The Last Will and Testament of our 5th Great Grandfather George Frederick Phlegar, and Photos (Williamson Line)

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Happy Sunday!

We saw the entire spectrum of weather this week in our hamlet of Pleasant Grove. The week started warm, very warm. By mid week the storm front that spawned so many tornadoes in the south and east swept through Utah toward the Rocky Mountains. By Thursday snow was falling in the back yard.

That is one advantage of living in Northern Utah. Our weather is mild and tame considering many other parts of the country. The storms that produce treacherous ice storms, tornadoes, blizzards and flooding in the Mid West usually sweep through Utah first in their mild state. They intensify as they climb through the mountains toward Denver and the East. Perhaps I will send out weather alerts to our cousins living east whenever a front passes through. So, here is a picture of Sunday’s weather as seen from the Upper deck of the “Fortress”.

The Last Will and Testament of George Frederick Phlegar

Today I'd like to let you read the Last Will and Testament of my generation's 5th Great Grandfather, George Frederick Phlegar.

Tom Phlegar, one of our distant cousins, sent this to me. Tom reads the Blog and wanted to extend a hearty "Hello" to all of us from the Phlegars living in the 'Old Country' of the South. Tom sent a parcel full of documents relating to our Phlegar line, many of which I will be posting as time permits. One of the documents was a typed copy of George Frederick's Will.

Let's begin with the first page of the Frederick's Will (notice that he goes by the name Frederick and also notice he calls his wife Maria, leaving off the Anna). Remember, click on the image to enlarge.

I'm interested in how each item of furniture in the home seems to be accounted for. He gives away the "Copper Kettle" and "one iron pot". All of the items mentioned are very typical for a well provisioned home in the late 1700's. From this page we also read about his farm's holdings.
Now Page 2 (Click to Enlarge)

Well Well Well...... It seems our Great Grandfather kept a bit of whiskey around the house. I'm sure it was for medicinal use only. On page two he disperses garden tools and the crop already in the field. He then orders the Plantation sold (150 acres) and all the money used to pay his debts. The remaining money is directed to purchase things for his wife and family.
Now Page 3: (Click to Enlarge)

I enjoyed reading his provision that his daughter Maria Margaret receive "one good bed (which will contain no less than eighteen pounds of feathers) and a bedstand". That had to be one comfortable bed! It seemed he was taking care his daughter had the necessary "hope chest" to ensure a successful marriage.

You'll notice that, with the plantation sold, he orders a home be purchased near the village of York for his wife. It seemed he felt the plantation couldn't manage without him. To be sure his family had the funds to continue living without the plantation he ordered the sum of 200 British Pounds be set aside and the family live off its interest (around $50,000 - $75,000 in today's money).
And now the final page of the Will: (Click to Enlarge)


Life was certainly different in the late 1700's. Remember, this will was signed in 1789, the year Washington was elected to be the nation's first President.

In addition to the Will, Tom sent the following photographs from his family's vacation to Germany to visit the Point of Phlegar Origins where distant cousins of our still live.

The old Lutheran Church in Wiernsheim. Tom wrote that "Records are now in the archives in Stutgart" referring to the church's records of Phlegar birth's, marriages and deaths.

"Main Street Wiernsheim, Germany looking at Rathaus (Town Hall)" Tom wrote on the back of this photo.

And finally, to wrap up this lengthy post on the Phlegar line Tom sent this picture of a business run by one of our 7th Cousins. Notice the family name is spelt differently in Germany.

Thank you for taking the time to read. I'm hoping you found something of interest in this historical peak into the lives of our ancestors from the early days of our Republic.

Simply,
Victor

And Now for Something Completely Different.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Happy Sunday!
Yes, we start today with something completely different.
Before I started this blog I was unaware of our family's strong German ties on the Williamson line. So, in honor of that strong German, Lutheran blood I'd like to share a bit of German culture with you.
Music...
I wanted to find a song I was sure our German ancestors sang in their homes. My requirement? It had to be as old as our family link to Germany. Take a minute to enjoy this 200 year old German Lullaby and imagine one of our German Great Grandmothers singing it to you.

