Pelican Lake Property 1967 - 1968 Planting Trees for Their Legacy

The Three Weaver Brothers,  Jim, Jack and Tom, together purchased 2 cabins, lakeshore and backland from Alden C and Edyth Palmer in 1967 on Pelican Lake, Crow Wing County.  Tom, this author, was attending Carleton College in Norhfield and maintained his connections with Faribault High School classmates who were attending the University of Minnesota.  Here are Greg Larsen, Fred Zahn, and Steve Wafler interacting with a snapping turtle on the sandy back road behind Sunset Beach, lot 11 where the Weaver parents, Paul H and Margaret Weaver purchased the lot in 1946. 

This is the front of the Palmer Big Cabin as it appeared in 1967 when we completed the purchase. Later on, we learned that the original cabin with the taller roofline, was built by Shattuck School instructor Fred Haeberle in 1912, making it the first cabin build here on the shore.  The neighbors, Winnie and Dave Leonard, next door, mentioned that Winnie's Grandfather, FE Jenkins, the First Headmaster of St James School, in Faribault, built his cabin in 1913.  The Leonard "Old Cabin" still maintains the original architecture and character to this day! 

The Palmer Cabin garage with railings of birch as it appeared in 1967 soon after the purchase by the Weaver brothers. 

Interior of the kitchen with original furnishings as purchased from the Palmers. 

In the spring of 1968, I was joined by some Carleton undergrads who supported my vision to plant some evergreen seedlings, then available through the state of Minnesota for a few cents each.  Here is the old Buick 1949 Woody Station Wagon that I drove at the Badora Nursery where I drove to pick up the seedlings that Winnie Leonard decided to plant. 

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 Likely one of the first times people stayed at the Palmer cabins after we purchased the property.  Here are Carleton underclassmen I knew from Burton Hall, John Trucano, Jeff Ball and Will Bouricous planting the seedlings in front of the cabin.

The interior of the Palmer small cabin, looking southeast, as it appeared in 1967-68 when we first visited the properties. 

In the winter of 1967-68 Jim Weaver visited our parents cottage on Sunset Beach and together he and I explored the property we had purchased as three brothers, to get a sense of how we could manage the property. Here is how the mailbox area looked with signs for AC Palmer and W Hokans seen.

In the winter 1968-69, the sign with Jim looking on, that AC Palmer had erected by the mailboxes to encourage people to drive down a second road to East Pelican Cottages, 800 ft to the east.  Later this road was renamed Leonard Drive, in honor of the Leonard family who inherited the Jenkins Property. 

Tom Weaver, the author, walking down the "private road" indicated by Palmer's sign toward the newly purchased cabins in the winter of 1967-68. 

In 1968 Jack Weaver, invited his financee' Nellie Jane Williams and her father, Harold Williams, to test out the fishing.  At that time, we still had the old red pontoon boat left by the Palmers to fish on the big lake.  I think I took this at night after a successful venture out on the big lake. Also, a possibility is from Lougee Lake, where we created a landing for fishing that was used with an access road for many years.

One of the benefits of having sugar sand beaches, is being able to make large bays and islands out of the sand.  Jack Weaver in 1968 is modeling how this has been done over the years on Pelican Lake and  lakeshore stewarded by the Weaver family. 

 "Pete" AKA Paul H Weaver, MD, at the sink on Sunset Beach cottage with Nellie Williams in 1968 during the summer visit.

Jack Weaver and his dog "Tau".  Nellie attended Western Illinois University which is reflected in the sweatshirt worn here. . 

Property Along the Straight River South of Faribault

From Margaret G Weaver's Memoir Rememberings 1994 p45, describing the early 1940's in Faribault "The Agerters and the Weavers, enjoying the out-of-doors, decided to buy a small parcel of wooded land near Faribault. The County Surveyor, Walt Dokken, understanding our wants, helped us find what came to be known as "The Prop," sixteen acres of slightly hilly woods along the Straight River, with a small stream and a few birch trees, which were rare in this area of Minnesota. In the process of looking for a suitable place, we spent time at what we called the Langslag Property, which had many attractive red-berried shrubs, hearts- bursting-with-love, Euonymus atropurpureus. I was sorry that we found none of this at the Prop."

