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Introduction

This is about Edward Luther Terrar Sr. (1891-1964) and Margaret Maye (sometimes spelt May) Gergen (1893-1979) and their family.^[1] First the life of Edward and Maye prior to their meeting and marriage will be outlined.^[2]

Part I: Edward Terrar's Early Life

Edward, Sr. was called Ned in Wales. He never was formally named Senior. Nor was his son Ed ever formally named Junior. But after his son was born, the terms Sr. and Jr. were used informally to distinguish them. The surname was mainly spelled as Tyrer by Ed Sr.'s great grandparents, who lived and mined in Amlwch, Anglesey (North Wales). However, over the years between his great grandparents and Ed Sr.'s father, the surname was spelled in various ways. Ed Sr.'s father, David, favored the "Terrar" spelling. The name was often pronounced like the word "terror." Because of this, one of Ed Sr.'s uncles who migrated to Pennsylvania changed the spelling to Tyrrell. He did not want to be called "terror." After Ed Sr. married Maye, she kept the "Terrar" spelling but changed the pronunciation. She put the emphasis on the first syllable, so that it did not sound like "terror."

Ned and his brothers and sisters were born at 30 East Road in Tylorstown, which is in the Rhondda Valley (Glamorgan county), Wales. It was a row house on the side of the mountain. In Wales row houses are called terrace houses. The family rented the house from the coal company. It had a garden with vegetables and flowers. Ned was born on January 6, 1891, the fourth of thirteen children of David Terrar (1862-1952) and Ann Elias (1863-1937). David and Ann were married on May 9, 1882 at Llanwonno Parish Church, Glamorgan, Wales. Ned's brothers and sisters were Esther M. Terrar (Morgan) (1883-1980), Jane Terrar (Davies) (1885-1969), Jacob Elias Terrar (1887-1963), David William Terrar (1893-1939), Daniel John Terrar (1895-1959), Martha Terrar (1898-1965), Gwilym Terrar (1899-1975), Mary Hannah Terrar (1902-1987), and four children who died in childhood: Rachel Ann Terrar (1904- ), Thomas Henry Terrar (1905- ), Rachael Ann Terrar, and Thomas Henry Terrar.

COALMINING. Ned's father (David) was a coal miner. Both David and Ann went to school about 8 weeks. (Miles, 1970s, 8). They had to pay 2 pennies per lesson. So they were mainly home-educated and self-educated. Both could read and write. David first went to work with his father on 6/12/1872 at age 10 in the pits in Cwcmumun (Cwcmaman) (Terrar, 1945, #2 photocopy, 1979). Another source, probably incorrectly had his starting work about 1871 at age 9 in mine number 7 in Tylorstown. When David and Ann were married in 1882, David's job in the mine was that of hauler. About 1885 David went out to America with the idea of having his wife (Ann) follow him. But Ann did not want to leave her mother in Wales, so David returned to Wales. Another source stated that David came out to America in 1888 or 1889 (Terrar, 1969-1979, 24, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). He went back to Wales in 1890 and Ned was the first child born after his return. David had a younger brother, William Tyrrell (1869-1929), who migrated to Carbondale, Pennsylvania. William stayed there and raised his family. As noted earlier, he was the one who changed the spelling of his surname.

David worked much of his life in No. 8 mine in Tylorstown. He would leave for work at 6:00 a.m. and start work at 7:00 a.m. He started home from work at 4:00 p.m. He worked on Saturdays but got Sunday free. His other holidays were Whitsun, Easter, May Day, August Holiday (which gave him two days off), Bank Holiday, Christmas, Boxing Day (December 26), the days when the miners went on strike, and the days when he took off for his own reasons. At Christmas there would always be plenty to eat: turkey, leg of pork, pudding, cakes. David always liked duck. The children got gifts on Boxing Day, which was the day after Christmas. The children would put up stockings and get candy in it, such as a sugar pig. There was no Christmas tree. The family would go to church on Christmas day. By "church" is probably meant "chapel." In Wales the term "church" generally refers to the Church of England. "Chapel" refers to the Baptist and other non-Church of England meeting houses. One of the customs on the way to church was that the children would repeat a Welch saying about having a Happy Christmas. The first child to say it to an adult would get a penny.

None of the Terrar people ever became foremen. David earned about 2 pounds sterling ($6) per week. At first the miners got standard wages. Later it was changed so that they got paid by the tonnage. They averaged 6 or 7 tons of coal per day. They also got paid for the number of props they built. They got 3 pence per prop.

Some of the time Ann also worked at the mine, above ground. Her worked included pushing and greasing drums and washing coal. When the children got old enough, they worked there. They would start off at 2 shillings per day or 1 pound sterling and shillings per week. When David and the children came home at the end of the week with their wages, they would put it Ann's skirt or apron, who would stand by the door. She would give them their spending money. She also took care of buying and fixing the food. Her duties included buying, washing, and mending the clothes. Maye stated that Ann was a good woman, but not strongly religious. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 16, 11/26/69, MMGT) "Strongly religious" probably meant talking about it a lot. Ann was literate and could write. But it was David, not Ann who wrote to Ned in America. David would tease her that she could not speak English, because she could not get herself to write to Ned.

DAVID'S RECREATION AND RELIGION. One of David's places of recreation after work in the early years of his marriage was the Queen's Hotel in Tylorstown. The Queens was not a hotel as the term is commonly used today. It was a pub or public house, where you drank beer and visited with your friends. There was also a butcher market in the same building. Dave, like his father, liked Milner Bitter. (Miles, 1970s, 3) Dave would come home from the pub at 11:00 or 12:00 at night roaring drunk. You could hear him from one end of the valley to the other.

At the Queens Dave and the other miners played ludo, which was a card and dice game for four people. The cards had four colors. The dice were in a cup. The player would move according to the roll. If one rolled snakes head (snake eyes?), the person had to go to the tail. One could also roll ladders. Another of their games was cat and dog. It consisted of using two sticks, sharpened at both ends. They knocked a ball against the wall. There were four people on each side playing. They played for 6 pence per head. They also sang songs, and drank beer.

When Ned's father (David) was 42 years old in 1904 there was a large-scale revival in Wales led by Evan Roberts from St. Clares, who had himself been a coal miner. David attended the revival services when Roberts preached at the Ebenezer Welch Congregational church.^[3] Another source says that it was E. Stanley Jones, an evangelist, who had come through and influenced David. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 15, 11/26/69, MMGT). David was baptized in the Taff River, which runs through Pontypridd. He became an unpaid preacher at the Hermon (Horem? Harem?) Baptist church in Ponty. Later the congregation at Hermon transferred to the Horeb Welch Baptist church in Pontygwaith. The Hermon building still stands, but it became a factory. All the children were brought up at Horeb. David and the family attended Horeb each Sunday and sometimes during the week. David also frequented the Apostolic church in Pontygwaith, from which he was buried.

One of David's achievements that grew out of the 1904 revival was that he stopped drinking alcohol and became a strong temperance man. According to his own words, he had had a drinking problem. After 1904 he sometimes preached the Gospel on street corners, which included advice against alcohol abuse. After he retired he would walk (hike?) up to the London area each year to visit his children. Along the way he would preach the Gospel. This continued until he died at age 90 in 1952. At the time of his death, Dave was living with May Smith (b. 1917), his grandaughter. May laid him out for burial. That is, she washed and dressed the body. May was the daughter of Martha Terrar Smith. Mary Terrar Miles, Dave's daughter, also helped lay him out. They did not use an undertaker, perhaps because they could not afford it. Or perhaps it was not the custom to use an undertaker. Dave and his wife are buried at Penrhys Cemetery, Tylorstown.

David wrote long letters to his son, Ned, who as will be seen, migrated to America. In these letters he reflected both his concern for the Gospel and his pride in being a laboring man. He did not use punctuation marks and spelled phonetically, but he made clear what he wanted to say. Apparently none of the letters which David sent have been preserved, but the following piece, written on six pages of lined note book paper (6½ x 8½ inches) which he wrote in 1945 gives an idea of his style and concerns:

This his [is] the real truth I now David Terrur it his [is] by Dear friends wen you are reading this remember it his [is] one that have seen good times in 83 years yes and bad times to I will let you now hew i have spent my first 19 years i spend them as a child of god goin to all meetings and i did think thear was not a place like the heus [house] of the Lord and theur his [is] not if we will do the will of the Lord but i did not now [know] the will of the Lord then But i have come to now a little of the word of God that his [is] the right way to go hon [on] in this world his [is] to read the word of God and Live up to the word of in all things and all ways be in good friends with every Brother and Sister and the Lord

[page 2] In the first 19 years i wus at Tylorstown and it was a very very Dranking place and fighting it was always fighting hear so at this night theur was fighting go in hon [on] So as a young man i was out lookin hon [on] the fight and one of the officers of the chaple wheur i was goin wus stand thear looking hen the fights so that nex day was sunday and i wus in all the meeting and sunday night the Preacher rise up and sed thut one of the officers had word to say and this was the word that he sow [?] a young mun that his [is] a mamber hear fightin and i wint [want] for that young Brother to get up but no one get up and no one get up and the

[page 3] officer get up and said the name of the Brother and the name was David Terrur got up and sed thut the officer wus saying the rong thing i was not fighting i wus looking hon [on] the fighting the same us [as] the officer was and the Preach got up and sed you set down what the officer have sed thut will stand and it did stand theur was no good of no one to go then [.] in three mounths i wus in the chaple and hear the names of all thus was X out of the church book and thut was the cous of David Terrur to go out of the chaple and it wus not the truth about me no

[page 4] I do not see it right fer no officer to get up in no church to say of no Brother let the officer go to the Brother first And that was the cause of me goin out of the chaple and i was out in the world and i had a good time but hon [on] the 14th of november 1904 theur was a great move in the world and it move in Tylorstown so the Lord call me out of the Drinking Den and i did go out and i give myself to the Lord hon [on] the 16 of november and i am very glad to say i am still goin hon [on] I have been now from 1904 tell 1945 and God nows [knows] all i have not Drunk a Drop of nothing and i am a laber mun

[page 5] And heur i am still go in hon [on] with the Lord and it his a grand Life hear i am to day in very good health i have work down in the pits from 1872 til 1927 and hear i am now Living hon [on] the Old age Pension if i had gon up to freundale wen i did stop workin i would have had a Pension from the honarer [owner] of the pits but i had left it to let But i am still going hen [in] I got eight children and i have 48 grand children and 49 great grand children and just put them all to gather thy are 105 children and myself thut his 107 now and thear will be more soon the work his goin hin [on]

[page 6] And hear i am living to see three great wars over the first in 1873 the nex 1914 and this war heund in 1945 And i have five of my Boys in 1914 and one of my Boys he his [is] dead and thut was the caus of his death what he had in 1914 war and i have i cun not say how much thy are in this war[.] one is gon he went down to the see with his ship 16 ten yeurs of age and wen we stand quiet and think of all of our boys in this wur we now [know] thut some of them have lost theur Leges and theur his [is] some of them will be of no good for nothing (Terrar, 1945, #1 photocopy, 1987)

David also reflected on his life and his religious beliefs in a short (two page) autobiography he wrote about the same time he wrote the above:

David Terrar born in 1862 on the 12 of June in Aberdare Ann Terrar Born in Aberdare in 1863 on November David Terrar start to work in the pits in Cwcmumun (Cwcmaman?) in 1872 on the 12th of June and i have worked in the pits till 1927 and i am still in Tylorstown and i am now on the old age pension and i am now 83 and in a very good health in 1945 and my wife Died in 1937 and my son David W. Terrar Died by what he had in the war 1914 and my Brother Died in U.S.A. William L. Terrar. And my Sister Mary Roser 87 Died and my Sister Hanna Daniel Died at the age of 86 and Thomas Morgan Died in 1940 and my grandson he was kill in the pit David W. Daniel in 1945 (navy?)

(page 2) And i have 8 children and 46 grand children and 48 great grand children and my self that will make them all 103 with my children and God his good to all that will call him the father for he his readhe to answer the call but remember after you have call remember be truthfull to God and his son Jesus Christ and he will be all to you i now for i have prove him all the way from 1904 to 1945 still Amen the same. (Terrar, 1945, #2 photocopy, 1979)

ED'S BOYHOOD IN WALES. In his later years Ned told a story that when he was born his grandmother Elias had told his mother Ann that if her next child was a boy, he would never drink (alcohol). She marked him. Another version is that someone said that Ned had been born under a certain star, which kept him from drinking alcohol. This may all have been a story that was added after the fact. Maye Gergen Terrar said she did not believe in marking. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 21, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). Whatever the case, Ned did not drink alcohol during his lifetime. Neither did two of Ned's brother, Dan and another brother; but two of his other brothers, Jacob and David William liked their drink. Among the incidents related about Ned's abstenance from alcohol occureed at the pub where he socialized. Some of his buddies dropped a coin into a mug with beer. They said he could have the coin, if he would drink the beer. He did not get the coin. Years later in America he sometimes acted as the bartender at American Legion events. He would take the drunks home and the men respected him for it. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 7, 11/26/69, MMGT).

As a youth Ned liked to play soccer, rugby football, and cricket. He did a considerable amount of boxing and liked the sport. One of his sparring partners was Jimmy Wilder, who was the feather-weight world champion at the time. Another of his Ned's interests as a young man was to raise racing and homing pigeons. He kept a loft of 150: "I sent them as far away as Bordeaux, France, and the Fargo Islands in Northern Scotland, a distance of 600 to 800 miles as the pigeon flies. They returned to the home loft in about 16 hours" (Wade, 1958) Later during World War I Ned served in a signal platoon of the United States Army. At the front lines the army communicated by messenger pigeons. Ned's knowledge of pigeons got him his job. He was in charge of the homing pigeons which flew messages from the front lines to the rear.

Ed was always warm-blooded, meaning he slept with few clothes on or covers and tended to feel less cold than others during the winter. His mother, Ann, used to joke with another relative who was cold-blooded. Ann would say that when the relative died, they would bury the person beneath the hearth, in order to keep the relative warm.

When Ed was 7 or 8 years old he worked as a delivery boy at Reese's meat market, which was in the same building as the Queen's hotel. Ed's sister, Mary, also worked there as a clerk. It was just across the way from the family home at 30 East Road.

Like his brothers and sisters, Ed attended the Tylorstown (public) school, which had been built in 1880. They attended for six grades. Ned stated that he started school at age four: "School was tough. We went the year around with only 12 holidays. We advanced in grades according to our ability." (Wade, 1958). Once when Ned was at school, he fell off a wall. That was why for the rest of his life, his neck or shoulder was crooked. (Miles, 1970s, 6) One ear and one side of his face was higher than the other. May always tailored (mended) his pants so one leg was 1 in. shorter than the other. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 6/2/73, 31.7 MMGT). When the children were 11 and one-half years old, they generally took the 11-plus exam and left school to go to work in the mines or in the shops around Tylorstown. Ned was proud of the fact that he took and passed the school leaving exam when he was 11, some six months earlier than normal. He was good in arithmetic and writing. It was mentioned that one source said Ned started school at age 4, but if he left school at age 11 or 11 1/2, after six grades, he may have started at age 5 or 6.

After passing the exam about 1902 Ned went to work in the No. 8 pit (mine) with his father and older brother. The pit was owned by D. Davis and Sons, Ltd. in 1911-1912. Ned's number on the metal tag by which he identified the coal car which he filled was # 1114. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 56, 3/12-18/75, MMGT) He was proud to be with the men and working for a living. Ned commented that he would go down 660 yards in a mining cage and then walk one and one-half miles underground to the mining operations. (Wade, 1958) Each man was given his own section and he and his children would mine it together.

There were different levels or job categories in the mine. A young worker would do a variety of jobs: clearing rubbish, packing walls, and loading coal. They would get paid less than the adults. By 1902 the mineworkers' union had gained a 10-hour per day, 6-day workweek, which was down from 12 hours. During the winter the miners would go into the mine before dawn and finish work after sunset. They only saw the sun on Sundays and holidays. The mules and horses that pulled the coal cars underground never came to the surface. They were blind. After work the miners would walk home in their wet clothes and bath in round zinc tubs in front of the fire. No one had bathrooms; they had outdoor toilets.

Because there were no toilets in the pit, the smell down there was sometimes bad. Because the headlights were not too strong, men would sometimes stagger from dizziness brought on by eye-strain. Almost every miner had distinctive blue scarring that came from coal powder lodging in cuts or from slivers of coal going beneath the skin. Slivers of coal would lodge in the miners leg from slidding into small places. Ed would take the slivers out (like wood) but they would leave stains or a tattoo. He had them all his life.

The period from 1880 to 1910 were boom years for the South Wales coal industry. Output rose from 21 million tons in 1880 to 56 million tons in 1913 and the number employed in the mines climbed from 69,000 to 233,000. (Taylor, 1985) By 1910 over 50 percent of the coal output was exported. One source describes the mining process:

The "pillar and stall" method of working coal was general in South Wales until the last quarter of the 19th century, and in some areas it continued into the 20th. From the main roadways of the colliery, "headings" were driven at right angles, and along these, "stalls" were opened in intervals into the coal. The stalls were quite narrow for a few yards, in order to leave sufficient support for the roof. Each stall was worked by a collier and his boy [or boys]. The collier would first "hole" or "undercut" the coal by cutting a groove 3-4 feet deep along the floor, so that the coal cold be brought down by a pick, or if it was hard coal by wedges or explosives. A collier and boy would fill 5 or more trams per day, each tram containing about 1 ton of coal. (Taylor, 1985).

Ned attended Horeb Baptist church for services. Like his brothers and sisters, he was baptized there when he was 16 or 17 years old. Ned's sister, Mary Miles, said she remembered well the pride of her father when she was baptized in a deep pool at Horeb. Mr. Hopkins was the minister at the time. Church members could smoke but not drink alcohol. (Miles, 1970s, 7). Each year on August Holiday the family would go on the train to Barry (below Cardiff), which was by the sea and not far from the valley. They would go for the day. Another source says that they would to on a Sunday outing there. (Miles, 1970s, 8).

Ned belonged to the Workingmen's Club in Tylorstown. The members paid dues. The Workingmen's Club was the headquaters of the local miner's union. It along with similar clubs in the other coal mning villages of South Wales formed the South Wales Miners Federation (SWMF). The SWMF was a major social and political institution in South Wales. The miners had established the SWMF in 1898. There were 60,000 voting members. By 1926 there were 150,921 members. Each local union had a high degree of autonomy. (Gilbert, 1992, 72, 82). During strikes, local union halls such as the Workingmen's Club organized to help raise funds to sustain the miners. (Arnot, 1967). The SWMF was affiliated with the Miners Federation of Great Britain (MFGB). The MFGB represented some 800,000 miners in 1926. It in turn was part of the British Trade Union Congress (BTUC). The BTUC was established at a convention in Manchester in 1868. The BTUC grew from 118,000 dues payers in 1868 to 2.2 million in 1912 when Ned was a member. There wre some 207 trade unions with the BTUC. In 1969 there were 9 million member in the BTUC. The BTUC was allied with the Labour Party both in ideology and organization.

The political and economic goals of the miners as expressed in the charter of the SWMF, was to decrease the hours of labor, improved work conditions, including wages, increasing safety in mines, representation of miners in Parliament, and nationalization of the mines and minerals. They did not care for capitalism and fought frequent battles against the mine owners. Besides their political and economic goals, the miners also used their unions to meet social and cultural goals. At their lodges, such as the Workingmen's Club in Tylerstown, billiards, draughs and dominos were popular. There were no theaters, so movies were shown in the union lodges. When business owners attempted to bar football in the streets, boxing contests and other informal outdoor recreation (especially on the sabbath), it was the union lodges and lodge committees which fought back. The business owners attempted to use the police against the workers, but the unions effectively resisted them. (Gilbert, 1992, 87, 89).

Both the Workingmen's Club and the Queens Hotel (pub) which was next door, served beer. But at the Workingmen's Club the members could shoot pool and play dominoes and card games. Ned liked to do all these. When he was living at Mystic, Iowa during the 1910s, he worked at a pool hall for a while. The Workingmen's Club was across the street from the Terrar's family home at 30 East Road. The club had the egalitarian ideals of the working class. For example, once just after World War I when Ned was visiting, as will be discussed later, there was a military officer present at the club. Ned, like most club members were enlisted. In a game of pool the officer attempted to pull rank and go ahead of Ned. Ned and the men at the club protested. At the club, working men were the boss, not officers. Ed liked to tell this story of the working men letting him go first. The club was still on the same spot and serving the working men in 1992.

NED COMES TO AMERICA. Ned left "dear Wales" and came to America in 1912. At some point after coming over to America, he became Ed instead of Ned. He always stated that he came when he was 21 years and 9 months. Ed Terrar Jr. found it amusing that his father would add the 9 months when discussing his age at migration. Ned came with a friend from Tylorstown, Joe Mundy. Perhaps one of the factors which led to Ned's migration was that the miners' union had been out on strike for a year by October 1912. The times were difficult in the valley. Ned's uncle via marriage (on his mother's side), John Lee, had migrated to and mined in Mystic, Iowa. Another uncle on his mother's side, John Elias had migrated to Jenny Lind, Arkansas. John owned his own small mine there. Both John Lee and John Elias had come back to the Rhondda Valley the year before for a visit and had talked to Ned about coming over. John Lee put up the loan for the ticket for Ned to come to America. Lee bought the ticket at Mystic and sent it to Ned. It cost $55.13, which consisted of $33.75 for the sea voyage and $19.88 for the train passage from Montreal to Mystic, plus some taxes.

Ned and Joe sailed on October 12, 1912 from Liverpool to Quebec on a ship called the Virginian, which was part of the Allan lines. (Robillard, 1973) Ned had a sense of history and described his trip to America in his diary:

Enroute for America, left Tylorstown Oct. 10 1912 at 7:15 to catch 7:40 train for Cardiff. Arrived Cardiff 8:40. Walked to railway, left 9:30 a.m. for Liverpool. Changed two [to] corridoer train at Pontypool Road. Arrived in Kerford 11:15. Leave 11:36 arr. Liverpool Line Street 2:30 p.m. Went to Lord Nelson to Rook Lodge for night, then went down to James St. to Allan Line, paid 3-9-0 on passage and change English money to American spent the night in the ? to see sights went to bed about 11:00 p.m.^[4] Rose about 7 had breakfast went down to docks to see boats then went on the head railway down to Alexander docks came back to Princess Stays two [to] see the Boat to two (to) New Zealand. Then went back too Dinner went to station with Joe father and wished him good by went down to dock went on board Virginian at 3:00 sailed from Liverpool at 5:25 from Princess Stage. Oct. 11, 1912 rough voyage until wendensday then very smooth. Distance we travelled each day

                                                            Miles
            Saturday Oct 12           265
            Sunday                                     384
            Monday                                   348
            Tues                                         334
            Wed                                         384
            Thurs                            294 ship stopped [?]
            Frid                                          403
            Saturdy                                    229 to Quebec
            Total                   2,641 to Quebec

arrived at Quebec at 3 am on Saturday went on shore for a few hours but it was raining heavy but a nice place Sailed from Quebec at 11, [?] some very pretty sights by going up the River Lawrence to Montreal we arrived at Montreal at 10 pm Saturday night but did not land til after Breakfast on Sunday about 9.30 then went to look for Baggage change ticket for rail ticket drove up to GTR station could not get a train til 7.30 on Sunday night we walked about all day in Montreal a very good place plenty of big buildings we left Montreal at 7.30 on Sunday Oct 20 1912 we arrived at Toronto at 6.0 am on Monday had breakfast at 620 am then we had 2 hour to wait for train we left Toronto at 8.00 am for Chicago we passed through a place called Hamilton then shot back to branch off then down Paris and London we arrived in Chicago at 10.35 went in run [?] to station no town til next morning went to Ashford hotel to stay the night bought 3 dollar and 50 cents for a bed and breakfast walked about Chicago from 7 am until about 9 30 then went to save [?] a train at 10,00 to Savannah we arrived there about 1 25 bought dinner there then walked the town for about 4 hours we had to wait here from 1,25 till 6,45 to get a train it cost us 15 cents two shave in Savanna arrived in Davenport 9.5 leave Davenport at 1055 and we arrived at Mystic at 3 oclock in the morning there was uncle John out on the street there to meet us after we had walked down the town we was not long before getting up to the house and then we meet Mary Lizzie and kidds and David and we got supper and chat and we went over to see David wife we had some breakfast and we enjoyed our self allnight we was tired but we did not go to bed that night, next day Uncle John took us for a walk we went down past Mystic Depot down to Lady Mary and up to No 12 Level what is where David is working went up over to the other works and back home to dinner then a very good spell to write some letters home to Mother and to friends we went that night with David and wife to the opera but it was not very good then we went home and got a bed about 11 ockock in the night

Thur Oct 24 went with Uncle John to look for work we got work at Waterloo to start on Friday at 4 pm and glad to get it we had walked a good bit to have it I went to the Comit that night with Fred Bull and had a goodnight of it then went home and they were playing cards when I got home so stayed up until 10.35 that night Mary, Tom Lizzie Joe and myself.

Friday we went out to fetch some things to go to work we bought a bucket lamp oil strap cap and all what was wanted. (Terrar, 1912-1914, 14-21).

Ned arrived in America on October 21, 1912. His status was listed as that of "Landed Immigrant." This did not mean that he had land, but that he was legally admitted to Canada for permanent residence. Several days later on October 23, 1912 Ned and Joe entered the United States via the Grand Trunk Railway from Montreal. (US, 1973).

Ned told several stories about his early days in the United States. One story was that when he got to the United States, he asked to be taken to "the streets paved with gold." In Europe some of the people, including Ned, believed that America was a place of great wealth where one could become almost instantly wealthy. The idea about the streets paved with gold was part of the get rich quick belief.

There was another story which Ned told about his early days in America. He and Joe Mundy went to get a shave and a hair cut. They had heard about or perhaps seen in a silent film a scheme in which a barber shop had a trapdoor connected to a barber-chair. The unsuspecting customer would be tipped back into the barber chair for a shave and then the chair would drop into the basement. The customer would be robbed and perhaps killed in the basement. Joe and Ned made an agreement before they went into the barber-shop. While one was getting his shave and haircut, the other would keep a lookout to make sure that the one getting the shave and haircut did not disappear through a trapdoor. It turned out Joe was the first to get served. When the barber started to press the pedal to tip Joe back for the shave, Ned jumped up and forceable prevented the barber from pushing the lever. The barber had to demonstrate the device to Ned before he would allow the barber to use it. New had thought the device was to open the trap door. After things settled down, Ned and Joe got got robbed anyway: in Wales a shave cost 3 cents. In the United States it was 15 cents. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 3/12-18/75, MMGT),

Two days after making land in Montreal, Ned and Joe arrived at Mystic, Iowa. As recorded in his diary, their train had gone through Chicago, where they spent the night for $3.50 at the Axford Hotel. (Terrar, 1912-1914, 10). At Mystic Ned worked with his uncle John Lee and cousins at the Lodwich Brothers' Thorndyke (Thtlonclyhe?) Mine No. 29. He joined the trade union in Iowa. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.2, 11/26/69, MMGT). He repaid John Lee the cost of the ticket. Ned sent a picture postcard of the mine to his parents on June 13, 1914. He wrote to his father, "Father this the mine where I was weighting before they closed down. Send me some views of Tylorstown, as I gave them others to Uncle John Elias daughter. From Ned." During the several years that he lived at Mystic, Ned bought a gold Hampden pocket watch which he used for the rest of his life. Ned was raised a Baptist, but at Mystic he went to the Methodist church. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 6, 11/26/69, MMGT). Once he went rabbit hunting there with his cousin. Each would try to scare up a rabbit. They went on each side of the field. Ned did not want to shoot when the cousin scared up a rabbit in front of him (Ned). Ned would try to catch it. So the cousin decided to cure Ned and shot him when he (Ned) bent over. The bullet grazed Ned's ear. Ned never went hunting after that. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 36, 12/27/73, EFTJr.) One of Ned's coal-mining friends in Mystic was Harry Wignal. Harry had one of the first autos in that part of the country. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.14, 5/3--6/1/73, MMGT). At one point while he was at Mystic, Ned and some others from Mystic went up and worked as laborers on a rail road job at LaCrosse, Wisc. But it was too cold and after one month Ned came back to Mystic. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.21, 5/3--6/1/73, MMGT).

