Stover PipeLine #6
August, 1976
 

Dear Ewer Descendants,

   Quite a few references to Ewer, Wamsley, and Higgins have accumulated since April; now is as good a time as any to pass it on!  I find it difficult to quote people's letters without rambling into tangent subjects or names they may mention, but here goes... note the lack of dates in the following, just lots of hear-say!

   Ida Lou Rodehorst Pfeiffer contributed the following taken from the June issue of Yankee, a feature section, "Sayings of the Oracle:"

   Question:  There is an old expression, 'Until the last _____ is hung.'  Can you supply the missing word and tell something about the origin of the expression?
   Answer:  From ancient and deeply troubled England - the missing word is 'Walmsley' referring to a rebellious family.

   The old expression seems to fit with what we've heard of Ellen Wamsley Ewer's father, Charles Wamsley.  (See Stover-Pipes #2, #3)  Both Gram May and Bette Ewer preferred the spelling 'Walmsley.'  I've found only 'Wamsley' in the records.  Same name, I'm sure.  Even with the addition of the extra 'L,' I would expect the pronunciation to be like 'wampum' or 'wigwam,' rather than like 'wham.'

   Enclosed is a 'names only' pedigree chart which may help in keeping names and relationships straight.  Children of each marriage union are listed between the names of their parents.

   Ernest Clayton has a few recollections, and I think that we're fortunate that he passed them along!:

   "As I heard it Samuel Higgins' family lived in Gibbon for two years until he got a house built; also that they didn't get along good and he left them and went to live with a daughter in Kearney.
   "I was seven years old when my grandmother died.  I can remember her when May and I got to go over to grandma's.  It was to run an errand and we didn't get to stay."

   More on Sam Higgins from Gram May:

   "Mother said her step-father did not believe the earth was round and set a pail of water out to prove it.  I said I would have gone out after dark and tipped it over.  She said, 'Yes, and you would have been flogged within an inch of your life.'
   "Ellen and Higgins were separated, whether divorced or not, I don't know... he was not very well liked as he was a grouchy, selfish person.
   "When I was a small child, my grandmother's barn burned one night.  She and her son Sam lived there on the homestead.  There was no lightning to start a fire and everyone thought Mr Higgins rode a horse out from Kearney and set fire to the barn as revenge against grandmother."

   The best one I've heard in a while comes from Ernest Clayton:

   "... 'Grandma' Higgins used tobacco, smoked and chewed both.  Her youngest son, Sam, had a store and blacksmith shop and had 'No Smoking' signs all over the place.  It was the first time I ever saw a 'No Smoking' sign - he must have been about 50 years ahead of the times as now you can see them everywhere... Uncle Abe was a real smoker and when he saw the 'No Smoking' signs, he never went near the place again or spoke to Sam."

   According to Gram May,

   "Higgins and Ellen had a son named Sampson Grant.  He had a blacksmith shop on my Dad's place a short distance down the road.  He finally moved away and landed in the Ozarks at Cabot, Missouri.  He never married."

   The 'Uncle Abe' mentioned by Ernest, was, of course, Abraham Lincoln Ewer, Reuel's only son and father of Cyril Lincoln, Reuel John (Jack), Herbert Nelson, and Elizabeth (Bette).
   Gram May said that 'Link' Ewer had a bosom buddy by the name of Cyril Carpenter.  They agreed to name their first sons after each other.  Cyril Carpenter named his son Lincoln Cyril; 'Link' named his first son Cyril Lincoln.
   Bette Ewer Hinz has shared many stories that she heard from her Papa.  Gram May said that he used to spend 23 hours a day with his feet propped up (in the kitchen oven in the wintertime), smoking his pipe, and telling stories.  There's one story told by Gram May, Bette, and Ernest Clayton; I'll quote Ernest's version, as it is handiest at the moment:

   "Uncle Abe never believed in working, - you might say he was a little lazy.  He said there was only one penny's difference between a man that worked and one that didn't and the one that didn't work had the penny."

   There's only four cents difference between Ernest's version and May's and Bette's; they both used the word 'nickel!'

   Ellen Ewer Higgins had a brother, Charles Wamsley.  Gram May said that "Charles W. came out here to see his sister every five years.  We tho't he wouldn't come after gram was gone, but he made one more trip."
   Bette Ewer Hinz said, "I can remember of Uncle Charlie Walmsley visiting Papa when I was about five - he was a real small man..."

   An old bible in the possession of Glenn Stover is missing the section reserved for family records... they've been torn out!  Gram May wrote the following in 1969:

"I may write to Ashland, Nebraska, as Aunt Clara's daughter lived there.  She passed on some years ago, but her man still may be living.  Aunt Clara is the villian who is supposed to have cut the family record from Grandma's Bible... We were never very close as they had money and we were only poor farmers tho' they sent us bundles of clothes I did not like to wear as every one knew we could not afford that kind of things.  Aunt Clara's man was always nice to us and not 'stuck up' at all."

   Bette related a similar story and sentiment:

   "Pa had his mother's old family Bible... May told me a story about it that I hadn't known.  Grandma had written several pages of family history in it and one of Pa's sisters (my Aunt Clara Harford, she married rich and was snooty) wanted the Bible for that history (maybe wanted to destroy it?).  Pa wouldn't give it to her, so she came to visit and waited her chance to get the Bible when he wasn't watching and cut out the history and took it with her.  When Pa found it out he was mad at her and never forgave her, so May said.  I knew he didn't like her much, but thought it was because he thought she was too 'big feeling.'  That is, 'stuck up.'"

   Well, I'll personally forgive Aunt Clara if she was interested enough in those records to have passed them along or preserved them in some way. Any ideas on how to go about finding those missing pages?  As far as I know, Gram May never received any information from Ashland.

   Future Pipes will continue with Joseph Clayton and begin to exchange some stories about what life was like in the Bert Stover household in the 1920's and 1930's.  Thanks to you who have shared some recollections... they are appreciated; keep them coming!

Next, PipeLine #7, Charles & Sarah Wamsley, Uncle Charlie Wamsley...
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