"Wanting a shack at the Prop, we bought Mrs. Saufferer's chicken coop, sawed it into four sections and secured a permit from the Highway Department to have a truck haul it to our place. (See picture #3, p. 136.) In the meantime we had fun making a simple road in the form of a loop, cutting down trees by band with a cross-cut saw and securing the right-of-way beside a small railroad track. A cement foundation was made to support our shack (my one and only experience at puddling). After scouring the coop and putting it back together, we painted it brown with yellow window trim. It was nifty!

Ray Lieb, a pharmacist who owned a quarry near Faribault, gave us limestone for a fireplace. Pete and Ken built a handsome, huge fireplace which worked beautifully. Such fun we had in our dirt-floored shack. Beer left in the shack was frozen beer in the winter. Pete had a telephone installed on a telephone pole, so that he could be reached in case of an emergency. Although this was long before my mushroom days, I remember seeing many interesting fungi during one wet summer, some that I have never seen again. The Prop was a fun place to have picnics with: Jim and Carol O'Neil; Mary Henning and her boys, Stan and Butch, (Don Henning, Headmaster of Shattuck, was serving as Chaplain in the Military Service);By, Marde, Ruth and Tom Berhow; Peggy's parents, the Harlans, and Peggy's sister and her husband, the Kicksmillers."..."We had spent the afternoon at the Prop when we heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor on our car radio as we were returning home. That night we went to Roger and Isabelle Kiekenapp's for a scheduled bridge club meeting, but were too shocked to play bridge."

Taken in 1972, here is the author at the side of the prop woods, where the field was still being plowed for crops.  Later this farmland was sold for the Chadderdon Edition.  Dewey Van Orsow and his boyscout troop from IC School I believe would camp on the property and one spring in the 1960's the troop planted evergreens on the part of the prop that was next to the fields.  I drove the 1961 red Plymouth there (in the tall plants around the trees) to see how thing were growing. 

Paul H Weaver MD  Addition to River Bend Nature Center Dedication Summer 1983. My dad was a long time supporter of education - natural history in particular.  Mom and his three sons, Jim, Jack and Tom (this author) agreed that part of his legacy would be the gift of the prop to the River Bend Nature Center.  So the four of us Weavers returned to the land and met a variety of local folks who are active in supporting protection for this land for future generations.  Thanks to all who showed up!

After my dad's death in January 1982 in Brainerd, the family decided to give the land along the river to the Nature Conservancy who then passed it on to River Bend Nature Center. Here are some of the folks who showed up in 1983 for the dedication ceremony. 

Peg Koering of the Nature Conservancy Led the Dedication here on the prop. 

Jack Weaver, Larry Knutson, Jim Weaver, Peg Weaver and ? on the property during the dedication ceremony with Peg Koering of the Nature Conservancy and Orwin Rustad. 

Orwin Rustad, local visionary for the River Bend Nature Center and naturalist at Shattuck School at the dedication. 

At the foundation and fireplace built by my dad, Paul H Weaver and his friend Ken Agerter from Shattuck School in the early 1940's, the group including Kay Jankey fourth from the left, Tom Merner and his wife, Bernice Knutson, Jack and Peg Weaver join in the dedication. 

Near the bluff overlooking the Straight River, includes Tom Merner, Bernice Knutson and Jack Weaver

Faribault High School teacher, Larry Knutson, who taught Advanced Algebra and Physics, meeting with Jim Weaver who is working at this time as a research physicist at M.I.T.  Jim was one of Larry's students at Faribault High School 

Summer 1983. After the dedication, Orwin Rustad, Jim Weaver, Larry and Bernice Knutson, Peg Weaver in Jeep Wagoneer parked by the Knutson Home on the "old golf course development in southern Heights Faribault. By T Weaver

Peg Weaver's description in Rememberings p 112 "In July 1983 Jim, Tom and I drove from Pelican, Jack, from Wisconsin, for the dedication of the Paul Weaver Wood Bluff Preserve, what Pete, Peggy and Ken Agerter and I had fondly called "The Prop". Since Pete had often mentioned that he would like to give the Prop to some nature group, I was pleased

that The Nature Conservancy agreed to accept the gift. I had hoped that Peggy would give the Agerter share, but she preferred to sell it to the Nature Conservancy.

