Notes:
Winfield's mother died when he was only thirteen. From then on, he told me, it was his sister Blanche who ran the home. Winfield removed to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1909 with the rest of his family (except Ward) and resided at 1786 Carroll Avenue in West St. Paul. He would have been 17 years old at that time so he probably had completed high school in Binghamton.
Winfield must have worked in St. Paul for eight or nine years because the United States entered the war in Europe in 1917 (eventually to be known as "The Great War" and then "World War I") and he must have joined almost immediately considering the number of battles in which he participated. He joined the U.S. Army and was assigned to Battery "C" of the 151st Field Artillery in the famous Rainbow Division. He said that he had fought in every major battle of the war except one during which he was hospitalized for treatment of an injury resulting from a mustard-gas bomb explosion. His duties were that of performing communications with airplanes which were being used as spotters for the artillery. He knew Morris Code because the "radios" of the time were "spark-gap transmitters", good only for code transmissions. If the airplane was not equipped for radio he communicated by ground panels and hand-written messages dropped by the pilot.
I am unsure about Winfield's work before he joined the Army. I know that he started in St. Paul as a Watchmaker's Apprentice but left that occupation at some point when he was told by his master that he would never make a good watchmaker because he had "sweaty hands". I believe he must have taken work after that which was out of the trades category, possibly in the garment or dry-goods business, because he told me that for several Christmas seasons he was invited along with "many of the other St. Paul businessmen" to attend the festivities at the James J. Hill (the famous railroad magnate) farm north of St. Paul (now a gated community named North Oaks). He once described to me how it was to take a trip eight or nine miles north on Rice Street in a carriage on sleighs.
Sometime after the war ended on "the 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month of 1918", Winfield is known to have found work with a chain-store firm named The Burg Company which was based in the Twin Cities. His father might still have been in St. Paul when Winfield returned from the War because Elam did not retire to New Ulm until the following year. I remember Winfield stayed for a fairly good period at the YMCA in St. Paul and while there learned to be a skilled pocket billiards player. I was to first learn of this when in 1953 or 1954 he visited my wife and me in Minneapolis and I, trying to entertain him, asked if he knew how to shoot pool. He replied "A little." Without going into the gory details, I never won a game that evening and for most of them I only got to take one shot and he then "cleaned the table".
Working for the Burg Company was Winfield's last employment in St. Paul. His job for that company was to travel about the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin opening the firm's new stores and operating them until a permanent manager could be found. In 1933, on the heels of the Great Depression, he moved his family from Portage, Wisconsin to Sauk Centre, Minnesota to open another new "Burg Store". According to family lore, I was just three weeks old when this removal took place.
Their first home in Sauk Centre was in the "Sweetman Apartments", located on the north-east corner of the intersection of Maple Street and 4th Street. They resided there about eight years during which time they had two more children, the twins Dean and David. About 1940 they bought a house at 315 North Main Street which at that time was at the northern edge of the town, fronting on U.S. Highway 71. It was in this small two-bedroom brick bungalow that they raised their family until the boys had graduated from high school and left home to pursue their independent lives. The home was always a loving and joyful environment, full of humor, discussion and wonderfully passionate arguments. The house was torn down in later years to expand the parking lot of a business which had sprung up in the '50s or '60s.
The Burg Company became bankrupt shortly after Winfield and his family arrived in Sauk Centre. With no contrary instructions coming from any source, Winfield continued on as manager of the store until word came from the bankruptcy court asking him to remain operating the business until a buyer for it could be found.
Winfield paid himself from the stores proceeds until a new owner, a Mr. Dondelinger from Brainerd, Minnesota, came on the scene. Dondelinger probably viewed the business as an investment and had no interest in operating the store, for he asked Winfield to continue as the store's manager, subsequently to be renamed a "Ben Franklin Store". Winfield agreed under an arrangement whereby his salary would be a percentage "draw" from store proceeds with an additional portion set aside toward his eventual purchase of the business. It is not known exactly when Winfield was able to buy the store but we know that he did.
The name "Ben Franklin Store" was owned by the Butler Brothers distribution company in Minneapolis. Once a year my father would go to Butler Brothers to view their new merchandise lines and decide what he wanted to stock in the store. I accompanied him on a couple of these trips which also included going to two other wholesalers on 1st Avenue North, a neckware store and a haberdashery for his annual new tie and hat. The Butler Building has now been preserved in Minneapolis as Butler Square, an up-scale restaurant and collection of small shops.
Winfield resided in Sauk Centre for about twenty-five years. He was a prominent citizen who was active in many civic affairs. For nearly his entire time in Sauk Center he was President of the Library Board and manager of the American Legion Band which he founded there. He could not play any instrument but was a great fan of the music of Philip Souza. Eventually he learned to play the bass drum, however ("If I can't play well I can at least play loud.").
