Per Lois Schmidt:
Per Lois (Schmidt)Gillespie, daughter of Herbert H. and Cora Ethel (Trecartin) Schmidt;granddaughter of Ferdinand and Margaret (Diebold) Schmidt and greatgranddaughter of Carl and Wilhelmina (Schwartz) Schmidt.
The Life and Times ofLois
Mama said when shewould wheel me in the buggy people would stop and remark about the beautifulclothes and never said anything about a baby.
In 1910, I movedwith the folks to Dodson, Montana. Thereseems to be a couple of trips back to Ladysmith that I remember. One was being fascinated by the Catholicsisters crocheting in front of the church which was near my grandparents (JohnTrecartin) and the other was a visit to my other grandparents (FerdinandSchmidt) and one of their sons had killed a mountain lion which I thought wasthe biggest animal on earth.
I had two imaginarychildren, girls named Mady and Guman. Noone knows where I got those names but they were very real. One time I asked Mama to tell me about thepicture of a ship and she explained that it was a boat and I turned to Mady andsaid, "No, Mady, all we have is a stone boat."
One time Mama sentme for wood and she looked out the window and a wild horse was pawing mychest. The result was a broken arm. Then there was the time our sow had a litterof pigs and I crawled in with them, which I have learned since that it is ascary thing to do. Then I called thefolks once to come and it was a rattle snake ready to strike. I went to town with the folks once and sat ona cardboard box and the top sank down in and they had to pull me out of thecookie box in the general store. Soembarrassing.
We had a car, aFord I suppose. Every time we went for aride, my hat would blow off and Papa had to chase it all over the fields. He would cuss and swear and tear his hair andto relieve the situation, Mama made me a hat with a bill and a scarf over thetop that tied under the chin just like hers.
Gordon and I wouldalmost drive the folks nuts reciting the following over and over:
Herb and Ethelfought for a pie
Herb gave Ethel ahit in the eye
Said Herb to Ethel"do you want any more?"
Said Ethel to Herb"my eye is too sore!"
AND
Gene, Gene made amachine
Joe, Joe made it go
Frank, Frank gaveit a crank
Their mother cameout and gave them a spank
And sent them overthe sandy bank
I had lots of paperdolls named Dolly Dingle and Billy Bumps and the day that Papa showed me how toopen the door from the inside was the day I decided to stick some of the scrapsin the stove - result - some charred clothes.
Papa spent many anhour reciting The Pig Wouldn't Go Over the Stile and The House That Jack Built.
Had neighborsacross the road named Evans. Mrs. Evanshad on a dress with a wide belt with two pockets in the belt for hankies and Imade a vow that I would never wear anything expect dresses made like that whenI grew up. Their daughter, LaVern, received a ring from an uncle and I had totry it on and it stuck and they had to file it off. I really felt terrible about that and wasreluctant to tell the folks.
Their son Glen wasplaying with me over in our basement of the new house and there was a new boxof apples, so he showed me how you unwrap an apple, put salt on it and take abite, and do another. I cannot rememberhow far down the box we got before we were discovered.
I went to countryschool and did all of the usual things that kids did, played house, played tag,cracked your hard boiled eggs on your classmate's head, etc. One of the things we did in school was takelittle square pieces of outing flannel about 1 inch square and thread them on along string like beads. That was gunwadding for the boys in the war.
There was a kidnamed Vlaney Cleaver, who during recess one day threw a caterpillar at me andit went down my neck. I tried to bebrave but the thing was inside my long underwear. Of course, from then on all of the kidsincluding my brother, threw all the worms at me that they could. I had to ride the horse to guide thecultivator between the corn rows under the fruit trees Papa planted. Those darn worms would hang from the branchesand I would duck and the horse would go sideways and Papa would yell at me toforget about them, but it was an impossibility.
I rode a horse toschool and there was a real bad blizzard and when I started for home I made thehorse turn around and go to the teacher's house. About then Papa showed up with a team andsled to take me home but I had frozen legs, etc. Remember when I was resting on the bed in awarm house the next day, I took a string which had wrapped a package from thestore and swallowed it and then I'd pull it up and swallowed it again. That's why I have a cast iron stomach today!
Our original shackfrom the homestead was moved into town so we could go to school. Mama always made all of my dresses from otherwool dresses for school and I always had to wear an apron to keep themclean. One day someone came from eitherMalta or Glasgow to tests eyes to see if kids needed glasses or not. I always wanted glasses so I pretended Icould not see and they ordered (cherry frames and more then they could affordI'm sure) glasses and when they came I could not see a thing. Each morning I would head out for school withthem on and would hide the glasses inside the apron in a wooden culvert on theway to school and pick them up when I went home. I guess the teacher eventually told Mama Iwas not making use of my glasses.
We moved to GreatFalls. Went to school and when thedepression was beginning I worked first for people who took in washing for$1.00 a week and later at restaurants. Usually they had speakeasy’s and my best money was when someone wouldwant to buy me a drink and I would be served a small glass of cold tea andcollect a wooden chip. Those chips couldbe cashed in for 25 cents apiece at the end of the day.
I got my firststore bought dress for my prom in high school. Also got my first pair of hose. Had a boyfriend named Bill Ragland and he belonged to the DeMolays. We would leave to go to dance but as soon aswe left the house, we would go next door because a gal who worked in an officehad lots of nice clothes that she would let me borrow for the night.
During high schoolI would never invite a friend over because Mama called a drawer a draw and whenmy grandfather (her father) came to visit us he also said draw instead ofdrawer. I was so embarrassed. I wonder if it was because the were English,though I never asked her how come she said that and do not know why. Also, she would embarrass me when she wouldpull Gaile's little wagon to carry groceries home from the store. Funny what bothers kids.
There was a schoolsupply and general merchandise store that burned and people could salvage whatthey could. Papa and the boys wore unmatched socks for many years and we usedpencils that were charred on one side. Ithink in 1966 when she died, we came across some of those pencils.
