Geraldine A. Perin

PERMANENT RECORD
AND DATA 

Written By

Geraldine Allison Perin

PERIN HISTORY

Preface

To my children this book of memories is lovingly dedicated.

Mildred brought me this May 14, 1946.

Recently my attention has been called to the difficulty of obtaining authentic facts about ones ancestry and I decided to write for future reference some of the outstanding memories of my life.

My Childhood

February 18, 1866 was my birthdate.  I have been told that I was small, puny and cross, giving my mother many hours of care and anxiety.  I am sure that all my care fell to my mother because to my two oldest sisters, who were twelve and fourteen respectively, I was a very unwelcome visitor.  I do not know how completely they were permitted to follow out their resolution to do nothing for the “screaming brat” but whatever they did do, in those early days, was most unwilling service.

Notwithstanding these handicaps, I continued to keep my place in the family and as time went on and I grew, this strong antipathy of my sisters lessened and a tolerant resignation took its place and I do not remember any great unkindness in my early years from these same sisters.

My two brothers, however, were very indignant at my delicate health and subjected me to merciless ridicule.  Because of my spindling body, my brothers called me “pipe stems” and “spindle shanks”.

While nature had denied me physical strength, I was endowed with beautiful golden hair and my sisters were very proud of this and gave it very careful handling.  So by the time I was three years old, I was petted and admired for my hair and also for being a very quiet and unobtrusive child willing to be seen and not heard or even not seen at all.

I became very ill during the summer of my third year and my life was despaired of.  I had a craving for ripe peaches which were denied until the family doctor said, “let her have a ripe peach”.  Everyone doubted the wisdom of such a course, but thinking I would not live anyway, they did not want the denial on their conscience, the peach was given and strange as it seems, I mended from that hour.  Dr. Gifford, the family doctor, was  a great favorite throughout my childhood and I thought him a very handsome man, although he was really very homely.

I had my first experience with the dentist when about 4 1/2 yrs. old.  An ulcerated molar made a trip to the dentist necessary.  There was no replacement of that loss until I had all the rest of my permanent teeth.  Then this vacancy was filled by the tooth cutting through into the inside of my gums and was somewhat in the way, though it did not interfere with speaking.

I was always fond of living things on the farm and was allowed to milk a cow when less than five.  The horse was my favorite animal and we had a beautiful black mare named Fanny that I would admire by the hour.  She was a little too spirited for a childs pet but she could be worshipped at a distance.  My father did not like Fanny and called her Spitfire.  She, of course, sensed his dislike and showed her feeling accordingly as animals do if we dislike them.

Both  my grandfathers died when I was quite young.  I can just remember Grandfather Adams in his last illness.  Grandmother Adams survived him a few years and I have many happy memories of visiting at her home and playing with my cousins.  She always wore a spotless lace cap and seemed to my childish mind like a saint.  She always seemed happy to have her grandchildren around her and I do not remember a chiding or cross word from her.

Grandfather Allison died very suddenly of apoplexy and I only remember him in health.  He also was survived by Grandmother Allison and for a time she lived in our home.  She was not an agreeable person and we children annoyed her very much and she scolded us for little and big offenses so that some of the older ones became hardened and no doubt tried to vex her.

One incident comes to my mind in which I became the culprit.  In some way, sister Belle, my senior by nearly three years, wished to avenge some correction administered by “Granny”, as we had been taught to address her, and told me to go and step on her quilt which was spread out over considerable floor space.  Not taking time to consider the right and wrong of this action, I did as sister Belle requested and had to take the punishment that followed.  She never forgave me and I do not really blame her as I surely ought to have known better, although I was a very little girl.  Afterward, I fell through an open window and she said, “that was a judgment sent on you for stepping on my quilt”.

