Marriage to Henry Van Olst: 7 Nov 1931 in Kansas City, MO
I was born on April 26, 1908 in Kansas City, Mo. I believe at home. I have a postcard sent by my dad to my grandmother Aulgur announcing my birth. It in Ellen's baby book. I was the second of nine children, the first died at birth.
My father was Leverett B. Aulgur and my mother was Flora Ada Hayes Aulgur. I had four sisters, Amelia,, Dora, Lucy and Flora Jean and three brothers, Robert, Walter and John.
One of the earliest recollections I have is moving to Arkansas where dad worked at the Powder Plant in Dupont, Ark. We lived in a wood floored tent. {Before school age}. I started school at age 7 in Kansas City and I lived with dads sister, Aunt Susie. I remember a beautiful red sweater she croceded for me. She took care of me a lot when mom and dad went to Nebraska. Dad was out of work alot and I was the oldest and the only one in school. Aunt Maude (another of dad's sisters) had a farm and they thought the open air would be good for dad, (Alcohol problem). When he got better they went back to DesMoines. Not good feelings then. Dad was always a house painter as I can remember. Mom did a lot of dress making. When she could she worked the Millinery, (Hat shop). Amelia always denied Dad was an Alcoholic. Thats why I got kicked out at home later. I would hide his bottles. When I was little he would act funny and Mamma would try and protect us kids. Money was always very short and he would take it for liquor. But he was basically a good father and all us kids loved him. I was just the wrong age and was caught up. I left home at 16 and went to work. My sister Dora was named after Dad's sister who was usually refered to as Aunt Dore.
The most frustrating thing in my life was when I started to school they forced me to use my right hand to learn to write when I was naturally left handed. My left hand was tied behind my back and I had to go to the principals office for my writing lessons. This was probaly the first grade.
We moved alot--In Des Moines Dad got the DT's and Uncle Howard (Mom's brother) came and got us (Robert,Amelia, Mom and I) and took us on the train to Kansas City. While we were on the train Mama let Robert (the baby) play with her watch and he broke it. He cried alot. Dad was a house painter so we moved a lot to follow his jobs, mostly in Kansas City. Dad's best friend was Joe Creasy, another painter. We used to call him Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary. Sister Jean used to have a picture of them. They had two boys, Lester was the oldest, can't remember the name of the other. Also Aunt Mary's neice lived with them, Franis who became my good friend later. Mama worked in the Hat Factory some with Aunt Mary but mostly she was a seamstress. My dress in an early picture was all handmade lace.
I remember at age 7 going across water on the train from Des Moines. We were going to Grandfathers (Anderson Aulgur) funeral. Dad wanted me to see him. All I remember is standing by the bed kissing Grandfather as encouraged by Dad. Grandfather and Grandmother were living with my Aunt Susie at the time, (Susan Aulgur/James Chitwood). Grandfather was a carpenter and built the house I was born in in Kansas City.
I lived with Grandmother Aulgur (Elizabeth Dutton) for awhile at about age 19 before I married. She was very set in her ways. I always referred to her as Grandma Aulgur. I paid the gas bill and she didn't think I paid enough so she turned on all the gas while I was at work so I would have a big bill. I would come home from work to find her on the front porch because the house was too hot.
I always supported myself after 16. One time I had a very good job with a woman taking care of her baby. Board and room and $6.00 a week. I washed dishes for the neighbors while still at home. I even worked in a drug store slinging hash. Many of these types of jobs. The money helped at home. When I had problems the only one I could go to was Mama.
I worked as a messenger at Harrison-Emery Dept. Store and was able to work up to cashier. Dad was an interior decorator there for awhile. Amelia worked there awhile too. There were times I didn't get a paycheck and when I went to the office I found that Dad was there picking it up, (probably for booze).
In 1924 Grandmother Hayes died, (Gertrude Elizabeth Hill). They said she was standing on the steps talking to a driver of one of Uncle Howards trucks when they saw her fall. (Uncle Howard, Charles Howard Hayes) was mothers brother. Wife was Sylvia Stockdale. They lived on land south of Kansas City where Uncle Howard owned a fleet of trucks. They thought she had a stroke or siezure. Later we thought maybe she had been a diabetic. Mama went from Des Moines to Kansas City for the funeral. Maude Stewart came to take care of us kids while she was gone.
I was working in Kansas City and living with Uncle Howard and Aunt Sylvia when I was about 19 or 20. Grandpa Tillman Hayes was living there too. I am not sure what he did for a living. He had something to work at at shop in barn in Kansas City, (Sheffield Community.??). He came up missing one day. I had just had my appendix out. Grandpa wasn't feeling well and he had walked to the Hospital and said he wanted something done cause he didn't feel well, (Always having stomach trouble). Uncle Howard found him and I guess he died there, Nov 16, 1930.