I married JoeJensen who worked in the oil fields. Hehad a nice car and had been in World War I. His work was seasonal however, and when his work was over we moved inwith the folks. He was not reallyambitious although he was a good man and easy going. It was during this time I decided that Iwould go to beauty school. I had $15.00to pay the first month's tuition and after that I painted a mural for theschool and each night I would carry about 200 towels down two flights of stairsto the basement of the building and wash them and hang them on lines to dry forthe next day. Then I would go in earlyand fold them for the day. After Ipassed the board and got my license she had me work for her until I paid outthe total tuition. From there I took ajob in a shop in Browning. Then whenthat owner got her license I went to another shop.
From there I movedto Shelby and worked for a lady who also owned the restaurant next door. I was to get $10.00 per week and she kept thetips, at least the ones she knew about. From there I worked awhile for another operator and finally found abalcony of the City Drug Store and moved in there. Gordon made me a shampoo board by welding asteering wheel to a tray and I already was paying on a dryer and a portablepermanent wave machine. To start withthere was no money to turn on the gas, so when I had an appointment for aMarcel I would go down to the drugstore and buy a can of canned heat.
Things began to getbetter and Joe and I saw each other just once during that time. He was back in the oil fields and he did cometo see me that one time in Shelby. Itold him we ought to get divorced and he said "Let it ride for a couple ofmonths and if you still feel the same way, you can." I did and we never saw each other again. I heard later that he did eventually marryand had a child.
Then I met HarveyClifton Gillespie. He had married twicebefore and had two children by his first wife. He was divorced when I met him. He traveled for the American Disinfecting Company from Sedallia,Missouri. We married in 1938 and I soldmy shop and we traveled Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. One trip to Colorado we bought Deckers whichwas a resort with 12 cabins, a store, filling station, restaurant, bar,etc. He kept on traveling and I stayedto "run the store". That iswhere I lost my long fingernails and learned what responsibility was. He would come home from his trips and lovedto entertain the guests, but the work and responsibility was left up to me.
Then Sandy wasborn. I ran it winter and summer andwhen she was 2 years old I had a ruptured appendix. During my hospital stay, he moved his (wife#4) girlfriend in to take over.
Even though I dismissedher when I returned it was a losing battle because he just traveled with her sowhen the war started, I moved into Denver and went to work at the ArmsPlant. Sandy was born with an eye defectand needed surgery but child support and help was not forthcoming. I even hired a lawyer to try and get childsupport and found out that he was married before our divorce was final, butwhen I found it out, he had been divorced and married again.
Yet he wore a bigdiamond Masonic ring, even though he had been released from the Lodge manyyears before, so he influenced a few people in his lifetime. He died a few years ago and left a son by hisseventh wife from whom he was divorced.
After the War, Ibought a shop in Denver and later moved to a shop where we could live up on thebalcony above the shop and that way I did not have to pay child care. We stayed there until I got a job with theColorado Department of Highways in 1949. I took one half Highway Engineering and my job was to go through eachjob built that was participated in by the Federal Government and see that allthe materials used were according to specifications.
I retired fromthere in 1974. For a couple years Iworked taking inventories in stores and shops, etc. That way it helped me have a better socialsecurity.
In 1973, I joined atravel club in Denver called Ports of Call. We owned our own planes and had our own airport and if it hadn't beenfor that, I never would have had some travels. I went to Grand Cayman, Santa Domingo, Mexico City, Barbados, Acapulco,Portugal, Spain and Morocco, Jamaica, South Seas, Mazatlan, Colorado RiverRaft, Soviet Union, San Salvador, Victoria, Zihautejo, St. Marten, SanFrancisco, Seattle, Disney world, Lake of the Ozarks, Puerto Rico, San Carlos,Loreto, Maine, Nova Scotia, Santa Domingo (Old Timers), Acapulco, Switzerland,Canary Islands, Disney world, Korea, San Diego, Ivory Coast Africa, Rio,Germany and Nashville.
There were seven ofus widows who went on these trips and each trip two or more would go. In addition, we had social gatherings when wewere home. One had a heart attack as shewas waiting for a ride home and died, my usual roommate died the night of herfuneral, another died from cancer and the next one from cancer. I was supposed to go with some ladies whichincluded one of my friends, but declined at the last minute and they werekilled in a wreck. So there is oneperson left and me.
I belong to theColorado Watercolor Society and am past president of the Denver Allied ArtGuild. I have done quite a bit ofpainting and wish I had more time and energy to do some now. I really want to get what I can on thiscomputer so all of the little bits and pieces of genealogy that I have gatheredwon't get lost.
Right at themoment, Sandy and I are in the midst of doing an addition on the house. I have had asbestos put on as siding manyyears ago and we want to have it taken off. My terrible cough and the Squamous Cell cancer I had in my right lungcould very well be caused by that darn asbestos. In any event, we want to get rid of it. Papa, my sister and I cut and sided my garagewith asbestos shingles in 1958. But atthat time, no one knew just how bad the dust could be.
We'll get it allstraightened up one of these days. Justneed some space to spread out a bit.
Submitted by LoisSchmidt Gillespie
_________________
WOMAN OF THE MONTH- May 1964
by Emil G. Swanson
((The ColoradoDepartment of Highways regularly selects a "Man of the Month" anemployee whose record is exceptional, reflecting credit on the individual andexemplifying the high standards set by the Department. This month the Department's highest honorgoes to a woman, Mrs. Lois Gillespie, a senior engineering technician in theMaterials Laboratory. The commendationis by Staff Materials Engineer Emil G. Swanson.))
If you want thelocation of a gravel pit anywhere in the state, the number and kind of testsperformed in the Lab on yellow striping paint or the proper length to cut awoman's bangs this season - ask Lois Gillespie.
Admittedly one whowill "try anything," Lois is that improbable combination ofbeautician turned senior engineering technician, with a few frills, such asstenographer, librarian and reporter, thrown in for good measure. Which is not to mention being an expertfly-caster.
In April, Mrs.Gillespie received her award and pin for 15 years of service, having joined theLab in 1949 as a clerk.
