Ellen Condon McCornack

Ellen Aurelia Condon

Cornelia Judith Holt

Thomas Condon

In August of 1953 I was driving from Minnesota to Florida and fortunately was not on a tight schedule; so, I decided to go through Brookline, Missouri, the birthplace of my Mother. In our younger days Mother had told us of many things that occurred in “Old Missou” before she and her brothers and sisters went to Oregon. Brookline was not an impressive place. Obviously no rain had fallen for some time, and compared with the green fields of Iowa, that I had just driven through, the country looked pretty forsaken. I understood then why Uncle Claude, the older brother, had decided to go west when he was old enough.

Elwin A. McCornack was born into a family of considerable achievement and pride.
All of his grandparents had come west, pioneers, and that was a real achievement in itself, as they had left the comfort of home and familiar things to challenge the unknown. The journey was hazardous, whether “across the plains” as the McCornacks came, or “around the Horn” (the southern tip of South America), as came the Condons.

Nancy Frizelle Adams

Rod, Janet, Andy, Bernice McCornack

Adam Kerns

Condon Carlton and Elwin A. McCornack

Elwin A. McCornack

Elwin A. McCornack

Adam Kerns

Luther Cooley with his wife, Susannah, and four children, came to Clarke County, Iowa in a covered wagon in 1856 from Indiana. He was a farmer. He died at the age of 39 of pneumonia after getting too hot sowing flax and taking cold. Evidently it was muddy in the field, and his tracks could be seen for weeks after. In those days sowing was done by hand broadcasting, and on foot, of course. He left Susannah with seven living children. An eighth child had died at the age of 5 months. Two years after Luther’s death Susannah married her hired man, William Decker, and had two more daughters.

Luther Cooley

Grandma lay upon her bed—she seemed to be asleep,
I tiptoed from her room to freshen up and sweep,
So restlessly she slept, her breathing very slow,

Calista Jane Danner Cooley, age 96

Early Days
Luther Cooley, Albert’s father, came from poor, but honest, Scotch stock, who migrated to America on cattle boats. They settled in Ohio, near where the Dunbars lived.

Albert and Calista Cooley Family

Albert and Calista Cooley

Adam Kerns

In the name of God. Amen. I Didrick Fernsler in Shenandoah County and State of Virginia, am Ailing and weak of the body, though of sound and perfect memory and understanding; have taken into consideration How all things visible in vain and all men mortal, and as it pleased God to bestow on me his blessing of Earthly Goods I thought this for my last Will and Testament do make and order. How to do these with after my death as Followeth, first it is my will that my beloved wife Elisa Margret Shall have of the moveable Property her bed and bedstead and her chest a small Iron pot and one Pewter Basin and three spoons exclusive of her share which Shall not be Appraised, Further it is my will that my Beloved wife shall have one cow which she may pleased to take, also one hog the choice of five, and my son Frans Shall have his bed and bedstead Exclusive of his share which is also not to be appraised; the Remainder of my moveable Shall be appraised and Sold and the money Shall be Equally Divided among all my children their names are as Follows, Henry Fernsler, Frans and Catherine Gauer, Elisabeth Werdenberger, John and Christina Peters, Peter, Barbara Rousch, Frederick and William Fernsler, these are my Ten Children Those my Ten Children is to have in Equal Share of all Both my moveable and real Property; the Plantation where I now live on is to be appraised and Sold and my beloved wife is to have the one Third of the Money as Long as She liveth, after her death the Remainder is to be divided among my Children also the other two parts is to be Equally divided among my ten children my oldest son Henry has already got sixty pounds which is to be deducted out of his Share. How I Intend this for my last Will and Testament and Ordain my beloved Son Peter Fernsler and Michael Crous to Administer according to this my last Will, I Suscribe this my Last Will with my Own hand before Witnesses this Eleventh day of march in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Six. Witnesses: Jacob Hammon, Diderick (his mark) Fernsler, George Nees, Jacob Hammon At a court held for the County of Shenandoah on Monday the 12th day of September 1808 This Last Will and Testament of Dedrick Fernsler Dec’d in the German Language and a Translation thereof in the English Language was Exhibited to the Court and the Original by the oaths of Jacob Hammon Sr & George Nees Witnesses thereto and the Translation thereof proved by Ephraim Rinker which translation is ordered to be recorded, Peter Fernsler the surviving Executor therein Named refused to Qualify as and Executor Michael Crous the other Executor being Dead, Therefore administration with the Will annexed is Granted to Samuel Watton he having Affirmation entered into bond with George Bird…Died between 11 March 1806 and 12 Sept 1808.

