Category: Travel Blog

Easy day. I got up this morning, showered, them drove to Brookville to deliver genealogy books to the Brethren Heritage Center, although they are not open because of the pandemic. But their mail slot would hold the books and I left a message that they will pick up tomorrow. I then returned to Dayton and drove downtown, parked, walked to the library and talked to one of their genealogy specialists. I gave them copies of both books as well. While at the library I looked at a history of the Brethren Church in South Ohio and collected a few notes on families that will show up in the final book in the series: The Roop-Royers of Carroll County. I will do a little more work in Westminster and plan a stop in Warrensburg and McPherson on the way home.

So tomorrow I will head toward Frederick, Maryland, with a stop in Morgantown, West Virginia to have lunch with an old friend.

I arrived at the Ashland Historical Society when they opened, at 10:00 am and found a few things of interest: Joseph was one of the first of the sponsors of the Brethren Church in the Ashland area, holding meeting in his house on the eastern edge of Montgomery Township, which is where the Dickey Church of the Brethren would eventually be built. When Joseph decided to move to Iowa, he took a considerable entourage with him, including one daughter and even Jonas Engle, who became famous enough as a doctor to be included in the 1880 History of Ashland County, went along. When Joseph died in 1865, Jonas brought his father’s body back to Ohio and he is buried in the Bloom Grange Cemetery, just north of Bloomville in Seneca County, Ohio. Susannah, who also died in Iowa, is also buried there.

After visiting both the Historical Society and the genealogy and history section of the Ashland Library, I drove out to Bloomville to find the cemetery. From the library I had a map that suggested that it was on High Street, and I found a High Street in Bloomville, but no cemetery.

So driving through town, I stopped a guy on a 4-wheeler and asked if he knew where the old grange cemetery was, and he said that it was on OH-19 north of town about a mile and a quarter. (That was the road I just traveled, so I back-tracked, and sure enough, I found it.) The Old Grange Hall had been converted into apartments, but the cemetery was still there. I parked off the road and pulled out my good camera and took pictures. Joseph, Susannah and young Joseph Norman are all buried there. The cemetery has a tree grown up over Joseph Norman’s grave and the picture I have is partly of the truck of that tree and his grave stone. Joseph’s stone in now horizontal next to Joseph Norman’s.

After that visit, I returned to Ashland to gas up and head for Dayton. Two and a half hours later I exited on Main Street, got a motel for the night, had dinner and will spend two nights here before heading to DC on Saturday. Tomorrow, Brookville, the Dayton Library, and maybe, if time allows, Preble County, where my Grandfather, Alonzo Baile was born.

I had an email waiting for me after I checked into my hotel in Elgin, explaining that the Brethren Historical Library and Archives were closed until later in the summer, but that the lobby was open beginning at 8 in the morning, and if I would, I could drop off the books there. So I drove over there after checking out of my hotel and dropped off the two books I had for that stop. Although I didn’t get a chance to talk to them, we did agree that I would set up a Zoom meeting when I got home.

After dropping off the books, I hopped back on I-90, drove straight through Chicago, and stopped for gas just inside the Indiana state line.Google maps told me it would be about six hours, and that was close. Got into town just about 4:00 pm and stopped to ask direction to a hotel. Turns out there are a few of them just off the I-71 interchange, which I will hop on to head for Dayton, tomorrow.

The historical society is my next stop after they open at 10:00 am.

Got up early to review what I had on Joseph’s death in Iowa and it turns out the he was living in Jackson Township, Keokuk County, Iowa in 1860. Well, Keokuk County is about 100 miles west and north of Keokuk the town, where I spent the night. So after breakfast, I headed back up there to visit Sigourney, the county seat of Keokuk County. Got there about 9:30 and visited both the Recorder and the Auditor for information about land that Joseph Roop might have purchased. While we found a Joseph Root purchased land in 1857, there was nothing for a Joseph Roop. At the auditor’s office, we searched through all 36 boroughs of Jackson Township but still no Joseph Roop. From the courthouse I went to the Library to see if they had any information, but again, no genealogy files and very little useful in the way of county history. So I gave up and headed for Elgin.

I sent an email in the morning to the Brethren Historical Library and Archives in Elgin to see if I could talk to someone there the next day, but when I checked into my hotel in Elgin I picked up my email and they were not allowed to meet with folks, but would let me drop off books I had brought to give them. They would be happy to zoom with me, but I told them I would try to set that up after I returned. I hope that the Brethren Historical Center in Brookville, Ohio does not have the same restrictions.

So a bit of a frustrating day, but I’m closer to Ashland, Ohio, where I hope to learn more about Joseph and his family.

