Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Smith boys with Dad near Farm Shop

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday

Smith boys with Dad near Farm Shop

This is scan of another color slide from late summer 1954, with my Dad, Pete Smith, and my younger brothers, from left, Tom, 6+, Jim, 10+, and Barry, 2 1/2, or so. Behind them is the "Farm Shop" with the welder and other tools. You can see that Dad is 'encouraging' them to stay away from the shop itself, while trying be be kind. I was taking the photo, so I'm sure that after taking it, I was expected to 'guide' Barry and boys on Bike and Trike to a safer location and activity!

I would have been between my Freshman and Sophomore year in High School. Ah, the memories!  ;-)

The Smith farm, of course, was in west-central Iowa (corn and hog country), on the west edge of Greene County, nearest town, Coon Rapids.


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Willow #3 Kids

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Willow #3 Kids

Nothing like an old black and white photo from the 1940s to bring back a myriad of memories!

13 students from the rural Iowa "Willow #3" (Greene County, Iowa, Willow Township) one-room country school... all the students in our farm front yard. Perhaps a fall - Halloween? - 'dress-up' day. Note the wide range of students from K-8th grade - those girls in back are students, not teachers. Billie Smith - me - am the one with the ball cap, middle row, just left of center... NOT carrying a 'gun.' I would estimate 1945 - 6 years old - first grade, if so. Couple of kindergartners in front row.


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Those Places Thursday - 1955 Willow Township Map

Those Places Thursday

1955 Willow Township Map

[Click to See Enlarged Version]

I love maps. This 1955 map has the farm where I grew up along with all the other property owners in the neighborhood, as of 1 Apr 1955. My Dad, Leverne Smith (listed as LeVerne), is seen in Section 8 (one down and one to the right, from the upper left corner). Our 160 acres, at the time, were split with an 80 north of the road and an 80 south of the road, as can be seen.

Notice the serpentine numbering of the sections: start in upper right with 1 (off the edge, on this copy), moving left along the top tier, then dropping a tier and moving right; then, dropping a tier and moving back to the left... back and forth through the township - to 36 in the lower right, since our township was a 6x6 symmetrical township, in the southwest corner of Greene County, Iowa.

Rural school districts were founded based on four square miles, with the school located on the intersection at the middle of the square. They were numbered similarly...

Therefore, our rural one-room school district, Willow #3, included the four square miles in the upper left corner. Our farmhouse was on the north side of the road, so we were in this district. If we had lived on the south side of the road, we would have been in Willow #4 to the south.

Oh, the memories, as I read these names and places - including Willow Creek running north to south through the western half of the Township! ;-)


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Four Generations

One of my few four generation photos - Sept 1962 - our daughter, Annette, born Aug 1960; my parents in back with Nancy and I; Mom's parents in front, Paul and Dorothy (SORENSEN) KINNICK. [See Grandpa Paul as a young man.] Setting is my parent's farm near Coon Rapids, in Greene County, Iowa... this house has been gone for over ten years now...


I am enjoying Wordless (nearly) Wednesday, more and more each week!

Families are Forever! ;-)