By Lee H. Holmes - January 1963

It has been suggested that I take a look up the family tree and write down what  I see. At the same time I have been warned that if I look too far I might be embarrassed. The fact of the matter is that I am embarrassed that I am unable to see very far. I only wish Grandmother Pond and Grandfather Holmes were here and that we could have a good talk about their family backgrounds. There are many questions I would like to ask them.

Grandfather, John Holmes died when my father was seven years of age and left my grandmother with four children, my father being the oldest. The weather had turned warm in April and grandfather took off his winter underwear and rode horseback into town. Before he returned the temperature took a sudden drop and he caught cold, went into pneumonia and died. He came from Denmark.  He was Adventist by faith and that is about all I know about him.

The 160 acre homestead on which my paternal grandparents lived was located about 41/2  miles south and west of Unity in the town of Unity.

Grandmother Holmes’ maiden name was Nichols. She came from Farmer's Valley near Sparta. The house she lived in was still standing several years ago. When we drove up the valley we saw it vacated, unpainted, but still standing. I don’t know about the family Grandmother came from except for one sister, Jeddie Thurston. She lived on a farm south and west of Sparta. She had one son, Willie, and two or three daughters. My brother, Peter and I drove down to visit them with Grandfather Lydicksen when we were about sixteen years of age.

Yes, Grandmother Holmes married a second time. Her second husband also came from Denmark. I understand he knew Grandfather Holmes. I remember his saying that he was a boy in school when the Germans captured Schleswig and the the Danish school books were exchanged for books in German, so he could speak Danish, German and English. Oh, his name was Peter Lydicksen. He helped dig the railroad tunnel at Tunnel City. He was rough and tough, but a hard worker and good provider. When grandmother attended church she found the door locked when she returned. So she didn’t dare go to church again, but she did secretly save some of the egg money and give it to the church. In later years he mellowed and at one time he visited us at Phillips and actually attended church. Peter enjoyed taking him with him on drives and he was amused when they went into a restaurant and grandfather would gather up any extra silver and hand it back to the waitress and say I won’t need these. He could get along very well with just one knife, one fork, and one spoon.

Four children born to this second marriage, Andrew, Peter, Inga, and Henereta. Aunt Henereta married Thomas Benning and died soon after their first son, Ray was born. I was very young then but I still remember the sad funeral. Aunt Inga married Herbert Benning. I don’t believe that these two Benning families were related. Aunt Inga is still living at Unity. Her son, Clifford and family operate the farm one mile east of Unity.

Now I must go back and tell you a little about my father’s brothers and sisters. Aunt Rosa married Burt Tuttle. She has been dead these many years. There were several children but I have never met any of them. Uncle Jim had a farm just a half mile west of our home farm. He went west and tried ranching in Montana and it was while he was there that my Aunt Hannah went out and married him. They soon returned and operated cheese factories. The last one they owned burned to the ground without insurance coverage and Uncle Jim and family moved to Rib Lake where he worked in the lumbers mill until the time of his retirement. Then they moved to Wisconsin Rapids with their son, James who never married. Uncle Jim became a victim of sugar diabetes and had to have both limbs amputated before the time of his death. Aunt Hannah still lives with James at Wisconsin Rapids.

Uncle John was a cheese maker. Her married our Aunt Clara of Antigo and they operated a cheese factory near Antigo. They had one daughter and three sons. Uncle John died during the flu epidemic of 1918 and Aunt Clara became a practical nurse and provided for her family. One of our church families spending a few weeks in Florida recently met the manager of a night club there. He said his name was Lyle Holmes and they told him their pastor’s name was Holmes. Then he asked if it was Lee Holmes and when they said yes, he told them that I was his cousin.  It would be interesting to write of all our cousins but that would make this account too long.

So now let us look at the other side of the tree. My Grandmother Pond born My 14,1845 came over with her family from England when she was just a little girl. She was always proud of her English blood but liked to tell how she disliked England for some unknown reasons. She came from a prominent family but was disowned when she married Grandfather, John Pond. Her maiden name was Clemence.  She claimed to be related to the famous New England preacher, Beescher (Beecher?), father of Harriet Beecher Stowe.

My Grandmother and Grandfather Pond came from Akron, Ohio to Wisconsin and settled on a farm about three miles South and West of Unity. I don’t know whether this was before or after the Civil War. Grandfather Pond was a Civil War Veteran. He kept roll call and I have a mouse eaten copy of the roll he kept. He wrote a fine hand. Grandmother Pond was proud to tell that Grandfather Pond was one of Pritchard’s picked men who captured Jeff Davis at the close of the war.

The government gave the veterans western land. Grandfather’s parcel was in South Dakota and they tired it for a time but were driven out by drought and grasshoppers. Grandmother said the grasshoppers were so bad that they ate the paint off the wagons. Grandfather always said the government gave them land and then dared them to live on it.