I stayed with Uncle Howard and Aunt Sylvia until I married. I met Van at a dance in Kansas City. My girl friend and I had decided to go out to supper and stag to a dance after work. I didn't think much of him (Van) when he asked me for a dance. Didn't even take me home. My girl friend and I shared a cab. He got my phone number at work and called me later to ask me for a date to go to a dance. We went togeather for almost a year. He couldn't make up his mind what he wanted to do so he went to Pella, Iowa where his mother was. I gave up as I didn't hear from him for several months. One night he was standing at the
employee door at work. He had been out of work and his mother give him money to come to Pella to look for a job. She had just married her second husband (VerSteeg). It didn't work out. The girls, Vans sisters didn't like him. Hinted that he was mean. Maybe the problem was partly because they were all church people and he wasn't. They were not together but she kept his name.
It was shortly after we were married and still living with Uncle Howard when my sister Dora wrote me that Mama took sick. I got on the Old Rock Island Train and went home to see her, and see if the kids were all right. I couldn't stay long as I had to get back to work. I was a cashier at Hartsfells in Kansas City soon after and we had a small apartment and got a puppy, Ginger (from Uncle Howards litter of pure bred Springer Spanials.) when I got a phone call that Mama was dying. Van came and we drove to Des Moines with Ginger. After the funeral we drove back to Kansas City in a bad snow storm - Jan 1934.
Soon after Van was offered a job building DC-3 airplanes in California if he could get right there and report. So we loaded what we could in the car and drove across country with Ginger on my lap most of the time. Uncle Howard made a box on the back of the car to carry cooking utinsels and gear and we camped. What a trip! The Highway was not all paved. Got stuck in the mud sometimes.We were traveling with another couple and sharing water, jack, etc. After Flagstaff, Ariz there was some pavement, before, not much. As we got close to Los Angeles the other couple left us taking the water and car jack. The jack was very important because of all the flat tires we had which Van had repair on the spot. He thought he could beat us to the job. When we arrived in Los Angeles, we went right to Douglas and the job was waiting as promised because Van had a reference. The other man got a job later. Van helped him out even since they ran off from us.
My Dad couldn't face my Moms passing and committed suicide. Uncle Howard wrote us. Newspaper clippings said he shot himself over her grave. Uncle Howard was trying to take care of business and the kids. Dad left a letter for Amelia about the kids but I don't know what that was all about. Van and I didn't have any money to go back. Amelia said she couldn't handle Lucy. So Uncle Howard helped with money to pay two women who were coming out to join their husbands so they brought Lucy with them on a bus. I wish now it had not happened as the trip was not good on a young girl, but at the time it was all we could do. According to those in Des Moines, Lucy was a big problem, but she was just being a normal teenager.
Our first apartment over a garage and we could keep the dog. Van worked nights. Lucy had to sleep on the couch. We didn't have much furniture. We felt our first earthquake there. Scared us to death. Lucy and I were eating lunch.
The landlords name was Jones. He had an apartment up front. He would put his garbage in the ground around the trees. We had one room and kitchenette. When Van had to sleep days, Lucy and I would go to the beach. The beach was a lot cleaner then, but I never liked it.
Our next house was a three bedroom house in back of another in Palms, (1935-1936). We took in three boarders, men who worked at Douglas also, to help pay the rent. I packed their lunches. Later we moved to another apartment and let the men have the house. This apartment was in walking distance to MGM
Studios. I was carrying Ellen by then and having some problems. They did not have iron pills in those days so Doctor suggested I eat lots of liver as raw as I could.
Douglas went out on strike the day Ellen was born, (Feb 16, 1937). Van hadn't told me because I was having problems with pregnancy. Ellen was cesarean birth. Dr. Lee was my doctor at Wilshire Hospital in Santa Monica. The lady in the other bed showed me the headlines of the newspaper about the strike. I got pretty upset I could hear Ellen crying a lot. The nurse said she was hungry. I didn't have milk and the formulas would come up. Ellen could not drink cows milk. Finally Dr. Lee got goats milk to stay down. Very expensive. (Ellen's baby pictures were taken while at this apartment).
Our next place was down by Bologna canal up on the bank. When it rained and flooded, engineers came down in rowboats and tried to take us out but we stayed as we were higher than others and gas was on, etc. Lucy was going to high school and seeing Henry Kidson. Later they got married after we moved to Lawndale.
We were on relief for awhile when Van go layed off. He got a job at Lockheed as a Mechanic and had to drive to Burbank. We had car trouble alot. He was soon promoted to Inspector. We had been thinking about building a house. So along with a friend from TWA in Kansas City found and bought lots near the railroad tracks in Lawndale and helped each other build houses. Les Robbins was a painter at Douglas. (Wife was Ann, a Canadian, had two children, Bobby and Anita. See Pictures). The lot payment was only $7.50 a month. We stayed in the apartment until we had enough house built to live in. We bought used lumber as we could. After Lucy and Henry got married they stayed with the Kidson'S.