January the 20th day 1759
In the name of God, Amen. I Arthur Johnson of the County of Augusta and Colony of Virginia being very sick and weak in body but of perfect mind and memory thanks be given unto God for it calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die do make and ordain this my last will and testament that is to say principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul into the hands of God that gave it and for my body I commend it to the Earth to be buried in a Christian manner by my executor nothing doubting but at the general resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God and as touching such worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this life I give divide and dispose of the same in the following manner and form I give to my well beloved sons John Jonson and Andrew Jonson the tract of land I now live on and a small survay lying on a gully called the Hunters Gully to be equally divided in two equal parts, and I give and grant one survay unto my son Arthur Jonson lying and bounding of Ellias (?) Herrin line and I leve my Dear and Loving wife all the moveable estate with the use of the plantation providing she dose not marry and if she should marry she is to enjoy the third of my moveable estate with the third of the plantation so long as she shall live and the remainder part of the moveables to be equally divided amongst the remainder part of my loving children which is Jane Jonson and Sarah Jonson and Mary Johnson and I suppose my loving wife to be with child of now to have an equal share with my loving daughters. And I do hereby utterly disallow revoke and disannul all and other former Testaments Wills legacies Requests and Executors by me in any ways before this time names willed and requested ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year above written I allow and appoint my loving wife to be my whole executor

When David Johnson’s ancestors first came to America, I have no way of determining. (As the name would imply, it is of English origin.) His father, Arthur Johnson, was a native of New England, but moved to Virginia sometime before the Revolutionary War, settling in that part which is now West Virginia. He was a member of the militia force of southwest Virginia, which fought the fierce Indian battle at Point Pleasant on the Kanawha River in 1774 under General Andrew Lewis when Lord Dunmore was Governor of Virginia. He was a Revolutionary soldier and it was my mother’s understanding that he fought at Bunker Hill. How that could have been, and he in the militia of Western Virginia, I do not know, and yet it seems certain that he was one of the heroes of the Revolution.

Henry Fansler, the first settler and namer of the Canaan Valley of Tucker County, West Virginia, was born in 1761, in Cumru township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, which was just a few miles south of the present city of Reading. He was the eldest of the ten children of Dietrich and Eliza Margaret Fansler.