My first lessons were learned at home and when I was sent to school, I was reading in the second reader and was put into a class in which there were girls and boys of ten, twelve and fourteen.  But they were very dull and offered me no challenge so soon I was advanced to the third reader.  All the readers and spellers were McGuffeys and I loved these branches very much.  Arithmetic was difficult and I’m ashamed to say I did not make very good grades in that.  Grammar, history, geography and physiology were delightful and always gave me good grades.  I graduated from grade school when I was 16 and that finished my school life.  The following years I tutored my little brothers and sisters at home.  It was good practice for me but I fear it was not so beneficial for them.

My girlhood experiences were limited.  The boys and girls of my own age were not being congenial.  But having three sisters and two brothers and many cousins, I got along.  At the age of 12, sister Belle became an invalid and could not romp and play anymore.  It was a sad thing as she suffered much.  She passed on at 18 seemingly from tuberculosis.  The doctors never fully decided her case.

When I was twelve years old, my sister Celia married J.A. Thomas.  Her wedding was celebrated in our house and was quite an event to my mind.  Our sister Martha Jackson came and helped in the preparations.  There were quite a number of guests to stay overnight.  The date was March 4 and it was quite cold.  We made two beds on the floor and it has always seemed to me there was hardly standing room.  I was one of the floor sleepers.  It was a sad, as well as joyous occasion for sister Belle was very ill and required a great deal of attention.  I have often wondered how our mother ever got through that ordeal.  But she was an unusual woman of pioneer fortitude and managed it some how.  We small children did not appreciate the gravity of this occasion.

In the previous pages, I should have mentioned that my mother and father had separated and the big brothers, Seneca and Frank, had undertaken the support of the family.  Mother was given the farm and entire custody of the children in the divorce that was granted.  After spending about 2 years in the homestead of Grandmother Adams, we returned to the farm.

Grandmother had passed on and her estate, when settled, entitled my mother to about $1200 as her share which was a great help at this time as it enabled her to buy some needed equipment for the farm.  Mother was very thrifty and industrious and things moved along very well for us all.  We children were happier than we had every been under my father’s management.  He was, to say the least, a strict disciplinarian and we feared his harsh criticism and his harsher punishment for whatever misdemeanors were committed.  Once he had a coonskin tacked up on the sunny side of the smoke house curing for the salesman.  Again, I was called upon to avenge some real or fancied grievance of sister Belle against our father.  She told me to go and hang on that coonskin.  I was obedient and did as she told me, pulling the beautiful furry tail off and ruining the pelt.  Of course I got a terrible whipping and father never knew that it was for sister’s desire to get even with him that I had done this bit of mischief to his valuable coonskin.

While we lived in Grandmother Adams house, we children enjoyed roaming through the woods and fields where mother had grown up.  Uncle Daily Adams had a saw mill along the bank of Sarres Creek just at the foot of the hill on which our house stood.  We liked to watch the great logs carried along and the big circle saw cut the log into boards which were placed in neat stacks in the lumber yard.  There was always a great deal of rough slabs which were put into separate piles and later cut into stove wood.

There are many things in this period of my life on which I like to reflect.  In this neighborhood were many children, especially girls near my age.  There were the Cossley Lewis girls, Emma, Minnie, Julia and Lizzie.  The Clark Lewis girls Eldora, Emma, Sally, and my three cousins, Lola, and Lou Hearn and Anna Adams, besides my sister Belle and two little brothers, Clement and Alden, and we did have good times.  Also, Will and Frank Adams.

I attended school two winters at the Beech Flats.  My teachers name was Josephine Stevenson.  She was a very fine teacher and I made good progress.  Have forgotten most of the names of pupils except the Lewis children.  There was one overgrown boy named Lovell Fostner and his sister Lizzie.  The boys and girls did not play together so I do not recall any other names.  Cousin Lou and I were almost the same age.  Just six weeks between us and we were very close friends.  Anna Adams was younger and did not fit into our plans sometimes but we all had many things in common.

