My grandmother was born in Coldwater, Michigan! As my dad told it, she was always regarded as an “outlander” after marrying my grandfather in Angola, Indiana, which is just a few miles away. This was just after he’d returned from the Great War, and even more colorfully, won enough in a poker game to afford to marry.
While it cannot compare to the heart rending account of the small boys torn from the rest of their family, it does reflect how much more elemental life was just over a hundred years ago.
In one branch of our family, the mother of three girls died. The other women in the family began discussing which of them would take each daughter. Their father said, no no no, I'm keeping them, I'm raising them, they're my girls, and i will keep them. Oddly enough, the other women never did one thing to help out. My mom grew up not even knowing her cousins, and they lived in the same town!
Know a man in NY who is in his 90s. When he was a kid, parents died and he was sent to a state work farm. The only thing he will say about it other than it was bad is what he did at 18. He will
tell you his life got better the day he went USMC basic training. He considered Marine Boot Camp as a cake walk.
My grandmother was born in Coldwater, Michigan! As my dad told it, she was always regarded as an “outlander” after marrying my grandfather in Angola, Indiana, which is just a few miles away. This was just after he’d returned from the Great War, and even more colorfully, won enough in a poker game to afford to marry.
While it cannot compare to the heart rending account of the small boys torn from the rest of their family, it does reflect how much more elemental life was just over a hundred years ago.
In one branch of our family, the mother of three girls died. The other women in the family began discussing which of them would take each daughter. Their father said, no no no, I'm keeping them, I'm raising them, they're my girls, and i will keep them. Oddly enough, the other women never did one thing to help out. My mom grew up not even knowing her cousins, and they lived in the same town!
Know a man in NY who is in his 90s. When he was a kid, parents died and he was sent to a state work farm. The only thing he will say about it other than it was bad is what he did at 18. He will
tell you his life got better the day he went USMC basic training. He considered Marine Boot Camp as a cake walk.
The part about the State taking away the kids from the mother and breaking up the family. Great read. Thank you!
Thanks Johnathan. Brutal...
Beautiful and heart-rending.