and cut them in half to serve at the potluck. Mostly the kids chose them, and one of them ate so many he got sick. Doris had never tasted a banana before.

It was there that Doris was taken aback when her younger cousin broke the news that Doris’s mother was going to have another baby. In those days, pregnancy was not discussed with children. Doris should have noticed her mother’s growing girth, but she hadn’t.

But Doris and Maxine very much enjoyed visiting at the Goff Reunions when they were adults.

The History and Genealogy of The Nathan P. Goff Family of Randolph County, West Virginia, Delaware County, Indiana, and Madison County, Iowa. Complied by one of his great grandsons, Colonel Joseph Philip Barnes, 1972.

Are large family reunions part of your memories?

 

Four Generations at a Birthday Party, 1950

Photo was taken at the Donald and Lucille Shaw place, NW of old Dexfield Park, July 1950.

Both grandmothers, two great grandmothers, Mom, my sister, and two cousins!

On the left: Aunt Betty (Neal) Wells, Dad’s sister, with Vincent Neal Wells (b. 1945). I’m (1944) lugging Candy, a Cocker Spaniel puppy which was actually sister Gloria’s (1946) birthday gift, but she was busy riding her trike. Vince’s sister Patty (1947) is on the other trike.

Next to Aunt Betty is Grandma Ruby (Blohm) Neal (1898 -1991), whose parents were born in Pellworm Island, Germany.

Nellie Edith (Keith) Neal (1869-1955), widow of O.S. Neal. They were Dexter neighbors to the Clabe and Leora Wilson family during the Great Depression. Great Grandma Nellie helped her daughter-in-law make many quilts, including the “Dahlia Star” quilt for the marriage of Warren Neal to Doris Wilson.

Laura (Jordan) Goff (1868-1962). Some of Great Grandmother’s stories are part of the Leora Stories, especially Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression and Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots. She helped teach me to crochet and I played Canasta with her.

Leora (Goff) Wilson (1890-1987), Laura’s oldest daughter and the heroine of the Leora Stories.

Doris (Wilson) Neal (1918-2015). Leora’s oldest daughter, my mother.

 

Stonehenge: the day two outvoted three

“Well, can ya die ‘appy now thet ya’ve seen Stonehenge?” he asked.

It was an interesting question, but if you had a chance to visit England, what would be at the top of your list of places to see? Buckingham Palace? Big Ben? Those were on my list, but the top line belonged to England’s most famous pile of rocks, Stonehenge.

Guy and I, along with 14-year-old son Dan, had a chance to visit England the summer of 1989, when Guy’s sister and her husband (Lois and David) lived there, two hours north of London in Kings Lynn. They’d already seen Stonehenge and didn’t think it was worth the extra hour out of our way into London to visit.

I was relieved that the ancient relic was still at the top of  Dan’s list (along with Hard Rock Cafe and a Dr. Who exhibit). Somehow the two of us outvoted the other three!

Getting there wasn’t easy. Traffic on the London Orbital was stop-and-go. The car’s open windows gave no relief from the heat and humidity. It was a miserable ride. Guilt nagged. But when we finally headed west, anticipation set in. Without warning, we crested a hill and there, spread out in the distance, was Salisbury Plain.

That first glimpse of the great grey boulders on the lonely expanse reminded me of toy blocks left behind by a gigantic creature that had tired of them. Dark specks dotting the vast isolated pasture turned out to be cows.

What causes the desire to spend time and effort to see ancient haphazard ruins? The enigmatic monument is certainly not a place of beauty, but is strangely alluring. Some of the ungainly stones stood on end, some shared lintels with others, some had fallen over, and many had been hauled away. Since 1978, people have not been allowed to walk among the huge, dull sandstone sarsens and blue-stones, but we circled nearly all the way around them. A solemnity seemed to silence the dozen or so tourists there.

Dan at Stonehenge, June 1989. You can barely see a jackdaw perched on the stone at the left.

A jackdaw flapped to the top of a massive upright where the silhouette of its mate waited.

I pondered the history and mystery of the place. How did primitive men haul 81 of these giants from 25 miles away, other large stones from as far away as 300 miles?

That was no easier to grasp than this imposing carcass of rocks was a Stone Age astronomical observatory, that the dull grey stones aligned with other stones and spaces so that primitive men could predict the seasons and even eclipses of the sun and moon.

Maybe it’s what we don’t know about this mute place is what makes it magical.

A helicopter circled overhead, insisting on our attention to the modern world. It was the week of the Summer Solstice and the Stones, as they call it, were closed for two days to thwart an invasion of hippies.

Before leaving, we cooled off with colas in the shade of a hawthorn shrub. A cabbie, who had brought more tourists to see the famous relic, asked loudly, “Well, can ya die ‘appy now thet ya’ve seen Stonehenge?” We all laughed.

“As a matter of fact, yes!” I admitted.

When Lois and David visited us at home, after they moved back to the States, our front bushes had been removed. Dan made a mini-Stonehenge there to welcome back his aunt and uncle.