Ned's diary describes how he spent July 4, 1914 in some detail:

[Entry for] July 4, 1914 (Mystic, Iowa). Rise from Bed about 7 am had breakfast and then went uptown to mail Received 3 letters one from home and Thoms Higgs and Jonah Howells. [Jonah Howells, as mentioned later in the Ned's diary, is a "friend" who lived at Box 34, Dewar, Oklahoma] Walked around the Street I met Harry Wegnal and walked with him and while I next met Derbert Haines we went and got a Drink and some Ice Cream walked around a few times and then went to play some pool I lost only one game I next home to Dinner came out and walked about town Met Bill Noadley and had a chat with him about 1 oclock and a little after I met Hardydnel I went in the car and went up to Quiest Garage we then went out to Sarah and I was about to put water in the car when Sarah called me in the House to get some Ice Cream me and Harry left the House at 15 til 2. met Bob Whailen Carl Dorsey and Jim Davies and all 5 of us went to Cincinati and we had a dandy time on Celebration Day we left there about 10. and I had the best time I had for a long time arrice at Mystic about 11,20 and went to get something to eat and went home about 12.15 but did not stay long as I had to meet the [blier?] when Henry came from M.T. (Terrar, 1910s).

It would be nice if Ned had left a description of a day at work in the coal mine. He did record in his diary (Terrar, 1912-1914, 34):

Work performed Nov 1
Thurs Oct 31 Bumping and 5 cars
Frid Nov 1 Load 4 cars 2700
Saterday 2nd Load 1 car
4 Mon
5 Tues
6 Wed
7 Thur
8 Fri

He stopped listing the number of coal cars he loaded after November 2nd.

Joe Mundy had a girl friend in Wales named Nell. He ended up going back to Wales to marry her. He spent his life as a miner in the Rhondda Valley.

Part II: Margaret Maye Gergen terrar's Early Life

Maye was born at Cherryvale (Montgomery county) Kansas on August 13, 1893. Her parents were Peter William "Will" Gergen (1849-1920) and Rosetta "Rosie" Craig (1858-1922). (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.1, 5/30/73, MMGT). Maye was baptized by Rev. F. Pottgiesser, who was the rector at St. Francis Xavier, Cherryvale, on August 27, 1893. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 56, 3/12-3/18/75, MMGT). Her grandparents on her fathers' side (Peter and Margaret Gergen) were her godparents. Maye was the seventh of eight children. Her brother and sisters were: Lillie Mary Gergen (Wintermote) (1877-1916), Alma Francis Gergen (Miller) (1878-1960), Lena Estelle Gergen (Breese) (1881-1967), Matilda Rosetta (Etta) Gergen (b. 1880s, died as a baby) Mary Anna Gergen (1880s, died as a baby), Nellie Elizabeth Gergen (1889-1895), and William Alfred Gergen (1898-1959). The two oldest children were born at Smith Center, which is in north-central Kansas. The rest were born in Montgomery county, Kansas, which is in southeast Kansas.

WILL GERGEN. Maye's father, Peter William Gergen was called both "Will" and "Pete." Will was born on a farm near Perkinsville (Steuben county) New York. He was the oldest of 13 children. When he was born, his father, who was also named Peter, had only been in the United States for two years. Peter Sr. had come with his parents, brothers, and sisters from Europe (via France) on the sailing ship Kate Hunter through the port of New York City on June 19, 1847. (U.S. National Archives, Port Records). Some 90,000 people left Germany in 1847. This was due in part to political revolution and the struggle of the people against the established order. It was also due to the bad farming and crops of 1846 and 1847. (Passant, 1966; Sperber, 1991). When the Gergens arrived in Perkinsville, which is near Wayland, things were not as foreign as might be imagined. A number of people there were from the same district of Germany as the Gergens. Nearly everyone was of German heritage and spoke German. Sermons at the Catholic church of the Sacred Heart at Perkinsville were in German, as was the small church school which Will attended.

Will's father (Peter Gergen, Sr.) was from Alsweiler, Germany. In Germany the name was also spelt "Goergen." Will's mother, who was short in stature, had come over from Treve (Trier), Germany about 10 years earlier, when she was 10 years old. Will grew up in a house where German was the main language. Will, his parents, and his younger brothers and sisters (he eventually had 12 of them), lived at Perkinsville until 1862, when Will was 13 years old. Will studied both German and English at school in New York. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 22, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). According to Maye he was good at arithmetic, hand writing, book-keeping, and had a good legal brain. Will's school in New York was taught half the day in German and half the day in English. So he spoke German well. Will's daughter May learned from her father to count from one to eight in German and to say thank you (danka shein). (Terrar, 1969-1979, 5/30/73, 31.3). At one point May said that Will went to the old Harmony Township school near the old Peter Gergen farm. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 6/2/73, 31.7). However, by the time the Gergen's moved to Kansas, Will was probably 20 years old and too old to go to school. He was largely self-taught, as he was unable to go to school much. But he did not have much ambition.(Terrar, 1969-1979, 23, 4/9-12/71, MMGT).

FARMING. In 1862 the Gergen family moved west to Nebraska to take advantage of the Homestead Act, which granted 160 acres of public land to any one who would settle on it. The land grants were a form of government subsidy supported by laboring people to help their class. The Civil War was in its second year. Will's uncle, Nicholas Gergen, who had lived with Will's family since 1855, joined the Union Army at Danville, N.Y. in August 1862. He missed going west and was killed at the Battle of Chattanooga on October 29, 1863.(Terrar, 1975)

Will's family farmed in Nebraska for about ten years, from 1862 until the late 1860s or early 1870s. Then they farmed in Iowa for a short period.^[5] As new land (and it was hoped, better, more fertile land) was opened up for homesteading in Kansas after the Civil War, they moved once more. In 1871 they took up a claim about three miles southwest of Cherryvale at Verdigis in Montgomery county, Kansas.^[6]

The area that became Montgomery County Kansas had been claimed for France in 1682 when Canadians drifted down the Mississippi River. Eighty years later France ceded it to Spain, which retroceded it to France in 1800. In 1803 it formed part of Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase. In 1834 Congress legislated that all land west of the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers was "Indian Country." In 1854 the territory of Kansas was organized and, in 1861, the territory because a state. The area in southeast Kansas that became Montgomery county was still Indian (Osage) territory. The Osage Indians had earlier lived on the Missouri River and later were forced down the Arkansas. In 1808 they ceded their lands in Missouri and Arkansas to the U.S. government and went west. In 1825 they relinquished their lands in Kansas, except for their land in the area that is now Montgomery county. The land they held there became known as the Diminished Reserve.

Rev. Paul Ponziglioni, S.J. came to the Indian territory in Southeastern Kansas in 1851 and established the Osage mission, which he ran until 1861. (Hitchcock, 1971, 24). The Osage attempted to sell the Diminished Reserve in 1868 to the Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston Railroad for $1.6 million or 20 cents per acre. The Sturgis Treaty was signed at Drum Creek by Joseph Paw-ne-no-pashe, White Hair, principal chief, followed by 106 other chiefs, councilors, and braves of the Big and Little Osage tribes.

The immigrants who wanted to move to the area opposed the sale of the land to the railroad. The sale would have meant inflated land prices for the profit of the capitalists. The railroad had used Indian agents, special interpreters, and advocates along with a detachment of the Seventh U.S. Cavalry commanded by Capt. George W. Yates, to get the osages to sigh the treaty. The immigrants forced president Grant to withdraw the treaty from the Senate before it was adopted. Congressional legislation in 1870 opened the Osage Diminished Reserve except for the 16th and 36th sections to actual settlers at $1.25 per acre. The 16th and 36th sections went to the State of Kansas for school purposes. Settlers in those sections bought land from the state school fund commissioners. Rosie Gergen told her daughter how the militia had been stationed on Drum Creek when the settlers came in. In part the job of the troops was to drive many of the Osage out of the area onto a reservation in Oklahoma. (Duncan, 1903, 8-10).

Will's family did not "make a run" when they settled southwest of Cherryvale. But Maye was not sure how the land was allocated. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 9, 11/26/69, MMGT). The farms were usually 160 acres and difficult to work because it was virgin soil. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 17, 11/26/69, MMGT). The deed from the Osage Trust Lands to Peter Geregen dated 8/1/1873 described the land as covering the SE 1/4 of NW 1/4 and the NE 1/4 of NW 1/4 Sec. 30-32T. 17 Rge, known as lots 3 and 4, 5 and 6 and covered 160 acres. The deed was filed at the Montgomery county court house on 4/24/1878.

Out in the country the farmers raised everything they ate except coffee and tobacco. They would also buy the material they needed for clothes. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 10, 11/26/69, MMGT). One of Will's jobs when he was in his early 20s was to work on harvesting gangs. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 25, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). His father had an interest in a threshing machine. The threshing crew of five people hired themselves out and would travel considerable distances. In January 1873 several of Will's sisters got scarlet fever and died because their mother was pregnant and could not get up to the second floor to nurse them. Their father went up a ladder from the outside and took the bodies out and buried them in the yard. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 5, 11/26/69, MMGT).

RELIGION AND POLITICS. The Gergens were Catholics. Out in the country there would only be one mass in their area per month (or one every six months). According to Maye, these were "real missionary days."^[7] The priest (Fr. Pantzaloni, S.J. or Fr. Bonsiger, S.J.) would ride 50 miles on horseback from the Osage Mission at St. Paul, Kansas, which is now a Passionist Seminary.^[8](Terrar, 1969-1979, 59, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). He would arrive the evening before and stay all night. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 28, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). The mass was said at the Gergen's house. Some of the farm houses had a parlor which was only used for funerals and Sundays. The day before the mass, the Gergen boys (including John and Joe) would ride horses to tell the neighbors that there would be a mass, communion, and baptisms the next morning.

The Gergens were Democrats. The men voted because they believed it was their patriotic duty. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 27, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). After Will's parents retired from farming in about 1903, they sold their farm farm for $350 to the O'Learys (i.e., Mary Ellen O'Leary), who were road builders. They put in a stock pond. According to Nora Steinberger, such a farm in 1970 was selling for between $25,000 and $45,000, depending on the soil. The present road does not go right on the farm but is about one block from it. You pass the farm on the way to the cemetery. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.7, 6/2/73, MMGT). The senior Gergens bought a house on West 4th near the Catholic church in Cherryvale. It was a four-room house, with a kitchen, living room and two bedrooms. They had $1,500 to live on for the rest of their lives. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 59, 3/12-18/75, MMGT; Terrar, 1969-1979, 4, 11/26/69, MMGT). There they were members of the St. Francis Xavier parish on Liberty St. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 72, 5/11/79, EFTJr; also Diary, vol. 16, p. 651). They would go to church every morning. Rev. McCullough was the pastor. The "new" church was built about 1900. Will's father told his wife shortly before he (Will's father) died in 1908, "I fear my time is almost come to leave you and go to meet my Maker who I have always tried to serve as best I could." (Anonymous, 1908). At his father's funeral the choir sang the Requiem Mass and two hymns, "Jesus Savior of My Soul," and "Jesus My Lord, My God." (Anonymous, 1908). A large concourse of relatives and friends attended the funeral, including the pall bearers: John Coyle, J. H. Butler, Andy Bernd, Joe Miller, John Schultheis and Mr. Able. Will's mother is said to have "lived a devout Christian life from her infancy." (Anonymous, 1909) Maye believed that the "Germans" were hard to to get along with. All of Will's brothers and sisters left home because their father was hard to live with. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 4, 11/26/69, MMGT). Will was a "hard German, but not a Prussian." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 7, 11/26/69, MMGT). (I am not sure what that means). Will's brother Frank Gergen, had a saloon in Cherryvale. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.10, 6/2/73, MMGT).

ROSIE CRAIG. About six years after moving to Kansas, Will (age 26) met Rosetta "Rosie" Craig in 1875. She was born at Rockbluff (Cass county), Nebraska on March 12, 1958 (Federal Census, 1860). Her parents were George Washington Craig (1824-December 21, 1869) and Louisa Bailey (Craig) (April 12, 1830-July 30, 1911). George Craig was born in Clemont county, Ohio. George's parents were John Craig, who was born in Pennsylvania in the 1790s and Jane who was born in Hamilton county, Ohio in 1799. John and Jane Craig were farmers. They were married about 1817 and had 9 children. The first child was born in 1818 in Bracken county, Ky. Then they lived in Hamilton county Ohio and at Franklin Township in Clemont county, Ohio, until about 1832 (Federal Census, 1830). After that they moved to Edgar county, Illinois where their last two children were born. John died on June 7, 1848 and was buried at the cemetery on the Lou McCullock Farm, near North Arm, Stratton township. He left 5 children for Jane Craig to raise. About 1870 Jane and some of her children moved to Linn county, Kansas. Their farm may have been near LaCygne in Linn county and also near the Missouri border, as their postoffice was at West Point in Bates county, Missouri. Jane signed her name with an X, meaning she probably could not write. (U.S. Archives, Pension Application of Joseph U. Craig, 3/26/1870). According to the 1870 federal census, Jane was living in Lincoln township (post office Jackson), Linn county. With her was her son Joseph (b. 1832) and daughter Mary (b. 1822). Jane may have died between 1872 and 1875, because Joseph and his family moved about that time to Big Rock, Arkansas and later to Little Rock, Arkansas.

Rosie's mother, Louisa Bailey (Craig) was the daughter of George Bailey (b. 1804) and Julia (Juda) Howard (Bailey) (b. 1808). George Bailey was born in Burbon county, Kentucky. His parents were William Bailey and Sarah Haithman. George was a shoe and bootmaker. According to May Gergen Terrar he and a boy were strung up in 1865 by the Confederates at Council Bluffs, Iowa. At age 60 he was too old to go off to fight with the Union forces and the boy was too young. His wife Julia would go to visit the grave every evening. She wore a white hat. The kids thought it was a ghost. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 13, 11/26/69, MMGT).

Rosie's maternal grandmother, Julia Howard, was born in Woodford county, Ky. Julia's parents were Vincent Howard and Fanny Hammond. George and Julia (Howard) Bailey were married on October 31, 1825 at Woodford county, Ky. Their first daughter, who was Louisa, was born there in Woodford county, Ky. On a sheet of paper in Lena Breese's handwriting is the following:

Louisa Bailey Craig was born in Lasell Kentucky on April 12 1830. Burried at Cedar Kansas. Husband was name George Craig and was born in Illinoise and died in Linn County Kansas. No other record on him. The old family bible burned in the fire in Missouri. These are what Henrys mother had written off and was in the bible that Henry has.

The Lasell Kentucky may be a misspelling for Versaille or some other word. There does not seem to be a Lasell in Kentucky. (Doris Jackson maintains that Louisa was born at Newcastle [Henry co.] Indiana. This runs contrary to what is recorded in the 1850 census record.) During most of the 1830s the Baileys were living in Hendricks and Putnam counties, Indiana. About 1841 they moved to Edgar county, Illinois.

It was in Edgar county, Illinois where the Baileys and Craigs were both living in the 1840s that Rosie's parents, George and Louisa (Bailey) Craig met and were married before James Flack, justice of the peace on September 27, 1847. According to May, George did not drink and smoked only a little. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 17, 11/26/69, MMGT). There in Edgar county was born their first several children. About 1855 George, Louisa and their children migrated to Cass county, Nebraska. Their postoffice was at Rockbluff in Cass county, according to the 1860 census. Rosie (b. March 12, 1858) and another child were born there. A note in Rosie's handwriting states that she was born on a farm in Iowa. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 57, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). But the census of 1860 stated she was born in Nebraska, and it is probably more accurate. Nevertheless, Louisa's parents may have been at Council Bluffs, Iowa and Louisa could have gone there to have Rosie. In Cass county, George and Louisa got a deed to land on October 26, 1858. They recorded the deed on February 18, 1870. Cass county was near Council Bluffs. At least one of their children (Martha May Craig [Santrock]), 1862-1925) was born at Council Bluffs in 1862.

George was a soldier for the Union Army during the Civil War, which ended in 1865. (U.S. National Archives, Pension Application, 433472). At age 41 he enlisted at Council Bluffs, Iowa. He went as a substitute for Norman Green, of Kane township, Pottowattamie county, Iowa. One could earn money serving as a substitute for someone that was drafted. The person drafted paid the substitue money for taking his place. George was a member of the Third Battery, Iowa Light Artillery Volunteers on 11/5/1864. (Logan, 1911, 1172). The Third Battery Iowa Light Artillery had been organized under the authority of the secretary of war in September 1861 at Dubuque, Iowa. It had an armament of six guns: four six pounder bronze guns and two twelve pounder howitzers, plus the other equipage of a field battery. (Logan, 1911, 1749). It was under the command of Captain Mortimer M. Hayden. It was attached to the Ninth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel William Vandever. (Logan, 1911, 1749). It formed part of a command under Major General Curtis, which fought in Missouri and then Arkansas in 1861 and 1862. The battery formed a part of General Steele's forces in his Little Rock expedition, participated in the capture of that place, and also took part in the expedition of General Rice against Arkadelphia in October 1863. After that they were part of the garrison at Little Rock, Arkansas. In the fall of 1864 many of those in the battery had served out their three year enlistment and were being mustered out. George was among a large number of recruits who replaced the veterans. Captain Mortimer M. Hayden appears to have conintued in command. The battery did not come into conflict with the enemy after George joined it in November 1864. The battery history states in part:

It did not come into conflict with the enemy, but performed important duties, the most notable of which were as follows: During the months of October and November, 1864, while the rebel forces under General Price were invading the State of Missouri, it became necessary to forward a large quantity of commissary stores from Little Rock, Ark., to the Federal troops stationed at Fort Smith. Navigation of the Arkansas River was rendered unsafe by reason of the occupation of forces of the enemy at intermediate points along its shores. An expedition by land was therefore organized, consisting of a large wagon train, heavily loaded with supplies, and guarded by a sufficient force of infantry and artillery to protect it from capture by the enemy. The Thirty-third Regiment of Iowa Infantry, commanded by Colonel C. H. Mackey, and one section (two guns) of the Third Iowa Battery, commanded by Lieutenant J. J. Dingl, were detailed to guard the train, and took up the long march for Fort Smith on October 30th. Soon after the march began it was learned that the rebel army, under General Price, had been defeated and driven out of Missouri, and was then retreating into Arkansas. As the expedition under Colonel Mackey was on the line traversed by the rebel army, the danger of an attack by a superior force of the enemy at once became apparent. Fortunately, however, the enemy had been so thoroughly defeated and was being so vigorously pursued that, although a large number of his troops came dangerously near the train and its excort, they did not discover it, and passed swiftly on, leaving the expedition alone. (Logan, 1911, 1755).

George wrote a letter home to Louisa from Fort Smith, Arkansas on October 1, 1965 toward the end of his year in the service. Louisa gave it to her daughter Rosie, who gave it to her daughter May. It reads:

Camp 31 Iowa Battery, Fort Smith, Ark Oct 1st, 1865

Dear Wife and children,

It is with pleasure that I set myself, this evening to let you know that I am well and hearty. The health of the boys is good and I am in hopes this will find you and the chidren well and hearty. Well Mother we have turned over our horses on the last day of September and are waiting for transportation to go to Little Rock and then I presume we will be mustered out or perhaps we may go to Davenport to be mustered out. That is the belief here and there is no doubt of it I guess in the least. And I think we will leave here in a day or so and they are a looking for a boat up everyday. We will take over a battery with us to Little Rock and turn it over there. We will have many easy times now while we remain here, as our horses are turned over and all we have to do is eat and sleep. There is nothing a going on here of much importance now. Business remains lively here as usual. The Indians have entirely dispersed from here now. The weather is pretty cool here now of nights, especially so that we can have two covers and then not be uncomfortable, at all, I think when it is that cool here it must be a freezing pretty hard up there. Well I will now say that it is not worth while for you to write any more, as I will be gone from here before you get this. I will continue to drop you a few lines occassionally if we stop anyplace where a letter could get a head of me. We may stop a while at Little Rock. I can't say now though how long but we may stop there for some time. So I have no more.

Yours truly, G. W. Craig Mrs. Louisa Craig

George was mustered out of the army on 10/23/1865 at Davenport, Iowa.

Rosie attended school until the fourth grade at Council Bluffs, Iowa, Independence, Missouri, and Montgomery county, Kansas. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 29, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). She was raised a Methodist. Her family was religious, but did not often go to church because the houses and churches were few and far between. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 29, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). Rosie's sister Mattie was a strong Methodist. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 16, 11/26/69, MMGT).

In the late 1860s when Rosie was about 11, the family moved south, first to eastern Missouri near the Kansas border for a short period. It appears that George's mother, Jane Craig (b.1799), his brother Joseph U. Craig (1832-1895) and family, and his sister Mary Craig (b. 1822) had moved to a farm in Linn county, Kansas, which bordered Bates county, Missouri. Their post office address was West Point in Bates county, Missouri. (U.S. National Archives, Record Group No. 15, Pension Application WC 442-736 [610,516?], Joseph U. Craig, 3/26/1870). One source states it was to Independence, Missouri that George and Louisa family moved in 1868.^[9] About 1880 Joseph U. Craig and his family moved from Linn county, Kansas to Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1895 when Joseph died, his widow Caroline, aged 54, was living at 821 E 5th St., Little Rock. Somewhat later in 1901 she was at 415 East 11th St., Little Rock. (U.S. Archives, Pension Application, Joseph U. Craig). George's sister Mary Craig at some point moved back to Edgar county, Illinois. In 1890 at age 68 she was living there. (U.S. Archives, Pension Application, Louisa Craig Simmonds).

A daughter, Alpha L. Craig, was born to George and Louisa in Missouri or more likely, Linn county on February 20, 1869. Alpha died a year later on August 3, 1870. After farming in Missouri or more likely Linn county for perhaps one year, the family moved to Elk City (Montgomery county), Kansas.^[10] (Terrar, 1969-1979, 58, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). This was in either September or December, 1869.^[11] (Terrar, 1969-1979, 58, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). The Elk City farm was not a homestead, but was bought outright. One of the neighbors was Lizzie Cook and her husband. The Craigs filled ticks with corn shucks to serve as their mattresses. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 13, 11/26/69, MMGT).

During the move from Missouri or Linn county to Elk City, Kansas, when Rosie was about 12, her father died in Linn county, Kansas on December 21, 1869. (U.S. Archives, Louisa Bailey Craig, Widow's U.S. Pension Application). He had come with the family to Elk City, but went back to get his cattle. He forded a stream, caught a cold, and died of pneumonia and a diarhia condition. His sister, Mary Craig, was among those who nursed him while he was dying. (U.S. Archives, Pension Application of Louisa Craig Simmonds). His wife, Louisa, went back and saw him buried. They hued a casket out of a tree. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 2, 11/26/69, MMGT). They took him to the cemetery in a lumber wagon. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 9, 11/26/69, MMGT). He was buried near LaCygne in Linn county, which may have been where the farm had been. (U.S. Archives, Pension Application 433,472, Louisa Craig, 11/6/1890). It was said that during the Civil War George had gotten lung disease and a diarhia condition while sleeping out-of-doors. He never was healthy afterwards. It was that disease which ended his life. George left his wife with 5 children below the age of 16 to raise.

Louisa and her children farmed near Elk City during much of the 1870s. Rosie's oldest sister, Amanda (Mandy) Jane Craig (1849-1918), had married David (Davie) Dodson in November 1869, just a little before her father George had died. Davie was from England. He had opened up a trading post at Drum Creek in Montgomery county, Kansas. The federal government was still driving the Osage Indians from the area to a reservation in Oklahoma. There was much trouble between the European settlers and the natives. A militia was kept at Drum Creek. Rosie's younger brother and sister, Mattie and George, would hid behind the house and Rosie would feed the Indians when they stopped by. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 12, 11/26/69, MMGT). Rosie as a girl of 12 or 13 went to live with Mandy and Davie. She helped run the trading post. There was a post office in it. The mail would come by horse. Mail boxes were set on a table in a corner. Rosie would climb up on a chair to get it for people. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 28, 4/9-12/71, MMGT; Terrar, 1969-1979, 12, 11/26/69, MMGT). Rosie also helped care for Amanda's children as they came along. Mandy and Davie adopted Rosie. Rosie's sister, Phoebe lived near by and in 1969 her old house was still standing.

By 1872 Rosie's mother had had a common law marriage and a child by a man who came through Elk City selling lightening rods. The people saw that the man was a shyster and was trying to get her farm from her. A vigilante group told him to get out. The vigilantes included "granddpa" Cook, whose place adjoined the Craigs. The Cooks helped Rosie's mother a lot. Louisa Craig and the younger children who were still with her lived near Elk City in Montgomery county, Kansas until either 1877 or 1879 when she and the younger children it moved to Cedarville near Kensington (Harvey township, Smith county) in north-central Kansas.^_ (Terrar, 1969-1979, 58, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). The Dodsons also moved up that way about the same time. They were in Kirwin (Phillips county), which bordered the area in Smith county where the Craigs lived. Rosie's mother married William H. Simmonds in 1880, but the marriage may not have lasted a long time. Rosie's mother lived in northern Kansas until her death in 1911. She died at Kensington, Kansas and was buried at Cedar Cemetery, Cedar, Kansas. Several of her children and their families lived nearby at Cedar, Kansas and at Solomn in Dickinson county, Kansas.

MARRIAGE OF ROSIE AND WILL. Among the children who moved to Cedarville in northern Kansas about the that Louisa went was Rosie. She had married Will Gergen on September 30, 1875 at Independence, Kansas before the probate judge, E. Herring.^[12] Will was 26 and she was 17 at the time. They had known each other only about a month. Amanda and David Dodson did not allow Rosie to go to parties. Rosie first saw Will when he was working on a threshing gang. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 25, 4/9-12/71, MMGT; Terrar, 1969-1979, 3, 11/26/69, MMGT). Will's father had an interest in a threshing machine and lived on a farm near the Dodsons in Drum Creek. There were five on a threshing crew, both boys and girls. They would gather the hay. Rosie would open and close the gates to keep the cattle from getting out. She made an arrangement by notes for Will to be the last through the fence. She talked with him and they became engaged. As noted earlier, she was living with her sister and brother-in-law. Since she was under age, Amanda and David Dodson had to give them permission and were the witnesses when she married, which took place at the county seat. David said she should get a nice dress for the marriage. They got her a white one made from alpa (or abbatroe), which material was later called serge. Three days earlier Amanda had slapped Rosie for going out without a sun bonnet.

According to Maye (Gergen) Terrar, Amanda and David would have preferred that Rosie not marry Will, because he was a Catholic. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 59, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Amanda and David were APA's (American Protective Association), which was a for-runner of the Klu-Klux-Klan. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 25, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). Maye maintained that Will left the church automatically by marrying Rosie. The newly-married couple lived and farmed near Smith Center (Smith County) in north-central Kansas.^[13] Perhaps they went north to avoid Will's Catholic relatives in Montgomery county. This was from about 1877 until about 1881.

Farming was apparently not prosperous at Smith Center, because by 1881 Will and Rosie were back to Montgomery county Kansas, where Will's parents and many of his brothers and sisters were farming. When they came back they were staying temporarily with Will's parents. One Sunday the Gergens were going to mass and Rosie asked to go along. On the way she told her mother-in-law to nudge her if she got to laughing and snickering. She had heard from the APA that funny things went on. She found it to be very solemn and a good thing. She wanted a church in which to raise her kids. So she immediately began instruction. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 16, 11/26/69, MMGT). At age 22 in about 1882, about seven years after her marriage, she was baptized as a Catholic and they were remarried in the Catholic church. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 59, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Rosie loved to sing and she would sing all the time. Because she grew up a Protestant, she knew all the hymns and sang them a good deal. According to May she probably did not go to any church when she was growing up. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.12, 6/1/73, MMGT).

WILL AND ROSIE'S WORK. After Will and Rosie came back to Montgomery county in 1881, they first lived on the Gilleth place south of Cherryvale. Farming was no less prosperous for Will and Rosie there than it had been in northern Kansas. One year the crops were ruined by grasshoppers and another it was the drought. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 1970s, MMGT). The soil in some parts of Montgomery county was poor and there was often a depression in farm prices.

They moved to town (Cherryvale) in the fall of 1882. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 58, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). In another interview, it was said they moved to town about 1890. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 10, 11/26/69, MMGT). They lived in a place north of Bushes Flour mill. Will and another man, Frank Seiler, opened a feed store, which included a feed mill. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 4, 11/26/69, MMGT). Seiler was a Catholic and belonged to St. Francis Xavier church in Cherryvale to which the Gergens also belonged. Will was a good mechanic and kept his own account books at the store. He was always mechanically inclined. Will set up the mill himself. The mill would shell and grind corn. The mill had an engine room in which was a boiler that burned coal to make steam to run the belts and machinery. The belts were big and wide and made of leather, just like the drive shafts or fan belt on a car. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 10, 11/26/69, MMGT). There were always repairs that had to be made. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 60, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). The farmers bought his product. Later Will may have gone to work for a grain mill in Cherryvale. A mill where Will used to work in Cherryvale was still standing in 1979. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 71, 5/11/79, EFTJr; also diary, vol. 16, p. 650).