She was advanced toclerk-steno in 1952, and her inquisitive mind led her to acquire a generalknowledge of the many types of highway materials that are tested as well as thenature of the numerous tests performed.
SUMMATION OF TESTS
In 1955 she waspromoted to senior engineering technician and placed in charge of preparingSummation of Tests of Materials for each completed project, as required by theBureau of Public Roads, a task that requires full knowledge of the number offield and laboratory tests needed for each item of material on each project.
Mrs. Gillespiekeeps an elaborate cross-index file and maps which lists all known gravel pitlocations in Colorado and she also maintains a complete list of the asphaltcontent of each of the state's asphaltic paved highways as they arecompleted. In addition, she runs the Lablibrary, which she established, takes dictation and types most of the lettersinvolving technical terminology which originates in the Lab.
Lois graduated fromGreat Falls, Montana High School and took a course in personnel at the DuPontForemen's School and another in industrial psychology at the University ofDenver.
To broaden herengineering background, she completed Part 1 of the InternationalCorrespondence School's Highway Engineering course in 1960, receiving a diplomathat included work in compass and transit surveying as well as trigonometry andlogarithms.
LAB GAB COLUMNIST
In the column, LabGab, in the Highway Section of the Citizen, Lois makes intricate technicalsubjects understandable and interesting.
Before joining theDepartment, Mrs. Gillespie was a bookkeeper, and once managed a summer resortat Deckers. She is a licensed beauticianand at one time operated her own lingerie and beauty shop.
A Montanan, Loisstoutly maintains that blizzards reported from that state actually are nothingmore than strong Chinook winds. Herhobbies are fly fishing, making hooked rugs and crocheting.
Mrs. Gillespie'sdaughter, Sandra, is a teacher at Fort Logan Elementary School.
Because of herinterest in her work, her efficiency in performing an important technical joband her fine qualities as a person, Lois Gillespie is well deserving of thehonor of being selected as Woman of the Month.
_________________
Transcribed bySheri Wheeler, January 15, 2007
I've been asked tomake a speech, to you and you and you
So I planned totalk impressively, but I ended in a stew
For I suppose thatI'm about the same as many another one,
I can talk tofriends and give advice, but to a crowd I'm done.
I get shaking kneesand quaking voice
and want to fallrite thru the floor.
I want to run andhide myself and stay forevermore,
But Mr. Shortesssays it's part of this days work and so,
I'll talk to you ofSafety, tho I'd much rather have said no.
First Safety shoesfor tender feet, or even those real tough.
Just commonordinary shoes will never be enough.
And always Safetyglasses where the eyesight is concerned,
One never knows theinstant that they're liable to be burned.
And hairnets aren'tso bad to wear, one shouldn't be so vain.
Put them on andwear them and maybe save some pain.
Three little rulesnot half so hard as people seem to think,
And if we all willdo it we'll give that Axis tail a kink.
A lady wears goulashesto protect her nice new shoes,
A butcher wears anapron to protect his suit of clothes,
On the footballfield, they've helmet to protect the good old head,
And a baby wears a"Uno what" to protect his little bed.
For Safety isprotection, and protections what we need,
If we're to getproduction, and to win this war with speed.
Protection isproduction, and they both work hand in hand,
and Safety ispracticed in all big Plants they have throughout the land.
Now Hitler askedfor jewelry from all the women there.
Some gave it upunselfishly, and some gave in despair.
He boiled it up inone big pot, and got, I will disclose,
A few golddoorknobs for his mansion in the Mountains, I suppose.
No we’re asking foryour jewelry, but not that way at all,
Just put it backand wear it when the war is won this fall.
You've all heard ofthe Tracer girl, and please take it from me,
He'd rather seeyour ring removed, than a stub where it ought to be.
There's not a oneof us, my dears, that wouldn't have a fit.
If Remington had noSafely rules, or discontinued it,
We'd say,"Give us our old jobs, or send us off to War,
Beside our Fathersand our Sons, and after all, what’s more,
They give you gunsand bayonets to help protect your hide,
And also, whenyou're very tired, and get a Jeep to ride."
Well, I'll take ahairnet for myself, and stay here where it's warm,
And wear my Safetyglasses to keep my eyes from harm.
Or Safety shoes orstuff and things, whenever it may be,
Let's see how manyraise their hands, if they think the same as me.
Lois Gillespie ((The poem she wrote while working at theArms plant during the war.))
_________________
I, Sheri Wheeler,have been the keeper of most of Lois (Schmidt) Gillespie's genealogy since herdeath. Today on March 28, 2009 I cameacross pages 12 through 22 of hand written notes by Lois. I have not found pages 1 through 11 however,but I will type what I found. I thinkthis might have been a rough draft as some of the things below are addressed atthe beginning of these notes; however you will find additional items belowwhich I'm sure you will find interesting. Lois should have written novels as she certainly had a way of telling astory.
In about 1919,after some years of losing crops Papa owed the bank $800.00 and could not payit. He worked hauling wheat in andanywhere he could, but couldn't make the grade. So there was a sale. I remember Irode my horse "Buck" all that morning till he was sold. We moved into Dodson. It could have been 1920. Check with Gordon. We had a small house at the west end of townthat included a small barn where we kept our cow. There was a big garden and a big manure pileright by the barn. Papa was working onthe railroad and one particular day he had Mama, who never learned to drive, gowith him to work and bring the Model T back. He showed her all about it and when she got back to the house she forgotwhat he had said about stopping and the only way she could stop was to drive upon the manure pile. So, here it was,high centered, on the manure pile until he shoveled it out. It was her only attempt at driving in herlifetime and she was scared to death when someone else was driving.
Mama was a prettyformal person in lots of ways. Shealways called drawers "draws" which mortified me to death for a longwhile. She never called anyone by theirfirst names. On the farm it was Mrs.Edmonds who later married Charlie Threlkeld and they played cards and visitedall the time but till her dying day, it was always "Mrs. Threlkeld."
