The red rose of love and sweet friendship, To Iowa-beautiful land.” The house in which my brother was born was a very modest structure made of logs which were cut from the trees in our own woods. The lumber used for finishing the cabin, my father purchased from the Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad Company, the railroad now known as the Illinois Central, which was then in process of construction. They used little frame shanties to house the men employed on the road, and as there were no sawmills at that early date, to cut the trees into lumber, my father was glad to obtain one or two of these small buildings to aid in the construction of a humble home in which to rear his family. It lacked all the sumptuousness and most of the conveniences of the modern home; but round about it, on the outside, luxuries, that no modern home can buy, were spread in rich profusion far and wide. I have had this dwelling preserved as a memento of my childhood's earliest home, just as from my earliest years, I have tried to preserve the native plants and trees about the place from the ruthless touch of man and beast and other adverse elements; but in spite of my solicitous care and labor, some of the noblest trees have perished and some of the most delicate and rare flowering plants have been destroyed. Yet it pays to try to save the lives of these organisms, for in many respects they are truly living organisms as much so, in fact, as animals, and most of them respond to good treatment just like an animal and like the animal they resent all bad or indifferent treatment or neglect; being like grateful children, they bring rich filial returns and they compensate a thousandfold for all the care and toil they cost. CHAPTER II PARENTAGE The food one eats, the air he breathes, the clothes he wears, the darkness, dampness, dryness, the sanitary conditions and beauty of surroundings, are all so many factors, determining to some extent at least, whether or not his life shall be a success or failure; but these are not all. The changing moods and tempers of the members of the family circle are interwoven in the characters of each and every one, determining whether he shall be an unstable character under the sway of passion and impulse, or a self-regulated man or woman directed by an intelligent and reasoning will. It is, however, the mother more than anyone else, that largely settles what the child's after life shall be. If she is intellectual and her mind is active in the pursuit of useful knowledge, if she lives in an atmosphere of thought and conversation above the average gossip and scandal of every day social life, her children's minds will be more apt to be formed by the same high ideals; even one's far-distant ancestry may be all-powerful educators in exerting a molding influence upon their posterity. Man's inherited talents are in his blood and they will in all probability assert themselves and compel him to seek their development; but latent faculties will sleep unless aroused and stimulated by education or other means or influences brought to bear upon them. W J McGee's parents were of sturdy Scotch-Irish parentage. Our father, James McGee, was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1808. He came to America in 1831. Like many young men from the Old Country, he wended his way westward, coming to Iowa in 1832. He did not locate here permanently until the following year, but worked, in the meantime, in the lead mines of Galena, Illinois. When he came to Dubuque, there was a mining camp and only one house, which, it was said, Julien Dubuque had built. This was all there was at that time of the beautiful and populous city of Dubuque. In 1842, he entered a tract of land from the government which became his home and where he resided until he died on November 13, 1893, the year of the great World's Fair in Chicago. At the time of his death he was past eighty-five years of age. His death was deeply lamented by his many friends, who considered him a kind and benevolent man, and a good and agreeable neighbor. He used to give glowing accounts of events that took place during the Blackhawk War. He was present at the capture and death of the famous chief of the Sac and Fox Indians and he saw the sword that had been presented to Blackhawk by Andrew Jackson. This sword the Indian warrior constantly carried with him and when he died it was laid beside him in the grave. He was buried just across the Mississippi, in the Illinois country, on the farm of Captain A. Jordan. Later Blackhawk's body was stolen from the grave with the sword. The Jordan family recovered the sword and presented it to the Masonic Temple at Keosauqua, Iowa. This building was destroyed by fire in 1873 and the sword again disappeared. After a search of three years, it was found by D. C. Beaman, of Denver, Colorado, who ordered the noted relic to be given to the Iowa Historical Society, of the State University of Iowa. I remember Mrs. Jordan well. She was a friend and she lived to be over one hundred years old. She took a little Indian girl to raise and called her Kate. Some of Kate's descendants are now living in East Dubuque. Mrs. |