Roots

March 22, 1953

"Pappy? Do ya' ever wish ya' could start life over again?" little Frank Ipock asked his grandpa.

The visibly worn patriarch covered his face with his hands. Drawing them back under his chin, he exposed the current of tears pouring down his face. "Oh son, I lost my woman and all them little ones. No, I'd never do it over again."

The next afternoon,  March 23, 1953, William "Pappy" Deckard passed away at the ripe old age of 95. He was at last reunited with his sweet family, so many of them gone on before him. 

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Elizabeth Jane Bender and William Green Deckard were married on January 24, 1881 in Indiana. 

Within three years they had welcomed two sons, John Rhesa "Reese" and Ellis, as well as a daughter Adah.  In the spring of 1884 the couple decided to make the tedious journey, in their covered wagon, to Macks Creek in Camden County Missouri. Their hopes of building a new homestead there were dashed when they found much of the land taken up already.  Hearing of land opportunities in Wright County, they travelled on, ending up in Gasconade Township.  There they staked a claim on eighty acres of the land and received the title in 1892, the same year they welcomed their fifth child, Edna, and two years after another son, Marshall had been born.  They eventually had six more children.
I wish I had more information about the joyous and celebratory events in the lives of my great great grandparents, the Deckards, but unfortunately  the majority of what has been written or documented of them is heart wrenching and somber. Through it all, they endured. I now share their story with the utmost respect and appreciation. 

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Spring of 1893, Mansfield Missouri

One afternoon in the spring of 1893 a neighbor, Mrs. Nelson, came calling on the Deckard family.  At some point in the conversation, she mentioned how delicious fried mushrooms were. Little Reese, hearing this, ran out to where he had found a patch of wild mushrooms.  He brought them back for dinner, and Lizzie, fried them up for the family.  William, Ellis, Adah and Marshall ate heartily.  Lizzie, seeing to the needs of the family, ate only a few, and little Edna was still nursing at the breast.

Ironically, Reese, who had provided the mushrooms, didn't find the taste palatable, and therefore ate only a small portion.

After dinner, as Lizzie was cleaning up, she fed the leftovers to the farm cats. Within moments the cats went into convulsions and died.  Upon seeing this, Lizzie cried out " Oh! The children!" 

Poor, innocent Reese had harvested a bounty of poisonous toadstools! 

Lizzie tried to induce vomiting in the young children who had eaten the most, but was unsuccessful.

A neighbor, Bailey Odie, in a desperate attempt to help the family, rode on horseback to Hartville, for Dr. Hansen.  

Dr. Hansen did everything he could, but by morning the children were dead. 

Summer of 1911

"Lenna! Get out here and help me with the hay!" William called to his daughter.  She was seventeen now and plenty strong. In fact, her help could cut haying time in half.   She was a good girl, and obedient.  Lenna's brown curls glinted in the afternoon sun as she grasped her pitchfork to help her father.  However, despite the strength of this normally vibrant teen, there was something about young womanhood that William hadn't considered on this danerously hot day. Lenna was experiencing the "sick time" all women must endure at a designated time every month. She was already weak from the hormones pulsing through her body, and the scorching sun beat down on her back. The suffocating heat overtook her. She collapsed and never regained consciousness. 

Only a moment ago she was seeing her father, smiling at her, forking hay. Now her Redeemer was reaching out to her, along with her little siblings, offering her an eternity of peace. 

"Lenna! No! Lord no! Lizzie, come quick!" William cried as he sat cradling Lenna's lifeless body. 

Saturday, March 13, 1920 at 11:33am, Mansfield Missouri

"Watch out Mrs. Deckard! Get off the tracks!" The cry of the young brakeman came but a moment too late. One more step would have taken Lizzie safely across the railway.

Just thirty minutes earlier, Elizabeth and her husband William, "Pappy",  Deckard had come into town to have their grain ground at the mill. She had crossed the tracks to do some shopping at the Co Op while Pappy saw to the business at the mill.

..."Pappy! Come quick! It's Mrs. Deckard! The train!" One of the men cried out into the mill yard.

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How much heartache must a man endure? We know this thought must have crossed William's mind on this day. 