He sold his business shortly after he reached retirement age and removed briefly to San Diego, CA, where he and Florence bought a small apartment building. The dry weather did not suit Winfield so they sold out and removed to Rapid City, SD, where they built a modest ranch-style apartment building near Canyon Lake, one of the few untouched structures around the lake to remain following the Great Flood.
Managing the apartments eventually became too difficult for their age so he and Florence sold their property and removed to Longmont, Colorado to be near their son David and family. Winfield died there in his sleep one night of a cerebral hemorrhage and was buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery.
Florence, his steadfast partner and a wise woman of great wit and charm, stayed in Longmont a while and then removed to Green Valley, Arizona, in the company of her son David and family. She died in Tucson, Arizona of a fall downstairs and her remains were also buried at Fort Logan.
***
It's a curious fact that Winfield and Florence are related [more precisely, just "associated"] by other than their marriage. In the distant past the Gallup and Miles lines became twice connected by two marriages. The first instance was in 1726 when Samuel Gore (Gallup side) married Mary Williams (Miles side) and the second was in 1735 when Benjamin Gallop (Gallup side) married Theodia Parke (Miles side).
Notes:
From the newspaper of Watertown, SD:
Miss Florence Miles Weds --
Miss Florence Miles, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leroy D. Miles, and Winfield D. Gallup, now of Superior, Wisconsin, were married at 8 o'clock Tuesday morning at the Methodist parsonage, Rev. G. M. Calhoun performing the marriage ceremony. The ring service was used, a small group of relatives and friends of the couple witnessing the ceremony. The bride was attended by Lena Miles, her sister, while Lee Miles, the bride's brother was best man. The bride wore a gown of pale green georgette. Following the service at the church the wedding party returned to the Miles home where a delightful wedding breakfast was served. The couple left today for northern Minnesota where they will spend their wedding trip in the beautiful lake country there. They will be at home shortly before first day of July at Superior, Wis.
Miss Miles graduated with the class of 1922 from the Watertown high school and has lived with her parents here since that time. Mr. Gallup managed the Burg store from time of its opening until last December, when he was transferred by his company to Superior. - P.O.~~~
After their marriage in Watertown, South Dakota, according to their wedding announcement, Winfield and Florence took a week's honeymoon traveling to Superior, WI where their first residence together was at 1602 Tower Avenue.
The following is the text written by her children and their wives for use by the minister officiating at the memorial service for Florence on September 6, 1985.
Coming from Michigan to homestead, Florence's family entered their area of So. Dakota by horse and wagon in 1882. Twelve years later Florence was born the seventh of eight children. Perhaps because she was the youngest daughter, Florence was somehow able to bend the rules of her stern father and so it became her "job" as a young girl to make her way to the nearby town where she learned the latest songs and returned to entertain her brothers and sisters. It might be because of this that to her last day she was a giving person with a love of fine music.
Florence was a devoted and hardworking wife of 44 years who participated directly in the business of her husband. Survivors of the great depression, they were always unselfish toward their friends, their neighbors and their business acquaintances. Through the difficult years of the depression and the second world war, like other strong women of the era, Florence raised her family of three sons to be self-reliant yet they never shied from seeking her contribution to solve a problem.
Florence was a "good trooper". Of English heritage, she believed always in the "stiff upper lip", never burdeninq others with her problems but always ready to take on the problems of others as her own. In times of family crisis it was Florence who was looked to to lighten the load and brighten spirits. "Yes, I understand and feel very sorry about it. Is there anything 1 can do to help ?" was a phrase for which she will be always remembered.
Counter to the stereotype of tradition, Florence was truly thought of by her daughters-in-law as a second mother. She felt in every way that she had gained daughters when her sons married yet never interfered while remaining always ready to help if asked.
Equally sensitive to the needs of the young, Florence related to her grandchildren with modern and understanding empathy tempered with the wisdom of age.
Florence was an artist and one who appreciated art and fine works. The open book at her chairside after she passed away was a classic French novel. She was worldly in her interests, never provincial in her thoughts, a woman of culture who could converse intelligently on any subject.
Her homes were always bright and cheerful places, comfortable and interesting to all visitors.
For all of this, Florence was an unassuming person who would be embarrassed by this praise and who was never sure she had done her best. Florence would simply like to be remembered as a good friend and neighbor, and most of all a fine mother.
