Tales From Iva Calkins

Lyman Pearly Lawton was born near Fowler in St. Lawrence County, New York April 11, 1845.  He was a 9^th generation descendant of the original immigrant to Rhode Island Thomas way back in 1639.  In 1850, when Lyman was 5 years old, his parents, Henry and Elizabeth decided to homestead in Michigan which had become a state in 1837.  By oxcart they traveled to an area named Big Springs near Coopersville in Ottawa County.

Lyman was 22 when he married 17-year-old Margaret Harris, and a year later their daughter Addie was born, followed by a son George three years later.  In the next few years Margaret died and Lyman remarried to Sarah Ann Smith in 1877.  Unto this union seven additional children were born and six of these lived long healthy lives, as well as Addie from the first marriage.

The last daughter born, Winnifred in 1892, married William Standish in 1918, and they had four children the first being Iva in 1919.  In the latter 1990s Iva and I became pen pals of a sort.  Within our correspondence Iva passed on to me many separate stories, tales, writings, family genealogies, and an almost endless amount of information.  If there is such a place to go, then Iva has since passed away to what I am sure is a better world.  I now take this opportunity to pass on to anyone who cares to share family lore some of the abridged writings given freely by my friend Iva.

Growing Up With Iva Calkins

We had an outdoor backhouse.  We had no toilet paper, and catalogs were stiff and harsh.  The last thing at night was to light the lantern and go to the backhouse.

We never owned an ice box, so kept our butter in the well, and never kept milk overnight.

We used kerosene lamps, one for the kitchen and another in the living room.  If one broke we all stayed in one room, and it may have been quite a while before a new one could be afforded.

Our floors were nearly always bare.  Once we had a linoleum in the living room, but it didn’t last as we moved.

We played a game called books.  With a homemade deck of cards it was substantially the game of fish.  We also played dominoes a lot, which was good training to learn math combinations.

A trip to town was two hours each way.  At times my mother and I took Nubs and the buggy to town.  Nubs tried to turn into every driveway on the way to town hoping she wouldn’t have to go any further.  On the way home Nubs never noticed any of the driveways.