#20 Nature-The Good and the Bad-Homestead Years

#20  Nature. The Good and the Bad

A dryland farm in Montana is a tough place to live but a drought during homestead years made life tougher.  Montana’s drought began in 1916 following years of rain which had created the record farming yields.  Advertisements for the prosperous farming conditions in Montana had been an inspiration for many to move to the plains and homestead.  But in 1916 weather changed and the rain quit falling beginning the series of events leading to the dirty 20’s & 30’s.  Even though the advertisements raved about the crops that could be grown, no one considered what a drought might do. 

My grandmother, Della Kurtz Shaffner, and her brother, Oliver Berlin Kurtz, found themselves living on homestead’s in Montana.  But a brother and a sister made the best of their homestead life with their families.

Oliver moved to Dillon, Montana about 1900.  He married Bertha Fjelsted in 1901.  They filed for a homestead, receiving his patent in 1916. In 1911 the family had moved to a dry farm southeast of Dillon, where they lived until 1921, except for one year in Sheridan, Montana where Oliver worked to get money to put in another crop.  That crop was never harvested because of the drought. By 1916 Oliver and Bertha had 4 boys and were trying to eek out a living on mediocre ground.

Oliver & Bertha Kurtz and sons

Oliver, Norman, Lester, Jim, George & Frank

(birth order)

Della followed her brother to Dillon in 1913 where she married her husband John Shaffner in September.  They were lucky as he had a job with the railroad as telegrapher.  As soon as they married they moved to Simms, North Dakota where he was stationed with the Northern Pacific Railroad Co.  One son, George, was born there.  But family was closer in Montana than Pennsylvania where the rest of the family lived.  And land was free if you homesteaded.   So west they came beginning with a telegrapher job in Custer, Montana.  

John & Della on dryland farm where they homesteaded

John filed for his homestead in Beaverhead County in 1915.  Oliver Kurtz was a witness on his filing paperwork.  His final certificate was filed in 1921, where he received a patent to the land. He completed a house on the land on September 1, 1916.  He stated that he and his family lived in town during the cold winter which enabled him to work for wages as a telegrapher for the Union Pacific Railroad.  When the drought  hit, he and his family moved to a farm north of Dillon for several years.

Shaffner Homestead Cabin

John was lucky to have the job and he was then able to buy other homesteads when the owners dried out and left.

Oliver’s homestead was about 10-15 miles from his sister’s and his brother in law.  It was rough country, still is.  Not suited for farming but for stock raising.  

The dry years hit and took a toll on homesteader’s trying to make a living from the land.  John was lucky, he had a railroad job in Dillon.  He & Della had 4 boys to feed by 1924.   Oliver & Bertha struggled on 280 acres with 6 boys to feed.  He moved off working for neighboring ranches.  But with 6 growing boys to feed, he eventually took a job as janitor at the high school in Dillon.  Oliver was so loved and respected that the students gathered money to pay for his headstone.  

Don Shaffner had many recollections of Oliver & Bertha.  Don remembered the house at 249 N. Railroad which had a front room with a pump organ.  The Shaffner's rented a house next to it for one winter.  Don told of many holidays that the family shared together.  Many in the family rave about Bertha’s cooking.  And yet, no recipes have been passed down to the next generation.  

Thanksgiving Day 1934

Shaffner & Kurtz Families

The families stuck together during tough times and holidays.

¹LORNA THACKERAY.  Dreaming on the Land.   Billings Gazette, https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/dreaming-on-the-land/article_86e65bab-dc0c-5a44-a9d3-19fe8a256fa6.html, 15 May 2005, 

#19. Nuture A Rose. 52 Ancestors in a Year

#19  Nurture. A Rose came west!

 Nurturing a rose for 216 years.        A legend or a family story!

When visiting the city in Waitsburg where ancestors are buried, my mother always told the story of the rose bush. That it was carried west on the Oregon Trail by my 3rd great grandmother and her family in 1854.  The story began with her father William Heath who “slipped” the rose in the Carolina's and brought the rose to Kentucky in the between 1803-1807.   Kentucky is where  Mary (Polly) Heath married John Jasper in 1828.   They moved to Missouri in 1841 where John died in 1845.  In 1845 Mary and her family went west to Oregon carrying the rose.  Her daughter, Lois married Albert Gallatin Lloyd in 1858 moving to Waitsburg, Washington in 1859.  And rose came too!  After losing her twins in 1877, the rose was planted besides their graves at the City Cemetery.  

