BIRD (WOODHOUSE) MARTIN
Bird (Grandmother Martin) was a short little lady with piercing black eyes, a ready smile, and a jovial disposition. Grandmother seemed from all outward appearances to have considerable peace of mind. She was fun to be with, a good listener with a deep concern for the welfare of her family and her country. She had little concern for the latest fashions in clothing, jewelry or make up. Neither did she have any desire for public acclaim. She talked freely about her life and expressed a deep love for her husband Orlo and regretted losing him at such an early age. She lived most of her adult life surrounded by her children (Roy, Jay, Milt, and Frances) and grandchildren.
Bird was born in Bloomington, Wisconsin in 1868 to Peter Woodhouse and Rachel Lyons who came from England in the 1830's as children. They endured many hardships in the back woods area of Beetown and Potosi then called Snake Hollow. Their families were attracted to this area by the very productive lead and zinc mines.
During the early 1830's, Andrew Jackson was President of the country. Wisconsin was a large territory reaching as far west as the Missouri River, and was not admitted to the union until 1848. The indians and bachelor miners were the main inhabitants of the area. Peter Woodhouse was a successful miner, sold one of his claims and invested in land. By the time Peter was 21 years of age he considered himself to be financially secure. The 1881
history of Grant County recorded
him as being "a good businessman with strict attention to business and has built himself a large estate." Grandmother Bird never mentioned the fact that her father had owned and operated a saloon with gambling facilities in the rear. He sold the tavern, and purchased what is now the Woodhouse and Bartley Bank.
The Woodhouse home adjoined the Methodist Church on the south. Bird's mother, Rachel, was very active in the Methodist Church and taught Sunday School for 55 years.
Bird was raised in the Bloomington area in a family with two sisters, Lillie (Bartley) and Rose (Grant), and a brother, Milt. After attending school in Bloomington, she worked in Greer's Dry Goods Store. She was active in the social life of the town which included dancing, picnics, and ice skating. Being one of the younger children and the daughter of the town banker, she was well provided for.
Bird was a sociable young woman. During her courtship days, she had several boyfriends but her father, Peter, was very selective about the boys she was allowed to date.
On December 1, 1890 at the age of 22, she was married to Orlo Martin who lived on a large farm five miles west of Bloomington. At the time of her engagement to Orlo there was much concern about her being able to endure the rigors of farm life. After Bird and Orlo were married, Orlo chose not to continue farming, but ran a hardware store in Bloomington for two years. During this time their son, Jacob Peter, was born__no doubt named after Jacob Martin and Peter Woodhouse. He was later nicknamed Jay. It is to be assumed that the hardware venture was not highly successful. After living in Bloomington for two years, Orlo decided to move back to the farm with his town_raised wife and one year old son.
Orlo's mother, Mary Key Martin, had been operating this 360_acre farm with the aid of hired help. Mary had been a widow for 6 years, was rugged, hard, and well able to handle farm life. For Bird, however, this was a different world than the one she had known. She not only had to adjust to the farm, but to a live_in mother_in_law who believed that her son could do no wrong. These years were probably difficult for Bird. In 1894 another son Milt was born, no doubt named after Bird's brother, Milt Woodhouse. Shortly thereafter in 1895, Roy Orlo was born. Two consecutive pregnancies were a strain for Bird's body. This coupled with the heavy duties of farm and family responsibilities left her weak and tired. Bird was very much in love with her husband, but living with her mother_in law must have been difficult at times, especially when Mother Mary began to show signs of senility.
Bird's children, on the other hand thoroughly enjoyed life on the farm. Roy and Milt grew to be constant companions, roaming the woods from morning till night, hunting blackberries, morels, and wild flowers. During one of these jaunts in the woods, one of the boys stepped on a deadly rattlesnake with his bare feet. Their only daughter, Frances was born in 1902, and from that time on mother and daughter were seldom apart.
These were busy times for Bird and she appeared to be adjusting to the demands of rural living. There was not only the family to feed and care for, but the constant presence of hired help living with them.
The children attended the Red School as their father Orlo had done before them. Making the mile walk to school was no chore for these children. Walking was one of their principle means of getting from place to place. After graduation from the Red School, all the children went on to graduate from the Bloomington High School.
During this era, a relatively small percentage of children attended high school. It was thought they would be more productive if they stayed home and learned to work. For the Martin children, the transportation to and from high school was provided by riding horseback or driving a horse and buggy. Most of the houses in town had a barn in their backyard so the horses could be housed there during school hours. For the Martin boys, sports were a big attraction in high school. All of Bird's children graduated from high school, and all went on to attend an institution of higher learning. In fact, when Frances went to college in Platteville, Bird went with her. She stayed with her daughter while Frances became qualified to teach rural school. This could be achieved in one year of college.
