A Loving Mother

For a "ghostly story," continue reading:

In November 1879, in Indiana, Barbara HUFFORD married the Rev. John Edwin DEAL (1854-1939). She and her husband were German Baptist Brethren (Dunkard).

They had the following children:
Irvin, b. Sep. 1880; d. 1968
Ada May, b. Apr. 1882; d. Aug. 1910
Mary C., b. July 1883
Manford J., b. Apr. 1885; d. Jan. 1976
Harry, b. Feb. 1887; d. May 1888
Elva Ellen, b. July 1889
Laura, b. Jan. 1892

Barbara died in December 1892, at the age of 32, with six of her seven children surviving.

In 1971, Barbara's son Manford was 86 years old and living in Traverse City, Michigan. His wife had died the year before. With his son Francis Ronald driving, he made a return trip to his childhood hometown of Pyrmont, Indiana. He was able to visit with a few old cousins, able to see a childhood friend, and able to walk some of the same roads he had walked as a child.

A few weeks after he returned to Traverse City, he told his son a story, and his son wrote it down. And here is the story that Barbara's son told, 79 years after Barbara died:

"Now I'll tell you a ghost story that happened when I was about seven years old, and I ain't nary told a soul all these years except a little while back, after my brother Irvin passed on [three years prior, in 1968]. I asked a preacher if such a thing could have happened, and he said it most certainly could."

"Well, the day of my mother's funeral we'd been busy with lookin' out for friends and family that had come in, y'know, and the girls were late getting at the chores. I always went down to the barn at milking time and helped out what I could. They always throwed hay down through a place in the floor of the loft to feed the cows, and there was always some hay left over, so when they got to milking, I'd curl up on the hay and go to sleep. One of the girls waked me up, and said since they were going to be later than usual that night, I'd better beat it up to the house and get to bed before it got any darker."

"There was a path that led from the barn up to the road and across the road. It went up on a little rise like and then sloped from there up to the house. When I crossed the road, I saw someone standing on the rise. I was pretty tired, and it didn't seem out of the way at all when I reached the top of the rise and found my mother waiting for me. She walked to the house with me and followed me upstairs where I always slept. She waited until I'd gotten undressed and into bed. She tucked me in and said, 'I'll just look in on Laura,' (she was the baby then, you know) 'and see that she's all right.' She came back in a little bit and said, 'Now we mustn't tell John or Irvin anything about this,' and I never did neither. I never told nobody all these years 'til they were both gone."

Barbara had a twin sister; it's unknown whether her sister was an identical twin. But what IS known is that her twin sister had died in February 1888, more than four years before Barbara died.

Barbara's paternal grandparents were Abraham HUFFORD and Elizabeth PLANK.

Her maternal grandparents were John CRIPE and his wife Elizabeth.

Barbara is on page 63 of the 1909 "HUFFORD FAMILY HISTORY."

Special note: Barbara had a grandson through her son Manford who was a Silver Star recepient in World War II.
Manford S. DEAL died in service to his country. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart.