Silence keeps them all guessing

I do not know much family history. It was not talked about much, and when it was, as soon as we children came around, silence ensued. I do not yet know why, other than the young generation distracted the old from the reflective mood one may need to be in to talk about the history. Secondly, noise is difficult to talk over, but we children were more seen than heard, or not. I do not know.

I recall one summer day, wandering over to grandpa's, perhaps we were there, the details are sketchy in my mind. Gus and one of Grandmothers brothers were siting out on the north side of the house, in the shade, talking. So I sat down and started listening. Gus was relating that he had never met his grandfather, because he was born after arrival in the US, he had been born at "cousins Julius place" in Minnesota shortly after they arrived, but they soon left for Iowa. Teresa Luther, Karl, and others arrived when he was small. Teresa was his grandmother, who left Prussia after Gustav (Gus's Grandfather) drowned in a spring flood of the Odor River (they were from east of the river, in what is now Poland) trying to save a bull. The main thing Gus recalled was Teresa teaching Latin to him, to cognate verbs, and then she died.

Now there is some conflict there. The "official" record says that Gus was born in Dallas County, and the name was Meilike, but what do I know.

Gus was an atheist, but Julius pushed an afterlife onto him, whether he believed or not, I do not know. Grandpa Julius had him burried with his buffalo coat, a gun and a knife that he had brought with him from Iowa, Dallas county, in the fall of 1906 I think. There is a bit of confusion about the year.

Gus and Julius stopped in Edmonton, and Gus worked on the Post Office, the old one who's clock is beside the Citadel now, and three house. They were all gone before Gus died. Grandpa went looking for land, first north than toward Greencourt. After he found land, he was returning to Edmonton, and encountered Gus on the road. Work had run out, and Gus struck out to save cash. Julius had been gone for quite a while longer than expected, and Gus figured something had happened.

Gus told the story that "when Julius brought me here, the only way I could see a hundred yards was straight up." They whip sawed a lot of lumber and built a cabin. It had a Rubberroid roof, a new product, invented(1905) and  produced in Edmonton at that time. It faced south, and had two rooms. The north room had a cellar underneath. The first year they cleared enough to get a patch of spuds in, and a few oats. 

More remembering later. My memory is good for that old stuff, but the newer bits, not so good. I need to take the trailer in to place on Parsons Road to get some work done, and I could not recall where Parsons Road was, but I recognized the name. When I looked it up, I was shocked that I did not remember it. I use it often, and had an office along it for a few years.