Four Pioneer Homes - Elizabeth Howry's Story
Elizabeth Died in Worthington but she had Made Pioneer Homes in Four States
It was 10 days before Christmas and three days before her 17th birthday. The year was 1836. Elizabeth Howry made ready for her wedding.
The site was Greene county in western Indiana, still a part of the American frontier. Indiana had become a state less than three years before Elizabeth's birth. The Howry place was not 40 miles north of the Thomas Lincoln place in Spencer county. The boy Abraham Lincoln was seven years older than Elizabeth; the Lincolns had moved on to Macon county in Illinois half-a-dozen years before.
The man Elizabeth was to marry, Philip Jacob Cale, was 33 years old, nearly twice the age of his bride. He had been born in St. John's, West Prussia, and had emigrated to the western frontier from his native land.
The wedding vows were exchanged on Dec. 15
Philip J. Cale was a miller by trade, and a farmer. He came to have an 80-acre farm. And children. Through the course of 20 years, Elizabeth bore an even dozen babies, one of whom died soon after birth.
Pioneering on an Indiana farm was a life that required heavy work and which yielded small returns. In 1856, the 20th year of their marriage, Philip Cale concluded to move west to Minnesota Territory and start all over. Elizabeth packed up the household
belongings and got the 11 children ready. The twins, Benjamin and Carrie, still were but babies. The Cales followed the Wabash or Ohio and then floated north up the Mississippi. They then moved overland and settled in Carver county near present-day
Waconia.
This was Elizabeth Howry Cale's second frontier homestead. She shaped a new life and kept herself in her family's service. It would be two years before Minnesota became a state and the Cales once again would be full citizens of the United States of America.
There were inevitable additional heartbreaks.
Edward Cale died. Philip Henry Cale died. The family of twelve children was reduced to eight children.
In 1862 the Cales fled to Fort Snelling as word spread of the Indian war. And after 14 years, now a tired veteran of frontier living, the husband and father, Philip Cale, died at the age of 67. He was buried on the Minnesota homestead beside his sons. Elizabeth was 50. Her babies now were in their middle teens.
Elizabeth Cale remained a widow on her Minnesota farm for less than four years. In 1874, two years after the village of Worthington was founded two hundred miles distant on the Minnesota frontier, Elizabeth married Jacob John "Jake" Baumez. The new groom proposed to move to Dakota Territory, near Valley City. It was there, in her 54th year, that Elizabeth Howry Cale Baumez took up life on her third homestead and on still another American frontier.
Elizabeth, who was of Swiss origins and who had learned to write in German, did not often send letters although in 1878 and in her 59th year, in a letter to her son George at Worthington, she had a surprise. She wrote in perfect English script noting only at the end, "P. S. You will now get the letters in English."
Her new husband, Jake Baumez, took up correspondence chores, writing with regularity to Elizabeth's children and referring to her always as "Mother." Elizabeth's son, George, was settled by
that date in Nobles county. Baumez· letters were written in German and they have been translated only in the past year.
"Mother is so far in good health," Baumez wrote on June 29, 1885, when Elizabeth was 66. "She is quite a gardener. She has the most beautiful garden around. Our potato crop was really good ... "
"Last Sunday Curl Etzzels' had quite a hailstorm. Took half of the crop but he has insurance, 10 dollars per acre ... Altogether I have 250 acres and wheat and rye ... We had to trust in God. He knows what is best for us. Last year we had a good crop but the price was low ...
"The crop was good but the cost; at the end there isn't much left. We make our payments, of 4 to 500 dollars. We have six horses but only two cows. "
The next January Baumez wrote to Worthington:
" ... We were so happy to hear from you and especially the pictures of your children. Mother was so happy. She would love to see them sometime. It won't be this year.
"If any of you are interested in coming here there is plenty of lands here. But the best government land is sold. But there is much prairie land. The price is $8 to $10 per acre ...
''We received much but spent a lot. The expenses were big. Threshing cost us over 600 dollars.
"We have got a church together but have to go 8 miles. That is in the winter time too far ...
"Mother would like to know if you can make the payment you owe her. Don't blame me that I want it. As she would like everyone to have something... Don't take this seriously. If you can't do it OK."
It is not certain when it became general knowledge among the Cale children that their mother was pioneering in the sod dugout. Baumez made this report to George Cales in June 1886:
" ... I would have written sooner but your brother (Lewis Cale) was here. It wasn't a pleasant visit as everything was wrong here. He as much as said we live like pigs. We live in a block (sod) house. It is far from a hog house. But such Big Shots. They think they know it all. ..
"He offered Mother $750. She would sell it but hasn't heard from him as yet.
"We have been here 5 years now. Never seen a crop like,e this before, like this year.
"We have 2 hired men. George (Baumez) is a strong boy. He can do a man's work. We have 6 horses but only 2 cows ... But the machinery and horses cost a lot of money ... Mother is in good health so far. She had some rheumatism. Mother would like to have you buy her share of the land. She will let you have it reasonably.
