The Next Grandpa Back - Written Word

Related Link: The Next Grandpa Back - Video

In times of uncertainty I like to look back in history to identify things that remain constant from generation to generation. It helps me feel grounded. And it occurred to me the other day that social media is one of those constants.

Think about it. Through the ages people have tried to connect -- with writing on cave walls, writing on bathroom walls, the town crier, the town gossip, newspaper ads, bulletin boards, Facebook, and Twitter.

My favorite social media platform of last century is the community news section of small town newspapers. Here's an example from the Creighton News, July 4, 1912. It's a small Nebraska paper.

• Adolph Raff was in town Sunday and dropped in to say hello to the news. 

• Cool underwear for hot weather at the Simon Clothing Company.

• Mrs. Alice Norton has a small chicken that has four legs and four feet.

• Instant Postum requires no boiling. 25 and 50 cent packages available.

These little tidbits tumble down the columns, paragraph after paragraph, no headings, filling most of page 3. They remind me of my Facebook news feed, without the photos or memes. And yet, each of these paragraphs provides a small snapshot in time that can help us understand the people who lived then.

These pages helped me get acquainted with my great grandfather. Dad told me stories about his father, but we didn’t know much about the next grandpa back. All Dad could remember was that he was really old, and he had a gruff voice. 

I can see him now, Cyrus Carver, standing in the kitchen of his son Bart’s house. He's been visiting, but it's time to go home. His lunch is packed. He gets his coat and looks outside. Oh no! Bart is talking to the newspaper man. That man is a busybody. He spends all his time gathering neighborhood gossip and printing it!

Bart waves. "Pops, come talk with us!" With a sigh, Cyrus steps outside.

"I don't have time for no stories. I have pressing work in the shop." He keeps his head down and tries to walk past them, but Bart takes his arm.

"Pops! People want to hear about your life. You set a good example. Talk to the man. Be neighborly!"

Well, if you put it that way. He sets his things on the porch and talks about the old days on the homestead, when the boys were young and his wife was alive. He talks about Saturday night dances at his place. They had some good times. Somebody would play the fiddle. They would make popcorn, play cards, tell stories.

The nearest doctor was miles away, and many a night some neighbor would knock on the door and ask for his wife. "Grandma Carver, my mother is sick. Please come help!" Sometimes she was able to save a life. Sometimes not. Early on, Cyrus set up a cemetery on a hill at the corner of his property. He built the caskets. How many? He wasn't sure.

The boys are all grown now, with children and grandchildren. None of them have much money, and if he doesn't work, they will have to feed him. He isn't having any of that, so he grows onions to sell. He takes orders for blacksmith and carpentry work. And now he really needs to get back. As he explains to the newspaper man, "I'm a self-sustainer. I will work till the day I die."

Cyrus Hoyt Carver was born in St. Lawrence County, New York in 1810. Around 1840 he married a local girl, Mary Allen, and they moved to Wisconsin, where they raised eight children. 

In 1864, despite his age, he was drafted into the civil war at Prairie du Chin, 3rd Dist Wisconson. After a few weeks he was sent home, due to epilepsy.

In 1877 they moved to Nebraska to take up a homestead. 

In October, 1879 the Neligh Republican reports that he built a two-story stone house, 16x26, built of fine, grey limestone.

According to a 1965 article in the Creighton News, he nearly lost his life in 1880 in a well but was saved by a neighbor. This deserves further study and a separate post.

Here he is in 1906 with some grandchildren and their dog, Shep.

Cyrus Hoyt Carver, (1810-1914) with grandchildren Ethyl, Eldon, Gilbert, Chester, and dog, Shep. About 1906. Age 96. Photo courtesy Carly Smith.

The 1910 Country Correspondence section of the Creighton News says that Cyrus had a stroke, but he bounced back.

Creighton News, Page 5 -January 27, 1910

Here he is in 1911, celebrating his 101st birthday. He used to grow tobacco, and he is spry.

Nebraska Liberal, Page 1 - August 11, 1911

In 1912, age 102, he's walking 14 miles against the strongest winds of the season to visit Bart. Can that really be true? Or is this some of that fake news? At any rate, he is still spry. I like that word. Spry.

Nebraska Liberal, Page 4 - October 11, 1912

And finally, here's his obituary in 1914. He lived to be 103 years, 10 months, and 26 days old, and he died in his workshop.

Creighton News, Page 1 - June 4, 1914
Wife's name Mary Jennette Allen. Boys' names: Dorr, Orin (Nickname Shib), Loren (nickname Nin), Donley, Oliver (nickname Oddie), Barton, Orland (nickname Professor). Daughter who died age 11, name unknown. 

What was Cyrus Carver's legacy? He was a husband, father, blacksmith, homesteader. He hosted dances and built caskets. He was a self-sustainer. He was spry. And if we could travel back in time and ask him what one thing he wanted to be remembered for, I think he would say, "I was a good neighbor."

If it weren't for last century's social media, I would know a lot less about Great Grandpa. I'm glad he took the time to tell the papers a little bit about his life. I want to be a self-sustainer. I'd really like to be spry. And we all want to be good neighbors. Don't we?