From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
The fourth child of Christian and Elizabeth Zimmerman was Peter Zimmerman (1842 Canada – 1894 Racine, Minnesota) who married Catherine Riehl (1844 Canada – 1902 Racine, Minnesota). It appears the Rhiel family was another family that migrated from Canada to Minnesota.
There are graves in Preston, MN cemtery that may belong to a brother of Catherine's: Theobald and Catherine D. + children - 17 Riehl graves in section 7.
1880 Census - "Cris" is head logger at a logging camp on Whidby & Camain Islands, Washington. His nephew, John Hopp is in his unit.
Christian Zimmerman Family Sheet #1 says Christian has resided at Yamhill, Oregon from 1883 until death. His church affiliation is Wesleyan Methodist.
The following story was written by Christian's son George:
Biography of Christian Zimmerman, brother of Peter Zimmerman
by George S. Zimmerman written at age 90, 1974, 1975This story begins in spring of 1868, when father was 20 years old. He had been
working in Minneapolis, Minnesota in flour mill and woolen mill during winter
1867-1868. He wanted to go west so traveled down Mississippi River to mouth of
Missouri River. Voyage was by boat . As money was scarce with him, he took job
on river boat going up Missouri River to Fort Benton Montana. One of his jobs
was to load wood into boats boilers.As they neared Fort Benton at a wood loading dock, he saw where a white man
delivering wood on steamboat dock, was murdered and scalped. His clothes were
stolen from his body and he was left laying by the wood dock.At Fort Benton he took a job driving a team of mules hauling freight to
Helena, Montana. This was the winter of 1868-69. This was a bitter cold job and
he suffered greatly.In the spring of 1869 or 1870 he quit the teamster job at Helena. He met a
man by the nane of Thomas Cruse. They took up a mining claim together and
started working it at Nelson Creek.This was a very lawless country. Father never carried a gun in his entire life.
They worked this claim together. At night thieves would come and rob sluice
boxes. There was lots of gun play around. Father was used to this rough life.
But one morning he had had enough. He rolled up his blankets and started West.
He left everything to his partner, Thomas Cruse. He never went back or
remained in contact with Mr. Cruse.After six months or a year, he learned that Thomas Cruse had struck it rich.
He had quit the country for good and never regretted it. Lawlessness was
everywhere. Would he be the next one to be scalped, or murdered by white men if
he tried to protect his property at night. Before he left, he never signed any
release papers with Thomas Cruse for his half of original claim.He traveled westward, working his way as opportunity afforded. He landed in
Palouse country of South East Washington at harvest time. After Harvest, he
worked his way down the Columbia River basin to Portland, Oregon. Just how long
it took him, we have no record. How long he stayed in Portland and later the
Mt. St. Helens area, we have no record.It was a rainy, cold winter and he took down with chills and fever. In Portland
he met a man who advised him to go to Puget Sound country around Tacoma or
Seattle. The chills and fever left him in this salt water country.The first winter he and his partner fished for salmon and packed them in salt
for boats that came into Seattle Harbor. How long he worked at this, I do not
know.The next record we have, he and another partner went up into Canada's Peace
River Country and took up a mining claim. Just how well he fared there is not
known.When I (George Zimmerman) was quite a small boy, I remember we had a
teacup 1/3 full of gold nuggets from this undertaking.He then returned to Puget Sound and secured work in a logging camp on Whidby
Island getting out logs for California bound log rafts. The company for
which he was working went bankrupt and for his accumulated wages he took
title to 40 acres of timber believed to have been on Vashon Island. He
worked long enough in the timber industry to learn business. Logging was
done by ox team. He went out and purchased 3 or 4 yoke of oxen and was
in the logging business.We have his old time book which indicates he began logging June 12th
1877. We also have his old legal records that show he purchased a lot at
Third and Bell Streets in Seattle and kept it until he had moved to
Yamhill, Oregon during 1887. This land is now part of the Seattle Center
Worlds Fair Complex.The 1880 U.S. Census show Zimmerman Logging Company with 12 people
working. It shows fathers age as 31. The census also shows a Chinese Cook
and Oilers.He left to go up Missouri River in 1868 and logging in 1877. These 9
years are very sketchy, and few positive dates can be set.In 1910 he sold the family farm 2 miles North of Yamhill Oregon to me. He
then built a new house on a hill just to the North of this farm, that he
had purchased in 1887 from the John J. Burton Estate, the original
homesteading family of this land.In 1929 a man stopped at Zimmerman Bros. Elevator on Railroad East of
Yamhill where my brother, Edward Zimmerman was working. He said his name
was William A. Jackson and be had lived in Helena, Montana. He wanted to
know if the Zimmermans here had been in Helena, Montana in the very early
days. He said in 1914 there was a suit to clear title of land held by Thomas
Cruse in Partnership with Christian Zimmerman who could not be located,
and was presumed dead.My brother Ed took the man home and fed him, for Mr. Jackson was down on
his luck. Ed then asked his father if he had ever been in Partnership
with Thomas Cruse in Helena, Montana. Yes he had been a partner and the
strike that made Thomas Cruse a Multi-Millionare was made after Father
had left.Christian Zimmerman had never told his four sons of his life in Montana
until this time in 1929. He had never contacted Thomas Cruse. He never
realized that for years he still owned a share in a very large mining
operation near Helena, Montana.My Father, Christian Zimmerman died August, 1934 at Yamhill Oregon.