"The Fourth of July Mother, George and I were to Valley City. It was a rainy day. There wasn't much going on. We had an English teacher."
The final Dakota letter appears to be from January 1889. Elizab •th now was 70:
'' ... Thank God we have enough to eat and clothing enough. Milk and meat and eggs. We have over 200
chickens ...
''Our God is good to us. He does everything right. l L wasn't so good in North Dakota. Many are on the bat!
shape.
"In South Dakota, they had a good crop. Many have done real good ... "
1898. Elizabeth Baumez was 78. She and her husband concluded to move to a new frontier. Life was better, they had heard, in Oregon. Letters from Elizabeth's daughter. Mrs. Sophia Ayers of Valley City, indicate her mother opposed this move -but her duty was to her husband. Over family objections, the couple
boarded a train at 11: 30 p.m. on March 23 and headed west. John Baumez wrote this letter on Jan. 23, 1899:
"Mother and I would like to see you once more. I am afraid we won't make it as it is so far. We are living in town now. Huntington, Oregon ... Morris Wagner has sent some of the rent. $120 on the 31st of November. Two weeks ago he sent $60. Mother really can use it. She needs the money. I do feel sony for her but she is
satisfied. If she stays healthy she can have a garden again this spring. She doesn't go out much now ... "
The girl who reared a family in Indiana lost a husband in Minnesota, made a new life in North Dakota, and was settled now in Oregon.
The next year Jake Baumez died in 1900. He was more than 85 years of age. On Sept. 11 Mrs. George Cale left here for Oregon to bring her mother-in-law and her meager possessions back to Worthington. An extra room was built on the house just for Mrs. Baumez and she came to be in the special care of her grand-
daughter, Artie Cale.
It was at that house a mile north of Worthington that Elizabeth Baumez died in her 85th year. Feb. 20, 1905. The family recorded the time as 4 a.m.
It also was noted of the funeral, "It cost Pa (George) Cale $200: casket and hearse, $75; embalm-ing, $10; lot in the graveyard, $7.50; preacher, $10; preacher at the grave. $5; flowers $3."
Six of Elizabeth's eight living children were present for the funeral. Burial was in Oak Hill Cemetery at Excelsior, Minn., where Philip Cale and the two sons who died on the Minnesota homestead also were reburied under the tall stone which had formerly marked their graves on the old family farm.
ELIZABETH'S CHILDREN
The children of Elizabeth Howry Cale Buamez, all of them born on the Indiana frontier, had lives that were judged "successful."
George Cale settled in Nobles county and came to have several farms. He died in 1928.
Fred Cale went to Montana. He had ranches for a flock of 7,200 sheep and he owned most of the lots in emerging Miles City. He became vice president of the 1st National Bank of Miles City and died in 1927.
John Ccile lived in Mower county, Minn., until 1895 when he moved to Corvallis, Ore., and developed a farm of fruit and nut trees. He died in 1917.
Lewis falt' started five stores in Brainerd, Minn .. in 1880. He died In 1917.
Benjamin Cale owned several tracts of land and two stores in Motley, west of Brainerd, he died in 1936.
Carrie, who was the "other twin" and youngest in the family, died in 1925.
Sarah Wabbe continued to live in Carver county and came to own a number of farms. She died in 1880.
Sophia Ayers owned a ranch in Valley City. She died in 1931.
Ellen Heffer had several houses which she rented in Minneapolis. in 1940.
WORTHINGTON DAILY By RAY CRIPPEN Editor
Wednesday, May 4, 1
==
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Daily Globe has reported previously on the remarkable Cale Papers which Bob Burns of Worthington has transferred to the archives of the Minnesota Historical Society.
The George Cales, pioneers in Nobles county, were local representatives of a family of Prussian origin which has been in America for 180 years. The members of the family were prolific writers, exchanging letters and keeping journals. These letters and journals were preserved; they are a prodigious family record.
A study of the papers has brought to light the story of Elizabeth Howry Cale who had the seldom-equaled distinction of having homesteaded in four states. In her last years, Elizabeth Cale lived in the George C.:1le how to hold and she died on the Evergreen farm on the north edge of Worthington which is now the home of the Bob Burns family.
==
Daughter of John George Howery
b. Jun 1793 in Howrytown, Botetourt Co, Virginia
d. 13 Oct. 1837 in U.S.
and
Susanna Barbery
b. 15 APR 1791 • Switzerland
d. FEB 1862 in U.S.
Children w Phillip
Sarah Ann Cale 1838–1880
Philip Henry Cale 1842–1858
Louis James Cale 1845–
George William Cale 1847–1928
John Jacob Cale 1848–1918
Mary Elisabeth Cale 1849–1850
Samuel Frederick Cale 1851–1927
Theresa Ellen Cale 1852–1931
Rosina Sophia Cale 1854–1930
Benjamin Franklin Cale 1856–1937
Caroline Lucinda Cale 1856–1925
Alfred Edward Cale 1861–1862
Contributor: KerryRaeSmithMoser (48011981)
Elizabeth Died in Worthington but she had Made Pioneer Homes in Four States
It was 10 days before Christmas and three days before her 17th birthday. The year was 1836. Elizabeth Howry made ready for her wedding.
