story from the past

[doodlemor]

A line in a song about a cow going dry reminded me of something my grandmother told me that happened around the year 1900, and about the kindness of a neighbor.

My grandma was born on a small farm in rural Pennsylvania in 1891, on what could be called a subsistence farm.  She had 5 living brothers and sisters.  Food was not plentiful there - she told me how she and her siblings upset her mother by snatching half grown vegetables out of the garden to eat because they were always hungry. [My great-grandmother was afraid that all of the vegetables would be gone before they were big enough to harvest.]

Grandma told me that all of the children got the measles at the same time, and that they were very ill indeed.  They were hungry, and the cow had gone dry.  A poor, older, widowed woman who lived in a hut in the woods nearby had a cow which was still fresh.  Every day after she milked that cow she walked down to my grandma's home with a bucket of milk for the sick children.  This milk was all that they could digest for awhile.  I don't think that she expected any reward or recognition, she just was concerned for the family.  The widow likely shorted her own food intake for the sake of my grandma and her siblings.  All of those children lived to be adults, too.

How wonderful to think of such extraordinary kindness!  So, do any of you ehellions have stories to share of generousness and kindness in days gone by?

[snowdragon]

No story to share but that made me go all misty.

[doodlemor]

I get pretty misty too, snowdragon. 

It must have been so hard to be on an isolated farm with a bunch of sick kids.  Sometimes we forget how much easier life is today.

[Jones]

My MIL is into ancestry. She called me up recently, crying because she was discovering how many children her ancestral relatives lost in infancy/young childhood. I managed to cheer her up eventually with a crack about how she had a 100% success rate because she had one child and he made it to adult hood. Then I hung up the phone and held my kiddies a little tighter.

I don't know if it's a random act of kindness, per se, but family lore talks about DH's grandmother, who as a child was dying of some fever. Her parents had been kind to the Indians on the reservation about 30 miles away, and when he heard, the medicine man came to help her. He went to the backyard and "picked some flowers", made teas of some and burnt others. DH's grandmother is now into her 90s, and one of the few people of her generation in this area from whom I've never heard a racist comment.

[Sensei Otousan]

My MIL is into ancestry. She called me up recently, crying because she was discovering how many children her ancestral relatives lost in infancy/young childhood. I managed to cheer her up eventually with a crack about how she had a 100% success rate because she had one child and he made it to adult hood. Then I hung up the phone and held my kiddies a little tighter.

I don't know if it's a random act of kindness, per se, but family lore talks about DH's grandmother, who as a child was dying of some fever. Her parents had been kind to the Indians on the reservation about 30 miles away, and when he heard, the medicine man came to help her. He went to the backyard and "picked some flowers", made teas of some and burnt others. DH's grandmother is now into her 90s, and one of the few people of her generation in this area from whom I've never heard a racist comment.

That is a truly touching story....sniff..

[doodlemor]

My MIL is into ancestry. She called me up recently, crying because she was discovering how many children her ancestral relatives lost in infancy/young childhood. I managed to cheer her up eventually with a crack about how she had a 100% success rate because she had one child and he made it to adult hood. Then I hung up the phone and held my kiddies a little tighter.

I don't know if it's a random act of kindness, per se, but family lore talks about DH's grandmother, who as a child was dying of some fever. Her parents had been kind to the Indians on the reservation about 30 miles away, and when he heard, the medicine man came to help her. He went to the backyard and "picked some flowers", made teas of some and burnt others. DH's grandmother is now into her 90s, and one of the few people of her generation in this area from whom I've never heard a racist comment.

Wow!  What a wonderful story!

I bet that the teas did a lot of good.  I've been drinking rose hip tea lately, and have more energy.  It's too bad that so few people know which herbs are medicinal any more.

[Jones]

Yeah; my husband drinks a lot of tea from herbs we grow, things like raspberry leaf, peppermint and ginger. I don't care for them but I will drink them when I feel the need and they do work. DH has been teaching himself about the local plants, but he still couldn't do what the medicine man did; so much knowledge has been lost in a relatively short time.

[HungryHungryKitties]

Mine is not so much re-telling a story, as it is speculation.

In the genealogy research I have been doing, I found out that my great-great-grandparents moved with their two young daughters ages 2 and 3 from South Carolina to Mississippi in the late 1860's.  The 3-yo was my great-grandmother (GGM).  The family was there for only a few weeks when the parents contracted yellow fever and both died at the age of 24 within a weeks of each other.

After their parents' death, the girls were raised by their maternal grandmother in South Carolina.  The speculation is, how did they get back?  There were no family members in Mississippi that I can tell, so kind people either

1. cared for the girls until their relatives arrived to collect them, or
2. they were escorted by kind people back to their kin. 

Either way, there must have been community support that helped out.   I learned of this story recently from a newly acquainted cousin who is in his 90's, and remembers GGM (his grandmother) well.   

The whole story makes me a bit sad, appreciative of our medical care today, and appreciative of how we care for each other.   

[doodlemor]

Mine is not so much re-telling a story, as it is speculation.

In the genealogy research I have been doing, I found out that my great-great-grandparents moved with their two young daughters ages 2 and 3 from South Carolina to Mississippi in the late 1860's.  The 3-yo was my great-grandmother (GGM).  The family was there for only a few weeks when the parents contracted yellow fever and both died at the age of 24 within a weeks of each other.

After their parents' death, the girls were raised by their maternal grandmother in South Carolina.  The speculation is, how did they get back?  There were no family members in Mississippi that I can tell, so kind people either

1. cared for the girls until their relatives arrived to collect them, or
2. they were escorted by kind people back to their kin. 

Either way, there must have been community support that helped out.   I learned of this story recently from a newly acquainted cousin who is in his 90's, and remembers GGM (his grandmother) well.   