While Grandmother Adams lived, sister Belle and I made many trips across the “Seven Hills” (called by Uncle John Adams, “The Devil’s Washboard”) and through the dense woods which separated us from her home and usually spent the night with grandmother.  On these occasions, we would all get together and play games until bedtime.  Grandmother enjoyed our play and helped us maintain peaceful relations.  She even took part in a quiet way permitting us to hide the thimble in her lace cap frill or some other secret recess near her.  After Grandmother’s death and my parents separation, all but my married sister lived in the Adams homestead for about 2 years.  Brothers Seneca and Frank farmed for Uncle daily and worked for others when occasion offered.  It was at this homestead that sister Celia first met J.A. Thomas whom she later married.  She also had an ancient admirer named Harvey Malone who was supposed to have a lot of money.  He certainly had little to commend him in looks and we children were afraid she might choose him for a husband.

While we lived in the Grandfather Adams home, I had a painful experience that my mother feared would disfigure me for life.  Mother was frying doughnuts and asked me to turn them in the skillet.  I misunderstood and tried to turn the skillet with a knife I held in my hand.  The knife slipped and splashed hot lard into my face.  Of course there was great excitement for a while as it was very painful.  For a few days I had to wear a mask and could not see to get around alone but my eyesight was not impaired and the burns healed very nicely leaving no scars.  But I have one scar that I will carry to my grave.  When about 6 years old, I was playing a game of black man with some neighborhood children and fell on a sharp stone cutting a gash just beneath my nose that penetrated the flesh to the teeth.  It was small and when completely healed was not very noticeable.

During the first year of my stay with sister Martha, I had my first visit from Santa Clause.  My parents did not think it wise to observe Christmas in that way, especially my father, so my brother-in-law told me very wonderful tales of St. Nick and his reindeers and his visit during the night to little children.  In my stocking Christmas morning, I was surprised to find oranges, candy, a new dress, a green tin cup for a good girl, a little blue bowl and pitcher, and other trinkets.  This established the fact of Santa Clause beyond the shadow of a doubt and thereafter, my mother was won over to the idea and all the younger brothers and sisters were allowed to be visited by Santa Clause
with a little domestic strategy on my mothers part.

It was in this same year when the ground was covered with snow that my brother-in-law J.W. Jackson persuaded me to try a “few puffs” on his pipe.  A few puffs proved all that was necessary to make me a very sick child and I went out into the night and the snow and really hoped to die.  Since I know the terrible effect of tobacco, I am not inclined to be the least bit tolerant toward the unkindness of this act.  However, J.W. Jackson was a kind husband and father.  Dearly beloved by his neighbors and friends and a genial businessman.

My childhood consisted in simple experiences and while not radiantly happy, was one in close touch with nature, incidental to life in the country.  Being the period of reconstruction after the Civil War, there was not an excess of money but we did not want for the necessities of life and we children did not fret for things we did not have as some children of the parents of today do.  We found our own amusement in whatever was obtainable in some daily duties and the mystery of growing things and whatever the imagination could conjure up.  It is a great privilege for a child to grow up in the country and live close to nature.  The miracle of spring, the beauty and bounty of creation, all leave their imprint on the soul of the child and the adult years cannot entirely erase their effect.

When I was a small girl, my father would hitch the team to the farm wagon on Sunday morning and the family would all go to church about two miles distance.  We had no light wagon or buggy as long as my father and mother lived together.  When I was eight years old, mother decided that she could not stand my father’s harsh discipline of us children and his cruel treatment of herself so she obtained a divorce and the three older single children (Celia, Seneca, and Frank) came home to help her care for the remaining minor children consisting of Belle, myself, Clement, Alden, Grace and Gertrude.  The last two were year old twins.  After this, we were a very happy family until some of the outside influences created discord between Seneca and Frank who finally left the farm to Seneca.
We still got along quite well for many years.  My mother’s health improved but sister Belle became an invalid after a severe fall from a chair and was never able to walk again except on crutches.  She became a great Bible student and desired to unite with the Christian Church at Andersonville under the pastorate of Elder McGowan.  She was baptized seated in a chair in a swimming pool in the creek running through our farm.  Her death occurred on May 4, 1881, being the first of a family of ten children to pass away.

