From the old home place
I come from a family of journal and diary writers. I have discovered the writings of my great-grandmother beginning in 1901. There are old letters and writings from my grandmother. My mother has kept a diary from 1933 until 2012. Today she is 104 and although she doesn’t write in a diary, she still writes down a log of her day. I am excited to share the glimpses of their lives with you.
The Story Begins…
History of the Old Home Place
This is the history of the rich farmland in west central Illinois and my ancestors that called it home for 100 years. The farm was fondly referred to as The Old Home Place.
In 1817 the farm was a part of a military tract. The government deeded 160 acres to Thomas Caryle to compensate for the death of his son, George, in the war of 1812. My great-great-great grandfather, Jedidiah Morse bought it for $300.00 in 1839.
Upon the death of Jedidiah, the property was passed down to his son, Timothy Morse. Timothy served as the first postmaster in the area when the mail route was established in 1904 and delivery began in July. There was no building. The mail was dispensed from a desk in his home. This desk that sat in my grandparent’s living room was always called the post office, I did not know the history until years later. Timothy was an active politician and served in the Illinois state legislature as a representative for a number of years. When he died in 1880 at the age of 60 the property value of the farm was approximately $30,000.
There was a smaller house on the property. It is believed that Timothy’s sons built the larger farm house (fondly referred to as the old home place) in the 1870’s. Upon his death his estate was divided six ways for his six children. A.J. and Emerson moved to Farmington and went into the furniture and carpentry business, including building caskets. Menzo “Cap” built a house in Abington. Burton went to the U of I, got a degree in architecture and moved to Chicago. Tim built a house a mile north of the old home place. Daughter Elvira married Frank Davis and they stayed and farmed the land. They had two children Gertrude and Waldo.
Gertrude (Gertie) married Isaac Jacobus (Newt) and they lived with Elvira and Frank, ran the farm. Newt and Gertie had six daughters and a son. My mother, Mary, was the sixth daughter who kept diaries regularly then during her retirement wrote her “memoir” which is filled with rich stories of life on the farm. Born on the farm in 1918, she lived there until the depression in the 1930’s when the farm was lost and they moved to town.
This was a family of readers and writers, who left a legacy of written words sharing their lives. Fortunately I have much of the information and look forward to sharing these stories with you.
The next installment I will share Elvira’s words about life on the farm in 1901-1902.
Learning about the past
Life is the ebb and flow of stories.
Tragic & hopeful
Funny and sad
Forgotten and remembered’
Gossip shared
Things overheard
Struggles acknowledged
Joy of a birth
Pain of a death
Love lost
Love gained
Retold until the story is woven into the fabric of the family.
Shoebox of letters, Diaries and Journals of many sizes and shapes, Spiral books of many hues, the odd piece of paper filled with family lore….
A treasure of family stores from over a century all written by my relatives. In this space I will share those stories of the “old family place” and the years gone by.
Reminding us of the beauty of life well-lived.