Florence was the steadfast helpmate of Winfield in all things. As a parent and mother she exercised good control of her children without seeming to strain at the task. However, if asked in later life she would confess regret at feeling she was too often angry with her children and too easily allowed herself to be hurt by unkind words from we thoughtless youngsters. As I remember it, we were pretty bad in that way when we retaliated for not being given our way, and I believe she had considerable strength of character to withstand it as well as she did.
I think of Florence as having an especially good sense of balance about the priorities of life. From my presently aged perspective I think this was probably because she had such a well developed sense of humor and irony. It got her through some trying times with we three boys when I do not remember her as ever being any more angry with us than we deserved. We boys were a particularly unruly lot - "Those Gallup boys are always into something." the townspeople often said, those that is who didn't simply refer to us as "The Dillinger Boys".
Florence and Winfield attended the First Methodist Church of Sauk Centre and, though neither of them were of a particularly religious character, much of Florence's social life grew out of her church related activities and acquaintences. She was not particularly interested in home crafts but she did love to crochet and knit. Following Winfield's retirement and their removal to Rapid City, SD, Florence attended art classes at a local school and became very involved with painting scenes from nature in oils. Winfield contributed by making her picture frames. She had considerable talent and examples of her work may be found hanging in the homes of all her children.
Florence died from a brain hemorrhage caused by hooking a high heel on a step and falling down a stairway at the school of nursing in Tucson, AZ, where she and her daughter-in-law Julie were visiting. Julie, walking beside her, grabbed at her clothes to arrest the fall but Florence's dress tore off as she tumbled to the bottom. The hospital was across the street and she was placed on a gurney in moments, uttering her last words as she was being wheeled into the hospital, "Julie, I think I am going to be all right."
Notes:
My Aunt Blanche, Elam's daughter, told me many years ago that Elam was buried in the family plot of Dr. Edmiston in the New Ulm, Minnesota cemetery. I drove there some years back to find it but there was no marker for him in the Edmiston plot. The cemetery office kept good records and his name was in their book with the exact spot of his burial, in a corner of the Edmiston plot just like Blanche had told me.
It is something of a mystery why none of his children saw fit to have a stone placed for him. The best I can guess is that Dr. Edmiston made the offer to have him buried there because the family was without the money to buy a plot, and once having accepted the Doctor's offer they were reluctant to have a "stranger's" stone placed within the perimeter of the Edmiston plot. At any rate, it does not matter now because two years ago my wife Carol and I arranged to have a permanent marker laid for Elam. May he now rest in peace.
For Elam's birth and death, the Gallup Genealogy ed.1966 gives b. 14 Mar 1859, d. 8 Oct 1923. His official date of death as appearing in the Nicollet County Courthouse, St. Peter, MN, record number E-95-174, is 21 October 1921. The courthouse record also states that his father was "Amos Gallup", his occupation was "Male Nurse", his birth was in "1856", that he died of "Senile Dementia", that the attending physician was Dr." W.A. Watson" and the undertaker was "Buenger Co.".
The following obituary notice was found and copied from the archives of the Brown County Journal, the newspaper of New Ulm which later changed its name to "The Journal", as it is presently still called. It appeared in the issue of Saturday, 29 October 1921. It was a weekly paper so the day "Friday" which appears in the obituary would be Friday of the week before the issue date, i.e., 21 October 1921. His date of burial given as "Monday" would be 24 October 1921; calculating backwards from his reported age yields a birth year of 1856. (As these dates agree with the official record, it appears certain that the Gallup Genealogy is in error.)
"ELAM GALLUP
Elam Gallup, father of Mrs. H.O. Eidsvold [Elam's daughter Blanche] of this city, passed away at St. Peter early Friday morning. The remains were brought to New Ulm and the funeral was held from Buenger's Chapel Monday afternoon. Dr. C.G. Hohn had charge of the ceremony. Following this the remains were laid to rest in the City cemetery. Mr. Gallup was a native of Jefferson, N.Y. and was sixty-five years of age. Mrs. Gallup preceded him in death sixteen years ago. The following children survive: Ward Gallup, Binghamton, N.Y.; Winfield B. [D.] Gallup and Mrs. Elizabeth Bowlby, Minneapolis, and Mrs. H.O. Eidsvold of this city. Mrs. Eidsvold has the sympathy of New Ulm residents in this hour of her bereavement."