Her sickness was never fully understood or correctly diagnosed but at last developed ulcers of the bone of the right leg and probably caused a general breakdown of the entire system.

Girlhood & Marriage

When I was thirteen my oldest brother, Seneca, began to take me to singing school with him.  A vocal teacher by the name of Hoeffer came to our neighborhood and organized a class at Wesley Chapel and we attended once a week.  This was a great treat for me since my sister Belle’s illness had deprived me of a playmate and I felt very lonely.

I soon made the acquaintance of young people my own age and it changed my outlook on life.  I also could attend the S.S. and church sessions at the chapel and was always ready to go when Seneca said the word, even if I had to go without breakfast or supper.

At singing school, I met a young woman some years older than most of the others of my acquaintances.  She was very lovely to me and I was anxious to grow up so I could go in her crowd.  My mother wanted me to stay my age but like all adolescents, I could not wait and when I would get away from sight of my mother, I would let the skirt of my dress down a few inches to appear more grown up.  Of course the acquiring of a sweetheart was the next step but I was very shy and would not let the boys walk home with me.  In fact, these experiences were rather harmless or would have been if strong opposition at home had not made them clandestine.

When I was 16, my mother said I might have company, which I did, but lack of experience of entertaining in my own home made this rather a trial than a pleasure and I did not get along so well with the older boys.  They were inclined to take advantage of my inexperience and resented my set of standards which limited their liberties.  I am glad that these standards had been part of my early training as that saved me many a heartache.

When I was seventeen, I met Charles R. Perin who later became my husband.  Brother Seneca brought him home to supper.  He was one of Seneca’s music pupils and a very good bass singer.  At first I did not care for him as he was five and a half years my senior and preparing for the teaching profession so, of course, seemed much older.  But he taught our district school.  I was his oldest pupil and alone in most of my classes and I soon learned to respect him.  As he roomed and boarded at our house, we had some time together of evenings and before I realized it, we were becoming interested in each other and an engagement soon followed.

After my graduation from the grades and school closed, my mother began to oppose our engagement and hard feelings came between my family and my fiancee.  It is the usual procedure that opposition only hurries matters so when I was 18, we decided to be married, which was arranged to take place during the mid-year vacation of his school term and we were married at my home by the Christian minister of Andersonville, Elder Taylor, March 2, 1884.

A deep snow fell on that day, about 10 inches, and we attended preaching that evening and received the congratulations of our friends.  We rode in a sleigh and were very happy.  Two days later, we moved to Columbia in a covered wagon and in zero weather, to go to housekeeping in a little cottage of two rooms, owned by Nancy Millspaugh.

We drove to Connersville for our furniture and by Thursday night, we were settled in this modest house.  I do not remember that we thought it any hardship, but I know we were not any too comfortable while the cold weather lasted.  On Saturday night, the Columbia Brass band composed of J.J., S.E. and Albert (Bertie) Perin, Bill and Bryon Millspaugh, Jim Custer ad Roy Utter came in to serenade us.  C.R. hastened to let the band boys in for he knew the whole neighborhood would soon be there and we could not give them room.  Well, they came but had to be content with staying outside with their tin cans, etc.

Domesticity and Family Life

Our first year in this little cottage was very happy.  Quite early we knew that we were to be parents, so we began to plan for the little stranger.  We expected the arrival about the 15th of December but November 26, 1884, a little son was born to us.  Just one day before Thanksgiving and two weeks before the date we had set, but very welcome.  We had our hearts set on a daughter, but there really was no disappointment for he was a perfect specimen of babyhood and we were very proud of him.