From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
The fifth child of Christian and Elizabeth Zimmerman was Christian Zimmerman (1848 Sebringville, Ontario, Canada – 1934 Yamhill, OR) who married Louisa Sophia Nolte (1857 Sebringville, Ontario, Canada – 1938 Yamhill, OR). This Christian was called Christ for short, and sometimes Cris. In case you're getting confused, this Christian is a son of our immigrant ancestor, Johann Christian Zimmerman (b.1800), and also called "Christian."After Christian finished with his adventures in Canada , Washington and Montana he went back to the old home country in Sebringville, Ontario, Canada and married Louisa Sophia Nolte (1857 Canada – 1938 Oregon). Sophia was his childhood sweetheart. She had waited a long time for him. Christian and Sophia traveled west to Oregon on one of the immigrant trains on which the Wintermantels had traveled to Oregon. Perhaps the very same one! They settled in Yamhill, Oregon and had a prune orchard. Before he died in 1934 Christian had acquired several thousand acres of land in the Yamhill area. Christian was a civic minded community member and a great supporter of education. He had a school named for him and either he or one of his sons served on area school boards continuously from 1892 to 1960. Christian and Sophia had a family of three girls and four boys. They had bad luck with their girls. The first girl, Catherine, lived almost six months. The other two were twins, Mary and
Emma, born in 1889. Mary lived almost three weeks; Emma, less than four. However, the boys all grew to be very successful adults and pillars of their communities.
Daughter of George and Louise per Christian Zimmerman Family Sheet #3
per "Song of Yamhill" p. 9 Louisa's youngest brother became the great-grandfather of Nick Nolte, the movie actor.
Marriage Notes for Christian Zimmerman and Louisa Sophia NOLTE-293
Family Sheet #1 gives Sebringville as the place of marriage.
a twin
a twin
From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
The seventh and last child of Christian and Elizabeth Zimmerman was Phillip Zimmerman (1851 Sebringville, Ontario, Canada – 1941 Spring Valley, Fillmore, Minnesota). We know a lot about Phillip and his family because he was Annie Marie Zimmerman Nelson's father!
Phillip married Ernestine Krause (1853 Prussia – 1941 Spring Valley, Fillmore Co., Minnesota) I want to tell you a little about the Krause family. The Krause farm adjoined the farm of Phillip's brother, Peter Zimmerman. Peter's daughter married Julius Krause, brother to Ernestine Krause. Aside of their streak of irritability and the red-headed grandmother, Annie Marie describes the Krause family this way:"My grandfather Krauses family was musical, but as they did not have musical instruments in those early days they expressed their musical talent in song. They sang at their work and at their play. You could never be at their home for any length of time without hearing their song. It was as natural for them to sing as it was to eat. It was a part of their nature and their life. When the youngest child was about thirteen years old, grandfather bought an organ and she learned to play, and then they had many a family sing, with the organ. But I love to think of their song as I used to hear it in my childhood days when they were working in the fields or as they were preparing meals or making beds, or most frequently in the open as they did their work about the house and barn. I shall never forget their clear beautiful voices."
The Krause family is another of the group of families that appears to have migrated from near Sebringsville, Canada to Fillmore County, Minnesota, along with Zimmermans, Riehls, and Krusps.