I was born on April 26, 1908 in Kansas City, Mo. I believe at home. I have a postcard sent by my dad to my grandmother Aulgur announcing my birth. It in Ellen's baby book. I was the second of nine children, the first died at birth.
My father was Leverett B. Aulgur and my mother was Flora Ada Hayes Aulgur. I had four sisters, Amelia,, Dora, Lucy and Flora Jean and three brothers, Robert, Walter and John.
One of the earliest recollections I have is moving to Arkansas where dad worked at the Powder Plant in Dupont, Ark. We lived in a wood floored tent. {Before school age}. I started school at age 7 in Kansas City and I lived with dads sister, Aunt Susie. I remember a beautiful red sweater she croceded for me. She took care of me a lot when mom and dad went to Nebraska. Dad was out of work alot and I was the oldest and the only one in school. Aunt Maude (another of dad's sisters) had a farm and they thought the open air would be good for dad, (Alcohol problem). When he got better they went back to DesMoines. Not good feelings then. Dad was always a house painter as I can remember. Mom did a lot of dress making. When she could she worked the Millinery, (Hat shop). Amelia always denied Dad was an Alcoholic. Thats why I got kicked out at home later. I would hide his bottles. When I was little he would act funny and Mamma would try and protect us kids. Money was always very short and he would take it for liquor. But he was basically a good father and all us kids loved him. I was just the wrong age and was caught up. I left home at 16 and went to work. My sister Dora was named after Dad's sister who was usually refered to as Aunt Dore.
The most frustrating thing in my life was when I started to school they forced me to use my right hand to learn to write when I was naturally left handed. My left hand was tied behind my back and I had to go to the principals office for my writing lessons. This was probaly the first grade.
We moved alot--In Des Moines Dad got the DT's and Uncle Howard (Mom's brother) came and got us (Robert,Amelia, Mom and I) and took us on the train to Kansas City. While we were on the train Mama let Robert (the baby) play with her watch and he broke it. He cried alot. Dad was a house painter so we moved a lot to follow his jobs, mostly in Kansas City. Dad's best friend was Joe Creasy, another painter. We used to call him Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary. Sister Jean used to have a picture of them. They had two boys, Lester was the oldest, can't remember the name of the other. Also Aunt Mary's neice lived with them, Franis who became my good friend later. Mama worked in the Hat Factory some with Aunt Mary but mostly she was a seamstress. My dress in an early picture was all handmade lace.
I remember at age 7 going across water on the train from Des Moines. We were going to Grandfathers (Anderson Aulgur) funeral. Dad wanted me to see him. All I remember is standing by the bed kissing Grandfather as encouraged by Dad. Grandfather and Grandmother were living with my Aunt Susie at the time, (Susan Aulgur/James Chitwood). Grandfather was a carpenter and built the house I was born in in Kansas City.
I lived with Grandmother Aulgur (Elizabeth Dutton) for awhile at about age 19 before I married. She was very set in her ways. I always referred to her as Grandma Aulgur. I paid the gas bill and she didn't think I paid enough so she turned on all the gas while I was at work so I would have a big bill. I would come home from work to find her on the front porch because the house was too hot.
I always supported myself after 16. One time I had a very good job with a woman taking care of her baby. Board and room and $6.00 a week. I washed dishes for the neighbors while still at home. I even worked in a drug store slinging hash. Many of these types of jobs. The money helped at home. When I had problems the only one I could go to was Mama.
I worked as a messenger at Harrison-Emery Dept. Store and was able to work up to cashier. Dad was an interior decorator there for awhile. Amelia worked there awhile too. There were times I didn't get a paycheck and when I went to the office I found that Dad was there picking it up, (probably for booze).
In 1924 Grandmother Hayes died, (Gertrude Elizabeth Hill). They said she was standing on the steps talking to a driver of one of Uncle Howards trucks when they saw her fall. (Uncle Howard, Charles Howard Hayes) was mothers brother. Wife was Sylvia Stockdale. They lived on land south of Kansas City where Uncle Howard owned a fleet of trucks. They thought she had a stroke or siezure. Later we thought maybe she had been a diabetic. Mama went from Des Moines to Kansas City for the funeral. Maude Stewart came to take care of us kids while she was gone.
I was working in Kansas City and living with Uncle Howard and Aunt Sylvia when I was about 19 or 20. Grandpa Tillman Hayes was living there too. I am not sure what he did for a living. He had something to work at at shop in barn in Kansas City, (Sheffield Community.??). He came up missing one day. I had just had my appendix out. Grandpa wasn't feeling well and he had walked to the Hospital and said he wanted something done cause he didn't feel well, (Always having stomach trouble). Uncle Howard found him and I guess he died there, Nov 16, 1930.