I used the year I believe William Heath moved to Kentucky (1803) making the rose 219 years old.  (Give or take a few years!)

My mother “slipped” the rose and brought it to Dillon, Montana after her marriage.  It flourished there and the story repeated again as we weeded the flower beds.  A few years after I married, I received a “slip”.   The rose now flourishes in Huntley, Montana.  It has survived numerous human attacks in Huntley, notably burned when an irrigation ditch was burned.  It is known as the “family rose” and “Do Not Touch”.

The first story on the left was written by Norman Olsen and was in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin, 21 August 1968, page 22

The story on the right was written by Eric N. Aldrich, grandson of A. G. and Lois Lloyd. 

It was published The Times, Waitsburg, WA, 30 September 1965

Morgan & Jace Kuntz standing beside the rose in Waitsburg.

They are great great great great grandchildren of Lois Jasper Lloyd

The blooms on the rose are beautiful.

The rose in Huntley, Montana

  In the story written by Norman Olsen about the rosebush he wrote:

"The rosebush shows a continuity of things to the people who care to look at it.  It has outlived the people who planted it more than a century ago.  It is a line with the past.

#18 Road Trip-Oregon Trail. 52 Ancestors in a Year

#18  Road trip. Oregon Trail   

I can’t help but wonder what Nancy Walker Lloyd said when her husband announced that they were going to Oregon!  The work that it took to prepare for the trip is beyond my imagination.  And the work on the trip for each person had to be hard as well as difficult.

 My 4th great grandfather, John Lloyd wrote letters to his brother before leaving for Oregon and after arriving in Oregon.    The original letters are a source of information.  (They have been digitized and are held at the Fort Walla Walla Museum in Walla Walla, Washington)

He write in 1844 to his brother, Robert in Grainger County, Tennessee from Elm Grove, Missouri on 10th of June 1844.  The letter tells of his 9 children, with the youngest 3 years old.  He tells of the oldest Jane, being married the year before.  He continues to write information of his farm and the size of his barn.  He says he has “as handsome a place as in Clay County”.

Yet 1845, John and his wife set off for Oregon,with 8 children; daughters, Mary Ann (20), Nancy(16), Elizabeth (14), and Melinda (11) and sons; Abner (18), Albert (9), John (7) and William (4).    

Researching the trip, I discovered several articles.  The article, which I think is the best, has excerpts from Captain Sol. Tetherow’s journal, wagon master in 1845.   The following information is from this article.  A meeting of those interested in emigrating to Oregon was held at Elizabethtown on 5 April 1845.  At this time a constitution was adopted and the wagon train was to be known as the Savannah Oregon Emigrating Society.  The constitution established rules and standards for the wagon train.  They were to meet at Wolf River between the 15th and 25th of April.  Each outfit would be required to of 150 lbs of flour or 100 lbs of flour & 75 lbs of meal and 50 lbs of bacon for every person in the Company excepting infants.  The wagon had to be capable of bearing 1/4 (one fourth) more than their load and the Team able to draw 1/4 (one fourth) more than their load.  The number of loose cattle would never exceed 33 to one driver. 

At the meeting of the Oregon Encampment, Missouri bottom, April 28, 1845, John Lloyd was elected to the executive council. 

The census of the wagon trail lists John Lloyd with 3 armed men, 11 persons, 2 wagons, 500 lbs of meal, 1700 lbs of flour, 600 lbs of bacon, 11 lbs of powder and 19 lbs of lead.   There were 4 females over 4, 1 female under 14,  3 males under 16. His son Abner  was the cattle driver for the Lloyd wagons. John also had 24 loose cattle, 18 oxen, 6 mules & horses, 5 guns and pistols.   On May 6th at a meeting, it was determined that the wagons should be numbered in 4 Platoons, so as to form a hollow square at night.   The wagons were charged for their share of hiring a guide to get them to Independence Trace;  John Lloyd paid $0.50 for 2 wagons.  The committee decided that the wagons would start at 8 o’clock in the morning and travel from ten to fifteen miles every day.  And committee decided to go ahead on May 7th.

The Oregon Emigration Wagon Trail of 1845 had a total of 66 wagons, 293 persons with 100 armed men.  The wagons were carrying 10450 lbs of meal, 37289 lbs of flour, 13980 lbs of bacon, 354 lbs of powder and 752 lbs of lead.   There were 63 females over 14, 56 females under 14, and 68 males under 16.  There 624 head of loose cattle, 398 oxen, 74 mules and horses and 170 guns and pistols.  I am amazed at the expense of outfitting a wagon for the trail.  