Will's occupation was that of miller when his youngest daughter, Margaret Maye, was born in 1893. She was delivered by Dr. Campbell. When the boiler gave out at the grain mill, which was perhaps after 1895, Will worked for the Santa Fe Railroad at the Cherryvale roundhouse. The Aticheson Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Round House was located at 600 South Depot St. (east side). It is torn down now. (Hitchcock).

Will was a good machinist and night foreman at Santa Fe. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 20, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). They would bring in the engines to oil and water them. Cherryvale was not a division point, so they would only do emergency repairs. They had a turn-table in there. Maye would sit in the cab while it was going around. Will never wanted to become a railroad engineer because he knew grain and wanted to be his own man. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 21, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). The railroad was important, because it saved the farmers from having to drive their loads of wheat long distances to get money. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 10, 11/26/69, MMGT).

Sometime later, according to Maye, Will got enough money and went back and got the grain mill going again. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 20, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). He owned the mill. This was probably the P.W. Gergen Mill (also called the Farmer's Exchange Mill) at 210-212 South Depot St. (on the west side of the street) (Hitchcock, 1971, pp. 80, 94). The Santa Fe Railroad section house was in the same 210-211 Depot Building. Bob Hitchcock writes:

Feed was extremely important before the era of automobiles and dealers sold meal, oats, grain, hay and sometimes flower. Gergen and Company (also known as the Farmer's Exchange Mill), C.D. Allen, the East Side Feed Mill, . . . and the West Side Feed Store were among the early day grain mills.

One reference listed by Hitchcock stated that the mill was operating there in 1907 and may have been operating much earlier. The buildings in Cherryvale were not consistently numbered until 1905. Will kept the mill until perhaps 1910. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 10, 11/26/69, MMGT).

ROSIE AND WILL'S FAMILY. Maye remembered that the family lived at 409 Independence Ave. in Cherryvale and later they moved to 413 Independence, which was west of the former house. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 17, 11/26/69, MMGT). They bought the house at 413 Independence Ave, which was the first and perhaps only house they owned. They kept it until Rosie died in 1922. May was 2 years old in 1895 when they bought it. Rosie had always wanted to buy a house earlier, but Will would not consent. Rosie had to ask Will each time she needed money. She would ask for more money than she needed and she saved. When the house at 413 Independence became available for $500 she told Will they had the money. That is when they bought it. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.18, 6/1/73, MMGT). The house was a two-story, frame. Downstairs there were two rooms. One was called a parlor. The living room, dining room, and kitchen were all in one. Upstairs there were three bedrooms. The parents usually had a bedroom on the first floor. The children slept upstairs. Out in the country the kitchen was separate from the house. It was called a "summer kitchen." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 47, 3/12-18/75, MMGT).

In 1898 the Gergen's youngest son, Bill, was born at 413 Independence Ave. That same year both Maye, aged 5, and her older sister, Lena, aged 17, were sleeping upstairs. After Lena married in 1900 and left, Maye slept downstairs. The house first had a wood stove but then there was a gas stove for heating. For light they first had kerosene and in the 1890s they switched to gas for lights. The family also owned two lots; one was vacant and the other had a large barn on it, where Will had a horse, cow, and spring wagon. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 29, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). The spring wagon was a light wagon with a long bed, side boards on it about one foot high, and a seat which was a bit higher. Will needed the horse and wagon to make deliveries.

The first three girls born to Will and Rosie between 1877 and 1881 lived. The next three, all born in Cherryvale in the 1880s died. Nellie, who was 4 years older than Maye, died at age 6 in 1895 of diphtheria-membranus coup, which she caught from the milk and water. Alma, the second oldest child, also had diphtheria. She would choke and get black in the face. But she survived. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 29, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). When Maye was born in 1893, her older sisters, including Lena, aged about 12, helped take care of her.

Rosie worked hard. She did all the washing by hand on a scrub board. With a baby coming every year or two, that meant a lot of washing. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 59, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). She sewed many of the family clothes and she made patch-work quilts. Sewing and patch-work quilt making were arts that she handed on to her daughter May. May did not care much about making quilts, but she made many of them as part of her work with the altar society. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.27, 5/73, MMGT; Rowen, 1990).

Rosie also made the family's butter herself. She had a churn to do this. The churn consisted of a stone jar, three feet high. It had a broom handle on it. On the end of the handle one would take two boards and cross them. The handle would be plunged up and down. She did not have ice, so she hung the milk and butter in the well. It would be put in a bucket and let down. One of Maye's first memories is that she was knocked down or run over by a horse about 1898. She had been out delivering milk. Her mother had a cow and they sell the milk. Maye was in kindergarten. She wanted her teacher to come visit her that night. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 17, 11/26/69, MMGT).

Besides butter, Rosie also made her own bread. It was "light and lovely." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 29, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). Because Will worked at the mill, there was always plenty of corn. Rosie made many corn muffins and corn meal mush. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 60, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Rosie had a garden and a little greenhouse. The family had lettuce in season. They had potato salad, which they called sour potatoes. Green beans were called sour beans. They usually had navy beans, krout, turnips, canned beans and corn, baked corn bread and biscuits. They did not have chicken as much as today but it was common. They had round steak, but they never heard of loin and other cuts. They had lots of fruit pies, bread, and rice pudding. But they did not have fresh vegetables. They were very pleased when strawberries and oranges were shipped in. Oranges were a favorite; you got one in your stocking at Christmas. They were expensive. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.4, 5/30/73, MMGT).

At Thanksgiving and Christmas the family had a special dinner. They usually got a live goose from the poultry dealer. Goose was more popular than turkey. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 29, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). According to another account, they had duck at Christmas and turkey at Thanksgiving. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 13, 11/26/69, MMGT). In general the meals were more simple then than now. According to Maye they did not eat as well then as in more recent times. Even on Sunday or with guests, they would have dried navy beans. For many years there was no fruit they could can. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 30, 4/9-12/71, MMGT).

The children liked to drink sassafras tea. It was believed that in winter the blood thickened. During the spring time, when they took off their heavy clothes, Rosie would give them sassafras to thin out their blood. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 46, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). She would get the ingredients for the tea at the drug store. It was a nice hot tea. The kids would ask for it. They did not have carbonation or pop, but they say, "We want vinegar water." This a mixture of vinegar, sugar, water, and soda. It foamed up and the kids would drink it fast with no ice. They would all stand around and say, "I am next, I am next."

Recreation was part of Will and Rosie's life. Will was not a card player. He smoked a pipe. Granger Twist was his brand of tobacco. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 48, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Rosie had a clay pipe and a fishing pole and loved to go fishing. She would walk five miles to fish. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 79, 10/10/71, IW). Will never owned a gun or pistol. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 81, 1970s, MMGT). The only relative who went hunting was Edward Breese, who was Maye's brother-in-law. Ed Breese tried to farm. He bought a fine team of horses and one was killed by lightening and his cattle died. So he gave up and moved to town and became a driller. He was a Protestant and Lena left the Catholic church, which Maye did not like.

Rosie liked dogs, cats, and jewelry. She felt everyone should have a dog. Her son Willie had a dog. Several months before she died in 1922, she gave a spitz breed dog, which were then popular, to her grandson, Ed Terrar, Jr. Ed was just a baby and too small to appreciate it. Rosie's daughter May was just the opposite from Rosie. May did not like animals. When May went to Rosie's funeral at Cherryvale, the dog ran away. May though probably the police got it. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.12, 6/1/73, MMGT).

Minstrel shows were another type of recreation, besides smoking, pets, and fishing, which were probably popular with Rosie and Will. At least their daughter May liked them. Mr. Interlocutor sat in the middle of the stage. He had a top hat and black paint on his face "to look like a Negro." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 17, 11/26/69, MMGT). Sometimes there would be dirty jokes. During the summer there was a band that played each Saturday in the park at Cherryvale. Once a show called "Forty-Five Minutes off Broadway" came through town for a one night stand. It was jam packed with many things and Maye enjoyed it greatly.

On the Fourth of July the family would have a picnic in the park. Flags would be flying, there would be fireworks, and politicians would give speeches, which the kids would have to sweat out. At Christmas time, the custom was that the children got a present. They would set a chair and Santa would lay gifts on the chairs. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 13, 11/26/69, MMGT). One of the presents Rosie gave was checkerboards. The children played checkers. Maye lived with her older sister, Lena for some period of time. In the 1930s, if not earlier, Lena was living at 417 S. Neosho St., Cherryvale. One Christmas when Maye was staying with her, Lena bought Maye some gloves. Maye took them back to exchange for something else, which gave offense to Lena. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 79, 10/10/71, IW). Lena believed that Maye felt the gloves were not good enough for her. According to Maye, the older girls (Lilly, Alma, and Lena) resented the younger children (Maye and Bill), because the older ones had to help take care of them. Alma would break the toys that belonged to Maye. Alma and Lena never got along. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 9, 11/26/69, MMGT; Terrar, 1969-1979, 29, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). Later when Maye was a "successful business woman," the older sisters were jealous of her. They felt she was proud, which was probably true. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 9, 11/26/69, MMGT).

Both Will and Rosie were Democrats, as were all those around them. Maye stated, "Democrats were poor people (farmers)." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 48, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Rosie was a member of the Olive Grove no. 54 (or 461) in Cherryvale, according to a note dated December, 1917. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 57, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). The Olive Grove like some of the other organizations to which she belonged probably was a combination social, insurance, burial and fraternal organization. The Olive Grove may have been a local chapter of the Woodmen Circle. Rosie was also a member of the Workmen's Circle, which was a lodge. One of the organization's functions, in exchange for the payment of dues, was to provide funeral insurance. That is, the organization helped pay funeral expenses for its members. It also aided members who were injured, widowed, or orphaned. Maye inherited Rosie's membership card from this organization. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 58, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). The symbol on their tomb stone at St. Francis cemetery signified Will or Rosie or both belonged to "S.F.W.C.," the symbol of which was a hatchet, mallet, and wedge. The "S.F.W.C." may refer to St. Francis Woodmen Circle. There were a number of Woodmen Circle chapters, known as groves in Cherryvale. (Hitchcock, 1971, 64). Woodmen Circle had a lodge hall at 115 1/2 North Neosho (east side). They shared the hall with the Odd Fellows, GAR (Grand Army of the Republic), and several other fraternal organizations. The hall seems to have been above the Nickel Plate Restaurant. (Hitchcock, 1971). It is not clear in what years the hall was at 115 1/2 N. Neosho. The lodge at some other period had its hall across the street at 114 1/2 N. Neosho (west side). There it shared space with the Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW). If the Workmen's ideals were similar to those of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, their purpose was "to visit the sick, bury the dead, educate the orphans." (Hitchcock, 1971, 64).

Rosie believed strongly in education. She only went through the fourth grade in school. She read newspapers and magazines to further her education. At one point she got 4 of them, including the Catholic diocesan one. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 52, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). She wanted all her children to be educated, which included education in music. Rosie played music by ear. Her three oldest daughters, Lena, Alma, and Lilly also played music. Rosie bought a walnut pedal organ for them. It was an Estay. One had to peddle it in order to play it. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 82, 1970s, MMGT). Lilly played for the church choir. Lena played for the lodges to which she belonged. Lena, Alma, and Lilly all sang in the church choir. Rosie also had a rocking chair, which had been bought second-hand about 1900. Maye was about 7 at the time. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 50, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Will put a metal sheeting on the bottom of it to keep it from caving in. Maye inherited the rocker. Then it went to Maye's daughter, (Mildred) Terrar Throckmorton, whose husband refinished it.

Rosie was an admirer of Carry Nation (1846-1911), who was a resident of Wichita, Kansas beginning in 1889. Rosie wanted to close the saloons because men were spending too much time and money at them. Their families would go without. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 27, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). Carry Nation came to Kansas because it was a prohibition state. She maintained that, since the saloon was illegal in Kansas, any citizen could destroy liquor, furniture, and fixtures in a place selling intoxicants. Armed with a hatchet, she went on wrecking expeditions through Kansas cities and towns between 1900 and 1910. She was sometimes arrested, imprisoned, fined, clubbed and shot at. She became a country-wide figure. Rosie may have been a temperance person because Will abused alcohol, or at least Rosie might have believed that he did. This will be discussed a bit more later. It could be that Rosie was domineering, and alcohol allowed Will to escape.

MAY'S EDUCATION. Each of Rosie and Will's children finished the eighth grade in school. Some, including Maye, went further. Maye started school in 1899 at McKinley Ward School. She graduated in 1908. McKinley was located at Main and School St. There were eight grades in the school. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 9, 11/26/69, MMGT). In school the stress was on good handwriting and spelling. May stated that she learned a lot from the copy book for penmanship practice. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.13, 6/1/73, MMGT). At her school they often had spelling bees. This was "their game." Music and calisthenics had been added to the curriculum in 1893. (Siler, 1961, 27). May's music teacher was Josie H. Carl, who was also her neighbor and life-long friend. Josie wrote an article in Duncan's History of Montgomery Co. Kansas (1903) about Cherryvale. The teachers were paid between $25 and $33 per month by the school board for a 7 month school year. (Siler, 1961, 29).

When Maye was age 11 in 1904 she and 8 other girls from Cherryvale went over to a school at Independence, Kansas. Maye went there for a year. This was in the period after Will had left to live at the mill. Will left Bill, Maye, and Rosie at home. This will be discussed shortly. The school in Independence was started by a priest and it was held in the basement of the church there. It was taught by lay people, because the religious were scarce. There was no Catholic School in Cherryvale until 1912 when St. Francis Xavier was built. (Siler, 1961, 28).

Maye received the sacraments of confirmation and made her first communion while she was in Independence at school. She lived in a dorm for girls. Miss Ida, a German woman, kept order. On the weekends Maye's sisters would come over and take her home to Cherryvale. Maye was the youngest in her class. She played the organ. A woman suggested that she take Cecilia, the patron of music, as her confirmation name. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 21, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). When Maye was in the sixth grade she had to stay after school for whispering in school. Some times Bill, her younger brother, would get in fights at school.

May did needle work from the age of 14. She got stamp patterns and did embroidering. Later in life she made most of the clothing for her children. As noted earlier, she also made many patch-work quilts. One summer when May was 13 or 14 she went to stay with her relative, Esther Gergen (John Gergen's wife) and helped her. Esther was to have an operation. That is the reason May knew these relatives pretty well. They lived east of Liberty, near Mound Valley, which is where they did their trading. One of the people in John Gergen's family had an undertaking place at Mound Valley.

After eighth grade in 1908, Maye went to the high school in Cherryvale. It was a four year school. They taught Latin, German, mathematics, history, science, which included chemistry, botany, zoology, physics, and physiology. In physiology they learned the nervous system, the names of the bones, and the brain. In history they studied ancient and medieval history in the first year. Then they studied modern history and English history. Maye went to three years of high school but not the fourth year. Instead she went to business college in about 1912.

Up until about 1914 when she was 21 and met Ed, May was thinking of entering the convent and being a nun. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.10, 6/2/73, MMGT). She liked to help others and she liked the life of prayer. She said that life is hard and anyway you can make it easier, do it.

During the decade of the 1900s Maye liked to go visit the families of several of her cousins on her father's side, the Matt Blaes and Henry Blaes. They lived in the country. The Matt Blaes family had one priest and four nuns in the family. They would have a family prayer every night, which was said in German. It would go on for a long time, according to Maye. They would pop corn and roast nuts after dinner, when they had finished cleaning the dishes. Maye would keep everyone laughing because she was small, talked a lot, and was faster than the other children, being a city rather than a shy country child. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 29, 4/9-12/71, MMGT).

During the period when Maye was growing up, her family did not visit her Craig cousins as often as they did the Gergen relatives. This was probably because the Craigs lived mainly in northern Kansas. Only once, about 1901 when Maye was 8 years old, did Maye go to stay with her mother's people in Smith county. Rosie took the whole family. Maye met her grandmother and saw a sod house there in which one of her cousins lived. Rosie and family did not get to northern Kansas often, but her sisters and one of her brothers would visit them in Cherryvale from time to time.

ROSIE AND WILL SPLIT/ THE MILL. Beginning after their youngest son, Bill (also called Willie) was born in 1898, Will and Rosie did not get along very well. After a few years, Will, aged about 50, built a small addition to the house and moved into it. They did not have a common meal. But both used the front porch. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 79, 10/10/71, IW). Maye was aged about 7 or 8 at the time when this began. At some point or points Will also lived at the mill. Rosie and the children, Bill and Maye, did not receive support from him. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 22, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). When Will was not doing well at the mill, Maye and perhaps the others went to live with Lena (Will's third child) and her family. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 79, 10/10/71, IW). One of the reasons Will did not do well at the mill in certain periods was because of low grain prices. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 10, 11/26/69, MMGT). Did Will not do well at the mill but continue to work there? Or did he not do well because he sold his interest in it. Or was he not doing well because he simply retired from working there?

According to Maye, Rosie told Will to stay out of the house. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 62, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). My interview notes with Maye imply that Will had owned the feed mill, but dismantled and sold it. (I have found no record of his ownership; but he may have owned a share in it nonetheless). Maye stated that Rosie did not like the idea that he decided to retire and sell the mill without having any money. But Maye maintained that that was the style in those days. A person would get old and retire and that was it. They would not worry about making a living. (But Will was not old? He was only about 50 when the split between him and Rosie occurred)? Maye noted that until he sold the mill, Will would "putter" around it. During the summers he would sleep at the mill and cook in the engine room. But in the winter he would bring a side of pork and a sack of beans home and say he was really hungry for some of her good soup and beans. Then he would stay all winter. According to Maye, Rosie owned the land, which meant she had a good bit of control over limiting Will's access to the house. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 62, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Maye stated that Will's addition to the house was a shack in the back. Maye also stated that Rosie let him stay in her house in 1920 when his final illness set in. Typical entries in Rosie's account book/diary concerning Will's final illness and other matters were:

Savings
Rosetta Gergen of Cherrvale Kan Oliv grove no 54
Amount of certificate $5.00 no of certificate 1317 date of certificate May 10, 1906 was born in 1858 March 12

the mother Rosetta Gergen was Born in iway on Mar 12 in 1858.

i have $14 in the bank but in hare (?)

Pa cam to my home sick Sept 3 1920 bought him a invalid chair on the 14 pd 5.00 on the 15 bot cloth 3.00 Sept 25 the doctor 26 or 27 sit [set?] leg 28 doctor

October
bought bed outfit 22 dive december 14 mad doctor 22-23

Will died on 12/16/20 of tuberculosis of the hip bone and was confined to his bed for eight months before he died. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 5, 11/26/69, MMGT). Will died at 218 Labette St., Cherryvale. So this is where Rosie was living at the time. Rosie had also been living in Coffeyville with May, or at least visiting for a good period.

There is one account which holds that Rosie had not let Will into her house earlier because she had moved to a house with only three rooms. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 62, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Maye was present in the bedroom when the undertaker prepared his body for burial. They took the bed down and cleaned the room. Then they put the body on a cooling board with four posters and a muslin (sheet) for 24 hours. Then the family went and got a casket. He was embalmed at that time. Finances was a consideration. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 5, 11/26/69, MMGT).

Perhaps what happened is that after the youngest baby was born in 1898, Will and Rosie split. But Will continued to work at the mill. In the summer he would stay there. In the winter, when there was less milling to be done, he would stay in his addition. Then about 1910 when he was 60 or sometime thereafter, he might have retired from the mill. He died at about age 70 on December 26, 1920 and was buried in St. Francis Xavier cemetery near Cherryvale. Rosie had bought the plot (lot 11, site A, block 5) from the Cherryvale rector on November 10, 1896. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 56, 3/12-18/75, MMGT).

In Irene (Breese) Welch's view, there was "meanness in the family. It came from the Craig side." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 80, 10/10/71, IW). Rosie was aggressive and caused the 1901 break-up. Will was an easy-going man. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 80, 10/10/71, IW). He did not use profanity. May stated that Will had more brains than Rosie, but that she was ambitious and wished to rise up. She and all the Craigs were good money managers. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 17, 11/26/69, MMGT). She attempted to get Will to do things, but had no success. He was not for saving money or for studying. In the early 1890s he would not give Lillie, his oldest daughter, the money to go to school in order to become a school teacher. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 22, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). The interviews with both Irene Welch and Maye leave some points unclear. They may have been embarrassed that Will liked alcohol. He might have abused it. This is what Ed Terrar, Jr. speculates. But he is not sure, since Maye never discussed it and Rosie died when Ed Jr. was only 9 months old. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 18, 3/12-18/75, 12/23/69, EFTJr). If Will had a problem with alcohol, this might account for his early retirement from the mill. It is not clear that Rosie owned the land.

In the split between between Rosie and Will, May sided with her mother. She believed Will (her dad) had no sense of humor. Rosie had a good sense of humor. It was a "family trait." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.1, 5/30/73, MMGT). In the split some of the children may not have taken sides. Lena, who married Ed Breese in 1900, got along well with her father. She lived close by. Sometimes when she fixed a meal, she would have her young daughter (Irene Breese) take part of it over to Will. This was especially the case when Will was sick. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 10/10/71, IW). When Will had moved, he took with him an old blue soup tureen which had come from Germany. Toward the end of his life, Will gave the tureen to Lena as a Christmas present.^[14] (Terrar, 1969-1979, 10/10/71, IW). Lena got along with her father and she also got along with her mother. She called her "ma." Probably all the children called her that.

ROSIE'S OLD AGE. After the children had all grown up and left home, which might have been by 1915, Rosie would go to daily mass. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 29, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). Sometimes she was subject to attacks of what May called belliousness (bilious), a liver upset and to attacks of a "sluggish gall bladder," which was caused by overeating fats. May had the same problem. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.23, 5/73, MMGT). Rosie wrote a letter to May and Ed Terrar in September 1922 less than a month before her death. The letter typifed her enjoyment of family and friends:

September Sunday even 1922

well may and family i have bin aut to meyers I spent the day and it is now 7 a clock just got home how is Rosemary [Terrar] and the rest of you i an fealing real well i staid all night with Father and Miss Martin v i will stay at my own home tonight as i want to start a letter to you and sleep in the morning til a get ready to get up i am looking for Bill [Gergen, her son] to come down he said he got a letter from this morning. He was at late mass and i think i will cum to you about next Saterday

Maye was close to her mother. When she was age 7 in 1900 she cried at the thought that her mother might die before she grew up. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 81, 1970s, MMGT). As it turned out, Maye was 29 years old when her mother died on Wednesday, October 4, 1922 (1:45 a.m.) at age 64 years, 6 months, and 22 days. She died of apoplexy at the home of her daughter, Lena Breese, which was at 18 South Labette, Cherryvale.

Rosie (Terrar, 1969-1979, 57, 3/12-18/75, MMGT) left a note or poem for her children which described her thoughts about being a mother:

What's a home without a mother,
All the things the world may say,
For when we lose our dear mother
We have lost our dearest friend
She wore the crown of patience
Through the years she has passed
And those hands at rest forever
Are the hands that made our home
Children, don't forget my kind words and advice
And don't leave your prayers and God will Bless you

Mother R. Gergen

One of Rosie's possessions was a tin box, painted black, with a red stripe around it. Maye inherited it and kept her valuable papers in it.

MAY'S WORK. When Maye was 18 years old on August 13, 1911 in Cherryvale, she went downtown with her mother. A lady said, "Well, now you are able to get married." Maye replied that she was not going to get married. She had enough problems without taking on more. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 22, 4/9-12/71, MMGT).

Later in about 1912 Maye (age 19) worked and borrowed $150 to go to business school. That paid for a whole year. One of the places Maye worked was at the Cherryvale Republican, a newspaper. The Republican had been established in 1886. The publisher was C.E. Moore. (Duncan, 1903, 46). It was located at 104 E. Main (north side of the street) in 1905 with H.J. Powell the proprietor. (Hitchcock, 1971). At other points it was at 108, 110 and 112 N. Neosho St. (west side of the street). May set type there. She also clerked in a store. Maye never wanted to reveal who it was that loaned her the money. The school was at Fredonia (Wilson county), Kansas. Through the school and the Daily Oklahomian, she answered an ad placed by Mr. Harris in Holdenville, Oklahoma for a secretary. This was Indian country. Later in July 1914 she came to Coffeyville to keep books for the Interurban Railroad Co., which was a street car company. She got to ride the streetcar for free. Sometimes she would work on Saturday. Two "girls" worked in the ticket office, and sometimes the bookkeeper, which was May's job, had to sell tickets. A business college friend, Lydia Taitmeirer (?), had found out about the job and told May, who had been homesick in Oklahoma (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.9, 31.23, 6/2/73, MMGT). Lydia worked for the National Refining Company in Coffeyville. While in business college, Lydia had had a party. Her father came, and that ended the party. During part of 1914 May was living at 8 East 5th St. in Coffeyville. (Terrar, 1910s). She was living at 311 1/2 West Third St. in Coffeyville by November 1914.

At some point May started working for Charles D. Welch. His office, at least in the 1930s, was in the Traction building on Walnut St. between 7th and 8th St. This was the building where the Interurban trolley and the four local trolley lines started and ended their trips.

Welch was a Republican. He had a picture of William Howard Taft on his office wall. Taft was U.S. president from 1909-1913. He was defeated for a second term because of his support for the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act (1909) and because of his dismissal of Gifford Pinchot. Pinchot was dismissed because of his charges against the secretary of the interior, Richard A. Ballinger. Because Welch was a Republican, Maye probably decided to be a Republican. However, May had worked at the Cherryvale Republican newspaper prior to going to Coffeyville and working for Welch. So perhaps she was already a Republican at that point. May's sisters and brother also became Republicans. But that probably was not related to Welch or Maye. The state attorney general was Welch's friend. So between 1916 and 1918, whenever the state attorney general come to Coffeyville, Maye did his stenographic work. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 25, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). Maye voted for the first time at age 23 in 1916. She voted for Harold McGuigan for county attorney. Women gained the right to vote in Kansas earlier than they gained it at the federal level. McGuigan went on to become a Congressman. Much later in about 1950 his mother's house at 206 W. 4th St. was purchased by Ed and May.

May went to a woman doctor named Ruth Phalen for osteopathic treatment when she had a cold. The treatment "broke down the musles, freed the poison, cleared up the cold." The eye brows (?) and head were made clear. Once when May was taking a deposition at work in the morning, she had a cold. She went for osteopathic treatment at 11:00 am, then ate with the doctor, and her cold got better. She was able to resume the deposition that afternoon. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.5, 5/30/73, MMGT). Later when May was a mother, she administered the osteopathic treatment to her kids when they had colds, since it had helped her.

Part III: Ed and Maye terrar's Early Years Together (World War I)

MEETING, WORK AND COURTSHIP. Ed and Maye met on the train on June 8, 1914. Maye was a 20 year old attractive secretary, wearing a "beautiful blue" hobble skirt. She was starting on her way home for a two week vacation from her job at Holdenville, Oklahoma where she had been working for 9 months. She got on the train at Holdenville and was to transfer at Sapulpa (between Henryetta and Tulsa), Oklahoma. Ed had been working in a mine at Mystic and had just been visiting Catherine and John Miller at Midland, Arkansas. Catherine was John Elias's daughter. They were his cousins on his mother's side. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 7, 11/26/69, MMGT).

When Maye got on the train at Holdenville, there was an open window. She pulled down the shade. She tossed her hat in the rack. But being short and in her hobble skirt, she was not able to get the hat down when they got to Solepke. So Ed said he would get it. When Ed had boarded, he had thrown his suit case on top and this looked "manly" to Maye. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 6, 11/26/69, MMGT). The train was going slow, and she was the last one off. Ed asked for her address to write to her, but she refused. Then she gave it to him. Ed wrote to her frequently.

Ed recorded in his diary his first meeting with May and the events of the preceding days before the meeting (Terrar, 1912-1914, 40-53).

