Sadie's Autograph Book

My Great Grandma Sadie Negley received an autograph book from her brother Willie for Christmas in 1893. She was 13 years old. The album measures 5-3/8 x 3-1/2 with a red embossed cover. Images of every page might be a bit much to include here, so I will include only a few but I have transcribed all of these pages. 

"Eldorado, Nov. 14th 189? (torn)

Dear Sadie,

A place for my name in your album

A place for my name in your heart.

A place for us both in heaven,

Where dear friends never part.

As Ever Your friend,

Mary Hohnbaum"  

"Eldorado, Nebr. Aug. 25, 1899 

Dear Sadie

A wish to a friend

Is often given

But my wish for you

Is a home in heaven.

Your Friend

L. M. H." 

"Eldorado, Nebr.,

Dec. 28th, 1893

Dear Sister,

May your life be long and happy, 

May your enemies be few,

May your friends be just as many

As the sparkling drops of dew.

Your Sister,

Alice Negley"  "Remember me" written on the left-hand side 

"Eldorado, Nebr.

Feb 23rd, 1895

Dear Sister

Remember me dear 

Sister when on these lines you look 

Remember it was Willie that

Wrote this in your Book

Your Brother

Willie D Negley" 

"Dear Saidy your

Album is A golden Spot

in wich I write forget

me not your Aunt

Mary Negley" 

"Eldorado, Neb. Dec. 18th, 1897 

Sadie Negley,

oh Forget me not

Recall the days of yore 

Those days Ive ne'er forgot

Melvin Hay" 

"Eldorado, Nebr.

Oct. 21, 189?

Dear Sadie:

Be a good girl and have

good times

And marry the man

that has the dimes.

Your True Friend

Vella Bradley" 

"Dear Sadie  Eldorado

March 10, 1895 

Be the matter what it may

Always speak the truth

if at work, or at play,

Always speak the truth.

Yours Friend Ruth Osborn"

"Harvard Nebr.

Remember me for ever

Your Frind

Alice Roys

March 16, 1894"

"Dear Sadie

Remember me is all I ask

And if remembrance be a task

Forget me.

Your Friend

Gertie Ayer 

Eldorado, Nebr; Feb. 1, 1894"

"Friend Sadie; Eldorado, Nebr.

There are few friends in this wideworld

Whose love is found and true,

But, Sadie when you count them over,

Place me among the few.

Your Schoolmate,

Hulda England

Feb. 1, 1894"

"El Dorado Nebr 

Dear Friend, Nov. 24, 98 

Forget me not

Forget me never

Till the younders sun

Shall set forevr 

Your Frind Carl Campbell"

"Friend Sadie

When the spring roses in the gardens 

are fair

Like the spirit of love left every where

And each flower and herb on earth

dark breast

Has rose from the dreams of its win-

try nest, Then think of me

Your friend Edna Moore" 

"Eldorado, Nebr

Jan. 16, 1894 

Dear Sadie,

Remember well and bear in mind

A trusting friend is hard to find

And when you find one that is true

Don't change the old one for the new

Your Friend

Nevie Ayer"

"Friend Sadie 

Up     and    you will    I    love  you love

Read down and see that you if me 

Ever your friend

Cora Rogers

Eldorado Neb

3-28-1894" [written up-side-down on the page] 

"Remember me [written on left-hand side] 

Friend Sadie  Eldorado

March 30

When days are long and

friends are few remember

me and I will you.

Your friend

Grace Heiser" 

"Dear Schoolmate Eldorado, Nebr

Long may you live 

Happy may you be 

is my best's wishes

for thee 

Your Schoolmate

Gertha Anderson

Dec. 29, 1893" 

"Eldorado Nebraska

Dear Sadie March 10 1895 

For get me now, for get me

never. Untill the bright sun

has set for ever. Yours truly 

Mabel Osborn" 

"Eldorado, Nebr. Dec. 29, 93 

Friend Sadie:

If ever a husband you should get

And he this book should see,

Tell him of your youthful days

And kiss him once for me.