Browsing Books at Shepherd.com

Finding a good book is easier thanks to a website called Shepherd.com. Shepherd is trying to make online book browsing more “magical.” They invite authors to share their own books, then share five related books and tell why they chose those specific titles.

Shepherd uses artificial intelligence to find fun ways to connect books to help readers follow their curiosity.

I’ve shared both “Leora books” on Shepherd.com, along with World War 2 stories that are surprising and compelling. It was fun to do, and the concept is so enjoyable. Within the World War 2 section, you can browse books and author’s book suggestions. You can also jump to related topics like prisoners of war or Winston Churchill.

How about the best books on little-known aspects of the Confederate era? (Dennis Peterson)

The best books of surprising stories of the Great Depression. (Mine)

The best Christian fiction books with memorable characters.

Try it out. I think you’ll enjoy it.

For you authors, check out their Shepherd For Authors page. That’s how I started with both Leora books. 

 

Family Lockets

Doris’s Baby Locket

Leora Goff Wilson was the oldest in her family and the only one married, with two small sons. She started writing letters to boys in military service in 1918 when the oldest three of her seven brothers were sent to fight in France with the 88th Infantry Division. When baby Doris Wilson was born that August, Wayne Goff was especially taken with the news of the birth of his first niece. He sent money home from France, asking his younger sisters to buy a gift for the baby. Georgia and Ruby Goff chose a locket for baby Doris, large enough for her to enjoy wearing as an adult. They had it engraved “Wayne to Doris.”

First Anniversary

Doris grew up during the Great Depression and was a waitress when WWII began. She married an Iowa farmer who’d become a pilot in Texas.

Marfa, Texas, was so crowded during WWII that Doris and Warren Neal lived in a room in a church. Some people were even living in the Marfa hospital.

So they decided it would be better if Doris returned home for the birth of their first baby, and they could spend a few weeks with her mother’s help. The couple rode the train back to Iowa in March, 1944, with the baby due in late May.

The Neals spent their first anniversary apart, but Warren sent Doris a locket with pilot’s wings on it to commemorate the day–May 16, 1944.

Photos are from their 1943 wedding. The bow is a pin, added later.

My Baby Locket

Looks like I used it for teething!

The bow is a pin, added later

Do you have a locket or piece of jewelry that has a family story?

What Happened to the Model-T “Roadster”

The “roadster” started out as a Model T truck, which the two older Wilson brothers drove to Des Moines to join the Navy in early 1934. They’d just graduated from high school and even their dad had no job, and there were five more children still at home. The two older boys had enough to eat, were kept busy, and could even send $5 or $10 home to help with overalls for school and food.

When Clabe took off the top of the truck that fall, they called it their roadster. One of the photos is on the cover of Leora’s Dexter Stories. Junior is looking at their pet squirrel Rusty on the fender.In this one, Dale is in the driver’s seat, Junior on the hood, and Dale is eyeing Rusty who is perched on the windshield.By the end of 1934, Clabe needed to sell the roadster. He never had another vehicle until after finding work as a tenant farmer, about 1940. (They had a “smoking Buick” for a while, then were able to pool their money to buy that brand new 1942 Plymouth.)
—– Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression

Iowa’s M and M Divide

Iowa might not have the Continental Divide, the mountainous line that determines whether the rivers of the nation run toward the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans.

But we have our own M and M Divide, marking the line for Iowa watersheds toward the Missouri River on the west or the Mississippi on the east.

That dotted line, from roughly the NW corner of the photo to the SE, marks the M and M Divide.  Knowing that there’s a sign marking it just west of Guthrie Center, I wanted to know where it runs through the rest of Iowa.

Highway 30: This sign and rock, just east of Arcadia, population 525, shows its location in Carroll County.

Highway 44: As you drive west of Guthrie Center, you will notice the road climbs steadily higher until you reach the point where a marker announces that this is the “Missouri-Mississippi Divide, Elevation 1440 feet.”

Aunt Darlene, Sis Gloria, Mom (Doris) at the M and M Divide, Highway 44 between Audubon and Guthrie Center. June 19, 1995. Gloria drove, I took photos.

Interstate 80: According to a local, the M and M divide runs through the middle of Adair. “If you take the highway north from Exit 76 on Interstate 80, you are literally driving on it. It’s very close to the water tower with the happy face.”

Southern Iowa: Lorimor, Union County, touts its lofty spot on the M & M Divide.

Even the water draining to the Missouri River eventually ends up in the Mississippi River.

World Atlas map

Here is a better version of the map of the Drainage Basins of Iowa, showing where the M and M Divide runs through the state.

