I received a letter from Aunt "V" dated Oct. 5th, 1983 here is what she wrote:
(Aunt V was born 1 Feb 1905)
I've been thinking about Grandma Miller, trying to remember all I could about her. Her name as you know was Hulda Orlane Welsh.(born 11 Oct 1852) I remember her well from about the time I was five and she would have been close to sixty years of age. At that time she was tiny-about five feet tall but she may have lost a couple of inches with age as we all do.
She was never fat but had a huge tumor on her abdomen. Thirty five pounds of fluid were drawn off once but it soon came back and she never did any more about it and in the end it burst and killed her. At the time she was living with her son Tom in Michigan.
Mother had twelve children but I am the only one who got Grandma's characteristics and looks. When I was little I was so strong willed and so was she, that we often had our differences and Mom would say, "No wonder -you are just alike".
Grandma loved to do things for anyone in need - I believe she bought all of the material for our clothes which Mom made. She couldn't get money from Grandpa because he was a tight Dutchman(he really is of German descent) and besides he didn't have much-all the income he had was $55.00 per month pension plus he did work off and on in later years. Grandpa (Miller) was a carpenter in his younger days. He was a Civil War Vet. That $55.00 went as far in those days as $550.00 would now however - so in order to have money she would go out and work. Usually for families where the mother had a new baby. In those days a woman was kept in bed for ten days.
She would leave Grandpa at home alone to fend for himself. Sometimes she would go far enough that she would have to go on the train. But she had a compulsion to get out and work and also to have money. I understand her so well because I am the same way.Luckily I married a man who lets me do whatever I want to do. Grandma was just born about 75 years too soon.
I did spend more time with her than the others did as I was the oldest girl. She taught me so many things as she lived by little rules like (Ben Franklin sayings mostly) waste not - want not, a stitch in time saves nine, make hay while the sun shines, God helps those who help themselves, if you want a thing done well do it yourself. But the most important thing she taught me was, "Where there is a will, there is a way." She repeated that so many times and I never doubted her.
It has worked for me all my long life. I never failed in anything I wanted to do in all these years. It never even occurred to me that I couldn't do whatever I wanted to if I worked hard enough at it. I always figured if someone else could do it, I could too.
I don't think Grandma was too happy with Grandpa. We children never cared much for him as he was so gruff with us. She may have gone to work and stayed longer for that reason. Finally he got tired of her being and staying away for months and divorced her.
She did help a lot of poor people with her little earning though.
this letter is several pages long. I will divide it up by the people she wrote about.
