Our first year in this little home which was 1893 was the year of the Worlds Fair in Chicago. My husband was ticket agent and telegraph operator at the depot. He sold many tickets to the Worlds Fair and we made many pleasant trips and spent many days at the fair. I also went and took brother Fred several days.

We left little Paul in good care of a dear friend. During the summer my aunt and cousin came from Kansas, and were there for several weeks. It was the year the Cherokee strip was opened in Oklahoma and my uncle and another son did not come till after that as he ran for some land but I think failed to secure any. Then my aunt, uncle and two cousins went to the fair and from there went on home to Kansas. We lived in our little home from about April 15th, 1893 to November 30th, 1903.

We had good neighbors and had a very nice time among ourselves. We often would get together and pop corn and have nuts or sandwiches and coffee in the evening. I went into the Eastern Star while here.

After I had recovered my health in other ways, I had a bad case of bronchial asthma. So it was quite a task to take care of my children and do my work. Their daddy worked from seven a.m. to seven p.m. and often far into the night when there were carloads of stock shipped out. Later I was elected librarian of our Sunday School which office I held until we moved away.

In 1900 my husband ran for County Recorder. He was defeated by very few votes. Two years later he ran for County Auditor. Was elected by a large majority, so we moved to the county seat November 30th, 1903. He took office January 1st, 1904. Here we rented half of a double house. Our son had started in High School before we moved so he went into High School at the county seat.

After going into the Eastern Star I was appointed a point of the star. After we went to the county seat to live I demitted, left the chapter I went into first and joined our chapter at the county seat. Very soon was elected to an office which gave me an opportunity to go through the chairs and was elected to the highest office which I served the year of 1909 as Worthy Matron. I was elected to serve as librarian of our Sunday School here where I served nine years. Then I resigned because I was not well.

Since I had graduated in plain and ornamental penmanship, I had learned to make fine lace as well as battenburg and many kinds of embroidery, I was invited by the president of the agricultural society of two fairs (county) in northern Indiana to be the sole judge in the art departments of each fair to pass on all fancy work, canned goods, baking goods and home made candy.

Since one fair was held in September and the other in October, I took care of both very nicely. I was paid five dollars a day and all expenses and furnished my meal tickets and transportation. I also helped my husband in the County Auditors office at the court house, which came very easy for me since I had worked in County Court houses in two towns in Ohio before I was married.

After living here two years we bought a lovely home across the street from the courthouse on a lovely corner. We had twelve large rooms. We lived in this home about ten years. We enjoyed some of the nicest neighbors here I have ever known. My son graduated from high school in June of 1907. November, 1910, I entered a large hospital in Chicago and underwent a serious operation. I recovered from that nicely but must return to the same hospital in April, 1911 for another operation.

My husband finished his term of office as County Auditor December 31st, 1907, making four years. He and a friend had organized a bank, which was ready to open and start business January 1st, 1908. There were two banks in the little city, a State Bank and a National Bank, but the new bank grew and thrived beyond their expectations. It was a trust company. Later when the depression came on, both the State and National bank failed. This new trust company bank is still running strong (this year 1942) and is the largest bank in that county today. It is now in other hands as the organizers and stockholders are all gone.

April, 1914 we sold our home and our bank stock and decided to go to California for my husband's health. So we sold most of our furniture and visited relatives in Michigan and Ohio also in Hammond, Indiana and Chicago. Then took the train for California. We made many pleasure side trips and stopovers on the way. In Denver, we took sightseeing trips and also spent a day or two with relatives and friends.

When we went to the depot in Denver to take the train one morning we met a small family, father, mother and son. There was some mistake and they were given our reservation. In their party were the three mentioned above. In our party was my husband, myself, son and daughter. The mistake was straightened out satisfactorily and we became fast friends which is lasting to this day which is from 1914 to 1945. From starting in Denver on west our two families traveled together and had lots of fun and a very pleasant trip.

We stopped off at Colorado Springs and went sightseeing. We first found a nice place with a private family where we roomed and boarded for about three days and nights. We saw most things of interest, such as going to top of Pike's Peak, Cave of the Winds, Garden of the Gods and other places of interest. Our next stop was Salt Lake City. We took a sight-seeing bus and saw Brigham Young's grave as well as other notables and of course was in the Mormon Tabernacle, heard them drop a pin, distinctly heard the big organ play and took some pictures. This immense and beautiful building is supposed to be erected and put together without a nail. We saw the Lion House. The house where a number (I forgot how many) of Brigham Young's favorite wives lived together.

We enjoyed seeing the monument erected to the sea gulls, because when millions of locusts settled in Salt Lake and everything growing was about to be destroyed, the sea gulls came by hundreds and ate the locusts. We also took a picture of the monument.

Our next stop was San Francisco. We went into Oakland on the train. It was after dark early evening. We left the train and transferred to the FerryBoat. Such an interesting trip across the Golden Gate. The boat was so large and wonderful. It carried many, many autos and trucks. And hundreds of people as well as tons of freight and baggage. The trip across the bay took from 20 to 25 minutes. There was a large dining room on the boat and many ate their dinner on the boat.

