|
a.
|
Note: Luminda Amon Downs Ellis
My Mother
by Helen Irene Ellis Seal
She was bom in Tennessee, October 11, 1876, to David Downs and Nellie
Winscott Simpson. She was the third wife for David and may have also
been the third husband for Nellie, as the name Turner is mentioned als
I have heard she may have had 3 children but, have only heard the na
one. (Laura Belle). David was married the first time to Mary McCauley,
who died soon after their first child (Lorenzo Dow) was bom. He married
again (Victoria Ross), they had 6 children, two who died in childhood.
Victoria died after the last child was born.
When David married Nellie, he had five living children aged 12 to
possibly less than one year. I have heard that when Nellie came to his
house she brought books, music, and was very well educated and a loving
mother to them all. She lived to raise most of her step children but,
had 7 more, one set of twins died at birth, about one year after, she h
one more baby but, died soon after at the age of 41. Mom and Aunt
Florence had to take charge of the family. Mom was almost 11 by then a
Florence 9. The older half brother was home for awhile and helped wh
could but, joined the army as soon as he was of age. There were three
children younger than mom, one a new born, mom's half sister Ellen Cook
took the baby and kept him until he was one year old. I think she had a
young baby of her own and must have nursed Ed also, as at that time very
few babies survived on cows milk. Mom and Aunt Florence then had to ta
turns going to school since one of them had to take care of the baby.
In 1889, Oklahoma was opened up for settlers and Grandpa Downs wanted to
make the run for land. None of the older boys were at home anymore. M
was about 13 with the three younger than her. Uncle Ed (Louis Edward
Downs), who was youngest was only around two. It seems now like a very
foolish thing for him to do but, he I'm sure had to fix up a covered
wagon and take along supplies for him and the children, things for
cooking as I am sure mom had to cook over a camp fire. They were doing
quite well until there were up in Kansas. It was dry up there and no
grass for the homes and sometimes they had to pay the farmers for wate
Some of the kids were sick and they began to meet wagons coming back.
Some of them told him things were bad where they had to wait for the ru
and he would never be able to leave the children alone when he went for
the run. He decided to turn around and head back home. That must have
been a big disappointment for him. Mom told a story about having to
drive the wagon down a mountain where it was one rock after another
because her dad was so sick he had to lie down in the wagon and she was
so afraid he might die, like her mother did and she would be left with
the young children and no where to go. They had a hard trip back to
where Ellen lived and before they could make the last 10 miles, the
horses were so tired and the kids hungry, he saw an abandoned cabin and
pulled in there to spend the night. He took his gun to find a rabbit or
squirrel to feed them. He came back with a squirrel. Mom cooked it and
had just a little flour to make dumplings. She was out of salt but, th
had something to eat.
The next morning some one saw them there and came to help them out. One
was a good looking young man, tall with dark hair and a mustache. He h
a homestead near there. They stayed in there in the cabin until the
horses were rested and then went on to WillIow Springs. Mom was sick f
a long time after they got home. She was unable to get out of bed and
always had this hump in her back the rest of her life.
Nate Ellis was the tall young man who came to help them out. It seems
that David Downs liked the people in Douglas County, or it might just
have been meant for mom and dad to meet. Anyway, sometime later after
mom was well again, he decided to go back where the neighbors had treat
him so well. I don't know if he homesteaded there or maybe just fou
abandoned cabin again. I don't even know if it was the same one, which
is possible, anyway, he moved his family back there. Nate was still
improving his homestead but, did make a lot of trips to visit the
neighbors. There was Banner School and it was also used as a church.
There were several young ladies who were hoping the young Nate Ellis
would notice them. As mom started to grow up, she still had the hump
high up on her back and still couldn't afford nice clothes but, her and
Florence went to things at the church. Nate didn't go out much but, did
go to church. He also made lots of trips to Mr. Downs house.
It was a custom there at church if a young man was interested in one of
the young ladies he would stand by the door and as the girls came out he
would offer his arm and ask if he may see her home. One day Nate was
waiting and he let all the other girls go by and when mom came out he
offered his arm and asked to see her home. She was very surprised but,
very happy.
Nate had been coming to their place often and he finally got up his ner
enough to ask her father for his daughter's hand in marriage and fou
was fine by him. He asked mom and Florence if they would like to see h
house he had built himself. Later he took mom over and asked her to
marry him, and of course she said yes. She was near 18 but, they waited
until she was 18 on October 11, and were married October 28. She was
very happy as she had been in love with him for some time but, never
thought he would pick her over some much prettier girls. They walked
across a field to his fathers home and were married there.