Trip to Hartford, Arkansas. Left Mystic Ia. Monday May 4 1914. Arr at Kansas City at 8.25 am. went and found Geo [Mitchell, 404 W 18 St. Kansas City, Mo.] and then went out to the show went to the globe and another one Tuesday went to the Empress and 2 more Wednesday went down to the Market and down to Union Depot came back to get some fish for supper then went to a show then went home and played checkers I next went to the bed. I got upon Thursday morning about 10 I made up my mind and went down to Central Depot and down to Union Depot couldn't get a train until 5-30 so I took a train from Central Depot at 1.55 pm I got into Joplin and got supper at 8.30, 20 minutes stop over we left at 8.53. it cost 55 c for supper. I guess will have to change at Howe Ak [?] a very slow train the Kansas being [?] Southern train fare from KC to Hartford $10.02 on the Port Arthur Route, a great wrestling match on the 7 at Convention hall Americas vers Zybineoo. arrived at Howe at 3.30 am and had to stay until 9 am slept on the Bench and very dirty depot got some sandwich for breakfast 25 c dont care much for this place as [?] it is to depot the town is a good way from depot. I guess I will get into Hartford sometime to day I am at Howe Ok now and it is 8,20 I dont know of anything else at present

got to Hartford 12.45 went to post office to get to know where Liz [Luz?] lived went up to the house and Liz was at Huntington waited around the house until Jim came and then I met Jack was out in the bath room when Liz came she asked where I was as she knew my hat had a good time there left on Sunday morn May 10 to go to Midland found Catherine but Rachael [Mrs Rachael Moore, Midland Ark.] was at church. I got to see her after church they sure are some nice people got dinner and then we talked went over to Rachael for supper met Rachel next Rensee [?] came over and played the piano she is a dandy player sure have had a dandy time stayed 2 weeks all the week then went to train on Sat for Dewar Okla arr there about 620 found unkle [Mr. John Elias, Dewar Oklahoma] ok sure had some time for a while met a Welsh family Sunday went and played baseball and had some time Sunday nite me and Jonah went to Church had some ice cream on our way home sure had some fun all the week Thursday I felt sick and kept to my bed and sure felt sick on Sunday I got up and went up to played base ball against Henryetta got along fine until the last inning when I was up to bat and I did not see the ball and it hit me in the mouth and sure did cut my lip and hit my gold tooth out and that finished my baseball well I sure was sick for about 2 weeks and had to stay in bed so on the Saturday morning I made up my mind to leave so I got out of bed and could not eat any breakfast got a train for Henryetta had to stay until about noon left on the train and sure was sick and feeling lonesome went on the train had to change cars Sapulpa seen a young lady on train and sure had a change to reach her hat and then I got to talking with her a nice girl to speak to we got off the train at Tulsa and I went off and talked with her oh I had given her my name and address and got her name we had to wait at Joplin Mo for a few hours so I walked out and there I had the first bite to eat all day well I arrived at KC about Sunday went to my aunt but did not stay I was to sick left KC at 9,5 am arrived at Mystic 3.60 and sure was glad

Ed L Terrar June 7 1914

On December 4, 1914 Ed moved from Mystic to Coffeyville, Kansas to be near her. Ed wrote in his diary (Terrar, 1910s) about his trip to Coffeyville:

Trip to Coffeyville Kansas, December 4th 1914 Friday 4 Rose from bed about 8,20 took a Bath had Breakfast with Mrs. R. Knight went to see if I had any mail and the post man said no went back to the House got to talking with Berth next went up on the Job to wish all the Boys good bye went back to the house to get my Suitcase went to the Depot my train left at 1040 I got a letter from Margaret and I sure was tickled wrote a PC but did not mail it until I came to Waukon had to wait here about a hour or more owing to having a wreck up on the Branch line anyway we left got to Dubuque, Iowa about 4 30 and our train was late had another wreck at Blue Island had to wait about 30 minutes anyway I got to Davenport about 8 30 went to Hotel Windsor and had a room for the night Room no. 16, 50 cents.

Saturday Dec 5th got up at 5 am went to Train left Davenport at 6 am arr at Muncaline at 7 am train on time had to wait about 40 minutes at Rutlidge for East Bound Train was 40 minutes at Ottumwa arrived at Mystic at 12.20 hrs went to Dinner next came up to Depot got my LG for $11,52 went over to the office of Lodwick Brothers and met Dave and Owen. Went to Hotel Reynold and met Rog Brown and Lester and the girls of the Bunch wrote a letter to my Girl me and Rog went down Post Office to Mail it and I got a letter from Margaret and the girl at the post office sure did laugh went with Rog to Supper and came back to Town Rog went to Leclire house I went down Town and met Harry and sure had a time he left to see his Girl was Raining now I met Mona and Lara got a talk to them then met Sam Medland Nickel and had a fine time next went up to Unkle and he was surprised to see me next went down town and walked about town until I met Rog about 10-30 we went home and I stayed with Rog did not go to bed until about 12,30

Sunday 6 Rose about 830 had Breakfast went to the Buggy with Rog. Geolie came to town and I went to M E Church Sunday School went home to Dinner about 12 cameout went up town met Nickel and John and had a talk I then met Harry we all 4 went down Depot to see the Train leave for Chicago I went up with Harry for Supper and had a fine talk about everything Mona Sara Harry myself Deoward and Frank eat Supper and had a long talk me and Harry sat down for a while then went [oukle] garage and got the car and went to town. Harry asked me when I was leaving I told him he said yourself ought to be here and I would take you out riding with him a Lizzie well we got to town walked around and then wished him good bye I then went up to Church and met the old Bunch sure was a crowd there went home about 9 or 930

Monday 7 Rose about 7.10 had breakfast went to town and met some of the men that worked at Kondyke was raining went to unkle and next went home to Dinner wished them goodbye and went to train for to Leave for KC arrived at KC 6,5 Room for Baggage went and got some PC wrote one to Margaret next went up town could not find my aunt went to a show then found my cousin working at Candy store waited for her until 11,20 got home about 12.

Tues 8. went up to Pauline [Cousin Pauline Mitchell, 1429 Wyandotte, Kansas City Mo] and got Breakfast next went up to Hospital to see my aunt then went to post office got a letter from Kathlyn at Midland, Ark went up and bough some pennants and a Hat and Pocket Book me and Lee went to the Show sure did rain I went home for Supper and then went again up to the Hospital then went back home was in Bed before 8, 30

Wed 9 went up Pauline for Breakfast and wished them all good bye went down Depot had a Sine and booked a ticket for Coffeyville Kans Left KC at 10,30 Dur at Coffeyville 5,20
Edward L Terrar Dec. 9, 10,40 will write more after I get to Coffeyville, Kansas

According to Maye, Ed had never gone with anyone before he met her. In their period of courtship after December 1914 Ed worked at several places. First he was at the Rea-Patterson Milling Co. His diary noted that he interviewed for the job on December 30, 1914 and reported for his first day of work at 7:00 am on December 31, 1914. He worked New Year's Day and a few days later he was laid off. On January 7, 1915 he went to work on the night shift at the mill. (Terrar, 1915, 14-15). He worked there about three months. Here he was a laborer. He loaded flower sacks on box cars at a rail spur. He worked six days a week, from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (or perhaps 7:00 am to 5:00 pm?) for $1.50 per day (15 cents per hour). (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.3, 5/30/73, MMGT). Later, when Ed was no longer working there, the mill shipped a whole train load of flower to Europe in World War I for free. There was much publicity and everyone was proud. Ed worked at the mill during the winter of 1915 when there was blizzards and Ben Zimmerin was the foreman.

From his job at the mill, Ed then in succession got jobs at the Coffeyville Mercantile Co., the National Refining Co., and the Sinclair Refining Co. He started work at the National on March 30, 1915. (Terrar, 1915). He worked 10-hour days there, except Sunday. First he worked in the Oswego yards at the National, then they put him in the barrel house. He recorded in his diary that he fought a fire at the National. Fires would start in the oil storage tanks. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.26, 5/73, MMGT). Occupational hazards came with his work. On May 24, 1915 he recorded that he mashed his finger. For a week thereafter he recorded how May treated it with poultices. (Terrar, 1915, 35).

During his first period in Coffeyville, Ed lived at Maye's house (311 1/2 West Third), then over at the Fifth St. Hotel, and then at "Aunt" Lizzie Cooks, 605 Pine St. (on the left side as you drive from 6th to 7th St.). An addition is on the spot now. Lizzie Cook's sister lived in a house across the alley. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 71, 5/11/79, EFTJr; also diary, vol. 16, p. 650; Terrar, 1969-1979, 14, 11/26/69, MMGT).

Among the organizations to which Ed belonged was the AOUW (Ancient Order of United Woodmen [Workmen?]) and the Foresters of America. (Terrar, 1915, 62). He would go to the lodge to visit his friends and perhaps hear if anyone knew of a job opening. At one point in 1915 his dues were $2.50 for the Foresters and $1 for the AOUW. Years later May got $1,000 insurance from the AOUW when Ed died. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.25, 5/73, MMGT).

Maye was working as a secretary for Charles Welch. According to one version, which may not be accurate, in 1916 Maye bought a house at 812 West Fourth St., Coffeyville for $1250. She paid for it in one year. She was making $75 per month. Rosie had been living in Coffeyville with Maye since 1914. When the house was bought, Rosie came to live with her there.^[15] (Terrar, 1969-1979, 14, 11/26/69, MMGT). May's younger brother, Willie also lived in the house. May paid for him to go to business college, after which he came to Coffeyville. He worked in a shoe store there. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.9, 6/2/73, MMGT). Another version is that the house at 812 West Fourth St. was bought later.

Ed courted Maye for three years before she agreed to marry him in 1917. Ed hung with a nice crowd. They would go on hay rack rides and picnics. Ed liked to go to the movies, whatever was playing. May went along, but she did not much care for them. They were silent movies. About May 10, 1915 they went to see "The Burning of Rome" at the Odem Theater. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.24, 5/73, MMGT). Other theaters they attended included the Orpheum, which showed pictures and the Jefferson, where stage plays were given. Sometimes May and Ed would walk to "town" together. They lived six blocks east of town and 2 blocks in another direction. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.32, 5/73, MMGT). On the Fourth of July they went to Forrest Park to see the Fire Works. Ed wrote in his diary that he was ashamed of how he acted. May said years later that the shame probably involved table manners or old country ways. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.32, 5/73, MMGT).

When Ed could not court May because she was sick with a sore throat (which she called quinsy) or working or for whatever reason, he would make note of it in his diary. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.23, 5/73, MMGT). Once he wrote in his diary that Margaret's big toe was hurting her. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.26, 5/73, MMGT). From her childhood to her old age she had an ingrown toe nail. Sometimes Ed was depressed when May could not or would not see him. He (1915, 4) wrote:

July 22 [1915] Wednesday nite 10 pm just left Mays house and I am so lonesome just now as May was so tired and did not feel like wanting to talk to me and I wanted to speak to her but she was to tired and I feel like sleeping and dont care what becomes of me as I know I shall not be happy unless I could be so good and lucky to win May love and she sure would make me a happy man I would do anything for her but I am not the lucky one or at least I dont think I am well I must go to bed and I am thinking so much of May but I dont feel like sleeping goodnight Edward.

When Ed was sick, May cared for him. He (1915, 7-8) wrote of his appreciation:

June 10 [1915] May sure has been so good and kind to me while I have been sick this week and as looked after me like a mother would and I dont know what I would have done but for her as I sure would have been in a awful shape but for her and I dont know what I would have done but for her and I hope some day I will be able to do her a good turn as I would do anything for May and I sure love her as she is the finest girl I ever seen and she sure would make a good wife for me but some how I am afraid that I will not be lucky enough to win her as I dont think I am good enough of a man for her anyway I hope I will be lucky enough as I want no other girl but May should I love her I dont know what I will do as my life will be a wreck and I would not want to be here then as I guess I would be so unhappy if I seen her with anyone else and I could not stand to see that anyway I hope and I [trust?] in God that I will be the lucky one to get May as I would be ever so happy and I would do anything to make her happy. wrote June 10, 1915 11.20 am

Before May agreed to marry him, she turned down Ed's invitation on several occasions. Ed (1915, 11) wrote concerning one such turn down:

May 4, 1916 I sure had a great Disappointment May turned down and told me No and what a surprise but I still love her and no other one will ever take her place. lost but never to be forgot. wrote May 5 1916

Ed (1915, 65) reflected on the relation between a job and getting a house and marriage:

Oct 29. May did not feel well at all this Morning she did not [sleep?] at all last night and I sure wish I had a good Job and she could would not have to work then anyway I hope it wont be long until I will be able to make a home for her.

At the time they married Maye was 24 and Ed was 26. She stated in 1975 that she did not want to marry him, but she could not get rid of him. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 51, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). She felt sorry for him. She stated that he was not as educated as she was. Nor was he a Catholic. But he was clean, respectful, and honorable. He did not drink alcohol, smoke or use profanity. She liked his Welsh accent. He got along even better with Rosie than with May herself. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.9, 6/2/73, MMGT). May stated that She wanted to make a success in the business world. She wanted to be an "old maid."

May's desire for business "success" was translated before and after her marriage into encouraging Ed to be a "success". Before her marriage she made a novena for Ed to be successful, which she believed was answered in 1928. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.23, 5/73, MMGT). This will be discussed later. In addition she wished a ring with a red set (red stone) on him. "Wishing a ring" meant putting a wish on a ring as you put it on. You do not take the ring off until you get the wish. May wished Ed would get work. This was during one of the too frequent periods when Ed was laid off from his job because of the precarious nature of the economy. Ed recorded in his diary (1915, 15) on January 7, 1915 that he "took off the ring May wished" because he had gotten on the night shift at Ray Patterson.

May's concern about Ed's economic career included her encouragement of him to go to business college. He went to a business college before they married.

Besides the reasons already mentioned for why May was hesitant about marrying, she also had three older sisters from whom she saw and heard what marriage was like. Their marriages soured her on the idea. For example, Lilly, her oldest sister, had wanted to teach and not be married. But her parents did not have the money to send her to the institute to study. In addition, Alma, the second oldest sister, had been causing trouble at home. Lilly ended up at age 15 or 16 marrying Leonard Wintermote in 1892. He was a good man, he smoked but he did not drink. Lilly had nothing in common with him, according to Maye. He was a hired man and Lilly wanted to be educated. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 53, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). When Maye was aged 21 in 1914, Lilly told her about family raising and about all the troubles. Maye at least some of the time was living with Lilly's family. Lilly ended up dying of edema at age 39 in 1916 with four children. She had a presentment of death and asked for the priest, Rev. Meehan, to come. The priest did not give her the sacrament of extreme unction. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 53, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). They did not think much of the priest. Rosie was there and she put her hand on Lilly's heart, just as she breathed her last. The whole body bloated up. Life was unkind to Lilly, as Maye put it. Lilly died about the time Ed was courting Maye.

Alma was another of May's older married sisters whose life was difficult. According to May, Alma was "a business woman." Her husband did not make much money. Alma ran a boarding house for men in Coffeyville. But her business only lasted a year because she could not get the boarders and so did not make any money. Also, her daughter, Clara, age 17, married Frank Dear. Frank was on the road a lot, so Alma went and cooked for them. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.32, 5/73, MMGT).

Besides her sisters, the marriage of her mother and father was probably not very encouraging to one considering tying the knot. From the age of 7 or 8 Maye's parents had been separated. Maye stated that her father was not affectionate. He had never kissed her. Nor did she ever see her parents kiss. He left the child-raising to Rosie. Once Maye was singing Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, and Will said "Rosie, don't let her sing that." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 54, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Rosie said, "Will, she is only singing it because the other children are doing it."

Despite all the misgivings, Maye married Ed on June 19, 1917. She stated in 1975 that she never regretted it. She felt divinely guided. She made a novena and it was answered. She asked God to direct her. On the ninth day, the first thought on her mind was "tell Edward yes," just as clear as a crystal. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 52, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Ed had become a Catholic on November 7, 1915, when he was baptized by Father P. F. (J.?) Tierney. Ed recorded the date in the pocket-size prayer book which was given to him at the time and which he seems to have carried with him during World War I.^[16] Even before he joined the church, Ed would go to church with May and her mother and brother (Rosie and Billie). (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.24, 31.27, 5/73, MMGT). Ed's diary (1915) stated he made his first communion on May 21, 1915.^[17] May later told her daughter, Mildred, "I would not marry someone not a Catholic, because a Catholic never would leave me." (Terrar, 1988-1993, 34, 6/16/93, MTT). When he was confirmed, he took the name Francis. According to one account, Fr. Tierney gave him the name Francis because he did not like Ed's middle name, Luther. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 21, 4/9-12/71, MMGT).

Maye related that when they were courting, the first time he put his arm around her, she wanted to let him know what type of girl she was. She said put your arm down. He replied, "Why, I only have it around your middle" (meaning her waist). Maye found this humorous. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 52, 3/12-18/75, MMGT).

Ed and Maye were married by Fr. Meehan at St. Francis Xavier Church in Cherryvale, Kansas. They chose to be married on a Tuesday, which was not unusual. It gave them Monday to decorate the altar and get ready. Maye's mother, Rosie, plus her sisters, and Jane Dodson attended the wedding. Ed bought a tailor-made, heavy serge suit for the wedding, which cost $35. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.25, 5/73, MMGT). Usually a suit would cost $15 or $20. There was a breakfast afterwards. Then Ed and Maye left on the 12:30 noon train for Kansas City, Missouri for their honeymoon. They stayed there 4 or 5 days. They visited Ed's Welsh aunt, Mrs. Mitchell. They went to a baseball game and saw several shows. One of the shows was "Only 45 Minutes to Broadway." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 26, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). At first they stayed at the Westgate hotel. But Mrs. Mitchell introduced them to Mr. and Mrs. Rich. When the Rich's found out Maye knew one of their friends in Neodesha, the Rich's had the newlyweds stay at their house. Maye volunteered in 1975 that in their life together, Ed always liked the sexual aspect of marriage and practiced it each night. She stated that she would have been happy with less of it.

FIRST HOME AND GETTING DRAFTED. After the honeymoon Ed and May came back to Coffeyville. They lived in a large room in a building owned by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (19 IOF). It was at 205 or 207 West 8th St. The building was two stories. On the first floor was the meeting hall. Ed and May rented the second floor for $8 per month. May furnished it. Everything in it was new. There was a dresser, a couch (called a sanitary couch) which opened out for a bed at night. There were two chairs and a kitchen cabinet, a cookstove, a dining table, and a rug that was 9x12 ft. May got a 9x12 ft. linoleum. There was a carpet on the floor in front. May paid $10 per month for the furniture. The funds actually came from Ed. May's funds went for the rent. They lived at 19 IOF because they knew Ed would be in the army. They rented out the house at 812 W 4th St., which May had bought. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.17, 6/73, MMGT). Maye also lived there after Ed went off to World War I.

May continued to work in the law office until Ed received notice that he had been drafted into the army. May wrote in Ed's diary about her employment and the reason for leaving it.

April 28, 1918

In re Edward being drafted.

On Thursday April 11, 1918 We received notice Edward had been drafted and on Friday, Apr. 19 I quit at the office in order to stay at home until after my sweetheart was gone. On Saturday the 20th I straightened up the trunks. On Sunday the 21 we took the 6:20 am interurban car to Cherryvale, went to Mass and communion up there and then spent the day at Edith Blaes, coming home on the 10:55 Santa Fe. During the following week I sewed, using Mrs. Renner's sewing machine. On Monday and Tuesday evening Edward worked until late. On Wednesday evening Apr 24th he quit, drawing a check for $30.40. He cleaned stills that day and got home at 4:30. We went up to Helen and Earl's that evening. On Thursday we did shopping and went to Aunt Lizzies for supper getting home at 9:30. On Friday Morning after Breakfast, Edward went out to the Refinery to bid the boys goodbye. He came home about 11:30 and I had the house swept and he then mopped up the floor for me and we had dinner and as that was loyalty day there was a big parade. We went to that and came home and Blanche and Frank were here for supper and Mrs. Kenny came up after supper and spent the evening, Mr. Kenny coming about 11 oclock and taking her home. On Saturday morning April 27 Edward and I went to Cherryvale on the 10:40 Santa Fe. We had dinner at mammas and supper at Lenas. Edward had to report for duty at 4 oclock Saturday afternoon and then come up to Lena's about 4:30. We went back to mammas about 8:30 p.m. and stayed all night going to bed around 11 oclock. We didn't rest very well that night as the bed wasn't comfortable. We awoke at 2 oclock Sunday morning and got up about 2:15. I fixed a little breakfast for Edward and he ate and left the house at 2:50 as he had to report at the R.R. station at 3:10. At 10 minutes till 4 Mamma and I went to the Frisco Depot where there had been a special car set out for the boys. There were 24 of them. The train was due out at 4:10 but didn't leave until 4:30. I bid Edward good bye and then went home with mamma and came down to my own sweet little home on the Santa Fe arriving here at 10:30 Sunday morning Apr. 28, 1918 and I have been lonesome and heart sick ever since. (MMGT in ELT, 1910s, 35-40).

Maye probably worked for Mr. Welch while Ed was in the service. Between 1919 and 1938 May's job was keeping house and raising the children. She did not have an outside job. One of the things May sewed while Ed was overseas in the army was a fancy laundry bag. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.22, 5/73, MMGT).

WORLD WAR I. At the time Ed and May were married, World War I was in progress. England was fighting Germany. The United States had taken a neutral position. Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) ran for re-election on the promise of keeping the United States out of war. But he favored capitalist interests that were tied to England. Wilson used propaganda and his office to help lead the United States into the war on the side of England.^[18] According to May a common story spread by the American militarists was that the German's would take babies and stab them with bayonets and leave babies hanging on barn doors and poke out the eyes of American Prisoners of War. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.3, 5/30/73, MMGT). The working people, such as Ed were drafted to do America's fighting. Ed was drafted because he waived his claim for alien exemption.

The thoughts and concerns of May and Ed during the war are recorded in 151 pages of letters which still survive and in Ed's diary. Ed entered the Army on April 27, 1918. He was in the last group that got drafted into the 89th Division of Infantry. The first 5 percent of the draft was sent to camp Funston on September 5, 1917. The first 40 percent of the quota went on September 19, 1917. The second 40 percent went on October 3, 1917. The final 5 percent of drafted men, which included Ed, went in April 1918.

Ed served one and one-half years. His service number was 2,187,227. He was in the Headquarters Company (355th Infantry Company) of the 89th Division. Most of the members of the headquarters company were from Lincoln Nebraska. Maye sent him Hershey bars every week. After being overseas six months, he got a stripe to wear on his uniform.

As mentioned earlier, Ed's experience with homing (carrier) pigeons got him a job in a signal platoon. He kept a diary on a daily basis for the duration of the war.^[19] (Terrar, 1918, 1). The diary book was titled The Soldier's Own Diary. May said the soldiers called their diaries "Hell Books." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.14, 6/73, MMGT). Ed made friends (buddies) with many fellow soldiers during the war. Their names are recorded in the diary. They include Philip F. Frazier, an Indian from Santee, Nebraska.

The entries in Ed's diary for the first few weeks of service read in part:

Leave Coffeyville, Kansas Saturday April 27, 1918 and reported for service at Cherryvale, Kan. same day. Leave Cherryvale on Frisco Railroad on April 28, 1918 at 4:00 a.m. Arrived at Camp Funston Sunday afternoon 5:25 p.m. On April 29 taking examinations. Passed most of them at this time. April 30 passed all exams and started army life. Taken out to No. 2 Detention camp and was put in 23 Co. under Capt. Dick. May 1 all out for drills and to learn a little about the army. May 2 one of the boys taken sick with smallpox and we were taken to No. 1 detention camp for quarantine. I was taken sick that night and had to have medical care. May 3 removal to the hospital at Fort Riley and was there until May 11 when I was returned to No. 1 detention camp. Remained there until

May 16 when I was returned to the 23rd Co.

The regiments had been transferred to Camp Funston, so I was sent in and transferred to Co. F, 355 Infantry on May 17. May 18, transferred to Headquarters Co. #355 Infantry Signal Platoon. May 19 out to the Range and called back same afternoon as were informed that we were going to leave for the East in a few days. Tuesday May and I bid each other good bye at the hotel in Junction City. May 21 leave Camp Funstion on the Union Pacific through Topeka, Kansas City, and east to St. Louis, Mo.

Ed's train went through Toledo, Ohio, Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y. and then to Camp Mills at Hempsted N.Y. On Sunday May 26 Ed and John Meeth went to New York City on a pass and had a good time. During the following week they drilled at Camp Mills.

Ed was still a British citizen. The law was that a lawfully admitted alien could volunteer for the Army. But only citizens could go overseas. On June 1, 1918 he and several others went to New York City for a "Special Court" of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, where they became citizens in order to go to France. (US, 1973). Ed received certificate of naturalization No. C917101. On June 3 his company pulled out at 9:30 a.m. and arrived at the White Star Line at 2:30 p.m. They went on board the the steamer Baltic. On June 4 they left for parts unknown (Liverpool). They zig-zaged across the Atlantic to avoid submarines. After being at sea for a week they met a destroyer on June 14 and were told to fill their canteens. They arrived at Liverpool (Princes St. Landing Stage) on June 15 at 5:25, which was the time Ed had sailed from Liverpool in 1912. They had seen no German submarines and all were glad to be back on dry land. From Liverpool they went to Romsey, England where they stayed between June 16 and June 22. Then they were ordered to Southampton, where they crossed over to Le Havre, France on June 23.

Once in France Ed's company went to Liffol Le Grande. His diary (1918, 2) reads:

June 25, leave Leharve, France on boxcar No. 22399 for Liffol Le Grande, arriving around 10:00 p.m. and slept on floor all night in the kitchen. June 26 up at 5:15 a.m. had breakfast then hiked out to the country on our way to Grande. June 28 Signal Platoon left Grande for school at St. Blin. We arrived there at 2:30 in the afternoon. This is where all the Signal Men were to have their schooling. We were here from June 28 until July 28, 1918. While at St. Blin a good many of the boys were taken sick on account of the stale bread that we had and a good many times it was mildued. July 29 to August 2 at Grande. We are to draw our reserve rations as we are leaving Grande today. August 3 leaving Grande at 11:00 a.m. on trucks for Trondes, arriving at 8:00 p.m. It rained all the way to Trondes and we were tired.

On August 5, 1918 Ed's company left the training area for the front. They marched from Trondes up to between the second and third line of trenches. The hike was pretty hard and everyone was tired out. On August 6 they were at Ansauville, expecting to go to the front at any time. It was raining a lot. Ed was on kitchen patrol duty. On August 7 he was ordered to leave for Beaumont to replace Paul Gaukey, who was to furnish music for the officers. Ed got to the front at 12:00 midnight.

According to Ed's diary, on August 8 there was a mustard gas attack. A good many men did not get warned in time to get their mask on. The regiment lost 57 men killed and 273 wounded. This included Charlie Vail, a Coffeyville man who was never able to work as well as he had before the war. Ed's diary (1918, 2) commented, "Took charge of New Orleans station; had pigeons; the men at Conde were very badly gassed and Red Cross station kept busy. I was gassed and could not talk above whisper." The diary talks of August 9 to August 12 as being a very exciting, with heavy shelling and airplanes all around. McCullough was dead from gas and several more boys were in bad shape. This was discouraging to Ed's company, as the dead and wounded were out of their own signal platoon. On August 14 Ed made flap jacks and all was quiet for the next few days. Ed wrote on August 20 that "Jerry dropped a few shells around, had a new kind of shell which had us scared. . . .August 22 quiet until 3:30 a.m., had a very heavy barrage. Lasted for 1 hour then Germans settled down for rest of day." (Terrar, 1918, 2).

On August 6, 1918 about the time Ed was first going to the front and seeing battle, May typed him a letter on regular 8 1/2 x 11 in. typing paper about her contrasting life back in Coffeyville. (Terrar, 1918-1919, 43, 8/6/18, MMGT). It was hot and she had enjoyed a banana split with three flavors of ice cream. She complained at the high price, 20 cents. She had talked with Mr. Welch that morning and apparently was still working for him and typed the letter during her working hours. She stopped typing when the lunch whistle blew.

Coffeyville, Kansas,

August 6, 1918

My Dear Little Boy:-

Well I wrote you one letter yesterday but on going home last evening after mailing the letter to you I found I had another letter from you and it was so cheery that I want to write to you again this morning. I do wish I could see you instead but I am so glad to know you were still safe at the time of writing that I feel we have much to be thankful for. At the time you wrote it which was on July 5th you were not feeling well and said you had the diarrhoea or summer complaint and you had not been able to drill for two days. I hope the attack didn't last long and that you are well by this time.

