Immigrants to South Dakota from Wisconsin

George Thomas and Aris Grimshaw

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George Grimshaw was born on Wolfe Island, Ontario in 1849, the son of John James and Mary Ann (Mahoney) Grimshaw. When George was about 13 years old, the family emigrated to the U.S. and settled in the area around Richland Center, Wisconsin. Aris Ladd was born in 1848 in New York, and her family subsequently moved to Richland Center, where George and Aris were married in 1869. Little is known of their life in Richland Center, but about eight years after their marriage, they migrated westward, apparently for better life opportunity. The lived for a time in Iowa and eventually arrived in Letcher, South Dakota, where their oldest child, Anna Celestine Grimshaw, married George Albert. The family lived also for a time in Minnesota, where their youngest son, Walter Claude Grimshaw, was born. Then the family continued westward and settled first in Oacoma and then Presho, South Dakota. George died after an accident in 1915, and Aris passed away in 1929. Both are buried in the Presho cemetery, near their son, Walter Claude Grimshaw.

Although George and Aris took out a homestead near Oacoma and "proved up" on it, they did not raise their family there. However, they lived out their lives in South Dakota and are buried at Presho. They had six children, one of whom (Nettie Estelle) died of scarlet fever at age 6. The five surviving children also lived their lives in South Dakota, and in nearby Sioux City, Iowa. The author of this website is one of the descendants of this line. Information on George's ancestors can be found on the webpage on George's parents, John and Mary Ann Grimshaw (click here) and grandparents, George and Charlotte (Menard) Grimshaw (click here).

Webpage Credits

George and Aris Photo

Origins of George and Aris Grimshaw

George and Aris Grimshaw Descendant Chart

Group Photos of George and Aris' Family

Family Bible Entries for George and Aris' Family

Family History Overview

South Dakota Places of Interest for George and Aris Grimshaw

Photos of Letcher, South Dakota, Where George and Aris First Settled in South Dakota

Map of Oacoma and Chamberlain Area, Showing Important Locations for George & Aris Family History

Location on American Crow Creek Where the Albert and Grimshaw Families Settled in 1902

Final Resting Place of George and Aris Grimshaw

George Grimshaw in the Dorothy (Zastrow) Grimshaw Photo Album

William Allen and Hannah Jeannette ("Nettie") (Glass) Merritt Grimshaw

George Monroe and Anna Celestine ("Tina") (Grimshaw) Albert

The Albert and Grimshaw Homesteads (T104N, R72W, Sections 18 and 29)

Wallace J and Flora (Allison) Grimshaw

Roy and Mary Evelyn ('Eva") (Grimshaw) Thomas

Walter Claude and Freda Elaine (Sehnert) Grimshaw

Origins of George and Aris (Ladd) Grimshaw

Details of Grimshaw Family History: The "Lyra Hodgin Chronicles"

      Rendition 1

      Rendition 2

      Rendition 3

      Rendition 4

      Rendition 5

Lyra's Notes on History of Aris Ladd Family

Final Resting Places

The Context of South Dakota History

     Summaries of Lyman County and Oacoma History

         Excerpt 1. Lyman County

         Excerpt 2. Lyman County

         Excerpt 3. Oacoma

         Excerpt 4. Oacoma

         Excerpt 5. Oacoma

     Records of Lewis and Clark Expedition Stopover at American Crow Creek in 1804

         Excerpt 1. By Meriwether Lewis, Published in 1884

         Excerpt 2. By Richard Dillon, Meriwether Lewis Biographer

   Historical Context: South Dakota History During the Time of George and Aris

Footnotes and References

This webpage begins (after giving appropriate credits) with a photo of George and Aris, and then group photos of their children. Certain pages from George and Aris' family Bible are then presented, followed by an overview of their family history. A map of the area around Oacoma is then presented, with the most important locations for the family history indicated and described. A photo of one of the most important family history sites is provided after the map. The lives of each of George and Aris' children are then briefly described, with photos of them where they are available.

Next, the details of George and Aris' family history, as recorded by "family historian" Lyra Hodgin before her death in 1996 are presented (the "Lyra Hodgin Chronicles"), followed by brief notes by Lyra on Aris' family history and a photo of the Ladd family. The final resting places of George and Aris and most of their children are then shown. 

Many people get credit for making this webpage possible. In particular, I want to thank Carol Anderson and Rosemarie Karlen for providing most of the background on South Dakota Grimshaws as I was getting started on this project. Thanks (posthumously) also go to their Aunt Lyra (Albert) Hodgin for providing information that she had written (described below on this webpage) to the author, and to her son Al Hodgin, for giving access to Lyra's files after she died in 1996. 

Carol, Rosemarie, Al and Al's cousin (twice over, since both their parents were siblings - Grimshaws and Hodgins!), Donna Best, provided most of the previously existing photos. Marie (Zastrow) Grimshaw and Dorothy (Zastrow) Grimshaw (sisters - another case of siblings marrying) also provided many photos and abundant family history information. Carol gave me the George and Aris Bible from which the images shown below were taken. Phyllis Grimshaw, Claude Thomas and Sam Bice also provided photos.

A photo of George and Aris is shown below. According to Carol Anderson, family lore has it that Aris suffered an eye injury as a child when a brother tossed a pair of scissors to her. It is not known if she lost sight in the affected eye. A photo of George as a young man is shown on the webpage for his parents.

George Thomas and Aris (Ladd) Grimshaw. (Photo courtesy of Carol Anderson, June 1999. Date of photo is unknown.)

Aris (Ladd) Grimshaw as a young and older woman. (First photo courtesy of Donna Best, August 2000. Date of photo unknown. Second photo (date also unknown) from Carol Anderson, February 2006).

A summary descendant chart for George and Aris, including their grandchildren (all deceased), is shown below. More detail on the lives of George and Aris, and their children, is given below, after the group photos of the family.

Summary Descendant Chart of George Thomas and Aris (Ladd) Grimshaw (Also Showing George's Parents, John and Mary Ann Grimshaw)

 John James Grimshaw* (1 Aug 1829 - 19 Mar 1907) & Mary Ann (Maiden Name Unknown) Mahoney (About 1822 - 13 Oct 1880)

       George T. Grimshaw (19 Jul 1849 - 29 Sep 1915) & Aris Phedora Ladd (29 Dec 1848 - 20 Apr 1929)

|------William Allen Grimshaw (22 Mar 1871 - 1944) & Nettie Glass (1870 - 1947)

|------|------Cleatus Grimshaw (12 Dec 1898 - 1943) & Marie Zastrow (21 Apr 1910 - )

|------|------Walter "Doc" Grimshaw (1 Jan 11901 - 16 Sep 1957) & Dorothy Zastrow (1 Mar 1912 - )

|------|------Fay Grimshaw (28 Apr 1903 - 11 Aug 1940)

|------|------Jay Grimshaw (28 Apr 1903 - )

|------Anna Celestine "Tina" Grimshaw (7 Dec 1874 - 19 Oct 1962) & George Monroe Albert (17 Mar 1857 - 5 Jun 1920)

|------|------Anna V Albert (1 Aug 1891 - ) & C.B. "Bones" Bielman

|------|------Otto Albert (19 Jun 1894 - ) & Cornelia Burris

|------|------Lyra Albert (25 May 1899 - 24 Dec 1996) & Francis Hodgin

|------|------Stella Albert (2 Feb 1903 - ) & Charlie Hodgin

|------|------Georgia Albert (18 Jun 1905 - ) & Galo R Miller

|------|------Elsie Albert (1 Mar 1907 - 25 Jan 1974) & Roy O Fletcher (10 Apr 1904 - )

|------Wallace J. Grimshaw (3 Apr 1881 - 1 Apr 1943) & Flora Allison ( - 1958)

|------|------Lee Raymond Grimshaw (21 Nov 1902 - 1981) & Grace Elizabeth Barker

|------|------Floyd Grimshaw (9 Jun 1904 - 1963)

|------|------Elsie Grimshaw (25 Aug 1906 - )

|------|------Joyce Grimshaw (18 Dec 1919 - ) & unk Lenihan

|------Mary Evelyn "Eva" Grimshaw* (13 Jul 1883 - 17 Jul 1964) & 1) Oel Hess

|------Mary Evelyn "Eva" Grimshaw* (13 Jul 1883 - 17 Jul 1964) & 2) Roy (NMI) Thomas (5 Aug 1883 - 29 Nov 1961)

|------|------Gertrude Thomas (20 Aug 1909 - 21 Feb 1987) & Charles "Reddy" Reynolds (1 Apr 1910 - 7 Jan 1976)

|------|------Aris Thomas (13 Apr ___ - 1989) & Edwin Flickenger (1907 - 1988)

|------|------Roy Thomas ( - ca. 1985)

|------|------Claude Weller Thomas (5 Jul 1923 - 2 May 1995) & Maxine Grace Smith

|------Nettie Estelle "Stella" Grimshaw (29 Oct 1885 - 26 Jan 1892)

|------Walter Claude "Claude" Grimshaw (17 Sep 1891 - 7 Feb 1920) & Freda Elaine Sehnert (16 Jun 1892 - 4 Jun 1964)

|------|------George Richard Grimshaw (27 Mar 1918 - 28 Aug 1971) & Judy Burger (29 Aug 1929 - )

|------|------Claude Walter Grimshaw* (5 Oct 1920 - 4 Apr 1983) & Phyllis Lorraine Rogers (9 Jan 1924 - )

Shown below are group photos of the children of George and Aris, taken quite a few years apart. The first photo was taken in 1883, and the second picture must have been taken in late 1891, as Walter Claude was born in September, and Nettie Estelle died in January 1892. The next photo may have been taken at or around the time of George's accidental death in 1915, when Walter Claude was about 24. Aris would have then been about 66, and was to live another 14 years, until 1929.

