Monday, June 24th, 1935

Called back to work!

The guy came and called Lloyd back to work. Mary made a pie from the cherries that were given to her to put in his lunch bucket. Things are looking up.

Even the kids are being good. Oh, boy. Lloyd brought her home 5 pounds of salt!

Tuesday, April 9th, 1935

No phone, no car

Two things that stand out in these pages are the simplicity of life. They have no phone; no car. Mary goes over to Bosh's to make a call; they get with Albert about driving them "home," meaning over through Morrow County and down to her mother's place, presumedly still on Chambers Road, Porter Township, Delaware County.

And there are simple pleasures of this era; simple things like the joy of beating her husband at cards, and eating new tomatoes for dinner and planning for a drive out to the country, far away from the bustling city of Marion with its steam engines, factories, busy streets and close neighbors.

Monday, April 1st, 1935

All fools day

There's a good bit of content in these first four days of April. Mary tells fortunes again and gets fooled.

Bertine is mentioned for the first time. Who is this?

Lloyd almost forgot to go for his surplus. What is this? Is it like the surplus cheese the government was passing out in the 80's? Was there surplus food or clothing available during the depression?

Did you ever miss school because of a wardrobe malfunction? Leo did on April 4th. I guess baggy pants were not in style in 1935.

Also on the 4th, Albert "got the machine" and took her and D.J. somewhere. Does that mean he got his car? Lloyd and Mary do not have a car.

(Don't forget. You can click on the image to enlarge it. Also, leave comments. Your thoughts and reflections are welcomed! And that's no April fool.)

Thursday, March 28th, 1935

She gets the news

Mary writes about a nurse coming to their home. The nurse, out of concern, made a follow up visit the next day. That following day, March 30th, she writes that she "gets the news."

The news, no doubt, is that she is pregnant on top of the other medical problems she is having. Later this year she will give birth to David Arthur, my father.

She may have had some cramps, but sugar cakes make life worth living.

Saturday, March 16th, 1935

Lonesome day

The importance of family and friends to Mary is evident in her Sunday St. Patrick's Day entry. She said they "looked for company, but nobody came," and then finally summed up the day with a simple statement. "Lonesome day."

The family worked hard on Saturday, planting early spring foods like onions, lettuce and radishes, and also baking pies and bread. It must have been a warm cozy kitchen this day!

Lloyd gets to feeling poorly, and when Dr. Grover comes by, cracks his neck. On the 19th, Mae is mention again as she stops by and drops off a can of peaches. We recently learned that Mae is not technically family to Mary and Lloyd. Lloyd's brother Albert married Nellie Kelley and Mae is the daugher of Nellie's twin sister, Stella. So Mae is Mary's brother-in-law's niece. Got that?

Tuesday, March 12, 1935

"I walked... holding my crutches."

In this installment we have a little better view on Mary's ailment. Whatever has been troubling her, her toes or whatever, we now know that her condition was such that she was also using crutches to get around. She walked clear to Haynes, whoever they are, but the use of crutches.

Old Jerry is mentioned on the 12th. He was at grandma's, grandma being her grandmother Jennie Slane. But who is Jerry? Jennie is married to Frank Slane. On this same day, Clarence, his girl and Leada is mentioned. Leada is a misspelling of Clarence's sister's name, Leta. Mae has been frequently mentioned in this diary. Who exactly is she?

We learn that Mary knows a thing or two about sewing as she reports she has made a dress for her little girl, Dorothy.

An astute reader of this blog noted that on March 7th Mary noted Mrs. R's weight, and then a second number was also entered; 182. Also, on January 5th, following her entry for the day, the number 183 appears. It was observed that perhaps she was noting her weight. I think the observation has merit.

Note: If you would like to explore real record sources online and search out this or other families, check out this free access website: http://search.labs.familysearch.org/

Sunday, February 24th, 1935

Three generations

Mary's mother comes to visit and the visit nearly scares her to death. I wonder how her mother did that? Mary's mother is Lenora (Wright) Hemminger, a widow. Her husband, Ovella Hemminger, died just a little previous to a year ago, on December 1st, 1933. The grandmother that Lenora is going to visit is her husband's mother, Jennie (Steel) Slane, so on these pages we see reference to three generations.

I once met a woman who was well acquainted with Porter Township, Delaware County where the Hemminger's lived. She got on the phone with her aged father who had been some sort of agri-business salesman and knew everyone. She asked him for me, "Dad, did you know Ovella Hemminger?"

"Wello?" says he, "oh, yeah. Lived on Chambers Road, by the covered bridge." Bing!

The point of the call was to validate what I'd heard about my great-grandfather Ovello Hemminger.

"Dad, was he a bootlegger?" my friend asked.

"Oh, yeah," says he. So there you have it, straight from a personal witness. Prohibition ended just days after his death.

On Sunday the 24th, the shower referenced here is Harry and Richardine's belated wedding shower. But who is Floyd? Any ideas anyone?

Tuesday, February 12th, 1935

Tenth wedding anniversary

Thursday the 14th, Valentine's Day, was Mary and Lloyd's tenth wedding anniversary. They ran off to Monroe, Michigan on Valentine's Day, 1925. You can see the official marriage record at Family Search Record Search: http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start Search on Lloyd Benson, marriage, 1925, Monroe, Monroe, Michigan. Shazam!

You might notice that some of the facts reported to Monroe County when taking out the marriage license were less than accurate.

Included in this post are a couple bonus images. Hope you enjoy viewing them. Happy Anniversary, Grandma!

Friday, January 11th, 1935

Roosevelt's camp, chickenpox and wrestling

Mary notes that someone advises her to go to one of Roosevelt's Camps. She didn't do it.

Her seven year old son Paul, the second oldest child, comes down with the chickenpox. This is the opening of what is to be a very serious illness.

Her oldest son, 8-year old Leo Richard, is mentioned here for the first time and he goes off with is father and Uncle Roy to the wrestling matches.