Henry Fansler

Freeborn W. Johnson, a prominent agriculturist and an early settler of Clarke County, is a native of Indiana, born near Spencer, in Owen County, Oct. 7, 1821. His father, David Johnson, was a native of Virginia, born in 1782, of English descent, and his mother, Patsy (Cutler) Johnson, was born in the State of New York, but removed to Virginia before her marriage. She died when our subject was a child. After their marriage the parents went to Ohio, and later removed to Indiana, where the subject of this sketch was born. Both father and mother died in that state. Freeborn W. grew to maturity in his native state, receiving such educational advantages as the common schools of that early day afforded. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, his father being a farmer by occupation. He was married in his nineteenth year to Electa Barrows, a native of Indiana. They have six children living—Mattie, wife of Adam Kerns; Moses T., Thomas A., Freeborn W., Cord S., Viola, wife of John Ream. After his marriage Mr. Johnson settled on land which he brought from a wild state to a well-improved farm, on which he resided till the spring of 1854. He then moved to Clarke County, Iowa, and entered a tract of land containing 200 acres, four miles northwest of Osceola, and at once began improving his farm, which was then entirely unimproved. His first house was made of rails, the roof being covered with hay, but later he built a more comfortable residence out of hewed logs, in which he lived until 1857, when he traded a part of his farm for a stock of goods, moved to Osceola, where he carried on a general mercantile business for 20 years. At the same time he also dealt largely in stock, and at one time drove over 100 head of fat cattle to Chicago. In 1880 he retired from active business life, since which time he has lived somewhat retired, but still owns considerable stock. His present fine residence was erected in 1860, this being the first brick house in Osceola, and the second which was built in Clarke County. Mr. Johnson came to Clarke County with limited means, but being a man of great energy and persevering industry, he has by his own efforts gained a good competency for his declining years. He is an ardent temperance man and a strong advocate of law and order. Both he and his wife have been members of the Methodist Protestant church for the past forty-seven years. Their son, Frederick, enlisted in the Union army in 1862, a member of Company F, Sixth Iowa Infantry. He received a gun shot wound at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, from the effects of which he died in 1868. He was a special favorite with all his acquaintances, and his death was a source of universal regret.

Freeborn Wesley Johnson Family

Adam Kerns, of Fremont Township, is a native of Morrow County, Ohio, born July 14, 1831, a son of James and Sarah (Fansler) Kerns. When he was fourteen years old his father was killed by a falling tree, and he was then thrown on his own resources and started out to fight the battle of life alone, with no one to counsel or guide. He left the old home barefooted and with clothing barely sufficient to cover him, and first found employment with an old gentleman named James Blokson. He remained with him three months, receiving $12 a month for his services. He then worked by the day at Mt. Gilead, at anything he could find to do, and for a time was employed in the saw-mill of Peter Doty, who proved a warm friend to the orphan boy. When twenty-three years old he came to Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa. He had saved about $500 of his earnings, and this he gave for the proceeds of a half interest in a saw-mill, and at the end of a year had $2,200. He then bought a mill of Cooper & Clark, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and erected it in Fremont Township, but soon after sold it to Bennett & Crawford, and went to Missouri, and on the day of James Buchanan’s election to the presidency, put up a mill for Williams & Co. He then went to Adair County, Iowa, and thence to Burt County, Nebraska, but was unsuccessful in his ventures and returned to Osceola, and bought a mill in company with Nathan McGrew. This partnership continued about eight years, with good results. His first purchase of land was 160 acres in Fremont Township. This is still his home, but he has increased his acreage by subsequent purchases to 380. His land is all under cultivation and his improvements are among the best in the township. Mr. Kerns is purely a self-made man, his accumulations being due to his persevering industry and strict business integrity. He was married in October, 1863, to Miss Mattie R. Johnston, daughter of F.W. and Electa (Barrs) Johnston, of Osceola. To them have been born seven children—Julia, Lilly, James, Walter, Kittie, Leona Viola, and Frederick. The latter is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Kerns are members of the Missionary Baptist church. In politics he is a Republican.

Adam and Mattie Kerns

Martha R. Johnson Kerns

Adam Kerns

One summer when I was eight or nine years old Grandma and Grandfather Kerns were out for a visit from Oregon. I don’t think Grandfather was too well, but he did want to go to the mountains. My brother Herb and I went horseback with Grandma and Grandpa up to the Kerns cow camp on Dryfork. I doubt we stayed more than a couple of nights. I know Grandmother made some of her hard butterscotch candy that we children thought was wonderful. She would only let Herb and me have a piece for every so many bundles of fanweed that we would pull from around the cabin yard. I think we pulled lots of that smelly old weed to get several pieces of that delicious candy….

My first memories of the James Kerns family were when I was a little girl. I would often spend a good part of the summer on the TR ranch with my grandfather and grandmother Dana.