Since John Lloyd had a farm near Smithville, Missouri, which is near Independence, Missouri.  I suspect that he joined the wagon train near Independence Missouri. I am not sure of where Elizabethtown or Wolf River camp was located at or where he might have crossed the Missouri.    My bucket list is to discover the locations of where they departed for Oregon.  

The next letter in the collection is John’s letter to his brother Robert Lloyd on 25 March 1847 from the Oregon Territory.  The envelope is stamped with a postmark from St. Joseph, Missouri in July of 1847.  He writes to his brother about their travels and country climate and production.  He stated that they were on the trail 6 months and 3 days from the time they left our old home until we got to Linton on the Wallumette [Williamette in Oregon] .  He said they had no bad luck more than is common for Oregon Immigrants. He stated that they lost 18 head of cattle out of 37 head and one horse.  He continues on stating they found the road passable, a good natural one but many bad places.  He stated that neither of his wagons got turned over on the trip.  It is hard to read portions of the letter but I believe he writes that the the trip is almost without timber most of the way.  Writing about grass and water he indicates that grass was tolerable.  I wish I could read his thoughts about water.  In their emigration he writes (and I presume for the year 1845) that there were 700 wagons and 10-12,000 head of cattle and a good many horses and mules but little rain and dust in abundance.  He writes that they did not all travel all in the same company but a good many small companies.  They were not molested by Indians but they stole a good many horses.  While they crossed all the water without difficulty except the Green River which they had to raft across and the Deshouts [Deschutes] River where they had to take their wagons apart.  We know from research that he chose to take the “Terrible Meeks Trail”.  

And what about the food?  He writes the provisions held out with the exception of flour which got somewhat scare.  They had bacon, coffee, sugar, tea, rice and dried fruit and we got to our journey’s end.  He wrote that the trip from the states to Oregon is a journey that can be performed with very little ease.  

He asked his brother to write to him and direct the letters to Missouri Clay County Elm Grove and the letters must be in there by March as there is no mail from the states to Oregon and the emigration starts about the last of April.  

¹ Lloyd, John. Elm Grover, Missouri to Robert Lloyd, letter, 10 June 1844. Letter. Digitized copy privately held by Sydney Gabel.  Original letters donated by Sydney Gabel to Fort Walla Walla Museum in Walla Walla, Washington. 

² Lockley, Fred.  Captain Sol. Tetherow, Wagon Master.  Published by Fred Lockley, 1243 East Stark St.  Portland, Oregon.  https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/defaults/12579t43z

Gerald W. Williams Collection

³ Ibid, page 17

⁴ Ibid, page 18

⁵ Ibid, page 20

⁶ Ibid, page 21

⁷ Ibid, page 24

⁸ Ibid, page 25.

⁹ Ibid, page 20

¹0 Ibid, page 21

¹1 Lloyd, John, Oregon Territory to Robert Lloyd.  25 March 1847. Letter. Digitized copy privately held by Sydney Gabel.  Original letter donated by Sydney Gabel to Fort Walla Walla Museum in Walla Walla, Washington.

¹2 Clark, Kenneth and Lowell Tiller.  Terrible Trail: the Meek Cutoff, 1845.  The Caxton Printers, LTD. Caldwell, Idaho 1966,  LOC No. 66-23403

#17 At Worship. Ancestor's Church in Germany 52 Ancestors in a Year

#17   At Worship   Ancestor’s Church in Germany    52 Ancestors in a Year

One of the items I inherited in the family genealogy collection, was the history of my 2nd great grandfather, Peter Paul Deewall, written by his daughter, Mary Etta Deewall Kurtz.  (my great grandmother).

The history was written only about Peter’s life in Pennsylvania, how he left Germany but nothing of his parents or life in Germany.   Peter has always intrigued me as there was no information before he arrived in Pennsylvania.  Researching, I found census records and as well as his declaration of intent and naturalization information through the Lycoming County Genealogical Society.  He was naturalized in 2 October 1852, stating that he had arrived in 1842 from the Kingdom of Brist.  I could never find the Kingdom of Brist nor could I find his name on a passenger list.  A tip from a  familysearch.org search led me to further research, but using different ideas and names.  Finding him on a passenger list in 1842, was a huge triumph!  The name was Peter Paul Duval and he and his traveling group left from LeHavre in May of 1842, arriving in New York on May 23rd, 1842.  The group he was traveling with were mentioned in his life history.  The tip which led me to continue research was the confirmation of his “best friend” at church in Ludweiler,  which led me to find Peter Paul’s birth, baptism and confirmation.  In Ludweiler, Saarland, Germany!  (current name is Ludweiler-Warndt).  Information on films from the Family History Library led me to learn the names of his parents.  As well as when the group left for Amerika.

