Autobiography of Mabel Irene (Owens) Crites

 

I was born April 15, 1911 to John Franklin and Scindella Isabel (Andrews) Owens on a farm that they homesteaded in Cheyenne County, Kansas in 1906. The farm was located about ten miles west of St. Francis, Kansas, on highway 36 and probably 3 miles south. We lived a little over one-half mile south of Carl Lampe. Our neighbor to the east of us, was Earl and Zora (Taylor) Confer. Their children were: Ruby, Marie (who married Carroll), Lester, Mabel, Argyle, and Alberta. A little over two miles south of us  lived George Lampe, his wife and family, I think they only had two children, Lucille, and Mervin. We all went to the Pleasant Hill School . Henry and Lydia (Walz) Lampe lived about one and a half miles south-west of our place. Their children were: Ella, Leland, Nina, Frances and Harvey. To the North-west about two miles, lived Frank and Elizabeth (Lizzie) (Kamla) Neighswonger: Their children were: Bernice, Kenneth and Pauline. If there were more I don't remember them, only that they lost two or three children during that flew epedemic that killed so many people.

 

We received our mail at Gurney, Colorado for a while. The post office was in the farm house of George Klie and they lived about fourteen miles west of St. Francis, Kansas on hiway 36 and probably one mile north,  just over the Kansas state line into Colorado. It was maybe six miles north-west of  our place. Later on we received our mail at Jaqua, Kansas. Jaqua was southof our place, I don't know how many miles, but my guess is six or eight miles and we had to cross the republican River, and there was always a lot of water in the river, the water was up to the axels on teh wagon wheels and sometimes a little bit higher. There was no bridge across the river. We didn't own a car, so we traveled in a wagon and team of horses. Jaqua also had a grocery store where my folks bought their groceries. The store was owened by Charles Collins and his son Wilkie Collins, later on Ira Keever run the store.

 

In 1912 the folks moved to a farm in Dundy County, Parks, Nebraska, and that is where my sister Elsie Mae was born on May 21, 1913. While living there, I remember Mother giving Geneva and I a gallon bucket and told us to go get some coal to put in the stove. I was a little over two years old and Geneva was a little over three years old, we took the bucket and started for the coal pile, one of our brothers caled for us to come down to the barn. Our brother, (I don't remember which brother it was), put the shells in the bucket and told us to take the shells to the house and tell Mother to put them up for them. So we went on to the coal pile and put the coal in the bucket on top of the shells. We went into the house and told our mother that there was some shells in the bucket for her to put up. When Mother picked up the bucket of coal she couldn't see any shells, so I guess she thought we were babbling, so she dumped the coal into the stove (they were shotgun shells). Mother took all of the lids off of the stove and I remember her picking up a baby, which was Elsie, and taking all of us outside until the shells quit poppong. We moved back to the homestead that same year 1913.

 

On July 9, 1915, my brother Elzie (Bill) Jasper was born, in the old sod house on the homestead. I remember Dr. Jefferies came and when he left there was a baby, so us little ones thought that the doctor had brought the baby in the black satchel that he had with him.

 

In 1916, Mother took us smaller children; Geneva, Elsie, Bill and me (Mabel) and we rode the train to Iowa, to get Mother's brothers' children as her brother Isaac Marion Andrews' wife, Addie had died, leaving him with five children. The oldest girl, Beulah, stayed in Iowa with her grandmother. The other four, Sylvia, Norene, Leon and Lowell came home with us. Lowell didn't stay very long because he got homesick, so Mother had to take him back to Iowa to his dad. He had his sister and dad to care for him, but he was a sickly child and didn't live very long after he went back to Iowa.