I stayed with Uncle Howard and Aunt Sylvia until I married. I met Van at a dance in Kansas City. My girl friend and I had decided to go out to supper and stag to a dance after work. I didn't think much of him (Van) when he asked me for a dance. Didn't even take me home. My girl friend and I shared a cab. He got my phone number at work and called me later to ask me for a date to go to a dance. We went togeather for almost a year. He couldn't make up his mind what he wanted to do so he went to Pella, Iowa where his mother was. I gave up as I didn't hear from him for several months. One night he was standing at the
employee door at work. He had been out of work and his mother give him money to come to Pella to look for a job. She had just married her second husband (VerSteeg). It didn't work out. The girls, Vans sisters didn't like him. Hinted that he was mean. Maybe the problem was partly because they were all church people and he wasn't. They were not together but she kept his name.
It was shortly after we were married and still living with Uncle Howard when my sister Dora wrote me that Mama took sick. I got on the Old Rock Island Train and went home to see her, and see if the kids were all right. I couldn't stay long as I had to get back to work. I was a cashier at Hartsfells in Kansas City soon after and we had a small apartment and got a puppy, Ginger (from Uncle Howards litter of pure bred Springer Spanials.) when I got a phone call that Mama was dying. Van came and we drove to Des Moines with Ginger. After the funeral we drove back to Kansas City in a bad snow storm - Jan 1934.
Soon after Van was offered a job building DC-3 airplanes in California if he could get right there and report. So we loaded what we could in the car and drove across country with Ginger on my lap most of the time. Uncle Howard made a box on the back of the car to carry cooking utinsels and gear and we camped. What a trip! The Highway was not all paved. Got stuck in the mud sometimes.We were traveling with another couple and sharing water, jack, etc. After Flagstaff, Ariz there was some pavement, before, not much. As we got close to Los Angeles the other couple left us taking the water and car jack. The jack was very important because of all the flat tires we had which Van had repair on the spot. He thought he could beat us to the job. When we arrived in Los Angeles, we went right to Douglas and the job was waiting as promised because Van had a reference. The other man got a job later. Van helped him out even since they ran off from us.
My Dad couldn't face my Moms passing and committed suicide. Uncle Howard wrote us. Newspaper clippings said he shot himself over her grave. Uncle Howard was trying to take care of business and the kids. Dad left a letter for Amelia about the kids but I don't know what that was all about. Van and I didn't have any money to go back. Amelia said she couldn't handle Lucy. So Uncle Howard helped with money to pay two women who were coming out to join their husbands so they brought Lucy with them on a bus. I wish now it had not happened as the trip was not good on a young girl, but at the time it was all we could do. According to those in Des Moines, Lucy was a big problem, but she was just being a normal teenager.
Our first apartment over a garage and we could keep the dog. Van worked nights. Lucy had to sleep on the couch. We didn't have much furniture. We felt our first earthquake there. Scared us to death. Lucy and I were eating lunch.
The landlords name was Jones. He had an apartment up front. He would put his garbage in the ground around the trees. We had one room and kitchenette. When Van had to sleep days, Lucy and I would go to the beach. The beach was a lot cleaner then, but I never liked it.
Our next house was a three bedroom house in back of another in Palms, (1935-1936). We took in three boarders, men who worked at Douglas also, to help pay the rent. I packed their lunches. Later we moved to another apartment and let the men have the house. This apartment was in walking distance to MGM
Studios. I was carrying Ellen by then and having some problems. They did not have iron pills in those days so Doctor suggested I eat lots of liver as raw as I could.
Douglas went out on strike the day Ellen was born, (Feb 16, 1937). Van hadn't told me because I was having problems with pregnancy. Ellen was cesarean birth. Dr. Lee was my doctor at Wilshire Hospital in Santa Monica. The lady in the other bed showed me the headlines of the newspaper about the strike. I got pretty upset I could hear Ellen crying a lot. The nurse said she was hungry. I didn't have milk and the formulas would come up. Ellen could not drink cows milk. Finally Dr. Lee got goats milk to stay down. Very expensive. (Ellen's baby pictures were taken while at this apartment).
Our next place was down by Bologna canal up on the bank. When it rained and flooded, engineers came down in rowboats and tried to take us out but we stayed as we were higher than others and gas was on, etc. Lucy was going to high school and seeing Henry Kidson. Later they got married after we moved to Lawndale.
We were on relief for awhile when Van go layed off. He got a job at Lockheed as a Mechanic and had to drive to Burbank. We had car trouble alot. He was soon promoted to Inspector. We had been thinking about building a house. So along with a friend from TWA in Kansas City found and bought lots near the railroad tracks in Lawndale and helped each other build houses. Les Robbins was a painter at Douglas. (Wife was Ann, a Canadian, had two children, Bobby and Anita. See Pictures). The lot payment was only $7.50 a month. We stayed in the apartment until we had enough house built to live in. We bought used lumber as we could. After Lucy and Henry got married they stayed with the Kidson'S.
