(1980 memoir)
Before drifting away from the Clapps, I want it recorded Henry's father was Quartus Pheletus. This is the oddest name I have ever heard, and am spelling it from sound so marked the e long. Quartus Pheletus and my father's grandfather were cousins, I think. If you dig around and find I am off a generation or so, you will have a good idea how my mind works. The Clapps came from New England. And that is where Henry got his wife, Lucretia. ["Philebas" is a Greek name, meaning "loving youth." The Clapp/Parsons relationship is still undetermined.]
November 30, 2012
November 29, 2012
Occupation carpenter?
(1980 memoir)
On my birth certificate on the line for Occupation someone with a good imagination wrote in "Carpenter" after my father's name. As much as I can recall, I have never known him to drive a nail, tho he no doubt did. But Carpenter -- no.
On my birth certificate on the line for Occupation someone with a good imagination wrote in "Carpenter" after my father's name. As much as I can recall, I have never known him to drive a nail, tho he no doubt did. But Carpenter -- no.
November 28, 2012
Truck gardener's wife
(1980 memoirs)
I don't know much about those early days. I was born in 1904 in Fond du Lac -- but some aunt told me about how hard my mother used to work bunching up radishes and onions and other produce in season for my father to take out and sell to his customers. And the poor girl had a hard time getting him up early, getting breakfast into him, and getting him on his way.
I don't know much about those early days. I was born in 1904 in Fond du Lac -- but some aunt told me about how hard my mother used to work bunching up radishes and onions and other produce in season for my father to take out and sell to his customers. And the poor girl had a hard time getting him up early, getting breakfast into him, and getting him on his way.
November 27, 2012
Bean picker
(1980 memoir)
The trouble [with Henry Clapp's bargain] was that Henry was tight and somewhat dishonest. "An old skinflint," my father called him. Many times when my father would get up early and go to the garden to work, he would find Henry had gotten up still earlier, and here he was picking my dad's beans to sell for himself. "What are you doing in my bean patch?" my father would say. "Why -- why -- I wanted to surprise you! Yes -- yes -- look at all I have picked for you already." That story and many like it circulated around our family circles and made us all laugh our heads off.
The trouble [with Henry Clapp's bargain] was that Henry was tight and somewhat dishonest. "An old skinflint," my father called him. Many times when my father would get up early and go to the garden to work, he would find Henry had gotten up still earlier, and here he was picking my dad's beans to sell for himself. "What are you doing in my bean patch?" my father would say. "Why -- why -- I wanted to surprise you! Yes -- yes -- look at all I have picked for you already." That story and many like it circulated around our family circles and made us all laugh our heads off.
November 26, 2012
Clapp's bargain
(1980 memoirs)
In Ripon there were some of [my father's] cousins, Henry Clapp, married to Lucretia, and they had a greenhouse and orchards with cherry and apple trees and also a big garden planted to produce enough to sell. My father made a bargain with Henry that they would go in together on this, as Henry needed help and Frank had a wife to support.
In Ripon there were some of [my father's] cousins, Henry Clapp, married to Lucretia, and they had a greenhouse and orchards with cherry and apple trees and also a big garden planted to produce enough to sell. My father made a bargain with Henry that they would go in together on this, as Henry needed help and Frank had a wife to support.
November 25, 2012
How they married
(1980 memoir)
[My parents] were married in the Lutheran Church of her home town of Oconto [Wisconsin] and came to live in Ripon and also nearby Fond du Lac, where his family lived on Waupun Street.
[My parents] were married in the Lutheran Church of her home town of Oconto [Wisconsin] and came to live in Ripon and also nearby Fond du Lac, where his family lived on Waupun Street.
November 24, 2012
How they met
(1980 memoir)
When [my father, Frank Parsons] was young, he worked putting in a telephone line and got acquainted with my mother as she walked back and forth to teach her one-room country school. Whe he told me about this, he marveled on how she kept a good, orderly school when she was such a small person and her school boys were big and burly and tall as 6 ft.
When [my father, Frank Parsons] was young, he worked putting in a telephone line and got acquainted with my mother as she walked back and forth to teach her one-room country school. Whe he told me about this, he marveled on how she kept a good, orderly school when she was such a small person and her school boys were big and burly and tall as 6 ft.