Group Photo of George and Aris (Ladd) Grimshaw and their first four children. From left to right: Aris, William Allen (older boy, standing), Wallace J., George, Mary Evelyn ("Eva" - young child in George's lap), and Anna Celestine ("Tina"). (Photo courtesy of Carol Anderson, March 2002. Photo taken in 1883.)

Somewhat Later Group Photo of Children of George and Aris (Ladd) Grimshaw. From Left to Right: Wallace J., William Allen, Mary Evelyn ("Eva"), Anna Celestine ("Tina"), Walter Claude (baby), and Nettie Estelle. (Photo courtesy of Donna Best, June 1999. Date of photo unknown.)

Still Later Group Photo of Aris (Ladd) Grimshaw and Her Children. From Left to Right, Standing: Mary Evelyn ("Eva"), Wallace J., Anna Celestine ("Tina"), and Walter Claude. Aris and William Allen are Seated.. (Photo courtesy of Donna Best, June 1999. Date of photo unknown.)

George and Aris had a family Bible that passed down through their daughter, Tina, and her descendants. Carol Anderson, one of Tina's granddaughters, gave the Bible to the author of this website in June 1999. Five pages of the Bible contain the most important records for those interested in the history of the family. These pages, shown ibelow, contain the records of George and Aris' marriage, the marriages of other family members, and family birth and death records. (Click on the thumbnails to see full-size copies.) Note, in addition to the valuable family records, the elegant cursive of the earliest entries -- probably the handwriting of Aris.

Five Pages from Family Bible of George and Aris, Showing Important Family History Information. Click on thumbnails to see full images.

Little is known of the lives of George and Aris before they left Wisconsin, or how long they had been married before departing westward. Their second child, Anna ("Tina") was born in Ida Grove, Iowa, in 1874, so the family had departed before that date.

The best available records of the history of George and Aris and their children are the "chronicles" of the family written by Lyra (Albert) Hodgin, one of their granddaughters (daughter of Tina). Lyra prepared several versions, five of which are given further down on this webpage.

A high-level review of South Dakota history is presented near the end of this webpage to provide context for George and Aris' family history. Apparently the family lived in the area north of Mitchell when they arrived in South Dakota in about 1879. Tina was married to George Albert in 1890, at the age of 15, in the town of Artesian. The Grimshaws then moved for a time to Minnesota, where apparently Walter Claude was born (in September 1891) and Nettie Estelle died of scarlet fever (in January 1892). The family then returned to the area north of Mitchell. 

In 1902 George and Tina Albert moved to Oacoma, apparently at least in part to make homestead claims. Initially, however, they settled at a location on American Crow Creek southwest of Oacoma, and were apparently joined soon after by George and Aris and the rest of the Grimshaw family, whose place was just across the creek to the west. A couple of versions of previously published histories of Oacoma and of Lyman County are given below on this website as context for Grimshaw family history.

Coincidentally, the location on American Crow Creek is near two sites of importance in South Dakota history. The Lewis and Clark expedition camped for two days in September 1804, on their trip up the Missouri, just upstream of the confluence of American Crow Creek with the Missouri River, and again two years later on the trip back down the river. And an important early Indian agency, the Lower Brule Agency, was located just west of the confluence of the creek with the River from 1876 to about 1893. A description of the Lewis and Clark Expedition during its stopover at American Crow Creek is given below on this webpage. The Lower Brule Agency is also described, in the histories of Lyman County and Oacoma, further down on this webpage.

On October 30, 1902, not long after arriving in Oacoma, George, William and Wallace all filed claims on land in the Indian Land Cession of 1889, on two different sections further to the west of Oacoma. George "proved up" on his claim and then sold it; the family apparently did not live for any length of time on it. William and Wallace relinquished their claim (probably to George and Tina Albert.) More information on these homesteads is given below.

In about 1906, George, Aris and their children Will, Wallace, Eva and Walter moved back to the area north of Mitchell. But by 1915, George, Aris, Will and Walter were back in Oacoma. Wallace and Eva apparently did not return with them, but eventually moved to Sioux City, Iowa. Will and his parents then moved to Presho, where George died in September 1915 after an accident on a freight wagon.

Will, Tina, and Walter lived out their lives in the area around Oacoma and Reliance as did Aris, who apparently spent much of her time after George's death with her daughter Tina. Walter Claude married in 1917, but died in February 1920 of an illness. George Albert died in June of that year, apparently of a heart condition. Aris died in 1929 and is buried next to her husband, George, in Presho. More information on George and Aris' children is given below in their respective sections of this webpage.

The map of South Dakota provided below shows several important places for family events of George and Aris Grimshaw.

Map of central and southeastern South Dakota, showing Letcher, where George and Aris first settled, Oacoma, where they subsequently moved to, and Presho, where they are buried. Also shown is Sioux City, where Roy and Eva (Grimshaw) Thomas lived and are buried.

[pictures to be added]

Because the area around Oacoma was so important in the unfolding of the family history of George and Aris, a detailed map² of the area is presented below. A topographic map dating back to 1935 was selected because the area is depicted before the inundation brought about (starting in the 1950s) by Fort Randall dam on the Missouri River.

Topographic map of Oacoma, South Dakota area. Sites of principal interest for George and Aris' family history are indicated by circled letters A to F (Map from U.S. Geological Survey²).

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The principal geographic feature is, of course, the Missouri River, along with the "trench" of the river as indicated by the closely-spaced topographic contour lines, especially upstream and downstream of Chamberlain. (This deep trench was cut during glacial times, when the river had much greater flow due to glacial meltwater; but that's another story…) American Crow Creek flows into the Missouri from the northwest. American Island and Bice Island are the principal identified islands. A loop of White River, which joins the Missouri a few miles downstream, can also be seen in the southwest corner of the map.

The main cultural features are Chamberlain and Oacoma, on opposite sides of the river, and connected by U.S. Highway 16 and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad. State Highway 47 joins Highway 16 from the north at Chamberlain and separates from 16 at Oacoma and heads south on the west side of the river.

The most significant locations for Grimshaw family history are indicated by the circled letters A to G on the map. Their significance is summarized as follows:

1. Point on east side of American Crow Creek where George and Tina Albert first settled when they arrived in 1902. George and Aris apparently later joined the Alberts and lived across the creek to the west (see elevation point "1356" on the map.) Location is shown on photograph below.
2. Location of George and Aris' homestead in northeast quarter (NE1/4) of Section 29, T104N, R72W. Descriptions and pictures of the homestead are given below.
3. George and Tina Albert homestead location in Section 18, T104N, R72W, where they lived from about 1906 to about 1920. Descriptions and pictures of the homestead are given below.
4. Oacoma cemetery, where George and Tina Albert are buried.
5. Confluence of American Crow Creek with the Missouri River, just downstream from where Lewis and Clark camped for two days in September, 1804, and again on their return trip in 1806.
6. Bice Farm. Owned by Joe Bice and Freda (Sehnert) Grimshaw Bice after Freda's second marriage, to Joe. As a side note, the original location of the Lower Brule Indian Agency from about 1876 to about 1889 was in Section 26, south of the Bice farmhouse and next to the river. Bice Island was named for Joe's father, Charles Bice.

7. Riverview Cemetery. Burial place of Freda and Joe Bice as well as Stella and Charlie Hodgin. (Shown on thumbnail but not on main figure above).

Photo of former bridge of U.S. Highway 16 across American Crow Creek southwest of Oacoma. Southwestward view from Oacoma; also includes Joe Bice farm in mid-ground and west slope of Missouri River trench in background. Photo taken about 1972. 

American Crow Creek formerly flowed from right to left (north to south) under the bridge, but when Lake Francis Case was created by Fort Randall Dam in the 1950s, the creek "silted" up at this location, about a mile upstream of the former confluence with the Missouri. Highway 16 was relocated further to the north in anticipation of the inundation. The shore of the lake can be seen at the left of the photo, which was taken in about 1972, during a time of lower lake levels.

