|
a.
|
Note: Biographical Material--"Madonna of the Trail" by Leona Logue Schneiter-Undated, Unpublished compilation, pages 7-8
" I wish to quote this excerpt from a letter from Helen Beck, a great-granddaughter of Katy Margaret (McKenzie) Durbin. 'Your most welcome letter arrived, establishing the fact that we are distant cousins. I was surprised to learn that Honora McKenzie (i.e. Honora [McKenzie] Logue) was your grandmother. Great Grandma often mentioned her sister Honora. When I was a little girl, she told me that when her family made the journey from Knox County, Ohio, to Illinois that her seventeen-year old sister Honora walked all the way. She also said sister Honora wore the same dress the entire journey and when they arrived in Illinois, the dress was in tatters and shreds around her ankles.' We can note here that with 1826 as Honora's birth year and seventeen her age when they emigrated, the year the McKenzie's came to Illinois would have been 1843."
"Regardless of her large family and her many duties, we are told by our fathers that Grandmother Honora, with her soft-spoken voice and great love for her family, always retained the characteristics of a lady, an inheritance from her ancestors. This same characteristic we find in many of her descendants. She gave her complete thought to the care of her home and the welfare and indulgence of her family. The latter was shown in the care she took that for William, who had a taste for sweets, there was always a dessert to his liking, and for Norman, the youngest, nine years old at the time of her death, who on occasion she still rocked in his cradle. We can be sure that the same tender thought and care was given also to the older boys."
"This kind of home life remained with each one of the boys long after they had established homes of their own. They were never happier than when they could get together for a visit, and these visits had to be often, even though Uncle Lou and Uncle Maurice lived at Martinsville, Clark County, a great distance in those days. I can see them yet--these tall men, hands in pockets, laughing and joking, oblivious to all else except the joy of being together again. Their deep interest in the affairs of each other and their love, completely void of selfishness, may have been due partially to inheritance, but we love to think of it as the outgrowth of the home atmosphere of Grandfather and Grandmother Logue."
"We must note here that all six boys, when grown, were six feet and some over in height, leading us to believe that both parents must have been tall. They were a gay and happy group--they sang, they whistled, they danced. Often when popular songs burst forth with too much gusto, Grandfather, who considered this type of song 'worldly,' was heard to tell them they had better be saying their prayers."
"In addition to being a happy group, we find them to have been very friendly and sociable. We catch a glimpse of just how cordial their welcome could be from this story told by a young man whom they had met and invited to their home--the story goes thus: 'When I rode up to the farmyard gate, I saw two doors of the house open immediately and coming from each were two tall young men calling hearty greetings. The two of them, with a few strides, were soon opening the gate for me and while one of them took my horse to stable, the other escorted me to the yard gate held open by the others and all lead the way to the house.' With welcomes such as this for friends, we can understand the need for the elasticity of grandfather's table."
"Besides the little oxen yoke described in the story of their Grandfather Henry (Henry Payne Logue), the old Seth Thomas clock for which Grandfather Henry paid three five-dollar gold pieces at the time he set up his home remains in the family, and this clock is now the property of his great grandson Norman Logue. This clock made the trip to Kansas and back in the covered wagon and is still running though now more than one hundred years old. Uncle Frank told us that it was a very good clock, and he remembered well that as children they watched their father each night when he climbed up to wind the clock. With so many busy hands about, we can understand why it was placed so high on the wall that even Grandfather had to climb up to reach it."
"Grandmother Honora passed away when only forty-five years of age. With the loss of this mother, one so loved and so loving was thus taken from this family in whom she had so effectively instilled the Great Commandment, 'Love one another.' They laid her in St. Bonaventure Cemetery. Inscribed on her monument is the following: 'Nora, wife of Edward Logue, died Jan. 5, 1873, aged 45 years, 2 months, and 15 days,' and this touching verse:"
"Dearest Mother thou has left us And your loss we deeply feel. But, 'tis God who thus bereft us He can all our sorrows heal."
|