The site was Greene county in western Indiana, still a part of the American frontier. Indiana had become a state less than three years before Elizabeth's birth. The Howry place was not 40 miles north of the Thomas Lincoln place in Spencer county. The boy Abraham Lincoln was seven years older than Elizabeth; the Lincolns had moved on to Macon county in Illinois half-a-dozen years before.
The man Elizabeth was to marry, Philip Jacob Cale, was 33 years old, nearly twice the age of his bride. He had been born in St. John's, West Prussia, and had emigrated to the western frontier from his native land.
The wedding vows were exchanged on Dec. 15
Philip J. Cale was a miller by trade, and a farmer. He came to have an 80-acre farm. And children. Through the course of 20 years, Elizabeth bore an even dozen babies, one of whom died soon after birth.
Pioneering on an Indiana farm was a life that required heavy work and which yielded small returns. In 1856, the 20th year of their marriage, Philip Cale concluded to move west to Minnesota Territory and start all over. Elizabeth packed up the household
belongings and got the 11 children ready. The twins, Benjamin and Carrie, still were but babies. The Cales followed the Wabash or Ohio and then floated north up the Mississippi. They then moved overland and settled in Carver county near present-day
Waconia.
This was Elizabeth Howry Cale's second frontier homestead. She shaped a new life and kept herself in her family's service. It would be two years before Minnesota became a state and the Cales once again would be full citizens of the United States of America.
There were inevitable additional heartbreaks.
Edward Cale died. Philip Henry Cale died. The family of twelve children was reduced to eight children.
In 1862 the Cales fled to Fort Snelling as word spread of the Indian war. And after 14 years, now a tired veteran of frontier living, the husband and father, Philip Cale, died at the age of 67. He was buried on the Minnesota homestead beside his sons. Elizabeth was 50. Her babies now were in their middle teens.
Elizabeth Cale remained a widow on her Minnesota farm for less than four years. In 1874, two years after the village of Worthington was founded two hundred miles distant on the Minnesota frontier, Elizabeth married Jacob John "Jake" Baumez. The new groom proposed to move to Dakota Territory, near Valley City. It was there, in her 54th year, that Elizabeth Howry Cale Baumez took up life on her third homestead and on still another American frontier.
Elizabeth, who was of Swiss origins and who had learned to write in German, did not often send letters although in 1878 and in her 59th year, in a letter to her son George at Worthington, she had a surprise. She wrote in perfect English script noting only at the end, "P. S. You will now get the letters in English."
Her new husband, Jake Baumez, took up correspondence chores, writing with regularity to Elizabeth's children and referring to her always as "Mother." Elizabeth's son, George, was settled by
that date in Nobles county. Baumez· letters were written in German and they have been translated only in the past year.
"Mother is so far in good health," Baumez wrote on June 29, 1885, when Elizabeth was 66. "She is quite a gardener. She has the most beautiful garden around. Our potato crop was really good ... "
"Last Sunday Curl Etzzels' had quite a hailstorm. Took half of the crop but he has insurance, 10 dollars per acre ... Altogether I have 250 acres and wheat and rye ... We had to trust in God. He knows what is best for us. Last year we had a good crop but the price was low ...
"The crop was good but the cost; at the end there isn't much left. We make our payments, of 4 to 500 dollars. We have six horses but only two cows. "
The next January Baumez wrote to Worthington:
" ... We were so happy to hear from you and especially the pictures of your children. Mother was so happy. She would love to see them sometime. It won't be this year.
"If any of you are interested in coming here there is plenty of lands here. But the best government land is sold. But there is much prairie land. The price is $8 to $10 per acre ...
''We received much but spent a lot. The expenses were big. Threshing cost us over 600 dollars.
"We have got a church together but have to go 8 miles. That is in the winter time too far ...
"Mother would like to know if you can make the payment you owe her. Don't blame me that I want it. As she would like everyone to have something... Don't take this seriously. If you can't do it OK."
It is not certain when it became general knowledge among the Cale children that their mother was pioneering in the sod dugout. Baumez made this report to George Cales in June 1886:
" ... I would have written sooner but your brother (Lewis Cale) was here. It wasn't a pleasant visit as everything was wrong here. He as much as said we live like pigs. We live in a block (sod) house. It is far from a hog house. But such Big Shots. They think they know it all. ..
"He offered Mother $750. She would sell it but hasn't heard from him as yet.
"We have been here 5 years now. Never seen a crop like,e this before, like this year.
"We have 2 hired men. George (Baumez) is a strong boy. He can do a man's work. We have 6 horses but only 2 cows ... But the machinery and horses cost a lot of money ... Mother is in good health so far. She had some rheumatism. Mother would like to have you buy her share of the land. She will let you have it reasonably.