Marriage to Henry Van Olst: 7 Nov 1931 in Kansas City, MO
I was born on April 26, 1908 in Kansas City, Mo. I believe at home. I have a postcard sent by my dad to my grandmother Aulgur announcing my birth. It in Ellen's baby book. I was the second of nine children, the first died at birth.
My father was Leverett B. Aulgur and my mother was Flora Ada Hayes Aulgur. I had four sisters, Amelia,, Dora, Lucy and Flora Jean and three brothers, Robert, Walter and John.
One of the earliest recollections I have is moving to Arkansas where dad worked at the Powder Plant in Dupont, Ark. We lived in a wood floored tent. {Before school age}. I started school at age 7 in Kansas City and I lived with dads sister, Aunt Susie. I remember a beautiful red sweater she croceded for me. She took care of me a lot when mom and dad went to Nebraska. Dad was out of work alot and I was the oldest and the only one in school. Aunt Maude (another of dad's sisters) had a farm and they thought the open air would be good for dad, (Alcohol problem). When he got better they went back to DesMoines. Not good feelings then. Dad was always a house painter as I can remember. Mom did a lot of dress making. When she could she worked the Millinery, (Hat shop). Amelia always denied Dad was an Alcoholic. Thats why I got kicked out at home later. I would hide his bottles. When I was little he would act funny and Mamma would try and protect us kids. Money was always very short and he would take it for liquor. But he was basically a good father and all us kids loved him. I was just the wrong age and was caught up. I left home at 16 and went to work. My sister Dora was named after Dad's sister who was usually refered to as Aunt Dore.
The most frustrating thing in my life was when I started to school they forced me to use my right hand to learn to write when I was naturally left handed. My left hand was tied behind my back and I had to go to the principals office for my writing lessons. This was probaly the first grade.
We moved alot--In Des Moines Dad got the DT's and Uncle Howard (Mom's brother) came and got us (Robert,Amelia, Mom and I) and took us on the train to Kansas City. While we were on the train Mama let Robert (the baby) play with her watch and he broke it. He cried alot. Dad was a house painter so we moved a lot to follow his jobs, mostly in Kansas City. Dad's best friend was Joe Creasy, another painter. We used to call him Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary. Sister Jean used to have a picture of them. They had two boys, Lester was the oldest, can't remember the name of the other. Also Aunt Mary's neice lived with them, Franis who became my good friend later. Mama worked in the Hat Factory some with Aunt Mary but mostly she was a seamstress. My dress in an early picture was all handmade lace.
I remember at age 7 going across water on the train from Des Moines. We were going to Grandfathers (Anderson Aulgur) funeral. Dad wanted me to see him. All I remember is standing by the bed kissing Grandfather as encouraged by Dad. Grandfather and Grandmother were living with my Aunt Susie at the time, (Susan Aulgur/James Chitwood). Grandfather was a carpenter and built the house I was born in in Kansas City.
I lived with Grandmother Aulgur (Elizabeth Dutton) for awhile at about age 19 before I married. She was very set in her ways. I always referred to her as Grandma Aulgur. I paid the gas bill and she didn't think I paid enough so she turned on all the gas while I was at work so I would have a big bill. I would come home from work to find her on the front porch because the house was too hot.
I always supported myself after 16. One time I had a very good job with a woman taking care of her baby. Board and room and $6.00 a week. I washed dishes for the neighbors while still at home. I even worked in a drug store slinging hash. Many of these types of jobs. The money helped at home. When I had problems the only one I could go to was Mama.
I worked as a messenger at Harrison-Emery Dept. Store and was able to work up to cashier. Dad was an interior decorator there for awhile. Amelia worked there awhile too. There were times I didn't get a paycheck and when I went to the office I found that Dad was there picking it up, (probably for booze).
In 1924 Grandmother Hayes died, (Gertrude Elizabeth Hill). They said she was standing on the steps talking to a driver of one of Uncle Howards trucks when they saw her fall. (Uncle Howard, Charles Howard Hayes) was mothers brother. Wife was Sylvia Stockdale. They lived on land south of Kansas City where Uncle Howard owned a fleet of trucks. They thought she had a stroke or siezure. Later we thought maybe she had been a diabetic. Mama went from Des Moines to Kansas City for the funeral. Maude Stewart came to take care of us kids while she was gone.
I was working in Kansas City and living with Uncle Howard and Aunt Sylvia when I was about 19 or 20. Grandpa Tillman Hayes was living there too. I am not sure what he did for a living. He had something to work at at shop in barn in Kansas City, (Sheffield Community.??). He came up missing one day. I had just had my appendix out. Grandpa wasn't feeling well and he had walked to the Hospital and said he wanted something done cause he didn't feel well, (Always having stomach trouble). Uncle Howard found him and I guess he died there, Nov 16, 1930.