November 23, 2012
Trying to forget
(1980 memoir)
The real reason [I am writing this memoir] is that I am trying to forget some of it myself. Life for me has just about gone by, hard as it is to realize. Here am I, 76, having outlived all those I am writing about. Enough of this, then, and let's start going back.
The real reason [I am writing this memoir] is that I am trying to forget some of it myself. Life for me has just about gone by, hard as it is to realize. Here am I, 76, having outlived all those I am writing about. Enough of this, then, and let's start going back.
November 22, 2012
Prolog
(1980 memoir)
I don't know what has come over me, but recently I have had such urgings to write down a few things about some of my relatives and friends that I feel I really must start. This is in no respect an autobiography, nor do I promise always the whole truth, as some details are like bad smells in the kitchen, better suppressed.
I don't know what has come over me, but recently I have had such urgings to write down a few things about some of my relatives and friends that I feel I really must start. This is in no respect an autobiography, nor do I promise always the whole truth, as some details are like bad smells in the kitchen, better suppressed.
November 21, 2012
Quiet Olga
(1994 October, memoir)
One time [my mother's] sister Olga came to visit but was so quiet she didn't cheer us up much. "Don't you have any little chain to wear around your neck, Carolyn?" she would ask. She would sew for all of us, and, tho she was so very quiet and she brot little joy, we were sorry to see her go, except for my father -- I think he felt easier. I think any man does.
One time [my mother's] sister Olga came to visit but was so quiet she didn't cheer us up much. "Don't you have any little chain to wear around your neck, Carolyn?" she would ask. She would sew for all of us, and, tho she was so very quiet and she brot little joy, we were sorry to see her go, except for my father -- I think he felt easier. I think any man does.
November 20, 2012
Minnie solitaire
(1994 October, memoir)
[Minnie, my mother, was] solitary and none of the neighbors good enough to invite over. To tell the truth, that's the way it was. She was above them in education, had taught school, and read every book she could. She even tried Christian Science, but it never quite came off.
[Minnie, my mother, was] solitary and none of the neighbors good enough to invite over. To tell the truth, that's the way it was. She was above them in education, had taught school, and read every book she could. She even tried Christian Science, but it never quite came off.
November 19, 2012
White
(1993 May 5, memoirs)
[On the Lawson estate] when prize Jersey cows were milked, the men were obliged to wear pure white suits. The inside of the barn was kept pure white. It was said many people did not have such a good house.
[On the Lawson estate] when prize Jersey cows were milked, the men were obliged to wear pure white suits. The inside of the barn was kept pure white. It was said many people did not have such a good house.
November 18, 2012
Playmates
(1993 May 5, memoirs)
One time [when we lived at Green Lake] my parents were worried I had no playmate, so I was dressed prettily and taken half way to Lone Tree Point, where another girl my age met me. I recall the white clovers. We were unloaded and left alone for 2 or 3 hours. We tried to play together but very dull and my mother said I never had to go again. ... We lived in a "house in the woods." I recall it had a porch on two sides of the house, and Lyn's buggy was there for naps.
One time [when we lived at Green Lake] my parents were worried I had no playmate, so I was dressed prettily and taken half way to Lone Tree Point, where another girl my age met me. I recall the white clovers. We were unloaded and left alone for 2 or 3 hours. We tried to play together but very dull and my mother said I never had to go again. ... We lived in a "house in the woods." I recall it had a porch on two sides of the house, and Lyn's buggy was there for naps.
November 17, 2012
Summer evening
(1994)
Would you like to hear about a sweet thing that happened to me years ago? It was a calm quiet summer evening and Lorin and I were in our white house on Grove Street. It was summer and very quiet and yet balmy in our part of the evening. Lorin had been stamping; and of course I was knitting. I put this down and went out hoping to catch our cat and bring her in for the night. As soon as I left the house behind me, I realized what a heavenly night it was -- quiet and wondrous. The stars were large and low, and the sky holding them a midnight blue. I called inside, "Lorin, come here." He put down his book and slipped outside. "Look," I said. "I didn't remember it was like this," he said, putting his arm around me. We kissed and stood for a while feeling our love and our creator's.