Because the Prop contained large areas of the Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily, Erythronium propulans, Minnesota's only endemic plant and an endangered species, The Nature Conservancy was interested in its protection. This beautiful, little spring flower occurs only in Rice and Goodhue Counties in Minnesota, with the largest number of colonies recorded at the River Bend Nature Center, adjacent to the Prop. Mary B. Hodges, a teacher of botany at St. Mary's Hall in Faribault, first collected this rare wildflower in one of the campus ravines in 1871. The plant was sent for identification to Dr. Asa Gray, botanist at Harvard University, who gave it its scientific name.

Most of the thirty or so people attending on a hot, sticky day were from Faribault: Tom and Betty Kaul, Bernice and Larry Knutson, Rita and Burt On, Ardis Siemers, Orwin Rustad, Tom and Bess Merner, Kay and Ken Relyea, Peggy Agerter, plus others I didn't know. Peg Koering, from Minneapolis, represented The Nature Conservancy. Seeing Don and Lib Lawrence from Minneapolis, very active Nature Conservancy members, was a pleasant surprise. Especially, I enjoyed a long visit with Bernice and Larry Knutson who used to be our Faribault neighbors."

Peg Weaver with the sandstone bluffs and the Straight River behind taken from the bridge over the river. Note some of the birch trees that attracted Peg and Pete with the Agerters to purchase the property in the early 1940's.

Another view with Peg Weaver with the bluffs and river in the background 1983.

Glessners Inez and Harry 1942 in Faribault to 1972 in Findlay

I visited Findlay Ohio in 1972 with my mom, Peg Glessner Weaver who was born in Findlay 3 June  1910.  My maternal grandmother here is Inez Chase Glessner, under the street sign of Glessner Avenue and Main Cross in Findlay. Inez married Harry Chappelear Glessner in March 25, 1908 in Findlay.  Here is the author with my Carleton College blazer on that I wore when singing with the Carleton Knights, 1965 -69. 

Here are Inez C Glessner and Margaret Mary "Peg" Weaver at the same street corner in Findlay. 

1942 Christmas Visit - Grandparents Inez and Harry Glessner with James Cowles "Jim" Weaver, having "tea".  Jim was born in Faribault MN Sept 8, 1940 and this was taken in the rental home, small limestone 201 4th Ave SW, mentioned in Peg Weaver's 1994 Rememberings Memior.  This is the third and last rental property prior to the Weaver's purchasing the larger limestone home at 425 SW 3rd St, Faribault in 1943, prior to John Eicher Weaver AKA "Jack's birthday in October of that year. 

Spring Weather in Minnesota - Time for Biking!

Reading in the Magazine, hard copy, a gift from Steve B, my disc golf mentor, about the role of blogging during the Arab Spring.  And sensing putting anything out on the web is now a part of co creating history.   I am starting to "get" how much of a shift to equality on the web is happening in real time!  Be in the present and grateful.    Peace, love, joy and beauty each day. 

My good friend Bob P, from Bloomington MN, Called me up early Sunday AM, and asked if I wanted to go for a bike ride.  We both intuitively flashed on the Dakota Trail starting on Wayzata Bay.  On Saturday, my friend Andy M and I did my first of the spring, starting from his place in Prospect Park near the U of M, and taking the Greenway to Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet.  He even had a goal to visit his friend Monica a few blocks west of the river in the Linden Hills neighborhood. 

The YOU ARE HERE, allowed Bob in me, to be really present to being here now!   On the trail. 