The Wilder Family Farm was also in Spring Valley, Minnesota. From May 1890 to October 1891 Laura and Almanzo lived with Almanzo's parents there and attended the Methodist church. So Phillip's family undoubtedly knew Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Wilder family.
Per 1880 census, both of Ernestine's parents are from Prussia.
Per Van Lehn Gedcom her parents were Johan Benjamin Krause (1822 - 1891) and Henriette Pauline Schneider (1828 - 1904)There are 7 Krause graves in Preston Cemetery.
Per Annie Nelson Zimmerman History - "Ernestine came to America with her parentsin May 1861, when she was nine years old."
Did not marry per C.Zimmerman family sheet #2
"In 1899, Julius
left for western Montana and
worked with the sheep-herders and
cattlemen, an era of the early west
known today as'cowboy days.' " Per Philip Zimmerman obituaryFrom "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
Phillip and Ernestine's second child was Julius Benjamin Zimmerman (1876 Minnesota – 1935 Minnesota). Julius never married. As a young man he went west to Montana and worked several years on the range herding sheep and cattle. Eventually he came back to the old home in Minnesota to care for aging parents.
From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
Phillip and Ernestine's fourth child was David Phillip Zimmerman (1881 Minnesota – 1882 Minnesota). David died as a toddler of Scarlet Fever.
per Gordon Zimmerman letter 21 Nov 2005: " These ladies (Minnie, Esther, and Fern) were all librarians at U. of Minn. Their uncle Jules Krause hired them to move to Santa Ana in 1940's and came for them. I met him in ____ 1949."
From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
Phillip and Ernestine's sixth child was Minnie Etta Zimmerman (1889 Minnesota – 1955 California).Minnie first taught high school, then did graduate work and became the librarian at Winona State Teachers College.
per Gordon Zimmerman letter 21 Nov 2005: " These ladies (Minnie, Esther, and Fern) were all librarians at U. of Minn. Their uncle Jules Krause hired them to move to Santa Ana in 1940's and came for them. I met him in ____ 1949."
In the Philip Zimmerman Bible her name is Alice Esther.
From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
Phillip and Ernestine's seventh child was Esther Alice Zimmerman (1891 Minnesota – 1960 California). Alice, as she was called, was also a college graduate, and taught for twenty years in Cloquet High School, Minnesota. Annie Marie relates this story:"Alice had a serious accident while traveling through Yellowstone Park. She happened to be near a hot spring when the crust on which she was standing gave way and she fell into the boiling water burning her legs badly. For some time there seemed to be no hope for her life, but she had the Zimmerman vitality and shocked her doctor by getting well."
per Gordon Zimmerman letter 21 Nov 2005: " These ladies (Minnie, Esther, and Fern) were all librarians at U. of Minn. Their uncle Jules Krause hired them to move to Santa Ana in 1940's and came for them. I met him in ____ 1949."
From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
Phillip and Ernestine's eighth child was Fern Joy Zimmerman (1899 Minnesota – 1996 California). Fern too was a college graduate, and taught for twenty years in Cloquet High School, Minnesota along with Alice. Annie Marie writes:"Sister Fern had a serious automobile accident from which no one ever expected her to recover, but after months of pain and suffering she too showed her Zimmerman vitality and got well. How she ever managed to get well no one can tell, but she did after weeks of unconsciousness and untold pain."
And she lived a very long life, living to the age of 97. Fern Joy died 196 years after her grandfather Christian was born.
Ancestry has indexed this name as "Hoff". The children match up exactly with those of George Hopp and Kathryn Zimmerman who died late 1870's. After examining the original entry, I feel confident that it was actually written "Hopp."
Zimmerman History says George Hopp was born in 1830 in Canada. he was a Master Mechanic, a farmer, and a good horseman. It is thought his family came from Quatmeinheim, Strasburg, Alsace.