My daughter, Rebecca, has a ring binder of ancient newspaper clippings which was passed down to me from an unknown source, possibly from Florence Falconbury who probably got it from Myra, Aunt Jemima's daughter. How Becky wound up with it is a mystery. Among the clippings was a second, more detailed, obituary notice for Elam but there was no newspaper name nor publication date. The obituary gives his date of birth as 14 March 1856 (thus confirming that the Gallup Genealogy is incorrect) in Jefferson, NY. The obit gives the day of his death as "Friday morning at 5:55 o'clock" which is confirmation of other sources. The obit goes on to read: "After receiving a preparatory education in the schools at Jefferson, Mr. Gallup entered the Albany State College, Albany N.Y., taking a four-year course as nurse. Upon completing this course he located at Binghamton, N.Y. where he was engaged at his profession for many years, before coming to Minnesota ["coming", not "going", so we are reading a Minnesota newspaper.] some twelve years ago (so he arrived in Minnesota about 1909), when he accepted a position with the Y.M.C.A. at St. Paul, which he held for 10 years. Two years ago [1919], Mr. Gallup retired from active work and had since made his home with his son-in-law and daughter here." ("here")? That must mean New Ulm because that's where Blanche, "Mrs. Eidsvold", was living at the time so he arrived at New Ulm in 1919. And there must have been two newspapers serving New Ulm at the time]
The newspaper clippings mentioned above has a wedding announcement for Elizabeth Gallup (Eliza, actually) and Charles Bowlby. The announcement began with "Mr. E.D. Gallup of 1786 Carroll Avenue announces..." so it was inserted by Elam. As usual, the clipping is from an unknown newspaper of an unknown date. However, we know from one of the obituaries we have for Elam that he arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1909 and did not remove from there to New Ulm, Minnesota until 1919. This spans the ages of 12 and 22 for Elizabeth, just right for a first marriage. What is more, there is a Carroll Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota so there can be little doubt that the wedding announcement appeared in the St. Paul newspaper.
On March 9, 2005 I drove over to St. Paul on the off-chance of finding this family home of Elam, Blanche, Winfield and Eliza at 1786 Carroll Avenue - There it still stood, nearly 100 years old and still in good shape. I took a picture of it.
My father had told me that Elam was skilled in massage therapy and managed bath houses in Binghamton, NY. I had long believed that Elam had come to New Ulm, MN, to work as an assistant to Dr. Hugh C. Edmiston, an osteopath there, but even though the second obituary went into detail about Elam's education and work, not a word was written about Elam working for Dr. Edmiston. Clearly, he came to Minnesota to work at the St. Paul YMCA.
My father also told me that after the death of his mother, Georgia, Blanche took over running the house. She did all the domestic chores that a wife would ordinarily do but she was not yet 21 years old when Elam went to Minnesota so it is unlikely that she had any reason to relocate. (Besides, she met her first husband, H.O. Eidsvold in St. Paul.) The same can be said for Winfield and Elizabeth who were even younger. Ward was married and stayed in Binghamton when the rest of the family removed to St. Paul.
We know that not all of Elam's working life before coming to Minnesota was in Binghamton, NY, as the obituary states. His son Ward was born in Greenville, Michigan in 1883 when Elam was 27 yrs. old, but Elam was in Binghamton for the birth of Blanche when he was 32. After graduation from Albany State College, Elam might have gone directly to Michigan for the first five years or so of his career and then gone to Binghamton after that.
While it appears certain that Elam's removal to Minnesota had nothing to do with Dr. Edmiston, I know from Betty-Lu, daughter of Blanche, that Dr. Edmiston and Blanche were good friends. Perhaps Elam simply rendered massage services to some of Dr. Edmiston's patients as a retirement job. The Edmiston family name is to be frequently found in the Jefferson, NY area so it is at not unlikely that Elam and Hugh Edmiston were acquainted before New Ulm.
Elam suffered from severe alcoholism and was generally short of money, according to my father, and finished out his last days in the mental hospital at St. Peter, Minnesota. I speculate that his alcoholism made him rather less than an honored parent which would explain Winfield's disinterest in telling us children much about his family life as a youngster.
Notes:
Georgia's date and place of death is according to her death certificate which also verifies her middle initial, "A", preserved in family records. Her middle name was most likely "Adaline" as that is the middle name of her daughter Eliza and the given name of her aunt, Adaline Patchin. Georgia's birth date as preserved in family records is 26 March 1859. Her age at the time of death given on her death certificate is 46 years, 11 months, 10 days. Calculating forward from her birth date yields 8 March 1906 for her date of death. As this date is in agreement with her death certificate, her birth date must therefore be correct. Georgia died from "pulmonary tuberculosis".
In a marriage announcement found in the Stamford Mirror, a newspaper of Delaware Co., NY, Georgia's name is given as "Georgiana" which is not the spelling on her death certificate nor on any other reference that I have found.
It is interesting to note that in this entire genealogy, 99.9% of which originates in England, only the ancestral line of Georgia Dyer is a royal line, no less than three royal lines, in fact. One each to Henry I, Henry II and Edward I, all Kings of England. Elam Gallup may not have made too much of himself in his life but he certainly knew a woman of quality when he saw her.
