MEMORIES OF JOHN WESLEY & MARIAH ELLINGWOOD

Besides the picture of Mariah K Flint Ellingwood that Iposted here yesterday,
Ellingwood cousin Bonnie Grant also has sent me the following article with
family memories of John Wesley Ellingwood and Mariah:

JOHN WESLEY ELLINGWOOD AND MARIAH K. FLINT ELLINGWOOD
As Remembered by Their Granddaughter MARGARETT PAULINE REED ELLIOTT
                      and Compiled by her daughter Juanita Elliott Hampton

    After searching extensively for two adjoining homesteads, Almar Reed, his son-in-law, and John Wesley Ellingwood located at Mina in the Northern part of Mendocino County, California, about 1892.  At that time the land was fairly good and about the best they could find.  Homesteads were getting scarce by then and Grandmother Reed (Lecta Maria) had promised her mother (Mariah) she would always stay near her.

    Before they moved to the mountains from Humboldt County, Grandfather Ellingwood built a home for his wife and himself so she had a home to move into.  It was a comfortable one room cabin with an upstairs, with real stairs leading up to one room.  Water was carried by trough about ¼ mile to the back door.

    Grandfather split pickets and fenced his property.  He was a painstaking and hard working man and did a tremendous amount of work.  The lower part of his house was of small logs probably 3 or 4 high, and lumber formed the upper part.  The lumber was hauled from a mill at Hulls Valley.  (With a team and wagon)

    Their Granddaughter Margarett used to help Grandfather with his planting and with what else she could.  He called her his boy and didn’t want the other kids around when they were working, saying “One kid was good – more than one was no kid at all.”  Margarett said she can remember her Grandmother later when she became sick and confined to bed just peeking over the covers at her.  Margarett was only 8 when Grandmother Ellingwood was taken to Humboldt County to stay with her daughter Adell.  She was thought to have had T.B.  She did in Humboldt County.

    Both Grandmother and Grandfather Ellingwood were small people.  Margarett said she thinks they both had pretty fiery dispositions.

    Grandfather’s mother and father died when he was small and he was bound out to an Uncle who wasn’t too good to him.  Lura (Margarett’s sister) remembers his telling about helping with the sugaring and making syrup and only being allowed 2 little spoonfuls of syrup and of driving cows barefoot through the stickers and setting the dogs on the cows to make them run ahead so he could circle around the sticker patch.

    After Grandmother died Grandfather married again.   Lura said a friend of Grandfather’s was courting and he just decided to beat his time, which he did.  He said they were as happy as two kittens.