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to read page # 1 click Her father became suspicious because he'd heard about a dance and he figured out exactly what Rosie was doing. So he went to the dance. Sure enough, Rosie was dancing up a storm with a fellow her father didn't like, so he jerked her from the dance floor and took her home. Now Rosie was quite attractive with her shiny, curly coal black hair and snapping black eyes, that always had quite a sparkle in them, or was it mischief showing? She was tall and had a fine figure, and had opportunities for a lot of fun. Must have been the results of her Irish, English and Indian blood mixture. When Grandma Rosa met Grandpa, he was working on the railroad at Cedar Gap, Mo., under Grandma's Uncle Ed Connelly. Grandma was visiting her Aunt Ella and they had fixed lunch for Uncle Ed. He had brought Grandpa home to eat lunch with him. Grandma had on an old tight dress with patches over her boobs. Grandpa fell for her instantly. (Aunt Kate told me this, passed down from Grandma probably, as Grandma was next to windy when telling a story). When Grandma was 19 and Grandpa was 24, they were married, March 19th, 1893. Ten months later, not wasting time, they had Lavernie, Jan. 20th, 1894. Then Aunt Kate, July 23rd, 1895; Uncle Walter, June 10th, 1897, Uncle Clarence, Feb. 4th, 1899. All born in Cedar Gap of Wright County, Mo. In 1900 they moved by railroad from Cedar Gap to Windsor, Mo. for a short while. The railroad brought railroad cars for them to live in. March 4th, 1901, Uncle Tom was born here in Pettis County, Mo. Dec. 28th, 1902, Mary was born in Green Ridge, Mo. Then May 7th, 1905, Aunt Alta: April Fools Day, 1907, Aunt Maude; Feb. 23rd, 1909, Aunt Mabel: June 5th, 1911, Uncle Oscar; Dec. 16th, 1914, Aunt Emma Lois; Aug. 22th, 1916, Uncle Ed, and last of all Aunt Pauline, July 21st, 1920. (Cousin John's "piss aunt", as he called her because she was younger than him.) Thirteen blessings, in all those days that didn't have "Pampers". Grandpa sort of let Grandma run the show, guess he thought otherwise was a lost cause. He loved her and she was the world and couldn't do anything really wrong. Maybe, he evened the score by taming her with all the young-uns; although each time she was perturbed at him for getting her in that condition, to her, each one was always sweet and precious. Both of them felt that way about their children. Grandpa worked for a dollar a day on the railroad in the beginning and kept them fed and clothed. Grandma baked all her bread, a dishpan full every day. A loaf of bread from the store was like dessert to them, to us homemade bread is a dessert. A school was established especially for the Butcher children at Bryson. The nearest school was 2 1/2 miles away and if the creek was up, another extra 1/2 mile to cross it. Grandpa went to the Supt. of the railroad and asked for a transfer. The Supt. ask why he wanted the transfer and said they needed him there at that section. Grandpa told him there wasn't a school near. The Supt. said he'd see about a transfer, but instead went to the city officials and told them they needed a school at Bryson. The officials passed the necessary papers and built the school right away.
Now we come to some incidents concerning the blessing of Rosa and Bill. Walter and Clarence slept in the same bed. Walter on the front side and Clarence on the back side. Walter did something he knew he'd get in trouble for and Clarence didn't know about it. Walter talked Clarence into changing sides of the bed. Now, Grandma couldn't catch the boys to punish them until they went to bed. Clarence, the innocent one got the licking. Lavernie and Kate kept the yard. They swept it, as there wasn't any grass, the kids kept the grass worn off. Lavernie did most of the house work and Aunt Kate took care of the babies. Being the oldest they had to be responsible and protective of the others. Boys will be boys. They had a game they called "chicken". On Sundays the teenagers would race the buggies. Walter was sixteen and like to participate. They would get in the road and try to lock the wheels with the buggies, instead of letting each other win. The poor horses were winded and the buggies torn up. Probably , had the parents upset wondering how the buggies got torn up. Walter was called "The Dude" at home, because he was extra clean, was a fancy dresser, and real handsome. Clarence was the tender hearted one, good to the whole family, but a little hot tempered. One day Grandpa went to Windsor, Clarence got mad at the girls and threw a brick at them. When he was a baby, a neighbor man offered Grandma $500.00 for him. Grandma was very indignant, the old Irish blood boiling, politely told him, that she didn't have any children for sale! Click here for page # 3 |