I went to school inDodson. I don't remember if Gordon didor not, but I do know he didn't start until he was 7 years old because his birthdaywas September 10th.
Some fellow camethrough Dodson and called on the school and tested everyone's eyes forglasses. Since glasses had alwaysfascinated me, I pretended I couldn't see the chart and so I got my choice ofcherry color and finally the new glasses came. I realize now they couldn't afford them and to top that I couldn't seewith them. Mama had always made myclothes from wool dresses that were hers or hand-me-downs. She always made me aprons to wear overthem. So, when I'd go to school in themorning, I'd roll my glasses up in my apron and stick them in the culvert onthe way and pick them up on my way home at noon. That went on till the teacher told Mama I wasnot wearing my glasses. (I visited thatplace where the culvert used to be in August 1978 but it was gone. I sort of wish it was still intact.)
The schoolhouse wasgone from the farm in 1978 also, but Baby, Sandy and I found the old cisternstill there. On the grounds we scatteredPapa's ashes because we couldn't think of any place he would rather be. Now, we wish Mama's ashes could be therealso, but from the burial policy they had bought and paid for, her funeral wasthe only thing gleaned before someone absconded with rest of the money.
After GrandmotherTrecartin died, Grandpa came out to the farm a couple of times. I plainly can see some men unloading abeautiful piano that he had purchased for Mama one day. That piano went with us to Dodson, andseveral moves in Great Falls. When thefolks finally settled at 2623 2nd Avenue North, into a 50 year old house, thepiano sat on the sun porch which eventually was repaired, rebuilt and improvedby Papa until it was literally framed into the sun porch and when the house wassold after Mama died, the piano couldn't go through the door, so it was left.
On one of Grandpa'strips he fell for a young gal named Ellen. Eventually, he took her back to St. Paul and put her in school. He wrote "Ellen is going to school rightalong and is doing fine, it won't take her long to make a goodscholar." And on December 31, 1919he wrote "Ellen is working in Rapelja and she sent me some fine suspendersfor Christmas and another time', "Well, Ethel if you get a bumper cropnext summer, I will come out and help with the harvest and you will want a girlto help around the house. I will sendfor Ellen to come and help out. She is adandy cook and I know it. She tells meyou were awful cool to her last fall and she feels pretty bad about it, for shealways liked you and thought you were a friend to her. As far as she and I are concerned, there isnothing between us only I am a friend of hers and she is a friend of mine...Iain't one to marry....I am too old to start over again..." And he must have meant it for when he diedJuly 5, 1929 he had never remarried.
I remember moreabout Baby in Dodson. Gordon and I wouldplay school with her and she would always say one thing when she was theteacher - "What does SH-- spell?" What does -- it spell?"
One time shethought her teacher would like some ripe tomatoes and Mama told her shedidn't. Later the teacher told Mamaabout her coming to school, lifting up her skirt and taking out some tomatoesfrom her bloomer leg.
One summer, I spentin Chinook with Aunt Ruby and Ernest McCabe. I was to take care of Patricia and remember whenever she cried, I justsqueezed the heck out of her till she couldn't. I met a girl there in Chinook and we dressed up as a bride and groom andwere in a parade. Also, my feet wouldsweat so much that my shoes were just rotten and so smelly and Ruby had mesoaking my feet in kerosene. It musthave helped cause they don't now!
We would go withseveral farm families to the Bear Paw Mountains for an overnight camp out aboutonce a year. My last trip just aboutfinished me for enjoying it though because the hives I had suffered with all myearly years flared u and I blamed it on the cold stream I washed my facein. Mama would keep taking me to Dr.Hamilton but he would just give me more pink pills and tell her to put wet sodaon the areas and neither one helped. Isuffered with those things till in 1926 (typo so it might be 1936) in Shelby, when one day I could hardly get mytongue in my mouth nor my shoes on, when in desperation I went to see a Doctorthere. He gave me a shot of Adrenalinand that cleared it up for 10 years until another spell in Denver and Adrenalinhelped me then also.
One time Gordontold Mama he wanted to smoke. She toldhim he surely could and gave him a big cigar. He puffed and puffed and go so sick. He said, "Give me Lois's pink pills."
In Dodson, I soldsubscriptions to Needlecraft magazines. I did pretty good and I earned many gifts including a camera for Gordonand a doll for Baby and a hat for me. Itwas gray straw and looked like a George Washington style except mine had pinkstraw balls on each side at the peaks. Also, I would send for free samples and they were really nice. I had a box with them all in: 6 small cans ofColgate talcum powders; a rubber baby's nipple; small bars of soaps and salvesand other things I can't even remember.
Living was prettyhard to come by in Dodson, so Papa went to Canada to haul grain. One day, Mr. Heaten, the postmaster there, ahunchback with 5 kids and a neighbor to us, asked Mama if I wanted to work inthe post office on Saturday afternoons and she told him I could. So I went down this first day and found thatinstead of sorting mail, I was being pushed against the mail sacks by that oldgoat. The next Saturday Mom was washingmy hair so I could go to work and I just told her I didn't want to go and shepersisted till I told her what happened. I can hear her yet, "you most certainly don't have to go downthere" and nothing was said from then on except Mr. Heaten one day pusheda silver dollar towards her when she went for the mail and said, "here'sLois' pay" and she pushed it back. When Papa came home he was in the pool hall as was Heaten. Heaten said "Herb, I had your daughterwork for me when you were gone" and Papa said, "yes, and I ought toslap your face" and Heaten said "why don't you Herb" and Papadid and Heaten said "slap the other side Herb" and Papa did.
I remember standingon the platform in Dodson with Papa when he asked the brakeman or the engineeron the Great Northern who won the Dempsey Gibbons fight in Selby in ????.
In about 1920 wepulled up stakes and moved to Great Falls because for one thing Charlie andJohn Threlkelds had work at the Smelter. We paid our debts and took the train and our first glimpse of the smokestackthat morning was a thrilling sight. Wemust have really looked and felt like some farmer dudes, carrying our suitcasesand bundles down Central Avenue looking for a place to get a bite of breakfastbefore calling the Threlkelds who put us up for a few days. On spying the sign Club Cafeteria ahead Papasaid 'there's a cafeteria ahead, we can eat there.' and we did.