I went out to Aunt Lizzie's last night and stayed all night and oh it was so cool and pleasant. I am certainly going to get her a nice present for I don't believe I could ever stand it up in the room. Mrs. Hare is feeling pretty badly this morning and she looks bad too, she says she is just suffering from the heat. I did not cook supper last night but went over to Jimmie's and got a banana split. They cost Twenty Cents but they certainly are good. Made of sliced bananas, three flavors of ice cream, each being the size of a sundae, with creamed marshmallows poured over and fruit juice and nuts and they seem very nourshing too. I took my letters out and read them to Aunt Lizzie and she was so glad to hear from you. There were several words scratched out by the censor but I could read underneath the scratching except one word. You told me how soon you expected to be at the front which was scratched out but I read it anyway and also you told me about being placed in the pigeon department and would be at home with the pigeons all of which was taken out but I read it. Ha, ha. I am certainly glad to know you have been placed in that and I take it you will be breeding and training the birds and the like. I hope so anyway for then perhaps you wont have to go to the front line trenches. They did not scratch out the part you told about being placed in the Regimental Headquarters.

Dearie I am so sorry I haven't sent you money before this but you know how it is, but I am going to get an order for $10.00 and mail to you as I go to dinner and if you get this all right, I will mail you some money every four or six weeks so that you wont have to go broke if you can get my mail all right. I am so sorry I have neglected it so long for I expect you have gone without good things you would like to have had if you would have had plenty of money and sister [May] has got the money to send you as you know. I forgot to send those clippings in my letter yesterday so am sending them in this one. I talked with Mrs. Fletcher this morning and she had five letters from Harold. Mr. Welch said this morning that yesterday was France day in the U.S. for Kansas City relatives and friends received 10,000 letters from France yesterday and last night's journal [ August 5, 1918 Coffeyville Journal] said the Post office was receiving large sacks of mail from France, but we are all happy now until our next mail. Well dear the whistles are blowing for noon so I will close this note and will answer your letter later. With oceans of love

[back side of page] and kisses, I remain as ever your faithful wife and sweetheart.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[in handwriting] I hope you enjoy receiving this money as much as I do sending it as it makes me so happy to get to do something for you.
One more Dear xxx
Margaret Maye Terrar

1:30 at Post Office Dearie Recd 3 more sweet letters at noon and see you went to Holy Communion and saw Harold. Harry N. Martin and others and oh I am so happy now.

On August 26 Ed was relieved by Paul Gaukey and returned to St. Louis, regimental headquarters at night. He was informed that he would be in charge of pigeons for all of the regiment. On August 28 and various other days he "liberated birds." He and 20 other men were sent to Menal Letour to take baths and change their clothes: "It sure felt good to get cleaned up." On August 29 Ed gave a lecture on "pigeons, panel and fireworks" to pigeon men of his regiment. On August 31 he sat around billets all day playing cards. It was also payday: 64 francs. He went to church that night. On September 2 he went to Beaumont and took invoice of pigeons and supplies.

On September 3 Ed again went to Beaumont with pigeons on a motorcycle with an orderly. When rounding Dead Mans Curve the Germans dropped a few shells pretty close. On top of the hill they wrecked the motorcycle: "I was scared to death. Had to walk to V3 to deliver basket of pigeons to Major Worth. Had to crawl on hands and knees to get there, Germans shelling heavy. Ordered to return to my company which I was glad to do." (Terrar, 1918, 3). On September 4, Ed was around his billet all day and the Germans got one of their balloons in the afternoon.

Toward mid-September 1918 Ed's company was involved in the St. Mihiel drive, which was a big campaign and the regiment's first offensive. Several days previous Ed had been getting ready. Ed's company moved to Flirey on September 10, which was the jumping off place. On September 12 they advanced to Euvazan and were hit with heavy artillery. Pigeons were the only means of communication and Ed was in the center of things. Eighteen minutes after Ed turned a bird loose the American artillery increased its barrage. The American artillery had been hitting their own men. So Ed's pigeons probably saved some lives. On September 13 the Americans captured Beney. During the St. Mihiel drive, the regiment had 65 men killed and 233 wounded.

After helping to hold the line at Beney for a week, Ed went back to Euvezin on September 22 to rest and clean up. He was ordered back to Beney on September 28. They were not allowed outside in daylight. About this time Ed was ordered to get a German pigeon from a church tower, which he took to the brigade headquarters at Boullionville. He was gassed on the way. He was also gassed some more in the following days.

From Beney the company moved to Hamonville on October 8. Several days later they moved to Recicourt in the Argonne, which was west of Verdun. Here Ed gave a lecture to 24 men in a line company at the YMCA. On October 12 he bought apricots and chocolate. On October 14 he moved to Appleton, which was closer to the front, to relieve the 32nd division. They hiked all the time. The dugouts were wet. They slept that night in the fields with the 2nd Battalion. On October 15 he was called into the regimental headquarters to receive pigeons. It rained all night on October 17 and there was no place to sleep. On October 19 they relieved the 32 division at Serges and slept in a barn. They moved up to Romagne (France) on October 22 and then were ordered back.

By October 24 Ed was in the wood at Argonne, where he turned pigeons loose. Until World War II, the Meuse-Argonne campaign (October 19-November 11, 1918), which was led by Pershing, was the largest and longest battle in which American troops participated. One historian comments that the campaign demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of "American military culture, reflected in the AEF's unsubtle drive north as the eastern arm of the Allied compressing envelopment that drove the Imperial German army back to the borders of the Reich."^_ On October 26 Ed was sent to Gesnes to get one small basket. He and his company stayed several days at Gesnes in shacks. They were ordered to dig-in, in case of shellings from airplanes. They were also preparing for a drive. On November 1 at 3:35 a.m. the big American guns were turned loose. They advanced about 2 kilometers and then stayed all day at Recicourt. Ed was sent back to the brigade headquarters for pigeons. He gave pigeons to the 1 and 3rd battalions. They advanced 6 kilometers toward Beauclair on November 3 and slept at Tailly on November 4. The advance was slow because the roads were torn up and the bridges were blown down. Some 40 trees had been cut down to stop traffic. By November 6 they were at Beauclair and the troops were advancing fast near Meuse. On November 7 Ed bummed some flour, sugar, and looked all over town for baking power but could find none. He made pancakes. He was at Laneville near Meuse on November 8. The place was shelled very badly. He carried wire to a dugout. On November 9 he carried wire to Cesse and strung a line to V3, just one-half mile from the German lines. Shells were dropping all around and Ed was hit in the shoulder. On November 10 he was near Beaumont.

The next day, November 11, 1918 was the end of the war. Ed's diary (1918, 4) commented:

Armistice signed; our guns quit firing. All quiet happy day. November 12, quiet, didn't sleep good last night; can't realize it is over. Band played, near saw mill. November 13 355 band showed up; expect to move back to Tailly. November 14 moved from the farm back to Barricourt. Hiked about 18 KM, arriving about 1:30 p.m. November 15 policed up town of Barricourt [France]. November 16 stood reville and policed up streets all morning; also cleaned out Capt. Hughes back room. . . Received order to stencil our helmets with W, which stands for Wood, Wind, and Wright, our three Generals, also 89th. Div. . . . November 20 still policed up. Drilling. Digging latrine and doing billet guard. November 21 went on sick report. Shoulder hurt pretty bad.

Maye stated that the "Big Gerries" (the German heavy armament) stopped firing at 11:00 and all went quiet, so the boys laid down and went to sleep right there. They were hungry; but they were more tired than hungry. They had been advancing so fast, food could not reach them. At about 4:00 they got up out of the trenches and went outside and sang spiritual hymns of thanksgiving. Then looking up the line of trenches, they saw smoke coming from a bon fire or cooking fire. They went and got some food to eat. And that was the end of the war. They slept there on the spot because they did not have orders where to go. They went into the town of Barricourt and slept in buildings for a few days.

Back in the United States May wrote on November 7, 1918 a letter on 6 x 3 in. lined-paper, using both sides of the paper, in which she stated that she had heard an announcement about peace being declared. (Terrar, 1918-1919, 44-47, 11/7/18, MMGT). She indicates the importance of the factory whistles in towns like Coffeyville, where Ed worked before and after the war. The last page of the letter seems to have been lost. She wrote it from Oklahoma, probably because that was where her niece, Blanch had been living. Blanch was the daughter of Maye's sister, Lena. May went there to help nurse Blanch when she was sick. Blanch's husband, Frank Sack, was probably also in the army at that time.

[page 1] 3 P.M. Pawhuska, Okla.
Nov. 7, 1918^[20]

My own Dear Little Boy in Kahki.

Just as I started the heading on this letter a whistle like a fire whistle started blowing and guns shooting and we thought it was a fire and oh little soldier of mine it is an announced that Peace has been declared. Blanche is lying in bed crying with joy but I am trying to hold my tears back as you see Blanche

[page 2] is just undergoing her change which we think is for the better and I don't want to excite her any more than I can help but I'm so over run with joy Dear I can't put it down here and the thot is on my mind "oh how can I stand it when Edward my own Daddy comes home surely the joy will be too great. Honey I am not placing too much confidence in this report as I haven't heard yet where it comes from or just whether the armistice has been accepted or if Germany

[page 3] has surrendered but as soon as I finish this I will go down to the printing office and see just what dope they have got on it. Dear while I am writing this church bells are ringing, guns and revolvers are being shot, whistles and wild cat whistles are blowing and Dear I wish I was home [Coffeyville] to see what is going on. Ill bet the National and the Mill are sure blowing their whistles. Well honey sis (May) is feeling

[page 4] just fine but will feel still better when I get back to our own little home. I sleep all night as B only wakes up once and twice a night and if she does change today and her fever leaves her we will take her home early next week. Len said he would come back and help take her home.
Snookie, I received 3 or 4 letters from you yesterday the latest being Oct. 11th and containing Dad's letter. I sure was glad to hear from you. Mrs. Hare forwrded the letters to me. I will try and answer all your letters

[page 5] this week but I am kept afully busy with B as I give her ice water about every 30 minutes and feed her every 2 hrs and in all I am on the go most all the time. I wrote to Mother and Dad yesterday and sent them a money order for a pound $4.87 and Dear don't you know they never have told me about Mother's illness but I hope she is better now and that you have been to see her before this.
Dear I haven't made

[page 6] any inquiry yet about my transportation back home but here is all I have found out and decided. If you can be mustered out in France or if you can get a furlough of 3 or 6 months or longer, I will come right home and meet you at Liverpool or at Tylorstown and if you have to come to U.S. I will go to N.Y. at a hotel which Mrs. Bowman told me of (I have forgotten its name but will write you later) and register and you can find me there. Of course you would probably wire me or call me up over telephone

Later Ed and his regiment received orders to march into German. On November 24 they moved to Stenay, which was headquarters of the German Crown prince. Then they went to Sapagne Belgium. He served six months with the Army of Occupation at Saarburg [Saabrucken], Germany. He was billeted in the house of two old sisters, who were real good to him. He had a feather bed under him and over him for warmth. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 55, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Ed wrote a letter home in German on Feb. 26, 1919. (Terrar, 1918-1919, 73, 2/26/19, ELT). It indicates he had made progress in learning German. It also indicates that his father-in-law Will could translate it and that May was on speaking terms with her father. The letter was on 6 x 4 in. lined-stationary which had printed at the top of the page:

AMERICAN YMCA ON ACTIVE SERVICE WITH THE AMERICAN
EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

Special Feb. 26 1919

Hello Maye
Wie geht es thoren. Danke rehr zut. Worin gehen Sies. Ich gehe in Theater. Erlauben Sie dan ich mit I know gehe. Wallen Sie spargieren gehen. Ja am Nachmittag. Wann kunn ich Sie abholen. Um acht Uho. Abends! Ich bedaure rehr. abr Ich Kann nicht hommen. Was Wunschen Sie ? Maye. Ha. Haben Sie unim Reiscpan. Wann verrinest. Du. I dont know Adieu leben. Sie wohl.
Edward^[21]
what do think of this mixture of dutch take it up and have papa (Will) read it dont take to Mr. K cause he will laugh at my dutch Ha xxx Edward.

Between his service in the Army of Occupation and his return to America, Ed visited his family in Wales. He also went to his old workers' club there, which was partly a bar. A big distinction was made between officers and enlisted in the service; but not at the club. As noted earlier Ed was permitted to go first in a game and the officers protested. But the people at the club said he had belonged to the club before he went to the United States and he was one of our boys. Much to Ed's delight, he went first. As soon as he went into the club, the guys asked him if he had taken up drinking. And he said he had not.

Ed wrote home to May on March 28, 1919 during his visit to his family in the Rhonda Valley. (Terrar, 1918-1919, 74-82, 3/28/19, ELT). Among the things he mentions is that the miners had been out on strike and that his father and youngest brother were going to continue to stay out the rest of the week, although the strike was settled. May must have written him about her fears caused from rumors of soldiers separating from their wives. Ed assured her that that was not his intention. He mentioned his desire to add a Ned Jr. to the family. The letter was on 6 in by 4 in lined stationary:

AMERICAN YMCA ON ACTIVE SERVICE WITH THE AMERICAN
EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

[page 1] at home [he meant where he grew up]
March 28 1919

Dear Maye

well honey how are you today I am in the best of health and feeling fine but first x [kiss] me as I am hungry for a sweet x all from Maye. Dad and I went over to Cumpare this morning to see Joe Mundy and Jimmy Higgs and they were all well Joe is married and have one child about 18 months old he married a girl that used to stay at the Hotel before he went to America with me my but he said he was sorry he ever came back from the good USA he told me he was going to go out there again. Dad and I walked over Penrhys mountain going and coming back sure did seem funny as the old place doesnt look anything like it used to when I was home and honey I am afraid we

[page 2] we would not do as we wanted to if we were here together but we could sure have a good time and Daddy would take Sister [May] all over to the different Towns but think sister would get tired of it as soon as I have as what I can seen now is only the mines and all mountains today while coming back over the mountain I looked down at the old Spring what we called Mary's well it is locked up now but a pipe runs on the outside oh not anything like it used to be honey I dont think I would spend a summer at Tylorstown as I would get homesick. course at the sea side and other Towns we can have a fine time but here at Tylorstown all is dead Ha, An old Friend of Dad's came down here to see me after dinner is name

[page 3] was Mr William Edwards he as been out in the States and at present he as a brother at Junction City Kansas Sis [May] you know even that place is Ha sure you do were Daddy [Ed] left is little heart last (Maye) May and hope it will not be very long until we are reunited again; and then Darling there will be no parting again. You bet Daddy will stay home with is jewel Ha xxx Maye Esther is here today came last night she sure looks fine honey and dont you know she sure is a changed girl and for the wrong she as done she as paid, dear I sure had to forgive her when she told me. now honey I will tell you all about them when I come home Sis you talk about children my goodness sure a bunch of them here and the noise they make why it gives

[page 4] me the headache oh but they are sure mean little rascals and I can just see our Ned Jr my we will sure spoil him but darling he will be all our own and there will not be any mob around all the time just May Ned and Jr and them are going to be some happy days for us dear and I dont care how soon it comes do you dear Ha x me sure you dont honey and I know you are the little darling who will be so happy course daddy will have the record x, Ned Jr first Ha Darling my leave will come to an end the first of April I will leave here Tylorstown in the morning March 29, and leave Southampton Sunday I have had a nice visit and seen lots of old friends but little darling I did not enjoy it as I would like

[page 5] to cause my Darling wasent here and my little heart is with Sis in Kansas. but hurry up Ned and come home cause Maye needs you Ha. How is Mamma [Rosie] getting along and are you still at Cherryvale you see I dont know how you are but as soon as I get back to Germany I will have lots of sweet letters and all from my Darling and oh my I will sure have some Job to catch up with my letters Ha x me.
Honey I will now answer your letter of Feb 25. have I got a x for sister why Bless your heart sure I have not only one but count them xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and I can tell you all I got is my sweethearts you bet I have plenty of xxx for you and you bet I love Sister too a whole bushel and a great peck and a great big

[page 6] hug around the neck Ha x me. xx why Sis the Idea of you saying Edward may quit you not on your life daddy loves you to much Ha Ha Ha just thinking little girl as been gossiping with Mary Henry and Elsie Limase Ha some Joke. you had better [hung and meet?] my letter not stop on the way. Glad you met Miss Ryan your old school teacher but you warent afraid of her now as you were when you went to school Ha own up now and x me, bet if I had been there you wouldent have slept well Ha what did you say you would. oh x me allright well we will see when I come home.
Well Dear I expect by now you have had Mamma house all cleaned up nice and clean and my little darling

[page 7] done it all and Daddy dident help you either Ha oh x me on the kisser, Honey I see were you said about Father M well you know dear either of us have any use since what he told my darling years ago you know dont you dear anyway you be a good girl and we should worry about him and you better not have any bad thots while you are up home. Ha
I sure had to laugh when you said you had a lazy life now you are just visiting dear and you are not lazy at all no rest easy and x me quick Ha.
Am glad you have the Journal sent to you sure nice,
we had a good snow here last night but the sun as been out today and it is about all gone again.
Maye you better not say you arent going

[page 8] to send me any more hearshey cause you get a big envelope and send me one or to will come home and x you Ha.
Sis dont worry about your Job and honey you quit when ever you want since honey you musent quit me Ha xxx
And now dear you stand up for your rights and dont let anyone put any thing over on you. you said Darling you'd learn why bless your heart you done what daddy would Ha xxx.
Honey I sure wish they would hurry up and sign peace then we would all come home but we are scheduled to to sail in June and maybe sooner. I hope so dont you sure you do.
Honey the strike is settled here and they went to work today Dad and Gwilym dident go as they wouldent go for just one day this week and Friday

[page 9] too as you see dear they are going to Cardiff with me in the morning Dear I expect this will be the last letter I will write you from home but as soon as I get back to Saarburg I will write you a nice long letter and write you about everyday well honey I will close and send this to the post office so with all my love and millions of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
            and tell all hellow. I am as ever
                                                                                    Your own little
                                                                                    True Darling
                                                                                    Sweetheart Edward
            Good bye and God Bless you darling
                        and hope I will be home soon
                                                                        xxxxxxxxxx
                        all at home here sends xxxxxxxxxxxx
                        best love to you darling

Soon after Ed's week-long furlow home to Tylerstown, Wales, his father, David Terrar, aged 57, wrote May. (Terrar, 1918-1919, 87-90, late March, 1919, DT). Among the things the letter mentions is an on-going strike of the coalworkers and the fact that Dave read the newspapers and had seen that the U.S. troops might soon be withdrawn from Europe. The first page is lost, perhaps because May found something offensive. The letter as transcribed below begins on page 2.

[page 2] to see Edward comeing back but i can tell you it was the other way about when he was goin back and i was goin out of the house before them for i new what it his i have not forgeting the time Edward was goin out to the u.s.a. that was hard we was saying then he Edward will not be Long out thear but he have been over 6 years before he came back to see us Well i can tell you we are glad to see hinm and we have seen them all now [Dave's children] and Edward is the biggist of them all and he is the beast of them all and i can tell you it was hard

[page 3] for me to part with him at cardiff but I do trust him to god and i now he will keep ever one that do trust him Well Dear daughter we had a nice time with Edward i was home all the week theur was no work we ar hin stick we do not now when we will start to work it his looking very dark yet. Well Dear daughter we was down at cardiff with Edward and we had a day with him Jane was with us and Gwilyn and Jacob and David William and his wife and you now i was theur will we had some good news in cardiff before Edward was gon and that was that all the u.s.a. was to go back so soon as they can I do think that

[page 4] Edward will be home with you in May or June by what I can see in the papers Well Dear daughter you was saying in the letters that Edward was a fine boy yes he his a fine boy and i now he his a good boy for he will take care of him self and Edward was saying that he will come back in 1920 will i do hope and trust that we will see 1920 and then we shall see you two coming back for a trip Well Dear daughter i am very glad to tell you that Mother his a little better and she can move a little of her harm and we are glad that she his coming down and i can tell you i am very glad

[page 5] for when the mother or the father his sick it his not very will for the house his not lookafter the same as when they ar allright Well Dear daughter i do hope that theur his some thing his just coming to this country for i do see this country goin worst all the time they do think nothing but beer and fighting and then how can we trust to god but i will trust that god will seand someone out to the world and say you have gon so for and now stand and ask god for forgiveness so no more this time from your father and mother Brothers and Sisters
may Gody be with you all
and us all from all
to all

Ed was discharged (mustered out) from Camp Funston, Kansas on June 2, 1919, having fought in 5 battles:

            Lucey (August 8-September 11, 1918)
            St. Mihiel (September 12-16, 1918
            Ewezin (September 17-October 7, 1918)
            Meuse Argonne (October 19-November 11, 1918)

He had been wounded in the shoulder several times by shrapnel, but had never gone to the hospital, so was never written up or received any awards. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 49, 3/12-18/75, MMGT).

Part IV: Edward, Maye, and their Children

When Ed got back from the war, he was rough with Maye. She did not like it, so she locked herself in the washroom and would not come out until he promised not to fuss at her. He kept his promise. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 55, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). He first voted in 1920. He talked politics a good deal. Rosie Gergen told him to shut up, "You are an Englishman, not an American. If you do not like things the way they are, kept it to yourself." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 28, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). Maye told a story about Ed getting his first car. He came home and said, "The car goes pretty good on the highway, but it really goes fast on the sidewalk." This scared Maye; she was frightened for his safety. According to Maye, Ed meant he went pretty good on the sidewalk, but really flew on the paved road. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 49, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). [I should have asked Maye why he was on the sidewalk in the first place.]

After the war, Ed and Maye had four children. They are Edward Francis Terrar, Jr. (b. March 17, 1920), Rosemary Ann (Terrar) Foster (b. November 21, 1921), Margaret Louise Terrar (August 23, 1923-August 17, 1924), and Mildred Arlene (Terrar) Throckmorton (b. July 21, 1925).

DOMESTIC CONCERNS. Between 1920 and 1923 the Terrars moved many times. When they were first married, Maye either owned a house, or more likely, they bought the one at 812 West Fourth St. about 1920. Maye probably put up the down payment but they both worked to pay off the mortgage within a year. Ed Jr. was born while they owned 812 West Fourth St. Not too much later they sold the place. During his employment after the war, Ed worked for a year in 1919 at a refinery in El Dorado, Kansas. (Hall, 1940s). Another source says he worked at El Dorado starting in October 1920. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 15, 11/26/69, MMGT). As noted earlier, the family was living at 812 West 4th St. in Coffeyville when Ed Jr. was born in March 1920. Ed Jr. was born in the hospital at 10th and Elm. In the Spring of 1922 Ed Sr. got a job working at a refinery at Potwin, Kansas, which was a small village. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 69, 5/10/79, ETJr; Terrar, 1969-1979, 15, 11/26/69, MMGT). May's first daughter, Rosemary was born in November 1921 at El Dorado, Kansas. El Dorado was about 6 or 7 miles from Potwin. Potwin was probably too small to have a hospital and perhaps that is why May went to El Dorado to have Rosemary. After a year in Potwin the Terrars returned to Coffeyville. After returning to Coffeyville in the Fall of 1923, Ed worked for the Sinclair refinery until 1927. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 15, 11/26/69, MMGT).

In February 1924 they bought the house at at 312 West 4th St., which they lived in until the Fall of 1948. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 15, 11/26/69, MMGT). This was the house where little Margaret Louise, their second daughter, died in August 1924, just a week short of her first birthday. Margaret had been sick since birth. Colitis is what finally killed her. Ed was at work when May saw that Margaret was nearing her end.^[22] May called Ed home. May's cousin, Emma Smith, who was the oldest daughter of May's aunt Maggie (Margaret Gergen Miller, 1858-1936), called for the priest to come. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.10, 6/2/73, MMGT). They all knelt. Ed Sr. who was kneeling at the foot of the crib said, "She's gone, I saw her take her last breath." She had earlier gone into a coma. In relating this in 1973, tears came to May's eyes. Many years had not softened the loss.

Because the family did not have much money, they bought a small coffin, brought it home, and put Margaret in it. Then they rode to the Catholic cemetery in Cherryvale in Ed's Dodge car. They were dressed in their best. The coffin layed in the back seat across the laps of Ed Sr., May, Ed Jr. and Rosemary. Ed Sr. and May were in tears all the way. Earl Johnson drove the car. Helen Johnson, who was Earl's wife, sat in front with him. Helen had been a classmate with May in business school. Short services were conducted at the grave. Years later Margaret was reburied in Coffeyville.

The house at 312 West 4th St. was also where Mildred was born in July 1925. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 4, 11/26/69, MMGT). Ed Jr. and Rosemary were sent to Margaret (Maggie) Gergen Miller's (1858-1936) to stay when Mildred was born. Maggie lived only two blocks away. She was the sister of Maye's father. Mildred's birth was like the rebirth of Margaret. She brought continuing joy or, as her parents put it, sunshine, to the family.

Maye was the one who put the down payment down on the house at 312 West Fourth but Ed paid for it. [They had owned a house at 812 W. Fourth, but sold it when they went to Potwin]. It was 312 W. Fourth where the family was raised. The house had a coal stove at first. There was a coal house by the garage. Maye cooked on a gas stove. Later they replaced the coal furnace with a gas furnace, the grill of which was on the floor. I fell on it when I was a baby and had the print of it on my butt. There was a front porch that was long and stretched all around. It was later screened in. There was a swing on the porch which held three. May and Ed Jr. would sit out there and read, talk to the neighbors, and watch the cars go by. The original house had four rooms. About 1931 an addition was made of a bedroom for the girls, a kitchen, and a screened-in back porch. The addition was paid for by a bonus of $475, which the federal government paid the military veterans of World War I. The veterans had marched on Washington and several were killed by federal troops before Congress was coerced into enacting the bonus. Congress had also enacted a bonus in 1924. In that one the vet got one dollar for each day served state-side and $1.25 for each day overseas. The average bonus was about $1,000.^[23] May put 75 cents from the bonus in her black treasure box with a note saying that if they went broke, at least not all the bonus would be lost. The original garage is now gone and there are new sidewalks in front of the house now.

Starting in the early 1920s, the family almost always had a car. The first was a 1922 or 1923 Dodge, which they kept for about 8 years. It was all black. For a while, when Ed was starting in the automobile business in the late 1920s, they did not have a car. Their next car was a 1935 Dodge, which was kept until Ed Jr. went into the service. At various times they also had a borrowed 1936 Pontiac. In 1940 they bought a blue Plymouth, which they kept until 1964. Ed Sr. and May did their banking at First National of Coffeyville.

Ed and the family were more affectionate toward each other than had been the case with May's parents. According to May, in the "old days" the men sat on one side of the church and the women on the other. People never kissed in public. On the other hand, Ed Sr. would get up in the morning, shave, and say, who gets the first kiss. He would kiss all the children. When he came home, he would kiss them all. When Ed Jr. was young, he would kiss everyone good night. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.6, 6/2/73, MMGT).

ED'S WORK. In his work at the Sinclair refinery, Ed was very dependable. May recalled that he worked 12 hours per day to pay the bills. However, his diary states he was working a 10 hour day at the National Refinery in 1915. Perhaps it was 12 hours when there was overtime. According to Maye, Ed weighed 128 to 130 pounds at the time. However, his diary stated that in 1915 he was 5 ft. 9 in. and weighed 155 pounds. His shoe size was 8 1/2, hat size 7 1/4, and collar 15. Ed wore bib overalls to work. Underneath during the winter he wore a union suit, which was made of white cotton and covered the whole body. It had buttons up the front. He wore hightop shoes, even after he started selling cars. Sometimes Ed jr. would take Ed Sr's lunch in a lunch pail to him at the refinery. The refinery was 9 blocks from the family home or about one mile. One of Ed's jobs at the refinery was to clean the still in which they boiled the crude oil into gas, kerosene and motor oil. Cleaning it was a hot, hard, dirty job. They cleaned it at night in the summer, because the sun shining on the metal made it too hot in the day. Ed had to go into the still to clean it. There were at least two stills at Sinclair.

In time Ed became the loading rack foreman. Then he ran the still, and was finally barrel house foreman. There was a trade union at Sinclair but, according to May, because he was a foreman, Ed could not join. They had a strike, but Ed could not take part. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.2, 6/2/73, MMGT). Working at the refinery did not pay enough to keep up with the family's creditors. Between 1924 and 1927 the family was in frequent economic difficulty and behind in their bills. There were doctor bills for baby Margaret, and then for her funeral. There were medical bills for Ed Jr. when he was a baby, because he had bowel trouble. Then Rosemary had the same bowel trouble. Ed and Maye could not pay the bills. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 24, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). Church dues were due. There may have been periods when the family did not have enough to eat. (Terrar, 2, 10/15/69, EFTJr). However, Ed Jr. could not ever remember real hunger. Maye stated that because of the hard times she experienced in raising her family, she prayed many times that she would die. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 63, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). She was short and not strong. If she had had more children, it is her opinion it would have killed her.