At the same stop, this overview map shows where we started to the east, and how the trail goes through Lake Minnetonka's Bays, and finally on the west out to St Bonifacius.

 Here is the Bistro, St Boni Bistro where Bob and I had our breakfast.  He figured this is 12.5 miles out, and the 1/2 point on our trip.

 Here is Bob at one of the stops along the way.  Notice the lack of leaves on the trees.  This is the second of two 70 degree plus spring days, April 28 and 29th..

On Saturday, Andy M and I stopped for ice cream at Sebastian Joe's in Linden Hills.  We noticed a lot of pot holes on the streets of Minneapolis, and I just had to have a scoop of the local recipe "Nicollet Ave Pot Hole".  Chocolate with sea salt and not sure what else. Refreshing and a lot of folks out enjoying the day. 

Listening to the Awakening of Nature - Sound of the Geese March 31st

In the Christian Culture, today Easter is celebrated by the resurrection of a man called Jesus who died for the sins of many on a icon, the cross, made of wood.  For me this season is at a deeper level the awareness of new life that stirs in and upon the earth each year!

Having learned about the circle of life through my Lakota and Dakota teacher here on the prairie, I am so grateful to hear the call of the geese this morning as I meditate and write over a cup of coffee.

From www.whitebison.org

Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 31
"The old Lakota was wise. He knew that man's heart away from nature becomes hard; he knew the lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to a lack of respect for humans too. So he kept his youth close to its softening influence."
-- Luther Standing Bear, OGLALA SIOUX
When we live in nature it's like constantly being in school. We are in an environment that is always teaching. We are constantly being reminded hat there are laws, Natural Laws, which are running the universe. Once we know these laws and we drift from them, we start to live our lives in a different way. Soon we become discontent, selfish, and disrespectful. Then, we get in trouble. If our lives have become this way, it can be reversed by going back to nature to be among our teachers.

Great Spirit, teach men, again, the Natural Laws. 

The Goose Stamp above is from my China Stamp Collection and I am learning it is from the period after the Last Emperor was disposed and the struggle for one China and a form of government ensued. 
I think about my friends in China now, in the 21st Century, and how the environment and nature will be cared for.   Grateful to have met Dan Zhou from Fujian here in Minnesota who occasionally calls me from Shanghai, and Tony Zhu from Nanjing and rural Jiansu provence I met in Zhongguo in 2011, who have become friends in the next generation.  

Geese are teachers of "The lead Goose when it tires will fall back within the flock and another Goose will take its place as navigator. This indicates that we too need to pay attention to when we are tired and to allow others to take the lead for a time if we are one is in need of rest and rejuvenation. If any Geese are injured or become ill during their flight and descend to the earth, their mate or another Goose, if the bird is without a mate, will follow and remain with them until the fallen bird either recovers or dies. No Goose is ever left to die on its own and this too is a reminder for us that we are never alone, Spirit and the Universe are always with us. For those that have this bird as a totem, its a strong indication that you too need to be extremely loyal to those things and people in your life that you feel a strong bond or connection with and to be sure that those you allow close to you are also loyal to you."

Read more about Goose Medicine. 
morningstar.netfirms.com/goosetotem.html





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_China

The 1910s

This revolutionary overprint was made in London on a 30c imperial stamp. The postmark may read "HANGCHOW".

Stamp "Chinese Imperial Post" (above from right to left: Chinese: 大淸國郵政;pinyin: Dàqīngguó yóuzhèng 1910, 2 cents with red overprint (from top to bottom:
simplified Chinese: 中华民国; traditional Chinese: 中華民國; pinyin:zhōnghuámínguó) "Republic of China" and stamp "Shanghai"

The revolution of 1911 resulted in overprints on the imperial stamps in 1912; at Foochow to indicate that the post office was effectively a neutral area available to both sides, and at Nanking and Shanghai reading "Republic of China" (from top to bottom: simplified Chinese: 中华民国; traditional Chinese: 中華民國; pinyin:zhōnghuámínguó). An additional set of overprints was produced by Waterlow and Sons in London, and postmasters throughout the country made their own unofficial overprints using the same characters.