Ludweiler is near the French border and in a forest and mining area.  The Hugenots began immigrating to the area in 1604.  The landmark is the Hugenottenkirche, built in 1785.  The current church had some new construction in the 1960’s.  

On our next trip to Germany in 2015 to visit our son and his wife  & grandson, came with a request from Mom—can we please go to Ludweiler???  It was quite a distance from where he lived, and we stayed overnight in Saarbücken.  

The next morning driving into Ludweiler-Warndt was mind blowing. I couldn't imagine I was actually going to ancestor's village and church in Germany.   When we saw the church where Peter Paul had worshipped it was intimidating and exciting to think I was on the same ground as my 2nd great grandfather walked in 1842!  

My husband & I walked to the door of the church, which was slightly ajar.  

We were not sure of protocol, but peeked inside.  Inside were several women working, probably preparing for the next day’s Sunday service.  The lady that came to meet us could not speak English, and we could not speak German.  But I had my research material and showed her the confirmation information, as well as baptism and birth; she understood Konfirmation!  

She was elated that a “relative” had come and quickly ushered us into the archives.  Although we couldn’t touch a thing, I could take pictures.  None of the original records were there though.  She was not sure where they have been taken.  (or we couldn’t understand each other)  

She insisted that she would give us a tour and lovingly showed off the organ that had recently been refurbished.  It was 150 years old!  She inquired if we would be in church the next day, but we couldn’t stay.  I was disappointed too.  I never considered that we would be welcomed for church.  

The Pipe Organ

Driving home through the area that my ancestors had lived truly a humbling experience.  And a highlight of our trip to Germany.  

Side steps leading to the front door

Stonework and insignia

Sanctuary

Hugenot Cross on right side.

Pulpit lecturn was different

Stained Glass above the entrance door

#16. Out of Place. 52 Ancestors in a Year

#16   Out of Place

Washington farm girl marries Montana veterinarian!

Mom with her brother, George.  Probably about 1943-44.

Waitsburg, Washington

The music Green Acres is playing in my ears when I think of the courtship and marriage of my mother, Helen Lloyd and my father Don Shaffner.

Sweetheart Ball

Helen was from eastern Washington, Waitsburg.  Her father had a meat market and a farm.   She was from a pioneer family who settled in Waitsburg in 1859.  As she went through school, Helen learned to play the piano and organ.  In college she was in the orchestra, and marching band, playing the kettle drum or tympani.  Her love of music was predominant in her life.  

Don came from a ranching family in Beaverhead County, Montana where his father had married in 1913 and homesteaded in 1915.  Montana was in his blood.

Don went to Montana State College for a couple of years before joining the National Guard and serving in the South Pacific in World War II.  When he came home, he applied and was accepted to veterinary college in 1945 at Washington State College in Pullman, Washington.  College on the G. I. Bill was a way to obtain an education and becoming a veterinarian was a huge accomplishment.  Because of his knowledge from the ranch, he told stories of teaching professors how to lay an animal safely on the ground, such as for a horse surgery or a c-section on a cow. 

Washington State College is where Helen and Don met.  I have not yet learned how they met or where, but I think Dad  stayed at a boarding house run by Ethel Thorton, Mom’s godmother.  Her scrapbooks are full of notations….”decided to make this a partnership”, “went to Spokane for a ring”, “will get a ring on my finger”.  They were married in 1946, moving to Dillon, Montana after Don graduated from Veterinary School in 1949.  

Graduation 1946

Helen didn’t like horses as her father had race horses and she fell off once and hurt her back.  She was allergic to all animals; cats, dogs, horses, cows. A ranching family in Beaverhead County, Montana was totally different than her family in eastern Washington.  One of her first trips to Dillon was for Labor Day which is a big rodeo weekend.  She was shocked at the bars, liquor and poker games.   She was totally “out of place”! 

First time to Dillon, Montana

Labor Day 1949

Yet, the marriage survived for 55 years.  Music was Helen’s vice and gift.   I think she played for her first wedding in 1944 in Waitsburg for her friends Pat & Roy.  In Dillon she gave piano lessons, played the organ at the Presbyterian church nearly every Sunday,  played in a community band and played for untold weddings and funerals.  For approximately 50 years she gifted others with her music.  

Her piano

I remember when she bought it; she was thrilled.