From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
The third child of Christian and Elizabeth Zimmerman was Katherine Zimmerman (1839 Canada – 1877 Martin Co., Minnesota) Katherine came to Fillmore County, Minnesota from Canada with her brother Adam in 1859. Katherine and her brother Adam married a brother and sister of the family of George and Margaretha Strub Hopp, immigrants from Alsace, France. It was a double wedding ceremony. Katherine married George Hopp Jr. Adam married Eve Hopp. George Hopp Jr. was a farmer. He and Katherine had ten children during the next eighteen years, six boys and four girls. Katherine died in childbirth with the tenth baby. Then George married again and had six more children, making sixteen altogether. Of the ten with Katherine, the first two died before the age of two (1st John and Michael). The second and third were twins (Michael and 2nd John). Three never married (John, Matilda and Katherine). Two married but never had children (Jacob and Emma). One (Henry) we have no record of except his birth and death. Two girls were nurses, one girl was a teacher. Only two of the ten had children of their own; Lydia married Charles Oxreider and had three children; George, a successful lawyer in Minneapolis, had two children. So out of ten children Katherine only had five grandchildren. This is what Cousin Annie Marie Zimmerman Nelson wrote about George Hopp III. :"I knew Cousin George Hopp the best (of the children of Katherine and George Hopp). He was a very dear cousin and attended the University of Minnesota while I was attending Hamline University, and I saw him a great deal.
He became an exceptionally successful lawyer and banker and traveled abroad a great deal in connection
with his business.Second John worked as a gold miner. The 1920 Census says he is the Manager of a Gold Mine. The 1930 Census show him living in Seattle with two single sisters, Matilda and Katherine, and still working in the Gold Mine. In Seattle! Except for George, who stayed in Minnesota, all these children ended up in the state of Washington.
Marriage Notes for George M. Hopp and Katherine ZIMMERMAN-289
George and Katherine had a double wedding ceremony with his sister, Eve Hopp, and her brother, Adam Zimmerman.
John made the 1880 census twice. Once in Minnesota and once in Washington where he is working at a logging camp on Whidby Island for his Uncle Christian Zimmerman.
John was one of a set of twins. Twin Michael died in infancy. per Zimmerman History
May be on the 1900 census as Herman Hoff
May be on the 1910 census as Herman A Hopp, however a brother Arthur is living with this family and I have no record of Henry having a brother Arthur.
Per Zimmerman history - Henry always lived in Canada. He was a large man. He started farming but lost the farm. He then went into the bee business, having as many as 400 swarms. He made good from the sale of honey for a long time.
The Canadian custom, adopted from England, expected the oldest son to care for the parents. When Henry lost his property, his mother, Elizabeth, went to stay with her son, Adam, at Preston, Minnesota.From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
The first child of Christian and Elizabeth Zimmerman was Johann Heinrich Zimmerman, called Henry, (1835 Canada – 1909 USA), the oldest. He married Mary Krusp in Canada in 1856. Mary's family had also come from Germany and settled first near the Zimmermans in Canada and later near the Zimmermans in Minnesota.After Christian died the family ran the farm together for awhile. Then the church decided the farm should be Henry's property. He did not do well. Cousin Rolland tells us:
Henry started farming but lost the farm. He then went into the bee business, having as high as 400 swarms. He made good from the sale of honey for a long time. Canadian custom (adopted from England) expected oldest son to care for parents. When he lost his property his mother, Elizabeth, went to stay with other children at Preston, Minnesota.
Annie Marie adds:Whatever property (Elizabeth) may have had was lost in some way through Henry's mismanagement...
Henry and Mary had a family of eight children; six boys, two girls. All married. One, Will, married the same woman twice! Three never had children, but the other five had a total of 11 children. All settled in Washington or California except Albert, the youngest. He moved to Australia and became very wealthy in the import-export business until he lost it all in the run-up to WWII.
There is some question of where Henry died. His great-grand-nephew Gordon Zimmerman says he has seen this Henry's grave at Canby Oregon. Annie Marie Zimmerman Nelson says this Henry Zimmerman is buried in New Mexico where he died while he was staying with a daughter. Another descendant, Katie Allen, says this Henry died in Watsonville, California, the same as his wife.
Anna Zimmerman Nelson's History says "Krusp."
Ancestry has indexed this name as "Hoff". The children match up exactly with those of George Hopp and Kathryn Zimmerman who died late 1870's. After examining the original entry, I feel confident that it was actually written "Hopp."
Zimmerman History says George Hopp was born in 1830 in Canada. he was a Master Mechanic, a farmer, and a good horseman. It is thought his family came from Quatmeinheim, Strasburg, Alsace.