Eventually Papawent to work at the Smelter and we got settled and I took the street car toschool and was scared to death. I don'tremember much about that part of the school year but the next year was 8thgrade and that summer Papa took Baby and I to Ladysmith to his parent's 60thwedding anniversary.
During that yearPapa had been laid off and had bought an old truck and was hauling wheat fromHighwood to Great Falls. One trip thebrakes went out and the load of wheat slid ahead and he jumped and the upshotwas a broken hip and a wrecked truck. After he lay in the hospital hall with gasoline soaked overalls forseveral hours, they finally got to him. That piece of misfortune caused us to have to move into a ??? which wasvery low rent and not very desirable on 15th street.
The trip toWisconsin was financed at least partly by his brothers and sisters. We had an old Model T and the roads were notsurfaced and the first stop overnight was at the Roundup fairgrounds. We slept under the car and it poured rain andthe next morning the car wouldn't start and we were cold and wet. After help in getting the spark plugs driedoff, and after our usual meal cooked on the running board with a Coleman stoveof bacon and a can of corn, we slid up the highway. Papa said a spoonerism and called the Custer Battlefield Highway the BusterCattlefield Highway and it has been that ever since in our family. I would sit in the back and make crackers andcheese for us for noon so he could just keep driving. We made a stop in Minnesota, it seems likethe town where he was born, and he was going to see a cousin and she wouldn'teven open the screen door so we kept on going.
The anniversary waslovely. Grandma had a new gray dress anda bouquet and Grandpa wore his Civil War suit and they had a mock wedding. On our way back we drove along with Aunt Maeup to Uncle Arties in International Falls, Minnesota. We had a nice time and I remember I was veryimpressed by the fact that they lived on an island and went back and forth in aboat. Someone gave us a used bicycle totake home to Gordon, which he tied on the front of the car. Our last stop was in Fort Benton to eat andBaby fainted and I grabbed the wash pan with dirty water the guys had used towash up for dinner with and threw it in her face.
The next year wewere blessed with a little brother on May 1, 1925. I was 16 years old at the time and thought hewas the most lovely thing that ever happened. I don't know how we managed to get the money to buy the Lenihan Groceryat 2700 2nd Avenue North, but we moved there into living quarters attached. I remember very well saying to a customer notonce but many times while holding Gaile "he's only a baby to everyone elsebut he's all the world to us" and at the same time give them about 2pounds of bologna for the price of one pound or 2 dozen cookies and charge forone. This was a big step in the directiontoward not making a profit in the store.
I had a boyfriendin high school named Bill Ragland. Heused to take me to DeMolay dances and we had lots of fun. There was a girl who lived next door to thestore that worked downtown in an office and after Bill would pick me up for thedance we would go to her house and I would put on one of her dresses and a pairof her high heels and off we'd go.
One time at thestore, I climbed out of the window to go to the snake dance and when I crawledback in quite a bit later, Papa gave me the worst whipping of my life with arazor strap. I carried the welts forseveral days.
The folks bought ahouse at 519 4th Avenue South. They hadlived in that house for several years even though they had to refinance $1700on it. And for months we only were ableto pay the interest (19.00).
In my Junior year,I split up with Bill and I don't know whether it was a lack of money, lack ofclothes or just plain unrest but I took no interest in school and eventuallyquit. One job was with the Dyer familywhere I got room and board and $1.00 a week. They took in washing and I ironed shirts till I was blue in theface. I had several jobs in restaurantsbut they didn't last. Finally I got a job in a speak easy in some hotel servingbootleg liquor. For each drink of teasomeone bought me, I would get a chip and at the end of the night I'd cash themin for 25 cents each - half of what the customer paid. I finally moved to Lewistown and did the samething there but I lived with Jane and Frank Hash in their home and got room andboard. Dwalt served bootleg liquor intheir living room and he also delivered to other outlets. He had two hot water bottles with a strapover his shoulder under his coat and when anyone called, he'd fill them andmake his delivery. He had a ranch northof Lewistown and the still was up there run by his hired man. I guess I really thought I was on easy streetfor there wasn't much to spend it on and things were terribly tough for thefolks and I would help them all I could. I remember I bought some boots for Gaile (he had non matching socks) andone time I went home on the train and was able to hand them $100.00 whichhelped.
I met Joe Jensenthrough them and guess we were attracted to each other. He was a good fellow, quite a bit older thanI was and worked as a driller in the oil fields. We were married in Miles City when he was 37and I was 22 years old on December 19, 1930. We were divorced October 18, 1935. He was a good guy but not very ambitious. When the oil fields shut down for the winter,he had no qualms about us moving in with the folks and not contributinganything nor repaying anything after he went back to work.
When we moved back,I paid $10.00 down to Kipersmith Beauty School and was well on my way tobecoming a beautician. No money wasavailable to continue paying tuition so each night after school was over Iwashed at least 200 towels in the basement of this building in a washingmachine that shocked me when my feet got wet and would hang them over linesstrung down there. The next morning Iwent in early and folded them and carried them up to the school. In addition I worked for Mrs. Kipersmith forseveral months after I was licensed and she kept all the money I earned so I'm sureshe was well paid.
Mama would not letme work on her hair - not even give her a shampoo. She only had her hair cut once in herlifetime and it looked hideous. It wassuch thick hair and a Marcel just made it stand straight out on the sides. Even though it was severe looking it lookedmuch nicer in the way she would wear it and looked especially nice when shewould braid it and wrap it around her head.