 

When we got home from our trip to Iowa, Herman was sick with pneumonia. He finally had to have surgery to drain his lungs (I guess), The doctor was probably Dr. Jefferies. He did the surgery in our home. We had a big long dining room table that they laid him on to do the surgery. He had to stay in bed quite a while to recover from his surgery, us smaller kids would go into his room and probably run and scream and so on and so forth and he would throw pillows at us, trying to make us be good, then mother would come and make us get out of the room. I can't remember if it was all four of us or just Elsie and Bill, probally all four of us. Geneva would of been about 7 years old, I was about 5 years old, Elsie 3 years old and Bill 1 year old. Reeta came down and took Elsie and probably Bill home with her so Herman could recover in peace. Kids! Kids!Kids! Sounds like something that my grandchildren would do. WOULD THEY? Ha. After the surgery, some of the brothers told him that the doctor took out one of his ribs. (He was about 12 years old).

 

1916 - 1917 term of school at East Gurney. I don't know if it was Geneva's first year of school or her second year. The teachers name was                Vining and she was always picking on Geneva. Geneva would come home crying and complaining about what the teacher did to her andand didn't want to go back to school any more. Carroll told Geneva to go to school tell the teacher that "If she pickeds on you again, I'll come up there and beat the hell out of her"; Geneva went to school the next day and toldthe teacher what Carroll said, I guess Geneva was treated better after that.

 

1917 - 1918 was my first year of school. The school was East Gurney and my teachers' name was Beulah Denison. East Gurney school was in Cheyenne County, Kansas, Jaqua township, District # 28. Gurney school was 12 miles west of St. Francis, Kansas on highway 36 then one mile south. There were six from our home going to school. 1. Herman 2. Harry 3. Charles 4. Geneva 5. Mabel 6.  Sylvia Andrews. (My guess is thaat Sylvia might be 15 or 16 years old). We had to walk to school and Harry said that we just about froze in the winter time walking to school. The school was three miles west of where we lived, and we had to take our own drinking water. We had an enamel bucket with a lid on it that we used to carry our drinking water to school. We had to go by Frank Neighwonger's place when we went to school, so we would leave the bucket at Neighswongers when we went home from school, then when we went to school of a morning we would stop there and fill our bucket with water for the day. The boys usually got the water, but this day October 6, was Geneva's birthday and she was 8 years old. She thought she was old enough to get the water, (she was if it hadn't been for me), so westopped and got the water. On up the road a ways I wanted to helpher carry the water, and Geneva didn't want me to help he, she wanted to cary it alone, somehow or other in our little disagreement the water got spilled, so we waited there until our brothers came along and they had to go back to Neighswongers to get more water, I guess they were pretty mad at us (don't remember about that part of it) but anyway we never stopped to get the water again.

 

This happened in my first year of school at East Gerney. there was a worm crawling on the floor in the school house. (I don't know what they are called, but I call them wooly worms) they are fuzzy all over, and I was alway afraid of anything fuzzy and so I watched it until it disappeared. I didn't know where it had gone to and decided it had got in my lunch pail. When dinner time came I wanted Geneva to trade lunch pails with me, but she wouldn't trade, so I wouldn't eat any dinner. Our lunch pails were one gallon syrup buckets with the lid on tight.

 

1918 - 1919 my second year of school was at Pleasant Hill school. My oldest brother Rollie, was inducted into the army (World War I) and so my Dad bought his farm from himand we moved on the place in time to start our new school. This farm was south-west from our homestead (just guessing, maybe four and a half miles). There was a little one room house on this farm that we lived in and a good grainary on it, so the boys slept in the grainary. There was eleven people living there most of the time, when the older boys wasn't working for someone. They built a good cement cellar or cave, so we could have a place to keep our milk, butter and other foods from spoiling (That was our refrigerator in those days). I don't remember when the cement block house was built, maybe in 1919. They had a mold to make cement blocks with and my brothers made all the blocks to build the house. Charley Steve (I don't remember whether his name was Steve or Stevens, we just called him Steve), he lived southeast of our placemaybe one and a half mile, well anyway he built the house for us. The house had an upstairs in it, there was three bedrooms upstairs, four rooms downstairs and a pantry and a hallway where we hung our coats and caps or hats, the four rooms downstairs was the kitchen, dining room, front room and bed room. Elzie (Bill) was about four years old and he was always getting into Steve's tool box, one day Steve seen him fooling around in his tool box and Steve yelled at Bill and told him "get out of there or I'll kick the hell out of you, Bill's reply was "You'll play hell catching me". Steve had a good laugh about it.

