Moving on to Leander Dennison Morrow

Sorry, not a lot this holiday week, I’ve been spending time with family, and now not feeling too well, so haven’t spent a lot of time on family history this week.

Well it’s time to move on from Floyd Glen Morrow, the father of Donald, to Leander Dennison Morrow, the father of Floyd Glen, and Donald’s grandfather.

Leander Dennison, who mostly went by Denny, is the one responsible for moving the family from Iowa to Minnesota, but more on that later.

Below, Leander, his wife Mary Florence Douglas, and their first two children, Ora and Hazel.

Hope everyone had a good and safe Christmas, and wish everyone a better year next year than this one.  Happy New Year, and drive safe.

So, what did Grandpa Glen REALLY die from?

Reading Glen’s obituary, listed below, one would believe that he died of a heart attack, after all it says there that he had been having problems for three years.

However….his death certificate (below) indicates to me what seems to be an entirely different cause of death.  

His immediate cause of death it states was from a hemorrhage from (?) ulcer.  I can’t quite make out what kind of ulcer it was, and I’m not a doctor, but the hemorrhaged ulcer seems to be clear.  Other conditions were from, and again, I can’t make out the first word, but the rest of it is gall bladder and left kidney, followed by left something bronchial blockage the way it looks.  But even not making everything out, it seems he was having serious stomach, gall bladder and kidney issues, with no mention of the any heart related issues that I can see.  That seems to be significantly different than what his obituary states.   It may be possible I’m misreading what the cause is, but none the less it’s interesting. 

If there indeed is a difference between what the obituary states, and what the death certificate states, which again is speculation on my part, I have no reason why the difference.  If someone can shed light on any of this, I sure would be interested, please let me know.

Grandpa Glen and family were homeless and living in a 10x20 Mexican Beet Shack? Say it ain't so Dave! But it was!

They were living on a farm known as the ‘F. P. Kelley’ farm, which is actually located about a mile straight east of where Steve currently lives.  It was a Friday night and the family was getting ready for bed about eight o’clock, and a fire was discovered in the wall.  Their five room home eventually burned to the ground before help could be summoned at a neighbor’s place (Glen didn't have a telephone) and before fire fighting equipment could be brought there.  Almost all the household belongings were saved except for some canned goods in the basement which were forgotten about.

It was reported that Glen had just finished cleaning, papering and painting the interior of the home.

Neighbors put them up for the night, and Harry Brodt lent the use of his 10x20 Mexican Beet shack to live in.

The following Wednesday a benefit dance was held at the ‘Pavilion’, I assume that this was likely at Interlaken Park.  The family was in a “destitue condition” as a result of the fire and they were asking for surplus clothing, food stuffs, and seed corn (their’s had been stored in the ceiling), and other household and farm paraphenailia.

How long they were in this situation I don't know.

I do not have the date of this event yet, as I’m still searching, but I suspect it was in 1938.  There was a reference in one article that “the tornado” took the barn and several outbuildings two years earlier. In April 1936 there was a record tornado that devistated large portions the county (and my material grandfather’s place) and killed several people.  Also based upon no telephone was available to them and where they had been living around that time.

Assuming the 1938 date is accurate, their ages would have been, Glen 42, Sophia 40, Elaine 17, Ardith 13, Donald 11.

What do you mean Grandpa Glen wasn’t Grandpa Glen?

Everyone knows Grandpa Morrow as Grandpa Glen Morrow, however that was not his real first name.  His real first name was actually Floyd, and his middle name was Glen, so he was really Floyd Glen Morrow.  

He apparently went by Floyd until sometime after his marriage.  He had always went by Floyd on everything, which is what his parents had named him, but then after his marriage he started going by Glen.  On his wedding announcement in 1917 he was still Floyd, but on the 1920 census he was going by Glen, and everything after that time was also Glen.  Why?  Don’t know, it may have been he turned 21 on his wedding day so maybe he decided he didn’t like Floyd and preferred Glen so he was going to go by that, maybe his new wife didn’t like Floyd and preferred Glen, or maybe something entirely different.