The Williamson Children. The Early Years. The Very Early Years.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

For tonight's post we set the Way Back Machine to the early 1960's, Rapid City South Dakota. Rising up from the center of the city was a hill the residents referred to as Signal Heights. The Charles Williamson family lived on the top of hill at 39 East Signal Drive. To the south of the hill was the neighborhood of Robbinsdale, and to the north, a neighborhood called North Rapid.

The Williamson were your typical, and not so typical American family of the time. Charles worked for the South Dakota State Highway Department. Luella worked odd jobs here and there to supplement the family income but mostly was the young mom of a growing family.

Tonight we're going to look at a few snapshots taken of the Williamson children. Brace yourselves, some of the images you're about to see may not be suitable for younger children and those with weak constitutions. That being said, we begin:

This is a picture of Charles and Luella's first two children. You have Princess Kim on the left and Uncle Gomez on the right. I warned you to turn away didn't I, and you didn't heed that warning. I'll wait a moment so your eyes can adjust to image................................................
OK, now that you're not looking at the picture through your fingers I want to say a few things.
1. Notice Kim has the toy. I'm left to my own devices. Can you see the frustration in my face? Can you see me pleading for a toy of my own? Did they give me one? No. So, with nothing to hold in my hands they were left to flap about.
2. Did you notice who has nice pretty white shoes? Notice who doesn't have shoes?
3. Notice who has what appears to be a bunny rabbit on his shirt? What's up with that!? And why am I poised to resemble Jabba the Hut?
4. What's with the bald head? Couldn't something have been done about that? This picture was taken at Penny's Photo Studio. I'm sure they had something in their bag of tricks to cover that head. How about a hat of some kind?

Well, at least I wasn't born with Kim's monster tongue. Look at that muscle protruding from her teeth! It's a wonder she learned to talk at all. Luckily for her she grew into it (although the opposite could be said for those on the receiving end of a Kim DelGrosso rebuke. Zorro's blade has nothing on Kim's tongue. An inherited trait from my Grandma Elda).

Here we are again. We are older and YES, I've been given shoes! I'm still a bit crooked but I'm OK with that. I'm also glad they got a picture of me without my mouth wide open like some newly hatched bird chirping away for something to eat. I'm liking that awesome head of hair coming in (though sad to report much of it is finding its way onto the bathroom and shower floor).
Wow, doesn't that sofa look comfortable? I think I can still remember it. It gave you splinters if you slid across it.

This is a picture of Janice

This is a picture of her twin brother Jonathan.

Notice Jon is also minus a toy but at least he has shoes. Dad got a raise.
What does one say about our family's set of twins? On the baby cuteness scale how does Jon and Jan compare to Kim and I (Although Kim and I aren't twins, we are 11 months apart so that's close enough for comparison's sake)?
Even today Kim and I have a tendency to ooze baby cuteness whenever we enter a room. I, of course, always let her enter first, you know...... to warm the audience for the real zinger about to enter.

Jon and Janice, on the other hand, are...well, Jon and Janice. Are they clever? Yes. But are they "pinch those baby cheeks" cute? Hmmmm....

Legal Disclaimer: OK I'm joking. If I don't say it now neither of them will talk to me at the next family wake. A bit touchy sometimes, but that comes from being middle children. There I go again; best to move on.

And finally we have Kevin. He was the child stuck between Kim and I, and, Jon and Janice. He was truly the middle child, with a temperament capable of melting steel when ignited. Kevin would only take so much sibling abuse and then explode, so you had to be careful not to push him too far. Those of us that lived with him knew when and where to run when he erupted. It was either run and hide or dodge the Tonka Trucks, chairs, knifes, iron, lamps or vases thrown at you with his dead on pitching arm.

Kevin looks so sweet and innocent in this picture but let me say this, you could use this picture as a movie poster for The Shining III. Don't let that innocent expression fool you. It would be a mistake. Others did and are alive today only by God's grace. Behind that face was a cold, calculating brain. A brain that looked for any opportunity to get noticed. A brain that schemed for ways to survive middle childhood. It was a brain that always pondered the proper moves to get that bigger bowl of ice cream or that second slice of pizza.