Maye made two novenas in her life. The first one was wheather to marry Ed. The second one centered on Ed getting a better job. It was also made at the time Ed and Maye were married and was answered, in Maye's view, in 1928. Ed went from his factory job to a automobile sales position in 1928. Ed started his selling career part time. He drove a show model Dodge out to a factory after he got home one evening in 1928. After 3 or 4 times he sold it. With that success and much prayer he quit his job as barrel house foreman at the refinery and sold full time. Harry Hart was the man who hired Ed away from the refinery. He ran the Arnold Brothers Dodge agency in Coffeyville. Ed had been making $100 per month at the refinery. He made $175 selling cars. Sometimes he would sell on a commission basis. That is, a $25 per week draw. That meant the boss paid Ed $25 per week. If he made $40 that week in commissions, the $25 would be subtracted from the commission. It was a running draw, so that if he made no commission for 2 weeks, and in the third week made $100 in commissions, the weekly $25 draws, which in 3 weeks would have totaled $75 would be subtracted from the $100 commission. Ed's boss would sometimes say he made too much on the commission system and switch him back to his regular salary. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 24, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). He was an auto salesman between 1928 and 1939. He worked most nights and would get home about 9:00 p.m.

Although she was from a working class background, May had a low regard for laboring people or perhaps for the economic hardships and chronic indebtedness to which laboring people are subjected. May had made the novena before they were married for Ed to get a "better" job. Ed had gone to business school at about that time, and probably with May's encouragement. May was glad when he quit his job at the refinery and "never put on work clothes any more." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.17, 6/73, MMGT). Then he wore a tie, "the first to wear a tie" to work. According to May he saw how pleasant it was to be at an office and meet people.

Ed Jr. recalled one of the sales trips on which he had accompanied his father. Ed Sr. would sometimes take cars 40 or 50 miles away from Coffeyville to sell them. He sold for cash as well as sell for payments. He kept a pistol to prevent robbery. Once Ed Sr. and Jr. were driving through an oil field to see a pumper (a guy who was a pumper). It was a rough road and a large bird landed on the car. Ed Sr. told Junior to hand him the gun. Senior shot the bird, but the windshield was there. He busted it, got mad, and threw the gun out the window. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 36, 12/29/73 EFTJr). According to May, Ed Sr. had a "nice little revolver" when he first came to Coffeyville, which she sold after he died. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.10, 6/2/73, MMGT).

About 1931 the Arnold Automobile business for which Ed sold cars shut down because of the economic depression. Ed and the family went to Salina, Kansas, where he attempted to sell cars for a period. The family was staying in a motel. Ed did not like them being in Salina. He put the family in the car and took them to the road toward Coffeyville. He would see later if he would return to Coffeyville. But then he changed his mind. He asked Maye to come back and she did. While living at Salina May cooked the meals there. Ed Jr. read a Tom Swift book just about every day. It was there that Ed Jr. found out about libraries and enjoyed them. He went everyday to get a new Tom Swift book, such as Tom Swift learns to fly an airplane or Tom Swift and the train. The depression was on, and it was hard times.

Later the family did return to Coffeyville. It was at this time that Ed Sr. started playing the stock market. He learned how to play it from two brothers named Murphy in Neodesha, Kansas, who wanted to make $25 per day at it. He also learned how to play by going over to Harris Upham, a stock broker in Independance, Kansas and watching. Among the stock purchases made by Ed and Maye was one in 1939. They bought 100 shares of Curtis Wright, an airplane company, at $12.50. Maye sold it in 1964 at $17.00.^[24] (Terrar, 7, 7/18/92, EFTJr).

By 1937 Ed was selling cars for Carl Briggs, who owned a Buick dealership. Ed learned sales technique from the same Murphy brothers mentioned above. In order to sell Ed was pleasant. He would joke. He would talk about New York, about the old country, and get the customer back on the subject, the sale. He was persistent. Once he got home once at 1:00 a.m. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 25, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). When he was selling a car to a woman, he would talk to her, but he would not go with her to do a test drive. He would sit under a tree and wait for her to drive on her own. He said he did not want to get involved. According to May, he had much integrity. People respected him for it. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.6, 5/30/73, MMGT).

Thanks to Ed's sales ability and Maye's ability to manage money, the family finances improved somewhat. The Great Depression of the 1930s did not hurt them as much as it did many others. The family always got the newspaper. They also got a magazine called the Pathfinder, plus a farmer's journal and another magazine in order to keep up on events. Maye always had the $1.25 for Ed's music lessons. Maye made many of the clothes which the family wore. One thing that embarrassed Ed Jr. during high school was having to wear the shirts which his mother made. Perhaps the embarrassment was because of style rather than poor ability at sewing.^[25] (Terrar, 2, 10/15/69, EFTJr). Ed Jr. did not have an overcoat until the last year of junior college.

Ed Jr. recalls that the Great Depression was a period of hard times for most of the townspeople. A friend or acquaintance of his went through the winter without heat or light because they could not pay. On a daily basis people would come to the door for a hand out. Ed Jr. commented:

While I never had any consciousness of being poor and certainly, we always had plenty of food and clothing and were never without heat or lights, the fact is that I from an early age learned that money and the things that money bought only came through effort, at the time, mostly physical effort. (Terrar, 1988-1993, 1, 5/20/88, EFTJr).

SHOPPING, GARDENING, AND CHILD RAISING. The whole family would go downtown on Saturday evening. That is when Maye would do the weekly shopping. The grocery store would stay open until 9:00 pm. On other days it would close earlier. The farmers, some with horse drawn wagons, would come to the market from the country. People would go down to the market just to see the farmers. Part of the Saturday night ritual was that the children would get candy. When the children were grown up, Ed Sr. and May would still get candy, because Ed senior liked the candy. When Ed Jr. was younger, there was a grocery store just around the corner from them at 2nd and Elm. Ed Jr. would get a piece of candy there. There was also homemade candy. May would make fudge from chocolate, sugar, milk and coco. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.8, 6/2/73, MMGT).

One place the family avoided on quarterly night was the area around south Walnut and Ninth St. This was where the Indians came when they got their quarterly government check. Some would drink alcohol and be rough. In earlier days when Oklahoma was still a territory, the Indians would come to that area every Saturday night.

The family ate simple food. They would buy a number 10 can (1/2 gallon) of peaches and enjoy it. Maye did not can peaches, but she did can tomatoes. Ed Jr. had to skin them. Sometimes in the evening they would make homemade ice cream. Ed Sr. would get a 25 pound chunk of ice and break it up in a canvas bag, pack it, and put salt on it to get it cold. Then Ed Sr. and Ed Jr. would turn it and turn it. It took a long time for it to set.

Maye always had a garden and worked hard in it. It was her rule that the garden had to be in by St. Patrick's day (March 17). The garden included potatoes, tomatoes and green beans. May was always trying to get better producing green beans, such as Kentucky Wonders. The neighbors always wanted her produce. Ed Jr. helped with the garden. An Afro-American man would turn over the ground with a fork in the spring. The garden ran on either side of the back walk-way to the garage. Ed Jr. in the 1920s sold the garden produce around the neighborhood. For a bunch of carrots, radishes, onions, or lettuce he would get 5 cents. Besides vegetables and the roses which belonged to the next door neighbor but grew into and bordered their yard, they had pansies from Klines floral shop in the yard.

On Sundays after mass in the morning the family would have its large meal of the day at noon. One time when Maye was not feeling well, they had a Mexican woman who came in to cook for the family. Ed Sr. asked Ed Jr. to say that he did not like the food. Ed Sr. did not like having the Mexican woman. Maye liked the food.

Maye stated that she raised her children the way Rosie raised her children. Further, she said Mildred raised her children the same way. Unfortunately, she did not say and I neglected to ask what way she meant. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 52, 3/12-18/75, MMGT). Mildred believed that what May meant was that she always kept her children busy. They would sell produce from the garden, take music lessons, and otherwise be kept occupied.

ED JR.'S JOBS. Ed Jr. always had jobs and spending money when he was growing up. From the time he was 9 years old in 1929, worked as a paper boy. There was only one newspaper in Coffeyville, the Coffeyville Journal. When Ed started out, its office was in the Traction building on Walnut St. between 7th and 8th St. This was the building where the Interurban trolley and the four local trolley lines started and ended their trips. The paper was owned by Hugh Powell, who was from Cherryvale. Because Maye was from there, the family felt a closer than usual relationship with Powell. In the early 1930s Mr. Powell built a new building at 8th and Elm St., a three-story building. The presses were in the basement. The editorial and linotype machines were on the second floor. Mr. Powell's office and the business office were on the main floor. A couple of years later Mr. Powell got a permit for a radio station, KGGF. He enlarged the building to the west and put the studios there.

The Journal was published at 3:30 p.m. and then delivered to homes. The boy who delivered to the Terrars was Wesley Walton. He was named for John Wesley, the founder of the Methodists, as he related to Ed Jr. Ed commented, "This presented a problem for me because I couldn't really comprehend a church other than the Catholic church. But as my mother explained, our founder was divine, God. The others were protestants-emphasis on the second syllable." (Terrar, 1988-1993, 1, 5/20/88, EFTJr).

Wesley made $2 per week and paid Ed Jr. 5 cents per day or 20 cents per week to help him. Ed in later years was not sure why. Neither the route nor the papers were large. They were generally eight pages. Occasionally they were ten, and the biggest he could recall was 16. They rolled the papers and then with a hand on either end of the rolled paper they brought the hands together. This made it easy to throw to the porch of the house.

After a couple of years at helping Wesley, Ed Jr. became old enough at age 12 in 1932 to sell papers on the corner downtown. There was only one seller of papers in the downtown area. Magazines were sold in the drug stores but no newspapers. So Ed would walk around the downtown area and had a few customers in stores, such as clerks, who would buy a paper for five cents. Then Ed would stand outside the Dale Hotel until about 5:30. He would take the papers that were not sold back to Eddie Keough, the circulation manager. Ed commented that in later years he bumped into Eddie Keough in 1947 after both had moved to San Diego. Eddie had a jewelry store and repaired watches in Pacific Beach. (Terrar, 1988-1993, 2, 5/20/88, EFTJr).

Ed paid 2 1/2 cents for the papers, so he made a 2 1/2 cents profit. He would sell 10 or so papers per night. Ed needed to sell 4 papers to buy three tamales for his sisters and himself. Ed would run them home. An old Mexican sold the tamales from a push cart during the winter from 4:00 to 8:00 on the corner where the newspaper building was at E 8th St. The push cart had a steam pan. This was a pan, which contained water. A fire was under under the pan to heat the water. A container held the food above the water, so that the food stayed warm. Probably the wife of the Mexican made the tamales during the day while the man worked for the railroad. Most of the Mexicans worked for the railroad. Then the man sold them at about 4:30 or 5:00. He sold them 3 for ten cents.

Neither Ed Sr. or Maye liked the tamales, but Ed and the girls enjoyed them as well as other Mexican food. Sometimes Ed Jr. would buy chile from the Mexican at 5 cents a bowl. Elsewhere Ed liked to buy a hamburger with onions for a nickel. He also used the money he earned to pay for stamps, marbles, and baseball. Part he would save. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 52, 3/12-18/75, MMGT).

In due time (about 1933) Ed Jr. a route became available. There were 12 routes that covered the community. Ed's covered east 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th streets. There were about 100 customers. Unlike more modern times, Ed only delivered. He did not collect the subscription. Ed was paid $2 per week. The papers were carried in a canvas bag, which he hung over his shoulder. Some of the bigger boys could deliver the paper off a bicycle. But Ed did it on foot. One night when it was raining and cold, Maye offered to take Ed and his big sack of papers in the car. He said no. He would do his route himself. It made Maye sad, but he paid no attention.

There was a tennis club in Coffeyville. Charles Mitchell had a job at the club looking after the courts. Charles was Don Mitchell's older brother. Don was in Ed's class in high school. Don and Ed were both in the band, on the debate team, and paled around. The tennis club had 5 clay courts. Each morning the courts had to be watered down and rolled. Ed along with Don would go over to the club at 7:00 am. They watered and rolled the courts for Charles. They did not get paid, but they got to use the courts. Charles taught Ed how to play tennis. Bob Walton also helped with the courts. He was also a classmate with Ed, played in the band, was in the National Guard with Ed, and worked at a candy store that was across the street from the Columbia Drug store. Ed had another friend who was not from Coffeyville. He worked on a grain cutting crew during the summer and spent the winter in Coffeyville, where he was a projectionist at the theater. Ed liked the idea of being a grain cutter and traveling north with the harvest. He also wished he knew how to be a projectionist. The projectionist made 37 cents per hour. Ed made only 25 cents per hour working at the drug store, which will be taken up shortly. (Terrar, 6/8/93, EFTJr).

After Ed Jr. finished the 9th grade at Roosevelt Junior High in about 1934, he went to work as a car-hop at the Columbia Drug Store number 2. It was located at 8th and Central Ave. His employment there was connected with his father's membership in the American Legion. Ed Sr. was active in the Legion. Ed Jr. put it, "He was one of the most patriotic men I knew. Having received his citizenship as a consequence of volunteering for the U.S. Army in World War I, he felt quite strongly about veterans organizations. A lot of good things came to the family as a result of his active membership in the Legion." (Terrar, 1988-1993, 3, 5/20/88, EFTJr).

Also active in the Legion was Ross Etter. He along with his wife Mildred were proprietors of the Columbia number 2. Etter knew Ed Sr. well. He also knew that Ed Jr. was 15 years old. So Etter asked Ed Sr. if Ed Jr. would like to car-hop on Saturday nights. Etter was a pharmacist. But he also had a soda fountain at the store. The fountain consisted of a long bar with about a dozen stools. The bar was marble and there was both ordinary running water and soda water. There were a number of porcelain containers for toppings and syrups. There were icecream cartons and a backboard with a mirror. The backboard held the glasses and dishes. All the glasses, dishes, and silverware were washed by hand.

The car-hop job was part of an early version of the drive-in restaurant. Two boys sat on chairs out in front of the store and people would drive up to the curb. The car-hop would take the order, go inside, get it filled, and then take it to the car on a tray which had a sliding brace on the underside. When the brace was activated, it would hold the tray on the car. The tray also had two prongs which slipped down in the area between the door frame and the window of the car.

Ed would go to work at 6:00 p.m. and the store stayed open until 11:00 p.m. He earned $2. plus tips, which would amount to another dollar. Besides the two car-hops, there was the fountain manager named Harvey Austin plus another school boy who worked inside.

While car-hopping on Saturday night during the summer of 1934, Ed also continued to deliver newspapers. By the following summer he was working at the Columbia every night. So he dropped his paper route. Later he may have switched back to Saturday employment only, as in his third year of high school he was a stock boy at a grocery store. The winter of 1937-1938 when he was a senior in high school he worked at the fountain inside as a soda jerk. This was probably only on Saturdays, as he wanted to study as much as possible. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 11, 11/26/69, MMGT). He also made deliveries for the store on his bike. The store delivered anything it sold. The night crew at the store in Ed's senior year included Pert Robinson, the pharmacist, and sometimes Louie Thompson and Ed. After Ed graduated from high school in 1938 he worked there as a delivery boy. He was paid $10. per week.

One of Ed's customers at the soda fountain was Reb Russell. Reb was a football star from Coffeyville. He went to Northwestern University and became an all-American. He would come into the Columbia and have a coke and talk. He told Ed about the political machine in Chicago. A man named Green ran it. They frequently had elections in Chicago and Reb would get $20 per day as a driver. If only a voter, he would get $10 per day. They would go from precinct to precinct to vote. That was a lot of money. They had a list of people they would vote for. That is the reason you sometimes got more votes than live people. Ed knew about the Prendergast political machine in Kansas City because he read the Kansas City Star. he also knew a good bit about Tulsa because its paper was circulated in Coffeyville. Reb Russell became a movie star in Hollywood and married a wealthy girl from Coffeyville who still lives there. He is dead, however.

In the winter of 1938-1939 Ed went to Junior College. He worked at Columbia number 1 fountain at night from 5:00 until 11:00 p.m. It is not clear if this was nightly, or just on Saturdays. The brothers Evans-Lombe were the proprietors at Columbia number 1. Ed did not know the brothers. In the fall of 1938 Ed also joined the Kansas National Guard. The Coffeyville unit was the 114th Troop of the horse calvary. The troop drilled every Monday night. As a private he got $1.25 for each drill attended. The members could go to the stables and ride whenever they wished. This was a big inducement for Ed to join, because he could take a girl friend also.

The troop was commanded by Captain Braum Bentley. There were two lieutenants, Belt and Romig. The captain and lieutenants were fine people. The top sergeant and only full-time soldier was named Beeson. He was in charge of the horses, which were kept at Forest Park. The troop met at the Memorial hall, unless they were going out for a night ride. In that case they met at the park. Ed Jr. had not been in the troop long before he was made company clerk, since he could type. When mounted he also carried the guidon, a small banner or pennant with the numerals "114" on it. Ed became a fairly good horseman and could jump with no trouble. He did have some bad experiences, however. Once on a night ride he got thrown off. They spent the night looking for the horse, which they finally found in a farmers field a bit after day break. In the summer of 1939 Ed Jr. went with the troop to Fort Riley, Kansas for two weeks. Fort Riley was a calvary station. The regular army used it as a principal facility, then called a remount station.

FAMILY RECREATION AND RELIGION. During the 1920s when the children were young, Ed and May had little time or money for recreation. May commented that when he did have money, "Ed didn't spend a dollar but that the family didn't get part of it." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.5, 5/30/73, MMGT). One of the recreations for the family on Sunday was to go visit Maye's sisters (Lena) and cousins (Bertha and Henry Blaes) over in Cherryvale and the Steinbergers or Blanche over in Independence. One time Ed Jr. rode his bicycle over there and spent the night at Lena's house, which was at 417 S. Neosho St., Cherryvale. The road from Coffeyville to Cherryvale passed through Liberty. I visited Lena at 417 S. Neosho when I was a baby. Ed Jr. would sometimes hitchhike. Once he was going to Nowata, which was 20 miles south of Coffeyville. He got a ride from Mr. Gump. Mr. Gump wanted to pass some one. But the individual would not let him around. So Mr. Gump stepped on the gas and went down in the ditch on the right side of the road and passed and came back up. It scared Ed. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 35, 11/29/73, EFJr).

On about Ed's twelfth or thirteenth birthday in 1932 or 1933 he bought a bike for $1 from Carl Edwin Zigler, Jr. It was the only bike he owned. Carl lived a block or two away from Ed, but Ed only met him a few days before his birthday. Ed rode the bike to Cherryvale a few times and stayed with his aunt Lena. He also rode it to the fair there, which was held in late August.

Carl Zigler Jr.'s father was a lawyer who had served in World War I with Ed Sr. Carl's grandmother was called "My Jessie." My Jessie's mother was named Mrs. Zisch. Mrs. Zisch had a lot of money from oil and lived in a big house two blocks away. Thomas and Clarence were two Afro-Americans who worked for Mrs. Zisch. One cooked, the other kept house and was the chauffeur. Ed Jr. went over to Independence, Kan. a few times after Mrs. Zisch's death and saw her mausoleum.

About 1935 the family went on a vacation back east. They visited Washington, D.C. and stayed in a tourist camp located on Haines Point. They they went to Carbondale, Pennsylvania and stayed one night at the house of William Luther Tyrell (Terrar), who was Ed Sr.'s uncle. One of William's daughters, Esther Verril, had migrated from Wales with her parents because she did not want to marry a collier (miner). Then she ended up marrying a miner in Pennsylvania.

In about 1937 when he was 17 Ed Jr. hitchhiked out to Colorado to visit his great uncle, Joe Gergen, who was a brother to Will Gergen. In about 1931 the whole Terrar family had gone out to visit him. He had then visited them in Coffeyville. Joe had been married but was separated. He lived at Manitou Springs, a town of 8,000 near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Ed had been led to believe by Joe that he had run away from home when he was about 16 years old and gone to Baltimore. There he studied medicine at Johns Hopkins University. This would have been about the time of the Spanish-American War in 1898. However, Joe was a chiropractor, not a medical doctor. So perhaps Ed's understanding was wrong, or Joe's story was not true or perhaps he did not graduate from Johns Hopkins. Joe had a drug store that he rented out to someone. Above the drug store was a place with more rooms. He lived there and worked as kind of a chirapractor or quack doctor. He told Ed that he prescribed sugar tablets at 25 cents a throw to his women patients. He was pretty well off and was quite religious. Each morning Joe would serve mass for a religious order of priests. When Ed Jr.'s family was there, they drove to the top of Pike's Peak. There were some very steep cliffs and Ed was afraid. Joe was also afraid. Coming down the mountain he pulled his hand from his pocket and showed them a rosary which he had been saying for protection. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 35, 11/29/73, EFJr).

Ed Sr. belonged to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and was past Chef De Gare of the 40 and 8 organization. The 40 and 8 was part of the American Legion. It referred to to the French Box cars in which the American soldiers rode. They held 40 men and 8 horses (or maybe 8 men and 40 horses?). He was a charter member and past commander of the Coffeyville American Legion Post 20. He also belonged to and was both past grand knight and past faithful navigator (4th degree) of the Knights of Columbus. He served on the Montgomery County Selective Service Board and belonged to the Chamber of Commerce and the Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW) Lodge. (Anonymous, 1964). The lodge was a fraternal organization. In part it was a burial society, which helped pay the cost of funerals. It also had a social function. It would meet once a month on a Wednesday above Isham's hardware store. The children would go along. They would have a potluck dinner sometimes.^_ (Terrar, 7/18/92, EFTJr).

May was active in the Parents-Teachers Association and served as president of the Roosevelt Junior High PTA one year. One of the programs given by the PTA featured a Mr. Quinlan, an educator, who gave a talk on child-raising. May liked Mr. Quinlan's message.

The one radio station in Coffeyville was KFFG. It was owned by Mr. Powell, who had been born in Wales. He also owned the Coffeyville Journal. The Terrar family had a radio and would listen to it. Ed. Jr. used to broadcast high school basketball games when the Coffeyville team was playing away from home. (Terrar, 1988-1993, 34, 5/11/93, EFJr.). Ed Jr. liked to listen to the "Amos and Andy" show on the radio.

The Terrars were members of Holy Name Parish in Coffeyville. On Sunday there was always two masses: a low mass at 8:00 a.m. and a high mass at 10:00 a.m. Ed and Maye would go to the low mass. After mass the people would stand out front and have a "social interlude." The men would talk with each other and the women would do likewise. Ed Jr. served as an altar boy, so he sometimes had to go to the 10:00 mass. Once I was with Maye at mass at Holy Name. She noted that these things could be pretty boring some of the time. Since then I have thought of her observation on more than one occasion when I was at mass. Among the groups to which Maye belonged was the Altar Society. They would cook a meal for the family and friends of those at a funeral. It was a good meal with plenty of food. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 70, 5/10/79, EFJr). By the 1930s the horse and buggies were almost all gone. But some farm families would still come into mass on Sunday in a buggy.

Fr. Tierney was the pastor at Holy Name until about 1921 when he died. He was from New York and much respected. Fr. Tierney baptized both Ed. Sr. and Ed Jr. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.9, 6/2/73, MMGT). Then Fr. O'Brien from Ireland took over. He served until the 1950s and, according to May, was not as "refined" or respected as Tierney. He had a tendency to browbeat money from parishioners who often did not have enough to care for their families. May resented this. The Terrar's three children all went to Holy Name school, which was conducted by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Wichita. The school ran from grade 1 to 8. Fr. O'Brien would come over to the first grade class sometimes in the afternoon and the children would sit on his lap. May told her daughters not to sit on his lap. (Terrar, 1988-1993, 29, 6/16/93, MTT).

At Christmas time they would have a tree in the house. Ed Jr. does not remember that it had any lights on it. They would go to the midnight mass because Ed Jr. served at it. Presents would be by the tree on Christmas morning. Usually there was one present for each person. They were practical gifts. Once while Ed Jr. was in grade school he got a sweater. It was deep maroon with a waffle kind of knit and button up the middle.

The children also got some of their religion from Lizzie Cook, a family friend of their mother. Lizzie's farm had been close to the Craig family farm when both families were homesteading. Lizzie was a Methodist. She taught the Terrar children various songs, such as "Jesus Loves Me, this I Know, for the Bible Tells me so." (Terrar, 1988-1993, 28, 6/16/93, MTT). Another of the songs she taught went:

I have two eyes to see with
I have two ears to hear with
and I have one mouth to know God and serve him

During the winter the kids would go ice skating to the south of town at a berm. A berm was a build up of the bedding for the railroad. It would fill with water and freeze over. The children would also go ice skating on Onion Creek, which was to the east of town. It would freeze over pretty solid. After Ed Jr. was in the ninth grade, which was about 1935, he could drive the car out there. His parents let him take the car out there at night. Once he did not stop in time and he ran into the back end of someone. But it did not hurt anyone or anything. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 34, 11/29/73, EFJr).

During the summer one of the favorite spots for the children was the "Hill," which was the nick name for Pfister Park. It was north of town. It had a large swimming pool, which was built as a WPA project. There was also a zoo there and a place where they had band concerts, picnics, and played baseball and other sports. An airport was nearby where Ed Jr. learned how to fly through the Civilian Pilot Training program. A spot that was a favorite for May was the natorium. It was town down by the late 1930s. It was a swimming pool served by natural mineral hot springs. May enjoyed back rubs there, given by an Afro-American named Charlie. A third recreation spot was Forest Park, where there were horse stables.

Sometimes on the 4 of July the family would go on a picnic to a park in Independance, Kan. and watch the fire works. May would make fried chicken, which everyone liked. Once Ed Jr. was lighting a firecracker while they were over there. It went off as he got ready to throw it. It burned his hand and made a lasting scar. At the time he had ambitions of being a concert pianist. He tried to be careful of his hands. He told his mother he feared he would never play the piano again. The children always had fireworks, such as crackers and candy fingers.

One of the outings enjoyed by the whole family was to the circus in Tulsa. There were 5 rings there. Ed Sr. especially liked it. They would also go to the county fair. Ed Jr. won first prize for fancy sewing work which he did and which he entered under the name Francis Terrar. It was a contest only for girls. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 26, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). In junior high school, Mildred went to Green Gable, a night club on the way to the Hill. The Bones was a restaurant on the way to Tulsa on Route 169, which the family sometimes ate at. (Terrar, 1988-1993, 25, 6/16/93, MTT).

Ed Sr. was a strong rooter at baseball games and boxing bouts. (Hall, 1940s). May thought he was not very handy as a mechanic. But he liked self-education books. And he did all the basic mechanical work at his gas station and garage. This included lubricating the cars and changing tires and oil. Neither Ed Sr. or Maye frequented the Carnegie Memorial (public) library, but the family did belong to a book club at one time. Ed Jr. made good use of the library.^_ (Terrar, 2, 10/15/69, EFTJr). He had a library card. On Saturday he would go to the downstairs, where someone would read stories to the children. When he got older, Ed would take out from 2 to 5 books per week.

Ed Sr. liked to visit with his friends. One of the funny stories he would tell involved Jack Ridgeway, who was about 10 years older than Ed. Jack had a gas station in Coffeyville and his daughter, Eileen, was a classmate of Ed Jr. Jack had a brother who was the Lord Mayor of Cork. Once the brother came to Coffeyville to visit Jack. The Coffeyville Journal made a front page story of it. While in Coffeyville the mayor would go down to Jack's gas station to visit. Once Ed Sr. was there and another of Jack's friends. The other friend had a bull dog which would role over and put his feet up in the air when you said "dead dog." The friend had his bull dog with him. While the friend, Ed Sr. and the mayor were talking, the friend asked the dog, "would you rather be the lord mayor of cork or a dead dog?" The dog rolled over and put his feet up in the air. That caused everyone but the mayor and Jack to have a good laugh.

Ed Sr. was the secretary and treasurer for the American Legion, that is, the adjutant. So he had an office where he kept his records at the Legion hall (Post 20), which was on 12th St. The Legion met once per month. Ed was often out collecting membership dues. But in the afternoon, especially after he retired in the 1950s, they would play cribbage at the hall. They also liked to play pitch and "high five." It was a farmer's card game, according to Maye. The aristocrats would not play it.^[26] (Terrar, 1969-1979, 47, 3/12-18/75, MMGT).

In 1937 Ed Sr. and Maye went on an American Legion tour of Europe. It cost $675 and took six weeks. They went in September and came back in October. They went on the Queen Mary. They first went to Wales and stayed there one week. Maye got to see her in-laws for the first time. Then they went to South Hampton and Cherbourg. In France they got one week free in Paris, courtesy of the French government. After the one week, they had to pay for the hotel room themselves. In Paris they stayed at the Metropole Hotel. They visited the World War I battlefields on which Ed had served. There was a banquet practically every day. Once Marshall Henri Philippe Petain (1856-1951) and Ed stood and talked together. Petain could speak English. He had been commander in chief of the French armies. During World War II he served as premier of unoccupied France and collaborated with the Nazis.