Here is a special sheet commemorating the 90th anniversary of Chinese Postage Stamps that I purchased in 1958 directly from the Taiwanese Philatelic Agency.   The

700 Mile Day - Miami River Valley Ohio - Springfield ALincoln in the Snow and Back to Minne Snow Dah!

Before I left Troy Ohio on Sunday Morning March 24, I took in the warmth of Cousin Jeannette Allen Weaver's guest bedroom message.  Wonderful to connect with relatives in Ohio who are loving of the family stories and connections!  Thanks Jeannette and Fred for you kind hospitality! 

The colorful warmth of the Weaver kitchen, celebrating the coming of spring! MMM fruit and bacon.

 

On Saturday, the day before my drive back Fred and Tory, their friendly dog, took me for a walk to a scenic valley in a hardwood forest, the Charleston Falls Preserve, where we went for a 2 mile hike in the morning after breakfast.  Ice still below the falls here. 

  See http://www.miamicountyparks.com/Park.aspx?c=CFP

Before the 3 PM event at the Dayton Institute of Arts where I met my Weaver Family Tree, photographer cousin Tony Snow and his family, Fred and Jeanette took me back to West Carrollton, Evergreen Cemetery, where many of the Eichers are buried. 

Then to Ellerton where the Weavers, Pauls, Allens were laid to rest. 

As I have been posting photos of the Emma Esther Eicher and Henry Eicher 2 acre plot at the corner of  Alex-Bellbrook Road and Springboro Pike, here is a small commercial building now on the corner that replaced a Shell Gas Station I remember from a tour by Bill Eicher my cousin, back in 1984, the first time I was welcomed back to the Miami River Valley by a cousin that deepened my interest in connecting with my family tree here. 

Fred and Jeannette viewing the 1913 -2013 exhibit of the photos.  I learned in Andy Snows talk with photos in the auditorium, where Noah Elwood Weaver was acknowleged,  that the engineering done under the direction of Morgan, in flood prevention, at that time was the largest private investment project for infrastructure development in the world.  There was no government money invested in this at all.  The Miami Conservancy District was formed and the district funded the book the features Noah Elwood Weaver photos pages 72 and 128.  www.miamiconservancy.org

The outside of the DAI  Dayton Art Institute 

Like many Americans, I have had a life long interest in the life and wisdom of Abraham Lincoln.  I visited his childhood home with my youngest son, Jesse in Indiana in the summer of 1999.  That is the year we took our bike on the Lake Michigan Ferry and visited Findlay Ohio, home of the Glessner-Chase maternal branch of my family and the  Miamisburg- West Carrollton Ohio area, home of the Weaver-Eicher-Paul- Brandt roots of my paternal branch. 

I left Troy Ohio about 9:30 AM Eastern Time, drove Hwy 40 across the Englewood Dam, here described on Wiki "Englewood dam is the largest of the dams maintained by the district. It regulates the flow of theStillwater River into the Great Miami River. It consists of 3,500,000 cubic yards (2,700,000 m³) of earth, is 110 feet (34 m) high and stretches 4,716 feet (1,437 m). U.S. Route 40 crosses the top of the dam. The dam can contain 209,000 acre feet (258,000,000 m³) of flood water over 6,350 acres (26 km²). It was constructed in 1919 and consists of as much earth as the Great Pyramid of Giza."

The road were clear until I reached I 72 in Illinois around "White Heath".  Then the snow fell quickly.  This photo was taken on I 55 north of Springfield as I noticed a lot of cars in the ditch.  I later learned Springfield had a record 17" snowfall as I read the reports Monday after my return to Minnesota

I found the car park with this map of the Lincoln Museum Campus likely about 2 PM Central Time. 

This was the view with a few inches of wet snow on the ground.   I spent a couple of hours in the museum and found a nice T shirt to send to my Chinese Guide in Nanjing, Tony as I have been looking for something quality and appropriate.  Very moving exhibits and the film about Lincoln's eyes, joy and grief was quite moving.   www.alplm.org

I did take this photo in the snow at Springfield as somehow I like to visit the capital cities in our states. 