Grandfather Pond born July 31,1837 was probably not a very good farmer. He was a carpenter by trade, but evidently the carpenter business not good for he worked on the railroad. When the pay check came grandmother was happy. She would walk into town and be gone several hours. Mother said she and her tow brothers, Uncle Nat and Wesley were afraid to be left alone there in the woods. So they would go upstairs and climb out a window on to the porch and into a tree and cling there until they saw grandmother returning.

Grandfather Pond died of Cancer of the stomach about the time of my mother’s marriage. Both Uncle Nat and Uncle Wesley were carpenters. Nat took his own life when away from home on a carpenter job. He locked himself in his room and shot himself. Uncle Wesley stayed on the farm with grandmother. He built the very fine large farm house that still stands on the farm. I still remember the day Uncle Wesley came down the winding stairs and took a last look. He had Bright’s Disease and was on his way to the Spa in Waukesha for treatment. My father went with him and helped care for him until his death. Grandmother gave his car to father in appreciation of his care. It was about a 1914 model Ford. I can remember how father and Eunice washed and polished it but when it was time to start it in the spring it refused to go. Nobody knew much about motors in those days but finally Uncle Thomas did get it started and you can imagine how excited were were as it took off with a bang. When it rained we had to stop and put the side curtains on and when it got dark we had to get out and turn the gas on and light the lamps with a match, and of course it had to be cranked. Sometimes when we cranked it, it kicked like a vicious mule but it was a great car in that day and quite an improvement over travel to town by a team of work horses.

Mother, Alice Marie Pond was born July 9,1873. She graduated from the Unity High School and that was quite an achievement in that day. The majority never went on to high school. Then mother attended the State Normal School at Oshkosh, Wis. She granduated and taught school for several years before marrying Dad.

Father, Henry Holmes, was born September 17,1873. I remember hearing him tell of courting mother by bicycle and laugh about the time mother lost control of her bicycle, went down the embankment into the creek and father had to rescue her. They were married September 8,1897. They lived in Unity for a time before moving to the farm. Father was a carpenter by trade. He built the George Cook house that Merle was born in. He also built the house on the home farm located about five miles south and west of Unity.

Father and mother were happy together but they worked hard clearing the land and improving the farm. There were great pine stumps to be uprooted and removed to clear the land. There were many of them. There were about two and a half feet in diameter on the average and stood about four feet high. Some of them could be tipped over with a team and rope and tackle and some had to be dynamited first. Then they had to be dragged off the land into whet we called stump funces. Peter and helped stump many acres like this. Then the stones had to be picked up and hauled off and into piles and this was a back aching job.

Mother gave birth to nine children. Four of them died in infancy. So there was sorrow in the home. I remember when May died. We were building the barn at the time. Up until that time there were two log barnes (barns), one for the horses and one for the cows. Father cut and had the logs sawed for the barn and he framed it. So it was a very busy summer and mother expecting a baby. Then ten days after the baby was born mother called the family Doctor to come. The baby was sick, but before he arried Eunice came running out to the barn where we were working telling father to come quick. She died in mother’s arms. The Doctor said here (her) heart valves hadn’t closed. The only time I can remember my father crying was then. He stood looking out the window wiping away the tears with a big red handkerchief.

Eunice was born Oct 31,1898, John Wesley - June 29,1902, Lee- May 6,1903, Peter- March 18,1905, Ray- Dec 3,1906, Henry- Nov.12,1907, Myrtel- July 12,1909, May-June 1912 and Alice - June 26,1914. John Wesley, Ray, Henry, and May died in infancy.

There was sorrow and there was hardship in our family but there were also many very happy experiences. On a cold winter night we would gather around the big round oak heater in the living room and mother would read to us by the light of a kerosene lamp. Many times it was from one of Algier’s books. She was a wonderful reader and when finally she would put the book down and tell us it was bed time we would coax her to read just one more chapter.

On Christmas Eve Grandma and Uncle Wesley would come to our place laden with gifts. We children were shut in a bedroom while they trimmed the tree and placed the gifts under the tree. It seemed to take forever but when finally the door was opened what a happy exciting experience that was.

Father passed away at the age of 64, in January of 1937. He had cancer of the lungs. When it decided at the General Hospital in Madison that they couldn’t do anything more for him we brought him home where he wanted to be. One day we told him how it was and said it is alright with me but it will hardest for mother and I told him we would look after  her. Then he told me how glad he was that Peter and I had gone into the ministry. He said it is the greatest work in the world and I trust you will win many to Christ. I felt, I think, like Isaac must have felt when father Abraham gave him his blessing.

Mother was lonely after the passing of Dad but she was brave. She also died of cancer at the age of 78. It was on Christmas night at mid-night that she quietly slept away. She had lived in an apartment in Unity. She would visit us children from time to time then return to her apartment.   It was in October that we realized that she should not be alone any longer. So we fixed up a room for her and brought a new inner-spring mattress for her bed. Then we called her and asked her if she wouldn’t come and be with us for a time. She seemed so gald for the invitation. She was a wonderful patient, never wanting to be too much care and always appreciative of what we did for her, and Merle and I have always been so glad we could care for her until that day when our Heavenly Father invited her to come and be with him.

