News: Unity Township –
Historic Mansion
Transcriber:
stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Pickett, Cooper
----Source: Clark County Stories Book
I believe there would be no housing shortage now if people lived as they did
when I was a little girl.
My father, Earl N. Pickett, and my mother, Theresa, made it possible for the
Picketts to boast of having four generations living under one roof at the
same time.
There was ample room for all to be comfortable in the spacious, three story
brick house of eleven gables, located in the Town of Unity, Clark County.
The many rooms were more spacious than the blueprints showed because the
contractor, Eli Pickett (grandpa's brother) got the outside dimensions on
the inside. Thus each room was much larger than planned.
Upon completion Grandma looked at her house "Of Seven Gables" and cried
because it was so squatty. It wasn't beautiful as she had planned.
After some lamenting, a plan was conceived to improve the appearance. A
third story was added, along with four more gables. This was finished off
into a large square room with a window in each direction. It was always
known as the third story.
Great grandma, Eliza, was a neat little Pennsylvania Dutch lady. She drew
her hair up in a tight little pug on top of her head. She was blind when I
was born so she never got around much then but I do vaguely remember her.
She left the family group January 12, 1920 when I was two and a half years
old.
.Little Grandpa (great grandpa), Samuel, was a white haired and white
bearded, wiry little Welch man. I dearly loved him as he did me. I vividly
remember sitting on his lap, sucking peppermints and listening to his great
watch. My brother Rex also shared this experience but being two years
younger, he doesn't remember them as clearly.
Little Grandpa passed away March 16, 1922. This was a very memorable event
for me. Grieving, I should say not! My mother, dad, brother and myself lived
upstairs. We shared one bedroom at the end of a long hallway and the kitchen
was on the other end. That Christmas I received a beautiful tin doll buggy.
The tin wheels made so much noise running back and forth from one room to
the other. Grandpa was so sick the noise bothered him, so my buggy was put
away. So that night of March 16th was a joyous time. I can still hear my
great uncle Sam call upstairs saying, "Earl, grandpa's gone." My exclamation
was, "Good, I can play with my doll buggy tomorrow."
My sister Audrey loved grandpa too. He used to hold her and she playfully
pulled his beard until the tears rolled down his cheeks.
Grandpa's death ended the living of four generations under one roof.
Today my brother, Jack; his wife, Sylvia; two sons, Brian and Earl; and
daughter, Michelle, live in that great historical mansion. Michelle is the
youngest of the fifth generation of Picketts to live in "THE HOUSE OF ELEVEN
GABLES".
lone Pickett Cooper
Route 2
Colby, Wisconsin 54421
|
© Every submission is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.
Show your appreciation of this freely provided information by not copying it to any other site without our permission.
Become a Clark County History Buff
|
|
A site created and
maintained by the Clark County History Buffs
Webmasters: Leon Konieczny, Tanya Paschke, Janet & Stan Schwarze, James W. Sternitzky,
|