"The Fourth of July Mother, George and I were to Valley City. It was a rainy day. There wasn't much going on. We had an English teacher."
The final Dakota letter appears to be from January 1889. Elizab •th now was 70:
'' ... Thank God we have enough to eat and clothing enough. Milk and meat and eggs. We have over 200
chickens ...
''Our God is good to us. He does everything right. l L wasn't so good in North Dakota. Many are on the bat!
shape.
"In South Dakota, they had a good crop. Many have done real good ... "
1898. Elizabeth Baumez was 78. She and her husband concluded to move to a new frontier. Life was better, they had heard, in Oregon. Letters from Elizabeth's daughter. Mrs. Sophia Ayers of Valley City, indicate her mother opposed this move -but her duty was to her husband. Over family objections, the couple
boarded a train at 11: 30 p.m. on March 23 and headed west. John Baumez wrote this letter on Jan. 23, 1899:
"Mother and I would like to see you once more. I am afraid we won't make it as it is so far. We are living in town now. Huntington, Oregon ... Morris Wagner has sent some of the rent. $120 on the 31st of November. Two weeks ago he sent $60. Mother really can use it. She needs the money. I do feel sony for her but she is
satisfied. If she stays healthy she can have a garden again this spring. She doesn't go out much now ... "
The girl who reared a family in Indiana lost a husband in Minnesota, made a new life in North Dakota, and was settled now in Oregon.
The next year Jake Baumez died in 1900. He was more than 85 years of age. On Sept. 11 Mrs. George Cale left here for Oregon to bring her mother-in-law and her meager possessions back to Worthington. An extra room was built on the house just for Mrs. Baumez and she came to be in the special care of her grand-
daughter, Artie Cale.
It was at that house a mile north of Worthington that Elizabeth Baumez died in her 85th year. Feb. 20, 1905. The family recorded the time as 4 a.m.
It also was noted of the funeral, "It cost Pa (George) Cale $200: casket and hearse, $75; embalm-ing, $10; lot in the graveyard, $7.50; preacher, $10; preacher at the grave. $5; flowers $3."
Six of Elizabeth's eight living children were present for the funeral. Burial was in Oak Hill Cemetery at Excelsior, Minn., where Philip Cale and the two sons who died on the Minnesota homestead also were reburied under the tall stone which had formerly marked their graves on the old family farm.
ELIZABETH'S CHILDREN
The children of Elizabeth Howry Cale Buamez, all of them born on the Indiana frontier, had lives that were judged "successful."
George Cale settled in Nobles county and came to have several farms. He died in 1928.
Fred Cale went to Montana. He had ranches for a flock of 7,200 sheep and he owned most of the lots in emerging Miles City. He became vice president of the 1st National Bank of Miles City and died in 1927.
John Ccile lived in Mower county, Minn., until 1895 when he moved to Corvallis, Ore., and developed a farm of fruit and nut trees. He died in 1917.
Lewis falt' started five stores in Brainerd, Minn .. in 1880. He died In 1917.
Benjamin Cale owned several tracts of land and two stores in Motley, west of Brainerd, he died in 1936.
Carrie, who was the "other twin" and youngest in the family, died in 1925.
Sarah Wabbe continued to live in Carver county and came to own a number of farms. She died in 1880.
Sophia Ayers owned a ranch in Valley City. She died in 1931.
Ellen Heffer had several houses which she rented in Minneapolis. in 1940.
WORTHINGTON DAILY By RAY CRIPPEN Editor
Wednesday, May 4, 1
==
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Daily Globe has reported previously on the remarkable Cale Papers which Bob Burns of Worthington has transferred to the archives of the Minnesota Historical Society.
The George Cales, pioneers in Nobles county, were local representatives of a family of Prussian origin which has been in America for 180 years. The members of the family were prolific writers, exchanging letters and keeping journals. These letters and journals were preserved; they are a prodigious family record.
A study of the papers has brought to light the story of Elizabeth Howry Cale who had the seldom-equaled distinction of having homesteaded in four states. In her last years, Elizabeth Cale lived in the George C.:1le how to hold and she died on the Evergreen farm on the north edge of Worthington which is now the home of the Bob Burns family.
==
Daughter of John George Howery
b. Jun 1793 in Howrytown, Botetourt Co, Virginia
d. 13 Oct. 1837 in U.S.
and
Susanna Barbery
b. 15 APR 1791 • Switzerland
d. FEB 1862 in U.S.
Children w Phillip
Sarah Ann Cale 1838–1880
Philip Henry Cale 1842–1858
Louis James Cale 1845–
George William Cale 1847–1928
John Jacob Cale 1848–1918
Mary Elisabeth Cale 1849–1850
Samuel Frederick Cale 1851–1927
Theresa Ellen Cale 1852–1931
Rosina Sophia Cale 1854–1930
Benjamin Franklin Cale 1856–1937
Caroline Lucinda Cale 1856–1925
Alfred Edward Cale 1861–1862
Contributor: KerryRaeSmithMoser (48011981)
Four Pioneer Homes - Elizabeth Howry's Story
Elizabeth Died in Worthington but she had Made Pioneer Homes in Four States
It was 10 days before Christmas and three days before her 17th birthday. The year was 1836. Elizabeth Howry made ready for her wedding.