We named this son Charles Roscoe and called him Roscoe, making his initials the same as his fathers.  But when Roscoe was 14 years of age, he decided he did not like to have the same initials as his father as some of the messages from his little girl favorites fell into the wrong hands and caused him embarrassment.  So he settled the difficulty by reversing the order of the names Roscoe Charles thus he was R.C. instead of C.R. Perin.

Our second baby, also a son, was born May 27, 1886.  We named him Kenneth Adrian.  On October 22, 1888, a third son, Donald Bernard, was born.  Then on January 23, 1890, a little daughter was born and our happiness was supposed to be complete with the daughter we had waited so long to have.  We named her Gladys Geraldine.  The latter was to please her father who wanted her to have my name.  We called her Gladys.  But although this would have made a very good sized family, we were destined to have others as the years came and went.  On June 15, 1893, another son was born and we named him Keith.  Aunt Sis, Uncle Frank Perin’s second wife, always called Keith their baby because she came to help me care for him during his serious illness following chicken pox.  This illness was almost fatal and Keith was six months old before he began to grow normally but he developed into a very fine youngster and a lovable boy and a fine young man.  He served in the U.S. Marines 1917 - 1918 and died in 1928 as a result of influenza while engaged in service in weather bureau of Boise, Idaho, being the first of our 11 children to go.

Almost three years to date later, June 17, 1895, our second daughter, Edith, was born.  Edith was a sort of favorite with the older children.  When she was born, Gladys was quite thrilled to have a little sister.  When Keith first saw her little cloned hand, he said, “what a little knock”, measuring a little fist to knock with.  No doubt his older brothers had given him some demonstrations of the manly art of boxing.  Be that as it may, all the sayings of the little ones bring happy memories.

In 1898, March 6, another son was born whom we named Arthur M.  As it was during the administration of McKinley, everyone thought the M was for McKinley.  Well, it could not have been for a more worthy man or a more efficient statesman.  Arthur was a quiet little fellow of a mechanical turn of mind and surprisingly self reliant.  When he was about three years of age, he wandered alone into a large cornfield just back of our home.  He was playing in the yard with the other children but the corn was well grown and his little form was soon out of sight.  He may have been chasing grasshoppers but of course after being lost and bewildered, he could not give an account of himself.  When we finally found him crying softly and sorrowfully, he was really headed for home and would perhaps have arrived safely without help, but for a while, he was a source of rejoicing as the returned prodigal or the lost lamb.

Seems I have neglected describing the older children.  Of course, they each had their individual characteristics and the plan of procedure with one did not always do to follow with another.  Roscoe was small, wiry and full of mischief.  Usually punishment for small misdemeanors turned out disastrously for the administration.  On one occasion, he was shut in a room alone as punishment for unsociable behavior, namely, biting his cousin on the nose and he noticed a shawl hanging from a nail and took hold of it and tore out 1/4 of it.  Another time when in solitary confinement, he upset a bottle of ink on some books.  I soon learned that these methods were not satisfactory.  Of course, he was always very sorry and the sorrow was the only real benefit derived.  He was naturally very cheerful and loving and so quick to overcome any small misfortune that they were soon forgotten.  Kenneth was a more serious type and very matter of fact.  He was easy to control and seldom in trouble on his own initiative.  But he was very sure that Roscoe “knew all the answers” and he could readily cooperate with any plan that Roscoe proposed.  They together could manage to get into many little encounters with the family discipline.  But they were very normal and not really disobedient.

When Donald was old enough to sit up in a little wagon, Roscoe and Kenneth took a great deal of care of him.  Sometimes they got tired of the job and were a little inclined to shirk.  One of our neighbors, Mrs. Custer, was very fond of the baby and called him “Tottie”.  She also said she’d like to have him for her own.  So one day, Roscoe and Kenneth were very neglectful and I told them they must take better care of him or I’d have to give him to Mrs. Custer.  Roscoe was skeptical and not much impressed but Kenneth was so sure that he would lose his baby brother that he hauled the little wagon around by himself until he was ready to drop.  Then I gave Roscoe a good turn at the wheel for a change.  When the three boys got older, they had nice times together but Roscoe and Kenneth were more like pals than Don and either of them.  Don was a natural farmer and made plows, rakes and other farm tools of his toys.  But he liked games and tests of all kinds as well as the rest too.  Gladys was a husky little girl and soon learned to take part in the boys’ games.  She learned to throw a ball as well as her brothers and was a leader in all healthy sports in school and at home.  She was a real live wire in all activities.

