OUR KINDRED FAMILIES
Bridges Family
Back Row L-R: Walter Black, Perry McIntire, Zaccheus “Z.I.” Jones, Ira Clark, James (Jim) Bridges, Thompson D Bridges, Mike Lemmon, Martin McIntire
Middle Row L-R: Myrtle Black holding Irene Lucille Black, Maude McGregor McIntire holding son Kenneth McIntire, Mary Mark Bridges, Anna Bridges Jones, Sarah Bridges McIntire, Nancy Bridges Lemmon, Nellie McIntire Clark, Walter Black’s sister.
Children standing in front row L-R: Floyd Bridges, Florence Bridges.
Four small children in front L-R: Eleanor Ruth Bridges, Harvey McIntire, Mable Bridges and Rodney Black.
Sarah Bridges was born on April 23, 1857 in Attica, Marion County, Iowa to parents Thompson and Mary Anderson. Her father was a successful farmer and stock owner. He was born in Clairborne County, Tennessee on February 23, 1823, but his family moved first to Brown County, then on to Jackson County, Missouri, Illinois and in 1851 arrived in Marion County, Iowa. He owned 262 acres and had a beautiful home in a lovely location. Thompson married twice, first to Nancy Gibson who passed away after ten years of marriage and three children, William “Billy”, Mary Ann and Joseph. Only Billy survived to adulthood. In 1854, Thompson married Mary Anderson, my great grandmother Sarah’s mother. To this marriage, Mary and Thompson had ten children, some are pictured in the above photo.
Lucinda
In 1862, the United States Congress passed the Homestead Act which permitted any twenty one year old citizen or immigrant with the intention of becoming a citizen to lay claim to 160 acres of land in what was known as the Great American Prairie. After paying the required fees, farming the land and living on the parcel for 5 to 10 years, the homesteader would then own the land. Lucinda and her husband Urial “Rile” Mallory along with her sister Nancy and her husband Michael “Mike” Lemmon left their home in Attica, Marion County, Iowa and laid claim to land in Burdette and Miller in Hand County, South Dakota during the early part of 1880. The following letter to her sister Sarah and husband Martin McIntire, she gives a peak into the many hardships the families endured. The South Dakota prairie was flat and treeless with long, cold and windy winters. While Lucinda and Rile were building their home, Lucinda said it was only framed with one end and one side weather-boarded when “it rained and blowed, we fixed the end up with sheeting, tacked the window in, laid some floor in one corner, laid a loft of sheeting and flooring and you bet we had a nice time”!
Burdette Hand County, D.T.
December 23, 1883
Dear Brother and Sister,
It is with the greatest of pleasure I seat myself to answer your kind and most welcome letter which found us all well and was glad to hear that you was all well. Well I have got as sweet a baby as you ever seen. He is purt, and big and fat, he looks just like Jimmy did only he has blue eyes and he ain’t on bit of trouble, only when he gets hungry or wet and then he will fuss as soon as he is tended to he is all right. You said you had been trying for the last six months to get you a boy started, maybe you don’t try at the right time.
You wanted to know what kind of dress to get for the baby, you can get the blue for I have got embroidery that I got and though that I would make a long white dress and I didn’t do it, so I have trimming and when my hens go to laying again I will get the dress. I don’t go to any extra for we are too poor and hard run.
You wanted to know about the house, we have a shed room with partition. On the north end is the coal house and the other I use for to cook in. The coal house is handy, we all have to keep coal and such things shut up or else it will be packed off. Coal ranges all the way from $12 to $8.50 a ton, everything is so dear and everything to buy. I will tell you how we had to do out here last spring, we couldn’t get anything to burn scarcely at all. We would cook one warm meal and cook enough to do all day and go to bed to keep warm. When we moved out to our claim we had our house framed and one end and one side weather boarded so I helped him. It rained and blowed, we fixed the end up with sheeting, tacked the window in, laid some floor in one corner, laid a loft of sheeting and flooring and you bet we had a nice time. I never wrote home how we was doing for I knew it would worry you all. Coal wouldn’t be got at all only once in a while, everything was emigrant.
You wrote you was making so much butter to sell. How much do you get for it? It is 25 cents per pound, eggs 30 cents per dozen, has Sana gone dry? I get about one gallon a day, make plenty of butter and I sold butter last Friday. Bought soda, a broom and several little notions. I came very near losing my cow. She got to the frozen turnips and eat so many that she was swelled so they couldn’t do anything for her. We thought die she would, so they stuck a knife in her and let out the gas and she got well and you bet I felt good to see her getting well again.
December 26
Well how did you spend Christmas and what did you get? I didn’t get anything. I went over to see June and Frank yesterday while Rile went to the store and when I got there they was gone so I went to the store too and got Pa and Ma’s letter with that money in it. Was glad to get it for we needed it, and a letter from Billy and came back home. John came over from Frank’s this morning and said they had a big girl. I had my boy weighed, he weighs 13 pounds and is as sweet as they grow. The hardware man sent him a rattle box.
Rile was at Mike’s last week, they was all well and sold out at Miller and going to move back to the claim this week. It is so cold that I can’t go down there, it turned colder last night in the night.
(no signature)