Nate had fixed up his 3 room house. He had stoves and table and be
had nails on the wall to hang up clothes, also a shelf in kitchen and
nails to hang up pots and pans. They expected a chivarie but, it got
late and they decided they weren't coming and went to bed. They didn't
have a place to set the lamp so put it on the floor and blew it out and
of course that was what the people were waiting for and they started
ringing bells and making all kinds of noise, of course Nate jumped o
bed and when he did he hit the lamp and broke the globe. He didn't have
another lamp but, did have a lantern which he brought in. They had
gotten some treats so, let the people in.
They really didn't have any money but, went and got a few things they
needed on credit. Mom wanted to make the little house pretty but, they
couldn't spend money. She took newspaper and folded strips of them up
and cut some pretty patterns on them and trimmed the edge of her kitchen
shelf and the tops of her windows. She was very happy in her new home.
She did get a little lonely because Nate had lots to do outside and he
had told her the first day they were married she didn't have to help wi
the chores and outside work as she had been expected to do before. One
thing he had wanted to do for her was make her work easier, as he had
watched her try to be a mother to the three younger children. She would
often walk down to where he was plowing and wait under a shade tree till
he would get there to be with him while he rested the horses. It wasn't
long also till she knew a baby was on the way. Little John was born
August 29, 1896, and they were very happy. Nate had hoped for a girl
since he wanted Amon to have a helper but, was proud of his boy. As he
got a little older and the next spring was warming up, Amon would take
him down to watch his dad plow and visit with him awhile. John loved to
see the big horses and would get very excited as they came nearer.
Another winter was over and as the weather warmed up, he really want
watch his dad but, Amon was near to the time for her second child and
just wasn't able to take him. One day as Nate was plowing, his homes
shied and he looked down and just in front was his baby son. He stopped
and lifted his baby son from the soft dirt of the deep furrow. Little
John was supposed to be in his bed asleep, but he awakened and thought
about his dad and the horses and since the door was open just went down
to visit him. By the time he made it there, Nate and the horses were f
away at the other end of the field and being tired getting so far on his
little legs, just lay down in the soft dirt of the furrow and went to
sleep. Amon was surprised to see her husband coming in carrying their
little son she thought was safe in his bed. Of course they knew they h
to do something so this wouldn't happen again. It was warm and they
needed the door open and at least poor people didn't have screens, so my
guess is that Nate built a little gate there.
Nellie Martha Ellis was born June 20,1897. She wasn't a healthy baby as
little John had been and cried a lot. They didn't know what was wrong
but, it was a pretty rough time for all. We would know now that the
mothers milk wasn't agreeing with her and would have put her on a bottle
but, that was not so easy at that time and cow milk might not work out
either. It was a rough time for the first year but, when she could eat
other food she was fine. I hear Nate took his little family to Kans
meet his family while Nellie was still crying most of the time. That
must have been very hard on Amon. His sisters and brothers were able to
have better homes and some even had lace curtains and maybe carpets. I
think they must have traveled by train since Amon was telling about her
first taste of bananas and they were terrible. I think she must have h
a pretty green one. I don't know of any other time she could have been
on a train. On February 6,1899, Lester Elmer was born. He was a big
healthy baby. I don't know but, it seems Amon may not have been too
strong but, some way they managed to wait for four years before they had
their next baby. Gladys Dorn was born April 13,1903.
Nellie Martha would have been about six by then and Johnnie eight. They
had all gone to bed and it was snowing. The next thing little Nellie
knew Nate was getting her and Johnnie up and as they were going to the
neighbors wading in the snow, she fell down and started crying. Nate w
carrying Lester. Nellie said, "I don"t know why he is making us do
this", and little Johnnie said, "Don't you know anything, silly, they're
getting another baby."
All this time Nate had been improving his homestead. Probably clearing
some more land and growing what crops he could, mostly to provide food
for his horses, pigs, chickens, and cattle. He was also raising more
fruit. There were always rocks all over the fields and one little j
little ones did was pile them up in little piles so he could come along
with the wagon and haul them away. It was always hard to get the little
kids to work but, I am sure a lot of the reason Nate took the kids with
him was to give Amon a break. There were always little ones at home
which kept her busy. They both worked from day light to dark but, they
were together and they loved each other and their little children.
There was Banner School 1/2 mile away. Soon Johnnie and Nellie were old
enough to attend. Before she was old enough to go, little Nellie decid
if Johnnie could go she was going too. Amon fixed up a lunch bucket for
both of them and they went to school. The next morning she did it again
and they started out. Just before they reached the little school house,
Nellie changed her mind and a very disgusted older brother had to take
her back home. I think she was content after that to wait until she was
really old enough for school.