Your Schoolmate

Rosie Shorey" 

"Eldorado Neb.

Dec 29th 1899 

A kiss for a blow

Always bestow 

And Angels will

guard you where

every you go

Your Father 

J F Negley" 

"Eldorado Neb. Dec 29th 1897 

Sadie Negley

May This New year bring

increase to the world

and you of peace.

your friend

Mrs Mima Hay"

"Eldorado Neb.

May 7, 1900

Dear Friend

In case of a storm when you

need an umbrella

May you have it upheld by

a handsome young fellow

Your Friend

Cora Hunnel"

"Decatur Ia

Oct. 21, 1901 

Dear Sadie

When on this page

You chance to look

Just think of me

And Close the book

Verne Negley" 

"Eldorado

Dec 12/28 97

Miss Sadie

The Taller the Tree

the Titer the Bark

the Prettier the girl

the Harder to spark

Your Truly

Wm R Hay" 

"Decatur City Iowa 1894 

Sadie is your

Name Single is your

station happy be

the little man

when he makes

the alternation

[written criss-cross] "May Angels twine bright Roses around they Cross

your cousin

Harry Negley" 

"Eldorado Nebr.

Dear friend Sarah July 1900

When you are old and

cannot see put on your

specks and think of me.

your friend

Gracie Kilmer" 

"Decatur Iowa

July 22, 94 

To Sadie

Remember the Sabath 

Day to Keep it Holy

From your uncle

C. Negley" 

"Eldorado, Nebr

May 31-19 

Dear Sadie

May you live happy

All the days of your life

Get a good husband

And make a good wife

Your Friend

Mattie Hunnel" 

"Eldorado Neb April the 21 95 

Dear Sadie

Tell one not in mornful

numbers, life is but an

empty dream. and the soul 

is dead that slumbers

and things are not what

they seem Stella Rath" 

"1901 Eldorado 9-20 

Friend Sadie

Complements of

E J Palmer"

"1901

Friend Sadie

You ask me to write in your Album

And I've done so with-out a

frown

But thinking it would look better

I've written it up-side down

Your Friend Etta ?"

"Eldorado Nebr

March 25th 1894

Dear Sister

Remember me When this you see

Though many miles apart we be

And if the grave be first my lot

Remember me forget me not

Your Brother

Geo O Negley"

"Jan 14 94

Eldorado, Neb

To Sadie

A friend in need is a friend

indeed your friend

Ray Cosand?"

"Eldorado Nebr

Dear Sister

Remember me,

Forget me now.

Your Brother

Callie Negley

Dec. 28th 1893"

"April 4th (torn) 17 

Remember me Dear girl

When on these lines you 

look remember it was 

your Mother that wrote

them in your book.

Your Mother Sarah M 

Negley" 

"Eldorado Nebr 

Friend Sadie Oct 15th 1903?

May your life be long and happy

May your enemies be few

May your friends be just

As many as the sparkling

Drops of Dew

Your friend

Cora Kilmer" 

House of Negley

Eldorado, Nebraska, in Clay County, was settled by 1888 originally as Eldon. The Josiah and Sarah Negley family moved there from Decatur, Iowa, sometime before August of 1887 when their son Newton died of tetanus, or as they called it - lockjaw. The picture below of Josiah standing in front of a house that I would presume to be his own may have been taken around 1890 (give or take a few years). There is nothing else in the background here. 

Eldorado never incorporated as a town. It lies 10 miles south of Interstate 80 on Highway 14. Don't blink or you'll miss it! Where once there stood a grain elevator, school, churches and stores, there is now nothing more than a cluster of trees with a couple of houses, some outbuildings, machinery and a few animals and people. I'm not sure of the exact location where this house stood, but there is now almost surely a cornfield in that spot.

Josiah and Sarah were the parents of George, Alice, Sadie, Bill and Cal, besides Newton. I believe it is Alice and either Bill or Cal with Josiah in the photo below. The house looks the same, with no noticeable improvements, still likely taken before 1900. 

