LETTERS OF JOHN D. MOLER, Moler Family History, written by Alice (Moler) Wilson Transcribed and submitted by Marysue Eulitz, (c) 1999 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- KSGENWEB INTERNET GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In keeping with the KSGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I was four years old when we came to Kansas in the year of 1860. Naturally, I have forgotten nearly everything that happened at that time when I was so young. Sometime in the spring of 1860 my Father, Mother, and children Nelia, Allie, John, and Albert the eight months old baby, left their nice Ohio home near Columbus for Kansas. We started from Cincinnati in a steam-boat on the Ohio river; then, on the Mississippi by way of St. Louis; then on the Missouri and Kansas rivers to Leavenworth where we landed with our household-goods which arrived when we did. My father shipped his horses, buggy, and wagon. I think, my father crowded all of us in the buggy and drove about one hundred miles south and west of Leavenworth to the home of one of his Ohio friends who came to Kansas two years previous. The name of my father's friend was S.S. Tipton living in Anderson County. They were living in a two room log cabin. They gave us a cordial welcome which my father and mother remembered all their lives. The next morning Mr. Tipton and papa (As I always called him) started out to find a home in the prairie. My Father purchased a one-hundred-sixty acre farm three miles north of the Tipton farm. I can remember the creek we crossed. It had a rock bottom and very clear water. Nelia and I found pretty little shells and pebbles, and flowers along the bank. With the exception of a little timber on the creek, all of the land was a vast prairie. My Father got a young man to stay with my mother and us children while he and Mr. Tipton went to Leavenworth to get our things. Our first house where we lived was a log cabin of two rooms with no neighbors near. While Father and Mr. Tipton were gone Nelia--six years old, and I four, took the measles. Mother kept us in bed so we did not take cold, but little John-- two years old, ran around after his Mother. He took cold and was very sick. Doctor Lingo, the country doctor, was called to our home. He was alarmed at the condition of John. He feared that he could not save his life. My father and mother worked with him all night. When the doctor appeared the second time he said, "Good nursing had saved the boy". Measles did not hurt Albert as he was a baby and mother could easily keep him in bed. I remember hearing my mother say her happiest days were spent in her little kitchen where she saw her four children on a bench behind the stove while she scrubbed the floor. I have heard her say (my sister Nelia) we did not have a kitchen table, but used a dry-good box. We had two chairs, one for father and one for mother. Us children stood up by the table to eat, but we did not mind it. Once we were invited out to a neighbors for dinner. They gave us chairs to sit on, but we preferred to stand up as was our customary way of eating at the table. My Father bought a cow which he named Perry after the man who sold it to him. My papa always liked cattle. Later he had a fine herd. He brought some of them from Kentucky. AFTER EIGHTEEN SIXTY-ONE The surprise that made my father and mother happy was a first visit of some Ohio people to our own home. My grandfather Moler and Uncle Dan drove up in the yard. I think, they came from Leavenworth in a stage to Garnett twenty miles away. They had a man bring them out to our house in a buggy. A little later was a visit from uncle Henry and aunt Mary from Ohio. Later they came to live in Garnett. Shorty after this my father's youngest sister, Aunt Nelia, made us a visit. She brought my little brother John his first suit of boy clothes, little pants and waist. We were all so proud of him. My father gave him some red top boots to wear with his new clothes. A visit from mother's cousin, Mrs. Emily Stewart of Columbus, Ohio, is a well remembered and happy event. She was a playmate of my father when they were children. The first night after her arrival I think, my mother and papa sat up nearly all night visiting with her. The first Sunday School that I remember was held in a little log school house. My father and mother took us four children in the buggy, and a box of books, Bibles, and singing books, etc., for the parents and children of the neighborhood who were glad to study matthew five. The first sermon I remember hearing was at a meeting held in the cabin home of S.S. Tipton and Jackson Means. Perhaps once a month a Methodist, Baptist or Christian preacher came through the country. These preachers were always a welcomed guest at our home. About Eighteen-seventy-six one of the first country churches in Anderson County was a Presbyterian church. Our first minister was Reverend A.D. Jackson. He and his wife were returned missionaries from Africa. One of the happiest days in my father's and mother's lives that they ever saw was the day this church was dedicated to God. Another happy recolection I have was my mother giving Nelia and I her little red Bible when we were very young. As we were starting to Baldwin to school she asked us to read it every day. Our new house was a large two story stone house. This farm is still owned by the only surviving member of the Moler family who is now Mrs. Alice Moler Wilson.