
Mother Doris
Born on her uncles’ Guthrie County
popcorn farm the sultry
fly-haunted August
while those uncles were
called to the Great War.
During the Great Depression
this oldest daughter worried
whether the four younger
siblings got enough to eat.
WWII, married Warren Neal, a local farmer
who’d become a pilot. Daughter born
two days before D-Day. All five
brothers served. Only two came home.
Farmwife, famous for caramel pecan rolls
expected at every family gathering.
Lived to age 97.

Grandmother Leora
Born in Guthrie County, firstborn of eleven.
Chicken-raiser from age five. Rode a horse to town
to take piano lessons, Audubon, Iowa.
Certificate from Mrs. Connrardy’s Sewing School.
Married Clabe Wilson, mother of ten children,
moved often during the Great Depression.
Lost baby twins to whooping cough, plus another infant.
WWII farmwife. All five sons served. Within three years
she lost three sons and was widowed.
Made a home for her own mother in Guthrie Center,
active in church, Rebekkas, patched at the hospital.
Lived to age 97.
Great Grandmother Laura
Born in a log cabin just west of Monteith
three years after the end of the Civil War.
Firstborn of eleven. Taught country school
until marrying Sherd Goff.
Bore eleven children, moved thirteen times
in twenty-one years, pregnant every time.
Perhaps that was the plan.
Three sons served in the Great War,
first woman in motherline to vote,
WWII – two sons served, plus six grandsons.
Widowhood spent with a son, then daughter Leora.
First plane ride to visit sons in California,
for her 90th birthday.
Lived to age 94.
Great Great Grandmother Emilia Ann
Born in Ohio, she came to Iowa
as an eight-year-old with her five siblings
in two wagons, her mother pregnant at the time.
Perhaps that was the plan.
Father Ephraim Moore homesteaded
in the pleasant undulating hills of Guthrie County, Iowa.
Married Davy Jordan, a predestinarian Baptist preacher,
became the mother of ten children. Three
of her young are buried in Monteith Cemetery,
north side of the road, among ancient pines.
Lived to age 67.


These great ladies teach us much about life…about faith, family, and endurance. Thank you for sharing their stories and for painting such beautiful portraits in words…
Amazing stories behind those old photos.
nice ‘mother’ family tree ..love it when there are facts, and not just dates on family lines.
It’s been such fun to learn the stories behind the genealogy charts!
Beautifully presented, Joy!
I concur with the other readers’ comments!
Laura and Emilia Ann look so much alike in those photos. Incredible, tough women. All they endured just makes me look such a wimp!
I feel the same way!
Beautiful tribute to your ‘Mother Line’ 🙂