Here's one of Uncle Joe's Christmas cards. Apparently he sent such nice ones all the time. The writing on the back reads "Memorial in Sheldon City Park. The World War I list has Sylvester Michael Mulhern's name. He died in France of pneumonia."
Showing posts with label Uncle Joe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uncle Joe. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
A snowstorm in 1888
Another story written by Uncle Joe in 1972 for the Sheldon Centennial:
Laura, Winnie, Eugene, James, Tressie and Molly Mulhern attended Grant Township School #1, one fourth of a mile north of the home place. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm winter day on January 12, 1888. There was a couple of feet of light fluffy snow on the ground. As they came home from school, they ran and jumped in the snow and it flew out from them like duck feathers. While Michael Mulhern carried hay in to a hay shed for the cattle, James and Eugene tried to drive the cattle into the shed for the night, but the cattle had their heads and tails up in the air and kept running by the door. Then all at once they headed for the door, pushing and bellowing to get in. The wind came rearing in from the Northwest and all of the light snow flew up in the air, making visibility zero. Mr. Mulhern thought they better spend the night in the hay shed rather than try to make it to the house, but with the strong northwest wind came a severe drop in temperature, so sleeping in the shed would be too cold. Mr. Mulhern put his one arm around the waist of James and the other around Eugene. They got down on their hands and knees and headed in the direction of the house. All went well until they got out into where the hay shed wasn’t breaking the wind. The wind was blowing the snow between their legs into their faces so they had to fight the snow away to breathe and see. There were no fence rows, no cornstalk fields, no large set of farm buildings, no large grove to slow down the wind or snow in those days. They had to stand up and fear struck them that they’d get lost out in the snowstorm. They opened their eyes and looked toward the house. They could see a light in the north window of the house. So they headed for the light and made it safely into the house. Mrs. Mulhern figured the way the wind was blowing, it must be terrible outside. She had heard somewhere if you place a lamp next to the window, it will penetrate out into a storm a lot better. So they left the light in the window all night in case someone was wandering in the snowstorm near the house. A few days later, they learned a neighbor, Calvin Hurd, didn’t make it home from school in Sheldon that evening. He perished in the storm a couple miles southeast of their home.
Laura, Winnie, Eugene, James, Tressie and Molly Mulhern attended Grant Township School #1, one fourth of a mile north of the home place. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm winter day on January 12, 1888. There was a couple of feet of light fluffy snow on the ground. As they came home from school, they ran and jumped in the snow and it flew out from them like duck feathers. While Michael Mulhern carried hay in to a hay shed for the cattle, James and Eugene tried to drive the cattle into the shed for the night, but the cattle had their heads and tails up in the air and kept running by the door. Then all at once they headed for the door, pushing and bellowing to get in. The wind came rearing in from the Northwest and all of the light snow flew up in the air, making visibility zero. Mr. Mulhern thought they better spend the night in the hay shed rather than try to make it to the house, but with the strong northwest wind came a severe drop in temperature, so sleeping in the shed would be too cold. Mr. Mulhern put his one arm around the waist of James and the other around Eugene. They got down on their hands and knees and headed in the direction of the house. All went well until they got out into where the hay shed wasn’t breaking the wind. The wind was blowing the snow between their legs into their faces so they had to fight the snow away to breathe and see. There were no fence rows, no cornstalk fields, no large set of farm buildings, no large grove to slow down the wind or snow in those days. They had to stand up and fear struck them that they’d get lost out in the snowstorm. They opened their eyes and looked toward the house. They could see a light in the north window of the house. So they headed for the light and made it safely into the house. Mrs. Mulhern figured the way the wind was blowing, it must be terrible outside. She had heard somewhere if you place a lamp next to the window, it will penetrate out into a storm a lot better. So they left the light in the window all night in case someone was wandering in the snowstorm near the house. A few days later, they learned a neighbor, Calvin Hurd, didn’t make it home from school in Sheldon that evening. He perished in the storm a couple miles southeast of their home.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Uncle Joe's gifts
Margy was saying that the worst gift she ever got was a jar of tartar sauce from Uncle Joe. She said one year, all the girls got one, and another time, the boys got tubes of tooth paste. He always celebrated the holidays with Cecelia and her family, and always brought his gifts in a pillow case. Apparently, no one looked forward to them.
I remember when we were little, Uncle Joe used to eat at Hardee's a lot, and he would collect all the toys that came with the meals, and give them to us. It was a treat for us, because we were never allowed to get those meals (let alone the toys). Once we got a bunch of stuffed dalmation puppies from 101 Dalmations, once a bunch of Pound Puppies, and once Gremlins records (the story had been serialized into book and record set, and I think we got the whole series, with a number of duplicates - I can't remember because Mom wouldn't let us listen to them anyway - too scary).
I remember when we were little, Uncle Joe used to eat at Hardee's a lot, and he would collect all the toys that came with the meals, and give them to us. It was a treat for us, because we were never allowed to get those meals (let alone the toys). Once we got a bunch of stuffed dalmation puppies from 101 Dalmations, once a bunch of Pound Puppies, and once Gremlins records (the story had been serialized into book and record set, and I think we got the whole series, with a number of duplicates - I can't remember because Mom wouldn't let us listen to them anyway - too scary).
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