Genealogy Heirlooms: June 2020

Marian - 1st Communion

Marian - 16 Yrs Old

Today, my grandmother would have been 100 years old. She lived a long and interesting life. She saw the best of times during her childhood and some of the worst of times during her teenage years. She experienced the trauma of war as a younger mother and worried sister. Grandma was a young mother, grandmother and great grandmother and unfortunately, a young widow. She lived in interesting times!

Marian with Elaine, Norma & Pauline

Helen Marian Gage Johnson was born in a farmhouse in Mapleton, Monona Co., IA on 10 June 1920 to Ora Silas Gage and Florence Christine Shawver. By that time, her parents owned the farm they lived on in near Mapleton, IA and she had an older brother, Orland who had been born in 1918. Her brother John Bernard followed in 1922, then Elaine, Pauline, Norma, Don, Byron, Duane and Gary. She was the oldest sister amongst a family of ten children and she took that role very much to heart. Grandma talked often of those younger years. She often said that she squabbled more with Orland but Bernard or Bun as the family called him was her playmate and there were a lot of wonderful memories of playing around the farm. Of course, there were chores, but I expect to Grandma Marian, that was merely a part of life. There was a point as the younger siblings came along that her mother gave her charge of one of the younger ones…for Grandma that was Don. Grandma told me of her learning to take care of her baby brother and I think that she loved all of her siblings, but she always had an extra soft spot for Don as he did for her. Grandma talked about those younger years where she talked about having the privileges of parents who had a comfortable life. She had store bought dresses and pretty things and her childhood was without care. That changed after the depression hit. By 1932, her parents had to make a hard choice. They weren’t able to make enough money to make the mortgage payment. Rather than take the chance of having the property foreclosed on and causing a financial loss for their friends, Ora and Florence signed the land over to Lou Brenner and shipped their things to South Dakota and took the trip north to the unknown in Philip, SD.

Florence with Norma, Elaine, Pauline & Marian

Marian - 1 Yr Old

On paper, I am sure that the rental property looked like a decent opportunity. There was enough land to raise crops and a house. However, what looked like good land from Mapleton, Iowa was not good land in Philip, South Dakota. Philip is located near the Badlands and was probably very poor farmland in the best of times, 1933 was not the best of times. It was especially important to Grandma Florence that her children continue their schooling. It was a hardship! During that winter, Orland and Bun spent time in the cellar cutting seed potatoes for planting and soon after both boys became terribly sick with pneumonia. While Bun recovered, Orland got much worse. He ended up with severe pleurisy and abscesses in his lungs. His parents were told at one point that he would not make it through the night. Orland had been about 160 pounds and was down to 120 pounds and had lost all his hair. The younger boys had problems with whooping cough and croup. Nothing seemed to go well nor was it getting any better. Once again, the family took off for “greener” pastures.

Loggie that Family lived in up on Hatter Creek

Chicken Coop made into a house in North Dakota

When I think of traveling across Montana in November with six children in a Model T, it boggles my mind. Grandma Marian remembered it as being one of the happier times of her childhood. They stopped at her Uncle George’s near Jordan, MT and they spent Thanksgiving there. I have been to the Shawver ranch in Montana and I am not sure how they made it there. When I was there, it rained and the trip out to the ranch was almost cancelled because of the road being washed out, and that was in August. However, Grandma remembered the trip as riding horses with her cousins, going to dances at the neighbors and having fun! When they left Jordan to head to Idaho, I suspect that Grandma Marian left the last of her childhood behind. This was the early winter of 1934 and as a 14-year-old and oldest sister, I am sure she felt a lot of responsibility. As they traveled across Montana, Bernard remembered stopping and building a fire so Grandma Florence could make meals. The meals always involved eggs…as that is what they had (from Uncle George’s ranch). They made it to Dover, ID and the family was in a rental while Granddad Gage scoped around with some neighbors (Harve Hespen and Louis Becker) and Orland was finally able to return to the family in early February. By late spring, Grandad Gage had bought some land on what we know today as Hatter Creek near Princeton, ID. Within a short time, they built what the family referred to as the “loggie”. Schooling was still very important and between working for a local family to take care of children and boarding at the Ursaline Academy in Moscow, ID, Grandma Marian wasn’t home too much. She was trying to do her best to help with expenses in the family. Because of illness and moving…the oldest three Gage siblings all graduated in 1939 from Potlatch High School. Bernard was amongst the youngest in the class with Orland and Grandma likely the oldest.