I always had a lingering sense of fear during the years he and I shared a bedroom. You never knew what he'd do in the middle of the night if you upset him earlier in the day. I always made it my policy to inquire about his mood before shutting off the lights. If there was any doubt I slept with one eye open. A survival skill in a small house with eight children, each odd, and unique, in their own way :)

Simply,
Victor

More on the Soldiers in our Family's Past (Williamson Line)

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Tonight we take a moment to honor the memories of additional ancestors who I recently discovered served in the armed forces. We already know about ancestors that served in the Revolutionary War, including a Great Grandfather that died at Valley Forge (see previous blog posts). Tonight we learn about a few others. The information on them is brief at best (which is typical for most genealogical research) but worth mentioning and remembering.

We begin with my generation’s 4th Great Grandfather, Bennett Willis. He was born in 1780. On November 13, 1800 he married Katherine Nossaman. She was born in 1779. Bennett was Katherine’s second husband.

Military Recruiting Poster, War of 1812

Bennett enlisted to fight in the war of 1812 against the British. He was 32 years old. He was killed in action on January 18, 1814. I don’t know the battle or the circumstances of his death. He left behind a widow and eight children. One of them was our 3rd Great Grandfather, Jonathan Willis.

Jonathan Willis was born in 1807. He was seven years old when his father died. He spent his entire life in farming. In politics he was a member of the Whig Party, at least until the Civil War, when he became a member of the Democratic Party. The Willis’s were all Southerners proud and true, as were many of the Williamson’s - coming from Virginia, one would expect that. Religiously Jonathan was a devout Lutheran.

John married Arabella Phlegar and with her had ten sons and four daughters! Imagine that, 14 children!

One of their daughters was Margaret Ann. She married my generation’s 2nd Great Grandfather, George Matthew Williiamson.

I’d like to mention two of the other children, our Great Great Great Uncles and brothers of Margaret Ann.
Son Bennet was a soldier in the Confederate Army serving in the Virginia 24th regiment Infantry.

The 24th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia.

The 24th Virginia was assembled in June, 1861, with men from Floyd, Franklin, Carroll, Giles, Pulaski, Mercer, and Henry Counties. It served under Early at First Manassas, then was assigned to Early's, Kemper's, and W.R. Terry's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia.

The 24th participated in the campaigns of the army from Williamsburg to Gettysburg except when it was detached to Suffolk with Longstreet. Later it was involved in the engagements at Plymouth and Drewry's Bluff, the Petersburg siege north of the James River, and the Appomattox operations.

The regiment contained 740 men in April, 1862, and reported 189 casualties at Williamsburg and 107 at Seven Pines. It lost 4 killed, 61 wounded, and 14 missing at Frayser's Farm, had 8 wounded at Fredericksburg, and had about forty percent of the 395 engaged at Gettysburg disabled. Many were lost at Sayler's Creek with no officers and 22 men surrendered on April 9, 1865.

Son Samuel was killed during the Civil War serving with General Stonewall Jackson in the Confederate Army during a battle a Cedar Creek, Virginia on October 19, 1864.

At dawn, October 19, 1864, the Confederate Army of the Valley under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early surprised the Federal army at Cedar Creek and routed the VIII and XIX Army Corps. Commander Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan arrived from Winchester to rally his troops, and, in the afternoon, launched a crushing counterattack, which recovered the battlefield. Sheridan’s victory at Cedar Creek broke the back of the Confederate army in the Shenandoah Valley. Lincoln rode the momentum of Sheridan’s victories in the Valley and Sherman’s successes in Georgia to re-election.

Estimated Casualties

• 5,665 Union
• 2,910 Confederate

In closing, I want to comment on the diversity in our Williamson family. My research shows a family of many different religions and political persuasions. We have ancestors persecuted for their religion (Quakerism) which motivated them to leave England to seek a new life in the new world. We are a family descended from others seeking to improve their situation in life by starting fresh in the new world (Phlegars, Goodykoontz, Trouts - All German). We have ancestors who fought on the Union side and the Confederate side in the Civil War. We have ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, and every other war since then.

We are descended from a patchwork of nationalities, beliefs, and traditions which makes us the people we are today. I'm learning of a family of proud and strong individuals who survived the trials and tribulations of life with faith in each other and in their God and Country.