It would be interesting to know how long it took to build this house.  

I've been led to believe that this is also the Negley home. It looks different than the first house, but these little mentions in newspapers under the Eldorado social news columns can explain that. 

• "J F Negley has again resumed work on his new house." Harvard Courier, April 6, 1912 
• "J F Negley's new house is gradually nearing completion." Clay County Patriot, May 3, 1912 
• "J F Negley has resumed his work on his new house in the east part of town." Harvard Courier, August 24, 1912 

Josiah and Sarah Negley both died at home, Josiah in 1922 and Sarah in 1927.

House in Harvard, NE... maybe

 

This old photo is 6-1/2" x 4-1/2" mounted on 8" x 10" black cardboard. I have are two of these. This house must have been significant to someone in my family. The corner door makes it somewhat unique. Mom thought that this house belonged to George Lee in Harvard, Nebraska. She wasn't sure. She came into possession of this along with many other old photos that were left with her Mom, those things all coming from my Grandma's Mom, her Grandma or other family members.  

Mom passed away and now I have these old photos and it's up to me to remember what I was told about them and to pass on the details. I only hope my memory is good enough. Each generation loses a little information, like a game of telephone. I may be the last generation to hold onto these old photos.  

George W Lee was the brother of my Great-Great Grandmother, Sarah (Lee) Negley. George Lee's family lived in Harvard and Sarah's family lived not far away in Eldorado, Nebraska. George's family consisted of his wife, Christine (Berkstresser), children Kitty, John and George. A son, Lewis died in infancy. George was a farmer and later a stockman, buying and shipping horses and mules to the southern markets. This old house would suit a stockman.

Will and Lena's 65 Years Together

The following article was published in the Nebraska State Genealogical Society quarterly publication Nebraska Ancestree, Vol 44, #3, 2022. 

Lena and Will taken at Harken &
Perry, Peotone, Ills
Photo from Kathy Schaefer

The 65-year marriage of William and Lena Roscoe began in the home of his parents, David and Mary Roscoe in DeWitt, Nebraska on May 4, 1882. William's mother, Mary Roscoe, is listed on the certificate as witness. The Roscoe family had recently moved to Nebraska and Lena possibly came along with them. Presumably before they left Illinois, Will and Lena had their photo taken. In Illinois, the Roscoe's owned land in Section 28 of Will Township and Lena's father Ole Jorgenson owned a parcel in Section 32, a mile away as the crow flies. The 1880 Federal census lists both families in Will County, Illinois where Will was enumerated in the household of his parents. Lena was a "servant" in the household of Michael Collins, a disabled merchant in a dry goods store and father of three children under the age of 10. Lena had left school after the fifth grade. 

Lena was born in Copenhagen, Denmark on April 10, 1858. Her father was Ole Jorgenson, but no record of her mother has been found. When Lena was eight, Ole (age 29) married Caroline Peterson (age 19) on November 2, 1866 in Holbaek, Denmark. They immigrated to the United States around 1867 and Ole learned to master the English language by spending every spare moment reading his Danish-English Bible and other books. Lena grew up with six half-siblings, but after her move to Nebraska the local newspapers social columns give no indication that there were visits from any of them. She may have enjoyed receiving mail from Algona, Iowa, Los Angeles, California or Chicago, Illinois where they all lived. Only one "step-sister" is mentioned in her obituary as a survivor when there were also two half-brothers still living. 

Photo marked "Dad and Mother",
believed to be Lena and Will

While Lena was herself an immigrant, William Harlow Roscoe's roots ran deep in colonial America. His mother Mary Fero was a descendant of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren through two of his granddaughters, Sarah Bartlett Rider and Rebecca Bartlett Harlow. Will's ancestor, Asa Corbin fought in the Revolutionary War. Will's father's side descends from William Rusco who arrived in 1635 on the ship "Increase". Will's own life started out in Frankfort, New York, where he was born March 6, 1859. He was the oldest son with seven brothers and two older sisters. The family moved to Will County, Illinois by 1870. 