I stayed with Uncle Howard and Aunt Sylvia until I married. I met Van at a dance in Kansas City. My girl friend and I had decided to go out to supper and stag to a dance after work. I didn't think much of him (Van) when he asked me for a dance. Didn't even take me home. My girl friend and I shared a cab. He got my phone number at work and called me later to ask me for a date to go to a dance. We went togeather for almost a year. He couldn't make up his mind what he wanted to do so he went to Pella, Iowa where his mother was. I gave up as I didn't hear from him for several months. One night he was standing at the
employee door at work. He had been out of work and his mother give him money to come to Pella to look for a job. She had just married her second husband (VerSteeg). It didn't work out. The girls, Vans sisters didn't like him. Hinted that he was mean. Maybe the problem was partly because they were all church people and he wasn't. They were not together but she kept his name.
It was shortly after we were married and still living with Uncle Howard when my sister Dora wrote me that Mama took sick. I got on the Old Rock Island Train and went home to see her, and see if the kids were all right. I couldn't stay long as I had to get back to work. I was a cashier at Hartsfells in Kansas City soon after and we had a small apartment and got a puppy, Ginger (from Uncle Howards litter of pure bred Springer Spanials.) when I got a phone call that Mama was dying. Van came and we drove to Des Moines with Ginger. After the funeral we drove back to Kansas City in a bad snow storm - Jan 1934.
Soon after Van was offered a job building DC-3 airplanes in California if he could get right there and report. So we loaded what we could in the car and drove across country with Ginger on my lap most of the time. Uncle Howard made a box on the back of the car to carry cooking utinsels and gear and we camped. What a trip! The Highway was not all paved. Got stuck in the mud sometimes.We were traveling with another couple and sharing water, jack, etc. After Flagstaff, Ariz there was some pavement, before, not much. As we got close to Los Angeles the other couple left us taking the water and car jack. The jack was very important because of all the flat tires we had which Van had repair on the spot. He thought he could beat us to the job. When we arrived in Los Angeles, we went right to Douglas and the job was waiting as promised because Van had a reference. The other man got a job later. Van helped him out even since they ran off from us.
My Dad couldn't face my Moms passing and committed suicide. Uncle Howard wrote us. Newspaper clippings said he shot himself over her grave. Uncle Howard was trying to take care of business and the kids. Dad left a letter for Amelia about the kids but I don't know what that was all about. Van and I didn't have any money to go back. Amelia said she couldn't handle Lucy. So Uncle Howard helped with money to pay two women who were coming out to join their husbands so they brought Lucy with them on a bus. I wish now it had not happened as the trip was not good on a young girl, but at the time it was all we could do. According to those in Des Moines, Lucy was a big problem, but she was just being a normal teenager.
Our first apartment over a garage and we could keep the dog. Van worked nights. Lucy had to sleep on the couch. We didn't have much furniture. We felt our first earthquake there. Scared us to death. Lucy and I were eating lunch.
The landlords name was Jones. He had an apartment up front. He would put his garbage in the ground around the trees. We had one room and kitchenette. When Van had to sleep days, Lucy and I would go to the beach. The beach was a lot cleaner then, but I never liked it.
Our next house was a three bedroom house in back of another in Palms, (1935-1936). We took in three boarders, men who worked at Douglas also, to help pay the rent. I packed their lunches. Later we moved to another apartment and let the men have the house. This apartment was in walking distance to MGM
Studios. I was carrying Ellen by then and having some problems. They did not have iron pills in those days so Doctor suggested I eat lots of liver as raw as I could.
Douglas went out on strike the day Ellen was born, (Feb 16, 1937). Van hadn't told me because I was having problems with pregnancy. Ellen was cesarean birth. Dr. Lee was my doctor at Wilshire Hospital in Santa Monica. The lady in the other bed showed me the headlines of the newspaper about the strike. I got pretty upset I could hear Ellen crying a lot. The nurse said she was hungry. I didn't have milk and the formulas would come up. Ellen could not drink cows milk. Finally Dr. Lee got goats milk to stay down. Very expensive. (Ellen's baby pictures were taken while at this apartment).
Our next place was down by Bologna canal up on the bank. When it rained and flooded, engineers came down in rowboats and tried to take us out but we stayed as we were higher than others and gas was on, etc. Lucy was going to high school and seeing Henry Kidson. Later they got married after we moved to Lawndale.
We were on relief for awhile when Van go layed off. He got a job at Lockheed as a Mechanic and had to drive to Burbank. We had car trouble alot. He was soon promoted to Inspector. We had been thinking about building a house. So along with a friend from TWA in Kansas City found and bought lots near the railroad tracks in Lawndale and helped each other build houses. Les Robbins was a painter at Douglas. (Wife was Ann, a Canadian, had two children, Bobby and Anita. See Pictures). The lot payment was only $7.50 a month. We stayed in the apartment until we had enough house built to live in. We bought used lumber as we could. After Lucy and Henry got married they stayed with the Kidson'S.