When George and Tina Albert settled at this location in 1902, the house was apparently on the east side of the creek and south of the road. This would have been just to the left of the bridge on the photo. Apparently George and Aris, and the rest of the Grimshaw family, joined the Alberts soon thereafter, and lived across the creek (on the west side,) which would have been just above the location of the bridge as shown in the photo.

The farm just across the creek is where Freda (Sehnert) Grimshaw Bice (married Walter Claude Grimshaw) and her second husband, Joe Bice, lived for many years until Freda's death in 1964. Near the top of the hills in the background, just over the crest and out of view on the right side of the photo, is where the former homestead of George and Aris was located.

George and Aris, and most of their children, lived out their lives in South Dakota (and nearby Sioux City). They, and their youngest son, Walter Claude (who died quite young), are buried in Presho. Their oldest son, William, and his wife, Hannah Jeannette (Nettie), are buried in Reliance. Anna Celestine (Tina) and her husband, George Albert are in the Oacoma cemetery. Wallace is buried in the cemetery at Pierre. Eva and Roy Thomas are in the Sioux City, Iowa cemetery. Nettie Estelle, who died as a child is likely to be buried in Minnesota (Edgerton?), but her grave has not yet been located. The gravesites of George and Aris and their youngest son, Walter Claude Grimshaw, are shown below.

Graves of George and Aris Grimshaw at Presho, South Dakota. The two graves can be seen on the left side of the upper photo. The grave of their son, Walter, can also be seen just to the right of the tree on the right side of the upper photo. A closeup of the gravestones of George and Aris is in the lower photo. A closer view of Walter's grave is given below. (Taken June 1999.)

Rubbings of George and Aris' gravestones, made in June 1999. 

Gravestone of Walter Claude Grimshaw at Presho, SD. See photo of George and Aris Grimshaw graves above for broader view of this grave. Freda (Sehnert) Grimshaw Bice is buried in the Chamberlain cemetery next to her second husband, Joe Bice. 

One of the most important photo sources for George and Aris Grimshaw and George's ancestors is in the possession of Kernit Grimshaw of South Dakota; it is described on a companion webpage. The album was previously owned by Kernit's mother, Dorothy (Zastrow) Grimshaw, spouse of Walter ("Doc") Grimshaw, one of William Allen Grimshaw’s sons. The album (called the "DZG Album") was apparently assembled by William and Nettie. The vast majority of photos in the album are of people and scenes in South Dakota. It has a total of 46 pages; unfortunately, with one or two exceptions, the photos are not labeled.

The photo "album" is actually a catalogue of men's shirts on whose pages the photos have been glued. It seems apparent that the photos were not well sorted before being glued into the album. One has the impression that a box of photos existed and someone (probably Nettie) decided to put them into the catalogue, perhaps for better presentation. Dorothy indicated that Doc was in the clothing sales business at one time, and it is likely that Bill and Nettie got the catalogue from him

On at least five of the album pages, the character of the photos (some of them being miniature sepias rather than normal black-and-white photos), and the people in them, differ from the rest of the album. These photos are inferred to be pictures from ancestors back in Wisconsin, probably sent to George and Aris or to William Allen and Nettie from relatives there. An attempt has been made to make "educated guesses" (but guesses nevertheless) on the identities of the relatives shown on these older photos. An image of George Grimshaw from the DZG Album is shown below.

George Grimshaw and his brother, Michael Henry, are clearly identifiable on one of the pages of the album; an image showing their picture (on the left) is provided below. The center photo is believed to be of their parents, John James and Mary Ann (Mahoney) Grimshaw and (possibly) Elizabeth ("Lida") Grimshaw. The right photo is likely to be of the other two brothers, John Etimer and William Alexander Grimshaw.

William returned to the Oacoma area from north of Mitchell with his parents in about 1915 and then moved to Presho, where he operated a "dray line" (freight wagon operation). After his father was killed in a wagon accident, he apparently returned to Oacoma, where he and his wife, Hannah Jeanette ("Nettie"), operated a hotel and he worked in Chamberlain for the power company. Later, he worked as a custodian at the Oacoma school. The family then apparently moved to Reliance where William worked on a mail route and again as a school janitor. Their sons Cleatus and Walter ("Doc") Grimshaw married sisters Marie and Dorothy Zastrow. Twins Fay and Jay were separated at birth, apparently for economic reasons. Jay was raised by his Aunt Rose (Nettie's sister) in Minnesota and may have lived out his life there. Fay did not marry and died of exposure during a South Dakota winter in Reliance. William and Nettie are buried in the Reliance cemetery, as are two of their sons, Cleatus and Fay. Walter ("Doc") is buried at Mission, South Dakota. Photos of William and Nettie and their children are shown below. Also shown are the gravesites of William and Nettie Grimshaw.

William Allen Grimshaw as a Young Man. (Photo courtesy of Marie Grimshaw, August, 2000. The clothes he was wearing indicate that this photo may have been taken on the same day as the photo above, in about 1891.)

Bill Grimshaw (right) with siblings Eva (Grimshaw) Thomas (left) and Anna Celestine "Tina" (Grimshaw) Albert. Eva's husband, Roy Thomas, is on the left. Photo from album belonging to Freda and Joe Bice, added September 2003. Thanks to Rosemarie Karlen for making the identifications. Photo is repeated below in Eva (Grimshaw) Thomas entry.

William Allen in later years (center), with two of his sons, Cleatus (left) and Walter or "Doc". (Photo courtesy of Dorothy (Zastrow) Grimshaw. Date of photo is unknown.) 

Nettie (Glass) Merritt Grimshaw with her son Jay and sister Rose (Jay was raised by Rose). Nettie is the woman on the right, and Rose is in the center. The identity of the woman on the left is unknown (Photo courtesy of Marie (Zastrow) Grimshaw. Date of photo is unknown.) 

Graves of William and Hanna Jeannette ("Nettie") Grimshaw at Reliance, South Dakota. The grave behind theirs is that of their son, Fay Grimshaw. Double click on the icons to see the full-size photo. (Taken June 1999; please ignore the incorrect dates stamped on the photos)

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George Albert and Tina Grimshaw were married at Artesian, SD in 1890. In the spring, 1902, they migrated westward and crossed the Missouri River on a pontoon bridge at Chamberlain. They settled for a time on land owned by Judge Bartine on American Crow Creek, about a mile upstream of the confluence with the Missouri River. At this location, about a mile southwest of Oacoma, they were apparently later joined (across the creek) by George and Aris and Tina's siblings. Photos of George and Tina are shown below. 

Tina Grimshaw as a Young Woman. (Photo courtesy of Al Hodgin, August 2000. Date of photo is unknown.)

George Albert (colorized photo, courtesy of Al Hodgin, August 2000. Date of photo is unknown.)

Sometime after settling on American Crow Creek, the Albert family moved to a location east of Oacoma. The family had plans to migrate further westward, to Sturgis, near the Black Hills, but had to abandon their plans when they lost a tent (that they had just recently purchased) in an unfortunate fire at the store where they had bought it. In about 1906, they obtained homestead land a few miles west of Oacoma (described below), near the edge of the Missouri River trench, and lived there until about the time of George's death in 1820.

Two of the Alberts' daughters, Lyra and Stella, married brothers, Francis and Charlie Hodgin, who were part of a homesteading family in the same area as the Albert farm west of Oacoma (and south of Reliance). Lyra and Francis lived in Rapid City and are buried there. Charlie and Stella lived out their lives in Oacoma and are buried in the Chamberlain cemetery. Another Albert daughter, Elsie, married Roy Fletcher, lived out her life on the Fletcher farm at Reliance, and is buried there; Roy is lived until his death on the family farm at Reliance.

Tina outlived George by 42 years (she was about 17 years younger than he) and apparently lived in the area around Oacoma, Reliance and Chamberlain for the remainder of her life. A photo of their daughters Georgia and Elsie with their cousins (sons of Walter Claude and Freda Grimshaw) is shown below. A picture of Tina in her later years, with most of her daughters, is also shown below. Tina and George are buried together in the Oacoma cemetery.

George and Tina Albert with two of their daughters. Photo from album of Bill and Nettie Grimshaw; thanks to Kernit Grimshaw for making the album available.

Georgia and Elsie Albert with their cousins George (left) and Claude Grimshaw. Photo taken approximately 1921, when Claude was about one year old. Thanks to Carol Anderson for providing this photo.

Anna Celestine (Grimshaw) Albert (Center) with Daughters Georgia, Anna and Lyra (Left to Right); Galo Miller, Georgia's Husband, also shown. (Photo courtesy of Al Hodgin, June 1999. Date of photo is unknown.) 

Anna Celestine (Grimshaw) Albert. Date of photo unknown. (Photo courtesy of Carol Anderson)

Graves of George and Tina (Grimshaw) Albert at Oacoma, South Dakota. (Taken November 1999.)

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George, William and Wallace all filed claims in the Indian Land Cession of 1889, which included Lyman County. Their claims were made on October 30, 1902 for 160 acres each in Sections 29 (George) and 18 (William and Wallace) in Township 104 North (T104N) and Range 72 West (R72W). George "proved up" on his claim and sold it, but apparently did not attempt to raise his family on it. A picture of part of his former claim is shown below.