Franklin H. Derrick
1824 – 1905
Clarence Hollow, New York – Brodhead, WisconsinNovember 22, 2009
Dear children,
Tonight I'm going to tell you the story of your great great great great grandfather, Franklin H. Derrick. I don't know what the H. stood for. He was Mary L. Derrick's father. She's the one you're never never to forget (!) Like his father before him Franklin H. was an industrious, bright, highly respected member of his community. We'll get to that part in a minute.
Franklin was the fourth child of Rodolphus Derrick and Lorinda Sheldon. They were both from families whose roots went back to the very early days of the colonies. On Lorinda's side we can trace the roots back from the colonies to English royalty and William the Conqueror himself. When Franklin H. (and I'm referring to him as Franklin H. because he had a very successful son whose name was Franklin R. and I don't want you to get mixed up.) when Franklin H. was 16 he moved with his family from New York, where he was born, to the fertile prairie land of south central Wisconsin, west of what is now Janesville. That was in 1840. Franklin H. and his family helped to build the little town of Clarence, named after the town they came from in New York.
There are several accounts of life in the early days of settlement of Clarence, Wisconsin, near the Sugar River, named for the white sand that could be seen through the water and looked like sugar. This first group of stories I want you to hear were written down by Bell TenEyck Fleming whose grandfather had come as a settler and bought land from Franklin H's father.
“ Before there was a bridge, Grandfather TenEyck built a canoe out of logs in which he brought people across the river that had no other way. Later, a bridge was built, but every winter it would wash out. Derrick (This refers to Franklin R.) says that once when it had gone out they built a raft of logs and had a couple of pulleys in which ropes were run. They would take hold of the rope and pull the raft to their side, then all would get on, the smallest children were made to sit down and the older ones would manage the raft. It would float down with the current as far as it could go, and then they would pull on another rope to bring them to the other side. He says many a morning they went to school that way and as he thinks of it now, he wonders how it happened none of them drowned..”
How would you like to ride a raft like that when you go to school? Here's another story from Bell.
"Grandmother Ten Eyck was an invalid in the latter part of her life. She never tired of relating incidents of the early settlements. Especially of Peter Emel, the Frenchman, and his Indian wife, who often called. They would follow Mrs. Ten Eyck to the chamber, cellar, or garden, when she would supply them with meat or other eatables. She told of the herds of deer that bounded through the brush and thicket that then surrounded the place, and of the wild turkey that came and gobbled near the door, feeding from the corn they found. Kate Taylor said she could remember seeing 30 deer at one time.
“The log house that grandfather built had no doors or windows -only places cut for them and blankets were hung up at the door. (There was no saw mill.) All slept in the loft, or up stairs reached by a ladder, and after all were up, the ladder was drawn up so the wolves could not reach them. Kate (daughter of Jacob TenEyck) said she could see wolves everywhere, their eyes shining in the dark ... Kate was the first white child born in Clarence ...”
Franklin H's father built a sturdier house that you can read about in Rodolphus's story, but I thought you'd like to hear what the neighborhood was like.
Most of the native Americans had been run out of this part of Wisconsin in the Blackhawk War only eight years before Franklin H. arrived with his family, but there were still a few left. The following 2 stories are about those few. The first is also from Bell TenEyck Fleming
"In the spring the Indians camped along the Sugar River. They came to fish and hunt. The men and women walked, their tents and other things were fastened to long poles. One end was held up by the pony and the other dragged on the ground. One winter there was a sickness among them and nothing to eat. Someone came and told Grandfather Ten Eyck and he sent word back for them to bring their ponies and he would help them. They came and he loaded their ponies with meat, vegetables, bread and straw. The children that died, they hung up in the trees down near the bridge where the park is now. They were left there through the winter and the next spring they came for them, but they never came again to camp."
Can you imagine going out to feed the chickens in the morning and seeing dead children up in the trees? Why do you think they did this? I think it was because the ground was so hard frozen they couldn't bury them and they didn't want the wolfs and coyotes to eat them.
And this story is from Helen Beckwith.
“This tree is a burr oak standing south of HWY 81 on land once owned by Charles A. Warner...His son well remembers the Indian chief who twice a year with some members of his tribe camped on the bank of the Sugar River where it flowed through Warner land... When [the son] was a little boy, about 1867, he can remember the Indian chief standing at the door of his father's blacksmith shop, where he had come to get a gun and some other things repaired, and saying, 'You no cut that tree!' and pointing to the burr oak, which still stands alone. The Indian then explained to Mr. Warner that the tree marked for the Indians the point which was one half way between the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.
