1915-0718 George Welcomes his New Niece

1915-0718 – George Sherwood to his mother Ella and the Lindsey Family

Kendall, Wisc.

July 18, 1915

Dear Mother: alias Grandma Sherwood

            Rec.d your letters all rite.  A couple had to be forwarded from Appleton as you see I got away a little early.  Haven’t heard from either German exam yet and don’t know as I want to very bad. Am glad you are enjoying your self so much, but don’t over do the mountain climbing. 

            Sold nearly 4 doz. Brush sets and averaged real well for the time put in.  Have 14 sets left and think I can sell them in 3 days with fair luck, sometime when haying is poor.  Lodge seems to run fairly well considering the setback and present conditions but wish you were here and Mrs. Campfield would come up too.

            I suppose you are so proud of your 1^st grandchild (yee, that sounded odd) that the 19 year old baby home isn’t in it.  Oh!  well, such is life.

            Went to town with Herman last nite and Susan drove to Lodge. Later I went down the track to Glendale and " [somewhat illegible]" her (nach haus).

            We have been eating peas from the garden (nigh on to a week).  Don’t forget to tell Billie* she’s got an “Uncle George” back east in Wisconsin.

            We have somewhere around 18 loads of hay in now, I think a few more.

            Herman and I walked to church today and Susan and Daddy rode.

            I am somewhat soft and short-winded but get along all rite only when it is extra sultry and hot. 

            As I am a poor correspondent I guess I better ring off as I must send a little special line to Ma and Pa Lindsey and Family and I want something to say next time.

            Write to me again soon as I like to receive letters anyway.

I only set down to rite,

A meager little letter

You think if you have read this far

The shorter ‘tis the better.”

            With lots of love to you all

                                    “Uncle George”

 

 

 ____________

Kendall, Wis

_____July  18

Dear Mother and Father Lindsey and Family,

            I must write you just a line to let you know how pleased we are, and to wish you all continual good health and long life, and the very best of all that life may afford (I suppose Mother and Father Lindsey have that now).  May you all be well and happy when this reaches you.  Am also very glad that Mother or Grandma Sherwood, as she now is, could be with you, both for her sake and yours.

            It must have been especially nice to have both grandmas there.  But Miss Billie*, don’t you let them spoil “your sweet little disposition” this early in life.  I warn you as they will no doubt be sure to try it by petting you too much, to the detriment and at the expense of your Uncle George who has always been the baby of the family till now. 

            But I guess I can trust you to leave my share of the babying to me, or at least all that is good for me.  Anyway, I guess I can get along without getting jealous for awhile anyway.

            Well, I went to sleep last night so didn’t get any farther.

            Must close now as I must go to town. 

Here’s a little ditty in honor of Billie

She came the 13^th of July

This stranger clad so scanty

And best of all, she was my niece

My sister was her aunty.

Dedicated to Billie by

            her

                        Uncle George

*  "Billie" was a generic name that they used for all babies in the family before they were born, gender ascertained, and named.  This "Billie" is Margaret Lindsey, born July 13, 1915 in Tucker, Utah.

120 years ago today a little boy and second child to Will and Ella Jane Sherwood entered the world. George Stevens Sherwood, like all people left his mark for better or worse in the lives of his peers, his children and the generations to follow.  Twenty one years from his birth he would chronicle his travels and thoughts as he enlisted in the army 108th Engineers, survived boot camp, boarded a ship to "Somewhere in France" and became a part of the American Expeditionary Forces.  His mother and sister saved his letters written to his "Dear Ones at Home" as so many letters began.  One hundred years later we are the beneficiaries of their safekeeping and are given real-time insights into the life of one young man who was a part of the War to End All Wars.  