Bird enjoyed her family, but there were storm clouds on the horizon. Bird's big strong husband Orlo, who was not only a good family man, but a pillar in the community was soon to be stricken with a heart problem that would cause them long months of anguish. Bird and her sons would be left with the responsibility of a big farm to operate during his illness and subsequent death. Orlo died in the spring of 1916 at the age of 51. Bird was 48, the boys in their 20's, and little Francis was l3 years of age.
It had been a long sorrowful winter for Bird and her family. With a heavy heart, she carried on her responsibilities which now included taking over some of the management decisions of both the farm and family. The cooking and caring for the family was not new to her, but running the farm was something that she knew very little about. Jay had been in partnership with his father before Orlo passed away, so was able to take a good share of the duties. There was some indebtedness remaining to be paid on the farm. Orlo had borrowed the money to pay off his sister Alta for her share of the original Martin land.
World War I was in progress, but at the time of Orlo's death in 1916, the United States had not yet become involved. During that same year, Woodrow Wilson was elected President of the United States for the second term largely because he had managed to keep the United States out of the war. Wilson was a pacifist and fought hard to remain neutral. The incident that started the war in Europe was the assassination of Francis Ferdinand and his wife on June 28, 1914. He was the heir to the Austro- Hungarian crown. As the war progressed, less that 8% of the world population would avoid getting into the struggle. The United States officially entered World War I on April 6, 1917, and Bird's three sons were all now eligible for military service.
Milt was the first in the family to marry in 1917 to Edith Kalt. They lived on the Kalt farm for about a year, and then moved back to the Martin farm. This proved too crowded so Milt bought an 80_acre farm with the financial assistance of Bird and Mr. Kalt.
Roy was married to Ada Harris in 1919 and moved into the small house on the farm. Jay was married on August 28, 1922 to Hazel Kaufman by his brother_in_law, Earnest Clark, a Methodist minister. Roy and Jay farmed in partnership most of their farming years as Martin Bros. on the family farm.
Richard and Frances moved to the Morrissey farm after their marriage in 1923 where Grandmother Bird joined them. She was very content there, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Frances and Bird had a very close relationship. Shortly after Frances and Richard Morrissey were married, she told them of her desire to move in with them. "I can't stand to live alone," was her comment.
While living on the farm with Richard and Frances, she did much of the cooking and housekeeping while Frances helped with the chores and the field work. She lived with them until the day she died. She considered Richard to be one of her children, and he in turn had a great deal of love and admiration for her. Richard deserves a great deal of credit for his willingness to take her in as a part of his own family. If someone didn't treat her as he thought they should they heard about it in no uncertain terms. When Richard and Frances retired, she moved with them first to the little house on the home farm and then to Bloomington.
Many of the family gatherings were held at the Morrissey home in their spacious north room where there was dancing, card playing, and a roaring fire in the heating stove. All of the Martin families raised geese so that was the most likely choice of meat for the festive occasions. Music was provided by Frances on the piano and Milt on the mandolin. Frances and Hazel (wife of Jay) would sing their popular duet__"Ramona".
Grandmother Bird was a woman with a gentle disposition who was always willing to listen, and interested in the lives of her family. Whenever we would visit her, she always sat down to talk. She was very concerned about us which made us feel good. According to Kenneth, when he took pigs to the fair, he would stop by the house in town on the way to the fairgrounds. Grandma Bird would come out with a scarf over her face because she had trouble breathing. She would exclaim about how nice the pigs looked. Bird was interested not only in people, but in the farming enterprise as well.
She had raised her children and helped manage the farm during World War I. Her involvement in the farm continued through the years of the Great Depression of the 30's.
During these times of difficulty, the Martins struggled to provide a living. Through the 1930's, Bird was sole owner of the home farm, and rented it to Roy and Jay. (I am sure that in times of difficulty she was very easy to get along with as far as making the rent payments.) A few farms were lost in the neighborhood because farm owners could not make their payments, but for the most part with careful management, area farmers were able to keep body and soul together. Bird's frugal nature was a strong asset during these difficult years. One often hears the expression of keeping money in the sock. Grandmother Bird did just that in the back of her dresser drawer.
