Facts and Memories

Mrs. Ray Hendrickson 11-15-1890

I remember very little about my grandmothers. Grandmother Whaley died ten or eleven years before I was born. Here are a few things I remember Aunt Margaret telling me. Grandmother's name was Rosenne Moore. Rosenne is an unusual name and many thought it was Rose Ann. She came here from England when she was 9 years old. She came with some people who were not her parents. She hurt her foot badly while on board ship and couldn't continue with these people. I never did learn where she stayed or how she finally became acquainted with my Grandfather John Whaley.

John Whaley's mother was Rebecca Redhead who was the wife of Joseph Whaley. They came from England with their children. Great Grandmother Rebecca became ill at Ashtabula Ohio, died and was buried there. Joseph Whaley and the children came on to Iowa and settled near Homer which was a thriving town at that time.

The children, as I remember my mother telling me, were Celia, Sarah, Hannah, John and Ebenezer. It seems there were more, but I can't remember their names. I don't know where John Whaley and Rosenne Moore were married, but they lived in their later years across from the Saratoga schoolhouse south of Webster City. Rosenne became the mother of 13 children, some of them dying in infancy and some from diptheria. Those who became adults were Rebecca, Emma, Stella, Celia (my mother), Margaret, Nelson and Atwell. Grandmother Rosenne died of breast cancer before reaching her 50th birthday.

Regarding my father's parents: Grandfather Daniel Carey died several years before I was born. He also died of cancer. I remember Grandmother Elvira but rather vaguely. She was not very tall and rather heavy set. It seems she was always sitting in her rocking chair, but when we went out to the dinner table she walked and I always enjoyed sitting next to her. I believe her son Lewis and family lived with her. One room had been set aside for grandmother. It was rather crowded and I thought there were many beautiful things in that room, but I can't recall one single thing.

Grandmother lived about three miles from our new home out on the prairie. I remember one night my mother wakened us with a strong tone of urgency in her voice saying, "Something is wrong! Just listen to that horse coming as fast as it can gallop". To this day I can still recall the sound of those galloping hoof beats. Yes, something was wrong. It was my cousin Ben coming to tell us grandmother was very ill, and she died soon after at the age of 83.

I must tell you about my Uncle Lewis' family. His wife Aunt Lizzie met a tragic death. There was a large family of children, Jessie, Ella, Josie, Bertha, Cora, Anna, John, Arch and Ben. One day Aunt Lizze said "If you children go get a chicken I will cook it for your dinner. I will go out to the wood pile and pickup some chips in my apron so I can soon have a good hot fire." One of the boys ran and got the gun so he could shoot the chicken. As he neared his mother, he fell and the gun discharged killing her almost instantly. She said "Goodbye my children. I'm shot through the heart" and fell dead. Bertha who was 13 at the time took charge of the housework and helped raise the younger children. Jessie, Ella and Josie, who were older went to live with relatives. John and Arch stayed and helped their father with farming. Cora, Anna and Ben were younger than Bertha.