Notes:
The marriage date for Lincoln and Florence comes from Lucille (Christianson) Wettstein, sister of Florence. Carol Cramer in her book gives the date of 19 Dec 1940 but this is nine months after the birth of their son Lonnie (Lincoln Christian) which hardly seems likely.
Lincoln was first a farmer working on his father's place. When LD died, Lincoln worked the farm as a renter but he never bought it or inherited it. Eventually LD's estate was sold by Johnny Blek, Hazel's husband. Johnny was chosen by LD's children to be the administrator because they all trusted him. The proceeds were divided among the children and Lincoln removed to a farm in west central Minnesota.
This venture did not work out for Lincoln, probably because the acreage was too little be a stock farm and Lincoln did not much care for "dirt farming". He then removed to Tower, MN, where he became a successful welder for a large iron mining operation there. It was in Tower that Florence, his wife, died (of a brain hemorrhage, as I remember it).
Lincoln and his second wife, Viena, cared for each other very much. When Lincoln retired they removed to Mission, Texas where they had a happy life together but Lincoln eventually died of Altheimer's Syndrome. On 29 August 1999, I received an e-mail from his son Dwight David to which he attached the following message from Lincoln's widow, Viena. She asked that it be read during the Miles reunion of that year:
Dear Lynn,
Thanks for the invitation to the reunion. I will not be there. It is just too soon and I don't think I could handle it - maybe the next time.
I am sure we all have some wonderful memories of Lincoln - his willingness to help at all times and his great sense of humor. He had a beautiful voice. I have a tape made of a duet that he and the director of music did during one of the worship services in the Park Hall. His rendition of "How Great Thou Art" does bring the tears.
To watch this handsome man deteriorate with AS was not easy. His wish to go back to the farm was granted and I like to think that his Dad and Mother said, "Welcome home, Buddy."
Thanks to all of you for your prayers, cards, and gifts, which will be donated to the Alzheimer Association. Special thanks to Allen and Eldy [Haskell].
I feel very fortunate that I could enjoy 35 years with him. He still knew me almost to the end.
Sincerely,
Vi
Notes:
The marriage date for Lincoln and Florence comes from Lucille (Christianson) Wettstein, sister of Florence. Carol Cramer in her book gives the date of 19 Dec 1940 but this is nine months after the birth of their son Lonnie (Lincoln Christian) which hardly seems likely.
Lincoln was first a farmer working on his father's place. When LD died, Lincoln worked the farm as a renter but he never bought it or inherited it. Eventually LD's estate was sold by Johnny Blek, Hazel's husband. Johnny was chosen by LD's children to be the administrator because they all trusted him. The proceeds were divided among the children and Lincoln removed to a farm in west central Minnesota.
This venture did not work out for Lincoln, probably because the acreage was too little be a stock farm and Lincoln did not much care for "dirt farming". He then removed to Tower, MN, where he became a successful welder for a large iron mining operation there. It was in Tower that Florence, his wife, died (of a brain hemorrhage, as I remember it).
Lincoln and his second wife, Viena, cared for each other very much. When Lincoln retired they removed to Mission, Texas where they had a happy life together but Lincoln eventually died of Altheimer's Syndrome. On 29 August 1999, I received an e-mail from his son Dwight David to which he attached the following message from Lincoln's widow, Viena. She asked that it be read during the Miles reunion of that year:
Dear Lynn,
Thanks for the invitation to the reunion. I will not be there. It is just too soon and I don't think I could handle it - maybe the next time.
I am sure we all have some wonderful memories of Lincoln - his willingness to help at all times and his great sense of humor. He had a beautiful voice. I have a tape made of a duet that he and the director of music did during one of the worship services in the Park Hall. His rendition of "How Great Thou Art" does bring the tears.
To watch this handsome man deteriorate with AS was not easy. His wish to go back to the farm was granted and I like to think that his Dad and Mother said, "Welcome home, Buddy."
Thanks to all of you for your prayers, cards, and gifts, which will be donated to the Alzheimer Association. Special thanks to Allen and Eldy [Haskell].
I feel very fortunate that I could enjoy 35 years with him. He still knew me almost to the end.