Marian & Frank - 1939

It was a short time after graduation when Grandma met Frank Johnson…a friend of a boyfriend who had come up to Idaho after serving in the CCC’s (Civilian Conservation Corps). One thing led to another and they were engaged in July (at the birth of her youngest brother, Gary) and married in October. Soon after, the young couple headed to North Dakota which is where Grandpa Frank was from. My Dad arrived in July of 1940, Shirley in October 1941, and Anne in November 1942. Life was harder in North Dakota. As a young wife, she struggled to take care of her father-in-law and sister-in-law. Grandpa Frank worked whatever job that he could get, sometimes working as many as 4 jobs. They bought a chicken coop and made a home with two rooms. When work was tough to get, they were living on $ 17 a month of social security that her father-in-law received. Grandma found it was cheaper to buy syrup for sugar than actual sugar.

I am not sure if she was just fed up…or missing home terribly but in January of 1943, her parents bought her a train ticket and she went back to Hatter Creek for a visit with her two toddlers and colicky baby. Knowing my grandmother, she had decided that the family needed to move to Idaho where there were jobs to be had. It was the first time that my great grandparents saw their oldest three grandchildren. I am sure it was quite an occasion. Grandpa Frank could not convince his father to come west, but within a few months, he joined them in Idaho.

In the next few years, the young couple bought the old Hatter Creek school and made a home out of it and two more daughters arrived in the family, Mary Kay in 1944 and Frances in 1946. Grandma Marian had 5 children within six years. In 1952, they bought the old farm up on Mountain Home (north of Potlatch) and raised their family. Life was never easy and there were always monetary challenges as well as family stress. After their children were out of the house, they moved to Oregon City, OR for a new start and later moved to Canby, OR. Grandpa Frank never had very good health and he died in 1975. Soon after, Grandma Marian’s parents, Ora and Florence moved to Canby, OR. I am not sure who was helping who at this point, but I know that the support was important. Between work and taking care of her family, life was busy and fulfilling for Grandma Marian. After the death of her parents in 1990 and 1991, life began to change. Grandma Marian helped where she could but the family near her was working and involved in their own busy lives. By that point, her oldest three were all retired and urging her to move back to Idaho. So in 2001, Grandma Marian moved to Idaho and began another chapter.

Mother's Day - 2011

Grandma Marian was an intensely curious and intelligent worman. In her youth, there were few opportunities to further her eduation. After her move to Lewiston, ID, she embraced learning to use the computer, scanning and emailing relatives and friends. She joined my Mom and I in our efforts at genealogical research and shared her stories and memories. Grandma enjoyed being around her brothers and getting to know many of her Shawver cousins who lived nearby. It was wonderful for us (the families of the Gene, Shirley & Anne) to have the opportunity to spend the time with her. We had a wonderful 90th birthday party for her and I think she was flabbergasted at the fact that we had 150 people who came. All of her siblings were there, her children, most of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Cousins from Montana, neices and nephews as well as her last surviving aunt. It was a wonderful celebration that she thoroughly enjoyed. Grandma Marian made it to one last reunion the next year. It is a fond memory that at the dinner table at our house a few days before, she argued with her brother for almost 30 minutes about the name of some teacher they had back in South Dakota. I suspect that she is up there arguing with him again as he recently passed away after his 100th birthday. I miss her but am so glad that I had the opportunity to truly know her and feel as I didn't leave anything unsaid. We love her and miss her....but am sure she is happy with her family up above and looking over us always! Here are a few favorite photos!