Subsequently, in about 1906, George Albert obtained a claim in Section 18. This is the same year that records show that William and Wallace relinquished their claims. There is considerable overlap in the land area of George's claim with the earlier claims by the Grimshaw brothers, indicating that William and Wallace may have made arrangements to pass their claims to George Albert. George and Tina subsequently lived on the homestead, and raised their family on it, until about 1920, when George died. A photo taken on the former Albert homestead is shown below.

Site of former Grimshaw homestead in Section 29 near the margin of the Missouri River trench. It would have been difficult to sustain a family on a farm at this site in the late 1800s and early 1900s. (Photo taken June 1999, when sweet clover was in full bloom.) 

Large stone on former site of George and Tina Albert Homestead. Family lore has it that the stone was split in two when George Albert used dynamite on it. The site is typical of prairie on the edge of the Missouri River trench. The stone is a "glacial erratic" boulder that was deposited by a glacier that once extended beyond (west of) the current location of the Missouri. (Photo taken November 1999.) 

Little is known of Wallace's life after he moved from Oacoma to the area north of Mitchell with George and Aris in about 1906. He apparently did not return to Oacoma with them when they came back in about 1915, but no doubt had his own family by that time. Apparently he and his wife, Flora (Allison) Grimshaw were divorced. He was reported to have lived at a ranch on the Missouri River near DeGrey (owned by the Mel Byrum family, Paul and Ray), about 30 miles east of Pierre, in the late 1930's or early 1940s. Coincidentally, the author of this website spent many happy summers with his aunt, uncle, and cousins at this same ranch during from 1956 to 1961, but was unaware of Wallace Grimshaw having lived there previously! Wallace was reported by the Byrums to have thrown an object at a rat where he lived in the house near the river, with the comment that there wasn't enough food for both him and the rat.

Wallace died of back cancer in 1943 and is buried at Pierre. He and Flora had four children, one of which (Lee) had a career in the U.S. Army and is buried near Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. Aside from the group photo in the figure above, there are no known photos of Wallace as an adult. A picture of his son, Lee, and Grace (Barker) Grimshaw is given below. Photos of the graves of Wallace as well as Lee and his wife are shown below.

Lee and Grace (Barker) Grimshaw; Lee was one of two sons of Wallace and Flora (Allison) Grimshaw. (Photo courtesy of Phyllis Grimshaw. Date of photo is unknown.) 

Grave of Wallace J. Grimshaw at Pierre, South Dakota. Gravestone is in the foreground near the large tree. (Taken November 1999.)

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Grave of Lee Raymond Grimshaw at the National Cemetery at Fort Bliss, Texas. Gravestone is the third one in the right-most row on the right side of the first photo. The mountains in the background are the Franklin Mountains, near El Paso, Texas. Details of the gravestone for Lee and Grace are shown, respectively, in the other two photos. Photos taken February 2002; thanks to Dave Evans for taking the photos.

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Eva and Roy Thomas were apparently married before they, with George and Aris, moved from Oacoma to the area north of Mitchell in about 1906. Eva was apparently married previously to Oel Hess. Little is known of the lives of Roy and Eva after their move to Mitchell until they arrived in Sioux City, Iowa, except that they lived for a time in Lesterville, South Dakota before moving on to Sioux City. It appears that Eva's sister-in-law, Freda, who had lost her husband during her pregnancy with Claude Walter Grimshaw, came to Lesterville to have the baby. Family lore has it that Roy and Eva had a considerable fortune, which was lost in the stock market crash of 1929. Roy and Eva raised their family and lived out their lives in Sioux City and are buried there. Many of their descendants still live in that area. Their pictures, and pictures of their graves, are shown below.

Roy and Mary Evelyn ('Eva") (Grimshaw) Thomas (Photo Courtesy of Al Hodgin, August 2000. Date of photo is unknown.)

Roy and Eva Thomas (left) with Eva's older siblings Anna Celestine "Tina" (Grimshaw) Albert and Bill Grimshaw. Photo from album belonging to Freda and Joe Bice, added September 2003. Thanks to Rosemarie Karlen for making the identifications.

Eva and Tina Grimshaw. Photo from album belonging to Freda and Joe Bice, added September 2003. Thanks go to Rosemarie Karlen for making the identifications.

Gertrude and Aris Thomas, daughters of Roy and Eva Grimshaw, pictured with their grandmother, Aris (Ladd) Grimshaw. Since Gertrude, the older child was born in 1909, the photo was probably taken in 1917 to 1919. Photo courtesy of Rosemarie Karlen and Carol Anderson, January 2002.

Roy and Eva Thomas in Later Years with Their Grandchildren. (Photo Courtesy of Claude Thomas, November 1999. Date of photo is unknown.) 

Grave Markers of Roy and Eva (Grimshaw) Thomas at Sioux City, Iowa. Roy's is the near marker, and Eva's is the one on the right. Double click on the icons to see the full-size photo. (Taken November 1999.)

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Walter (who apparently went by "Claude") remained with his parents through the time of his father's death in Presho in September 1915. He and Freda Elaine Sehnert, who was from Presho, were married in April 1917 and subsequently lived in Oacoma where they operated a café and bakery. Their first son, George Richard, was born on March 27, 1918. However, Claude contracted pleurisy in early 1920 and died in February. It is unlikely that he knew that a second child "was on the way;" son Walter Claude (who changed his name to Claude Walter as an adult) was born on October 5, 1920 in Lesterville, South Dakota. Walter Claude (Senior) is buried near his parents in Presho.

Freda subsequently remarried, to Joseph Ornan Bice, and they had one additional child, Stanley. The three boys were raised together in Oacoma and attended public schools there. Photos of Walter Claude, Freda with the two Grimshaw boys, and Freda with her parents and siblings are shown below. Freda and Joe are buried together in the Chamberlain cemetery.

Walter Claude Grimshaw. (Photo from album of Freda (Sehnert) Grimshaw Bice; now in the possession of website author. Date of photo is unknown.)

Photo of W.C. Grimshaw picking flowers in 1916. Date probably written by his wife, Freda. Photo from album of Freda and Joe Bice. Thanks go to Fay Bice for making the album available.

Photo of W.C. Grimshaw (probable) and his wife, Freda (probable). Photo from album of Freda and Joe Bice. Thanks go to Fay Bice for making the album available.

Freda (Sehnert) Grimshaw with Her Two Sons by Walter Claude, George (the Older Boy) and Claude Walter. (Photo courtesy of Al Hodgin. Date of photo is unknown.)

Aris (Ladd) Grimshaw with Her Grandchildren, Claude Walter and George Grimshaw (Sons of Walter and Freda Grimshaw). (Photo courtesy of Al Hodgin. Date of photo is unknown.)

George and Claude Grimshaw with their cousins, Georgia and Elsie Albert. Photo taken about 1921, when Claude was about one year old. Thanks to Carol Anderson for providing this photo, March 2002.

Freda in Later Years with Second Husband, Joseph O. Bice. (Photo courtesy of Phyllis Grimshaw. Date of photo is in the 1950s.) 

Family History of Freda (Sehnert) Grimshaw Bice

Freda Sehnert came to South Dakota with her family from Germany when she was a young child. An entry on the Sehnert family in the Lyman County History is shown below.

Source: Lyman County History [citation needed]

Sehnert, Richard and Anna, Family

Richard and Anna Sehnert were married in Erfurt, Germany, in 1892. They heard of all the free land and wonderful opportunities in the United States so they decided to come with their three children, Elsa, Paul and Freda, to take up a homestead at Dirkstown, Lyman County, S. Dak., where they lived a few years. Here sons Richard and Otto were born.

Due to the scarcity of water and range land, they moved on a farm south of Oacoma at the mouth of White River where they resided until 1906. In the spring of that year, Mr. Sehnert decided that farming was not for him, being a baker by trade. He with his family of eight children moved to Presho and started a bakery which has been in continuous business by members of the family. In those early years the baking business was a difficult one, without machinery or electricity. All the mixing was done by hand and the oven was fired coal or coke which made the shop a very hot and uncomfortable place to work.

For many years, in conjunction with the bakery, Sehnerts served meals ranging in price from 25c to 50c. The cafe was discontinued in 1924 at the time of Mr. Sehnert's death. Mrs. Sehnert continued the bakery with the help of sons and Louise. In 1932, Mrs. Sehnert passed away. Rudy and wife Christine operated the bakery for a time and in 1933 Carl and Louise bought the establishment from the Sehnert estate and have operated since that time.

Mr. and Mrs. Sehnert's eight children were some of the Presho and Lyman County's early settlers and have taken part in many activities of the community.

Elsa (deceased) married Ray Scott. Their five children are Raymond, Pat, Darlene, Glen and Robert.

Freda (deceased) married Claud Grimshaw. Their family consisted of two sons: George and Claud. Claud, Sr., passed away and after a few years Freda married Joseph Bice. One son, Stanley, was born to them.

