Ella's Prairie Home

Chery Kinnick wrote a nice piece, The Rise and Fall of Heartland Farmhouses. She shares a great link to a PBS series.

In her letters, Ella has said that she loved her prairie home. I found the information very helpful in putting together my mental image of Ella and her life. I don't know if she had one of the typical L shaped homes that are described but now, in my imagination, she did.

The heat source for these homes was in the kitchen so that was where people tended to gather. If everyone was in the kitchen together when Ella was trying to write it's no wonder she had trouble concentrating. If the only heat source was in the kitchen it explains how the wash water could freeze on the bedroom floors in the winter and why Ella always had a quilt or two in the works.

Ella McKinnon to Annie Carlisle, March 8, 1903

Mapleton Minn

March 8^th 1903

My dear Cousin

I know it is not proper to write with a lead pencil but I can get along so much better with it that I thought I would use it this time

I meant to have answered your letter right away but I had so much to do there for a while that I did not get much time and then Annie I must own up that I forgot all about it, it is so long since we have

page 2

written until lately that I am afraid that I do neglect to write more than I ought to but I do dislike to write to tell the truth but I know if I do not do some writing I will not get any letters. I don’t hear from Hermon’s or Emmit’s very often have not had a letter from them since I was there but Ray is down there this winter so I hear through him how they all are

Well Annie do you like to be call Grandma does it make you feel old or not. I think you are getting too far ahead of me you had better stop a while now

page 3

We have had quite a cold winter with a good deal of snow but it is about all gone now it is more like ice than any thing else with dirt on top. the dust would blow with the snow and when it thaws it mud then the ice cannot melt very fast it keeps every thing nasty so long to

I expect to begin house cleaning this week if it keeps as it is now. I want to clean the upstairs at least when the winters are so cold one cannot do much

page 4

in the way of cleaning so it gets terrible dusty if nothing more than that and our chamber is pretty cold when it is cold if I want to scrub the water would freeze as soon as put on the floor

Deette’s oldest boy you know is out here and was married New Years Day! They were here to day he has got a nice woman I think, I like her ever so much they are keeping house have been for four weeks now they live about 5 miles from us we have always known her folks but not her until lately

page 5

Well I guess it is my bed time so I will have to stop if I can find time I will write a little more in the morning. I must try and write to your mother soon but it is hard work to write when you do not know any one here for me to write about but I try to do my best so if any letters are not very interesting don’t blame me

We have been well all winter with the exception of colds and no very hard ones at that our family are healthy that is a good

page 6

thing and hey are healthy too it is not very often they miss their meals. I tell them I get tired of cooking but I would rather do that than to see them sick as a good many are.

Remember me to Joseph when you see him but perhaps he does not remember me but I can him not so very well but still I remember him

Give my best Respects to all and keep your share yourself

Good night

From Your Cousin,

Ella

I don't know why so many family members used their middle name instead of their first name. In Annie's case her name was the same as her mother's so it made it easier to distinguish who you was who. Annie's husband was Isaac Ashley Carlisle and he generally was called Ashley. There are many others and in this letter we have Donald Ray McKinnon. I wish Ella had said why he was staying the winter in Illinois. Was he working, learning a trade of just helping out?Annie's first grandchild was Clara Frances Carlisle, born 31 August 1902, the daughter of her eldest son, Francis Ashley Carlisle and his wife Mary Frances Carlisle.Can you imagine sleep in a room so cold that water would freeze? I whine if we turn the thermostat down to the upper 50's!Deette's son, Earl R Bullen, married Edith Myrtle Taylor. Now I know when and where!For more see:Carlisle - Wisner LettersFamily of William WisnerDescendants of Maryetta WisnerDescendants of Sarah Ann WisnerMcKinnon, Ella Hall (Mapleton, Minnesota) to “My dear Cousin” [Sarah Ann Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. 3 March 1903. Digital Images 1-4. Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Snowville, New York. 2008. [Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, 1903-1904, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]

Did They Marry Young?

"They married so young back then!"

I've heard this many times but it certainly isn't true in my family tree. I take "so young" to mean in their teens and I have not found many teen marriages in my research. I'm certain that in my file there are a few cousins that married at 16 or perhaps even younger but here I will look only at my ancestors.

My parents were 20 and 21 and for my tree that was young.

My paternal grandparents, Kim Berry & Mary Kelly were 22.
My maternal grandparents, Daniel Carlisle & Pearl Camfield, about 34.

Joseph Berry & Charlotte Hollington, 22 and 17 (a month shy of her 18th birthday).
James Kelly & Isabella White, 35 and 26.
Ashley Carlisle & Annie Camfield were 34 and 23.
Joseph Camfield & Rose Graham, 25 and 20.

Thomas Berry & Jane Rawlings, 22 and 20.
James Hollington & Sarah Ann Ross, 22 and 20.
Michael Kelly & Mary, wish I knew but my best guess is early 20's.
James White & Isabella Craig, 31 and 29.
Daniel Carlisle & Louisa Glover were about 30. Hannah Glover (Daniel's 2nd wife) was 29.
Michael Camfield & Sarah Ann Wisner, I think he was about 20, she was about 22.
James Graham & Elizabeth Doughty were 18.

I won't bore you with specifics of all individuals further generations back. The only others I've found that married in their teens were:

• Phebe Haight, who was born on 12 Nov 1701 and married Anthony Badgley on her 18th birthday. (Now I am questioning the date and need to go back and recheck!)
• Miriam Eager, born 1712 married Isaac Harrington when she was 16 or 17.
• Ebenezer Lewis & Hannah Gill were both about 18 in 1723 when they married.

There are too many ancestors in my file that I don't have specific dates for and there could be be others but all in all, having looked at 9 generations I was surprised I didn't find more.

So how do I compare to my ancestors? At the time of my first marriage I was a month shy of my 18th birthday. Guess which of my ancestors I was named for. Coincidence?


This was written for the 52nd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, Age. This edition of the COG will be hosted by Lisa at 100 Years in America.