Sincerely,
Vi
Notes:
[The following text has been transcribed and slightly adapted from the book "L.D. Miles" by Carol B. Cramer.] Leroy David Miles was called "Grandpa" by his grandchildren, "Dad" by his children, "Roy" by his wife, brother and some friends but was generally known by all as "L.D.". He told his daughter Mabel that as a young boy he had walked behind a covered wagon when his family moved to Illinois but it has not yet been determined where they lived in that state. In 1870 the family moved back to Allegan County, Michigan, which adjoins Barry County, L.D.'s birth place. L.D. came to Dakota Territory in 1882 and filed a claim on the SE quarter of Sec. 12 in township 119 N of Range 61 W of the 5th meridian-Dakota Territory, containing 160 acres. He returned to Michigan for the winter and in the spring of 1883 he, his parents, sister Kate Annis, and brother, James Adelbert (Bert) came by train to Mellette, Dakota Territory. This was twenty miles west and two miles north of the homestead. The family rode in the passenger car of the train while the animals, household goods and farm equipment were loaded in what was known as a cattle car. It was Bert's job to take care of the animals. At that time, there was no bridge over the James River and it is not known how they got across.
Soon, precut lumber was shipped from Michigan for a two-story house but when the lumber arrived the James River was flooded. The lumber was unloaded, tied in bundles and floated across with L.D. and Bert swimming along to guide it. One can not help but imagine that these pioneers were alone on a vast, treeless, open prairie with the constant threat of Indian attack but the fact is that every quarter of this area was homesteaded in a short time so there were plenty of neighbors, and the Indian threats never materialized.
In 1887, when the railroad was built through the area and the town of Conde was platted, L.D. took an active interest in the development of that small town and was instrumental in the organization and building of the Methodist Church there. He worked to have the town voted "dry" and consequently, at one time, his life was threatened.
L.D. was a congenial and social man as well as being a successful one. He and Bert often went to town in the evenings and played poker with their friends, a practice which stopped when L.D.'s eldest son, Lynn, became a teenager. From time to time he was mentioned in the Doland Times Record, from which it can be seen that he was friendly, would take (and probably return) some kidding and was an active member of the Masonic fraternity and the Ancient Order of United Workman (AOUM) of which he was foreman in 1895. About 1920 the farm buildings and three quarters of land were sold to a Mr. Woodward. The family then moved into Conde for a few years and later moved to Watertown. However, Mr. Woodward was not able to make payments and L.D. took over the farm again in 1926.
The summer of 1933 saw all but one of the children and grandchildren home for a reunion. (His daughter Florence, living in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, had just had her first child, Lynn, and couldn't join the family.) It must have been a thrill for the family to be together again, and it was just in time, for L.D. died the next January. As his life was running out, so was his good fortune. He had to take the farm back at a loss, he lost money on the house in Watertown because of the need to sell quickly and he lost more money in the crash of 1929. These reverses, followed by the ensuing depression and then the terrible drouth of the early thirties with consequent low farm prices were a heavy load for a 77 year old man to carry. However, Carol Cramer tells us that her father told her that L.D. never lost hope and faith, a trait of his forefathers and, one hopes, his descendents.
L.D. died at age 77. His death certificate, #4925 Spink Co. SD, lists "chronic myocarditis, duration one year or more" as the cause of death . He is buried in the Conde Cemetery.
[end from "L.D. Miles" by Cramer]
[The following has been transcribed from the book "History of South Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II, Pg. 1828; published 1904, B.F. Bowen & Co.] LEROY D. MILES, who is associated with his brother, J. A., in the ownership and conducting of the Spink County Stock Farm, is a native of the state of Michigan, having been born on a farm in Barry county, on the 14th of October, 1856, and being a son of James L. and Susan (Cooper) Miles, both natives of Ohio. The father of the subject was numbered among the pioneers of Michigan, whither he removed with his parents in the year 1832, several years prior to the admission of that state to the Union. They made the journey through from Ohio with teams and located in the midst of the virgin forest of Barry county, where they developed a valuable farm. The father of the subject continued to be actively engaged there in farming and stock raising for many years, having been associated with his brother, Alonzo, in the stock business and having been among the first to drive cattle from Michigan to the Ohio markets in the early days. He continued to reside in 'Michigan until 1883 when he came to South Dakota, and soon afterward turned over his farming and live-stock business to his sons. He died April 4, 1899, in his seventy-seventh year. The mother died in 1901, aged sixty-three years.
Leroy D. Miles was reared on the homestead farm and secured his education in the common schools of his native county [in Michigan]. He early became familiar with the stock business, in which his father was prominently engaged, and is thus an authority as to the value and handling of live stock.
From the time of his arrival in South Dakota in 1883, Mr. Miles has been associated with his brother James A.[Adelbert, "Uncle Bert"] in farming and stock raising. They secured government land in Spink county, and their landed estate comprises three sections of valuable land in the northeastern part of the county, and two miles south of the village of Conde, which is the postoffice address for their great stock farm named, simply, The Spink County Stock Farm. It attracts many visitors and buyers each season, and is especially devoted to the breeding of Hambletonian and Percheron horses, Galloway cattle and Rambouillet sheep, and the best types of each are raised, while the firm has for sale the best of breeding stock at all times. The farm is finely improved and is one of the show places of the county, while the Messrs. Miles are known as progressive and reliable business men, commanding the confidence and esteem of all with whom they come into contact.