After their visit to France, Ed and Maye went back to London and stayed there a week with Ed's sister, Esther. Ed's passport at that time stated that he was aged 46, a salesman, 5 ft., 9 in. tall, and weighing 185 pounds. Maye was aged 44, 4 ft., 10 in. tall, and weighing 110 pounds. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 56, 3/12-18/75, MMGT; Terrar, 1969-1979, 26, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). In later years Ed's weight varied between 190 and 210 pounds, which was a good bit more than the 130 when he was working at the refinery. One of the reasons for his weight was that in later years he liked to eat a cereal-bowl size dish of ice cream before he went to bed at night. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.20, 5/73, MMGT).

Besides the American Legion, Ed belonged to the Society of the 355th Infantry, which was established on May 2, 1919 at a mass meeting of the Regiment held in the YMCA building in Saarburg, Germany. May (Letter to EFTJr. and Family, 9/17/69) described her trip to the society's annual reunion in 1969 at Grand Island, Neb.:

There were 396 men and women registered, 40 being from Headqtrs. Co. Sat. noon we have a buffet lunch (called dutch lunch from the earlier day designation), visit Sat. afternoon, each company rents a room (we stayed at Holliday Inn) which is the gathering place for everyone. Sat. evening at 6 each company has their own private dinner. We had the 40 there and Capt. Horace Hopkins, executive with DuPont, retired and now living in Swathmore, Pa. sat next to me. He has a beautiful singing voice and a very refined but jolly good fellow so he led singing of the war songs during the meal and there were a few other good male singers. (I've since learned Hdqurs Co., anyway, sang a good deal while in France and Germany). A few made some talks, including Capt. Hopkins. I was introduced and told them that even tho I'm small that I was there as Terrar's shaddow, which they all liked. He was always known as "Terrar" or "the pigeon man". Sun. morning at 10 all the 398, maybe a few more, met at a down town theatre (given gratis for our use because the churches are all occupied) and had our memorial service, which is most impressive. Chaplain Cagle passed on couple of years ago (he was the chaplain oversees) so Rev. Eckwall a private in a line Co. later ordained conducts the Service. His talk this year was "What did you think but couldn't say" and took us back over the years at Camp Funston in training, the trip to Camp Mills sailing the Atlantic, zig zagging to evade submarines, the first night under shell fire (and the severe gas attack), the different drives including St. Mihiel in which daddy released the pigeon with message for the heavy artillery to increase the barrage for it was killing their own men. Then into the Army of Occupation and their return home. A beautiful tribute to the men who knew war in the front line trenches - hand to had combat - which he mentioned. At noon we had a banquet and a brief business meeting and then adjourned about 2:30 and on our ways.

POLITICS. Maye and probably Ed Sr. were Republicans. Alf Landon, who was from Independence, Kansas ran for president in 1936. The Steinbergers, who were cousins to Maye, knew him. Maye met him at the Kansan Hotel in Topeka. Maye was there on Republican business. She was a precinct committee woman. In the late 1930s and 1940s, after the children were grown, Maye worked on the election board. Miss Lila Elliot, post mistress at Coffeyville about 1938 knew Landon pretty well and was a friend of Maye. In 1940 Wendel Wilkie started off his campaign for presidency at Coffeyville. Ed Jr. saw him speak there in a field where the hospital is now. Wilkie had taught at Coffeyville in 1914.

Ed Sr. did not go along with the conservative, Republican slander of John L. Lewis, head of the United Mine Workers. Lewis was a miner, a Welshman, and a Republican. Maye did not like Franklin D. Roosevelt and his programs such as Social Security. In later life, however, Maye did think the Social Security system was a good thing. Perhaps as a concession to Ed Sr. she said she was for the trade union movement. But she thought it had gone too far. However, she never spoke of the capitalist class as having gone too far. She had been negatively influenced at a young age by the Republican lawyer for whom she worked. Had he never heard about the Golden Rule?

GARAGE BUSINESS. Starting in the summer of 1939 Ed and Maye bought and operated the storage business of the AA Garage at 7th and Maple St.^[27] They bought the business, not the actual building at which it was located. The building was owned by Fred Kistler, who was an oil and gas distributor. At the time he was distributing Sinclair gasoline. The garage was one block from the Dale Hotel and it held 110 cars.

The family did quite well financially from the garage business while it lasted. Besides Ed Sr. and Maye, Edward Jr., and an Afro-American named Gene worked at the garage. Edward Jr. was in his second year of junior college the first winter they operated it, but in the summer of 1940 he worked a good bit. The garage stayed open 24 hours a day. Ed Sr. and May worked from 7:00 am to 9:00 or 10:00 pm. During the winter most people wanted their cars inside. The garage charged 50 cents per night. During bad weather when cars had a collection of ice and snow on the underside, the garage would sell a lot of steam cleanings. They had a machine that heated water until it turned to steam. The steam would be under pressure and would melt in short order the ice and snow. It would also knock off the grease from the joints of the car. So the car always had to be lubricated after having been steam cleaned. The steam cleaning and greasing cost $1.25. The steam cleaner would periodically build up too much steam and the blow off valve would fail, whereupon the boiler would blow. This did not cause too much damage, but it did make a big noise.

During the summer of 1940, one of Maye's cousins, Elmer Wintermote, worked in the garage part of the time. Elmer was not married. His main interest was in fishing. He was one of the best fishermen thereabouts. The garage had two apartments above it. One was rented to a couple of Maye's cousins named O'Mera. Besides working at the garage in the summer of 1940, Edward Jr. played baritone in the municipal band. As a member of the National Guard he went to Fr. Snelling, Minnesota for a few weeks. The fort is between the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, south of Minneapolis. He did not have an easy time of it there. It rained almost every night. The mosquitoes were large, numerous, and hungry. The worst part was taking care of the horse. Every night, after having ridden the horse all day in the rain, the horse had to be rubbed down, the saddle removed, a canvas pail gotten, filled with oats, and hung around the horses neck. Then it was pitch a tent and find food. The food was good, perhaps because by that time the troops were starved.

ED JR.'S FLYING, JOBS AND SCHOOL. It was about this time that Ed Jr. signed up for the Civilian Pilot Training (CPT) program. The federal government in the mid-1930s had instituted the program to train aviators. The program was administered by the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The training was provided locally by contract. There were two brothers named Lightstone who provided the training. In the first course the training was provided in a Piper Cub, a small airplane in which there were two people sitting tandem. They would take off at about 35 miles per hour and cruise at about 50 mph. It was a simple plane. Ed soloed in it on his 16th birthday (March 17, 1936), which was the earliest date he could get a license. In 1941 there was instituted an advanced CPT. Ed signed up for it. The training was in a Waco biplane, which was a good deal larger than a Cub. Again Jack Lightstone was the trainer. Ed took 50 to 60 hours of training. On one of this "solo" cross country flights, Ed took one of the men he worked with at OCS Manufacturing. The man wanted to go up in an airplane. Ed at that point did not have a license for passengers. Before they got back a severe storm came. It was raining sheets. Ed had to fly through it. At first he could not see Coffeyville, and so was thinking about flying to Tulsa, Okl. in order to land. However, he finally spotted some Coffeyville lights and he brough it in while the fire equiptment stood ready. He taxied the plane up to the terminal and was the talk of the town for being able to get back in that storm. Ed was on a cross country navigation hop on Sunday afternoon December 7, 1941, when he heard over the plane radio that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor.

After Ed graduated from Field Kindley Memorial High School in June 1938, he went to Coffeyville Junior College for the school year 1938-1939 and 1939-1940. After his second year, he was just a few credits short of the 60 necessary to get an associate of arts degree. He did not get the required number of credits because his German teacher, Miss Cubine, gave him a D in his first year. Ed felt the grade was unfair. A friend of his whose father owned a lumber yard in south Coffeyville was moving to Winston Salem, N.C. He asked Ed if he would like to go with him and help him move. It would take two weeks. Ed asked his mother, who said it would be ok, if he got the permission of all his teachers. Ed did get permission. But when he returned to Miss Cubine's class, she told him he might as well not attend, as he would not pass the course. Ed mentioned that he had her permission to skip. She said she had changed her mind. The exam in the course was a long one, 40 pages or more. It was given out a week prior to the exam day, so that the students could study it. But if one could not conjugate verbs and translate, having the exam early would not help. The exam took 3 hours, and on the day it was given, Miss Cubine interrupted it halfway through to give the students tea and cookies. After Ed handed in the exam, Miss Cubine thumbed through it and gave him a D minus on the spot. She said, "I will see you next year." Ed refused to retake the course from her and so did not earn the necessary credits for the AA degree.

Around the summer of 1944 when he was about 20 and had finished Junior College (minus a few credits), Ed gave lengthy thought concerning his religious beliefs and whether the things that had been taught to him were true. He decided that he believed in God, that Jesus Christ had redeemed him by dying on the cross, and that the Catholic Church was the true church. In the years afterwards, Ed has remained strong in his beliefs and has never second-guessed or doubted his determination about his religious beliefs. In Ed's view, there are no doubters in a fox hole. Eternity is a long time. He does not want to make a mistake.

In the fall of 1940 Ed wanted to go to Kansas University at Lawrence and study medicine. But May did not want him to do that. She had talked to his German teacher, Miss Cubine, whose opinion May much respected. Miss Cubine said Ed was not college material. He was smart enough but did not have enough stick-to-itness. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.10, 6/2/73, MMGT). Ed did not have the funds to go to the University of Kansas. He went up to Lawrence for a few weeks, but had to come home.

Ed's parents then loaned him funds to go to Chillicothe Business College at Chillicothe, Missouri in November 1940. The school had a good "reputation" and was family-owned. Ed's mother had gone to business college and found it valuable. Edward Jr. got a room in a large house at 912 Cherry St., Chillicothe. An elderly couple owned the house and rented out rooms. Five male students at Chillicothe stayed in the house. Ed shared the front left room on the second floor with a heavy-set boy from Illinois, perhaps from Quincy. Ed ate at the school for a couple of weeks and then got a job working in the restaurant of the Strand hotel on Washington St. He got meals there as part of his compensation. The hotel and restaurant were still there in 1993. Ed made 25 cents per hour. He was the cashier and seated people. He stayed at the business school three months. He took a number of courses which started every month or so. The main thing he learned was accounting and book-keeping: what is a debit, what is a credit, how to open and close books. When Ed went over to Chillicothe he dropped out of the National Guard. One had to enlist in the Guard for a period of time, but Captain Bentley had no trouble authorizing an early discharge to go to school.

Ed Jr. stayed at Chillicothe until March 1941 when Jim Grigg, purchasing agent for the Oil Country Specialties Co. (OCS), offered him a job as a clerk for $70 per month. Ed Jr. stayed at OCS until he went into the Navy in February 1942. OCS was a local Coffeyville company which manufactured oil-well equipment. It sold its equipment throughout the southwest. It was started by a man named Brown after World War I. Brown had been selling supplies to hardware stores. He saw the opportunity for making oil-well equipment. Brown once told Ed that if you want to work only 8 hours per day, the best thing to do is get a union job. The union will get you the most for your labor. And you will have leisure time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. If you want to make more than a union job, you have to work more than 8 hours per day. At OCS, the workers were in the Machinist Union. Brown got along well with the union. Brown liked to hire young people like Ed, work them hard, pay them relatively small wages, and did not mind seeing them leave after a year or two.

At OCS Ed had a private office right outside that of Grigg. Grigg told him he did not want the other workers to know how dumb a college boy could be. None of the other people in the department had been to college. Industry at the time was moving into high gear for the military buildup. It became necessary to economize on the use of steel. Edward was involved in studies of steel consumption rates and of pre-fabricated products such as ball bearings.

Ed Jr. found his job at OCS interesting. He was impressed by the abilities of the people who were working on inventory and production control. Once Ed asked the man who kept inventory of the various sized I beams that were stacked out in the yard, how much was there. The man who had little formal education but much experience went out, looked it over for a minute, and came up with a tonnage that he claimed was within 5 percent of what was there, which he stated was close enough for Ed's purpose. After work that day, Ed went back and did a long, tedious calculation of the material. He found that the estimate given by the inventory man was only off 2 percent. (Terrar, 1988-1993, 16, 6/8/93, EFT). There were thousands of items in the OCS inventory. Each had a number and the inventory man knew each by heart.

The man who headed the drafting department at OCS had gotten his training in engineering through a correspondence school. The drafting room was a big room with 7 or 8 drafting tables. There was a pot belly stove at the head of the room that kept the drafters warm during the winter. The head drafter used to take a break from his work by walking up to the stove, putting his hands over it and turning around and getting his butt warm. This habit of his was so strong that during the summer he would go up to the stove, put his hands over it and rub them together even when it was not on. Ed had read about and Jim Grigg let him do some time-motion studies involving record keepers. All record keeping was done by hand to ledgers or sub-systems. He found that out of an eight hour day people were working about two hours and forty-five minutes. They were a few minutes late to work. They had to visit with their co-workers, find supplies like pencils, sharpen pencils, and get ink or new pens. They did not have ball-point pens. Everyone used a pen holder into which was inserted a pen. Then the pen was dipped into a bottle of ink. Some people had fountain pens, but they were never used in the office. They went to work at 8:00 a.m. and went to lunch at noon, came back at 1:00 and worked until 5:00. Ed went home for lunch.

To improve productivity Ed helped devise things like a messenger to get supplies for the office workers. The same fellow, a student, would arrive at 7:30 a.m. and put two sharpened pencils at the place of each worker. He would also check ink wells for adequacy. Since there was an executive dining room, the chef would bring around a cup of coffee and a roll about 10:00 each morning and a soft drink about 3:00 in the afternoon. All of this got productive work effort up to about 4 hours per day.

About the same time that Ed went to Chillicothe in the fall of 1940 the Congress passed a draft law. So Ed registered in the early part of 1941. He did not like the idea of going to war in Europe on a horse under the conditions he had experienced at Fort Snelling, Minnesota in the summer of 1940. The Civilian Pilot Training program which Ed had taken was directed at teaching him to be a military pilot. He had earned a pilot's license on his 16th birthday. Through the CPT he flew 185 of the 200 hours necessary to earn a commercial license. A commercial license allows piloting for pay. During his Naval service, Ed flew 1600 hours. By the end of World War II he had a commercial license with a multiple engine and instrument rating.

In 1942, as he was contemplating the draft, Ed believed ship life and the Navy would be more attractive than land-based units. Ed had several hurdles to becoming a Navy pilot. In order to enter the program,one had to have an associate of arts degree. As noted earlier, Ed was short a few credits. He went to dean Carl Wilson at Coffeyville Community College and told him of the problem. The dean told him to go speak with Mr. Johnson, the band teacher. Ed had been in the band and had never gotten academic credit for it. Mr. Johnson agreed to give Ed credit for being in the band, which allowed Ed enough credits to get his AA degree. Ed's ambition to be a Naval pilot received no support from his mother. She told him that he would never make it as a pilot. Ed ignored May's views on the subject.

Another hurdle in getting his wings was his physical condition. The minimum weight for acceptance was 120 pounds and he only weighed 112 pounds. For six weeks he had to eat fattening foods like bananas, Hershey bars and thick milk shakes. He made several trips on the train to Kansas City where the recruiting base and doctor were for the Navy. He drank so much water that he was sick and vomited. But, eventually, according to the doctor, he weighed 120 pounds. Ed also had to go over to Tulsa to get his eyes tested by the military. He went with his friend Don Mitchell, who also took the eye test. Ed's sister Mildred went with them. May probably drove them. Having passed the preliminaries, in early February 1942, Ed reported to the Naval Air Station, Kansas City, Kansas for flight training.

ROSEMARY TERRAR. Rosemary Terrar was Ed and May's oldest daughter. According to her younger sister, it was difficult being the oldest girl. A little more than 18 months after Rosemary's birth about 1921, baby Margaret was born in August 1923. Margaret was sick from the start. She lived only one year. She demanded much of May's attention, so that Rosemary tended to get neglected. Margaret died in August 1924. The youngest child, Mildred, came along in July 1925. Again, because the baby required special attention, the older Rosemary tended to get less attention. But perhaps this all was not really a problem to Rosemary. She herself does not seem to have believed so.

Rosemary and Mildred from their youngest days to the time they left home shared the same room and same double bed at 312 W 4th St. They had a dresser with a yellow skirt on it and an open closet. Their mother would sew them matching dresses. One such set of matching dresses that Mildred remembered with favor was organdy in color with matching hats. The material was sheer and had body. May would sew after the children went to bed and she would not be interrupted.

There was a swing out on the covered front porch. Sometimes on days when it was thundering, Rosemary and Mildred would take a blanket and their dolls out on the front porch, eat popcorn, and listen to the thunder.

Several summers Rosemary went to stay with her Steinberger cousins for a week or two. They lived on a farm outside of Cherryvale and had children who were Rosemary's age. They had a pond to fish in and horses to ride. They made icecream every Sunday and put grape nuts flakes in it, which made it taste good. The cream came from the cows at the Steinbergers.

Rosemary started school at Holy Name in 1927. She graduated in the class of 1939 from Field Kindley Memorial High School. Both she and her sister took the home economics course in junior high school and the business course in high school, rather than a college prep course. May wanted it that way, so they would be prepared to make a living in case they did not get to go to college.

Rosemary and the other children learned how to sew from their mother. Rosemary became quite skilled at it. Her junior high school home economics course helped her advance as a seamstress. In her business course, Rosemary learned typing. In high school Rosemary was a member of the Tillies. The Tillies were a pep club to which individuals were elected. It was a privilege to belong. Each year on Thanksgiving morning the Tillies had a reunion given by Ms. Glaser, who was the adult moderator of the group. (Terrar, 1988-1993, 23, 6/16/93, MTT). Rosemary also played the violin in the school orchestra.

While she was in high school, Rosemary got a job at Steven Hayes, which was a department store in Coffeyville. Among her jobs was gift wrapping. They liked her there. After graduating from high school she worked at Steven Hayes for a year and saved her money to go to college. One of her boyfriends was named Fred. He had a red sports car and was a machinist. Both May and Ed Sr. did not like Fred. They told her to weigh all the objections they had to a marriage: "Then if you make your bed, you better lie in it." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 5, 11/26/69, MMGT).

In the fall of 1940 Rosemary went to St. Mary's College in Leavenworth, Kansas. After attending for about 1 1/2 years, she decided to be a nun. She went into the noviate at the Leavenworth convent, but after 8 months decided it was not for her. She did not continue in college but instead went to work. She went to Chicago and got a nice job. Like May, she wanted to be a working woman. She did not like the idea of being classified as a feminist, but she resented that women did not have equal opportunity.

One of Rosemary's boyfriends was Jack Foster. She met him at the officer's club in Coffeyville. He was stationed there during part of World War II. He was a pilot. They got married in 1946.

MILDRED TERRAR. One of the nice memories Mildred has of her childhood was picking the roses that grew between their house and that of their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Hoffman. The roses belonged to Mrs. Hoffman, but Mildred had permission to pick any that grew on the Terrar side of the fence. (Terrar, 1988-1993, 19, 6/16/93, MTT). Mildred would take the ivory-colored ones and put them on baby Margaret's grave. Mildred also did gardening with her mother.

One of Mildred's recreations at Halloween was to give a party for the neighborhood children. Another of her favorites was to sit outside on a blanket and make may baskets by covering a box with wall paper. She got scrap pieces of wall paper from the wall paper store. Mildred took piano lessons from Adebelle Norris for a while. But May said she was too nervous to stay still for them. That ended the lessons. Mildred loved to play games like hide-and-seek and jump rope with the neighborhood kids in the evening and during the summer. She went to the high school swimming pool for swimming lessons. Another of the treats which Mildred liked was pimento cheese. Her mother made it. She took regular American cheese and made it creamy by mashing it up with her hands until it was soft. Then she would add pimentos. It was good on sandwiches.

May or perhaps the natural disposition of the children, tended to hold down sibling arguments and rivalry. May would say "Shoo, be quiet, the neighbors will hear you" when one of the children cried. Since their brother was older than the girls, he tended to get preferences on that account. For example, he was the first one to get music lessons. When there was enough money, then the girls got the lessons.

May would discipline Mildred by having her go sit in her little rocking chair and "think of her sins." The rocking chair was in the bathroom near the toilet. Ed Sr. was not one for disciplining his children. Mildred remembered him spanking her only one time. They were in the dining room. Ed Sr. had fixed the dinner. Mildred stuck her tongue out at him when she thought his back was turned. He apparently saw it, because there was a yard stick near by, which he grabbed and wapped her. She thought he had eyes in the back of his head. Mildred explained in an interview that she had stuck her tongue out just because kids sometimes do that kind of thing.

Mildred started in the first grade at Holy Name in September 1930 at age 5. There was no kindergarten. She went half-days. May started Mildred one year earlier than normal because Mildred was hyperkenetic. Having her at school gave may a rest.

The first and second grades at Holy Name were taught together by Sister Mercedes. May had to get special permission from Sister Mercedes in order for Mildred to enter early. May admired Sr. Mercedes. When it came for Mildred's confirmation, Mercedes was the chosen name for Mildred's patron. (Terrar, 1988-1993, 19, 6/16/93, MTT).

In the first grade Mildred had a table at which she sat. Mildred finished Holy Name in 1939. May paid a certain amount to Holy Name for each child she had there. Mildred and her brother and sister would go home from school for lunch. They only lived a block from school. Mildred liked it when her mother had popcorn for them at lunch. Sometimes it would be candied popcorn around Christmas.

By the time she was in the fourth grade, Mildred was baby sitting. Her rates were 25 cents in the afternoon, 35 cents for a night. After midnight it was 50 cents. If it went to 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, it was 75 cents. The coach at Field Kindley, John Charlesworth and his wife were frequent customers. They went out frequently. Sometimes the school would let Mildred out to babysit. (Terrar, 1988-1993, 20, 6/16/93, MTT). Mildred learned how to do bookkeeping because May wanted her to keep track of the money she was making.

Sometimes during the 1930s, Mildred's dad would take her on his day trips to Kansas City. Ed Sr. was selling cars and they would take a train up, pick up a new car, and drive it back to Coffeyville to sell it. Ed Sr. would have to drive slow because the cars were new. It damages an engine to drive it fast before it has been worn in. Mildred liked to go to the "Hill" or park that was north of town. During her junior high school days, before she got a bike of her own, she rode her brother's bike up there in the evening to go swimming.

On her 16th birthday in July 1941, she went to the social security office and got a number. Then she went to the Kresses department store and applied for a job. She gave Fred Kisler as a reference. They told her they did not hire people her age. She went and told Fred that she had used his name as a reference and asked if it was ok. She also told him they would not hire her because of her age. Fred called up Kresses and persuaded them to hire her, despite her age. They created a special job for her. She carried large bills ($20) from the cash registers to upstairs where they were changed. Large bills were not allowed to be kept in the cash registers. During her spare time, she restocked and arranged the stock.

A bit later Mildred worked at her parents' Sinclair service station. She checked the oil, added it when necessary, pumped gas, put air in tires, cleaned windshields, and changed tires. May bought her three sets of covereralls. One pair was white with red and gold buttons down the front. Another pair was green and the third was white. One of the reasons the boys at the air station liked to trade at the Sinclair was because of her. Her parents worked long hours at the station, so Mildred fixed both lunch and dinner, which she took to them.

Besides Kresses and the Sinclair station, Mildred worked on the weekends in 1942 at the Drug store at Walnut and 8th St. She was the cashier in the cosmetics section. She also worked as a cashier at the airbase post-exchange in the summer of 1942.

Mildred went to Roosevelt Junior High School and Field Kindley Memorial High. She graduated in 1943. In high school she was a member of the Tillies, which was the pep club that her sister had also belonged. She was also in the high school orchestra. She played the clarinet. Bob Walton, who was a friend of Ed Jr., taught her to play all through high school. Another of the school organizations to which she belonged was the Waitress club, which was for sophomore girls. One was invited to be a member. In 1942 Mildred was elected secretary of the National Association of Student Counsels. They had a convention at Denver, Colorado which she attended. She was elected secretary because she could take dictation at 60 words per minute. Unlike Rosemary and her mother, Mildred was not fond of sewing. This was due in part because in her home economics course in junior high school, the teacher made her re-do the ricks in an item she was working on. That made for a lot of work and took all the enjoyment out of it.

When Ed Jr. was in the Navy at Christmas, 1942, he sent Mildred a red indian Cape which he bought at the House of Elinor in Miami Beach, Fla. It was a swanky place. Mildred wore the cape to dances and other fancy occasions for years afterwards.

After high school Mildred, like her sister, went to St. Mary's College in Leavenworth, Kansas. She started in the fall of 1943. While there she was given a series of articles and questions on the Catholic faith. She was asked as part of the church outreach program to help publicize the material. She got the Coffeyville Journal to publish them.

Mildred switched to Kansas State at Manhattan, Kansas after 1 1/2 years because St. Mary's was an all-girls school. Mildred wanted to be where the boys were. She had been secretary to the St. Marys college president, who was a nun. The nun told Mildred she would lose her soul by going to a secular school. Instead of losing a soul, she gained one, that of Ray Throckmorton, who married her in 1946. Before long, her first child (Trip) was born. She had not gotten her degree before marrying and having her child. But she was determined to get it, since both her brother and mother had been sending her money to pay for her education. She graduated in 1948 with a major in psychology and sociology.

ED SR AND MAY'S WORK IN THE 1940S AND 1950S. In 1942 the lot on which Ed Sr. and Maye's storage business was located was sold by its owner, Dr. C. S. Campbell to the Safeway food chain. A Safeway store was erected on the spot. When the garage business ended, Ed Sr. and Maye took a vacation to Colorado. When they returned Ed Sr. went for a short time with the Coffeyville Loan and Investment Co.

Then Ed Sr. went back into business for himself by buying the service station or rather the business at 815 West 8th St., Coffeyville, from Fred Kistler Oil Co. Ed Sr. did not own the land or building and he had to buy his supplies from Fred. Ed operated the station as the Terrar Filling Station. (Wade, 1958). The station was distinguished by having a sign with a car on it. The car was outlined in neon lights. At night the lights made the wheels of the car look like they were rolling down the road. Just as in the garage business, Maye helped operate the station by keeping the books.

Fred Kistler did not charge them rent. He made money by charging them 1/2 cents on each gallon of gas he delivered. They got a truck load daily. They also had to buy the tires, batteries and oil which Fred distributed. Fred brought May candy each month because the business was going so well. Ed and May were making about $500 per month in profit for themselves. The station required a big ledger book. One took the cash register or charge book and made work sheets. May did all of this. During the period they operated it, there were two robberies. One time the robber got no money. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.19, 6/73, MMGT).

Gas stations were closing down because the men who ran them were going off to the war or getting government jobs that paid higher wages. This was why Ed Sr. and May got the station. The stations that remained opened, such as the Terrars's, did a booming business. The government allowed them to stay open only 6 days per week, 12 hours per day. The Terrars operated from 7:00 in the morning until 7:00 at night. At the end of the day Ed Sr. and May would be very tired. If they did not get away, people would come until 10:00 pm. Once the Terrar's next door neighbor, who did not trade at the station, had a friend visiting, who got a flat tire on Sunday. May refused to change it because they worked too hard and need rest. Another time, Ed Sr. was cross and complaining one night and May answered, "I am just as tired as you." That hushed him up. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.2, 5/30/73, MMGT).

Gas was rationed because it was needed for the planes and because people at refineries had gone to war and there was a reduced production. On the first day of rationing cars were lined up for two blocks to buy gas at the station. According to May the rationing system worked well at first, but toward the end of the war the "government made liars out of people." (Terrar, 1969-1979, 31.1, 5/30/73, MMGT). People would misreport to get more coupons to get more gas.

The boys at the airbase would give Ed extra ration tickets for him to distribute to those in need. According to both May and Mildred, Ed never sold the coupons. He maintained his honesty.

May believed morals changed in Coffeyville during the war in part because the airbase was built there. There was drinking, partying, people being unfaithful to their spouses. In World War I families were not allowed to live at the base but in World War II they were allowed to live there. May thought this was a disadvantage. The "boys did not give their all." Lots of children were born.

After the war for about a year and one-half starting in 1946 Ed Jr. took over the operation of the station. Ed Jr. and his new family were living at 201 Central St. at that time. Ed Jr. joined the Rotary club in Coffeyville about 1946. The Rotary club was something of an exclusive organization. Just one member of a profession in any particular city can join it. Ed won membership because he was proprietor of a filling station.

