Family History 101

My grandfather, John Augustus Gaylord, was an interesting guy.  His friends called him Gus.  He died when my own father was six years old.  Consequently I never knew or called him anything.

St. Cloud 1880

He entered St. Cloud College in 1877, at the age of 18, on a special program designed to increase the number of qualified teachers in Minnesota. He signed a contract vowing to teach at least two years in the area in exchange for free tuition.





He gave his occupation as 'teacher' to the 1880 census taker.  At that time he was living with his sister and brother-in-law on their farm in Maine, Minnesota. The St. Cloud College reports him among their Class of 1883 graduates.

He married a fellow teacher in 1891, Mary Webster.  In 1902 she died of consumption. Two years later he married my grandmother, Clara Davis.

Based on the documentation that I have seen to date, it appears that between the years 1877 through 1902 he led a quiet, predictable life of teaching school and farming during the summers.

Four months after Mary's death the first of many occupational changes takes place.

In October 1902, the Fergus Falls Weekly Journal reports that he is a manager of a Ladies Tayloring School. It appears that this was a short-lived endeavor.  In fact, approximately every two years Mr. J.A. Gaylord can be found running a different business.  Opening and closing many stores and at least one restaurant over the next 20 years until his death in 1922.

At one time he took his family into Canada to live. Two years later he was back in Minnesota running a store. An explanation for his restlessness can only be pure speculation since I have never seen any letter written to or from relatives to explain to us his motivations. I have my own theories but that is for another time.

The one bit of history that I'll pass on is about his ownership of the Basswood store.

Basswood is not a city nor a town or even a village. It is a crossroad in Otter Tail County. 

Aren't the signs in Otter Tail County adorable? I don't know what the Otter Trail is but I guess we were on it.















The man who built the general store at this crossroad sold it to J.A. in 1910. It was here where Shirley Monroe and Dora Mae were born.

Selling groceries to local farmers lost its glamor for J.A. and he sold the store to his brother-in-law who ran the business for the next 40 years or so.

Ray and I dropped by the old place a few years ago and sadly this is what we found . . .

 

I'm speechless