The Indians walking single file, one foot directly in front of the other, had worn the trail down through the sod. The tree was then about the size of a stove pipe. The bark was hacked in many places by Indian tomahawks. One year during an unusual drought nearly all the leaves died. At another time the tree was found one morning stripped of all its leaves by grasshoppers. Mr. Warner promised it should stand and it has. The Indian trail wound from the northeast to the southwest. Mr. Warner, coming home one day, announced that the Indians were quite accurate, as the middle point had been located at Magnolia."
In 1846 when Franklin H. was 22. he married the girl next door, Harriet Boslow. Harriet had come to Wisconsin with her family from Canada in 1845. One of her grandfathers was a famous Canadian circuit rider, the other was a Loyalist soldier that went to Canada at the end of the Revolutionary War. Their first child, Theodore James, was born in 1848, the same year Harriet's father died. Franklin H. and Harriet then lived in the Boslow home with Harriet's mother, called Aunt Polly. Franklin R. was born two years later in May of 1850. Then Franklin H did something very interesting. He took off for the Gold Rush!
You've probably heard of the Gold Rush that began after gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California in 1848. Over 300,000 people from all over the world rushed to California to strike it rich mining and panning for gold. Your gggggrandfather, Franklin R. Derrick was one of them. Just like his father before him Franklin left a wife and 2 babies. And just like her mother-in-law Lorinda, Harriet probably wasn't too happy about it. Fortunately for Harriet she was surrounded by a strong
community of friends and family to help her through the two years that her husband was gone. Franklin H.'s father had only taken off for one year. Fanklin H. took two years. It took him five months to travel overland to California. He returned home in 1852, first traveling south to Nicaragua, then sailing to New Orleans, taking a steamer up river to Cincinnati, then on to Wisconsin, perhaps by stagecoach. I don't know how much gold he found. Most of the 300,000 did not strike it rich. However, when his father died in 1860, Franklin H. was able to buy the 400 acre homestead.Franklin H's brother-in-law, Thomas Condon Boslow, also went to the Gold Rush. It's very likely they went together. After the gold rush, Franklin H. settled down and became a pillar of the community. He and his growing family lived in the original log homstead that Rodolphus Derrick had built. Franklin H. and Harriet had five more babies; Mary in 1853, Levi in 1855, Harriet in1858, Flora in 1859, and Paul in 1862. Flora only lived to the age of two. At some point Franklin H. built a large home on the hill north of the original log home which he sold. His wife Harriet died in 1871 at the age of just 49. A year later Franklin H. married Mary Ann Williams Northrup.
In 1887 after his daughter Mary and her husband, John Balis, had both died, Franklin H. and his wife took ten year old Flora to raise. Flora became your grandfather's (Paul Stevens') grandmother. Flora lived with them until she married Ed Stevens in 1899. At different times in his life Franklin H. had his mother and his mother-in-law living with him. There were few nursing homes. When parents got too old to fend for themselves, they went to live with their children. Or often, as in Franklin H's case, the father would die first and a child would get to live in the family home if they agreed to care for the aging mother. And if a child's parents died, other relatives would agree to raise them. Franklin H. got it from all sides. His father-in-law died and he inherited the care of his mother-in-law for 20 years. His daughter died and he inherited the care of his granddaughter for 12 years. His father died and he inherited the care of his mother for 13 years. Franklin H. Derrick was a good family man!
During his lifetime Franklin H. was also a prosperous farmer, businessman, and civic leader. He was the county Sheriff at one time and served as chairman of the town board a number of times. When he retired from farming in 1883 he helped to establish the first cheese factory in Brodhead, becoming its treasurer.
Franklin H. died the 7th of September 1905, in Brodhead, Wisconsin having lived a very full and satisfying life.
Now I'm going to tell you a little bit about his children.
Theodore James, the 1st child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, served in the 18th Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War. He farmed with his father until he and his wife left to homestead in McCracken, Kansas. From there he moved on to Jolly, Texas. Theodore and his wife, Ellen Jones Purdy, had a daughter, Jessie May, who died suddenly at the age of 10. Mary Derrick Balis wrote about her in the poem, “To the Memory of Little Susie, May, and Ina.” Tid, as he was called, and Ellen never had another child of their own, however, after the deaths of Mary and John Balis, they took their six-year-old niece, Mabel. Tid lived to be 80 years old.
