Born Farming

December 9, 2012 — ancestors, family history, farming

I was a born farmer, entitled to play with everything on my grandparent’s farm.  While my parents pitched in to help, I was given free reign of the place.  My grandparents, Olga and Ernest Morse lived and farmed in Lincoln, Arkansas at the end of their lives after careers in teaching (my grandmother had a masters in education) and oil well drilling ( my grandfather drilled for oil before the rotary bit was invented).  I did not know them before they had the farm, so I always think of them as farmers.

Pam and flowers 1953

Pam and the Fam on the farm

Here is my look in 1960, on Christmas at my grandparents’ farm in Arkansas…very American Gothic in my opinion:

A girl and her farm

Christmas 1960 Pam & Father

I met my cousin Mary in Tulsa a couple of years ago to trace the heritage of our mutual great grandmother.  We did not remember that we had met in 1964 at her grandfather’s house in Iowa.  Our grandfathers were brothers who followed different paths.  They both did migrant labor as very young boys, traveling to work picking corn in Iowa and beyond.

Cousins in Iowa 1964

Uncle Ed sent this postcard to his brother Ernie telling him about Emma.

Uncle Ed goes to harvest

Ed sealed the deal when he married the farmer’s daughter in Council Bluffs, Iowa

Married the farmer’s daughter

My grandfather returned to the Cherokee Strip to marry Olga Scott and drill oil wells, creating two different paths for the future.

Ernest Morse

My grandparents on a double date

My dad and siblings 1933