Jack and Macie Woodcox home in Lisco, Nebraska from about 1943-1952.
There was a bedroom, bath, kitchen and living room on the ground floor, with two bedrooms, a family room and bath in the basement. No locks on the bathroom doors....better knock.
There were beautiful trees all around, a large lawn in the back and side. A covered rear porch where they would often eat.
Carol Minson writes of her memories of the house and the time surrounding it.
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"The House" Lisco, Nebraska
Oh, what good memories I have of being in that house. Grammie and Jack moved there from the farm in 1943. They later moved to Gothenburg, NE in 1952 when I was at the University of Oregon.
They paid for 3 years of my college education. As I look back I think I expected them to---can you believe that? It was like I was their third daughter-and I knew that there were 2 things my grandparents wanted me to do. One was to get a college education. My grandfather had me sign a paper that I would not get married until after I had finished 4 years of college. The 2nd was to marry a man with money.
I was in my grandfather's will 1/3 until the time that I married Roland. When I came home in June or July -(it always seemed like MY home---my best early memories seem to center around Nebraska and my grandparents)--When I came home and told my grandparents I was going to get married, my grandfather was very angry with me-told me if I did that I was "out of the will!"
He didn't speak to me for 3 days. I did get married in Idaho Falls a month or so later in August of 1951. We were broke. And I broke my promise. And he did what he said he would do about the will. Never mind. They had been and always were very good to me. They were my surrogate parents in many ways.
I have 4 lovely cherry wood ladder-back chairs that were in the dining area of that "House". I also have 2 maple captains chairs that were in the kitchen of "The House." Daughter, Christine has a cherry wood dresser which used to be in the upstairs bedroom of "The House." Daughter, Karen, has a lovely antique chair that used to be in the living room of "The House."
Mother and I always went to Nebraska in the summertime for a month or more. Often it was around Jul 24th- -- harvest time. I remember playing cards-poker usually--I fell heir to the poker chips and treasure them---poker played with my grandparents, Aunt Doris, Uncle Fred, mother and I-all in the basement of that "House." Nebraska has hot dry summers -110 degrees sometimes. It was always cool in the basement. And the games began "after harvest."
But the summer I remember the clearest, I was only 15 or 16. I remember standing with my grandfather out on the front porch of "The House." It was raining very hard. Then it began to hail. He was sober and quiet-more so than usual. Was the wheat harvest in yet? I don't remember. He had a couple sections of land (640 acres in a section) and a lot of that land was in wheat. He had lost his crops--his whole years work--lost from hail more than once. If he had been hailed out that year, I would have remembered it.
As a younger girl, I rode on the combine with my grandfather---or in the truck hauling wheat to town---or driving or riding horseback up the lane a mile to get the cows. I was with my grandfather as often as possible, trailing him like a little shadow. I idolized him.
Still do.
Jan 2004. Carol (Dexter) Minson
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Doris and Jack enjoying time together on the front porch.