My first job in thebeauty business was in Browning. I wasin beauty school with a woman whose husband had a barber shop up there and asshe would not graduate till a later class, I went up and opened her shop forher in back of the barber shop. I cut myteeth on straight Indian's and breed's hair - the worst kind to try and get akink into. After this gal got out ofschool and took over, I moved to a shop owned by a former Indian Princess inthe Hagerty Hotel. After a few monthsthere, I could not get into the shop and in addition could not get into my roomeither. Mrs. Hagerty locked it all up forback rent on the shop. Even thought myrent was paid up to date I was caught in on it. It was snowing and I had no overshoes and had to pay for a room inanother hotel till it could be settled. People said "she can't do that" but she did and it cost meevery dime I had managed to put away to pay a lawyer to have her release myclothes and belongings to me.
My next job was ina shop which was owned by Mrs. Staabs in Shelby. She owned the restaurant next door also andmy pay was $7.00 per week and she took my tips - that is the ones she knewabout. Next I went to work for EvaHanverson across the street and she paid $10.00.
As soon as I couldsee my way clear and found a place which turned out to be the balcony of theCity Drug Store where some guy had put on his periodical drunks, I rented itand cleaned it up and took the train to Great Falls where Gordon attached ashampoo tray to a steering wheel for a base and brought that back up. I had been paying monthly on a dryer and aportable permanent waving machine so had that to go on. Did not have the money to have gas run intothe shop at a cost of $8.00 so when I had a Marcel for which I charged $1.00, Iwould go downstairs to the drugstore and buy a can of canned heat for 35 centsand that would take care of the one Marcel and the 50 cent retrace a week or solater. I worked up a good trade and in1937 I sold it for $1700.00 so that I could marry Harvey Gillespie and gotraveling with him.
Informationreceived from George Golubiff, written by Lois Schmidt Gillespie:
Herbert H. Schmidtand Cora Ethel (Trecartin) Schmidt
After theirmarriage they moved into a home he had built on Minor Street in Ladysmith, RuskCounty, Wisconsin. Their the first childwas born on November 23, 1908 named Lois Geneva.
In 1910 he filedfor a homestead in the West and it happened to be fives miles north of Dodson,Philips County, Montana. The legaldescription being Sec 4, T 31N R 27E. Herb, Ethel and 2 year old Lois arrived bytrain to begin a new life. They camewith potatoes, a cow, a team of horses, a dog named "Jack". Ethel and Lois stayed in a room in a hotel inDodson while he built a shack for them to move into. The original "shack" was latermoved into Dodson so that the children could attend school during the wintermonths.
It was hard thosefirst few years, even just preparing the land for use, because stones coveredall the ground. He made a "stoneboat" which was a flat bed on skids where we could put the stones on thatand he could hitch horses to that and take them to the fence line. There were many rocks in circles where theIndians had set up their teepees the winter before. Some of the fuel we first had were "buffalochips" we picked up and burned. Iremember Mama helping him fence till way late at night and especially one timeI remember when the fence had slipped out of the vise and it rolled catchingher in it, and she was all cut up from the barbs.
When the sheepherders would come through, Mama would always ask for "bum" lambs,those were lambs whose mothers died giving birth. The sheep herders just left them for thecoyotes to eat. All those they gave uswe raised on a bottle. An added asset tothe sheep herders passing with their flock was the fact that the sheep wouldcrawl under the barbed wire fence to get through. After they were gone, we gathered all of thewool that hung on the barbs and Mama washed it and used the "woolcards" to card bats of wool and to make quilts.
We had a featherbed or two and slept many a night covered with those good warm quilts with theadded heat of rocks which she warmed in the oven. This was also the say we kept warm when wewent to school and of course that was by a team of horses and a sleigh.
During summer days,I quite often made mud pies. Just once Icracked a couple of fresh eggs from the hen house to add to them. One memorable day for me was the time I wasout behind the outhouse making some chopped beef steak from some large rhubarbleaves we had growing and Mama came running out of the house and grabbed me andlifted me up into the wagon and she went into the outhouse and shut thedoor. One of the bulls from the pasturehad just "gone crazy" either from flies or for some other reason andcame bellowing toward the house. Well hewent in the back door and out the front and during all the time he did that"squishy" stuff cows do best all over the place! Imagine cleaning that up on a Dry Land Farm,no washing machine, not even a hose.
For a few yearsthey had good crops and things looked pretty good. He finally built a lovely two story housewith a basement and a big barn which can be seen from the highway that goesthrough Dodson. That house had a cisternwhere she could pump water right into the kitchen. The water, however, had to be hauled andbefore he would get a load of water, the cistern had to be cleaned. He would tie a rope onto a pail and put Loisin it and lower her down into the cistern with lots of clean cloths to soak upall the water in the bottom of the cistern.
I had a friendnamed Mildred Koyl who lived on the farm next to ours. She would walk over to play quite often. One day I got to go to their house and spendthe night. Her mother gave us rawpotatoes to eat while she was peeling them and I thought that was the mostwonderful thing I ever tasted, raw potatoes!
When I went home, Iwas surprised by a baby brother. A bigdisappointment, I had been the apple of everyone's eye and here someone elsecame to take my place. I don't mind to tellyou that I really resented him. He was acute little kid and said and did cute things. Another reason that I was disgruntled was his "name". We had a hired man at the time, who was laterkilled in World War 1. He told me thathis name should be "Rosey Smoke". I really thought that was a nice name and then they would insist oncalling him Gordon. I just hated thewhole outfit. Everyone liked him best,that I was sure of. Any time he did acute thing like sit down on the tom cat and yell "get me the butcher knifequick, cut off tommy's tail off" or try to get the frosting inside thelayer cake after he had eaten the top, I thought it was dumb.
One time we went toMalta to have our picture taken and going across the street Papa was carryinghim and he said "cout 'ois" (telling me to watch out for the heavytraffic on the streets of Malta in 1914) and they thought that was so smart onhis part but I did not! I got mysatisfaction later when they discovered his pants were put on backwards in thepicture!
Another addition inthe form of a little sister came along two years later. By then I had mellowed and just took it allin stride. The only thing I rememberedabout her babyhood was when she fell off the bed and her bottle broke and whenMama picked her up her hand was cut and blood was mixed with the milk andetc. She really did not have a nameuntil Grandma Trecartin died and they named her Maud. We just called her "Baby" and shestill is known by us all as Guess What?
