4/16/20

This is being written during an unusual time in the US as well as around the world.

A disease called COVID-19 or coronavirus has kept us in a state of mostly quarantine. Except for a couple drives to mail letters and just to see how spring is springing, I have not been anywhere since March 11. The next day a few of my friends were here for lunch and I've not seen any of them since.

My grandson Brendin & his wife Becca had a premature baby, Hunter Bray Johnson, March 19. He weighed 4 # 6oz. and was in NICU until April 6. Because of the quarantine, Teri was working from home so she and Timm were able to go down to Monument, CO to stay with Amelia and Ollie so Brendin & Becca could spend as much time as possible with Hunter. They went back to Walla Walla yesterday. Modern technology allowed Teri to bring her computer to Colorado & continue working.

Kelli and Mark have been doing my grocery shopping; they bring them in the back door, set them on the counter, and I stand at the hall doorway and we visit for a few minutes. According to our government, both State & federal, we need to observe social distancing--which means we cannot stand any closer than 6' to anyone who doesn't live in the same house. Timm & Teri did come and visit for a couple hours one Sunday--they sat at one end of the 6' table and I sat at the other. Instead of hugging, we did fist bumps at arms' length.

I know because of my age and heart condition I am in the higher-risk group, so have stayed in as recommended. However, if this continues many more weeks, I will be going against the "rules" and go out. I probably won't be doing my Meals on Wheels route, or going to nursing homes, immediately, but I do expect to go to the store, etc.

Again, thanks to modern technology, we have been able to "go" to church via Zoom, so we can see and hear each other. We have also had "visits" a couple times a week using the same technology.


This is what my patio looked like this morning, so I wouldn't have been tempted to go somewhere anyway. The sun is supposed to be back out tomorrow. This typical spring weather in Colorado.

It's been so long since I've been on here & so much has happened, but I want to start by saying a bit more about what I know of my ancestors.
My Grandma Anna (Stobie) French's family came to America from Scotland via Canada. Grandma was born in Marshall, Dakota. I'm not sure how old she was when they moved to Plains, MT,  Grandma's great niece, Robin and her husband Jeff, current owners of the Ranch, remodeled the house before their son Jase was married there in 2014. In case you wonder, yes, they left the outhouse ;)

l. Unidentified family and friends in what the house probably looked like when Stobie moved there in 1910.
r. Looking across meadow at Cook Mountain.




This is pretty much as I remember the exterior and kitchen looked like in early 1950's

2017. Most of descendants of Joe and Lucinda Stobie at family reunion in backyard of remodeled farmhouse.

Grandma Lucinda (Anderson), for whom I was named, owned property in Dakota before she married Granddad Joe Stobie.

I know more about Grandma Anna French than I do about Pop, and much more about Grandpa Archie than I do about Grandma Ethel (Warren) Kelly, and I have pictures of them at younger ages than I do the men. The pictures may not be chronological, but I thought they would add interest.


l. Ethel Warren w/doll, date approximately 1887.

r. Anna Stobie w/her college class at Walla Walla College, approximately 1911, where she got her teaching certificate.

l. Grandpa and Grandma Kelly (Archie and Ethel) Wedding Day,
Nov. 25, 1905


r. Grandpa Grandma Kelly, circa 1940 Grandma and Pop, Vic and Anna (Stobie) French                 Grandma and Pop, circa 1942
Wedding day August 20, 1914

For some reason I cannot move the caption of Grandma and Pop's wedding picture any closer, so will quit fussing with it. One rather peculiar thing I've noticed is when talking about my paternal grandparents I almost always say Grandpa and Grandma, but when mentioning my maternal grandparents, more often than not I will say Grandma first--not always, but usually.


This picture would have been taken 1915/1916. left to right, Grandma Kelly w/my aunt Aurel on lap, my aunt Vivian, Grandpa with my dad, Wilber, on his lap and and my uncle Beryl. I don't have any pictures of my dad with all 4 of his siblings. Both photos I have with him as a child were taken before my uncle Halford was born and pictures I have as adults were taken after Vivian died in 1948.

Both of these pictures are of Granddad and Grandma Stobie (Joe and Lucinda). The one on the right would have been taken in 1921. Granddad is holding my mother, Jeanne, on his lap; my aunt Anna May is in the middle and my uncle Jim is on Grandma's lap.  

Grandpa Kelly (Archie Rowen) was born August 16, 1870 in Moultrie, IL and as a young man, he and 2 of his brothers, Lafayette (Lafe) and Dave moved to Dixie, WA. I don't know why they moved there, but do know they farmed wheat in that area. Also, they dropped the second "e"and became "Kelly" in Dixie bur were "Kelley" in Illinois.  Grandpa died of a heart attack in 1942, while in a phone booth in Walla Walla, calling Grandma to tell her the bus was late. Grandma Kelly (Ethel Warren) was born December 8, 1882 in Lewiston, ID. Grandma died of breast cancer in 1959.