Pike Township Family Stories
FRANK ELDER FAMILY
Nichols, Iowa Centennial Book 1884-1984, page 211
By Stanley ElderAlexander Thompson Elder (1826-1902) and Ann Jane Hill (1827-1904) were married 3 January 1850 in Pennsylvania. Their children were Emma Jane Elder (Mrs. Alexander Coyner); Mary J. Elder (Mrs. Joseph Longfellow); Freeman Hill Elder (1856-1940) married 13 January 1881 Isabel Slater (1860-1930); John E. Elder married Clara Shellabaarger, and Lucy Elder (Mrs. Henry Judson Brown).
Frank Thomas Elder (1882-1968) was the oldest child of Freeman Hill Elder and Isabel Slater Elder. He married 15 December 1909 Edna Estelle Green (1887-1968). They were parents of five children: Gladys Pearl Elder, Franklin Freeman Elder, Vivian Marie Elder, Howard Slater Elder and Stanley Royce Elder.
Gladys Pearl Elder was born in 1911; she married Carroll Phelps. Their children are Carla Phelps, Robert Phelps and Dwight Phelps.
Franklin Freeman Elder was born in 1913; he married Goldie Slaughter. Their children are Carolyn Elder, Thomas Elder, Roger Elder and David Elder.
Vivian Marie Elder, born 1915, married Wilson Hildebrand. Their son is Richard Hildebrand.
Howard Slater Elder, born 1918, married Virginia White. Their children are John Elder and Robert Elder.
Stanley Royce Elder married Betty DeForest. Their children are Roberta Elder, Stephen Royce Elder, Larry Elder and Edith Ann Elder.
Freeman Hill Elder and Isabel Slater Elder also had Fred Elder, Mae Elder (Mrs. Carl Felton) and James Elder.
Frank Elder, the oldest child of Freeman H. Elder and Isabel Slater Elder, was born and raised on the family farm south of Nichols. In later years Frank once reminisced that Sunday was truly a day of rest in his childhood home because the children were never allowed to play ball or any other games on the Sabbath, and too much jollity was certain to be frowned upon.
After Frank’s graduation from a teacher’s course in Muscatine, he taught at Adams school near Nichols. In later years, Frank’s wife recalled that the big boys at Adams school had been quite unruly until Frank began teaching there.
In 1907 Frank left teaching and bought a farm five miles west of West Liberty. During his first year on the farm his sister, Mae Elder, was his housekeeper. Following one severe ice storm that first winter, Frank decided to make a surprise visit to his parents, and he ice-skated via creeks the entire distance to his parents’ home south of Nichols. Needless to say, his parents were astonished when he made his appearance.
On one other occasion that same winter after high winds had created some good-sized snowdrifts, Frank drove his horse and cutter cross-country over fences to visit his “intended,” Edna Green, who lived near Nichols. Edna was the daughter of Hiram Harrison Green and Myra Zenora Reed Green.
Frank Thomas Elder and Edna Estella Green were married 15 December 1909 at the Methodist parsonage in West Liberty. After the ceremony, the wedding party rented a horse and sleigh to dash about the streets of West Liberty. The honeymoon was a trip by train to Cedar Rapids, Iowa (35 miles), where the newlyweds spent the night with relatives before returning to the farm to begin housekeeping.
Nearby was the little community of Downey, Iowa, and it was there that Frank later served as president of the Downey Bank, and where the Elder family worshipped in the Downey Methodist church, which was later destroyed by fire. All five of Frank and Edna’s children attended grade school at Hazel Dell country school and graduated from West Liberty High school.
Some of Frank’s children remember a time when hauling sand from the Iowa river near Iowa City was a big project for Frank. This meant doing early morning chores, driving horses and wagon over unpaved roads to the river, loading the sand with a hand shovel, then returning home to unload the sand. Sand was a necessary ingredient in cement, of course, and Frank was stockpiling the sand for future cement work on the farm. One of his sons recalls that in the early years, Frank mixed all of the cement by hand in a large tub, even for large projects.
Frank and Edna were on both the Downey and West Liberty phone lines, which necessitated two telephones. Many times they were asked to convey messages from a party on one of the phone lines to another party on the other line, thereby saving long distance fees for the calling party.
One other interesting telephone memory is of the day the first airplane was sighted over West Liberty. It was flying westward to Iowa City, and the Elders were asked to phone ahead to tell others on their phone lines so that people could run outdoors to watch the plane fly over.
Frank and Edna Elder lived a long and happy life, celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in 1959. They were the parents of five children: Gladys Pearl Elder, Franklin Freeman Elder, Vivian Marie Elder, Howard Slater Elder, and Stanley Royce Elder.
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Page created December 12, 2010 by Lynn McCleary