The site was Greene county in western Indiana, still a part of the American frontier. Indiana had become a state less than three years before Elizabeth's birth. The Howry place was not 40 miles north of the Thomas Lincoln place in Spencer county. The boy Abraham Lincoln was seven years older than Elizabeth; the Lincolns had moved on to Macon county in Illinois half-a-dozen years before.
The man Elizabeth was to marry, Philip Jacob Cale, was 33 years old, nearly twice the age of his bride. He had been born in St. John's, West Prussia, and had emigrated to the western frontier from his native land.
The wedding vows were exchanged on Dec. 15
Philip J. Cale was a miller by trade, and a farmer. He came to have an 80-acre farm. And children. Through the course of 20 years, Elizabeth bore an even dozen babies, one of whom died soon after birth.
Pioneering on an Indiana farm was a life that required heavy work and which yielded small returns. In 1856, the 20th year of their marriage, Philip Cale concluded to move west to Minnesota Territory and start all over. Elizabeth packed up the household
belongings and got the 11 children ready. The twins, Benjamin and Carrie, still were but babies. The Cales followed the Wabash or Ohio and then floated north up the Mississippi. They then moved overland and settled in Carver county near present-day
Waconia.
This was Elizabeth Howry Cale's second frontier homestead. She shaped a new life and kept herself in her family's service. It would be two years before Minnesota became a state and the Cales once again would be full citizens of the United States of America.
There were inevitable additional heartbreaks.
Edward Cale died. Philip Henry Cale died. The family of twelve children was reduced to eight children.
In 1862 the Cales fled to Fort Snelling as word spread of the Indian war. And after 14 years, now a tired veteran of frontier living, the husband and father, Philip Cale, died at the age of 67. He was buried on the Minnesota homestead beside his sons. Elizabeth was 50. Her babies now were in their middle teens.
Elizabeth Cale remained a widow on her Minnesota farm for less than four years. In 1874, two years after the village of Worthington was founded two hundred miles distant on the Minnesota frontier, Elizabeth married Jacob John "Jake" Baumez. The new groom proposed to move to Dakota Territory, near Valley City. It was there, in her 54th year, that Elizabeth Howry Cale Baumez took up life on her third homestead and on still another American frontier.
Elizabeth, who was of Swiss origins and who had learned to write in German, did not often send letters although in 1878 and in her 59th year, in a letter to her son George at Worthington, she had a surprise. She wrote in perfect English script noting only at the end, "P. S. You will now get the letters in English."
Her new husband, Jake Baumez, took up correspondence chores, writing with regularity to Elizabeth's children and referring to her always as "Mother." Elizabeth's son, George, was settled by
that date in Nobles county. Baumez· letters were written in German and they have been translated only in the past year.
"Mother is so far in good health," Baumez wrote on June 29, 1885, when Elizabeth was 66. "She is quite a gardener. She has the most beautiful garden around. Our potato crop was really good ... "
"Last Sunday Curl Etzzels' had quite a hailstorm. Took half of the crop but he has insurance, 10 dollars per acre ... Altogether I have 250 acres and wheat and rye ... We had to trust in God. He knows what is best for us. Last year we had a good crop but the price was low ...
"The crop was good but the cost; at the end there isn't much left. We make our payments, of 4 to 500 dollars. We have six horses but only two cows. "
The next January Baumez wrote to Worthington:
" ... We were so happy to hear from you and especially the pictures of your children. Mother was so happy. She would love to see them sometime. It won't be this year.
"If any of you are interested in coming here there is plenty of lands here. But the best government land is sold. But there is much prairie land. The price is $8 to $10 per acre ...
''We received much but spent a lot. The expenses were big. Threshing cost us over 600 dollars.
"We have got a church together but have to go 8 miles. That is in the winter time too far ...
"Mother would like to know if you can make the payment you owe her. Don't blame me that I want it. As she would like everyone to have something... Don't take this seriously. If you can't do it OK."
It is not certain when it became general knowledge among the Cale children that their mother was pioneering in the sod dugout. Baumez made this report to George Cales in June 1886:
" ... I would have written sooner but your brother (Lewis Cale) was here. It wasn't a pleasant visit as everything was wrong here. He as much as said we live like pigs. We live in a block (sod) house. It is far from a hog house. But such Big Shots. They think they know it all. ..
"He offered Mother $750. She would sell it but hasn't heard from him as yet.
"We have been here 5 years now. Never seen a crop like,e this before, like this year.
"We have 2 hired men. George (Baumez) is a strong boy. He can do a man's work. We have 6 horses but only 2 cows ... But the machinery and horses cost a lot of money ... Mother is in good health so far. She had some rheumatism. Mother would like to have you buy her share of the land. She will let you have it reasonably.