Simply,
Victor

Relationship Chart

Bennett Willis born: 1780. Married Katherine Nossaman born: 1779
to
Jonathan Willis Married Arabella Phlegar
to
Margaret Ann Willis. Married George Matthew Williamson
to
William Jonathan Williamson. Married Effie Helen Victor
to
Vennie, Ima Della, Inez, Lillie Ethel, Josie, Emmett, Walt, Charles, Maurice.
to
Charles Williamson (CB)
to
Me (my generation)

Grandma Violet and Grandpa Walter Over the Years

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

The sky is dark and heavy with clouds this evening as I type by the yellow glow of the lamp. I hear rain water moving through the gutters outside the front window. Behind me I see a sliver of light from the setting sun stretch across Utah Lake. The valley seems peaceful below. Rain has fallen for several hours now - light then heavy then light again. It can't seem to make up its mind.

Nothing profound tonight, just a comment on the the passing of time as seen through two photographs taken of my mother's parents, Violet and Walter Mattson. Both pictures were taken in California. The first shows a happy couple at the start of their married life.

The bottom shows the same couple towards the end of their married life. Its apparent how they changed over the years. The passing of years and the lessons of time changed them. They scratched out a living on a ranch in Montana. They raised three strong children and lost a baby on a cold winter's morning, and in the end their health failed them. There were good days and not so good days. Through it all they had each other and that's what I remember most about my grandparents.

So tonight we take a moment and remember two people that survived the best and worst life had to offer. And in the end they are remembered with fond, loving memories by a large and growing family stretching from coast to coast.


Simply,
Victor

Thanksgiving at Grandma Mattson's, November 1957

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Ah, my first Thanksgiving. These pictures were taken at the Mattson's home in Spearfish South Dakota on Thanksgiving Day 1957. I say this was my first Thanksgiving because my mother Luella was about one month pregnant with me so she was eating for two of us.

Click to Enlarge

The family was small then, just Luella and Charles and mustn't forget four month old Kim in all her glory. Don't know what she was wearing in the picture above. This picture brings fond memories of Grandma and Grandpa Mattson's home. It was taken from the living room looking toward the kitchen. Do you see the open dish washer? I remember visiting Grandma as a kid and being fascinated by that dishwasher. We didn't have one and I didn't know anyone that did, except for Grandma Mattson. I thought it was something right out of the Jetsons; a machine that washed dishes! We use to run up the outside cellar door and peer through that kitchen window.

You know I can almost still smell that kitchen. It had its own smell, as did the entry way right off the kitchen. It wasn't a bad smell at all - just its own smell. Blind fold me, put me in a time machine, drop me into that kitchen and in one inhale I'd nail my location spot on!

I loved everything there was to love about Grandma's house, especially the steep stairway leading to the attic room where Kim and I use to sleep when we'd spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa in the summers. I'll call that stairway "The Broken Neck Staircase" because if you fell down you're neck, back and legs wouldn't survive the tumble. Didn't have a railing either if my memory is correct. To get to the attic you opened a door off the bedroom nearest the kitchen, stepped up one step onto a landing, turned right and ascended one steep narrow step at a time. The attic was wood paneled. It was a perfect play area, except in the heat of the summer when it was just too hot to be up there. I remember laying on the bed in front of the attic window on a warm summer's night and listening to the sounds of the Spearfish Passion Play from up the hill.

Grandpa Mattson use to take Kim and I to work with him at the RV sales lot. He sold RV's and trailers and Kim and I ran around and played in them. What kid wouldn't love that?

Click to Enlarge

Again, we return to the Thanksgiving Feast. In this picture you see Grandma Elda, then Luella and finally Charles with fork and knife in hand working through the contents of his plate. Strange to see Dad eating and Mom just sitting (am I going to get in trouble for that one....?)

Don't know who that is with her back to the camera. I tried to zoom in to see what was on the menu, but no luck. Of course we all remember Grandma's piano. It's still in the family. If you're in the mood to play a piano last tuned during the Napoleonic Wars then make a trip to Jilane's house. The piano sits in their projector room. Kim and I learned to play the piano on that instrument so my memories of it are mixed as one would expect from years of exposure to a device that brought some joy and an equal amount of torture.