In 1951 Ed Sr. sold the station and went back to selling automobiles until 1958, when he retired. He commented, "Over the years I've sold about every make of car handled in Coffeyville." (Wade, 1958). Between 1956 and 1958 he was employed by Hal Bray Buick Co.

In the early 1950s Ed and Maye moved to 206 West 4th from the house at 312 West 4th St. in which they had raised their family. The house at 206 West 4th was larger and it had a both a garage apartment and an upstairs apartment, which they rented. In the 1950s Ed engaged in various civic activities. He served on the hospital board and helped with building the hospital. His name is on a plaque there. (Terrar, 1969-1979, 28, 4/9-12/71, MMGT). In the 1950s Ed Sr. also worked on the election board.

Ed died unexpectedly at age 73 in the early morning of Sunday, October 11, 1964 at the family home at 206 W. 4th St. The day before, Saturday, he had helped Maye clean up the whole house in the morning. In the afternoon he had collected American Legion dues. Then Maye's cousins, the Steinberger girls (Nora and Stella), had come to dinner. According to Maye they were big ones for making a fuss over Ed. Ed woke up sweating about 4:10 a.m. on Sunday and by 5:00 a.m. he was dead. When he woke he went to the bathroom. As he was coming back to bed, Maye asked him if he was up and he said yes. He told her he woke sweating and had dried off in the bathroom. He lied down. Maye asked, "Well, you are not taking the flu?" He said no. He said it might be his shingles and asked Maye to massage his shingles. That was not it and as he lay down, he picked up both feet. There was no circulation in the extremities. It was horrifying. He asked Maye to rub his arms. Blood was not getting through. She turned around to get alcohol. When she looked at him again he had his hand on his heart and his eyes were closed. She felt he had gone to sleep and she went to call Doctor Bob Dickinson. The doctor came and said he was gone and Maye panicked, briefly, and then got a hold of herself. She told herself that it is better to go that way. The doctor asked her what undertaker she wanted and they left the room. The priest came at 5:30 a.m. and Maye knelt on the other side of the bed. Then the priest went back to Holy Name to say the 6:00 a.m. mass. Maye went on the porch to see if the funeral people had come and then realized that Ed was alone and said to herself, "What's wrong with me. I only have a few minutes more." She went back, knelt down, kissed him, and petted him. He had gotten on his left side and she moved him to the right. She put her hand under his neck.His funeral at Holy Name Catholic Church was officiated at by Father Philip White. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery.

After Ed died, Maye continued to live in Coffeyville for about a year. Then she sold her place and moved to the Chicago area. It was not that she did not like Coffeyville and her many friends and relatives there. But she wanted to be nearer her children and grandchildren. Chicago had the advantage of not only being the home of Mildred, her youngest child, but of the King-Bruwaert House in Hinsdale, a retirement home for professional (working) women. King-Bruwaert was a plus in May's eyes because it was endowed. She had about $40,000 to live on for the rest of her life. She feared hardening of the arteries and senility, which would drain her finances. At King-Bruwaert they took care of senile people just like children. She cried when she thought this might happen to her. King-Bruwaert was also a plus because May was proud of having been a working woman: secretary in her younger days, then book keeper for the garage and service station. She lived at King-Bruwaert for 15 years and enjoyed the companionship of her fellow working women. She died in 1979 but some of her lives on in her children and grandchildren and in the world which she helped make.

^[1]Edward Terrar Sr.'s ancestors are traced at some length in Terrar, 1970.

^[2]I some times use brackets [....] when I am quoting material. The passage within the brackets is my addition and not part of the quoted material.

^[3]Miles, 1970s, 8, puts the date of conversion as 1907.

^[4]I am not sure why Ned paid 3-9-0, when his uncle sent him a pre-paid ticket.

^[5]Anonymous, 1908, mentions that the Gergens lived in Iowa for a period after being in Nebraska and before coming to Kansas in 1871.

^[6]Anonymous, 1909, mentions the location of their farm as three miles southwest of Cherryvale. The 1880 Federal Census has Peter Gergen Sr. and family living at Drum Creek Township in Montgomery co., Ks.

^[7]Terrar, 1969-1979, 30, 4/9-12/71, MMGT, stated there was one mass per month. Terrar, 1969-1979, 10, 11/26/69, MMGT, stated there was one mass every six months.

^[8]I neglected to ask Maye if this was information she had obtained from her parents that specifically applied to them. It is possible that Maye read or heard of this from general sources and that her people had easier access to the church services.

^[9]Terrar, 1969-1979, 58, 3/12-18/75, MMGT, quoting from an obituary.

^[10]Rosie's obituary states the family went to Drum Creek township and then moved to Elk City in 1872.

^[11]Rosie's obituary states that the family moved from Independence, Missouri to Drum Creek township Kansas in September, 1869. But U.S. National Archives, Louisa Bailey Craig, Widow's U.S. Pension Application # 433,472 for Union Veteran, states that Rosie's father died in December, 1869 during the move. Perhaps part of the family moved earlier and Rosie's father stayed behind in Missouri to finish up the farming chores for the year.

^[12]Another source says the family moved to northern Kansas in 1877.

^[12]Montgomery County Kansas, Courthouse Records,Book B, p. 223.

^[13]The U.S. Federal Census suggests that in 1880 they were living in Diamond Valley Township (Morris County), Kansas, not Smith county. Perhaps they were in Smith county some of the time; but also in Morris county some of the time.

^[14]Later Lena gave the tureen to her daughter, Irene (Breese) Welch. Irene's brother, Jim, was upset that he did not get it.

^[15]My notes say that Maye and Ed bought the house in 1916, but they were not married yet, so it is questionable that Ed put in any money.

^[16]The prayer book is Rev. J. Milner, All for Jesus or a Manual of Prayer (Indianapolis: Krieg Border, 1906).

^[17]There is probably a mix-up in the dates, because he would have been baptized prior to going to Communion?

^[18]Edward M. Coffman, The War to End All Wars; Smythe, Pershing.

^[19]Several books that would fill in the general history about Edward's division are: George H. English, History of the 89th Division, USA from its Organization in 1917, through its Operations in the World War and the Occupation of Germany; C. J. Masseck and Frank Wilbur Smith, Jr., Official Brief History, 89th Division, USA, 1917-1919 (1919); James H. Ross, History of Co. E, 355 infantry, American Expeditionary Force (1919). The American Expeditionary Force's records are in Record Group 120 at the National Archives.

^[20]Paul F. Braim, The Test of Battle: The American Expeditionary Forces in the Meuse-Argonne Campaign (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1987). Braim believes the AEF's battlefield performance did not convince the Germans or the Allies that the Americans could conduct major offensive operations.

^[20]The armistace was actually signed 11/11/1918.

^[21]Ed Terrar, Jr. made the following effort at translating:

How is in (a town). Thank you it goes very good. You walk (worin gehen Sies). I go into the theater (ich gehe in spargieren gehen). ok (Erlauben) I wish you were with me when I go (Sie dan ich mit I know gehe. Want you go (Wallen Sie spargieren gehen). I go with day (Ja am Nachmittag). Sometimes I call for you (Wann kunn ich Sie abholen). round eight watch evenings (Um acht Uho. Abends!) I am sorry dear but I can not sorrow (Ich bedaure rehr. abr Ich Kann nicht hommen). What do you wish (Was Wunschen Sie?) Maye. Ha. I have a drill weekly (Haben Sie unim Reiscpan). Wann verrinest. Du. I dont know Adieu leben. You may be sure (Sie wohl).

^[22]A newspaper clipping, however, says she died on a Sunday; maybe Ed worked Sundays? In other accouns, diarahea and cholera had something to do with the death.

^[23]The belief of the vets in forcing the bonus was that they had been drafted into the war and been paid below standard wages. The capitalists make great profits from the war. Why should the working people who had the hardest part of the war not also share in the profit? Why should the capitalists profit at the expense of working people.

^[24]Edward Terrar, Jr. "Interview" (July 18, 1992). (Not sure where this is in my notes)

^[25]Edward Terrar, Jr. "Interview" (October 15, 1969), p. 2. (not sure where this is in my notes)

^[26]Edward Terrar, Jr. "Interview" (July 18, 1992). (Not sure where this is in my notes)

^[26]Edward Terrar, Jr. "Interview" (October 15, 1969), p. 2. (not sure where this is in my notes)

^[26]Earlier Maye had mentioned that Edward liked to play a card gave named 7-up, but she corrected herself later, saying it was "high five."

^[27] According to Ed Terrar Jr. (1969-1979, 69, 5/10/79, EFJr), they used the $475 which they received from the Veterans Bonus to pay for it. Ed Sr. was reluctant to go into the business because it required him paying all the money he had and he was afraid of losing it. May was less reluctant. Maye put 75 cents from the bonus in her black storage box with a note stating that if the garage went under, at least not the whole Veterans Bonus would be lost. However, as noted earlier, the veterans bonus may have gone for the addition to the house.

^[28](T-1) Edward Tyrer (1829-1890?) born in Amlwch, county of Anglesey, North Wales, the son of a miner. Edward emigrated as a young man to the Rhondda Valley, which was booming economically. He was a coalminer for 40 years or more. He raised six children. He liked (maybe too much) Milner Bitter (beer) at the Tylorstown Hotel after work. He had a loud voice. He went to Horeb (originally called Haron) Welsh Baptist, Pontygwaith. Many working people liked to dress up when they had their pictures taken. Edward would maybe have given us a more interesting picture if he had posed in his work clothes.
(T-5) Edward Francis Terrar (b. 1920) doing a different type of mining. This picture was taken in 1955 when Edward was working for Congressman Bob Wilson from San Diego, raising his family and going to law school at nights. On the weekend he would shut the door to the bedroom in the family apartment in Kaywood, Maryland and brief cases. His law books, notebooks and pen can be seen in this picture. Out the window is the apartment building that was behind our apartment. The desk he was studying at was an old one made of birds-eye maple that he had bought. Always being handy with tools, he re-finished it himself. For four years (1954-1957) he spent his weekends at this desk. For almost 40 years (1946-1983) he spent his best hours of the day behind a desk earning a living. There are many pictures of Edward, but not of him working at the office. Why not?

A-23    A-24    A-24    A-25    A-26    A-27    A-28    A-29    A-30
A-31    A-32    A-33    A-34    A-35    A-36    A-37    A-38    A-39
A-40    A-41    A-42    A-43    A-44    A-45    A-46    A-47    A-48
A-49    A-50    A-51    A-52    A-53    A-54    A-55    A-56    A-57
A-58    A-59    A-60

A-59 A-60

ABOVE: The Rea-Patterson Milling Co. in Coffeyville. Ed Terrar, Sr. went to work there as a laborer at 7:00 am on Dec. 12, 1914. He loaded flower sacks on box cars at a rail spur. He worked New Year's day, 1915, and a few days later he was laid off. On Jan. 7, 1915 he started working there on the night shift. It lasted three months. He worked six days per week at $1.50 per day (15 cents per hour).

RIGHT: Ed Sr. loved to go to the movies (and probably Maye). By the 1930s there were three movies in Coffeyville. One was the Ismo. It also went by other names at various times. Ed Jr., Rosemary and Mildred also used to go to the movies there.

ABOVE: Ed Terrar, Sr. at Camp Funston, Ks., where he took training for the war.

BELOW: Ed Terrar, Sr. is probably not in this picture, but it would have been a familiar scene.

ABOVE: Barefooted Edward Jr. and Rosemary Terrar at Potwin, Ks. in 1923. In the background are factory stacks where Ed Sr. may have worked.

BELOW: Sitting in their wagon about 1928 in front of their house at 312 W. 4th St., Coffeyville are left to right, Ed Jr, the pet rabbit, Mildred and Rosemary Terrar.

ABOVE: The Interurban Building, home of the street-car company in Coffeyville. Maye Gergen worked as a book-keeper there from 1914 to about 1919. She got to ride for free. The Interurban went to Cherryvale and other neighboring towns.

ABOVE: From the time he was 9 years old in 1929, Ed Terrar, Jr. was a newspaper boy for the Journal. When he first started out, the paper was printed at the Traction Building (Interurban Bldg). In the new building, the presses were in the basement. The paper was printed at 3:30 pm. daily.

BELOW: This is the Dale Hotel in Coffeyville. Ed Jr. had a paper route in the downtown area. He sold about 10 papers per day. He had a few regular customers, such as clerks in stores. Then he would stand in front of the Dale Hotel and try to sell papers until about 5:30. The paper cost 5 cents per copy.

ABOVE and BELOW LEFT: Ed Terrar Jr. started working Saturday nights at Columbia Drug Store # 2 in 1934. This was the summer after he finished ninth grade at Roosevelt Jr. High. He was a car hop. He worked from 6:00 to 11:00 pm. He made $2 per night. Later he was a soda jerk behind the counter and worked nightly. That was at Columbia Drug Store # 1, which is shown above and below left. He worked there until 1938-1939, when he went to Junior College. On evenings when there was not much business, Ross Ettor, the pharmacist at Columbia # 2 and Ed Jr. and others would talk. Ettor wanted Ed to become a pharmacist. If Ed had shown any interest, Ettor might have helped pay his way through school. But Ed Jr. never liked the idea of being a pharmacist. As Ed Jr. later noted, through the years he has had many opportunities. Some of the opportunities he took, some he did not.

ABOVE: Ed Jr. in March 1942 in his flight suit standing in front of one of the planes he used to fly at the Fairfax Naval Air Station near Kansas City, Ks.

ABOVE: Edward Terrar, Jr.'s family crest done by Bill Sprague, next-door neighbor, about 1964.

Above

Edward Terrar Sr. in his pit clothes (suspenders, cap) far right, taken at Mystic, Iowa about 1914. On back is written in his hand, "Margaret a picture of a Big Chunck of coal at the mine I worked before coming down to Okla. I am inthe Right hand corner in my pit clothes."

xx Edward

Below

Picture of terrace houses in Tylorstown, Rhonda Valley, South Wales where Ed Terrar Sr. was born and raised.

            Autobiographical Letter of David Terrar (1862-1952) (1945)
            in his own handwriting and spelling. He tells about being
            a worker and his family. The text of David's letter is
            typed up in the main text.

            Another autobiographical letter of David Terrar (1862-1952). The
            outside back of the envelop in which David put the letter has
            written on it in Dave' hand, "Read it all and you will see it all."
            The text is typed up in the main text.

letter (October 1, 1865) from George Craig at Fort
Smith, Ark. to his wife, Louisa bailey craig.
George was a Union soldier, writing home to
his wife, toward the end of the Civil War. On
the top left first page, there is an engraved
person on a horse wearing a helmet with a plum
(like a Roman soldier) and having a spear in
his hand. He is reigning the horse back, so
that it is prancing. It could be that he is
killing a dragon. I think it is written in
George's own handwriting (see his signature on
the enlistment papers). The text of George's
letter is typed up in the main text.

enlistment papers of george craig in the Union army (1864)

Louisa Bailey Craig's Application for a Pension based on George Craig's military service.

Above

Ed Terrar, Sr. (with bow tie) in about 1942 stands in front of his Sinclair Gas Station at 815 W. Eighth in Coffeyville, Ks. with an unidentified customer. The station was distinguished by a neon sign, barely visible in the upper righthand corner. The sign was in the form of a small car. The lights blinked off and on, which it look like the wheels of the car were rolling.

Below

The American Legion color guard parades east in the 100 block of West Eighth in Coffeyville, Ks. about 1938. Ed Terrar, Sr. is carrying the American flag. Terrar immigrated to America, married a local girl, and served in World War I.

Nineteenth Century Migration of Gergens, Craigs and Baileys

farm land in edgar co., Ill. owned by George Craig and by George and Juda Bailey in the 1850s. Upper map shows the townships which make up Edgar Co. The lower map shows land in Shiloh Township, town 15 N, Range 13 W. (Atlas of Edgar Co., Ill. and the State of Illinois, Philadelphia: Warner and Higgins, Pub., 1870, p. 121)

LETTER OF ROSETTA CRAIG GERGEN
TO HER DAUGHTER MAYE GERGEN TERRAR

September Suday even 1922
well may and family i have bin aut to meyers I
spent the day and it is now 7 a clock just got
home how is Rosemary and the rest of you i am
fealing real well i staid all last night with
Father & Miss Martin v. I will stay at my own
home tonight as i want to start a letter to you
and sleep in the morning til a get ready to get
up i am looking for Bill to come down he said
he got a letter from this morning. He was at
late mass & i think i will cum to you about
next Saterday.

Elk City

Atlas of Montgomery Co., Ks. (1881)

Map of Cherryvale, Ks. showing Peter Gergen Sr.'s Farm

1840 MAP SHOWING SAARBURG AND TRIER, GERMANY
(Alsweiler is near Saarburg)
(Universal Atlas, T. Greenleaf Pub., 1840)

MAP OF PERKINSVILLE, NY, SHOWING FARM OF
PETER GERGEN, SR. It shows the farms of
Peter Gergen and Mrs. Gergen (A Topographical
Map of teuben Co., NY, ed. M. Levy,
Philadelphia: J. E. Gillette, 1857).

Symbol on Gravestone of Will and Rosetta Gergen at Cherryvale, Kansas. It has a hammer and hatchet crossed with the letters "S" "F" "W" "C"

Note of Maye Gergen Terrar giving some information about the family history. The last part of it is in shorthand, which was one of Maye's skills.

Atlas of Montgomery Co., Ks. (1881)

Peter Gergen Sr.'s Farm

Map with Some of George Craig's Land in Edgar Co., Ill.

autobiographical Letter of david terrar (1962-1952) (1945)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 = Hamilton co., Oh. (cs=Cincinnati)
2 = Franklin Township in Clermont co., Oh. (cs=Batavia)
3 = Bracken co., Ky. (cs=Brookville)
4 = Bourbon co., Ky. (1804) (cs=Paris)
5 = Woodford co., Ky. (1820s) (cs=Versailles)
6 = Hendricks co., Ind. (cs=Danville)
7 = cs=Greencastle, Ind.
8 = cs=Paris, Ill.
9 = Cass co., Neb. (Rockbluff PO, cs=Plattsmouth)
10 = Linn co., Ks. (cs=Mound City)
11 = Independance=cs, Montgomery co.

Nineteenth Century Migration of Gergens, Craigs and Baileys

Peter Gergen, Sr. = Alsweiler, Germany to Perkinsville, NY, 1847
Perkinsville, N.Y. to Neb., 1862
Neb. to Montgomery co., 1869

Will and Rosetta (Craig) Gergen = Mont. co. to Smith Center, 1875
Smith Ctr. to Cherryvale, 1881

John and Jane Craig = Pa. to Hamilton co., Oh. (by 1817)
                                                Hamilton co., Oh. to Bracken co., Ky., 1818
                                                Bracken co., Ky. to Hamilton co., Oh., 1822
                                                Hamilton co.to Franklin Twnshp, Clermont co.Oh. 1824
                                                Franklin Twp, Clermont co.Oh. to Edgar co.,Ill. 1836

George W. & Louisa (Bailey) Craig = Edgar co.to Rockbluff,Cass co., 1858
                                                Rockbluff, Cass Co.,Neb. to Council Bluffs, Io. 1862
                                                Council Bluffs, Io. to Linn co. Ks, 1869
                                                Linn co., Ks. to Elk City, Ks., 1872
                                                Elk City, Ks. to Smith Center/Kensington, Ks.

George Bailey = Bourbon co., 1804, m. Julia Howard, Woodford co.,Ky.1825
                                                Woodford co., Ky. to Hendricks co., Ind., 1834
                                                Hendricks co., Ind. to Putnam co., Ind., 1837
                                                Putnam co., Ind. to Edgar co., Ill. 1841

COFFEYVILLE, KS. (1910s-1960s)

MAP LOCATIONS

1. 312 W. 4th St. (Terrar family home, 1920s-1948)

2. 206 W. 4th St. (Terrars' home, 1948-1964)

3. Holy Name Church/School

4. AA Garage

5. Traction Building (Office of Maye Gergen, Old Coffeyville Journal
Bldg.)

6. Post Office

7. New Coffeyville Journal Building

8. National Refinery (now Coop)

9. Fairground, Forest Park (National Guard horses)

10. Natatorium

11. Terrar Gas Station, 815 W. 8th St.

12. Field McKinley Memorial High School

13. Rosevelt Junion High School

14. Columbia Drug Store

15. 201 Central St.

16. Fairview/Restlawn Cemetery (Calvary Cemetery)

17. Pfister Park ("The Hill"), airport

18. Sinclair Refinery

CHERRYVALE, KS. (1890S-1930S)

MAP LOCATIONS

            The map is copied in part from The Official State Atlas of Kansas
            (L. H. Everts & Co., 1887). Some of the identifications are from
            Maye Gergen Terrar and others from Hitchcock, 1971.

1. School on School St. and Main St.

2. Woodmen Circle Lodge Hall, 115 1/2 North Neosho, East Side
            (upstairs), (shared with GAR, Odd Fellows, AOUW, etc; below was
            Nichel Plate Restaurant; the Woodmen were also at 111 1/2 East
            Main, S. Side of street and at 114 1/2 N. Neosho W. Side of the
            street, at different times). Across the street at 108 N. Neosho
            was the Cherryvale Republican newspaper, at least at certain
            periods.

3. High School attended by Maye Gergen on corner of Montgomery and 4th
St.

4. Maye Gergen born at 4th and Depot, building # 12 on plat, on SW
corner

5. Buildings 9, 10, 11 on Plat on Depot between 4th and 5th was Gergen

Corn Mill (PW Gergen Mill; later called Farmer's Exchange Mill),

210-212 South Depot on West Side; Santa Fe Railroad station at

some point in same 210-211 Depot Bldg.

6. Railroad round house

7. Lena's place on Neosho St. (417 S. Neosho St. in 1930s), one up from
            the corner of Clark, # 5 on plat. Lena lived at 217 Labette in
            1920s (misc. # 1, p. 72); Will Gergen according to on source died
            at 218 Labette

8. No. 1 on plat at corner of Liberty and Sixth St., Barbara and Anthony
Blase's house,

9. Will Gergen's house, first they rented at 409 Independence;
later they bought and lived until 1922 a bit up the street at 413
Independence, it was across from the Catholic Church;

10. Roman Catholic church at Liberty and Independence

11. Peter William Gergen Sr. bought about 1900, a 4 room house at 318
4th St. near the Catholic Church when he retired from farming
in the country.

Gergen = .   .   .   .   .
Bailey = ..................
Craig = -   -   -   -   -

1862   1847   1869   1858   1869
1872 1841 1836 1834 1820s
1790s
xxx

PREFACE

This history is largely a continuation of what Ed Terrar, Sr. and Maye Gergen Terrar started or rather, continued. Maye Gergen's mother and grandmother kept alive the family's oral history and passed down a Civil War letter. Ed Sr. and Maye liked doing family history. They had a bent for history. They thought in historical terms, both at the family and national level. Maye kept many letters, diaries, pictures, and other materials that have helped fill out this history. They put together a genealogical tree in which they took much pleasure.

For a few years from 1969 to 1972 I worked on the family history. During that time Maye supplied me with the names and addresses of all the relatives (collateral descendants) that she had. They were numerous. I wrote to them and she wrote to them and got them to fill out family group sheets on their families. I ended up with probably 500 family group sheets. We have a lot of relatives out there. Those relatives passed on information and pictures about our ancestors.

During the 1969 to 1972 period I made good use of the National Archives in Washington D.C. It has the nineteenth century census records, Civil War pension and service records, and ship passenger lists. These helped fill out the picture for the period. The oral tradition or memory that Maye and Ed had for the nineteenth century had grown pretty slim.

When I was working on the history, Maye wrote me frequently and visited us in Washington D.C. a number of times. I wrote down the history that had been passed down to her and the history that she had observed and made during her own life.

This is the first but I hope not the last draft that I do of the Terrar-Gergen history. Family history, like all history, is on-going. It looks to both the past and future. In the past, some of the areas that are ripe for further research and discovery are Rosemary (Foster) and Mildred (Throckmorton) Terrar's early years. When the next draft of this history is done, it will need letters, diaries, pictures, and memories of what it was like for them in their Coffeyville days. It was easier for me to do Ed Terrar's early years because he is right here.

In the even further past, there is still much that can be learned about our ancestors, such as the Craigs in Pennsylvania in the 1790s. When did they come to Pennsylvania and from where? The Baileys were in Kentucky in the early 1800s. When did they come there and from where? The Terrars (Tyrers) were in Lancashire, England in the 1700s and 1600s. What can be found about them? The Gergens were in Germany in the 1600s-1800s. What can be found about them. The Elias and related families were in South Wales in the 1700s and 1800s. What can be found out about them. It is all a gig-saw puzzle. The answers are in the church, land, census, and other records preserved in court houses and archives.

Maybe in time I will get back and do some further looking in the areas mentioned above. Maybe it will be someone from a future generation who has an historical bent.

Maye, Ed Sr. (and myself) were and are not merely antiquarians. They made and preserved history for the use and benefit of themselves and their descendants and relatives. The point of their history was not merely to record it, but to use it in making future history. In the appendix is a letter from Maye about family history. It is typical of her enthusiasm and encouragment for the subject.

three-page Letter from Maye Gergen Terrar. This letter is of the many that Maye wrote meme. She was a secretary by trade and was proud of her typing, her commission as a notary public, her shorthand, and other office abilities. It is typical in being single spaced, on both sides of the paper. She did not knowingly waste paper or anything else. The letter is also typical in the information and encouragement it gives for the family history.

ABOVE: Note in Maye Gergen Terrar's handwriting on a envelope which contains 75 cents. Ed Sr. got a bonus for his military service and the family put it into buying the A & A Garage.

ABOVE: Edward Terrar's Jr.'s family crest as "granted" by Bill Sprague, our next-door neighbor about 1964. Ed Jr., as signified in the crest, liked to play cards (bridge, gin); he was a good carpenter, painter, and generally handy in keeping the house in good order (hammer, screw driver, paint brush); he liked to smoke cigars; and he did not have much respect for the Washington Post newspaper ("a bas le Post!).

ABOVE LEFT: (Left to right) Rosemary, Mildred and Ed Jr. Terrar at Mount Vernon, Va. (home of George Washington) in 1935.

ABOVE RIGHT: (Left to right) Mildred, Ed Jr. and Rosemary Terrar on the same 1935 trip. They are standing across from the Lincoln Memorial, in front of the reflecting pond. In the background is the Washington Monument. It all looks the same today.

On their 1935 vacation the Terrars first went to New York City and maybe Niagra Falls (Ed Terrar, Jr. is a bit fuzzy about this part of the trip). In Pennsylvania, Ed Sr. got stopped by the police on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for speeding. At Carbondale, Pa. they visited Ed Sr.'s uncle, William Tyrrell (Terrar) and his cousins.

After New York the Terrars visited Washington D.C. In Washington they stayed on Haynes Point, which in those days had many tourist cabins. The streets were laid out so that each had the name of a state. Ed Jr. thinks they may have gone to a Washington Senator baseball game. This was the era of Walter Johnson, the famous pitcher. Johnson's mother was from Coffeyville, and the Terrar's knew her. The Terrar's visited Walter Johnson's brother, who had a gas station on Connecticut Ave. The station was across the street from what is now the University of the District of Columbia. It is still there. The Terrars also visited Walter Johnson's mother, who lived in Germantown, Md. They probably also visited Walter Johnson. At some point Ed Jr. got a baseball autographed by Walter Johnson. The autograph is now faded.

After their visit in D.C. the Terrars visited Ed Sr.'s great aunt and cousins in Frostburg, Md. On the way back to Coffeyville, they also visited Navou, Ill., where the Mormans had had a settlement before going to Utah. Across the Mississippi river in Missouri, they visited the home of Mark Twain.

ABOVE LEFT: Cover to the account book which Maye and Ed Sr. started keeping about 1927. The book is the same as school children used to do their compositions. ABOVE RIGHT (and following pages): Some accounts in Maye's handwriting.

ABOVE: Will Gergen was a good mechanic. He worked as the night foreman in the Santa Fe roundhouse in Cherryvale. He would sometimes take his daughter Maye Gergen to work with him. She would sit in the engine cab while it was going around in the round house.

BELOW: Part of the letter from Maye Gergen about Rosie Craig Gergen's first pregnancy.

ABOVE: In about 1912 at age 19 Maye worked for the Cherryvale Republican newspaper. She made enough money to go to business school.

BELOW: One of the Interurban cars. Maye Gergen helped run the system.

ABOVE: On March 30, 1915 Ed Terrar Sr. started work in the barrel house at the National Refinery. He recorded in his diary that he fought a fire there. Fires would start in the oil storage tanks.