"The Fourth of July Mother, George and I were to Valley City. It was a rainy day. There wasn't much going on. We had an English teacher."
The final Dakota letter appears to be from January 1889. Elizab •th now was 70:
'' ... Thank God we have enough to eat and clothing enough. Milk and meat and eggs. We have over 200
chickens ...
''Our God is good to us. He does everything right. l L wasn't so good in North Dakota. Many are on the bat!
shape.
"In South Dakota, they had a good crop. Many have done real good ... "
1898. Elizabeth Baumez was 78. She and her husband concluded to move to a new frontier. Life was better, they had heard, in Oregon. Letters from Elizabeth's daughter. Mrs. Sophia Ayers of Valley City, indicate her mother opposed this move -but her duty was to her husband. Over family objections, the couple
boarded a train at 11: 30 p.m. on March 23 and headed west. John Baumez wrote this letter on Jan. 23, 1899:
"Mother and I would like to see you once more. I am afraid we won't make it as it is so far. We are living in town now. Huntington, Oregon ... Morris Wagner has sent some of the rent. $120 on the 31st of November. Two weeks ago he sent $60. Mother really can use it. She needs the money. I do feel sony for her but she is
satisfied. If she stays healthy she can have a garden again this spring. She doesn't go out much now ... "
The girl who reared a family in Indiana lost a husband in Minnesota, made a new life in North Dakota, and was settled now in Oregon.
The next year Jake Baumez died in 1900. He was more than 85 years of age. On Sept. 11 Mrs. George Cale left here for Oregon to bring her mother-in-law and her meager possessions back to Worthington. An extra room was built on the house just for Mrs. Baumez and she came to be in the special care of her grand-
daughter, Artie Cale.
It was at that house a mile north of Worthington that Elizabeth Baumez died in her 85th year. Feb. 20, 1905. The family recorded the time as 4 a.m.
It also was noted of the funeral, "It cost Pa (George) Cale $200: casket and hearse, $75; embalm-ing, $10; lot in the graveyard, $7.50; preacher, $10; preacher at the grave. $5; flowers $3."
Six of Elizabeth's eight living children were present for the funeral. Burial was in Oak Hill Cemetery at Excelsior, Minn., where Philip Cale and the two sons who died on the Minnesota homestead also were reburied under the tall stone which had formerly marked their graves on the old family farm.
ELIZABETH'S CHILDREN
The children of Elizabeth Howry Cale Buamez, all of them born on the Indiana frontier, had lives that were judged "successful."
George Cale settled in Nobles county and came to have several farms. He died in 1928.
Fred Cale went to Montana. He had ranches for a flock of 7,200 sheep and he owned most of the lots in emerging Miles City. He became vice president of the 1st National Bank of Miles City and died in 1927.
John Ccile lived in Mower county, Minn., until 1895 when he moved to Corvallis, Ore., and developed a farm of fruit and nut trees. He died in 1917.
Lewis falt' started five stores in Brainerd, Minn .. in 1880. He died In 1917.
Benjamin Cale owned several tracts of land and two stores in Motley, west of Brainerd, he died in 1936.
Carrie, who was the "other twin" and youngest in the family, died in 1925.
Sarah Wabbe continued to live in Carver county and came to own a number of farms. She died in 1880.
Sophia Ayers owned a ranch in Valley City. She died in 1931.
Ellen Heffer had several houses which she rented in Minneapolis. in 1940.
WORTHINGTON DAILY By RAY CRIPPEN Editor
Wednesday, May 4, 1
==
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Daily Globe has reported previously on the remarkable Cale Papers which Bob Burns of Worthington has transferred to the archives of the Minnesota Historical Society.
The George Cales, pioneers in Nobles county, were local representatives of a family of Prussian origin which has been in America for 180 years. The members of the family were prolific writers, exchanging letters and keeping journals. These letters and journals were preserved; they are a prodigious family record.
A study of the papers has brought to light the story of Elizabeth Howry Cale who had the seldom-equaled distinction of having homesteaded in four states. In her last years, Elizabeth Cale lived in the George C.:1le how to hold and she died on the Evergreen farm on the north edge of Worthington which is now the home of the Bob Burns family.
==
Daughter of John George Howery
b. Jun 1793 in Howrytown, Botetourt Co, Virginia
d. 13 Oct. 1837 in U.S.
and
Susanna Barbery
b. 15 APR 1791 • Switzerland
d. FEB 1862 in U.S.
Children w Phillip
Sarah Ann Cale 1838–1880
Philip Henry Cale 1842–1858
Louis James Cale 1845–
George William Cale 1847–1928
John Jacob Cale 1848–1918
Mary Elisabeth Cale 1849–1850
Samuel Frederick Cale 1851–1927
Theresa Ellen Cale 1852–1931
Rosina Sophia Cale 1854–1930
Benjamin Franklin Cale 1856–1937
Caroline Lucinda Cale 1856–1925
Alfred Edward Cale 1861–1862
Contributor: KerryRaeSmithMoser (48011981)
Elizabeth Died in Worthington but she had Made Pioneer Homes in Four States
It was 10 days before Christmas and three days before her 17th birthday. The year was 1836. Elizabeth Howry made ready for her wedding.