The door behind the piano led to Grandma and Grandpa's bedroom. Luella and Charles look young don't they? Mom was 18 and dad was 21 years old. Far too young to be married with one child and another on the way wouldn't you say? Mind you, I'm glad for just my being's sake that they decided to move ahead and not delay in the family department so I'll leave that as said and move along.

Simply,
Victor

King John of England. Our 24th Great Grandfather (Williamson Line)

King John, our 24th Great Grandfather on the Williamson Line, through
Margaret Ann Willis, wife of George Matthew Williamson

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

A Royal Dispatch!
Tonight, after much searching I'd like to introduce you to our 24th Great Grandfather (for my generation).

You’ve heard the tales of Robin Hood. You know that Robin Hood’s enemy was King John of England. King John was King of England from April 6, 1199 until his death. He was the younger brother of King Richard I. He was the youngest of five sons of King Henry II and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine.

During his lifetime John acquired two epithets. One was "Lackland" because, as his father's youngest son, he did not inherit land out of his family's holdings, and because as King he lost significant territory to France. The other was "Softsword" signifying his supposed lack of prowess in battle. Not much of a warrior I guess.

Of course he is best know for his signature on the Magna Carta (think back to your history class). Our 24th Great Grandfather signed the document that first limited the power of English Kings. It was the one of the earliest steps in the evolution of limited government

The Magna Carta not only changed England, but also affected us today. America’s constitution is based off the idea of the Magna Carta. Each clause protects the right of the English people. The U.S constitution is made up of amendments to give legal rights to the people of America. The people today would not have those rights, without the idea of the Magna Carta; a document to be signed for the people

John's family life was tumultuous, as his older brothers all became involved in rebellions against his father, King Henry. His mother, Eleanor, was imprisoned by Henry in 1173, when John was about five years old.


Not the Nicest Man
Before his accession, John had already acquired a reputation for treachery, having conspired sometimes with and sometimes against his elder brothers, Henry, Richard and Geoffrey. In 1184, John and Richard both claimed that they were the rightful heir to Aquitaine, one of many unfriendly encounters between the two. In 1185, John became the ruler of Ireland, whose people grew to despise him, causing John to leave after only eight months.

During Richard's absence on the Third Crusade from 1190 to 1194, John attempted to overthrow William Longchamp, his father's Prime Minister so to speak, and the Bishop of Ely and Richard's designated justice. This was one of the events that inspired later writers to cast John as the villain in their reworking of the legend of Robin Hood.

In October 1191 the leading citizens of London opened the gates to him. John promised the city the right to govern itself as a commune in return for recognition as his father's heir. While returning from the Crusade, Richard was captured by Leopold V, Duke of Austria, and handed over to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who held him for ransom. Meanwhile, John had joined forces with Philip Augustus, King of France, and they sent a letter to Henry asking him to keep Richard away from England for as long as possible, offering payment to keep Richard imprisoned. Henry declined their offer, and once Richard's ransom was paid by his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine (who had to pawn the Crown Jewels of England to do so), he was set free.

Of course John threw himself on the mercy of his father and pleaded for forgiveness from Richard, who granted it and named him heir to the throne.

So, there you have it. You've got royal blood in those Williamson veins! Now walk a bit taller tomorrow on your way to work but don't get too carried away. Asking your coworkers and friends to kiss your ring would be a bit 'over the top'.

Simply,
Victor

King John's Tomb

Charles at School. The Formative Years....

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Dad goes by different names to the different groups of people that know him. To his older relatives he is known as CB. To us he is Dad. To the people at WalMart he is Charlie and to the Grandkids he is Grandpa.
Oh, I forgot..... Mom has several different words for him depending on her mood or his mood. Some are as close to endearing as they can get considering their over 50 years of marriage and others not so endearing. They really know how to push each other's buttons when they are so inclined.

This is a post of Charlie, CB, Dad and Grandpa's early years in school. He attended school in Lead, South Dakota until his parents divorced. Then he and Grandma Elda moved to Belle Fourche where he attended Belle Fourche High School.