 

Our new school was Pleasant Hill school, District # 21, Jaqua Township, Cheyenne County, Kansas. The school was one and a half mile east of our home, and it was up hill and down hill all the way. we walked to school in nice weather, but the winter months our brothers drove a team of horses hitched to a spring wagon. There was a good barn at the school to keep our horses in. Several of the school kids rode horseback to school. There was a well with a hand pump at the school, so we didn't have to carry water to school with us. OUr teacher was Ethel Brown, she taught there for two terms. her second term of teaching was Elsie's first year in school.

 

There are a few things I kinda remember happening when we still living on the homestead, so will write a few of them down. One time Dad was cleaning some seed to plant, (Don't know what the was) but anyway he had to clean it outside and the chickens were trying to eat the seed all up, so Dad got us girls out there to keep the chickens away from the seed. There was one hen, (seems like she was black speckled with yellow) and she was determined to get to that seed. I would chase her away and here she would come right back, well I guess I must of got mad at her anyway I picked up a rock and throwed it at her and said "damn loe sunny bitch, get out of here". I was probably 4 or 5 years old aat the time. I do remember that I didn't want to keep the chickens away from that seed because I wanted to play.

 

The folks had an old cow that was mean and ornery to children, she would chase them and butt them around, but she wouldn't bother a man. She chased Charlie one day and he tried tp run to the house but there was a fence between him and the house, so when he got to the fence he layed down and started kicking at her, he was rescued by some of his older brothers. There was a lady that used to be at the folks place a lot, her name was Beatrice (Sawyer) Loper, (it was Sawyer at the time, later she married Loper). I don't know if she just liked to stay with us or if she was working for us. The old mean cow was always chasing her, so my brother Carroll decided to see if he could break her from being so ornery. He put Mother's dress, shoes and sunbonnet on and armed himself with a weapon ( I think it was a pitchfork), he went out into the pasture where the old cow was. The old cow wouldn't pay attention to him, she just went on eating grass like she didn't know anyone was near her. One of our neighbors W. Jasper Powell wouldn't believe she was mean, he just sorta ha ha'd  at the family for saying that she was mean, he bought the cow from Dad. Then one daythe old cow chased Mrs. Powell, and then I guess Jap decided that the old cow was mean, anyway he got rid of her as soon as he could.

 

Another thing that happened that I kinda remember, I was out doors playing and a little whirl wind came along and blowed a chicken feather up in the air. I seen it flying around up in the air, and started screaming and Mother came running out doors to see what was wrong with me, she thought that I was badly hurt, but it was just a chicken feather flying around and I was afraid of it.

 

In 1918 Leon Andrews went to make his home with Mr. and Mrs. Jasper Powell. He attended the Pleasant Hill school. He lived with them for about eight years and then he went back to Iowa (maybe 1926). Sylvia and Norene made their home with Mother and Dad part of the time, and with my sister Reeta and her husband, Frank Merritt, part time, I guess just which place they wanted to stay, at our place or at Reeta's. They finally went back to Iowa. I think Sylvia went back to Iowa a year or so before Norene did. (maybe Sylvia went back in 1922 and Norene in 1924. Just guessing).

 

Our sister Reeta and her husband Frank Merritt, lived on a farm up by Haigler, Dundy County, Nebraska. It was about six or eight miles south of Haigler. Us kids used to go home with Reeta and spend a few days or week with them. We got to go to Haigler often while staying while staying with them we got to know the town of Haigler pretty good.

 

Mothe and Dad sold the homestead to either Carl Lampe or                  Feikert.