Wilfred Luse Belfrage

BELFRAGE WOODFORD

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 4/2/2010 at 16:18:28

Woodbury County History 1982

Wilfred L Belfrage
By John Belfrage

Wilfred Luse Belfrage, third child of John Burnett Belfrage was born September 27, 1870 at Oxford, Iowa. At age six he came to Woodbury County with his parents to a rural home south of Sergeant Bluff on the Port Neal Road. He lived and farmed here until his death July 29, 1969 at age 98.

He married Winnie Ettie Woodford, daughter of Eli Bell and Sarah Rebecca Cain Woodford, March 6, 1901. She died July 6, 1948 while on a visit to her daughter, Winifred, in Denver, Colorado. Winnie attended Morningside College in1896.

To this union were born Elizabeth (Mrs R C Gahamme), Falls Church, Virginia; Marjorie, retired art supervisor, Red Oak, Iowa; Winifred, retired physio-therapist, Red Oak, Iowa; Ford L, retired railroad engineer of the Chicago Northwestern Railway, Sioux City, Iowa; John B, retired, Sergeant Bluff, Iowa; and Thomas McLellan ‘Mac’, retired, Sioux City, Iowa.

Wilfred served on the school board in Liberty Township and for a number of years was treasurer of the board. When the little country districts were consolidated, he served on the new board for Sergeant Bluff-Luton School when the present Middle School was built in 1918 and dedicated June 26, 1919. He served on the United Community Methodist Church board, Federal District Court, and Grand Jury. He was Township Trustee, also an appraiser for land when Highway 75 and 141 were being constructed.

He had a wonderful memory and told many things about life in the community during his lifetime, during which he saw changes from horse and buggy days to the first trip to the moon. He continued to take an interest in world current events, the building of the George Neal Iowa Public Service Plant, Terra Chemicals Plant, and other local events until his death. He could remember when that area was a part of the Missouri River and became rebuilt accretion land.

As a child he and his sister, Jenny, kept grasshoppers off the crops with tree branches during the plague.

George A Coombs was Wilfred’s first School teacher, he and his brothers and sisters walked to school on the old Martin Jorgensen farm now occupied by Dale Jorgensen.

He was the evolution of farm machinery from the hand corn planter and walking plow to the modern farm machinery of the 1960’s. The house he grew up in was chilly with unheated sleeping rooms. Thicknesses of paper were put beneath the mattress to keep out the cold. Chopping wood in winter was a continuous job, since it was used for cooking and heating. Water had to be hauled in and out, lamps cleaned and filled with kerosene. Later, ice was harvested from surrounding lakes, placed in a depression in the ground with a house over it, called the ice house. The blocks of ice were packed in clean straw, then used in summer in an ice box to cool the food and to freeze ice cream.

The Belfrage family was among the first to own a car in the community which was a Ford touring car. In winter curtains with isinglass windows were put on to shut out chill winds. Previously, travel was by horse back and buggy. Winters brought out the sleighs, lap-robes and heated bricks.

Entertainment included parties at the Haviland’s and Murphy’s and Sunday evening church services.

Memories of Wilfred’s children include trips to Grandparents Woodford’s in the buggy or sleigh for family Sunday dinners and holidays. Then there were the Old Settler’s picnics when the Ladies Aid set up stoves and tables under a large tenet and worked out of doors to serve dinners of chicken, biscuits, home made ice cream and various kinds of pies and cakes. The 4th of July was another event to look forward to.