Paul lives in Clark, S. Dak. He married Wanda Ziegford and they had three children: Ralph. who lost his life in WWII, Melvin who lives near Clark, and Laura Gross who lives at Crandall.

Otto married Ruth Wade. Both have passed on. Their son, Keith, lives in Lincoln, Nebr.

Richard is married and has five children: Robert, Maurice, Connie, Patti and Cheryl.

Rudy married Christine Matz. They have two daughters, Marilyn and Eileen.

Louise married Carl Garnos and they have operated the original Sehnert Bakery for 33 years. They have two sons: Verle Robert married Patricia Langland (they have two daughters, Kristin and Kara, and live in Fremont, Nebr.), and Gordon, who married Beth McFarlane of Chester, England (they have three children, William, Heather and Richard Nels and they live in Watertown, S. Dak.).

Walter married Lenita Ackerman. They have a son, Walter, who is married to Jean Leisy (they have three children). Judith married Philip Olson who passed away in August 1966. Four children were born to them.

Freda Sehnert (Back Row) in a Family Portrait with her Parents, Richard and Anna (Grassman) Sehnert. The identifications are as follows: back row - Richard, Freda, Paul and Otto; middle row - Anna, Richard, and Elsa; front row - Louise, Rudolph, and Walter. (Photo courtesy of Sam Bice. Date of photo is unknown. Identifications from Bob Scott, August 2005)

George Grimshaw's origins are well documented and are described on webpages for his parents John James and Mary Ann (Mahoney) Grimshaw (click here), grandparents George and Charlotte (Menard) Grimshaw (click here) and likely great-grandparents William and Elizabeth (Zephaniah) Grimshaw click here. George was born on Wolfe Island, Ontario, on July 19, 1849; a copy of his baptism is shown below. It reads as follows: 

[p. 558?, August 1849, Registry of Baptisms continued, Entry 212]

George Thos. Grimshaw.     On the twenty-sixth day of August one thousand eight hundred and forty nine, I the undersigned Priest, baptized George Thos. born on the nineteenth July ____ of the lawful Marriage of John Grimshaw and Mary Anne Mahony of Wolf Island. Sponsors Hiram? Hitchcock and Catharine McReore?

P.J. Maddux? [other entries on the page indicate first name of Patrick]

Record of baptism for George Thomas Grimshaw, from St. Mary's Cathedral, Kingston, Ontario. Image from photocopy provided by Bob Grimshaw, Modesto, California.

In about 1862 (when George was about age 13, according to census records¹), his family migrated to Wisconsin and settled in the southwestern part of that state. George and Aris were married at Richland Center, Wisconsin on December 5, 1869. At an unknown date after their marriage (no later than 1874), they left the state and migrated westward. They arrived in South Dakota in about 1879 and lived out their lives there. George died on September 29, 1915 as a result of a fall from a freight wagon.

Aris Phedora Ladd was born in New York on December 29, 1948, and she came with her family to Richland Center, Wisconsin. She died of natural causes (heart failure) in South Dakota in 1929. Rosemarie Karlen has done a good deal of work on the history of Aris (Ladd) Grimshaw. Her research is shown below.

Source: http://www.sprague-database.org/ny/f7.htm 

From Rosemarie Karlan, correspondent.

MARY SPRAGUE AND WM. A. LADD

We have fascinating legends of Mary Sprague. She is said to be of "the Smiths of Virginia" As far as we can determine, she was born in Vermont so the "Smiths" must have traveled. Their daughter, Aris Ladd Grimshaw, told that she grew up where she could hear Niagara Falls but never saw them. Another puzzling legend is "Sprague dirt." Her son, David Ladd, was "dark complected" (as was a nephew Claude Grimshaw), attributed to "Sprague dirt" by the Ladds. I would love to know what this is all about. We have corresponded, now, with descendents of Mary's son, David Ladd, and they at first told us that Mary was an "Iroquois Princess" but as far as I know now they have backed the Indian blood thing off at least another generation. They also say that she originally spelled her name Meary.

Mary kept her age a mystery. In 1870 Census at Dayton, Richland Center, Wisconsin she was 45, in 1880 in Jackson twp. Boone County, Iowa she was 56, in 1900 Butler twp., Sanborn County, SD her birth date was listed as Feb. 1821. I'm inclined to believe this birth date because it also agrees with her age of 81 years on her will dated Nov. 17, 1902. It doesn't agree with Aunt Lyra's chart (she has "born 1829, died 1904"). Her tombstone says 1820. What can you expect? Her daughter, Aris, our great-grandmother, had the wrong birth date put on her husband's stone so he wouldn't be younger than she was.

William doesn't have as many legends. It is said that he was 6 foot 7-1/2 inches tall. This has to be so, because why would they make up that extra half-inch. We find from the censuses that he was first a sawyer in NY and then a farmer in WI. He is said to have died because a tree fell on him

They moved a lot. Wouldn't it be great to know just how they made these moves! I wonder if they went by boat across the Great Lakes. It was about the time they started using steamboats on the lakes. We have them (Wm. Ladd and Mary) in New York, then maybe Canada. (Son, Wallace is listed as having been born in Canada)

We have recently made contact with Suzan Ladd, a descendent of son, David who says they have David and his family on a census in Iowa, next, in 1860 and they have a military record for him in the Civil War.

By 1870 Mary and William were in Wisconsin and newlywed daughter Aris and George Thomas Grimshaw were living with them. William died there in 1871. (We don't have any record of this death though)

Mary was living next in Jackson Boone County Iowa in 1880 living with her son Wallace and near her son, David and family. Her brother Hela Sprague lived in Fayette County too. On this same census was another Sprague family: William 35 (probably isn't Hela's son, a William born 1866 is buried in their plot) his wife Lizbeth 28 and Anna M. 8 and Kerry? A. 2.

In 1885, Mary and son, Wallace, lived together in Sanborn County, Dakota Territory, with David and family living nearby. Her brother Hela Sprague and his family lived there also. He died in 1901 and is buried there where Mary is, in the Prairie Home Cemetery out in the country in Butler twp., Sanborn County, SD. Three of Hela and Sarah's children died in late 1893. She obtained a patent on 160 acres in Sec 15, 105N 060W in Sanborn County 6/8/1902 and Wallace had a patent on 40 acres, Sec. 2, 105N, 060W, dated 4/27/1889. Wallace died Nov. 29, 1896, age 41, leaving Mary alone. There is a story about Wallace having been operated on for appendicitis at home.

When Mary wrote her will November 17, 1902 she provided: individual bequests to her children and grandchildren and designated money for a tombstone for herself and Wallace. Her son, David and his family were living in Tripoli, Iowa at the time; and Aris was living at Oacoma SD.

The earliest Census we have for them is 1850 New York Census - St. Lawrence County (my copy is blurry but I have heard that this is Lawrenceville, NY) shows entries 509, 521

WILLIAM A. LADD, age 31, male, occupation Sawyer, born NY,

MARY M. LADD age 24, born NH, David A. Ladd age 7 (? could be 4) male, born ditto same as Mary, ARICE F. LADD (this is phonetic spelling; her name is Aris Phedora) age 2, F. born ditto same as Mary, Anna C. Ladd, age 21, F. born ditto same as Mary.

(Note, we don't know who Anna C. Ladd was but we know someone of that name was married in Dayton, Richland, WI to Lyman Bingham, Farmer, Feb. 16, 1868 subscribing witnesses were Wm A. Ladd and Asher Ladd. Father and Mother of wife were Wm. A. Ladd and Mary M. Ladd. They weren't old enough to be her parents but maybe they adopted her)

This New York census is handwritten and on further study, it looks like they are all born in NH because the H or Y looks similar to the H on Farm Hand elsewhere. In a later census in 1870 in Wisconsin they were all listed as coming from Vermont. What is St. Lawrence Co. NY now could have been NH or Vermont when they were born; I haven't researched this.

We have the 1851 Census of Frontenac County (Wolfe Island) It shows Grimshaws living there This may or may not have had anything to do with Mary & William.

Then we have the August 10, 1870 Census of Dayton Richland Center County Wisconsin.

WILLIAM A. LADD age 51, farmer, 800 value of real estate, 100 value of personal estate, born in Vermont.

MARY A. LADD age 45, keeping house, born in Vermont.

David A. Ladd, age 24 farmer, 200 value of personal estate, born in Vermont.

Wallace Ladd, age 15 work on farm, born Canada (107-106)

GEORGE GRIMSHAW, age 21, farm laborer, born Canada

ARIS P. GRIMSHAW, age 22, at home, born New York (same location 107-106)(living with her folks)

Same Census: The Grimshaw family had moved from Wolf Island to Richland WI

Notice from this census Wallace Ladd was born in Canada approx 1855; they were near the border, could have just gone up there; but maybe they lived there for a while

William A. Ladd died soon after this census. November 29, 1871. We believe that a tree fell on him. It is interesting to note that the great Chicago fire and the fire that destroyed Peshtigo, WI happened in October that year. More than a million acres of timberland were burned.