The school housewas at the back corner of the property and cutting across to school was perhapsa couple of miles. I would walk thatwhen the weather was nice along with our neighbor's children, Glen Evans andLaVern Evans. One time I remember wecame to a bull snake which had a bulge in it's middle and Glen took his footand squeezed that bird back out of the snake's mouth. Another time, I was late for school and toldthe teacher I had killed 400 stink bugs on the way to school. One other time I was late for school and theteacher told Mama I told her I followed a rabbit track all the way toschool.
They had dances inthe loft of the new barn. I guess it wassort of pot luck and Mr. Evans played the violin and all the neighborscame. I can recall watching towardDodson Creek at dusk to see a lantern coming and I know it was Leta Edmonds(Later Threlkeld) and her children Myrtle, Jeb, Jack and Gilly, and they alwaysspent the night with us.
They had good yearsand then came hard times and bad crops and even though he supplemented that poorincome with work hauling wheat in Canada, he was unable to pay a debt of$800.00 and consequently had to have a sale and give up the farm. After the sale, the family moved to GreatFalls, Cascade County, Montana because their friends, the Charley Threlkeldshad told them of work at the Smelter. They went by train and stayed with them for a few days until they renteda house in Boston Heights.
Later we lived onthe south side on 9th Avenue. Later welived at 1325 5th Avenue North. Heworked for the Smelter for some time and a long while at Grogan Robinson LumberCo. and for the Government during the War upon Gore Hill near the airport. They sold the house and bought at 2523 2ndAvenue North, which was where Mama died in 1996. He had a leg amputated before her death. It did not hamper him in things he wanted todo. He still drove his car and went mostevery day to a pool hall to play cards with his cronies. After Mama died he started smoking again, buthis other leg was so bad and in less than a year his other leg had to comeoff. Even though he still stayed athome, Maud, his youngest daughter just moved over and took care of him. Her husband, Leo Becker, took care of theirhouse and helped all he could. Finallywhen Leo had to retire from the Montana Power, he was given a chance to move upto Holter Dam, low rent, free heat and electricity, etc., so they sold theirhouse and moved there with Papa. Shetook care of him until he died in 1977. Every other day he got a bath. Hehad his hair shampooed and it was beautiful, like all the Schmidt s, that shockof white hair. Sometimes she had it longand sometimes short. He was well takencare of, for sure, and he did appreciate it because every time I went to visitthem from Denver, he would cry and ask me what he would do without her! He was 96 years old when he died.
They had a paid upfuneral policy for them both and when she died the funeral and burial plot wasavailable. In the meantime, thecaretakers had absconded with the money and when he died, there was nothingavailable. He was cremated. The next August, Maud, Lois and Sandy tookhis ashes to the old homestead and scattered them where the old school used tobe.
Informationsupplied by Lois Schmidt Gillespie:
Cora EthelTrecartin was born in Hickory, Wisconsin. Her ancestors came from New Brunswick, Canada. Her father was born on Deer Island and hermother was born further north in New Brunswick. They worked in the woods and farmed in Wisconsin.
She talked aboutgathering nuts in the fall and picking lots of berries in the summer. There was a big lake, called Kelly Lake, andher folks had a summer resort there for a time. There is a picture of the place where she was born which was near thechurch.
They moved toLadysmith, Wisconsin and she grew up and finished her schooling there,including Normal School. She taught inBruce, Wisconsin. There she met Herb andthey were married in Ladysmith. Thencame the Homestead and the move to Dodson, Montana.
We lived in thelittle house in Dodson that we had moved in from the farm. She never did learn how to drive a car andwas really scared to death when anyone else drove one, especially if they gottoo close to a cliff or something.
We had a heifer intown with us, so we had milk and had a manure pile out back. Papa worked one summer on the railroad andone time he overslept or something and did not get to ride to work on the sidecar, so he had to go by the old Ford we had. He showed Mama how to come home and all about it, but evidently did nottell her how to stop it. She got homeOK, but the only way she could stop the thing was to high center on the top ofthe manure pile. That was her one andonly claim to fame in the driving department!
She was a wonderfulseamstress and made all of our clothes until later in Great Falls. She also did lots of crocheting and sewing tosupplement the income in Dodson. I canremember her making a couple of dresses for a couple of girls which were likeordinary rather long dresses but the skirt was gathered into a band so when youtook a step, it was not very far. Therewas a song out about that time which went like "She's tied at the bottomand she's tied at the top and she looks like a wiener in a butchershop". It is a vague memory but Iguess it was a fad.
She made so manyquilts - way over 100 in her lifetime. Many she would give to Boys Town, and to the Indians in Arizona andGreat Falls and the Home of the Feeble Minded in Helena. In addition, she dressed dolls and madedresses for Indians in Arizona. Thesegirls had never owned a new dress before and had to borrow the teacher's shoesto have a picture taken to send to her. Her heart was always for someone who had nothing. One time she took a family in who was livingin the car because they ran out of money for gas on their way to some otherpart of the country.
She belonged to theOld Timers at Great Falls and other than that she just had her quilts andfriends who did quilts. Navy Mothers wasanother outlet she had. She loved to goto the Dime Store and have their turkey dinners and take anyone there who wouldgo.
When she was about60, she got the first job she ever had outside the home and that was atColumbus Hospital, sewing and mending. The first money she made she bought Papa a watch and later on she workedenough to give each of us kids $1,000. Iknow how wonderful that was when I got mine because I used it to pay on theprincipal on our house and what a nice thing.
Later, she was ableto get her social security check and was so very happy that she had earnedenough quarters and it was all hers. Sheloved to take us all to eat when we were together and she was a good cook -cinnamon rolls, pies, etc.
Also, among hertalents was watercolors. She took a fewlessons and made many beautiful paintings for us all. Her mother also painted so I guess it camenaturally.
When she died, shewas looking forward to seeing Gaile who had been stationed in Korea andcontemplating his retirement.