The whole story makes me a bit sad, appreciative of our medical care today, and appreciative of how we care for each other.

What a poignant story, HungryHungryKitties!  How awful it must have been for that young couple, to be so sick and dying and knowing that their daughters would be alone.

I wonder if there are any old newpaper archives that would give you more information.  Victorians had soft hearts for sad stories, and situations like this would be big news in small towns.

[HungryHungryKitties]

Mine is not so much re-telling a story, as it is speculation.

In the genealogy research I have been doing, I found out that my great-great-grandparents moved with their two young daughters ages 2 and 3 from South Carolina to Mississippi in the late 1860's.  The 3-yo was my great-grandmother (GGM).  The family was there for only a few weeks when the parents contracted yellow fever and both died at the age of 24 within a weeks of each other.

After their parents' death, the girls were raised by their maternal grandmother in South Carolina.  The speculation is, how did they get back?  There were no family members in Mississippi that I can tell, so kind people either

1. cared for the girls until their relatives arrived to collect them, or
2. they were escorted by kind people back to their kin. 

Either way, there must have been community support that helped out.   I learned of this story recently from a newly acquainted cousin who is in his 90's, and remembers GGM (his grandmother) well.   

The whole story makes me a bit sad, appreciative of our medical care today, and appreciative of how we care for each other.

What a poignant story, HungryHungryKitties!  How awful it must have been for that young couple, to be so sick and dying and knowing that their daughters would be alone.

I wonder if there are any old newpaper archives that would give you more information.  Victorians had soft hearts for sad stories, and situations like this would be big news in small towns.

Great tip, doodlemor!  I'll give that a try.  Thanks!

[Bijou]

A line in a song about a cow going dry reminded me of something my grandmother told me that happened around the year 1900, and about the kindness of a neighbor.

My grandma was born on a small farm in rural Pennsylvania in 1891, on what could be called a subsistence farm.  She had 5 living brothers and sisters.  Food was not plentiful there - she told me how she and her siblings upset her mother by snatching half grown vegetables out of the garden to eat because they were always hungry. [My great-grandmother was afraid that all of the vegetables would be gone before they were big enough to harvest.]

Grandma told me that all of the children got the measles at the same time, and that they were very ill indeed.  They were hungry, and the cow had gone dry.  A poor, older, widowed woman who lived in a hut in the woods nearby had a cow which was still fresh.  Every day after she milked that cow she walked down to my grandma's home with a bucket of milk for the sick children.  This milk was all that they could digest for awhile.  I don't think that she expected any reward or recognition, she just was concerned for the family.  The widow likely shorted her own food intake for the sake of my grandma and her siblings.  All of those children lived to be adults, too.

How wonderful to think of such extraordinary kindness!  So, do any of you ehellions have stories to share of generousness and kindness in days gone by?

What a wonderful story.  It reminds me of one of my own.
Some years ago I met a very elderly lady and when she found out my family name told me that if it hadn't been for my Grandmother their family would have starved.  The lady was a young girl at the time and came from a large family, as was common n those days.  My own grandmother had 9 children and was also quite poor living in this rural isolated place where people really had to work hard to make it from day to day and I'm sure often went without.  People shared what they could.  Bless them all. 

[Wulfie]

My mom talks about things from her past. She was the youngest of nobody knows exactly how many kids. At family gatherings people will list who they remember in the family and we think it is somewhere around 16-18 kids. Most of the kids were taken away and put in foster care/adopted out, my mom was eventually adopted. “Grandma” died shortly after my mom was born giving birth to a set of stillborn twins.

Mom tells stories of when she was very little that a few of them were still with “Grandpa”. They had no money and no food because “Grandpa” was an alcoholic who drank away anything that came into his hands. They made a deal with a local restaurant owner that they would slop the pigs in exchange for eating whatever they wanted out of the bucket. Mom said that frequently, wrapped sandwiches and other items were in the bucket. The owner knew that “Grandpa” would throw a huge fit and beat the kids for taking charity so it was his way of feeding them but keeping them safe at the same time.

[finecabernet]

A small one from my grandfather, who was from a very poor immigrant family in Philadelphia circa 1920. He was very bright as a kid but couldn't go to high school as he had to take care of his brothers and sister after their father died. While he was in school though, one of his teachers bought him a pair of shoes. He never forgot her kindness.

[cicero]

Mine is not so much re-telling a story, as it is speculation.

In the genealogy research I have been doing, I found out that my great-great-grandparents moved with their two young daughters ages 2 and 3 from South Carolina to Mississippi in the late 1860's.  The 3-yo was my great-grandmother (GGM).  The family was there for only a few weeks when the parents contracted yellow fever and both died at the age of 24 within a weeks of each other.

After their parents' death, the girls were raised by their maternal grandmother in South Carolina.  The speculation is, how did they get back?  There were no family members in Mississippi that I can tell, so kind people either

1. cared for the girls until their relatives arrived to collect them, or
2. they were escorted by kind people back to their kin. 

Either way, there must have been community support that helped out.   I learned of this story recently from a newly acquainted cousin who is in his 90's, and remembers GGM (his grandmother) well.   

The whole story makes me a bit sad, appreciative of our medical care today, and appreciative of how we care for each other.

my paternal grandparents were born in poland (in an area called "galicia"). my grandmother lived in a city. at some point, some of her cousins became orphans (i'm not sure of the exact details). so those children moved in with my great grandparents and were raised alongside their own children. these were not rich people and they had I think 8 children of their own but there was no question that they wouldn't take in these orphans - that is just what people did.

Unfortunately, before WWII, my great grandparents moved with their family to the US but couldn't take these orphans with them. One of them went through Auschwitz and survived, eventually moving to Israel. I think the others perished in the Holocaust...