We know that Pappy went on to raise his daughters, Annie, Edna, Olive and Ruby. He outlived his son John Rhesa and his grandson Ellis Deckard. We know that he was given many grandchildren and a long life.  What a brave man, to face every day with the painful memories he carried.  I appreciate knowing about him and offering any respect I can to the memory of his family and mine.

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I was able to speak with Pappy's grandson, Frank Ipock, in July, 2014. Frank is the son of Ruby Deckard Ipock, Pappy's daughter, and Fred Ipock.  Frank set me straight on many specifics of the Deckard Family. When I was leaving his home he grabbed me and said to me " You are my blood, and I am proud to know you. You look for your roots and that is good.  I hope you come out to see me again."

I have never been more moved in my entire life. I am proud to be a part of the Deckard family, and I am proud to share their story.  I have been able to visit New Grove many times.  The latest trip I made was to Mansfield town itself, and it was incredibly powerful because I was able to visit the railroad crossing where Lizzie was hit and killed by the train in 1920. I had not expected the mill or the co op to still be standing. It was surreal and heartbreaking. 

William and Elizabeth did not have a headstone for many years after their deaths. I was informed, by Frank Ipock,  that their grandchildren took up a collection, at $10 a head, and purchased their headstone.  Adah, Ellis, Marshall, Lenna and Emma Deckard do not have a headstone or marker to this day, but are buried next to their parents in the New Grove Cemetery, next to the fence, in Mansfield Missouri. 

The crossing where Lizzie was killed. The mill is on the left and the Co op down on the right.

Another view of the co op. The tracks are up on the left.

The house Pappy Deckard had built with the $1,100.00 he received from the railroad after the death of his wife.

The front porch of Pappy's house. (I wanted to take that bell home with me so very badly!)

The only indicator of the existence of New Grove, out by the road. We used a family guide as well as latitude, longitude to find it the first time, as there are no mapped directions.

The landowners have informed me that the cemetery was originally a church yard, but the church has since burned down. 

There is an old schoolhouse next to the cemetery at New Grove. It has recently been re-painted and re-shingled by some amish men, at the expense of the landowners who own the land surrounding the cemetery.  I was able to venture inside the building on my first visit, last winter, but with all of the weeds and wildflowers this summer, I was unable to get into it on my latest visit. The inside of the building shows that it has semi-recently (1980's) been used as a home, but it is in very rough condition and at least one window is broken out. There were signs of snakes and squirrels living inside and the walls are torn to studs in some areas. The landowners have been slowly doing their best to renovate and preserve the schoolhouse and I have been in contact with them. They do have the building on a local historical registry. I was told that there used to be a rope bridge in front of the schoolhouse that the kids would have to cross to go to school every day. 

The grave of Lizzie and Pappy Deckard. The photographs are, (from left to right) Lizzie, sitting in front of a portrait of Lenna. Adah, Ellis and Marshall(front left of photo). Pappy. Pappy with one of his grandsons, not long before his death.  

I find it a huge blessing that we have been able to find photographs of almost everyone buried here. The only person buried in this area that is not pictured above is little Emma who was born after Adah, Ellis, Marshall and Lenna, and who died under two years old. The fact that these five have no headstone or markers at all makes these photographs all the more valuable. We are able to acknowledge their existence and pay our due respects. 

Pappy Deckard's grandson, Frank Ipock. As far as his relation to me, Frank is my maternal grandmother's cousin. He was so interesting to converse with. He was adamant about certain details and incredibly emotional. It was an overwhelming interview but one I won't ever forget. He told me how his mother always preached the goodness of President Roosevelt because of his instatement of social security. It was so praised in his family because of its impact and provision for Frank's uncle, (my great grandpa) Adrian Boggess,  who lost sight in both eyes and found himself unable to find employment. That family would have been completely destitute if not for the government provision provided under Roosevelt.  Frank took me out to his car in the barn and searched through piles of old cassette tapes until he found one by Roy Acuff, titled "The Old Age Pension Check".

He made me sit and listen to it. I laughed at the silly words but it was so beautiful to see how precious the topic of the song was to him, and indeed an entire country. 

Frank Ipock loves his Redeemer, his country and his family. It was impossible to leave his home unaffected or uninspired.