During their 65 years together, Will and Lena lived in southeastern Nebraska. In the fall of 1883 David and Will started a windmill business together in DeWitt. David's death in May of 1884 left Will in charge. To provide for his family, he erected windmills, installed pumps and put down wells. He also served the community of DeWitt as a constable. They were members of the Congregational church in DeWitt. About 1904 they moved to Clatonia and he became the manager of the grain elevator there and served as Justice of the Peace. 

Believed to be taken from the top of a windmill, 
showing the home place of Will and Lena Roscoe

Lena, of course, was in charge of their home and taking care of their eight children. They lost their youngest, Cecil Marvin, at the age of five from pneumonia in 1906. The second youngest, David Harlow Roscoe, was a special needs boy who never attended school and lived with his parents until his death at age 51. Son Charles was a victim of mental illness and drank a bottle of poison to end his suffering at 23 years old. He is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in DeWitt along with Cecil, but his grave was left unmarked. 

Three other sons served during World War I. Oliver was in the Army, stationed for several months in Vancouver, Washington. From there he was sent to Camp Funston for discharge on December 23, 1918. The next day he fell ill with influenza which developed into pneumonia and he died on January 1, 1919, at the same as as his brother Charles. 

Frank and Cleve both served in the Expeditionary Forces in France. Following the war, Frank was single and living with his parents in 1920, but by April of 1923 he was married with a child on the way when he became ill with Typhoid fever. He died on May 16th at 34 years old. His daughter, Frankie Mae Roscoe, came to visit her grandparents in 1941, possibly for the first and maybe only time.

Will and Lena with their grandson, Lawrence Menke,
who served in the Army during World War II

Cleveland Crosby Roscoe served on the Kansas City, Missouri police force for several years and was a special agent for the Wabash Railroad. He married Josephine Cox, they had no children. When he retired they moved to Lincoln. Following Will's death, Lena lived her final years with Cleve and Jo. Cleve died of injuries suffered in a car accident north of Beatrice in 1961.

Of Will and Lena's two daughters, Charlotte "Lottie" Roscoe was my Great Grandmother. She married Albert Menke and they raised 13 children in Gage County, eight boys and five girls. Just before her father died, Lottie bought her parents' home for $1. She lived there until her death at age 87.

Laura May Roscoe, the oldest child of Will and Lena, was married in Wilber and then moved with her husband Joseph W Kyle to Carman, Manitoba, Canada where they had 7 children. She remained in Canada until her death in 1980. She lived 3 years short of a century, outliving all of her siblings.

65 years on earth together ended with Will's death at age 88 on September 2, 1946. Their son David Harlow died on Christmas Eve in 1948 and Lena died on October 2, 1949. They are all buried in the Clatonia Cemetery, along with sons Frank and Oliver, though David's grave is unmarked. Lottie and Albert Menke are also buried there. 

L-R Lottie Menke, Joseph W Kyle, Lena Roscoe, David
Harlow Roscoe, Reggie Kyle, Laura Kyle, date unknown

Will and Lena's 65 years of the Good Life together was the beginning of currently six generations of Nebraskans. In my direct line, their daughter Lottie and her husband Albert were married one month short of 59 years at his death. My Grandparents were married for 64 years and 4 months, and my parents recently celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary. 

Lena and William Roscoe

Christmas Decoration Hand-Me-Downs

 

My house is decorated for Christmas (as much as it's going to be). Several of the decorations I have came to me from my Grandma Doris Menke. She's been gone 6 years now, I can't help but think of her when I hang these things.

She made some of these tree ornaments, others may have been made by other relatives or she bought them at craft fairs. The most memorable decorations she used on her tree were gold ball ornaments and a gold garland that my sister has now.

Grandma made the Christmas goose and Grandpa made the reindeer. I think Grandpa made several deer, I'm likely not the only grandkid to have one. But I'm pretty sure this goose is the only one.