Anna Celestine Grimshaw (our grandmother) was born in Bremmer Co., Iowa, near Olewein Iowa. Dec. 7, 1874.

The Census for June 17, 1880 Franklin Twp. Bremmer Co. Iowa shows:

GEORGE GRIMSHAW 30 farmer, born in Canada, ARIS GRIMSHAW 32 wife, keeping house, born NY, William Grimshaw 8, son, born Iowa. TYNE GRIMSHAW (our grandmother Anna Celestine) age 5, daughter, born Iowa.

The Census for June 15 1880 Iowa shows

MARY LADD age 56 keeping house and her son Wallace A., Age 24, a farmer. Her other son, David, age 34 is listed there with his family

Next comes the Census Dist. No. 94 County of Sanborn, Territory of South Dakota 1885 shows Mary Ladd living with her son W.A. Ladd single, farmer, born Canada, father born Vermont. She is 60, widowed, farmer, born New York, father born New York, mother born New York. Her other son, David, is listed with his family as is her brother, Hela Sprague with his family.

A photo of the Ladd family is shown below.

Ladd family. From left to right are Dave, Mamie (standing), Eliza, Bert (standing), and Myrtle. The boy on the right has not been identified. (Photo courtesy of Carol Anderson, June 1999. Date of photo is unknown.).

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Lyra Hodgin Notes on Ladd Family (also provided below on this webpage)

Lyra wrote a few words about the Ladds in one of the renditions of the Grimshaw family history (). She also wrote a piece "dedicated" to the Ladds, which was provided to the Website Author in 1984; it is shown below.

Photos of Gravesites Near Letcher

[to be added]

 

Lyra (Albert) Hodgin, granddaughter of George and Aris (daughter of Tina Albert), had a strong interest in the origins of the South Dakota Grimshaws and was the "chronicler" of family history before her death in 1996. She wrote different renditions of the family story at different times but, unfortunately, did not usually date them. This section presents several of these renditions from different sources.

The first rendition presents a few notes on the family history that Lyra provided to the author during a visit in the Summer of 1983. Rendition 2 contains notes received by the author from Lyra in April 1984. Rendition 3 was entitled "Our Ancestors" and came from materials in Al Hodgin's files that were obtained in June 1999. Renditions 4 and 5 also came from Al Hodgin's files and were obtained at the same time, but were untitled.

Provided to Website Author by Lyra in 1984

The Geo. Grimshaw family lived in or near Ida Grove, Iowa in Bremer Co. when my mother was born. They also lived in Minnesota at one time near Adrian or Worthington but after 1902 spent most of the time in Lyman Co S.D. Before coming to Oacoma they lived around Letcher. Great- Grandma Ladd and Mother’s uncle Wallace lived at Letcher too. Wallace died as a fairly young man of appendicitis. George (T.) Grimshaw worked on the survey crew that made the survey for the Milwaukee R.R. and came as far as Scenic. He also worked on the R.R. bridge. He was a stone mason by trade but there was a depression in the late 1800s and early 1900s and little building was done.

He filed on a claim five miles east of Oacoma about 1904 but sold it soon after he proved up on it.

Mary Mahoney (mother of George (T.) Grimshaw) was born in County of Cork Ireland. Came to Canada by boat. Her husband and baby were buried at sea. She lived where she skated on the St. Lawrence River. They told us she crossed the river on ice to buy things in the U.S. She married John Grimshaw who was a sailor on one of the Great Lakes. I do not know which one. In the early 1900s he lived in Richland Center, Wis. with his daughter Lyda Ritchie. He came to visit in Oacoma, S.D. in the summer of 1906 with his son George (T.) Grimshaw. I remember him.

(The following section was actually written first in the original.)

W.A. Ladd             Aris Phedora Ladd

Mary Sprague        Wallace Ladd

Mary Sprague apparently had two brothers as my mother mentioned a Will Sprague and Uncle Healy Sprague who lived near Letcher, S.D. Our great grandmother Ladd lived in Letcher at the time she died (1904) but must have had a place in the country at the time Wallace Ladd died as my mother mentioned the neighbors harvesting the crops at the time her son Wallace was ill before (he) died after having an operation for appendicitis that was performed in their home on the kitchen table. Great grandpa Ladd had died some years before. A tree fell on him. He was very tall, 6 ft, 7-1/2 inches they said.

 

Provided to Website Author by Lyra in 1984

Our knowledge of the Grimshaw family is quite limited. It begins with John Grimshaw who was a Canadian who was a sailor on the Great Lakes we were told by his son George (T.) Grimshaw, who was my Grandfather. I do not know which Lake but since he lived in Wisconsin the first we knew of him I have an idea it was Superior. However George G. was born in Canada so it could have been one of the others.

John G. married Mary Mahoney, who came from County of Cork in Ireland probably about the time of the great potato famine in Ireland. Her husband and baby died on the trip over and were buried at sea. She was a tiny person Grandpa G. (her son) told us. He said when she carried two pails of water they almost touched the ground. He also told us that she was a fleet skater. It could be that they lived in Eastern Canada then as he said she skated across the St. Lawrence River to buy things in the U.S. He said she could out skate the revenue men to keep from paying duty on things. They would have had to live in Ontario Canada then, but I don’t know if this was after she was married or not. I do know Grandpa G. was born in Canada as he told us of being called a "Canuck" after coming to the U.S. and to him then those were fighting words. He was born Catholic and was an Altar boy he told us. One of his duties as such was to help carry the priest home from the saloon, or what ever it was called after Mass every Sunday, so he gave it up.

There were five children, George, Mile or Michael, Lida and Alex, John or Johnnie.

The only place of residence we know of was Richland Center Wisconsin which is some distance from the Lake so he, John G., must have retired from sailing. It was there that George married Aris Ladd. They had six children. William Allen, Anna Celestine (my mother), Wallace, Mary Evelyn, who was always called Eva, Nettie Estelle always called Stella, and Walter Claude always called Claude. Stella died when she was only six years old of scarlet fever.

I do not know how long Grandpa and Grandma G. lived at Richland Center. I do know that my mother, always called Tina, was born in Iowa. Guess the Tina grew out of the name Celestine.

The next I know is of their being in S.Dak. near Forestburg, which is north of Mitchell. It was there that Tina met and married George Albert in 1890. Claude was only eleven months older than George and Tina’s daughter Anna. They said she called him Uncle Claude when they were just little and playing together.

Both families lived in that area until the spring of 1902. By that time Otto and Lyra (myself) were added to the Albert family and we had been living at Alpena, S.D. At that time land was opening up to settlement west of the Missouri River and my folks started out with horses and hayrack loaded with their possessions and trailing some cows. I was not yet three years old so remember very little of the trip. We were caught in a late (April) spring storm just East of Chamberlain and stayed in the upstairs of an elderly couple until we could go on again. We crossed the river on the pontoon bridge. We moved into a house a little west and south of Oacoma along the creek and not far from the river.

I can’t remember when Grandpa and Grandma Aunt Eva and Uncle Claude came but do know they lived across the creek west of us when Stella was born in Feb. of 1903.

Grandpa filed claim to a place five miles west out of Oacoma. At that time one could get 160 acres. You were to build a house and plow a certain number of acres and live there a certain number of years or months and then the land was yours. People just built shanties and went out and stayed a few days at a time as there was no way to make a living there at that time. The would plow up the required ground and some never planted a thing on it even. Then they would sell for what ever they could get for it. It was the summer of 1904 that Grandpa and Grandma used to go out to their place. I was five years old. I remember of saying it was as far as I was years old.

I used to go with them quite often. Mostly we drove a single buggy with Old Bridget, their horse but I remember of walking with them once. Don’t know why we had to walk. I’d run ahead and then sit down and wait for them. I remember it was quite a pull up that hill just west of town and when Grandma sat down to rest she sat on a cactus. There were several other homesteaders out there and they would get together evenings to play cards.

At that time the railroad only came as far as Chamberlain. By 1903 the railroad bridge was built. I know Grandpa worked with a bridge crew but am not sure if then or later as they always had to rebuild and repair then as it would go out when the ice broke up in the spring and also in June when the river (was) way high.

Grandpa went west with the survey crew probably in the summer of 1905 as the survey crew went ahead of the builders. After the bridge was built they could bring the steel and materials.

Grandma and Aunt Eva and I suppose Claude (he would have been 15 then) went with Grandpa. They lived in tents. I don’t know if the men had to furnish their own board or what. Only know they went. Grandpa went with the crew as far as Scenic. There he bought Grandma a Black Hills gold ring. That was the first we ever knew of such.

They spent the next few years in Oacoma and then went back East of the river for a few years. Uncle Will and Wallace were both there. They had married and had families. They came back to Oacoma again later and Will and family came too.