Franklin R, the 2nd child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, grew up to become a lawyer and a dentist. He was very well liked and highly respected in the town of Brodhead where he resided his entire adult life. He was tall and rugged looking that made him the perfect candidate to impersonate Abraham Lincoln and Uncle Sam which he did regularly. He married Arabella Nancy Moore, called Belle. They had one child, Sue, who was the third of three little Derrick girls to die in 1884, celebrated in Mary's poem. Frank and Belle never had another child either. They did help with Mary's six orphans, and tried to take Mabel, but it didn't work out and she went to live with Uncle Tid. Shortly before his death in 1928 Frank was asked to write a piece for the Brodhead Independent Register about the building of the Sugar River covered bridge. I'm copying the full article here.
“F.R.DERRICK TELLS OF BUILDING COVERED BRIDGE Your request that I furnish you a short history of the locally famous "Covered Bridge" that spans Sugar River at a point on State Highway No. 61, three miles southwest of this city, was a very happy guess. As a fifteen-year old boy, I assisted in building it. My father had the contract to supply and drive the heavy piling at each bank upon which the super-structure rests. My immediate business was to keep Old Maje (Old Maje was an old farm horse) going 'round and 'round on the capstan that raised the hammer on the pile driver. "Old Maje" and I completed our part of the job first, as we necessarily had to do. It was in the early fall of 1864 that the bridge was started.
“It was built by a contractor from Racine by the name of Hulburt and was the only bridge built of that exact model. Originally it spanned the full width of the river; about one hundred and fifty feet and had a sixteen foot driveway. It was raised on the ice and the fact that it was an exceptionally fine season for late fall work was a helpful factor. As it was, the early spring weather with its resultant high water forced the contractor to rush the cutting away of the under pinning before he was quite ready to do so. No serious results followed, however.
“Soon the anxious watchfulness of the township supervisors discovered that the tremendously heavy super-structure was slowly settling. The crown of eight inches had settled down to about five as I remember it. They called the contractor up from Racine and although he had been paid in full and the work accepted, he strengthened the work by spiking heavy arches on the inside of each side of the frame. They were made by beveling the ends of two by twelve planks in such a way that it keyed one against the other. Two thicknesses of material were spiked in this way, requiring thousands of feet of lumber. This seemed to be all that was needed for some time. Later, however, it was very evident that it was still settling and the township supervisors still further strengthened it by putting in suspending rods on each side of two inch material, running from the top of each end bent slantwise down through the whole timber works, out to about one quarter of the length of the bridge. The rods were then run along the bottom of the frame-work until they met in the center and were screwed up perfectly tight; thus forming two great iron slings within which the bridge rested.
“It was left in this way for several years, but the crown of eight inches almost entirely went out, leaving the floor of the bridge about level. It was at this time that the town decided to do what should have been done in the first place, put a heavy abutment in the middle of the river. This was done many years ago, as were the old piling supports at each end changed for modern concrete ones. It looked to me like a reflection on the work and the engineering that "Old Maje" and I did back there in the sixties but it made a real bridge of it.
“Within a few years after it was built it was enclosed and roofed. It was never painted. It stands there today, a monument of that past that tried the souls and muscles of those old pioneers. Modernism has found the old bridge too narrow and demands that it be torn down and replaced by a wider more elaborate and expensive one. There is a demand for more room on the road today than was needed when that old bridge was built. It is looked upon as a grievance today to be obliged to wait an opportunity to dodge by or over or under another auto.
“It would be almost sacrilegious to think of dismantling the old bridge. It stands on Highway 61 about three miles southwest of Brodhead and is well worth quite a detour to pass through it and listen to the rumbling echoes of that long ago. It is at the extreme point of "Pine Bluff" along whose rugged base the beautiful Sugar River wends its way.
“The immediate surroundings are interesting. East of the bridge about a quarter of a mile, is the deserted site of what was once quite a village; with its store, tavern, blacksmith shops and last but not least - the old stone schoolhouse. The old schoolhouse has been replaced by a very modern one but the ghosts of the old "Clarence Schoolhouse" haunt the memories of the few who, as children, attended school there in those garnered golden years of which we have so many pleasant recollections.