I left Cedar Falls about 10:30 this morning on Google maps instruction that it would take me about an hour and a half to get to West Branch; I had told Jack that I would be there around noon. I left a little late, but the route was easy and I made up time on the way. Found the home of John and Kathy Fuller in West Branch just about noon. Though I have talked to Jack once or twice since we were in graduate school together, we hadn’t seen each other for at least 55 years. And I had never met Kathy. So I really didn’t know what to expect. I expected to be an hour or so with them, then be on my way.

First about the John and Jack stuff. In graduate school, John was always Jack. At an interview Jack started his introduction (I learned this from Kathy) by saying, “My name is John Fuller, but all my friends call me Jack.” But before he could get past the “. . , but . . .”, folks stood up and said, “Nice to meet you, John.” So to most folks, he is John Fuller. Even Coke calls him John. I still remember him as Jack.

I got to his house in West Branch (a beautiful place, four acres, trees and gardens, mostly Jack’s doing), got out of the car and Jack was waiting there. He asked if I wanted to stretch my legs, so he showed me around the place. After a tour, we sat on the front porch and just talked about us, and what we had been up to over the last half century. Soon Kathy came out and joined the conversation. If charming is defined as being interested in other people, they are both charming. We chatted for an hour or so, then went and got some Mexican food to bring home to eat. While the food was being prepared, Jack and Kathy took me to Herbert Hoover’s park in West Branch, where he was born and where his presidential library is located. It was Sunday, so nothing was open, but we walked through the 2-room cabin where he was born and saw the blacksmith shop where his father worked. Then Kathy picked up the food, and we had a pleasant meal outside on their front porch.

We could have talked for hours. As I was getting ready to leave, Jack said, “You know, we probably could have carried on this conversation for several days.” And we could have.

For someone I haven’t seen for 55 years, it was like we hadn’t missed a beat. Jack and Kathy are wonderfully warm people and I wish I could have spent more time with them. But the quest calls. Thank you Jack and Kathy.

I left about 3 and drove to Keokuk, arriving a little after five. After checking into a motel, I searched for someone I could talk to tomorrow about Joseph Roop and the library seems the best bet. More on what I find out, tomorrow.

Long day, 500+ miles, but mostly just boring. Left Murdo about nine, then drove for three hours before stopping just across the Minnesota state line at a rest stop for lunch (mostly leftovers). Gassed up just before Albert Lea, MN, then caught I-35 to highway 20 going East to Cedar Falls, just outside Waterloo. Pulled into a Holiday Inn Express just off the highway and had a decent meal and a couple of beers before coming up to my room to clear emails and blog.

Two things to say about the trip. South Dakota does a much better job of maintaining their section of I-90 than Minnesota does. There were a few places in Minnesota where the highway was great, but most of it was in really poor shape. Even the worst of SD’s I-90 was way better then most of MN’s I-90.

As soon as I got into Iowa, the sky turned black almost from horizon to horizon. I went through a few rain storms that made me want to pull off the road and just wait the storm out, and I really feel sorry for a motorcyclist that got caught in that deluge.

Tomorrow I will cruise to West Branch, only about an hour and a half from here, to visit with John Fuller for a while, then head down to Keokuk to find lodging and get things set up to hunt for information about Joseph Roop, who died in Keokuk in 1865. His son came to take his mother and his father’s body back to Ohio, where he is buried. That’s another stop on this trip.

The road from Murdo to White River, Highway 83, is under construction. I saw a sign indicating that was the case about 50 miles before I arrived at Murdo, with the ominous warning, “Find Alternative Route”, so I decided to take a scenic route from Murdo to White River and see some of the country. First I drove about 40 miles East to Presho, then took Highway 183 south where it intersected with Highway 44, which runs East-West and goes through White River. So I drove this 110 miles to get to a town 20 miles South of Murdo, where I am staying. I was thinking I might drive West on my return to Highway 73, which goes to Kadoka, about 40 miles West of Murdo, maybe slightly less than 100 miles return, but that last 40 miles includes a stretch of about 10 miles where the freeway is only single lane. Roads get built this time of the year, so there is always construction going on, and that was the case for I-90 and highways 183 and 44.

I arrived in White River about 10 am to find a town of about 500 people, with only one or two paved roads and lots of potholes. I found a main street and drove its length. As you arrive at the “town” part of Main, there was a store on the West side of the street and several other commercial buildings, most of which are closed or boarded up. Towards the other end, i.e., in the next block, there was a museum in front of which I parked. It was closed, but while I was finding this out, a couple of young men, obviously of Native American descent, came over to look at my car. They liked it a lot. One of them asked if it would be OK to have his friend take a picture of him in front of it; and of course I said sure. I moved out of the way so it was just him and the car. They asked a lot of questions I couldn’t answer, like how long it took to go from 0 to 60. Then one of them said, “So let me drive it.” I told them no.