__________
From the newspaper,The Great Falls Leader, Thursday, November 26, 1959:
Mrs. SchmidtCompletes 105th Quilt
CITY WOMAN MAKESART OF QUILTING
When a little girl,Mrs. Herbert H. Schmidt considered it a high honor when her mother orgrandmother let her help them with their quilting.
There she learnedsuch terms as "reach," which is reaching as deep into a quilt as alittle girl or woman can reach and still sew.
Quilting, called ahobby by Mrs. Schmidt, who said many Great Falls women are interested in it,gains the stature of an art when the quilts seen here each year at the NorthMontana State Fair or at Mrs. Schmidt's home at 2633 2nd Ave. N. areconsidered.
Mrs. Schmidt now iscompleting her 105th quilt. She is 72and completed her first quilt for her first baby when she was 21. The baby now is Mrs. Lois Gillespie ofDenver.
The local womancompleted her 100th quilt and then started a "rush" order to completeone for her first great-granddaughter.
Prior to making herfirst quilt when she was 21 Mrs. Schmidt, then teaching school in Wisconsin,pieced quilts, but others completed them.
In addition toquilting Mrs. Schmidt makes afghans. These blaze with color and warmth, as do her quilts.
The back of Mrs.Schmidt's quilts show the design of the fronts.
She said some ofthe designs have come down from colonial days. Pioneer women in Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky used scraps of material to"piece" a quilt, but they blended the colors of the scraps with careand these were copied by others, gained names because of their beauty and stillare quilted by modern women.
Among some of thedesigns are the Tennessee Snowball, Flower Garden, each flower having adifferent color and with a green path on the white background, the Golden Ring,Living Rose, Fan, Dresden Plate and the mosaic Trip Around the World.
Mrs. Schmidt wonfour blue ribbons for the quilts she entered in this year's fair. The quilts either are pieced or appliquéd.
While she retains anumber of the prize winning quilts in her home Mrs. Schmidt has given membersof her family gifts of quilts and others to her friends.
She also quiltedfour quilts and gave them to Indian families on Hill 57.
"And thesewere made as carefully as the others," she said.
Each quiltrepresents hours and hours of hand sewing and there literally are millions ofstitches in each.
"I love tosew," she said.
The 105th quilt isall completed excepting for its binding. She said it will take about four days to hand stitch the binding aroundthe quilt.
_________
Lois’ssister Maud, nicknamed Baby
She wanted to bringsomething from the farm because Lois had something and Gordon had a heifer soshe went to the granary and brought a mouse nest, to take to Dodson when wemoved. She was discovered and had todispose of them and to this day she still laments the "loss". She entered school in Dodson and alwayswanted to take something to the teacher. Later the teacher told Mama that she kept her supplied with ripetomatoes from the garden which she retrieved from her bloomers.
In 1920, when shewas seven years old, she moved to Great Falls, Montana with her parents,brother and sister. The family lived inBoston Heights on 32nd Street and 2nd Avenue North, later to a home on theSouth Side. She went to Emerson Schoolin the 5th grade when the family lived at 519 4th Avenue South. In the sixth grade she went to McKinleySchool and when there she won State honors. For the 7th and 8th grade, she attended Great Falls School Junior HighSchool. She was attending high schoolbut when a sophomore she quit to marry Leo John Becker in Choteau. They lived at 519 1/2 4th Avenue South andLeo worked at Setterstedts Radiator Welding Shop for 25 cents an hour. They lived for a time on the west side and inBlack Eagle.
When Barbara wasfive years old, they had a motorcycle accident. She broke three vertebrae in her back, a pelvis support, plus a crushedarm. Leo had both collar bones brokenand a shoulder blade and a concussion.
Her work includedChili Joe's, Singer Sewing, East Base as a carpenter's helper on Gore Hillwhere she drove a truck and was licensed to drive eleven vehicles. She was a bookkeeper for the Montana HighwayPatrol; took care of punch boards at the Elks; bookkeeper at Morox Welding Supply;National Cylinder Gas; Holiday Car Service, the Stockyards and MontgomeryWards. Sometimes she held down threejobs at one time.
When Mama died in1977, she started to make quilts quite seriously and to this day she has donemany beautiful ones. She won the GoodHousekeeping National Award for her Grasshopper Quilt and each one since hasbeen more beautiful and spectacular. Herwork is perfection and she works with a magnifying glass around her neck.
They bought theirfirst house for $2300 at 618 4th Avenue SW and gained some equity and were ableto buy a brand new house at 2524 5th Avenue North.
Note sent to Rubyin Chinook, "It's a Girl - Wt 9#, August 13, 1916. Both Mother and baby are doing fine. Announcement Herb sent from Dodson to Mrs. E.J. McCabe, Chinook, MT. (Ruby was the youngestsister of Maud Amanda Trecartin and the mother's (mentioned above) aunt.
Maud’s husband LeoBecker
On Leo's birthcertificate it states he is the third child to the mother and that two childrenwere still living. He worked for almosttwenty years for the Montana Power Company in Great Falls, Cascade County,Montana as foreman of the Maintenance Shop. Before that, he owned Becker's Radiator Shop in Great Falls for eighteenyears. He had to give it up because ofarthritis, bursitis and other ailments, especially his hands.
He was named"Citizen of the Year for 1966" by the Elks Lodge in Great Falls and"Citizen of the Year for 1967" at Montana Power.
During the War, heworked at the Air Force Base in Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington for BirchConstruction Company. In addition, heworked a short time at the Denver Arms Plant for DuPont.
Submitted by Lois Schmidt Gillespie
I hope you haveenjoyed the stories of Lois’s life. Ifelt blessed to know her and I wish I had had more years to be with her andenjoy her company. Lois and I arerelated through the Schmidt line … hergrandfather Ferdinand Schmidt and my great grandmother Anna (Schmidt) Goettelwere brother and sister.
I met Lois throughthe Internet when I was first starting my work with genealogy. Loisprovided us cousins with a huge amount of data and we will always be gratefulfor her contributions.
Sheri (Franklin)Wheeler