Playing for a wedding in August 1978

So how did this farm girl from Washington survive with a veterinarian?  When they bought the hospital, she did the bookwork.  She learned to wash dirty clothes, blankets and answer phone calls when a rancher said he needed a vet because his bull was “hurt”.  (translate: broken penis). She tried not to do anything else in the veterinary hospital.  A story of a taxi cab driver bringing a cat to the clinic for a client and the cat racing through the clinic after the clinic cat, racing through Venetian blinds and Mom chasing the cat’s is a favorite story. 

When they bought the ranch, she supported her husband in another venture.  When her husband needed someone to take their daughters to the ranch, she drove them (before they had drivers licenses).   But she couldn’t hold the reins of their horses if they handed them to her.  Yet she bravely waved to my sister and I as we took off to gather cattle or ride in 10,000 acres.  She knew the dangers, but she never let on.  Well maybe once or twice.  I remember her in tears when I rode a stallion in the Dillon parade when I was 6 years old.  

When we were trailing cattle, a memory for many is the lunches that she packed.  Saddlebag lunches consisted of 1-2 sandwiches, a can of fruit with a spoon, a hard boiled egg (that was peeled), candy, homemade cookies and whatever else she might add.  Now there might be 5-8 of us, but the lunches were ready when we left the house before dawn!  

When we were trailing down the road, Mom would show up with lunch packed in coolers in the truck of her car, after driving 40 miles to get to us.  

Helen was a giver.  Whether it was for food for a family who lost a loved one, or the birth of new baby, Helen had a dish ready for them.  She gave her talents to organizations, the local hospital auxiliary, the National Women’s Auxiliary to the Veterinary Medical Association (national treasurer), Girl Scouts, 4-H; Helen never said no.  

She began married life “out of place” but ended up creating a home for her husband and daughters, while remembering kindness and giving, she found “her place”.

The only picture of her on a horse at our ranch

I am not sure why that day, she decided to ride.

It was a huge milestone for her.

Gail, Mom and Dad

#15 DNA. 52 Ancestors in a Year

#15  DNA.  52 Ancestors in a Year

I embraced the DNA concept when it began and quickly submitted my husband’s DNA as well as mine.  Surely DNA would someday help in breaking through the brick walls of Shaffner, Kurtz and Gabel ancestors.  Since my husband had ancestors that immigrated from Russia, originally Germans that immigrated to the Volga region, and that ancestry is particularly hard to research, I just knew DNA would help.   And those Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors in Pennsylvania would surely leave DNA that would link me to ancestors.  I certainly didn’t think about non-paternal events!  My thoughts were on DNA from a long time ago. 

Imagine my surprise one morning when my husband had a new first cousin that shared matches with his paternal side. As well as shared matches with other known first cousins.   It is a big family and I thought I knew them all or at least their names.  This name was unknown, so I quickly sent a message to the administrator of the account.  She responded with information of an adoption and the name of the birth mother.  Yes, he had an aunt by that name, but the location of the adoption was miles away and states away from where she lived at the time.  It simply couldn’t be true.  But the family is good at secrets.  I questioned a few who might have known but they were shocked too at the discovery.  The typical  responses were expected; such as, no way my sister would have done that, to DNA is wrong. 

Why was the birth mother at this location at the time of birth?  Since all the players are deceased and those who might have known were deceased, it was difficult to unearth.  My mother-in-law remembered one pertinent detail.  The birth mother had lived with her mother’s brother and his wife while she was growing up.  I quickly added that family line to my Ancestry Family Tree.  A shaking leaf appeared for another uncle, her mother’s brother living in the location of the adoption!  Finally an explanation!  “Shaking leaves” can be good!”

The final information came from another person who had heard of my search.  She told me in confidence, that one of the birth mother’s sisters had told her of the child given up for adoption.  I was honored on Mother’s Day of 2018 to inform the adoptee that we had confirmed her birth mother.

I created a collage of pictures of the family, including aunts, uncles and first cousins.  There is a definite family resemblance.  

I have been able to furnish the “new 1st Cousin” with history of her family.  What a joy for her to discover she had family after 71 years of wondering.  

There are still some unanswered questions and hopefully we will find the answers.  

I keep wondering about the birth mother.  Knowing her economic circumstances in 1947 and unmarried, I understand the why.  Knowing the birth mother, I suspect it was a tough decision and one she carried in her heart for life.  I think she “knows” of our discovery and is now at peace.  

We have not met the new “first cousin”, but look forward to her visit in the summer of 2019.