William Joseph FIELD

Notes:

                   EXTRACT HATTIE SCHRAM
She was the 2nd Wife of William Joseph FIELD. Records of birth in Archives at Frankfort, KY indicate her name was Anna not Annie with no middle initial indicated.  From a note from an interview with Clara C. Field Greenhalgh on August 30, 1974 Annie E. Merrill Field's name was changed from Anna after Landon Field named his daughter Anna (after Grandmother) in order to make a distinction between Landon's Anna and Anna Merrill Field.
Moved to Mound City from Kentucky with her parents in 1881 when she was 20 years old.  She apparently had Typhoid Fever as her Mother had it but recovered.  It is said according to notes of R. F. Greenhalgh that she recovered with the help of Dr. Jim Tracy who came to read to her and urged her to recover.  It was said that he was taken with her.
A note written by Grandmother Annie Field, concerning the death of Lucy M. FIELD Pebley, written on an envelope with a postage date of Feb. 24, 1950.  It was in grandmother's hand writing.  I have left out a few words which will appear in the photostat as they had a red line drawn through them in the original copy.
Thank you, all.
It is with the deepest sense of gratitude, that we wish to thank all our friends, neighbors and relatives for their kind words of sympathy, the many acts of kindness, and the beautiful flowers, in our darkest hour.
We also want to thank Bro. Evans for words of hope and inspiration.
After all that loving hands and medical skill could do, we could not keep her, Lucy M. Field Pebley, a beloved daughter and sister.
Her Heavenly Father saw best to relieve her of her suffering, and said, come up higher.  A link has been taken, the chain is broken, and all that is left is a sweet cherished memory and a submission to his will. Thy will be done.
Again our heart felt thanks.
Mother Annie E. Field, brothers and sisters.
Letter to Annie / Last name of author unknown.
The Variety Shop
Box 266
Stanton, KY
Tuesday morning  Nov. 18, 1947
Hello Cousin Annie
As everything has a beginning a letter also has to begin, if its to be written.  Strauder and I say most every day one or the other of us, we must answer cousin Annie today, and it seems to get no farther so this morning with out further ado I am taking time off to make a start at least.  Our girls arrived home Friday night - little after 10.  Just liked one day of being gone 6 months and were they ever glad to get home.  Just as happy as we were.  They really took in the west.  They left Yellowstone the 1st of October and headed on to Washington.  They took in all the sights missing nothing but The painted desert.
Ruth called me up from Hollywood on my Birthday Oct the 29th.  They back to Arizona and was there 5 days, visiting Harlie and Billie at Wellton, a small place.  They were in Phoenix the day of the big convention.  I can't remember all the things that were going on but - The Fair and Teachers meeting were two of the events.  Ruth and Marie were in Phoenix that day and Harlie and Billie had to attend the Teachers meeting and if they had known it, I'm sure Ethel and Jack were there to.  Ruth had the names and addresses you gave Strauder, he sent it to them at Yellowstone, but she got it misplaced and never could find it.  They were in and through 21 states including old Mexico.  Sent home enough cards folders, etc. to plaster this room and had the car full of various and sundry things.  While they got in Friday night - haven't seen much of them - Marie's Sister sent me a letter Saturday to find out if I knew how to contact them as her mother was very sick and the sister had left her family in Washington D. C. and been with her Mother and Dad over a week and had to go home, and of course the girls went right on, to Dayton.
Ruth is coming back and expecting her most any time.  Orra has had an operation for the same thing Strauder had.  Was in the hospital over a month, but is home now and able to walk up to the corner.  Helen is about the same, I haven't seen uncle Ode Boone since we got your letter, but he is still going about they say.  Our little Town is still building new houses and Powell Co. has a big boom in oil leases.  Some one drilled in a good well and different companies are leasing every thing they can get their hands on.  Hope they find lots of oil.
The girls were more sold on Kentucky when they got back than when they left.  Say Ky is plenty good for them, but enjoyed seeing the west.  They got a job of packing grapes while they were in Calif. Not far from San Francisco.  Worked about 8 or 9 days, made $10.00 per day with over time, sent us a box of fancy packed ones.  It weighed 33 lbs.  I gave away grapes to all friends and neighbors and still have some.
We had our first flakes of snow this morning, not many, but enough to tell it hadn't forgotten the lick it is done with.  Strauder says he isn't in a letter writing mood, but will write you soon.  I wouldn't depend too much on that, his will is perfectly good, but like most men keeps out of writing letters if he can.  He didn't write Ruth more than 3 or 4 times in the 6 mo's.  Oh he would add a few lines on to my letters. I will send this on .  You certainly write a most interesting letter hope you will do it over before too long.  Hattie Martin and her son-in-law Gut Crme, thought you were remarkable.  Wonder how Ethel is coming on with antiques.  Ruth didn't go in for that, but has always been a souvenir hunter.  Bought  a beautiful Jacket in Mexico.  Write
Lots of love
Cappie
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Grandmother Field,
I was lucky growing up because grandmother came to live with us every summer for three to five months.  For as long as I can remember grandmother spent the winters in Arizona with two of her daughters(Elizabeth Adkison and Ethel Girdler) and the summers in Missouri with(Sons or Daughters - Ida FIELD McIntyre, Lucy FIELD Pebley, George Field, Ina FIELD Ferguson).  In later years she spent more time at our house(Ida McIntyre's) than most of the others.  It was during these times that I as a 10 to 17 year old had the opportunity to be a part of conversations concerning her life with mom and dad as well as cousins, aunts and uncles.