Would you like to hear about a sweet thing that happened to me years ago? It was a calm quiet summer evening and Lorin and I were in our white house on Grove Street. It was summer and very quiet and yet balmy in our part of the evening. Lorin had been stamping; and of course I was knitting. I put this down and went out hoping to catch our cat and bring her in for the night. As soon as I left the house behind me, I realized what a heavenly night it was -- quiet and wondrous. The stars were large and low, and the sky holding them a midnight blue. I called inside, "Lorin, come here." He put down his book and slipped outside. "Look," I said. "I didn't remember it was like this," he said, putting his arm around me. We kissed and stood for a while feeling our love and our creator's.
November 16, 2012
Bicycle
(1990s memoirs)
I was sitting around in the lobby [at the Schmidt Home] watching the clock go around when suddenly a man approached me to ask whether I was not the mother of Skip Kay, who bought a bicycle from him while he was at the time [1942] working at the Coast to Coast. I said I probably was and he said, "I knew it, I knew it!" ... He was Ed Hanson by name. Of course I didn't recall any such thing. ... I remember Daddy asking you if you were sure, and you said yes, that was the only one for you. And you said it was, that you had gone over it.
I was sitting around in the lobby [at the Schmidt Home] watching the clock go around when suddenly a man approached me to ask whether I was not the mother of Skip Kay, who bought a bicycle from him while he was at the time [1942] working at the Coast to Coast. I said I probably was and he said, "I knew it, I knew it!" ... He was Ed Hanson by name. Of course I didn't recall any such thing. ... I remember Daddy asking you if you were sure, and you said yes, that was the only one for you. And you said it was, that you had gone over it.
November 15, 2012
The wicked glint
(1995 March 13)
Skip, I want to tell you about how you behaved to the delight of all assembled when you were eating. Sometimes I would take you to visit Grandma Rosa Kay and her daughter Lee, and of course you were the prime show. I fed you first and got you off for a nap or there was no peace. So -- you were with your bib tied firmly on and a dish of cream of wheat before you. Lee and Grandma seated on one side were ready for a show. I was the one with the apron and the spoon in hand. So -- open wide -- a spoonful of cereal -- equal to your role of entertainer -- as soon as you had a mouthful, you loqked as wicked as ever you could, took a deep breath, and let it all out, admiring ones beware! -- Then Grandma and Lee would howl with laughter! Later on in the week when Lee went out with her friend Arabella and Grandma would invite Mrs. Watkins over, she would tell the whle story including the wicked glint in the big blue eye. Also when Lee was at her bridge party she would entertain all with what Skippy was able to eat and drink and how he managed those things. So -- if it were early enough, Lee would walk to the street car with us and see us safely on our way to Whitefish Bay, or sometimes Lorin came to eat with us, and of course then we would all three ride home together and get a tired little boy washed up and tucked in.
Skip, I want to tell you about how you behaved to the delight of all assembled when you were eating. Sometimes I would take you to visit Grandma Rosa Kay and her daughter Lee, and of course you were the prime show. I fed you first and got you off for a nap or there was no peace. So -- you were with your bib tied firmly on and a dish of cream of wheat before you. Lee and Grandma seated on one side were ready for a show. I was the one with the apron and the spoon in hand. So -- open wide -- a spoonful of cereal -- equal to your role of entertainer -- as soon as you had a mouthful, you loqked as wicked as ever you could, took a deep breath, and let it all out, admiring ones beware! -- Then Grandma and Lee would howl with laughter! Later on in the week when Lee went out with her friend Arabella and Grandma would invite Mrs. Watkins over, she would tell the whle story including the wicked glint in the big blue eye. Also when Lee was at her bridge party she would entertain all with what Skippy was able to eat and drink and how he managed those things. So -- if it were early enough, Lee would walk to the street car with us and see us safely on our way to Whitefish Bay, or sometimes Lorin came to eat with us, and of course then we would all three ride home together and get a tired little boy washed up and tucked in.
November 14, 2012
Martha's children
(1990s memoirs)
[What Martha's children did:] Frank took up gardening for wealthy families; Lois made wigs, did tailoring and housekeeping; Mary worked in a shoe factory and did dressmaking; and Bill, the baby of the family, went off to work for the railroad, taking his lunch.
