PagePedia™
History
Segments Presented by Lyle Harvey
THE HARPER FAMILY
(Read at the Page Methodist Church on Apr. 20, 2008)
Jacob and Martha Harper came to Pleasant
Valley in 1882 or 1883. They purchased land from Tom McMillan. (the
civil war veteran who lead the 4th of July group to Inman I talked abut
in a previous article) This land was one mile east of the Lone Pine
Tree where Frank and Donna Beelaert later lived. Here, Jacob and Martha
were to have six children. They were; Harry, Charles, Lena, Louella,
Alice and Nellie. Little Charlie died in infancy. One month after Nellie
the last child was born, her mother Martha passed away in April 1893.
Nellie’s life was in danger. Clara Hunt, the neighbor midwife
who probably helped deliver Nellie, offered to take her and nurse he
with her own son who was of the same age.
Six months after Martha passed Away, the father Jacob
also passed away in September 1893, leaving these five children without
parents. The settlers of Pleasant Valley stepped forward to help. Perry
and Delphine Chase took Alice. Perry was the 2nd teacher in School District
2 and was also a postmaster at this time. He had lost his own father
in the Civil War. The three girls; Lena, Luella, and Nellie were later
taken by relatives in Michigan.
Mr. And Mrs. Robert Gray who came to this area with
Bill and Selinda Page took Harry, the oldest child. Later, Harry went
to live with his Uncle Walter in Iowa. Harry never forgot Pleasant Valley
or the kind people who helped himself and his sisters when they had
no place to go. At age 21, Harry came home to the place he was born
and made it is family home. He married Maude Reed, the youngest daughter
of Pulaski and Elizabeth Reed who lived where Matt and Lori Ickes now
live. Harry and Maude had three children. They were; Gordon, Elizabeth
and Donna. Donna later married Frank Beelaert and his family is here
today. Harry and Maude moved to Page in 1943 to the house where the
Lockwood’s now live. Harry and Maude were active in this church
and many community events.
Sometime in the 1950’s, I came to Page from our
farm and was walking the sidewalk north of the post office. I met a
man coming from the north with a big smile on his face who greeted me
with hi-ya, hi-ya. He told me his name was Harry Harper. He took me
by the hand over to an elm tree where he showed me how to pop a leaf
in his hand.
It was several years later that I realized that in meeting
Harry Harper, I had made contact with the Pleasant Valley Settlers and
the beginning of this community. A time when these settlers had virtually
nothing individually, but in help each other-they had everything.
Lyle Harvey
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