Nate and Amon were very happy with their little family. They now had
four children. They took them to church in the wagon and to the general
store where they sold eggs and cream. That was how they got the money
for the few groceries and about everything else. Amon made clothes for
herself and the children as well as shirts for Nate. They had their own
eggs as well as milk from their cows, and made their own butter as well
as what they called curds. We would call it cottage cheese now. Nate
butchered a hog or two each winter. They made their own lard, sausage,
hams, bacon, and other things. Amon knew how to do all these thing
they wanted to eat chicken, they had their own. They were also able to
have rabbit or squirrel as well as fish.
As the children were growing bigger, they began to need more room. The
was an attic but, it was not finished. But, it did have a floor and th
put a bed up there for the older boys. To get up there they had a ladd
fastened to the wall and a trap door to open up.
Later Nate and Amon decided to build another room on the house. With a
the work Nate had to do he was late in the fall making a start on the n
room and soon the cold winter weather also made it difficult. About th
time, Amon had a letter from her brother (James Madison "Matt" Downs)
saying he was coming to see her. The train station was 12 miles away at
Norwood so Nate was expected to drive the wagon up to get them the next
morning. So they were planning an early supper so he could get an early
start the next morning and could be there to bring them home. 12 miles
was a pretty good trip and they would have 12 miles more also, before
they could make it home. It was very cold and snowing. As they were
having their supper of hot mush, they heard a noise outside and a buggy
drove up. It was Matt and his new wife. They were almost frozen. Amon
asked if they had had their supper which they hadn't so, she went right
to work. Nate brought some ham in from the smoke house. With that and
some other things she soon had a nice hot supper for them. They had
hired a man to bring them out since they had made it to Norwood sooner
than they had expected to. Matt's new wife, Mary, was from New York and
had probably lived a pretty comfortable life.
Matt of course had lived like Amon and Nate with just the mere
necessities through his growing up but, had joined the army at a very
young age. Nate and Amon had no where to put them except the attic.
Nellie was a very young girl at the time of the visit but, there were
five more children younger than her. Anyway, Matt and Mary had to climb
the ladder to the attic and spend the night. Where they put the kids, I
do not know. Anyway, the next morning they came down the ladder and
tried to clean up for the day in the kitchen with hot water from the tea
kettle and cold water from the bucket a wash rag and soap and no mirror
or sink. Little Nellie couldn't keep her eyes off of her. She thought
she was so pretty and was wearing a pretty dress. Mary asked if there
had any letters come for them and with her eastern way of talking it
sounded like lettuce and Nellie says, "we don't have lettuce in the
winter." Later they did get the
mail and there was a letter for Matt. They read it and it was from the
army. They said they told him he had to get back to Camp so they got a
ride back to Norwood with the fellow who had brought them out. Amon and
Nate wondered if it was true or if it was because of the accommodation
Anyway it must have been a big disappointment to Amon as she never had a
chance to really have a visit with her brother. She may never have seen
him again but, did have some letters. I have some copies of letters he
had written to Florence (Eunice Florence Downs) and one he wrote to
Myrtle (Ada Myrtle Mace was Florence's daughter) after Florence die
one he was talking about how well Amon and Florence had taken over as t
women of the family in spite of their young years. He was home for
awhile but, joined the army as soon as he was old enough. There was
Walter just older than Amon. I don't know when he left home, but he
wasn't there in 1889 when they tried to make the run in Oklahoma. Walt
was killed in 1916 during the construction of the Oklahoma state capitol
building when an elevator fell on him.
Nate and Amon were happy with their little family. Amon sang as she
worked or rocked her babies. Nate worked very hard to improve his farm
and provide for his family. He was a very honest good hearted man and
very religious. He didn't believe in working on Sunday, but he was so
busy all week he did start working on the children's shoes. The leather
soles would wear out and he would buy a piece of leather and cut out new
soles and tack them on. Seemed like Sundays were the only time he could
do it. He also made shoe strings for us by using the thinner sides of
the shoes and cutting round and around to make the shoe strings. This
didn't keep him from taking his little family to church on Sunday
morning. He never used swear words and swear words, dirty words, were
never heard in our house.
We never heard our father and mother quarrel. The fourth child was a
little girl they named Gladys. She was born April 13,1903. Another gi
was born two years later named Pearl Marie and February 29, 1908, a boy
was born they named Charlie. The oldest daughter, Nellie was old enough
to help Amon some with the work and was helping wash diapers and was
getting pretty tired of that job. There were four more babies born, El
Elsie, Born March 14, 1911, Helen Irene, born March 10, 1913, Alta
Florence, born June 4,1915 and Alpha Harold born November 14,1919. By
that time John was married, also Nellie.
|