Mr. Miles is a stanch Republican in his political proclivities and has been a zealous worker in its cause. In November 1902, be was elected to the office of county treasurer, receiving a gratifying majority, and assumed the active discharge of his official duties in January, 1903. He is identified with the Masonic fraternity and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
On the 14th of October, 1888, Mr. Miles was united in marriage to Miss Carrie E. Curran, daughter of J. M. and Carrie Curran, who came to South Dakota in 1885 and located in Spink county, being numbered among the prominent pioneers of this section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Miles had six children, namely: Ruth, Hazel, Lynn, Lena and Mabel and an infant.
[End from Robinson book.]
I visited Dave and Doug Miles in Allegan and Wayland on 18/19 June 2004. We spent a lot of time trying to find evidence of L.D. having been a farmer there but we could find nothing. When I returned to Edina I called Cousin Carol (Cramer) and learned that we had been barking up the wrong tree.
It turns out that L.D. never owned any land in Michigan! Born in 1856, he was only 26 years old when he came to South Dakota. Before that he was living with his parents, James Lorenzo Miles and Susan Cooper, and working on their farm. This was the second farm of James and Susan because they sold their first one and removed to Illinois. They didn't like Illinois and returned to Michigan for the second time. They could not find a farm to buy right away so James Lorenzo bought 40 acres with a house on it on the east edge of the town of Wayland (It's on an 1873 plat map I found in the Allegan court house.) . They lived there until they found a farm to buy, and for a time James and Susan owned both that place and the new farm. It was this farm that L.D. worked on for his father.
Carol believes that L.D. had visions of becoming a large stockman but he did not want any of the farms in Michigan because they were all too small for what he had in mind. Carol believes the reason James Lorenzo sold his farm and went with L.D. to South Dakota was because L.D. pressured him into it. She states that James and L.D. were ridiculed by their friends and aquaintences for their plan to leave Michigan. One of their neighbors in Michigan, Mr. Fox predicted that L.D. and Lorenzo would fail and be back with their tail between their legs in a few years. This is why L.D. bought the farm in Michigan for his son Lynn, to make it emminently clear to all of the Michigan people that they were wrong and that he had become a very successful farmer in South Dakota.
Carol remembers being told that if you stood on Lynn's farm in a certain place you could see the James Lorenzo farm from which they left for South Dakota.
Carol remembers further that when James Lorenzo sold the farm the deal was not completed until they had already gone to South Dakota. Since James had always gone by the name "Lorenzo", and that's what everyone knew him by, he sold the farm in the name "Lorenzo Miles". This was challenged at the court house in Michigan when it came time to transfer the deed and he had to seek out a lawyer in Conde to prepare an affidavit to the effect that it was he, James Lorenzo Miles, who had sold the farm.
Eliza Caroline Curran "Carrie"
Notes:
[The following has been extracted from "L.D. Miles" by Carol B. Cramer]: Eliza Caroline Curran and L.D. Miles were married 14 Oct., 1888 but no church or legal record of their marriage has been found. They could have been married by a Justice of the Peace named Lem Carner, a neighbor, who also came from the same area in Michigan. If he performed the ceremony he did not record it at the county court house in Spink County, or any of the neighboring court houses. If he did, the record might have been lost when the county seat was moved from Ashton to Redfield..
Harry and Carol Cramer liked to tease Carrie that "since there was no record of their marriage, perhaps there wasn't one". Acceptable proof, though, are the entries in the Bibles on both sides of the family. Their daughter, Mabel, recalled being shown a brown velvet wedding hat that her mother kept in a trunk in the attic
"Carrie", as she was usually called, was a lady; kind, proper, religious, never complaining and hard working. She lived first for her husband and then for her children. As a child, her parents moved frequently and it has been said that each of their children was born at a different place. At one time her family lived near Bradley, Michigan in a sod house so she graduated from a sod house in Michigan to a fourteen room house with all the conveniences, the "Big House", in South Dakota.