[What Martha's children did:] Frank took up gardening for wealthy families; Lois made wigs, did tailoring and housekeeping; Mary worked in a shoe factory and did dressmaking; and Bill, the baby of the family, went off to work for the railroad, taking his lunch.
November 13, 2012
Picking up chips
(1990s memoirs)
My father, Frank Parsons, lived as a boy in Waupun, Wisconsin.... The family was poor and his earliest memory was "picking up chips" for his mother, Martha, to get an early morning fire going for the family breakfast.
My father, Frank Parsons, lived as a boy in Waupun, Wisconsin.... The family was poor and his earliest memory was "picking up chips" for his mother, Martha, to get an early morning fire going for the family breakfast.
November 12, 2012
School clothes
(1990s memoirs)
One day my mother told me to close my eyes and keep them closed. Then she put me in a coat. When I opened my eyes, I was in a long gray rain coat she had sent for. Beautiful. Once my Aunt Lois gave me a scarf she made. It was about 2 feet wide and 5 feet long. I looked odd in it and was stared at. I don't think I wore it very much, and my mother understood and didn't make me. I wore long underwear and over it long black or tan stockings. Sometimes high laced shoes. I saw my mother decorate a straw hat with old roses.
One day my mother told me to close my eyes and keep them closed. Then she put me in a coat. When I opened my eyes, I was in a long gray rain coat she had sent for. Beautiful. Once my Aunt Lois gave me a scarf she made. It was about 2 feet wide and 5 feet long. I looked odd in it and was stared at. I don't think I wore it very much, and my mother understood and didn't make me. I wore long underwear and over it long black or tan stockings. Sometimes high laced shoes. I saw my mother decorate a straw hat with old roses.
November 11, 2012
Hot potato
(1990s memoirs)
When I went to 8th grade [in Green Lake], I walked about a mile and a half and had a hot potato in my black muff to keep my fingers from freezing. Coming home I was called for by a chauffeur sometimes or walked too. One time I walked to a pier where a covered launch picked us up and took us to school.
When I went to 8th grade [in Green Lake], I walked about a mile and a half and had a hot potato in my black muff to keep my fingers from freezing. Coming home I was called for by a chauffeur sometimes or walked too. One time I walked to a pier where a covered launch picked us up and took us to school.
November 10, 2012
Preoccupied
(1990s memoirs)
One day Lorin got on a sreet car [in Milwaukee] with someone on the seat near the window; he was obliged to ride [a short distance] from office to court house. Then looked up and saw he had been sitting all along with his Auntie Mabel.
One day Lorin got on a sreet car [in Milwaukee] with someone on the seat near the window; he was obliged to ride [a short distance] from office to court house. Then looked up and saw he had been sitting all along with his Auntie Mabel.
November 9, 2012
Street cars
(1990s memoirs)
I often got on the street car in Milwaukee and rode to town, sometimes holding Skip if car was crowded. ... I could buy a street car ticket and ask for a transfer ticket, which I could use to change cars and go in a different direction. One family could use the same ticket but was not supposed to do so, but we did not have our pictures on them.
I often got on the street car in Milwaukee and rode to town, sometimes holding Skip if car was crowded. ... I could buy a street car ticket and ask for a transfer ticket, which I could use to change cars and go in a different direction. One family could use the same ticket but was not supposed to do so, but we did not have our pictures on them.
November 8, 2012
Rural rides
When young I once lived on the Lawson Estate in Green Lake, Wis., and rode to school in a bob sled with straw on the floor where we sat; or in a cutter with horse and bells; also, but not to school, in a lumber wagon. Never on horse back.
November 7, 2012
Martha's song
Only song Grandma Martha Parsons sang: "The north wind doth blow, / And soon we'll have snow, / And WHAT will the Robin do then? / Poor thing. / He'll sit by the barn / And keep himself warm / And HIDE his head under his wing. / Poor thing."
November 6, 2012
Scotty
(1993 July, Parsons memoirs)
Then there was Scotty, Aunt Lois's wild horse. Her husband got the horse for himself, and she thot what he drove she could too, and she did [from Fond du Lac] way out to our house in the country [at Green Lake? or just Ruepings?], in her wide hat, long skirt and shirt waist. We gasped. But she was walways OK.
