Laura Arminta Jordan was born in a log cabin over 150 years ago–on September 28, 1868, a half mile west of Monteith in Iowa’s Guthrie County. I was a freshman in college when my great grandmother died in 1962.
After her husband Sherd Goff died in 1930, Laura moved to Omaha to live near her sons. When her oldest daughter Leora was widowed after World War II, they lived together at 505 N. 4th Street in Guthrie Center, Iowa. After Laura died in 1962, Leora (Goff) Wilson, lived there alone 25 more years.
Leora was my beloved grandmother. When she died in 1987–at age 97, her daughters spent weeks sorting and cleaning out her little house in Guthrie Center, Iowa.
One day I went to Guthrie Center with Mom and Aunt Darlene to help them sort and clean. They emptied a linen closet in the hall.
“Here, Joy. You’re the quilter.”
I ended up with miscellaneous cotton prints and a couple of quilt tops stitched by Great Grandmother Goff. One was a cluttery-looking Nine Patch, but at least each square had a red center patch.
It’s too small for a bed but I decided to quilt it anyway. Binding it with red cotton brought out all the small red center squares.
It turned out charming. Sort of.
The best part is that Great Grandmother and I worked on the same bit of patchwork. I certainly wish I’d asked questions about raising all those youngsters, about her own parents and siblings. Alas.
Another quilt top made by Laura Goff gave me a lot more trouble. Click here for the story about Laura’s Periwinkle quilt.
The only thing better than an heirloom is an heirloom with a story. – Joy Neal Kidney