Rememberance of Clayton Sherod

UNCLE CLAYTON AND AUNT MADGE SHEROD

Posted By: Volunteer Paul French
Date: 10/6/2006 at 13:58:27

I remember Uncle Clayton (Clate) Sherod and Aunt Madge. Uncle Clate was the youngest in the Sherod family. He was not even born at the time “The History of Van Buren County, Iowa, 1878” was published. On page 598 of this book there is information about the William N. Sherod family.

Uncle Clayton and Aunt Madge lived on the site of the old family home near Mt. Zion and Keosauqua, Iowa. Their home was a square white-frame house built on the foundation of the old brick family home. There were railroad tracks across the road from their place and it wasn’t very far from what was known as the County poor farm. They had two sons, Joe and William or Billy. I remember that sometimes we would go to their place and I would get to ride the tricycle.

Although I don’t remember much about Grandmother Elizabeth Barker Sherod, I know she lived in a log cabin and then in a red brick house and later she lived in the white house with Uncle Clate and Aunt Madge and moved to Kilbourne with them. At Kilbourne, Uncle Clate continued farming. I know he had vats where he m;ade maple syrup. I remember they had chickens and all the animals of farm life. On occasion they would loan us a horse to help us with our farming. It always seemed like such a long way from our place to theirs and return. The trip was well worth it though, because I loved their big house with the water pumped inside the house and with a stairs and two rooms at the top of the stairs. Then, too, Aunt Madge always fixed such good dinners. I also remember when Grandma Sherod passed away. She was in the casket in the living room and the people filed by her casket for a last farewell.

Joe and Billy grew up here and went on to college, graduating with high honors. Joe married Marian Morrow and had one daughter. He worked for a business concern in Pennsylvania for many years. He later moved to Alabama and then Florida. Billy married Beryl Strait and had two children, one boy and one girl. He moved into Uncle Clate’s place and Uncle Clate moved across the road to a new home. Later Billy built a new home near the old place.

Uncle Clate lived until he was almost 97 years old. He passed away in 1976 or 1977. Aunt Madge preceded him in death by just a short while. During their later years she cared for him in a cherishing way as she had cared for him during a lifetime. Always they were good to other people and that included our family. Uncle Clate, although busy with his farming, found time to serve three terms in the Iowa State House of Representatives.

Source: typed account contained in “Family History” of the Barker, Sherod, and Forbes families and descendants compiled by Bernadine Forbes Clark, December 1980.