Iona Hope Branch Gander

Iona Hope Branch Gander Her Favorite Stories Booklet compiled in 2002 by Alice Bell Gander Converted to pdf for GandersBest.com February 21, 2018 Table of Contents IONA HOPE BRANCH GANDER ........................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 ALFRED BRANCH FAMILY STORY ........................................................................... 3 NANCY MEREDITH BRANCH ................................................................................... 7 IDA FRANCES PHELPS BRANCH ............................................................................ 11 PICTORIAL FAMILY TREES.................................................................................... 18 Descendants of John and Mary Phelps ......................................................................................................... 19 Descendants of Nelson and Nancy Branch .................................................................................................. 19 Descendants of Alfred and Ida Branch ......................................................................................................... 20 Descendants of William Gander and Mary White Gander ......................................................................... 21 Descendants of Harvey Smithton Gander and Iona Hope Branch ............................................................. 23 DISK ONE: TRAVELS AND FAMILIES ................................................................... 24 1 – Nancy Meredith Branch .......................................................................................................................... 25 2 – Nelson Thomas Branch ........................................................................................................................... 26 3 – The Branch Boys ..................................................................................................................................... 27 4– Branch Family: Mollie and Dolly ............................................................................................................ 27 5 – Union Soldier Takes Horse, Ants in Biscuits ......................................................................................... 28 6 – Soldiers, Slaves and the Branch family .................................................................................................... 28 THE JOHN PHELPS FAMILY ...................................................................................... 29 7 – Grandpa Phelps ........................................................................................................................................ 29 8 - Chestnuts ................................................................................................................................................... 30 9 – Aunt Phine’s house, Nelson Branch’s Foundry ...................................................................................... 30 HOMESTEADING IN COLORADO ................................................................................ 31 10 – Trip to Colorado .................................................................................................................................... 31 11 – Vilas, Colorado ....................................................................................................................................... 32 12 - Colorado families .................................................................................................................................... 33 THE COVERED WAGON TRIP FROM MISSOURI TO VIRGINIA ........................................ 36 13 – Covered Wagon Turns Over................................................................................................................. 36 14 – Covered Wagon Trip ............................................................................................................................. 36 15 – Staying with the Mean Lady ................................................................................................................... 37 16 – Staying with the Preacher ....................................................................................................................... 38 17 – Aunt Mollie Branch Feathers ................................................................................................................ 39 18 – Christmas with Mollie ............................................................................................................................ 39 DISK TWO: FOOD ON THE FARM ......................................................................... 41 1 – A Beautiful Dream ................................................................................................................................... 41 2 - Story Telling .............................................................................................................................................. 41 3 – Groundhogs, Possums and Other Meat .................................................................................................. 42 4 – String Beans, Apples ................................................................................................................................ 43 5 – Peach Leather, Egg Butter, Pumpkin Butter .......................................................................................... 44 6 – Sauerkraut ................................................................................................................................................. 46 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 47 7 – Yeast and Bread Making .......................................................................................................................... 49 8 – Green Tomato Pie ................................................................................................................................... 50 9 – The Nicest Girl in the County ................................................................................................................. 51 10 – Moving to the New Farm ....................................................................................................................... 52 11 – Clothes .................................................................................................................................................... 53 12 – Kids, Lambs and Cows .......................................................................................................................... 54 13 – The Hail Storm ...................................................................................................................................... 55 14 – Uncle Ed Branch .................................................................................................................................... 57 15 – Sunday Mornings ................................................................................................................................... 58 THE COVERED WAGON TRIP TO VA ..................................................................... 61 SEPTEMBER 21, 1973: IONA GANDER TO CLIFF GANDER .................................... 64 TOURIST PIONEERS ............................................................................................... 67 Introduction Someone once said: "When an old person dies, a whole library of history dies with them.” That was the opening line of the Branch Family My own mother made kraut this way when I was Story prepared by Jackie Coon Deets in 1986. She young. had recorded a number of cassette tape I hope all readers will enjoy reading this booklet as conversations with her Mother, Iona Gander much as I have enjoyed preparing it. between 1972 and 1974. She compiled a booklet of family stories from the conversations she had taped Alice Bell Gander years before. She selected this quote to convey how Greer, South Carolina much history Iona Gander took with her when she died November 12, 1976. Now, as I write this just a February, 2002 few weeks after Jackie’s death November 26, 2002, I feel so sad that we have lost another library of history in the family. Jackie treasured her family roots and preserved so much for the next generations. I offer this current effort at preserving history as a tribute to both of these extraordinary women. I loved them both and I mourn their loss. But they are not gone; they are with us yet in voice and in spirit. The book you are reading now is really over 110 years in the making and is still a work in progress. It is a unique opportunity to hear Iona Branch Gander, in her own words and voice, tell the first-hand account of homesteading in Colorado in 1889. And the exciting trip in the covered wagon from Missouri to Virginia in 1894. She talks to us about her life experiences and about everyday life on the farm. It’s a way of life that hardly exists anymore. I hope this book and the companion CDs will revive cherished memories in those who knew Iona and Jackie and inspire those who never had the opportunity. I realized as I was transcribing the tapes that much of what they discuss would not be understood at all by younger generations who have always lived in the city. I had the opportunity to grow up near my grandmother Iona Gander and spent many hours learning from her. The

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