Click on the Picture to Enlarge

Here we have living proof that Dad attended Kindergarten. This is his official Kindergarten graduation photo. Dad is the boy on the far right standing. His ears give him away. He doesn't look too happy. Kindergarten may not have been easy, how could it have been considering there were 34 students in his Kindergarten class! Can you believe it?! Today's public would demand a school board's head if we had kindergarten classes that size today. Back then it was the norm. Teachers had a way of dealing with large classes back then. Teachers could paddle you then. You stepped out of line you got the ruler on your palms or the board on your backside. Oh, the good ole days......

Click on the Picture to Enlarge

This is the actual graduation certificate. This was the start of what was to become dad's greatest asset - his sharp intellect (according to him). Oh, he also points out the fact that he was considered the best looking guy in the school. Mind you, that statement is a hard one to prove considering most of his classmates are either dead, lost to time or suffering from dementia and can't contradict his memory of the way things were. Of course there are those in our family of advanced years that remember Dad during his school years. I wonder what their memories of Dad are during his school years? Anyone want to share?

Click on the Picture to Enlarge

Here is a school picture of Dad when he was 12 or 13. That hair is what set him apart I'm sure. Didn't every boy back then want a flat top?

Cheers to ya Dad!

Simply,
Victor

Life on the Montana Ranch Continues. The Mattsons.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Its a warm Sunday in Pleasant Grove. The windows are open to let the cool valley breeze blow through.
Mother (Luella) brought a couple wicker baskets full of pictures upstairs for review. I had no idea there were so many old family pictures! Had I known I might not have started this blog! But I'm neck deep in it now and its too late to turn back. I'm committed to getting all the family pictures digitized and published so everyone can enjoy them and read the stories of "the old days on the ranch, or in Rapid, or in Utah....."

Today we gather around a patch of old dusty ground in eastern Montana, the site of the old Mattson Ranch, one mile from Piniele. There isn't much left of the ranch house except for the memories of the Mattson children that once lived there. So, with Luella at my side ready acting as tour guide (in her house coat no less - taking it easy on a Sunday) we start a walk through the past.

Enjoy your time spent on the Montana ranch. It was a happy place. "Everyone loved to come to the ranch. The coffee pot was always on and there was always something ready to eat. We had company morning, noon and night. The ranch was on the dirt road so anyone passing was obliged to stop, have a cup of coffee and a biscuit and visit. The house always had company. It is just the way we lived," Luella said as she clutched the photos you're about to see in her hand.
"Are you ready?" I asked.
"Yes, let's start," she replied. So, today its our turn to stop, have a cup of Great Grandma Ida's coffee and visit. Its a warm day so we'll sit outside to talk. Oh, and if you have to use the facilities, the outhouse is around back......


Picture 1. Mother remembers this picture was taken during the winter of 1949. It was one of the worst winters they'd had on the ranch. The snow was deeper than Great Grandpa Albert's head.

This was the trail on the way to the two hole outhouse. You can see the outhouse's top over the snow. The outhouse was in the back of the house. Mother said she was afraid of skunks near the outhouse during summer nights.
"We used the Montgomery Ward or Sears Catalog for toilet paper. The smell wasn't too bad. I used to go to the outhouse from time to time just to get away from my brothers and sister," Luella said. She hesitated to confess possible trips to the outhouse for a smoke as a teen but I got her to fess up that it was a distinct possibility. Naughty Luella.

Picture 2. This picture was taken in front of Roxy Jacobson's home in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Roxy used to be the Mattson's neighbor in Montana before moving to Belle to open this boarding house. As fate would have it, Luella met her future husband CB (Charlie) in this home when she was eight years old and he was ten. Dad and his mother, Grandma Elda, lived in this boarding home after Elda and Grandpa Charles divorced. Mother said that dad would show off to her on his bike.

Grandma Mattson needed to come to Belle because of hemorrhaging. Luella was young so it was thought she should stay with Grandma Violet while she recovered. Luella and Violet stayed at Roxy's boarding house. Violet and Grandma Elda became friends. Mother remember this was the first time she'd used a proper bathroom with taps and running hot water. It was also the first time Luella remembers taking a proper bath in a porcelain bathtub. On the ranch they used a portable tin tub.

From left to right. Irene Jacobson, Luella sitting on her grandmother Ida's lap, Jens Jacobson,
Marie Simmons(?), Walter Mattson (Luella's father), Helen Lidman (Luella's cousin), Roxy Jacobson, and finally Violet Mattson (Luella's mother).

