Trudgeon > Albert > |
In about 1909, Albert and his family moved to Burlingame, Kansas on a rented farm. They raised sugar cane and made it into syrup. Ivy took it to town in gallon buckets to sell to the grocers (via horse and wagon). They lived two years on Emily Place and then moved to Golden Place for one year. They moved to McLain Place for one year and to Bratten Place for one year. In about 1915, Albert left the family at Bratten Place and went to Colorado and homesteaded 1/2 section of land. He later returned for the family. In Colorado, they homesteaded or bought the rights to a piece of land that included a dairy. The Gregory's, Ivy's parents, also homesteaded a farm about 1 1/2 miles from the Trudgeon farm (it is believed they followed the Trudgeon family to Colorado). The Colorado property was a typical homestead. The house, half underground, was made of sod. It was all prairie; wide open range. They had 60 head of cattle and a horse. The family sold cream and butter and eggs to the grocery store in Granada, the nearest town (15 miles north of the farm). They also raised watermelons and brown cane, which the kids harvested and bundled up to take to town to someone else to make brooms out of. They also raised milo maize, a grain that grows like millet (feterita?), and Kafer corn. The grain was thrashed, sacked, and taken to town. There it was taken to the flour mill or sold for seed. In the fall of 1915 there was a prairie fire. The sons tried to help set the horses free. Roy fell off his horse, and the handkerchief around his neck caught fire, and he suffered a burn that left a scar. They lost their home and barn to the fire. David Gregory went to the city to raise money for the damage caused by the fire, and helped pay for the rebuilding himself. The Trudgeon family lived with the Gregory family while the new house was built. The David and Martha Gregory later moved back to Michigan, selling their property in Colorado. In season, Albert Trudgeon roomed in Bristol, four miles north of Granada. There he worked in the alfalfa mill making meal for winter cattle food. Life was difficult for the Trudgeon family. Unable to make a living in Colorado, they auctioned off everything on the homestead, including the buildings, and just left the land. They followed the Gregories to Oregon. In Oregon, Albert cut and sold wood. Albert and Ivy had 11 children: Guy, Archie, Helen, Violet, Rennel, Earl, Roy, Ruth, Pearl, Mattie (who died at three weeks), and a baby boy who died as an infant.
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