“Sugar River itself is no less famous than the covered bridge that spans it. Back in the eighties, during the fresh-water pearl excitement, it was known as the most promising pearl fishing waters of the west. Hundreds of persons spent days, and some of them months, combing the bottom of the river with pearling rakes, ever hoping to secure the largest pearl that had ever been found. Some very beautiful and very valuable pearls were found.
" 'Pine Bluff' of which the extreme southern point is shown in the photo of the bridge, is also an historic landmark of the region. It derives its name from the score or so of large pine trees that cling to the almost bare sand rock that rises from the river at its base. This bluff was once the gathering place of the native Indians of the region. The writer well remembers the bands of Indians that every spring passed north along the river. They usually divided, part ascending the river by canoes, and part with ponies wending their way along the bank.
“It was usually a self-imposed 'half holiday' when the word was passed around that the Indians were going by. Poor, dirty remnant of a once mighty people; their star had truly set, and in a few years they ceased entirely to follow the old waterways and trails along the banks of the beautiful Sugar River.
“These are the garrulous jottings of one who as a boy crossed the river hundreds of times, both before and after the 'Covered Bridge' was built, a boy who swam and fished and skated on the river, a boy for whom the wintergreen beds of 'Pine Bluff' were familiar spots and Arbutus blossoms of early spring his personal spoils.
“You must pardon me for the length of the communication. It is not I who am guilty of the infliction - it is the reincarnation of that boy - barefooted, excepting 'stone bruises' - naked except for 'Hickory' shirt, 'Denim' overalls, 'Home made galluses' and an old 'chip hat.' Gun on shoulder or fishing rod in hand, he spent a joyous youth shooting wild pigeons on Pine Bluff, or catching monster black bass all through the 'open season' that ran without interference from August first to August first next. Should I ever see that boy, I will charge him with being a criminal deserving of severe punishment; but he has secured quite a start of me and I fear I shall never overtake him.”Mary Lorinda, the 3rd child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, is our ancestor. She has her own story.
Levi F., the 4th child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick married Mary Simmons. They homesteaded in McCracken, Kansas with Levi's brother Theodore. Levi and Mary raised a family of two daughters, Harriet and Maud.
Harriet F., the 5th child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, married Junius Lamson . Harriet and Junius and their family homesteaded in Harlan County, Nebraska about the same time as Mary and John Balis. Junius was the schoolmaster at the Balis children's sod school for awhile.
Flora L., the 6th child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, died as a two-year-old.
Paul Erwin, the 7th child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, became rich and famous in the advertising business, making Quaker Oats a household word. He and his wife, Adelaide Bowen, never had children. When they retired they came back to the land of their childhood and built a beautiful brick home in Brodhead which they called Panda Lodge.
So this is the story of your great great great great grandfather, Franklin H. Derrick He came to settle the Wisconsin prairie with his birth family when the last of the Native Americans were still here. He was part of the 1849 Gold Rush. He and his wife raised a large family and cared for numerous other family members for many years. He was a prosperous Wisconsin farmer, and contributed much to his community.
Here's how we are related to Franklin H. Derrick. Franklin H. had Mary L. Derrick. Mary L. had Flora Lulu Derrick. Flora had Harold Balis Stevens. Harold had Paul Robert Stevens. Paul had Dawne Irene Stevens. Dawne had ... Sarah, Hannah, Timmy, and Becky.
So Hooray for our ancestor, Franklin H. Derrick!
Love,
Granny
Courtesy of Wayne Olsen: "From Condon Clan Source:
" Harriet married her neighbor, Frank Derrick, son of Adolphus who came to Spring Grove from Clarence, New York. The Derrick men were highly respected because of their Christian conduct and community leadership. Harriet and Frank had four sons and 3 daughters."
after the separation ernie went back to Brodhead and was raised by Will and Carrie Honeysett.
This living person has not agreed to be listed.
Moved to California June 1943
son of William and Pearl Nyman
Per Hattie Bales photo album - Glenn and Ina Nyman's home was destroyed by a tornado 21 Sept 1931.
The note with the photos says: Sept. 21, 1931. Our home after tornado. Wm Harnack farm in Center township. Glenn & Ina Nyman