I left Springfield a suppose around 4:30 and swung by this building and then headed north on I 55.  Checked out my body to see if I was getting tired as I could have stopped to rest..>And then I went past  Iowa City, headed north through Cedar Rapids west to I 35 and then back north to the Twin Cities. All along my green pony, 1999 Dodge Caravan, did really well.  Pulled in here at 3 AM Monday morning and now I am relaxed and pretty well caught up on sleep.  Mmmmm Spring is arriving here. Birds are singing and forecast for above 50 today.  !!

Orchards and Apples - Emma Esther Eicher's Journal from 1921 and beyond

The past few weeks, prior to the centennial of the Greater Miami River Flood Centennial, I have been transcribing the journal of my great aunt, Emma Esther Eicher that she wrote from 1921 onwards. 

Meeting with Brian Wheat, a school teacher here in the Twin Cities while enjoying a cider at the Birchwood Cafe the subject of hard cider on farms came up.  He is a native of New York near Buffalo and described the heirloom apples that result in varietal ciders.   I noticed on entry from Esthers journal listing the apple trees on the farm about 1926,10-15 years after these photos were taken.  Just wonder about the varieties back then.  Here is the list Esther wrote: 

"Cedar – Apple tree an etc as they stand a row from cedar trees to road -   Delicious

Yellow transparent & dead

Johnathon

Wealthy

Rome Beauty & dead

York Imperial

Red Astrakan

Clapp favorite

Koonce

Flemish beauty

Grapes

Delaware"

Helping to set the stage for the journal writing in 1921 and there after, are the photos of the Weaver-Eicher families as captured through the lens of Noah Elwood Weaver, my grandfather. (1885 -1973) This connection kept the 100% German heritage of that side of my family tree. 

Here in the Eicher Farm Orchard,  are my grandfather Noah Elwood Weaver, Paul H Weaver as an infant in likely 1911 as he was born Dec 24, 1910, being held by his aunt Emma Esther Eicher, always called Esther as she had an Aunt Emma Eicher.  At the Eicher Farm in Miami Twp Montgomery County Ohio surrounded by the apple trees of the orchard, Esther refers to in the late 1920's. 

Mother Edna Eicher Weaver, and son Paul Henry and father Noah Elwood at the Eicher farm Apple Orchard.   I often remark how much taller the Eicher woman were, and here is Edna said to be around 6 feet with her new husband "Elwood" as Noah's dad was a Noah. 

Edna Eicher Weaver, Noah Elwood Weaver, Emma Esther Eicher, Helena "Lane" Paul Eicher, Paul Henry Weaver, and Henry Eicher Spring 1911.

Henry Eicher, looking at his grandson, Paul Henry with the stereopticon held by his father, Noah Elwood Weaver.  May 1914 on the lawn of the Eicher home Bellbrook Road Miami Twp east of Alexandersville-West Carrollton.  

Henry Eicher, Emma Esther Eicher, PH Weaver and NE Weaver. Stereopticon - billed by some as the end of the 19th Century's version of the VCR. For more background on the history of the stereopticon see

http://www.bitwise.net/~ken-bill/stereo.htm

Henry Eicher with his grandson, Paul Henry Weaver, wooden keg on wheels.  Would cider have been made in such a cask?  At the home on Bellbrook road. 

Bellbrook Road looking east at the corner of the house, around 1914, Paul Henry with Grandpa Henry Eicher, he called "dad-dad".  

Henry Eicher with Paul H Weaver ca 1917 Bellbrook Road home with chicken eggs.

PH and His mom, Edna Eicher Weaver on the Eicher Farm South of Bellbrook Road, Sect 15 Miami Twp Montgomery County Ohio. 

Looking east by Henry Eicher home on 2 acres on Bellbrook Road by Springboro Pike. PH Weaver walking in the distance ca 1919.