The first thing I noticed on the San Francisco side was an enormous '57' on a hillside or large building in neon lights which could be seen for miles, "57 Varieties" of course. As soon as we embarked from the Ferry we took a hack and went to a hotel. One of the fine ones. We washed and brushed-up and had a fine dinner. After a while we went to our rooms.

The next morning after breakfast we started out sightseeing. We took what was called a rubberneck (a large bus). We had our pictures taken on the trip. We saw seal rocks, Cliffhouse, which afterward burned. The new one to my mind is not so attractive. We also saw Golden Gate Park, the aquarium, zoo and beautiful flowers. And too we visited the Sutro Park and the mint and all parts of the city. Then after several days in San Francisco, we came to Los Angeles.

We found a nice apartment house at the corner of Hope and Fifth Streets. So we all stopped there. This was October, 1914. The next morning we called on some old friends who came here several years before from our home in Indiana. One friend was owner of a livery stable. He loaned us a nice two seated carriage and we (my husband, son, daughter and myself) started out to find a location where we thought we might like to buy or build a home.

We looked around Hollywood and San Fernando Valley. The next day another old friend from the east, came to our apartment and took us by streetcar to another small suburban town, and introduced us to a nice real estate man. He took us out and showed us a lot on the main boulevard, which we bought and afterwards have a 99-year lease, which proved to be a fine investment.

The next day, we went back to the same real estate man, and he showed us a nice lot just a block from the main boulevard, which we bought and built our home on it.¹ As soon as we found a place to live, our daughter² started in the senior class in high school and graduated June 16th, 1915. The following September she started to a small college³ which she attended until she went to Montana.

While building our home, we rented a nice furnished house with everything, including a piano. The owner was a widow with boy and girl. We all enjoyed the family and they enjoyed our family, and when our home was finished, the owner said she would rather we would stay in her house for nothing, rather than to have us move. She went down to our new home with us and helped us get settled and fixed our windows and curtains for us.

We made friends soon after we came to California with a family, also from Indiana, who had a son and daughter. The son's name was same as our son's and their daughter and our daughter were born on same day, Valentine's day, and have always been fast friends. One was born at 8:00 am and other at 2:00 p.m. same day. We had nice times visiting each other. Many times in the evening. I can see the four young folks around the piano singing "You wore a tulip, and I wore a big red rose".

The father who had been a good businessman was not able to go into any kind of business or work so we were at home without much to do other than keep the home fires burning. He and our new found friend did build a mushroom house in our back yard at our new home. He raised some very nice ones and sold for a good price.

While living in California we had some pleasant reunions with friends we had known in the east. One afternoon there were sixty ladies there. We took many nice trips while living near Los Angeles, the year and a half before we went to Montana. We were in most all towns and cities in Southern California. New Years eve, December 31st, 1914, we went with some neighbors to Exposition Park, later called Olympic Park. We were there about 5 p.m. Saw the beautiful Nativity and sat there in chairs out of doors from 5 p.m. to near midnight. The weather was as balmy as June in the east. The play was beautiful.

My son had a pet dog in Indiana. One of our neighbors kept her for us until we were located in California and sent her to us by express. He had a box ready for shipping, with dish for water and another for food fastened secure. When she reached us she was so happy she ran around and around and jumped on first one then another of us. That was about the last of October, 1914. The following August she died. We were all pretty badly broken up. Especially the boy. Soon after the loss of his dog he went to Montana and filed on a homestead. We lived in our new home from January, 1915 to May, 1916. Then we stored our furniture, rented our home and we went to Montana where our son was.

Our move to Montana was made in May, 1916. Our boy thought the climate would be good for his father. He had filed on a homestead of 320 acres. The country was rolling prairie, with quite deep coulees. The second coulee north of our place was called rattlesnake coulee. We were seventy miles north of the small town.⁴ We had a few neighbors near us from our home in the east. People there were very scarce and nearest neighbor two miles away.

Our son had built a small shack on the place. Four very small rooms of rough boards. The outside covered with black tar paper to keep out the wind and flies from the cracks. The windows were small and set high as range horses would eat off the windowsills, and range cows run their horns through the windowpanes.

Instead of fencing stock in, the ranchers fence their land in to keep stock out. The stock is branded and turned loose to wander on the range until often in the fall, when men on horse-back "ride" as they call it to round up the stock which often has wondered miles away, often into Canada.

After hard deep snows, which the stock, (both horses and cows) eat for water, they also paw the snow away and eat the virgin grass, which is very nutritious and even contains a sufficient amount of salt. The temperature is very high in summer but season is short. In winter often reaches from 35 to 65 below zero. In summer is quite light from 4:00 am to 10:00 p.m. In winter is getting dark from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 am. Season too short to raise much garden and too dry as very little rain in summer.

Our shack on the homestead was not warm enough for the winter months so we closed it up each November, and had a small, very comfortable and warm house in town where we lived until April. We lived on the homestead three summers. I planted garden on the homestead each summer. I had to carry water up a steep hill to try to keep at least a part of the garden growing. The first summer I only had two medium size cucumbers after my summers work. The second I had some Swiss chard. The third summer we had some rains and I had so much I hardly knew what to do with it.