Tag: family

solstice to solstice :: light

Sheeps & Peeps2 Comments

light

this is the light of our childhood winter nights

electric service was unreliable especially in the winter
many times we were without electricity for hours or even days
this light is a witness to countless jigsaw puzzles and books read aloud;
games played and stories told

this light is a connection to those that came before us
to our grandparents, great grandparents and great, great grandparents
little did they know when they carefully packed it to move in 1890
that this light would touch the lives of six generations of our farm family

the original chimney has been replaced
it has a small hole in the top of the fount that has been filled with lead a couple generations back; but to us, this oil lamp is a treasure
this is the light of winter

response to week eight of the solstice to solstice project
at urban.prairie.forest
please visit all the wonderful responses in the flickr pool

Women of the Farm – Grandma Lena

Sheeps & Peeps5 Comments
Lena Gertrude Dixon was born August 26,1895. the third of Hannah Huston Dixon and David Ambrose Dixon’s six children.  According to her four sisters, she was the prettiest of them all.  She attended the little one-room school house down the road, and later went to the Terra Alta Normal School where she gained certification to teach. 
Ida (l.), Lena (m.), Nellie (r.)
She married Cecil Ray Wiles on May 7 1918. “Mr. Cecil Ray Wiles and Miss Lena Gertrude Dixon both of whom live near Rowlesburg were united in marriage Tuesday afternoon at the parsonage of the Lutheran church. Rev. W. H. Berry performed the ceremony about 3:30 o’clock. The young people who made the trip to this city (Morgantown) in an automobile were attended by the groom’s sister, Miss Merle Wiles and the bride’s brother John Dixon (who would later also marry). The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Dixon her father being a member of the county court of Preston county. Mr. Wiles who is connected with the Glade Lumber company is a promising young business man. The young people motored to Little Falls Tuesday evening where they will visit with relatives for a few days before returning to Rowlesburg where they will make their home.”

Lena and Ray lived down on Cheat river where Ray had work cutting timber until March of 1921 when they moved back to the farm into the Lantz house by the road.  In the fall of 1922, Great-Grandmother Hannah became very ill so they moved down to the homeplace where Lena took care of her parents along with her three year old daughter and three month old son.  Grandma Lena would have four children in seven years.  Her fifth child was born ten years later when she was 41 years old.

Just as her parents and grandparents before her, Lena and her husband would continue farming.  Along with the animals and crops they tended for their family, they also had a large flock of chickens and a truck patch.  They sold eggs and vegetables down in Rowlesburg, often trading a dozen eggs for a gallon of gas.
Two sons and a son-in-law would fight in World War II.  The worry and anxiety must have been overwhelming.  We often wonder if Grandma Lena hung blue or white stars in the living room window awaitng her sons’ return. “They also serve who watch and wait.” would have certainly described the family during that time.

 

Grandma Lena loved to read and do handwork.  She wrote many poems often on the back of envelopes or greeting cards.   In 1951 she sent her poem “Fairy Lace” to Five Star Music Masters in Boston where Mr. Lew Tobin composed a piano arrangement for it; returning it ‘with pleasure… confident that she would be as pleased wtih it as he was.”.  We often wonder if it was ever performed.  

Lena, Ray and 12 of their 13 grandchildren
Grandma Lena was a loving but somewhat stern taskmaster to the three little granddaughters sometimes left to her charge.  There would be no crying and absolutely no whining as we would work at her side.  She, along with our parents, would ensure that we would grow into strong women… women made of the same sturdy stuff as those that came before us.
This is one of our favorite pictures of Grammy.  She is so beautiful in that bright pink dress.  She was never without her apron or her handkerchief.  Grandma Lena passed away October 3, 1972, living eight years longer than her beloved, Ray.  Here is one of her poems – 
As I sit here alone
I think of that home
God has prepared for us above
I think of my friends
and where peace never ends
and we dwell with the ones we love
There will be no more war
but will be peace evermore
in that land far over the lea
There will be nothing but love
in that land up above
in the home he prepareth for me
We are joining the blog party over at Verde Farm, once again.  Please take a moment to pop over and visit all the other guests at Farm Friend Friday #8.

Women of the Farm – Great Grandmother Hannah

Sheeps & Peeps6 Comments

With much gratitude to those that came before us, we move to the second generation of our family to live on our farm, as we continue our series for Women’s History Month – honoring the women who helped to build this farm that we love so well.  Let us introduce Great Grandmother…

Hannah Huston, the youngest of seven children, was born November 27, 1863 to Amanda Hartley Huston and Thomas Huston, near Carmichaels, Pennsylvania in a beautiful old stone house.  Thomas was the son of an Irish immigrant and a riverboat captain on the Monongahela River.  She married David Ambrose Dixon on September 14, 1889.  The following year, Hannah, David and David’s parents, Amy and Andrew, moved from Pennsylvania to our farm in West Virginia.   They moved into the large, three-floor weather board house.  Amy and Andrew’s kitchen was on the first level along with a large cellar.  Hannah’s kitchen, dining room, a parlor and two bedrooms were on the next level, and upstairs there were four more bedrooms.  The parlor had a huge fireplace that was large enough for a five foot log.  It would take Hannah three days travel, in her buggy, to visit her family back in Pennsylvania. 