Picture 3. Walter Mattson (Luella's dad) is holding Aunt Linda. The other baby is Carlene Maus (a cousin). Taken on the Maus ranch near Hermosa South Dakota.

Picture 4. The entire student body of Piniele, Montana's one room school house taken in 1947. Mother hated the braids in her hair. Grandma made her wear them. It was either braids or curls.

Left to right. Harvey Cambell, Charles Gosslin, Luella Mattson, Jerry Rosencranz (with the baseball hat), Margaret Huff (above Jerry), Tommy Simmons (with cowboy hat), Billy Rosencranz (kneeling next to Jerry), Kathleen Landcaster, Keith Landcaster, and finally Francis Rosencranz.

It was an all grade school house with 5 year olds to teen age boys. Classes were called up to the teacher's desk one at a time for lessons. After the lesson you were given seat work and the next class would be called up to the desk. Most of the kids road horses to school. Mom and her brothers and sister walked the 1 mile to school. In the winter Walter took them in a sleigh. The school had a big pot belly stove for heat.
"In the winter we'd put our wet shoes near the stove to dry so the school always smelt of rubber," Luella said.

Grandma Violet (Luella's mother) was the school's room mother. She put on all the school's plays. After the school plays there were refreshments and then dancing. Everyone loved to dance. Luella used to stand on Louie Talcott's shoes when she'd dance with him.
"Thats how you learned to dance," she said. Grandma Violet always knew the latest dances. She'd drive all the way to Belle Fourche to learn them if she had to. Once she knew the dance she'd teach the boys and girls in the school house.

The girls sold basket lunches as a school fund raiser. The girls and their mothers prepared basket lunches (fried chicken biscuits etc) then sold them in an auction to the boys and their dads. The moms and girls were required to eat with the person that bought their lunches.

The Piniele students went to Brodus Montana for high school. Brodus was 32 miles from Piniele so Luella boarded with a family in Brodus along with her best friend Penny Thex. They shared the same bed. Grandpa Walter brought Luella to Brodus every Sunday night. On the way they'd listen to Gunsmoke on the truck radio. Walter picked Luella up every Friday night to bring her back to the ranch. Mom was 13 years old when she started school in Brodus. Mom liked being in town and being around other people. .

Mom and Penny smoked cigarettes in their bedroom downstairs. During her time in Brodus Luella needed spending money. She went to the cafe and got a job washing the cafe's dishtowels at her boarding house. She and her friends hung out at the movies and at the soda fountain in the drug store.

Picture 5. Luella and Linda on the ranch. Mother was pigeon toed for awhile. Her feet straighted out over time. Mother was seven. Linda was four.

Picture 6. Walter and Violet went to Belle Fourche and bought John and Marvin coveralls with matching caps. Of course the event required a photograph.
"That was the last time those outfits were that clean," Luella said.


Picture 7. We finish with Luella walking down the ranch road with her doll.

We must be careful not to stay too long and outlast our welcome so let's leave the Mattsons to their work and continue down the duty trail to the highway.

We live in a different time don't we. We are less inclined to stop in to visit neighbors and less inclined to ask for help. Our electronic world offers unique access to each other electronically but with that comes the cold separation of distance. Will we ever get that Mayberry, down home life again?

Perhaps its time to get in the car, or just walk across the street and have a 'Visit' with a good friend or relation.

Remember, the Fortress is always open if you are ever in Pleasant Grove. No front porch but there is a back deck with a wonderful view of a pleasant Utah valley.

Simply,
Victor

The Mattsons at Home in Lead, South Dakota, 1913

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Several posts today. Mother is in house with boxes of photos pulling them out by the dozen. I can hardly keep up so the more I talk the less I get posted. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a bottomless pit of quicksand and sinking deeper and deeper. The pictures are mounting and the stories so many to tell.......

In this post we have two pictures:

These are photographs of Albert John Mattson and Ida Thornburg Mattson with baby Walter (My Grandfather, Violet's Husband) taken in their home in Lead South Dakota in 1912. Albert worked in Homestake Mine. They also owned a few rentals. Walter was their only child.


Simply,
Victor