The site was Greene county in western Indiana, still a part of the American frontier. Indiana had become a state less than three years before Elizabeth's birth. The Howry place was not 40 miles north of the Thomas Lincoln place in Spencer county. The boy Abraham Lincoln was seven years older than Elizabeth; the Lincolns had moved on to Macon county in Illinois half-a-dozen years before.
The man Elizabeth was to marry, Philip Jacob Cale, was 33 years old, nearly twice the age of his bride. He had been born in St. John's, West Prussia, and had emigrated to the western frontier from his native land.
The wedding vows were exchanged on Dec. 15
Philip J. Cale was a miller by trade, and a farmer. He came to have an 80-acre farm. And children. Through the course of 20 years, Elizabeth bore an even dozen babies, one of whom died soon after birth.
Pioneering on an Indiana farm was a life that required heavy work and which yielded small returns. In 1856, the 20th year of their marriage, Philip Cale concluded to move west to Minnesota Territory and start all over. Elizabeth packed up the household
belongings and got the 11 children ready. The twins, Benjamin and Carrie, still were but babies. The Cales followed the Wabash or Ohio and then floated north up the Mississippi. They then moved overland and settled in Carver county near present-day
Waconia.
This was Elizabeth Howry Cale's second frontier homestead. She shaped a new life and kept herself in her family's service. It would be two years before Minnesota became a state and the Cales once again would be full citizens of the United States of America.
There were inevitable additional heartbreaks.
Edward Cale died. Philip Henry Cale died. The family of twelve children was reduced to eight children.
In 1862 the Cales fled to Fort Snelling as word spread of the Indian war. And after 14 years, now a tired veteran of frontier living, the husband and father, Philip Cale, died at the age of 67. He was buried on the Minnesota homestead beside his sons. Elizabeth was 50. Her babies now were in their middle teens.
Elizabeth Cale remained a widow on her Minnesota farm for less than four years. In 1874, two years after the village of Worthington was founded two hundred miles distant on the Minnesota frontier, Elizabeth married Jacob John "Jake" Baumez. The new groom proposed to move to Dakota Territory, near Valley City. It was there, in her 54th year, that Elizabeth Howry Cale Baumez took up life on her third homestead and on still another American frontier.
Elizabeth, who was of Swiss origins and who had learned to write in German, did not often send letters although in 1878 and in her 59th year, in a letter to her son George at Worthington, she had a surprise. She wrote in perfect English script noting only at the end, "P. S. You will now get the letters in English."
Her new husband, Jake Baumez, took up correspondence chores, writing with regularity to Elizabeth's children and referring to her always as "Mother." Elizabeth's son, George, was settled by
that date in Nobles county. Baumez· letters were written in German and they have been translated only in the past year.
"Mother is so far in good health," Baumez wrote on June 29, 1885, when Elizabeth was 66. "She is quite a gardener. She has the most beautiful garden around. Our potato crop was really good ... "
"Last Sunday Curl Etzzels' had quite a hailstorm. Took half of the crop but he has insurance, 10 dollars per acre ... Altogether I have 250 acres and wheat and rye ... We had to trust in God. He knows what is best for us. Last year we had a good crop but the price was low ...
"The crop was good but the cost; at the end there isn't much left. We make our payments, of 4 to 500 dollars. We have six horses but only two cows. "
The next January Baumez wrote to Worthington:
" ... We were so happy to hear from you and especially the pictures of your children. Mother was so happy. She would love to see them sometime. It won't be this year.
"If any of you are interested in coming here there is plenty of lands here. But the best government land is sold. But there is much prairie land. The price is $8 to $10 per acre ...
''We received much but spent a lot. The expenses were big. Threshing cost us over 600 dollars.
"We have got a church together but have to go 8 miles. That is in the winter time too far ...
"Mother would like to know if you can make the payment you owe her. Don't blame me that I want it. As she would like everyone to have something... Don't take this seriously. If you can't do it OK."
It is not certain when it became general knowledge among the Cale children that their mother was pioneering in the sod dugout. Baumez made this report to George Cales in June 1886:
" ... I would have written sooner but your brother (Lewis Cale) was here. It wasn't a pleasant visit as everything was wrong here. He as much as said we live like pigs. We live in a block (sod) house. It is far from a hog house. But such Big Shots. They think they know it all. ..
"He offered Mother $750. She would sell it but hasn't heard from him as yet.
"We have been here 5 years now. Never seen a crop like,e this before, like this year.
"We have 2 hired men. George (Baumez) is a strong boy. He can do a man's work. We have 6 horses but only 2 cows ... But the machinery and horses cost a lot of money ... Mother is in good health so far. She had some rheumatism. Mother would like to have you buy her share of the land. She will let you have it reasonably.