She was such a cheerful and gay person, that everyone was happy just to be with her.  She loved to tease, play jokes and pretend to be Mrs. Claus, putting on a Santa face, a long black coat and boots.  She loved to read aloud to the family in the evenings.  They would gather around her to listen to the serialized story in the weekly farm magazine.

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Hannah and David would have six children; five daughters and one son.  The youngest daughter was born in 1910 when Hannah was 47 years old.  They raised their own wheat and took it to the flour mill at Amboy where it was ground into enough flour to last for a year.  The family raised just about everything they needed except for sugar, salt and rice.  They milked ‘a good many’ cows, and Hannah made butter to sell in the little town of Rowlesburg.  Her butter was exceptionally good, so she never lacked for regular customers.  She would travel down the mountain in her buggy and had to cross a long overhead railroad bridge.  If a train came along when they were crossing, it scared the horse badly.  The family always heaved a sigh of relief when they got safely across.

Hannah had the first sewing machine in the community.  She hemmed sheets and pillow slips for her friends.  She was a beautiful seamstress and made lovely dresses for her daughters, with tucks, pleats and frills.  In later years she turned her skill to making quilts.  She would sit for hours happily cutting and sewing little pieces together.  She hated to stop, even to eat, when she had a quilt in the quilting frame.  She was a fast and expert quilter.  Each of her daughters had at least a dozen quilts when she got married.

“Golden Wedding Observed By Mr. And Mrs. David Dixon of W. Va.”

A former Greene County couple, Mr. And Mrs. David A. Dixon, now residing at Rowlesburg, Preston County, W. Va., celebrated their golden wedding anniversary Sunday, September 17, in their home…  Open house was held in the Dixon home during the day and evening and at noon the guests, were invited to a sumptuous picnic dinner served in a shady grove near the home of the honored couple. Following the dinner the group returned to the home, where gifts were presented to the celebrants, and a huge four tiered handsomely decorated wedding cake was cut and served to the guests…” (newspaper clipping)
Great Grandmother Hannah passed away at 91 years of age on September 27, 1954, just 13 days following her 65th wedding anniversary.  She left behind a  loving family and a legacy of hard work and resiliance; all the while never failing to make those around her smile. 

Once again, we are joining in the fun at Verde Farm for Farm Friend Friday #7.  Please join the party by visiting the other participants – here.

Women of the Farm – Great, Great Grandmother Amy

Sheeps & Peeps8 Comments
As part of Women’s History Month, we are honoring the women who helped to build this farm that we love so well. With much gratitude to those that came before us, let us begin with the first generation of our family to live on our farm…

Amy Donham was born on October 17, 1830 near Greensboro in Greene County, Pennsylvania.  She was the oldest of eight children born to Rebecca Engle Donham and John Donham.  On December 5, 1855 she married Andrew Kramer Dickson.  They would have seven children, only three of which would reach the age of 20.  In 1890, Amy and Andrew, along with their son, David and his wife, Hannah, packed up and moved to our mountain top farm in West Virginia, on what would later be known as Lantz Ridge.  David drove the wagon and Hannah came in Amy’s buggy with her beautiful buggy horse.  Amy and Andrew traveled on the train to Rowlesburg.  Once they reached that river valley town, they had to travel the narrow, steep, winding road up the mountain to reach their new home.  There they moved into the large white weather-board house near a good spring which, 121 years later, still supplies most of our family’s water.  We have oftened wondered how Amy felt during that first, long, lonely trip up the mountain.  It must have seemed that she and Andrew, then in their sixties, were going into the wilderness.

In 1900, Andrew gave the land for the community’s church to be built, and Amy named it Mt. Olivet, because it reminded her of the Mount of Olives in the bible.

Grandmother Amy was a very lovely woman, and a beautiful seamstress.  When she became so ill that she could no longer sit up to do her handwork, she would have someone tie her back in her little armless rocking chair to help hold her up.

 

“Mrs. Amy Donham Dixon after a lingering illness, departed this life on the 13th of November, at the home of her son David Dixon, aged 75 years and 26 days… Although a stranger among strangers, it was but a short time until she could count her friends and acquaintances many.  Mrs. Dixon was of a kind and amiable disposition, and it was through these noble qualities, that she drew so many to her.  She was a beautiful character.  Now that she is gone she will be sadly missed, not only in the home, but throughout the community, and the church of which she was a member.  She was a Christian woman ripe and polished for the inheritance of the Holy Promise!  The funeral services were conducted by her pastor, Rev. W. H. Berry from Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in the presence of a large concourse of people, who had gathered to render this their last tribute of love and respect…”
What a testament to one’s life to be remembered so well.

(excerpted from the writings of our Great Aunt Florence and a newspaper clipping of obituary)

Participating in Verde Farm’s blog party Farm Friend Friday #6.  You can visit the party here.