I was born on April 26, 1908 in Kansas City, Mo. I believe at home. I have a postcard sent by my dad to my grandmother Aulgur announcing my birth. It in Ellen's baby book. I was the second of nine children, the first died at birth.
My father was Leverett B. Aulgur and my mother was Flora Ada Hayes Aulgur. I had four sisters, Amelia,, Dora, Lucy and Flora Jean and three brothers, Robert, Walter and John.
One of the earliest recollections I have is moving to Arkansas where dad worked at the Powder Plant in Dupont, Ark. We lived in a wood floored tent. {Before school age}. I started school at age 7 in Kansas City and I lived with dads sister, Aunt Susie. I remember a beautiful red sweater she croceded for me. She took care of me a lot when mom and dad went to Nebraska. Dad was out of work alot and I was the oldest and the only one in school. Aunt Maude (another of dad's sisters) had a farm and they thought the open air would be good for dad, (Alcohol problem). When he got better they went back to DesMoines. Not good feelings then. Dad was always a house painter as I can remember. Mom did a lot of dress making. When she could she worked the Millinery, (Hat shop). Amelia always denied Dad was an Alcoholic. Thats why I got kicked out at home later. I would hide his bottles. When I was little he would act funny and Mamma would try and protect us kids. Money was always very short and he would take it for liquor. But he was basically a good father and all us kids loved him. I was just the wrong age and was caught up. I left home at 16 and went to work. My sister Dora was named after Dad's sister who was usually refered to as Aunt Dore.
The most frustrating thing in my life was when I started to school they forced me to use my right hand to learn to write when I was naturally left handed. My left hand was tied behind my back and I had to go to the principals office for my writing lessons. This was probaly the first grade.
We moved alot--In Des Moines Dad got the DT's and Uncle Howard (Mom's brother) came and got us (Robert,Amelia, Mom and I) and took us on the train to Kansas City. While we were on the train Mama let Robert (the baby) play with her watch and he broke it. He cried alot. Dad was a house painter so we moved a lot to follow his jobs, mostly in Kansas City. Dad's best friend was Joe Creasy, another painter. We used to call him Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary. Sister Jean used to have a picture of them. They had two boys, Lester was the oldest, can't remember the name of the other. Also Aunt Mary's neice lived with them, Franis who became my good friend later. Mama worked in the Hat Factory some with Aunt Mary but mostly she was a seamstress. My dress in an early picture was all handmade lace.
I remember at age 7 going across water on the train from Des Moines. We were going to Grandfathers (Anderson Aulgur) funeral. Dad wanted me to see him. All I remember is standing by the bed kissing Grandfather as encouraged by Dad. Grandfather and Grandmother were living with my Aunt Susie at the time, (Susan Aulgur/James Chitwood). Grandfather was a carpenter and built the house I was born in in Kansas City.
I lived with Grandmother Aulgur (Elizabeth Dutton) for awhile at about age 19 before I married. She was very set in her ways. I always referred to her as Grandma Aulgur. I paid the gas bill and she didn't think I paid enough so she turned on all the gas while I was at work so I would have a big bill. I would come home from work to find her on the front porch because the house was too hot.
I always supported myself after 16. One time I had a very good job with a woman taking care of her baby. Board and room and $6.00 a week. I washed dishes for the neighbors while still at home. I even worked in a drug store slinging hash. Many of these types of jobs. The money helped at home. When I had problems the only one I could go to was Mama.
I worked as a messenger at Harrison-Emery Dept. Store and was able to work up to cashier. Dad was an interior decorator there for awhile. Amelia worked there awhile too. There were times I didn't get a paycheck and when I went to the office I found that Dad was there picking it up, (probably for booze).
In 1924 Grandmother Hayes died, (Gertrude Elizabeth Hill). They said she was standing on the steps talking to a driver of one of Uncle Howards trucks when they saw her fall. (Uncle Howard, Charles Howard Hayes) was mothers brother. Wife was Sylvia Stockdale. They lived on land south of Kansas City where Uncle Howard owned a fleet of trucks. They thought she had a stroke or siezure. Later we thought maybe she had been a diabetic. Mama went from Des Moines to Kansas City for the funeral. Maude Stewart came to take care of us kids while she was gone.
I was working in Kansas City and living with Uncle Howard and Aunt Sylvia when I was about 19 or 20. Grandpa Tillman Hayes was living there too. I am not sure what he did for a living. He had something to work at at shop in barn in Kansas City, (Sheffield Community.??). He came up missing one day. I had just had my appendix out. Grandpa wasn't feeling well and he had walked to the Hospital and said he wanted something done cause he didn't feel well, (Always having stomach trouble). Uncle Howard found him and I guess he died there, Nov 16, 1930.