By the time Keith was old enough to take part in the program, the help of a few neighborhood children made a very good group of youngsters and as I preferred having the outside children come to our home, we usually had a full quota for games.  I think the neighborhood mothers rather liked the idea of letting me take care of their youngsters.

Being a mother is a great responsibility but after all, it is the most important job in the world and there is more of joy than sorrow in being fully occupied.  I have not said much about discipline because a well ordered family regulates its self and makes the necessary adjustments as occasion requires.  Whenever a real hard problem came up, father and I tried to take council together and work it out the best we could.  Each case is different from any other in family control and must be handled to fit the occasion.

Gladys was a good leader for the reason that she had the courage to condemn unfair practices and unsociable behavior on the part of her playmates.  She would face them fearlessly and sometimes fiercely and hold them in check from misdemeanors.  Keith was a sincere and loyal ali of his brothers and sisters and close friends.  But he was of a very studious nature and cared more for books than sports or social pleasures.

Ulna and Christine were the only girls close together in age so of course were more chummy than the other three girls whose ages were separated by five years.  Keith, Arthur, and Stanley coming between them.

Stanley was also studious and not very much interested in games or active pursuits.  The fact that our two oldest grandchildren, Bernard and Imogene Perin, spent their summers with us in the country furnished companions for Stanley and Mildred.  Bernard was less than a year younger than Stanley and Jean was six weeks older than Mildred.  They drifted apart however as they grew up and have in their mature life had little in common.

Our children, though worthy citizens, have not fulfilled all that we hoped for them.  They have had to struggle, as most of those of their generation have, with adverse political conditions, but have achieved much through their persistent efforts, that is worthwhile, and have given their children advantages that were unobtainable for them.

It was a busy life for both Charley and myself to provide for the ever increasing number of our family.  But we were fortunate in having very little serious illness among our group and I believe I can truthfully say these were happy days.  We had perfect confidence in the loyalty of each to the other.  Our homelife was everything to each and all of us.  It was, in a way, an isolated life but we were spared frivolities and evils of wide social contacts.

A teachers life is a strenuous one and full of responsibilities but unless we have responsibilities, our lives are not of much benefit.  C.R. Perin was a very good teacher
and took his work in this field seriously and he helped many young people to better lives and it was a matter of pride and joy to meet them in later life - preachers, doctors, lawyers, and states men who were men of note and worth who had began his pupils in his teaching years.

Below is a clipping from Connersville News 1943 edited by Candace Murray - January 8:

Proposed new regulations for school busses, about to be brought about because of the gasoline and tire rationing, led to a discussion of the effects they would have on the pupils.  One ventured the opinion that the kids wouldn’t walk over country roads to school nowadays and it was indicated that a mile and a half or so twice a day was too much to expect a child to walk.  Another suggested that the hike to and from school be made a part of the new physical conditioning program they’re getting started in the schools, but doubt was expressed that the children could take it.  I don’t think it would hurt them.  It never hurt anybody back in the days when I was going to school and it never occurred to me that the mile and a half from our house to the Columbia school was too far to walk.  And a lot of the kids who lived farther away than I did made it all right, too.  One year, next to the last one I went to Columbia school, a bus was provided - a pleasure car - but automobiles in those days were colder than walking, what with their usually flapping side curtains and broken isinglass.  On especially bad days, some parents might hitch up and take their younguns to school or go after them, but not necessarily so.  And when Charley Perin lived at Andersonville and taught at Alpine he walked to school and back each day.  Did when he lived on Garrison Creek and taught at Columbia, too, but that wasn’t quite as far as from Andersonville to Alpine.  So did his daughter Una who did what was called reviewing the eight grade, when he taught at Columbia.  And nobody ever heard Una squawk about the distance she had to walk.  You should have seen the pace her papa set for her, too.