As she lived to be 101 and had lost little of her mental capacities, it was always fun to listen to how she raised her children and step children, but more often how the family functioned during those many years. For many  of her active years there were horses and trains for transportation but automobiles were not to be part of her experiences until her husband had long passed away and her youngest daughters were in high school.
The stories she told concerning her life, when she was young, were always fascinating but at the time was not smart enough to write them down so that 50 years later when I wanted to remember them, I could.  In fact remembering them all is now impossible.  I will just use a few stories that I recall and hope that most of the detail is correct.
I recall her telling about reserving a day to haul wheat to the grist mill and have it ground into flour.   Grandfather or the boys would load a grain wagon with wheat and grandmother would gather enough sacks to hold the finished flour, prepare sack lunches for the day and pile all the kids not old enough to stay home and clean or help with the farm work into the wagon and start that morning for the mill located north and east of Oregon.  The trip was likely 5 to 7 miles one way and after arriving the wheat would be gradually added to the mill to be processed as flour. As the flour was finished it would be sifted, sacked and tied for reloading into the wagon.  Grandmother and the kids would eat their sack lunches and when all the wheat had been ground, sacked and loaded she would load up the kids and start for home.  They would arrive home just in time for her to start supper.
Preserving meat:
When meat was needed to supply the family for the next few months it was time to butcher a steer or hog.  The animal would be killed, skinned, gutted and sliced or cut into manageable sizes.  As there was no refrigeration some of the meat might be canned but a good majority would be cured so that it might be stored over winter or summer.   In order to keep the meat from spoiling it was important to treat it with salt which acted as a preservative.  Salt would be added to a Vinegar barrel three fourths full of water.   The brine would have salt added and stirred until the salt dissolved and it was capable of floating an egg.  This was there hydrometer and provided them with method of determining the salt strength.
The meat would have a piece of branch pushed through it and a string tied to both sides allowing it to be lowered into the salt brine and left for an appropriate length of time.  The time would vary with the thickness of meat cuts but I suspect it would be no less than two weeks.  When finished it could be hung in the smoke house and used as necessary.
Cockleburs:
When corn was planted in rows various types of equipment was used in order to control the weeds.  Regardless of the equipment, it was impossible to control all of the weeds.  One of the more serious weeds of Northwest Missouri prior to herbicides must have been the Cocklebur at least according to grandmothers story.  She would walk the cornfield as grandfather would cultivate the last time and if there were any cocklebur left she would pull them out by the roots or hoe them out.  She would tell of a few times when she had a small baby and she had made a pouch to put over her shoulders and carry the baby on her back while working in the field.   I can remember hoeing cockleburs as a young man in our cornfields if there was especially bad patch.
Grandfather had dug a pond using horses and a slip scoop just east of the house.  When it was finished the family was able to cut ice from the pond and store it in a pit lined with sawdust.  During the summer when it was very hard to keep milk, butter and other products without some cooling. I didn't ask how long the ice lasted during the summer months but suspect most of the month.  There was a cave dug back into the bank next to the house that was used for canned goods, potato storage and doubled as a tornado shelter.  Unlike most caves where stairs lead down to the storage area, this one was a walk in because of its location.
Grandmother had many old sayings that are less often used today.  They include Don't cross the bridge until you get to it,  A penny saved is a penny earned,  Hast makes waste, Every cloud has a silver lining, etc.  Although she stayed with us for many summers I never heard her interfere in family discussions and interred them only after being asked or when they were completed.  If we were going to St. Joseph 50 miles we always asked if grandmother wanted to go.  I remember very few trips that she didn't make and always seemed to have a good time.  Even after she was in her 90's and walked very short distances, she would sit in the car while the family shopped.
Article from The Arizona Republic dateline Tempe Dec 22, 1951
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Mrs. Annie E Field, a 14 year winter visitor will mark her 90th birthday on the 23 third.  On that day, as on many others, people will ask her for the secret of the philosophy of life.
She had this to say:  There are many ingredients that could be included in this formula but the following few are among the most important. First, live by the Golden Rule and there will be no regrets.  Second, always look for the bright side of life until the dark is a reality. Third, meet the problems of the day with a cool head and make the best of things.  And fourth, mix into life a large amount of humor.
That four-point design for the good life has carried Mrs. Field's through the task of bringing up four children and has led her to taste all sorts of things that people much younger than she still regard as newfangled.
Mrs. Field , a native of Stanton, Ky, moved with her parents to Mound City, MO, when she was 20.  There she met and married William J. Field and the couple had eight children.  Her husband died in 1913 leaving Mrs. Field with four young children to provide for.
She remained on the farm where the Field's had lived and, with a combination of will power, economy, some good managemnent and plenty of hard work, I succeeded in getting the children off on their own and the farm on the asset side of the ledger.
Now, the wprightly great grandmother says, she is a farmerette, enjoying the fruits of her labor.  Most of her life, she says, has been spent on the same farm except for the 14 winters spent in the Valley of the Sun. My only hobby, she says, is travel.  I like to go places, see things, and meet people.  In recent years I've been in 22 states and Mexico, Mrs. field says.  Somewhere along the way I have been called Annie, the Road Runner and Eleanor.  The latter I resent.
Mrs. Field, a great-granddaughter of one of nine brothers, who came to America in the 17th century, has been affiliated with the Christian Church 70 years.  She also is a memeber of the Order of the Eastern Star and shows keen interest in politics.  I am fromthe Show-Me State 100 miles north of Kansas City, she says, but I definitely have no connections with the Truman camp.