George's parents, William Richard Sherwood and Ella Jane Richardson Atwater Sherwood met several years after Ella's first husband, Elmer Atwater died in a logging accident at Black River Falls, WI.  The distraught young widow and her infant daughter, Dora, lived with her in-laws, William and Caroline Atwater until she could again face life and hope again for a brighter future.  Dora was about  six years of age when Will and Ella married in March of 1887.  Their first child together was Susan, born in 1894, and two years George was born on December 3, 1896; 120 years ago today.

 

There is no family lore about how Will and Ella Jane met that has been chronicled.  Will's parents had been a pioneering family to this area of Wisconsin after moving to the US from England.  Ella Jane's parent, David and Jane Stevens had both been born in Vermont and  could follow several family lines back through Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts to the pilgrims on the Mayflower.  David Stevens and his parents, Samuel P Stevens and Lydia Eastman Stevens had already moved to Wisconsin to seek their fortune because the rich Wisconsin and Minnesota plains and  rolling hills were a vast improvement over the rocky farmland of Vermont.  In David and Rosina Jane's case of young love, absence did not make the heart to wander.  David returned to Vermont to  marry his bride and took her back to Wisconsin with  him. David and Jane had spent some time in the Trempealeau area of Wisconsin and lived for a long time in Elgin, MN. 

 

The only clue to how Will and Ella Jane met is that in the 1895 Minnesota census of Elgin we see that William Sherwood was apparently working for and residing with David and Jane Stevens.

 

I don't have any idea if the two families had previous friends or acquaintances in common.  Perhaps Will just "fell" into a situation where he traveled to Minnesota and needed a job and learned that the Stevens family needed a worker.  He had a half a dozen siblings and was maybe looking to gain some independence from his family as well.  Whatever the cause, both of them ended up in Elgin, MN in 1885 and by 1887 were married.

George's letters during 1917 to 1919 show the youth and growing maturity of this boy from a region well chronicled by Gustav Telschow's book Those Dear Hills of Home.  It is an interesting read for those interested in the history of this area of Wisconsin. Elroy, the geographic center of Telschow's book is only six and a half miles from Spring Brook Farm.     

 

By the time little George Stevens Sherwood came on the scene, Will and Ella Jane Sherwood owned the fairly prosperous dairy farm in western Wisconsin that had belonged to his family since 1868. 

The farm was known as Spring Brook Farm. The original farmhouse where George and Susan had both been born was a large Italianate style building of two stories, a summer kitchen off to one side and a large cellar underneath.  In this photo you can just barely see both George and  Susan sitting in the yard.

George and Susan were good friends growing up as reflected in their letters to each other before and throughout the war.  He called her his little big sister since she was older but smaller.

Around 1910, the large wrap-around porch and an addition of rooms on the west end of the house had been added to both floors so that Stevens grandparents could move in with Will and Ella Jane as their health declined.  The farm was about 110 acres of farmland, cow barn, grainery and milk-house.  The children had lots of chores and also  lots of freedom to explore and grow.  Susan was born and died in the same home having lived there all of her 93 years.

 

Family was always very important to George and his extended relatives.  After Will and Ella Jane were married they rented the Spring Brook Farm from his parents and they lived there until Richard Sherwood, Will's father, passed away. Later on the Stevens parents (David and Jane) would live with Will and Ella Jane.  When Susan married, she and her husband Herman continued to live at Spring Brook Farm along with her parents, Will and Ella Jane.  The addition made the home a bit like a larger and smaller  duplex, with French doors between the living areas and separate staircases.  When George would write his letters to his Dear Ones at Home, these often included three generations of family.

 

Every soldier at war who can has personal family and friends that support and strengthen them for the stresses of the battle.  And every soldier's family knows the anxiety and fear for their loved one in harms way so far from home. George's letters in the next two years will bring to life his experiences exactly a century ago.   

 

As these posts begin I will occasionally post letters of or about George or other general information about him.  When he actually gets to the point of enlisting, almost all information will be directly provided by George himself.  He is a good writer and I think you will enjoy his perspective on his endeavors and adventures.