Ball Diamond Photograph

It always amazes me how an image can trigger a flood of memories. My childhood friend, Lauren Hall, recently posted a black and white photograph on Facebook that brought back a string of memories to some of us who grew up in the small town of Lawton, Iowa.

The picture was almost nondescript except for the four telephone poles that formed the backstop of the Lawton baseball diamond. In the 1950’s and 1960’s this was the central gathering place in Lawton. The photo was taken from Lauren’s front yard which was across the intersection of the two streets that framed the north and west sides of the ball diamond.

As I was trying to figure out when the picture was taken, a small detail gave me a big clue. In the distance beyond what was then center field I noticed a tiny house. This house was the home of an elderly bachelor named Burr Foster. Burr died in August of 19621 and his house was torn down shortly after his death when the school system bought his property and began construction on the present day sports complex that sits on that site.

When we commented on the photo and mentioned Burr’s house, Lauren said he hadn’t really noticed the house in the background but he did remember when he and I tried starting a fire by striking flint. We weren’t able to start the fire, but I do remember giving it our best effort. My wife, Cathy (Hay) suddenly remembered that when she first came to school at Lawton she won all of Steve Flewelling’s marbles in marble matches on the playground. She doesn’t think Steve has ever forgiven her for that! These other memories were made at about the time the picture was taken and I can’t help but wonder what memories this simple picture would spark in other people who were living in Lawton at that time.

Lawton is a very different place today. Not better or worse; just different. When that picture was taken Lawton still had a butcher shop, coffee shop, variety store, grocery store, gas station, hardware store, and a sale barn in the block and a half downtown area. The whole town was only about five blocks long by five blocks wide. Today the town is physically much larger  but all of the businesses just mentioned are no longer open. They have been replaced by the Pronto convenience store.

Thanks, Lauren for that string of memories of some good times and good people.

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1. Burr Foster, Find A Grave Memorial# 8415811, http://findagrave.com

Aunt Maggie and Uncle Harry

When I was a youngster in the 1950’s, Aunt Maggie and Uncle Harry Richardson were the oldest members of our Harrison clan. She was my grandfather’s aunt, and to me that seemed about as old as one could be.

Maggie Rosannah Harrison was born August 23, 1881, in Chanute, Kansas.1 Herman Harry Richardson was about two years older than Maggie. Maggie and Harry had one son, Louis, who never married. Maggie was by all accounts the matriarch of the Harrison clan at that time. Family tradition holds that she was also the family banker if one of her nephews needed a short-term loan. NOTE: The woman in the dark dress walking down the street on the banner at the top of this site is Maggie.2

My memories of Maggie are of a somewhat overweight, elderly woman who used a cane or walker to get around. I also remember that she was always in charge wherever she was. She used to bark commands at my grandmother and my great aunts, pointing to this or that with a shake of her cane. My grandmother and her sisters-in-law were tough and strong-willed, but there must have been more to their relationship with Maggie because they were all genuinely fond of her.

Herman Harry Richardson was born in Iowa in August of 1879.3 Compared to Aunt Maggie, Uncle Harry was a slender man. His skin was brown and weathered from a lifetime of outdoor work on the farm. He loved to play cards; five-hundred, euchre, and cribbage were among his favorite games. Family gatherings nearly always included card games with lots of loud conversation and laughter.

Uncle Harry had a reputation for raising fine horses. There were no horses on the farm by the time I came along, but the last time I visited Uncle Harry he talked about his horses. His eyes and face would light up when he talked about those animals, even though he was bedridden and nearing death. NOTE: The man in front of the barn holding the dark horse on the banner at the top of this site is Harry. The setting is one of Harry’s farms in Banner Township, Woodbury County, Iowa.2

Aunt Maggie and Uncle Harry passed away over 40 years ago. My grandfather’s generation is gone, too. But our Harrison clan still gathers with lots of loud conversations, laughter, and usually a game of cards.

© Norman Washburn

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References

1. United States Federal Census 1910, Banner, Woodbury, Iowa.

2. Photographs from the collection of Loraine Harrison Washburn.

3. United States Federal Census 1900, Banner, Woodbury, Iowa.

What is a Civil War widow to do?

620,000 soldiers died in the Civil War. We often think of these as being young men but some, like, William Frink of Cass township, Jones county, Iowa were older.  William was in his forties when he was wounded at the Battle of Vicksburg in 1863. I’m sure the family was relieved to read in the Anamosa paper that William had been wounded in the leg, but was expected to make a full recovery1. It must have been heartbreaking to learn that he died a few days later2.

So how does a family recover from news like that? Hepzibah Hubbell Frink, William’s widow, and her four young children (Jesse, James, Abigail, and George) who were still living at home, sold the farm, packed up, and followed two older daughters (Sabra Melissa Sage and Clarissa Almira Andrews) and their husbands to Nebraska. On the 15th of July 1869 Hepzibah settled on 40 acres of farm ground in northeast Nebraska about 6 miles south of the small town of Craig3. Under the provisions of the Homestead Acts of May 20, 1862 and June 21, 1866. Hepzibah and her four children (Jesse, James, Abigail, and George) built a 12 feet by 16 feet single story house that had two doors and three windows. They also dug two wells and erected a barn and a corn crib. On the 10th of January 1873 Hepzibah proved up her claim to her homestead and the land became fully hers3

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References

1. “Letter from Capt. Farwell, Co.II, 31st Iowa”. Anamosa Eureka, 17 Jul 1863,  (online archives http://jonescounty.advantage-preservation.com/document/anamosa-eureka-1863-07-17-page-2).

2. Hepzibah Frink, “Widows’ Pension” file, Application number WC 12262, National Archives Record Group 15, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Dependents of Civil War Veterans, ca. 1861 - ca. 1910, (online archives http://www.fold3.com/image/225793223/).

3. Hepzibah Frink, Land Entry Case Files: Homestead Final Certificates, National Archives Catalog ID 849143, Final Certificate Number 587, National Archives Record Group 49, Land Entry Records for Nebraska, compiled 1857-1908, (online archives http://www.fold3.com/image/267863921/).

© 2013, Norman Washburn