Bradley, Michigan is close to Wayland where the Miles family lived but L.D. and Carrie were not acquainted in Michigan. Before her marriage, Carrie worked as a hired girl for L.D. and his parents, and had attended the same country school as Bert Miles, L.D.'s brother. She loved babies and children and appeared to welcome each of her ten babies. They apparently had enough hired help both inside and outside. She raised canary birds, made her own bread, butter and reportedly great doughnuts! [Her daughter, Florence, made great doughnuts too, probably the same recipe, but because Florence had memorized it she always had to promise people she would write it down some day; she took it to her grave, perhaps with a smile about it.] Carrie was always dressed nicely and stylishly, partly because L.D. bought many of her clothes when he was traveling, including a sealskin fur coat. They traveled together to the Minnesota State Fair and went to Michigan to visit friends and relatives. In later years, she suffered from what the doctors called neuralgia, sharp, shooting pain in her face - I [Carol Cramer] believe on the right side. She had some growths removed from her face and in later years she had fainting spells. She would apparently lose consciousness for a short time and fall but she would recover nearly completely although her daughter, Mabel, felt that she lost some memory with each fall. The doctor called them small strokes and she did become quite confused in later years. She died at the age of 81 and her death certificate states her cause of death as "senile dementia due to hypertension, arterial". She is buried in the Conde Cemetery.
There is a "now it can be told" story I have from Carol (Bickel) Cramer about a remark made by Carrie to her. Carol was thirteen or fourteen and one day walked over see what her Grandma Carrie was up to (their farms were across the road from each other) and found her on the porch preparing some vegetables so she sat down to chat a little. For some reason Carrie took this opportunity to pass along a little wisdom to Carol and part of what she said was that Carol should beware that "what happens in the back seat of cars can also happen in back of a haystack". With Carrie's first child, Jessie Naomi, being born only seven months from her marriage to LD, this pious, straight-laced, grandmother was probably speaking from bitter experience.
Notes:
VaLois had a brother Thomas whose daughter, Mary Grandpre', is the illustrator of the famous Harry Potter series of books.
Notes:
C. Cramer reports that Samuel, Jr. was assessed in Woburn from 1682 to 1740 and that he was a man of prominence in the affairs of the town. He represented Woburn in the General Court in 1729 and was several times Selectman. One of his sons, William was a soldier under Major Tyng on his expedition to Canada during the summer of 1709 and later in life was the Dr. William Blodget of Plainfield and Preston, CT. Four of his sons, Samuel, Daniel, Joshua and Josiah, were among the earliest settlers of Stafford, CT about 1719.
(from "Asahel Blodgett of Hudson and Dorchester, NH", compiled by Dimond Blodgett, 1906.) Samuel is also reported to have moved by 1691 from Woburn to Lexington, MA where he was an assessor in 1710 and a Selectman in 1714. This conflicts with the above but Woburn and Lexington are less than 10 miles apart so he could easily have returned to Woburn to be assessed in 1740.
Notes:
"Hulda" is a spelling of her given name which is occasionally seen and is used by C. Cramer in "L.D. Miles". Her birth year is occasionally compiled as 1666 and her death year as 1745; small differences.
Notes:
C. Cramer tells us that Samuel Blodgett "... settled at Woburn, MA where his descendants became numerous and influential. He was deputy of the General Court, 1693, Commissioner of the Rate, 1692 and Selectman 1681, 1690, 1691, 1693, 1695, 1696, 1697, 1703. He married 13 Dec 1655, Ruth, daughter of Stephen Eggledon (Iggledon) and their children, all born in Woburn were: Ruth, Samuel Jr., Thomas, Susanna, (her birth does not appear in Woburn records; however, she was married in Woburn and there is no other Blodgett that she could have belong to at the time of her birth, Sarah, Martha and Mary (twins). Samuel, Sr. was assessed in Woburn, 1666 to 1719 and died there 21 May 1720 aged nearly 87 years." Similar information may be found in "The Ancestry of Hon. William H. Blodgett, State Tax Commissioner of Connecticut".
In April 1672 he was made guardian of his brother Daniel's children Thomas and Hannah. Two additional children, Jane and Sarah, are occasionally assigned to his family.
Notes:
Ruth's surname also appears in the records under many spelling variations, e.g., Eggledon, Iggledon, Eggleton, Iggleton, Eggleden, Iggleden, Iggleston, Ingleden and Ingulden.
While C. Cramer records her birth as given here, some family genealogies report this birth date to be that of her baptism.
Some researchers are unsure if Samuel Blodgett was Ruth's husband or that of a sister. NEHGR 59:417 lists Samuel simply as a "son-in-law of Jane Cole" [Jane Cole was the married name of Ruth's mother in a previous marriage.] so by that authority it could have been a sister of Ruth's that Samuel married. However, the LDS files AFN:1TGM-XM and AFN:1V56-JC6, both for Samuel, list him as having married this Ruth on 31 Dec 1655 in Woburn, MA or 13 Dec 1655 in Boston, MA. Numerous other LDS files support the same contention as AFN:1TGM-XM.