Ordinary Christmas decorations to anyone else, but through these I can still smell the food my Aunts are getting ready in the kitchen. I can hear the men laughing and cussing as they sit around card tables playing pitch. I can hear my cousins (mostly boys) getting rough with each other and getting told to settle down by someone. No opening gifts until the dishes were done! The cards being passed out (with money in them) were the highlight of the day for everyone over the age of about 12. All joking with each other about how much they got (when each generation got the same amount). 

Very often, one or more of Grandma's sisters would stop by to see us all while we were there. In my very young years, we would go to Grandma's parents where many, many people were gathered in a 2 bedroom house. My memories of that are only vague.

Grandma's Snow Village - pieces to it were a great Christmas gift! I don't have any of the them, but whoever does should check on their value before getting rid of them! 

 

Those really were the good old days.

May you have a memorable Christmas!

Brothers in Service

Memorial Day is to honor and remember those who did not return from military service. Fortunately for my family, the majority of my ancestors who served in any war came home. These are final payment sheets for two of my great uncles, brothers Virg & Orville McGrath, who served during World War II. Click on the images to enlarge enough to read.

Virg was discharged on December 4, 1945 at Ft Logan in Colorado WDPC (Western Data Processing Center). He came back to Aurora, Nebraska where he spent the rest of his life. He died July 5, 1982 at the age of 72.

Orville was discharged on February 16. 1946 at Fort George G Meade in the Baltimore area of Maryland. On August 23rd of that year, Orville married Ethel Jaeschke in Baltimore. They later moved to Denver, Colorado where Orville worked for the US General Accounting office there. He died October 9, 1969 at age 55.

Orville on the left, Virg on the right.

Old Time Religion

One way of practicing my typing when I was learning that skill was to type up the lyrics to my favorite songs. I would record the song off the radio, play it back line by line, over and over making notes until I was sure of the lyrics. Then type a nice final copy. I guess Sadie and Alice didn't have a typewriter.

Handwritten lyrics to old church songs or religious folk songs were found in the old trunk in the attic. I've said before that I think my Great Grandma Sadie Negley and her sister Alice were Sunday School teachers.  They must have liked music, but I don't know if either of them could play piano or any other instrument.

Not knowing if these were real songs, I Googled each one of these and was surprised to find most of them.

"Let Jesus Come Into Your Heart", written by Lelia N Morris (1862-1929).

There are YouTube videos of this song being sung by Patti Page, the First Baptist Church of Pacific Beach, George Byrd and more. Hymnary.org  has a printed copy of the music and lyrics from as early as 1890. 

"Don't Stop Praying", written by Edna Randolph Worrell (1873-1961). A copy of this music is on her Find A Grave memorial. Edna wrote a long list of songs, "while she did her housework". The oldest copy of the music on the Hymnary website is from 1908.

"Never Alone", by Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (1851-1920). On YouTube there are a few different videos of church choirs singing a song with this title, but somewhat different lyrics than these. Again, oldest copy found on Hymnary is from 1890.

Other handwritten song lyrics include:

"A Picture No Artist Can Paint", author unknown (Ballad Index).  Apparently there are two different songs with this same title. Artists like Bobby Darin and the Leake County Revelers recorded a song by this title, but with different lyrics (found on YouTube).

"Never Pass Them By", lyrics found in a Latter Day Saints publication called Autumn Leaves, Vol 21, p 181 in 1908 (Herald Press, Lamoni, IA), without music, found on Google Books. 

"Take Good Care of Mother", by F Harding, copyright 1887.   Traditionalmusic.co.uk

"Singing of His Love", I couldn't find anything about these lyrics. The handwriting of this one is not like the others, but the paper is just as old. The first verse goes:

 "Happy as the songs that the birdies sing; are the songs of love, to the Savior King; Singing of his love makes our hearts so glad, We would never more be sad".

One song sheet was written in ink on linen-like paper and the handwriting is different. "Life's Railway to Heaven", was written by Charlie DD Tillman (1861-1943), J R Baxter and M E Abbey. A copy from 1890 is on Hymnary. Johnny Cash recorded this song and a video can be found on YouTube.

We must make the run successful, from the cradle to the grave.