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.