In politics, Charley and I were in agreement.  Both were Republicans from earliest infancy and our parents were the same so this apple of marital discord was absent.  Also being members of the Christian church, we could be in harmony in our worship.  Since we lived in a rural community, when another denomination was established, our children did not have the advantages of Christian preaching and S.S. and I am sorry to say they did not take religion seriously.  The United Brethren plan as here represented did not appeal to the children and they grew up and most of them left home for work without having committed their lives to Christian service.

It was a grave mistake on our part to allow the disintegration of home ties without the opportunity of becoming identified with a chosen church body.  I count myself very much to blame for this neglect.  Parents should plan to surround their children with suitable companionship, educational, social and religious privileges that tend to round out and develop character.

I can say with pride that our children are above the average in character, intelligence and ability.  But none of them have acquired great wealth or social position.  They are patriotic loyal American citizens such as the world has great need.  Two sons, Keith and Arthur served in the United States Marines in the first WW.  One daughter, Una, was a Yoemanette and stationed in Washington, D.C.  This was ended in 1918.  We were very glad to have them all returned to civil life.

But Keith was a flu victim and was left with a bowel condition that kept him hospitalized much of the time for several years.  Finally he thought he was able to work and got a job with the government as weather bureau forecaster in Peoria, Illinois.  After two years service there, he asked to be transferred to Boise, Idaho where he worked for about two years longer.  Then in March 1928, he had another attack of flu which ended fatally on March 29, 1928.  His body was brought to Indianapolis, IN for burial in Crown Hill cemetery, on the Perin lot.  Up to this year, 1944, the rest of my children are living.

August 7, 1944 - and now we have been at war again since December 1941.  Once more started by Adolph Hitler in 1939, making conquest of smaller countries until at last Japan, his ally, attacked our possessions in the SW Pacific at Pearl Harbor.  Six of our grandsons are enlisted in this war.

Jack Marsh was first to go into active service with the 41st Division under Douglas McArthur in the SW Pacific where he has been since January 1942.  Unmarried.  Jack has had several attacks of malaria but is on active duty when health permits.

Donald Eugene Perin was the next in line of inducted men from the family.  He was in training at Ft. Harrison for more than a year but in 1943, he was sent across to England.  Married.

Russell was sent to England in 1944.  Unmarried.

Harry Wenger, husband of Ruth Perin, served in European area.

Frank Perin was followed as soon as his age would permit.  He chose the Navy.  After his period of training, he went as a Sea Bee to the Arctic region in Iceland for several months.  Unmarried.

Erwin Marsh also chose the Navy and after his period of training, he was assigned to one of the large new ships designed for use in SW Pacific.  Unmarried.

Frederick Oppermann chose the Army and was sent to India.  Frederick is married and has one daughter.

Eugene M. Howell, husband of Jean Perin, also was in service in SW Pacific as Sanitary Engineer.

In December 26, 1944, Charlie Dalke passed away.  Charlie was the first of our in-laws to be called and Gladys, the first to lose her mate.  Charlie was a very industrious man and could turn his hand to many kinds of work and conducted a successful restaurant business for several years at Lake Wawasee where he had lived much of his life.

Returned Visits (1946)

After a period of 21 years, Christine, Mrs. J.R. Marsh, came from her home in Portland, Oregon to visit the rest of the family still in the Midwest.  It was a treat to all of us to see her after so long.  She is well preserved and looks much like her girlhood pictures.  Christine arrived on April 12, 1946, the day after I had sprained my ankle.

