Marie’s Notes 5

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Marie’s youngest brother, Paul, had a hickory rocking chair made by their great grandfather, William Henry Dulgar who came from England with his parents in the early 1800s. I imagine someone in the family has the rocker yet. It has held many mothers rocking their babies and perhaps a few indulgent papas too.

Paul’s son, Dean, had a portrait of William Henry Dulgar in his judge’s robes. For a long time, it hung above the stairwell but eventually, Dean hid it away in the attic because he didn’t want anyone in the family to take it. The tension broke when Cousin Mary persuaded Dean to let her have it copied so that every family could have their own picture. Dean agreed and peace was restored to the family.

“How blessed you are when you make peace! For then you will be recognized as a true child of God.” Matthew 5:9

I had met Dean when my grandparents took me to Illinois to meet my relatives. He and his small sister were beautiful children, and I enjoyed spending time with them. Many years later I was sad to learn that as a young man, Dean took a short-cut over a frozen lake and the ice broke under him. Nobody was there to keep him from drowning. 

Annie, Paul, and Dean

Another ancestor I met was Great Aunt Mae, Marie’s aunt. I met her many years later when she had moved to her daughter’s house in California. We were in Inglewood where Bill attended Northrup University. After I worked for three years to help pay his tuition, we decided to start a family. He got a daytime job and I got a baby which pleased me no end.

I’m glad I got to know so many generations of my family. Aunt Mae had been born in the late 1800s. She moved to California when she was 57 and lived with her daughter Aldyth and died at 88. Aunt Mae’s other daughter, Irene Hunt wrote the children’s book, Across Five Aprils, (1964) which won four awards including the prestigious Newberry Award. It was made into a movie and is still used in schools to fill in the history of the Civil War. Even though many in the family suggested I meet her, it just didn’t happen. I’m about brave enough to meet her now, but alas, it is too late.

Aunt Mae had lots of time for me. She admired the green and black cotton maternity dress with the black velvet bow I had made for myself. She suggested I keep my kitchen clean by wiping down all the cupboards every day. But I didn’t do it. She taught me how to make a crazy quilt from elegant fabrics such as satin and velvet (her materials.) That included teaching me how to make a feather stitch. We talked about things such as shaving legs and underarms and she said she never had to do either because the heavy homespun of her dresses was so rough they wore off all the hair. When our daughter was born, Aunt Mae was her great, great, great, great Aunt. That tickled me too. 

Also when our daughter was born, Aunt Mae’s brother, Marie’s dad, gave the baby a rubber doggy that squeaked. I held onto to that for a lot of years knowing it was from little Renie’s great-great grandfather. 

Remember, Jasper Dulgar knowing all the property owners in Jasper County Illinois? Well, apparently his daughter who turned out to be Aunt Mae wouldn’t let people ask him about who owned what property after he was 96 because it was making him too nervous. 

I think this is all of Marie’s notes, but I still have a big box of letters and notes to go through, so I’ll see what I find. Thank you for your “Likes.” 

Grandpa Dulgar and DiVoran c 1940 at Marie’s house on Main Street in Canon City, Colorado.

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

Tags: Family Memories