I stayed with Uncle Howard and Aunt Sylvia until I married. I met Van at a dance in Kansas City. My girl friend and I had decided to go out to supper and stag to a dance after work. I didn't think much of him (Van) when he asked me for a dance. Didn't even take me home. My girl friend and I shared a cab. He got my phone number at work and called me later to ask me for a date to go to a dance. We went togeather for almost a year. He couldn't make up his mind what he wanted to do so he went to Pella, Iowa where his mother was. I gave up as I didn't hear from him for several months. One night he was standing at the
employee door at work. He had been out of work and his mother give him money to come to Pella to look for a job. She had just married her second husband (VerSteeg). It didn't work out. The girls, Vans sisters didn't like him. Hinted that he was mean. Maybe the problem was partly because they were all church people and he wasn't. They were not together but she kept his name.
It was shortly after we were married and still living with Uncle Howard when my sister Dora wrote me that Mama took sick. I got on the Old Rock Island Train and went home to see her, and see if the kids were all right. I couldn't stay long as I had to get back to work. I was a cashier at Hartsfells in Kansas City soon after and we had a small apartment and got a puppy, Ginger (from Uncle Howards litter of pure bred Springer Spanials.) when I got a phone call that Mama was dying. Van came and we drove to Des Moines with Ginger. After the funeral we drove back to Kansas City in a bad snow storm - Jan 1934.
Soon after Van was offered a job building DC-3 airplanes in California if he could get right there and report. So we loaded what we could in the car and drove across country with Ginger on my lap most of the time. Uncle Howard made a box on the back of the car to carry cooking utinsels and gear and we camped. What a trip! The Highway was not all paved. Got stuck in the mud sometimes.We were traveling with another couple and sharing water, jack, etc. After Flagstaff, Ariz there was some pavement, before, not much. As we got close to Los Angeles the other couple left us taking the water and car jack. The jack was very important because of all the flat tires we had which Van had repair on the spot. He thought he could beat us to the job. When we arrived in Los Angeles, we went right to Douglas and the job was waiting as promised because Van had a reference. The other man got a job later. Van helped him out even since they ran off from us.
My Dad couldn't face my Moms passing and committed suicide. Uncle Howard wrote us. Newspaper clippings said he shot himself over her grave. Uncle Howard was trying to take care of business and the kids. Dad left a letter for Amelia about the kids but I don't know what that was all about. Van and I didn't have any money to go back. Amelia said she couldn't handle Lucy. So Uncle Howard helped with money to pay two women who were coming out to join their husbands so they brought Lucy with them on a bus. I wish now it had not happened as the trip was not good on a young girl, but at the time it was all we could do. According to those in Des Moines, Lucy was a big problem, but she was just being a normal teenager.
Our first apartment over a garage and we could keep the dog. Van worked nights. Lucy had to sleep on the couch. We didn't have much furniture. We felt our first earthquake there. Scared us to death. Lucy and I were eating lunch.
The landlords name was Jones. He had an apartment up front. He would put his garbage in the ground around the trees. We had one room and kitchenette. When Van had to sleep days, Lucy and I would go to the beach. The beach was a lot cleaner then, but I never liked it.
Our next house was a three bedroom house in back of another in Palms, (1935-1936). We took in three boarders, men who worked at Douglas also, to help pay the rent. I packed their lunches. Later we moved to another apartment and let the men have the house. This apartment was in walking distance to MGM
Studios. I was carrying Ellen by then and having some problems. They did not have iron pills in those days so Doctor suggested I eat lots of liver as raw as I could.
Douglas went out on strike the day Ellen was born, (Feb 16, 1937). Van hadn't told me because I was having problems with pregnancy. Ellen was cesarean birth. Dr. Lee was my doctor at Wilshire Hospital in Santa Monica. The lady in the other bed showed me the headlines of the newspaper about the strike. I got pretty upset I could hear Ellen crying a lot. The nurse said she was hungry. I didn't have milk and the formulas would come up. Ellen could not drink cows milk. Finally Dr. Lee got goats milk to stay down. Very expensive. (Ellen's baby pictures were taken while at this apartment).
Our next place was down by Bologna canal up on the bank. When it rained and flooded, engineers came down in rowboats and tried to take us out but we stayed as we were higher than others and gas was on, etc. Lucy was going to high school and seeing Henry Kidson. Later they got married after we moved to Lawndale.
We were on relief for awhile when Van go layed off. He got a job at Lockheed as a Mechanic and had to drive to Burbank. We had car trouble alot. He was soon promoted to Inspector. We had been thinking about building a house. So along with a friend from TWA in Kansas City found and bought lots near the railroad tracks in Lawndale and helped each other build houses. Les Robbins was a painter at Douglas. (Wife was Ann, a Canadian, had two children, Bobby and Anita. See Pictures). The lot payment was only $7.50 a month. We stayed in the apartment until we had enough house built to live in. We bought used lumber as we could. After Lucy and Henry got married they stayed with the Kidson'S.
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