Arthur and his daughter Lucille came the 13th of June, 1946.  It was Lucille’s first trip to the Midwest.  We had a nice visit with them and they got to see all the members of the family by going to Connersville, Muncie, Marion, Lake Wawasee, and Chicago.

In September 1947, Mildred and I visited with the Seventh Christian Church where she received the rite of Christian Baptism by Robert Lewis, pastor at that time.  We tried to take part in the various activities of the SS and church but due to bickering of some members over the building fund, we became dissatisfied and transferred our membership to First Friends at 13th and Alabama Street where we held membership for several years in the past and where most of my close friends worship.  We are better satisfied in this association and through the courtesy of Everett and Elsie Smith, we can attend most of the meetings.

It seems very nice to be back among the Friends of past years and in the atmosphere of harmony that prevails among the members.  There is a sad note though for many of the old friends have passed away.  Others are ill and shut in.  Mrs. Mary Warren left us in September 1948 after a short illness.  In July 30 of this year (1948), twelve of the members met at the home of Helen Middleton to celebrate the 84th birthday of Mrs. Anna Middleton.  There were 12 guests.  Mary Warren, Harriet Martin, Cornelia Carrey, Nellie Hutchins, Katherine Reeve, Bertha Brown, Grace Means, Ada Woodard, Myra Doan, Geralding Perin and Mrs. Chas Middleton.  Mrs. Middleton was 84 and she is an invalid.  She recently had a heart attack and was in bed for 3 weeks.

September 3, 1957 - this is my first since I broke my wrist.  I hope my penmanship will soon admit of writing with my pen.  The gas man has just been here to read the meter.

This is Mother’s Day, May 12, 1940.  It has been a beautiful day and I have been very happy.  Mildred attended church with me, Harriet Voorlis took dinner and supper with us.  Edith called up and I talked with Don on the phone.  So ended the day.  Greetings from Roscoe, Stanley, Mildred and Gladys, a letter from Christine, and Laura (Perin) Border.  Gave me much happiness.

Our trip to the church my Grandfather Adams had built for any proper meeting for the neighborhood of Sarres Creek.  The lumber was from trees on his own land.  Because when one of daughters Polly Adams Hearn was denied, services in the church held by the Methodist Society of neighborhood.  She had united with a newly established church of the Advent doctrine faith which was not orthodox according to Methodist standards.  The structure still stands.  Any meeting that meets the approval of the best citizens of the interests is given a welcome privilege.

Supplement

The guests at our wedding were:  Father Perin, Lucinda Tucker (sister of C.R.), Mother Allison, Sisters Grace and Bertie, brothers Clement and Alden, Allison and cousin, Frank Adams.  We served light refreshments after the ceremony.  My dress was blue cashmere and I made it myself.  I rode horseback to Laurel to buy the material and a sudden down pour of rain raised big Sarres Creek to flood stage and I crossed it on the way home with water at the ford crossing mudslides to my horse’s body.  Luckily, my horse kept her feet and we reached the shore safely.  This was only about four weeks before the time set for our wedding, during the January thaw.  Real winter set in again immediately after March 2, 1884.  We had subzero for several days and nights but we were very happy in our little cottage in Columbia.  The cottage where we began our housekeeping no longer exists but I keep the picture of that little home very clearly in my memory.

Names and Dates of Birth

Roscoe C. was born Nov. 26, 1884, Columbia
Kenneth A. was born May 27, 1886, Alpine
Donald B. was born October 22, 1888, Custer farm
Gladys G. was born January 23, 1890, Custer farm
Keith T. was born June 15, 1893, Connersville
Edith R. was born June 17, 1895, Connersville
Arthur M. was born March 6, 1898, Connersville
Una Cleone was born June 28, 1900, Ferris Place
Christine E. was born February 8, 1903, Ferris Place
Stanley E. was born November 14, 1905, Alpine
Mildred F. was born August 18, 1908, Ferris Place

All my children were born in Fayette County, IN