Peter was the first to decide to go on to high school. He always had the spirit of adventure and so he led the way. That same fall Myron Taylor held a four weeks revival in the Unity Church and it was then I felt called to the ministry. That meant that I must go on to school. It was not easy to do for I had been out about three years. Mother helped me during Christmas vacation using Peter’s books. So I started in right after the Christmas vacation. At recess that first day the principal asked me if I intended to keep attending school and when I answered yes he told me he thought it would be a waste of time but I kep going and three weeks later took the tests along with the class for he first half of the year and passted all except spelling. There were no school buses in those days and cars were not used in the winters as the roads were not plowed. One winter Peter and I traveled back and forth by skis. The last two years of high school I attended at Marshfield in order to take a foreign language.

Merle and I were married August 15,1925 at the Unity Church. We became interested in each other while attending Epworth League Institute at Chetek, Wisconsin. Merle had graduated from the Normal School at Wausau and had taught for several years. We went to Asbury College at Wilmore, Kentucky. In the meantime Peter also received his call to the ministry and he accompanied us to Asbury.

Asbury College was an independent Methodist College that put much emphasis on a deep religious experience. That first nigh in Wilmore we went out on the porch of our little apartment and looked up at the college on the hill. It was a half mile away but we could hear students praying. They seemed to thin that the louder a student prayed the more religion he had.

Virgil was born at Wilmore the second year we were there May 25,1927 and few weeks later we went up into the mountains of Kentucky to do missionary work for the summer. We were stationed at Wilhurst in bloody Breathett County. The people there lived in poverty. They carried guns and there were shootings. It was a hard but rewarding summer, one that we shall never forget.

That fall we were assigned to our first church at Phillips, Wiscohsin (Wisconsin). The salary was $1200. Peter was appointed to Rib Lake and a young minister by the name of Donald Mills to Medford. Wh three helped each other in revivial meetings and really had fruitful ministries in our respective churches. Marjorie was born at Phillips June 30,1929. At the end of three years we returned to Asbury College and Peter to Stevens Point College.

Mildred was born March 10,1931 at Wilmore, Kentucky. At the end of the school year we were out of funds again. During the summer I held revival meetings on Northern Disctirc and fall took a student church at Grantsburg, Wisconsin so I could finish my college work at Hamline University. Ardis was born while we were at Grantsburg April 10,1933. I graduated from Hamline that same spring.

My sister Eunice was married to Herman Blair June 21,1920 and they farmed the place once owned by my Uncle Jim just cater-corned (kitty- corner) from the home place . Their son, Eugene, was born November 4,1922 and Lyle eighteen years later, April 7,1940.

Eugene is an inseminator and lives on a farm six miles East of Abottsford on Highway 29. Lyle is continuing his college studies at Eau Claire State College. Upon retirement from the farm Eunice and Herman built a house on Eugene’s farm and Herman is a salesman for barn equipment.

Peter married Violet Nordness, a school teacher whom he met at Rib Lake. They had one daughter, Patricia. In 1943 Peter entered the chaplaincy of the U.S. Army. He served as a transport chaplain in the second world war, visiting most of the theatres of war in the South Pacific. Later he served in Germany. It was then that a deep sorrow came to them when Pat died of the dread Hodgkins disease. Then during the Korean War he served at the front in Korea. He was stationed for a time in Okinawa and for a short time Thailand. He will retire from the service in the spring of 1963.

My sister Myrtle married Harvey Meacham, a painter by trade. He however, has driven large vans all over the nation now for many years. Their home is at Colby, Wis.

They have one daughter, Sherwin, who is a Junior in High School at the present time.

My youngest sister, Alice married a brother to Myrtle’s husband, Roscoe Meacham. They own and operate the home farm. They have two sons, Duane and Jerry  and one daughter, Joan. Duane and family live on a farm about three quarters of a mile east of the home place and Joan and family on a farm about the same distance west of the home farm. Jerry works at the trailer factory in Marshfield. Of course the home place has changed a lot since Dad and Mother farmed it. The Hohnson farm across the road has been added to it and all the modern farm equipment is being used. Bit it is good to return occasionally and walk again in the old familiar places, to reminisce on boyhood days and thing of dear ones gone on before us who await us over there.

Lee Holmes, January, 1963

Transcriber’s note - When asking Alan Gurtner if Lee Holmes were still living, and if permission was given to post this family history online this is what he wrote back and said: " Lani, Eugene Blair of Abbotsford let me make copies of it. I just right now called him and he said go ahead and post the info on the site. He said Lee Holmes died a while ago, like15 years or so. He was surprised to hear anyone would want to read about that!

Alan said, "I told him now his family can always look it up and make additions or corrections to the original info."