The summer of 1915 Uncle Will, who had a dray line in Oacoma, decided to go to Presho. Grandpa and Grandma and Claude went along and the men worked together. It was at that time that Claude met Freda Sehnert. That was before trucks were used for hauling freight and such. They were hauling corn cribbing one day and Grandpa was helping. He picked up a pair of gloves that Claude had discarded because they had caught on the wire in the corn cribbing not realizing why Claude had discarded them. When he threw the roll of cribbing the gloves caught and threw him off the dray to the ground. It must have broken his neck as he only lived a few hours after they brought him home. That was the fall of 1915.

As you know it was while in Presho Claude met Freda Sehnert and from this point you must know better than I about their life together which was so short.

It was during that winter time in Presho that Claude found "Doc" Grimshaw down town intoxicated and almost had to carry him home and "Doc" was bout as heavy as Claude. Claude then had pleurisy and from then on always had trouble when he had a cold. When the flu struck him the pleurisy came too and it was just too much. That was after they were married of course and had lived in Oacoma.

Will Grimshaw had come back to Oacoma too. Grandma Grimshaw stayed with them. Aunt Net, Will’s wife ran the hotel there and Uncle Will worked in Chamberlain and Grandma helped Aunt Net, washed dishes etc.

She later washed dishes in a restaurant in Presho. She liked to do for herself and did so for a number of years. My mother, Tina, ran a little cafe in Reliance after my father died. It was understood that Grandma could always have a home there any time. She died there in April of 1929.

I hope I have given you some idea of the family. If there are any questions would be glad to try to answer.

Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Claude were very special to me I suppose because I was with them so much as a child. Claude was more like a big brother as he was only nine years older. Uncle Wallace never came west and Aunt Eva married and left.

Uncle Will and Aunt Net stayed around that area until they died. They had four boys, Cleatus, Walter ("Doc"), Fay and Jay who were twins. Aunt Net’s sister took Jay when he was a baby and he stayed with her. Fay never married. All three had drinking problems and died quite young. Uncle Will had problems too for a few years but over came them.

Claude did drink some in his late teens and early twenties when they had gone back east of the river but never to any extent afterward. There were those who would have been only too glad to let me know if such was the case.

 

"Lyra Hodgin Chronicles", Rendition 3

"Our Ancestors"

Material from Al Hodgin Files, Obtained June, 1999

The first we know of the Grimshaw family is of John who was a Canadian. We have no idea of where he was born or the year. We were told by George Grimshaw (our grandfather and son of John) that his father was a sailor on the Great Lakes. George was raised a Catholic and was an altar boy he said. One of his Sunday duties was to help carry the priest home who was so drunk he couldn’t walk. That seemed to put an end to his association with the Catholic Church.

To go back to John G., he married Mary Mahoney. They pronounced Mahoney with accent on the first syllable. She was born in Ireland in County Cork we were told and her husband and baby died coming to Canada and were buried at sea. She must have lived in Ontario, Canada, as we were told by our grandfather that his mother was a very good ice skater. She would skate across the St. Lawrence River to buy things in the U.S. and could skate faster going home than the revenue men to keep from paying duty. She was a very tiny woman he said. When she carried two pails of water they almost touched the ground. We don’t know when or where she met John G(rimshaw) but I think George was born at Richland Center, Wisconsin. She must have died fairly young. Her death date is 1880 and John’s 1907. There were five children, George, Mike, Alex, Johnnie and Lyda. We do not know anything about George’s brothers but I remember of our mother talking of her Aunt Lyda, who lived in Richland Center. She was postmistress there for years they said and I faintly remember of their talking of Johnnie being in S.D. after George came. Lyda’s married name was Ritchie.

George Grimshaw married Aris P. Ladd in Richland Center. They had six children, Will, Anna (our mother), Wallace, Eva, Claude and Stella. Stella died of scarlet fever when she was six years old. Other children in town had had it very light. Grandpa and Grandma said. I remember their telling me when I was a little girl that the night before she took sick she was playing outside and didn’t want to come in. Grandpa said he told her there would be another day to play. She took violently ill during the night and only lasted a very short time. I do not know where they lived at the time. Possibly Minn.

Anna Grimshaw (our mother) married George Albert Feb. 22, 1890 in Artesian, S.D. Both of their families were living in that area. Mother was just fifteen and papa was thirty-three. They must have moved to Minnesota as sister Anna was born at Edgerton, Minn. I’m quite sure Grandpa and Grandma lived there at that time too as I remember of their mentioning other towns near Edgerton. Claude Grimshaw probably was born there too, as he was only eleven months older than Anna. They said she always called him Uncle Claude when they were just little folks. He was my favorite Uncle as he was nearer our age than any of the others and most of the time Grandma and Grandpa lived near us when we were growing up.

Both families must have moved back to S.D. fairly soon as brother Otto was born in S.D. They lived in or near Letcher, S.D. and I was born there too. Grandpa and Grandma Albert had homesteaded a mile straight west of Letcher. Both Grandpa Albert and our father (George) were carpenters and cabinet makers. They build the house Grandpa and Grandma lived in but that was in hard times and there was not much building being done.

When I was about two or 2-1/2 years old (1901-2) we lived on a place near Wessington Springs, S.D. that was irrigated. Our father was a very good gardener and raised celery I remember their saying. He also had a carpenter shop with workbench and such. I always had a faint memory of playing with the wood curls that fell on the floor when he was planing boards. It seemed sort of like it was a dream. I also remember watching for him to come home from town down a long tree-lined lane and the smell of his wet buffalo overcoat that smelled sort of like a wet dog.

We left there in April of 1902 and came west to Oacoma, S.D. with a couple of wagons. Since I was not quite three years old, I have only some dim memories. We were caught in an early spring snowstorm just east of Chamberlain and stayed a day or so with an elderly couple until we could go one.

The only way to get across the Missouri River at that time was by ferryboat or on the pontoon bridge, which was supported only by pontoons. Our folks chose the bridge I imagine because it was free.

At that time west of the river (Missouri) was considered frontier country, sort of wild and I suppose the folks had talked of what we might find. They said after they crossed the river that day I saw some cows and said they were deer. Someone corrected me and my reply was "I said they was deers and they was deers." I was never let to forget that remark long after I was grown. If I happened to disagree with some of the family, they would say "I said they was deers and they was deers." I can faintly remember a bit of the drive to Oacoma from the river as the mud was very bad and our horses had an awful struggle to make it. They were leading some cows too.

We moved to a place about a mile perhaps less, slightly west and south of Oacoma close to American Creek and also fairly close to the Missouri River. It belonged to John Bartine who was a lawyer in town. He had a dream of irrigating the place from the creek. I suppose our father had made an agreement before we came but I do not know nor do I know what crop they planned to raise. However the irrigation scheme didn’t work. The wooden troughs leaked among other things and in summer the creek was quite low. Papa did raise lots of vegetables of all kinds without it.

Stella was born in Feb. 1903. By that time Grandpa and Grandma Grimshaw were there too. They lived across the creek from us. Uncle Claude had a little pug dog named Queen. She used to swim across the creek to come to our house and finally stayed all of the time.

There was not carpenter work for our father and I wonder now what we lived on. We milked cows and sold milk. I can remember of helping Otto carry milk pails. I suppose I was five or six when I started.

There were no trains west of the river then. I can remember of hearing train whistles at times, I suppose from Chamberlain, and it seemed to me it came from some fairyland. At that time the Government had opened up land for settlement. A person could get 160 acres of land for a small filing fee and a promise to build a house and plow up a certain number of acres and live there a certain length of time. Then they could "prove up" as it was called and get title to the land. The Milwaukee Railroad was helping to promote this along with plans to build the railroad on west. I think this was what had prompted our folds to come west.

Grandpa Grimshaw got work with the railroad, with the crew that did the surveying. They must have had to furnish their own shelter and board – at least I remember Grandma and Aunt Eva were with him part of the time possibly in summer of 1902 or 1903. Likely the latter.

The railroad building crews followed fairly close behind. We sold milk to one camp one summer. They had big cook cars and the railroad company furnished all of the supplies not depending on local stores. That would have been in 1905.

The railroad bridge building must have been going on or started earlier as it was finished in 1905 and then the building material could be shipped in I remember now the camp had had railroad cars on a siding east of town for the workmen and what they called the cook car where we took the milk. Later it moved west of town as the work progressed and it was there we heard our first phonograph.

As the railroad was finished people would come in in immigrant cars, boxcars with all of their possessions from horses to household goods – going to land they had filed on. They also came in covered wagons and such.

The place we lived on was on a road that led to the Missouri River. The ferryboat landed there and people would drive by most every day. Some stopped and camped in our yard overnight. I remember one family who came in the house for breakfast or something. At least the woman combed her hair with our comb and next day we discovered we had head lice. One would have thought the world had come to an end. We all got our hair combed with a fine-toothed comb dipped in kerosene and then shampooed until all signs were gone. I was only five but never forgot it.