I shall tell about the Crow Indians as I have known them for years as our neighbors. My father’s ranch, which my brother Jack now owns, lies west of Pass Creek and is bounded on the north by the Crow Indian reservation. Pat and I bought a ranch two miles farther west between my father’s ranch and the Little Horn River, and it too, is bounded on the north by the reservation. For years Indians were our close neighbors and our most frequent visitors. Even after moving to town, because we lease land from the Crows, we have Indian callers on the average of one a week for they are always trying to get more money advanced on their leases.

To our family, I remember
Twins were born in late September.
Soon after that, one day in fall,
Mary-One-Goose came to call.

Uncle Bill Cooley lived with us until 1910, when he took up a claim on the bench, a mountain flat land above the old Woodley place. At the Kerns ranch, I always sat next to my Bill, and as a small child was his special charge, giving mama a freer rein to take care of Bert and Jack. Jo and John were older and more precocious and needed less supervision. Later, Uncle Bill sold his place and moved to Castle Rock, Montana.

James: Tell us about this experience in Slack. You went to school over the hill?
Kate: We had to walk sometimes, and sometimes we rode. As Peggy says, we rode and tied. When we had to ride and tie, two of us would ride say two-and-a-half miles, and then we’d tie the horse up on top of the hill, and then the others would come along, and two would go ahead and walk, and those that were coming along would get on the horse and ride the rest of the way.

James: Tell me about the twins’ birth. What were the stories that led up to that?
Peggy: Well, I can tell you the after stories. I think we were born in the afternoon, and there wasn’t a doctor present.
James: Where were you born?

Lora Olive Cooley Kerns was born May 1, 1873 in Osceola, Iowa.
When she was a young woman, her parents sent her to a school in Adrian, Michigan to study music. She soon realized she had little musical talent and less interest in music, so without her parents’ knowledge she studied bookkeeping instead. Her parents were disappointed, but they later appreciated her “good business head” when she worked in her father’s office when he was county treasurer.

The photograph I have of him as a young man reminds me of a good-looking young Englishman, not of the stocky John Bull type, however. His eldest son, John, was a throwback to that type. His appearance was more romantic, with large, keen, wide-set eyes, definite eyebrows, almost bushy. He had a fine forehead and nose and a handsome head of wavy hair. His mouth betrayed a readiness at rebuttal. He was of the type seen among English actors, poets, writers, and lawyers.

James Wesley Kerns

James and Lora Kerns Family

Dad—when I first met him—about twenty one years old. Picture this—A church social at the Kerns’ home—otherwise “Jimmy” would not have been present. A lonely looking boy sitting off by himself—head shaved clean. A girl thinking it some of her business to help entertain lonely boys at church socials. The adventurous girl asks the lonely boy why did he shave his head. Lonely boy says solemnly, “To keep girls and fleas from bothering me.”

Tom Lorance Kerns

James Wesley Kerns

Janet: I was born November 7th, in the Eugene Hospital in Eugene.
James: You were actually born in a hospital?
Janet: Yes, I was actually born in a hospital. It was on Willamette Street.

I haven’t felt like I had much to contribute to our family remembrances, since I’m the youngest and hang on every word of stories told by my older siblings. But perhaps I do have a unique perspective being raised so late in our parent’s life. Rather than experiencing things first hand, I had the privilege of getting Mother’s “looking back” versions. I recall thinking at the time of her telling me these stories, how she had told them over and over again. But they were always relevant to some life experience I was either going through or would go through. When she passed away, I so longed to hear those stories again from her. And I kicked myself for not being more attentive as she told them, because they were a help through my own life’s experiences.

Brother Tim said he and James spent a lot of time together. They were siblings only three years apart in age.
He remembers when Ellen was born in March of 1954; they ate a lot of corn flakes. Tim was ten years old and James almost seven. Mom was in the hospital for ten days, so Dad would take the boys down to the Haines store to buy corn flakes and animal crackers. The boys even got prizes out of the cereal.

My mother was a woman with a project. Her projects were her reward to herself for getting her work done.