The Ancestor's Home

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Did you know that Bobwhite Quail actually say "Bob White, Bob White, Bob White"? And did you know that they start saying "Bob White" at about 6 AM? It is actually a surprisingly wonderful way to wake up-even though my body thinks that it is 4 AM. It was also hard to sleep much longer when I realized that today would probably be the most important genealogy day of my trip. Today, I was going out to the old house on the Maxfield land-now owned by someone else- to see if we could identify it against the picture that my second cousin Richard had sent to me.
I had been in touch with the Stark County, Illinois Genealogical Society and corresponded with the master of genealogical information, Don Schmidt. My trusty side-kick, Cay, and I were invited up to his house to make a plan for our morning. Don had also invited Dixie King. Now, I want to preface the rest of this journal entry by saying that every dangerous and fool hardy thing that I did the rest of the day was because of Dixie: And it was great!
When we made it up to the house, Don and Cay stayed outside, giving sensible advice like, ”You shouldn’t go in there!” as Dixie was forcing the door open. They continued to be protective of our wellbeing by advising us not to climb up those stairs while we were doing just that. They finally gave up, got in the car, and waited to hear sounds of us falling through floors or into wells.
The old settlers call this “The Maxfield Place” andI believe in my heart that this is the home where my Great Grandparents Thomas Hall and Sarah Frances Carr Maxfield, raised my grandfather and my 13 great aunts and uncles. In the 1891 picture the house looks much larger and the porches were obviously added later, but when you walk into the covered porch, you can see that the doors and windows match up . The second chimney is not visible, but there was a metal plate on the roof which is probably where it was. As you can see, the house was so full of discarded furniture, machine parts, and junk, that it was difficult to get a look at the walls to check for another chimney. You will be proud of me that I did not let Dixie climb up into the attic or down into the cellar. She was, however, trying to figure out how to get a very large washtub into my suitcase to take home. Dixie was finally able to break off a small piece of lathe and a nail so that I have a bit of my ancestors to take home with me. After a final beating down of the brush around the house, we left to go see the land that had been donated by George Clark Maxfield to build the Maxfield School.
There is nothing left of the Maxfield School except for the rail fence. Don Schmidt knew it well, because his family purchased the school to make into their home. Don lived there through the fourth grade. The Intrepid Dixie, again stating that it would be a shame if I came “all this way and left with nothing” managed to “find” a piece of the rail fence that was a much more convenient shape and size for my luggage than the washtub.
Don continued with our tour and many more Toulon stories than I can write here. We ended our tour at the Toulon Cemetery. It is amazing what looking at three generations of tombstones can do to you……..The sun was not good for taking pictures, so I will return tomorrow. After all my research, I also need a little bit of alone time with this family that I never knew.
Of course, all these dare devil feats and emotions aroused in the cemetery could only be assuaged by-Chicken Pot Pie!
…to be continued….

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Comments

[Jennifer]

Uncovering your family's history
How wonderful that you got to explore the house!