Grandpa filed on a claim west of town about five miles and built a "claim shanty" as those houses were called, one room of one layer of boards covered with tar paper on the outside, with a "car roof" not a gable, and it was tar papered. A good many didn’t have a floor even. People didn’t really live there as no way to make a living so they stayed nights now and then. I used to go with Grandpa and Grandma quite often. I remember when it rained the roof leaked on our bed and mosquitoes were so bad we made a smudge o green grass on top of the stove to smoke them out as there were no screens on door or windows. Grandpa sold his land as soon as he got his title as a good many others did.

Our father planned to come on west to about Sturgis the spring of 1906. He had ordered a tent through one of the stores and we were going on in wagons again. However, the store burned one night along with the tent and that ended those plans. I remember I was terribly disappointed as I thought it would be fun.

Papa brought a lot and moved a house on it. It was east of town (Oacoma) and south of the road that led into town. This would have been in 1907.

I should have mentioned earlier that Oacoma was really a frontier town with two saloons, two hotels each with livery barns. The town was "shot up" as they used to say, once either the first or second year we were there. Cowboys rode into town shooting all directions and even rode their horses into the saloons. There was still a lot of cattle stealing going on. John Bartine, on whose place we first lived, was a lawyer who later became judge, had a great deal to do with helping to convict and put a stop to the rustlers. The town had been first called Gladstone, one of the hotels was called the Gladstone. I don’t know why or at what time it was changed to Oacoma. There had been an Indian agency on the west side of the creek earlier. It was moved to what is now Lower Brule agency north of Reliance. Some of the buildings from the agency were moved across the creek to Oacoma. Two that I know of were the Congregational Church which was on Main St. and burned after I was grown. The other is a very large house that is still standing. At the time we moved there it was occupied by the Kenniston family who owned one of the stores. About 1912 the William Williamsons lived in it. He was a lawyer and later became a U.S. Senator. When M.Q. Sharp was governor he bought it and I believe was the last real tenant. His daughter later gave it to the State Historical Society. It is said the front porch was where an Indian treaty was signed when the house was at the agency across the creek.

In earlier times the Indians were issued food and other things from warehouses called "issue houses" but by the time we were there they were given money every three months then they would come to town and camp until their money was gone and then go back to the reservation. When we lived on the Bartine place they always camped across the road from us and in summer when our father had garden things they would come to get things for their stew. They always had lots of moccasins made and used them to trade for the vegetables. We kids always wore them in summer. Otto (my brother) and I used to go over and I remember watching the squaws making the moccasins. They asked us to stay to eat one time. We saw melon seeds and such in their stew kettle and took off for home in a hurry.

To go back to family – by the time we moved to our own place we had more cows. We still sold milk but we had bought a separator and mother made butter too. That first summer 1906 our Great-grandfather, John Grimshaw, came from Wisconsin and spent tome time with us and Grandpa and Grandma Grimshaw. They had told us how they made maple syrup and sugar in Wisconsin and Great-grandpa John Grimshaw sent us some a number of times. He died the next year.

After the trip west to file on land fell through our father found some land west of Oacoma and filed on it probably in 1906. That was the year Elsie was born (1907). Stella and Georgia were born at the Bartine place, Stella in 1903 and Georgia in 1905.

Our father built a claim shanty on the place but we didn’t go there to live until later. He would go out and stay some, made hay and brought it back for the cattle. Grandpa and Grandma Grimshaw decided to run the restaurant and mother helped her so we left the house and stayed there since papa was gone most of the time. I can’t remember what he did about the cows. In the spring Mother and the small children went to the country and I stayed and helped Grandma and went to school. Grandma must have quit the restaurant as I stayed with Aunt Eva too. She was married and lived in Oacoma at that time. I stayed with them and started to school the next year as there was no school close enough out in the country but when warm weather came I went home and Stella and I walked three miles to a school. The next year a school was moved and located east of the Hodgin place and we went there from then on.

Our family never became very prosperous. Our place hadn’t very much farmable land. We milked cows, mother made butter in the cool months and sold cream in summer as we only had a cave or cellar to keep things cool. We always had some pigs to sell and some hay and corn too. Papa always raised a big garden and we always canned and took care of that. Mother dried corn as well as canned it. Our cellar was always full. We ate tomatoes from the first ripe ones till the last and canned until the last jar was full. Green beans, limas, squash, onions and turnips and beets and cucumbers. The latter for pickles canned. In fact we lived very well as I look back. There was always wild fruit, chokecherries, plums and buffalo berries for jams and jellies and papa raised ground cherries that made such good preserves or pies.

About the time we went to the farm Grandpa and Grandma Grimshaw and Aunt Eva and her husband and Uncle Claude went back to Letcher. They rented a farm for a year or two. In winter there wasn’t much for Otto to do at our place so he went back there and picked corn as farmers there always needed extra help.

Our father wasn’t very well as he had had a heart condition for years. He did go to a Dr. but at that time they couldn’t tell much about it. He no doubt had had high blood pressure for years as he learned much later that his heart was terribly enlarged.

Life in the country was simple but pleasant though we had practically no conveniences. We had to haul water several miles in barrels to use for cooking and drinking. It was terribly warm in summer and in winter we had to bring it in the house in a barrel or it would freeze solid. We melted snow to wash with in winter and hauled it from the dam in summer and either washed on a board or with a hand-run washing machine. Early times we had to fire up the cook stove even in hot weather and later had simple two- or three-burner kerosene or gasoline stoves. We always fired up the range to heat flat irons to iron clothes and in those days everything had to be ironed. It made for one very hot job on hot summer days, and at canning time it was the same.

Our social life was simple too. In summer part of the time there would be a church in the school house when a minister came out from town. Once in awhile a picnic late years in the Hodgin grove and most always a 4^th of July picnic some place. There were dances all year in the homes that had enough space. They would move our furniture to make room. The music was a violin or two and organ or piano if we were lucky. In summer sometimes there were barn dances in someone’s haymow. That was always great as we could have more than one set to square dance. Then there were basket (box) socials at the schoolhouses one in awhile. Girls would decorate a box and fix a lunch, sandwiches, potato salad, chicken pie and cake. The fun part was at auction the boys weren’t supposed to know whose box they were buying. If someone knew which was his girlfriend’s, others would bid it up and make him pay. Proceeds usually went for something for the school. My brother always took me, and I usually ate with him as he said then he knew he would get something to eat. A few times he had gotten a punk deal.

It was quite a habit for people to congregate at some of the neighbors on Sunday afternoons, mostly at the Hodgins. Men would pitch horseshoes and visit and the women in the house doing the same with kids running in and out.

By 1915 Grandpa and Grandma Grimshaw and Claude had come back to Oacoma and then they and Uncle Will Grimshaws moved to Presho where Uncle Will ran the dray and Claude helped him. In the fall of 1916 Grandpa Grimshaw was helping them unload corn cribbing and caught his glove and was thrown to the ground. It must have broken his neck as he only lived a short time.

While in Presho, Claude met Freda Sehnert and later they were married and then moved back to Oacoma. Uncle Will’s came back too and moved into the old hotel. Uncle Will worked in Chamberlain for the Power company and Aunt Net ran the hotel.

The fall of 1918 our father was not feeling very well and they decided to move to Oacoma and Claude and Freda stayed out on the farm and looked after things there. We moved into what had been the old Gladstone Hotel, but only used part of it. At that time I was engaged to be married to Francis Hodgin and he had gone to the Army in the summer and by fall was in France. He had arrived there only a short time before the Armistice was signed and then was assigned to a leave area now called R&R at____ on the Mediterranean. He had worked in a bank since he was sixteen so he was assigned to office work there. They lived in a lovely big hotel that had been taken over by the Army and their offices too were right on the beach.

The next spring we went back to the farm. Our father planted the corn. We milked the cows, made the garden and such. Claude and Freda moved to town.

That fall I remember so clearly – Nov. 11 the news came over the telephone that the Armistice was signed and WWI was over. Papa and Mama were picking corn in a field a mile or so away and I ran all the way to tell them.

Brother Otto was in the Army too but got out to come home and help on the Farm. Fran didn’t get back from France until the summer of 1919 as they were kept there to do what it took to send the others hoe and they were the last ones out. He came home on a big ocean liner, some different that the trip over on a small French ship not made for passengers. He didn’t even get a bunk until someone died. He always dreamed of going back some day on such a ship as he enjoyed the trip home so much.

During 1918 and 1919 there was a lot of very severe type of flu in the U.S. and hundreds of people died, sometimes several in a family. Claude Grimshaw got it. He had pleurisy with it and didn’t last long. As I remember it was perhaps in Feb. of 1920 maybe earlier. Otto helped to take care of him. Our father took sick in March. It was his heart but nothing could be done for it. He died the 6^th of June. Otto had done the farm work and we planted garden after papa died and did raise a good garden even though we often wished we could ask him when and how to plant some things as he had done the planting and someone else had just helped.

 

"Lyra Hodgin Chronicles", Rendition 4

Material from Al Hodgin Files, Obtained June, 1999