Although she was raised in a financially secure environment, fate was to deal her a severe blow in the early death of her husband. Her family worked together to free the farm of debt and at the age of 71, she decided that it would be best to divide the family farm giving each child the title to 80 acres. In return, they would see that she was cared for during the rest of her life. This gesture was a typical example of her faith in her family amid concern for their future.
Bird was a very contented individual and enjoyed her simple lifestyle. Common everyday activities gave her pleasure. In her later years she spent much of her time reading murder mysteries from the Bloomington Library and playing card games.
Grandmother Bird's ancestors, the Woodhouses and Lyons, played an important part in the history of Southwestern Wisconsin in the early 1800's. The life of her father, Peter Woodhouse, is well documented by the Wisconsin Historical Society. He wrote his autobiography and recorded his many experiences. The history of Rachel Lyons Woodhouse is documented in the book My "Mother's Life Story" by Aunt Lizzie Lyons (older sister of Rachel Lyons Woodhouse) published in 1904.
It would appear from the history of Peter Woodhouse, that he was willing to take risks for personal gain. He was one to make quick decisions. This trait was not passed on to his daughter, Bird, and although she attended church, she did not appear to be as deeply religious as her mother, Rachel. Neither did she follow the choices of her husband who spent much time in public service and in the public eye. She was her own person. She was not one to aspire to great public acclaim, but rather to devote her life to her family.
Although she did not appear strong, she knew how to take care of herself. For many years there were times when she had acute shortness of breath. These spells would pass and she would again appear normal. This condition restricted her activity in her later years, and although she often seemed tired, she was always happy.
On Jan 20, 1951, her breathing became difficult. With all of her children around her, Grandmother Bird passed away at the age of 83 at the home of Richard and Frances Morrissey in Bloomington, Wisconsin. She was laid to rest beside her husband who had died 35 years before. Although Bird was only 48 at the time of Orlo's death, she never showed any interest in another man. She often said that the love of her life was gone. On that winter day in January, she would be with him again. Her jovial disposition and steady influence on the family would always be remembered.
Orlo Martin 1865 - 1916
Bird Woodhouse 1868 - 1951
Their children were:
Jay: (Jacob Peter) 1891 - 1955. Graduated from University
of Wisconsin at Madison with a degree in Agriculture.
Wrestled and played football while in college. Farmed the home farm in partnership with his father. After Orlo's death, farmed with Roy. Worked in Lancaster with government farm programs for many years. Married Hazel Kaufman on August 28, 1922 in Richland Center, Wis. by Hazel's brother-in-law Ernest Clark. Went to Wisconsin State fair on their wedding trip.
Their children were:
Francis: 1923 - graduated from Platteville College with a degree in Agriculture. Spent most of his life as an insurance adjuster for Country Companies Insurance Co., in Madison. Fought in the battle of the Bulge in W.W.II. Married Margorie Hochausen, and had 7 children: Jane, Julie, Mary, Jean, Jim, Mark, and Mike.
Allan: 1924 - graduated from Platteville College with a degree in Agriculture. Married Mary Evelyn Barks. Had 3 children; Doug, Tom and Ruth. Spent most of his life farming east of Bloomington.
Evelyn: 1926 - graduated from nurses training in Dubuque, Iowa. Spent most of her life as a nurse and mother in Indianola, Iowa. Married Nick Radakovich and they had 4 children; Karen, Phillip, Paula, and Janet.
Milt: 1894 - 1966 Attended The University of Wisconsin at Madison for two years. Married Edith Kalt in 1917. Farmed on the home farm, the Kalt farm, and later purchased a farm near the family farm. Spent part of his retirement years in California.
Their children were:
Mona: 1918 - graduated from nurses training. Married Dr. Kjervich on April 21, 1942. Lived most of her married life in Mt. Horeb, Wis. They have three daughters; Dianne, Andrea and Marcia.
Barbara: 1921 - graduated from the University of
Wisconsin. Married Robert Welch on January 13, 1946. Spent much of her married life in Florida as the wife of an Air Force pilot. Later moved to California. Divorced on September 21, 1971. They had one adopted daughter, Connie.
Roy: 1895 - 1963 Attended the Agriculture short course
at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Married Ada Harris in 1919. They farmed the family farm in partnership with Jay. Later purchased 160 acres of the family farm including the buildings.
Their children were: Orlo - 1919-1919, Keith - 1920
Kenneth - 1924, Doris - 1930, Richard - 1935
Frances: 1902 - 1982 Received a degree from Platteville Teachers' College to teach in rural school. Taught at the Red School. She was talented in music. She married Richard Morrissey in 1923. They farmed on the Morrissey farm one mile west of the Martin farm. They had no children.