After that I found the Court House and I’ve told you about that experience in Vivian Found.

I talked to Cleon about taking the road to Kadoka rather then the short stretch to Murdo, but she convinced me that it wasn’t too bad. And I’m glad she did, because it saved me 100 miles and time and I got to talk to Vivian, but the trip I would not recommend to anyone except for those reasons. There is about 15 miles of paved road, but the rest of the trip required two waits for lead vehicles over one-way dirt construction, often with dust and large potholes that need to be avoided. Plus about a mile, just North of White River, that will some day be a paved road, but today is just dirt.

Still, my little car made it just fine. That is some sweet vehicle.

I left Bob and Meme’s close to 11 and arrived in Billings before 2 in the afternoon, but got sidetracked and ended up going way further East than I should have. So I pulled into a station, gassed up, and called George for instructions.That got me back on track and I arrived at his house about 2:30. I pulled up to his house and knocked; he answered and we both realized that many years had passed since we had seen each other. I said hello to George and Donna and their OC dog, Riley, then talked George into going to the Barnes and Noble bookstore so I could purchase a road map of the US. On the way back we stopped for beer, then whet back to his place and sat outside drinking our purchases till other folks showed up.

In addition to Donna returning, their daughter, Brandy, came with her two dogs and camping equipment that needed to be cleaned and dried. George and I sat outside drinking beer while dinner preparations and tent cleaning and ball throwing to the OC dog went on through most of the afternoon. Donna joined us for a while; Brandy did the same; when her husband showed up, he came out and said hello. But mostly George and I just caught up. Took a while to do. George had a 30 or so career with government, mostly with the Bureau of Reclamation which manages several of the major dams – Coulee and Bolder – and are responsible for much of the watershed management in the West (and maybe elsewhere). When George first moved from DC in 1979, he did some consulting, then applied for various positions, one of which as with MSU in Bozeman in economics. After applying for that position, he saw a notification of a position with the Bureau and also applied for that position, which he eventually excepted. He was able to transfer his retirement credits from when we worked together at USDA over to his employment with the Bureau. While this catching up was going on, Donna and Brandy were putting together a lovely dinner of salad, pork chops, mash, and Brandy made a beautiful raisin ice cream for dessert. Like the night before, we tarried over dinner drinking wine and talking till it was bed time.

The next morning I got up to turn the coffee that George had prepared for me with the expectation that I could let George and Donna sleep till their regular wake-up time, but Riley started barking as soon as I stepped into the kitchen. So, to my benefit, George joined me and we talked a bit more; again while throwing the ball to their OC Riley. I packed up and left about 7:30.

The 510 miles I drove to Murdo, SD, was easy. With 80 mph speed limits, it doesn’t take long to cover the miles. Followed I-90 all the way, stopping in Spearfish, SD, for lunch and to gas up. I arrived in Murdo before 4 my time, but 5 now that I had entered central time. On the way I was notified (signs on the highway) that state road 83, south from Murdo to my destination White River (the county seat of Mellette County, SD) was torn up and may not even be open. So when I checked into the Best Western in Murdo, I was told to either head East to a road that connected to White River or to go West to do the the same. Checked it out on the map and decided to take the shorter route West tomorrow.

So tomorrow the work starts.

Drove 550 miles in a little over 8 hours, despite road work all along I-90. Still, I arrived at Bob and Meme Schultz’s place local time a little after 6pm. We did some catching up over a couple of beers, then had a delightful dinner of poached salmon, spinach and arugula salad, and bread, with wine. Sat up talking until well after 11, then hit the sack. It’s been 30+ years since I I last saw Meme, so it was good to catch up with them both.

Bob is semi-retired: working about a day a week, but having shed most of his developmental responsibilities. Meme too is semi-retired, after a career raising flowers for both the fresh and dried markets. During our chat after dinner, Bob mentioned that the fridge that Jane and I gave him when he moved to Montana was still working, and in fact, was where the beer he served came from. The next morning, I got this snap of it that I will post when I figure out how to do that. I pointed out to Bob that when we gave him that fridge, it didn’t work; he had to install a new controller before it could be used.

The next morning both showed me around the place: greenhouse, shop, man cave, flowers still going strong, and equipment. Quite impressive. Wonderful to see them and sorry to leave so soon.

From here I head to Billings.

I plan to leave on May 11th, with the intent of arriving at the home of Bob Schultz before nightfall. I’ll spend the night and part of the next day with Bob and Meme before heading to Billings for a visit with George St. George.