Grandmother Goff Visits the Wilsons at Minburn, Iowa

Junior (16th birthday), Danny, Doris, Clabe, and Leora Wilson. Grandmother Laura Goff. Bernadine and J.B. Goff with young Ronnie. Dale Wilson. July 6, 1941, near Minburn, Iowa

Grandmother Laura Goff moved from Dexter to Omaha in 1936 when her son C.Z. (Clarence Zenas) offered a job to his widowed brother J.B. (Jennings Bryan) who lived with Grandmother in Dexter with his children Maxine and Merrill.

The Wilsons had lived in and around Dexter for a decade by then, so Grandmother was surprised when she got a letter in March, 1939, saying they’d moved to a farm near Minburn.

The foreman of a WPA job where Clabe Wilson worked in Dexter said his brother was looking for a tenant farmer for his place near Minburn. Clabe got the job. Sons Delbert, Dale, Danny, and Junior were great help on the farm, earning their own paychecks. Danny had just graduated and Junior still had a year left of high school. This was taken on his 16th birthday.

Doris Wilson was a waitress in Perry, but regularly rode the M & St L (Minneapolis & St. Louis railroad) to the Minburn depot.

J. B. Goff married Bernadine Paxson, who had been Dexter schoolteacher for Danny and Junior when they were in grade school. Ronnie is their son, the step-brother of Maxine (who was married by then) and Merrill (who had joined the Marines). J.B. drove them to Minburn for this visit.

Delbert was still home, so he probably took this delightful photo on July 6, 1941.

Donald Wilson was serving aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-5), on its third Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic.

 

“I Wish I could Give it Six Stars”

How I appreciate this recent review of Leora’s Letters from Phil Rosenkrantz, the author of Letters from Uncle Dave: The 73-year Journey to Find a Missing-in-Action World War II Paratrooper.

“It is rare to have such a compelling collection of letters as well as the actual context and memories that surrounded them during the war. I wish I could give it six stars. I was able to put myself in the shoes of the family members and imagine what they were going through. It helped me understand what my family went through during the war. I also had an uncle who was missing in action and another uncle who was rescued when his ship was sunk in the Pacific*.

“It is one thing to understand World War II history from a statistical standpoint such as battle details and casualty figures. It is another thing to understand what happened to one family and then multiply that by the loss of thousands of families who experienced similar grief and loss.

“The book is well written. The author does a great job of laying out the family’s thoughts and emotions. Almost everyone living now was affected by World War II in some way–directly or indirectly. I know from experiences that the effects of World War II influenced many family for decades. It is helpful for everyone to understand this aspect of the last century and this book will help you do that.”

*The ship Dr. Rosenkrantz mentioned was the USS Chicago (CA-29), which Delbert and Donald Wilson served on during the 1930s.

My review of Dr. Rosenkrantz’s book.

Letters from Uncle Dave was endorsed by Steve Snyder, author of Shot Down: The True Story of Pilot Howard Snyder and the Crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth. My review of Shot Down.

Dexfield Road

I seem to have a lot of history with Dexfield Road, especially if you follow it south far enough when it becomes Maple Street along the west edge of Dexter, Iowa.

The road goes north to Wagon Road (not far, but doesn’t show on the map), which goes west to the ghost towns of Dale and Glendon, east to Redfield.

Beginning halfway between there and the Raccoon River, at what is now 320th Street (just west of the white blob in the upper center). We lived at the top of the hill to the west, where Dad rented the Donald Shaw farm when he was discharged from the USAAF after World War II. I started kindergarten at Redfield while we lived there.

Dad is on the horse with Gloria, while I–one of the SLOW CHILDREN–am posing. Taken along that road, late 1940s.

Remember Bonnie and Clyde? The map notes Dexfield Park, where they had shootout with a posse in 1933. Before it became Dexfield Park, it began as a mineral spring spa called Marshall Springs, named for the distant relative, Pete Marshall, who discovered the spring.

Robert and Dode Reynolds own the beautiful  old Marshall home. They hosted out of us descendants of Miles Marshall, including two from out of state–Malinda Marshall Danziger and her dad, Robert Marshall.

A little farther south, on the west side of the road, is a house known as the Marshall house. I understand that at least part of his original cabin is part of the home.

Next, on the east side, is the site of the 1948 National Plowing Match, where President Harry Truman gave a major speech for thousands on a very hot day in September. Dad perched me, a four-year-old, on his shoulders so I could see my very first US President.

Go south to White Pole Road (the highway through Dexter) and on the corner is Drew’s Chocolates, which was begun when Helen Drew made her first batches of candy in 1927. It still does business in her basement candy kitchen.

The road becomes Maple Street there. Follow it south across the Rock Island railroad tracks to P48. Southeast of that corner was the old town pump, the one Clabe Wilson kept oiled as a WPA job during the Great Depression.

Keep on going to the cemetery (light green area where the road turns west), the old part of which is west of the road. My mother was part of a Decoration Day ceremony there when she was a girl. (Described in Chapter 9 of Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression.) Many of my ancestors on Dad’s side are buried there.

The new part is east of the road. There I’ll become part of the seventh generation buried in the Dexter Cemetery, awaiting the final trumpet.