"The Fourth of July Mother, George and I were to Valley City. It was a rainy day. There wasn't much going on. We had an English teacher."
The final Dakota letter appears to be from January 1889. Elizab •th now was 70:
'' ... Thank God we have enough to eat and clothing enough. Milk and meat and eggs. We have over 200
chickens ...
''Our God is good to us. He does everything right. l L wasn't so good in North Dakota. Many are on the bat!
shape.
"In South Dakota, they had a good crop. Many have done real good ... "
1898. Elizabeth Baumez was 78. She and her husband concluded to move to a new frontier. Life was better, they had heard, in Oregon. Letters from Elizabeth's daughter. Mrs. Sophia Ayers of Valley City, indicate her mother opposed this move -but her duty was to her husband. Over family objections, the couple
boarded a train at 11: 30 p.m. on March 23 and headed west. John Baumez wrote this letter on Jan. 23, 1899:
"Mother and I would like to see you once more. I am afraid we won't make it as it is so far. We are living in town now. Huntington, Oregon ... Morris Wagner has sent some of the rent. $120 on the 31st of November. Two weeks ago he sent $60. Mother really can use it. She needs the money. I do feel sony for her but she is
satisfied. If she stays healthy she can have a garden again this spring. She doesn't go out much now ... "
The girl who reared a family in Indiana lost a husband in Minnesota, made a new life in North Dakota, and was settled now in Oregon.
The next year Jake Baumez died in 1900. He was more than 85 years of age. On Sept. 11 Mrs. George Cale left here for Oregon to bring her mother-in-law and her meager possessions back to Worthington. An extra room was built on the house just for Mrs. Baumez and she came to be in the special care of her grand-
daughter, Artie Cale.
It was at that house a mile north of Worthington that Elizabeth Baumez died in her 85th year. Feb. 20, 1905. The family recorded the time as 4 a.m.
It also was noted of the funeral, "It cost Pa (George) Cale $200: casket and hearse, $75; embalm-ing, $10; lot in the graveyard, $7.50; preacher, $10; preacher at the grave. $5; flowers $3."
Six of Elizabeth's eight living children were present for the funeral. Burial was in Oak Hill Cemetery at Excelsior, Minn., where Philip Cale and the two sons who died on the Minnesota homestead also were reburied under the tall stone which had formerly marked their graves on the old family farm.
ELIZABETH'S CHILDREN
The children of Elizabeth Howry Cale Buamez, all of them born on the Indiana frontier, had lives that were judged "successful."
George Cale settled in Nobles county and came to have several farms. He died in 1928.
Fred Cale went to Montana. He had ranches for a flock of 7,200 sheep and he owned most of the lots in emerging Miles City. He became vice president of the 1st National Bank of Miles City and died in 1927.
John Ccile lived in Mower county, Minn., until 1895 when he moved to Corvallis, Ore., and developed a farm of fruit and nut trees. He died in 1917.
Lewis falt' started five stores in Brainerd, Minn .. in 1880. He died In 1917.
Benjamin Cale owned several tracts of land and two stores in Motley, west of Brainerd, he died in 1936.
Carrie, who was the "other twin" and youngest in the family, died in 1925.
Sarah Wabbe continued to live in Carver county and came to own a number of farms. She died in 1880.
Sophia Ayers owned a ranch in Valley City. She died in 1931.
Ellen Heffer had several houses which she rented in Minneapolis. in 1940.
WORTHINGTON DAILY By RAY CRIPPEN Editor
Wednesday, May 4, 1
==
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Daily Globe has reported previously on the remarkable Cale Papers which Bob Burns of Worthington has transferred to the archives of the Minnesota Historical Society.
The George Cales, pioneers in Nobles county, were local representatives of a family of Prussian origin which has been in America for 180 years. The members of the family were prolific writers, exchanging letters and keeping journals. These letters and journals were preserved; they are a prodigious family record.
A study of the papers has brought to light the story of Elizabeth Howry Cale who had the seldom-equaled distinction of having homesteaded in four states. In her last years, Elizabeth Cale lived in the George C.:1le how to hold and she died on the Evergreen farm on the north edge of Worthington which is now the home of the Bob Burns family.
==
Daughter of John George Howery
b. Jun 1793 in Howrytown, Botetourt Co, Virginia
d. 13 Oct. 1837 in U.S.
and
Susanna Barbery
b. 15 APR 1791 • Switzerland
d. FEB 1862 in U.S.
Children w Phillip
Sarah Ann Cale 1838–1880
Philip Henry Cale 1842–1858
Louis James Cale 1845–
George William Cale 1847–1928
John Jacob Cale 1848–1918
Mary Elisabeth Cale 1849–1850
Samuel Frederick Cale 1851–1927
Theresa Ellen Cale 1852–1931
Rosina Sophia Cale 1854–1930
Benjamin Franklin Cale 1856–1937
Caroline Lucinda Cale 1856–1925
Alfred Edward Cale 1861–1862
Contributor: KerryRaeSmithMoser (48011981)
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