WILLIAM and EDITH THOMAS

    Edith E. Satchwell was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Manley Satchwell. Her father was killed in the battle of Vicksburg, Miss. during the Civil War, when she was 6 months old. The mother was left with three daughters and one son to raise. The family lived in Eastern Iowa at that time. After several years, the mother remarried to a Mr. Schoonover, who had several children; one of whom was the Will Schoonover who later lived in Griswold, Iowa.

The family came to Pilot Grove township from Dyersville, Iowa by covered wagon. Will Thomas drove one of the wagons. The only child born to the Schoonover union was the O. E. Schoonover who lived at Elliott and Red Oak, and in his later years dealt in Real Estate.

    Will Thomas and Edith Satchwell were married and had one daughter, Lulu Annette Thomas, born Jan. 18, 1882. Lulu was married to Warren DeVoss on March 11, 1902.

Will and Edith Thomas purchased 80 acres of land, and erected a small home on it. Part of this was native sod, and was not cultivated until the farm sold in 1962. The first house was added on to, later; and when Lulu was married in 1903, an addition was made to the home to accommodate Mr. and Mrs. Thomas and their daughter and her family. Each family had their own living quarters. Lulu died in Dec. 1924, leaving a husband and two children in addition to her parents.

    Warren continued to farm the place for a number of years after his wife’s death, later moving to another farm.

Will Thomas died in 1932, and Mrs. Thomas continued to live on the farm until the last few years of her life. The granddaughter, Lucile (DeVoss) England lived on the farm from 1950 until 1962, when the farm was sold after the death of her husband. W. R. England.

    In the earlier days, people neighbored more, held singing bees, sewing bees, etc. and depended on each other for entertainment, help when needed, etc. They were often snowed in for days, and if necessary to go to town, cut the fences and went by bobsled across fields to get there. Another memory, is the old time threshing crews. One had 26 men for dinner and supper sometimes for 2 or 3 days. But each one helped the other, and made the task lighter.

Much more visiting was done then among neighbors than is done today. And a trip to Red Oak was only occasional when travel had to be done by horse and carriage.