Then there was Scotty, Aunt Lois's wild horse. Her husband got the horse for himself, and she thot what he drove she could too, and she did [from Fond du Lac] way out to our house in the country [at Green Lake? or just Ruepings?], in her wide hat, long skirt and shirt waist. We gasped. But she was walways OK.
November 5, 2012
Studies first
(1993 July, Parsons memoirs)
When Grandma Parsons died [in 1923], I was at Ripon, and Cousin Frankie [with whom I lived] got the message over the phone in the morning but kept it from me all day in case it would interfere with my studies. The next day I took the bus home, tho.
When Grandma Parsons died [in 1923], I was at Ripon, and Cousin Frankie [with whom I lived] got the message over the phone in the morning but kept it from me all day in case it would interfere with my studies. The next day I took the bus home, tho.
November 4, 2012
Lois
(1993 July, Parsons memoirs)
[Martha's] daughter Lois was "the smart one" and married Ad Brower, a man I never remember seeing. She divorced him because he gambled; and married Bill McWhorter, a fat, bald engineer on a railroad. In both of these marriages Lois never left home. I always thot him not a very nice person, sort of a low thinker and speaker.
[Martha's] daughter Lois was "the smart one" and married Ad Brower, a man I never remember seeing. She divorced him because he gambled; and married Bill McWhorter, a fat, bald engineer on a railroad. In both of these marriages Lois never left home. I always thot him not a very nice person, sort of a low thinker and speaker.
November 3, 2012
Grandma's advice
(1993 July, Parsons memoirs)
[Martha Parsons, my grandmother,] was always lots of fun, and I would stay with her while the rest went to the movies. She could not stand them.... So she would give me money for a quart of ice cream and we would put our feet on the glowing coal stove and tell stories. "Do the boys try to put their arms around you and kiss you and all that?" she would ask. "No" I would answer, wondering how it would be. "Well, they will! And don't let 'em." I said all right and we got on another topic.
[Martha Parsons, my grandmother,] was always lots of fun, and I would stay with her while the rest went to the movies. She could not stand them.... So she would give me money for a quart of ice cream and we would put our feet on the glowing coal stove and tell stories. "Do the boys try to put their arms around you and kiss you and all that?" she would ask. "No" I would answer, wondering how it would be. "Well, they will! And don't let 'em." I said all right and we got on another topic.
November 2, 2012
Martha Parsons
(1993 July, Parsons memoirs)
[To her Rueping memoirs, Polly added a few scattered recollections about her own family.]
[Martha Newton Parsons was my father's mother.] She was illiterate, and Aunt Lois [her daughter] used to say she could get the Martha all right but when it came to the Parsons would just write a big P and trail off the rest. I think Lois wrote it over and explained so she could get her pension from her husband [William Henry Parsons] from being a soldier in the Civil War.
[To her Rueping memoirs, Polly added a few scattered recollections about her own family.]
[Martha Newton Parsons was my father's mother.] She was illiterate, and Aunt Lois [her daughter] used to say she could get the Martha all right but when it came to the Parsons would just write a big P and trail off the rest. I think Lois wrote it over and explained so she could get her pension from her husband [William Henry Parsons] from being a soldier in the Civil War.
November 1, 2012
Boo boo
(1993 July, Rueping memoirs)
One day when we were playing hide and seek and hiding by pairs, I was with young Rueping. I think they called him Boo Boo [Bube] - it meant boy in German (?) - so we were hiding and he softly kissed me on the cheek and said, "Your're my girl now." I did not reply in any way but thot, "What is going to become of this?" Not a thing ever did nor did I ever tell anyone until this instant but - was I prepared to be a millionaress? Not exactly, I guess.
One day when we were playing hide and seek and hiding by pairs, I was with young Rueping. I think they called him Boo Boo [Bube] - it meant boy in German (?) - so we were hiding and he softly kissed me on the cheek and said, "Your're my girl now." I did not reply in any way but thot, "What is going to become of this?" Not a thing ever did nor did I ever tell anyone until this instant but - was I prepared to be a millionaress? Not exactly, I guess.
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