 William
Henry Quicksall (1872-1966)
By Edward William Quicksall
(William Henry Quicksall always went by the name of Henry)
Henry was born in Big Spring Township in Shelby County, Illinois on
April 19, 1872, the third child and second son of Minor and Jane
(Turner) Quicksall. He spent his early years helping to develop the
farming land in the Little Wabash River bottom, as the timber had to be
cut and some of the stumps dug out by hand. They would then have log
rollings when the neighbors would all come over and help pile the logs
up to burn. Henry would describe these log rollings almost like a party.
After the land was cleared they would begin digging ditches and putting
in tile to get the fields ready for farming. Henry went to school at the
Wabash School located on the corner of what was then the farm of Marion
Quicksall. At present that farm belongs to Edward William Quicksall.
On November 28, 1895, Henry married Amanda Josephine McAnally. They
lived with his parents for a while, including the birth of their first
child, Joel Minor Quicksall. Then they moved to what I know as the
Ferguson farm and then the Marion Quicksall farm. Finally, in 1904,
Henry purchased the Houchen farm, where he and his wife raised five
children: Joel Minor, Mary Isabelle, Hazel Mildred, Grace Lucille, and
Beulah Mae.
Henry made several improvements to the homestead. Those that I
remember include the bedroom on the east side of the house, the summer
kitchen with a cellar under it, a big screen porch that extended from
the house to the summer kitchen and then on the east side of the summer
kitchen to the small bedroom. The house also had a cement floor and a
cistern under the roof. Henry had a gasoline engine belted up to a line
shaft to pump water, and I think he also used it to run the washing
machine. In the winter he used the engine to saw wood. For the farm
operation, Henry built a large horse barn, a shed on the side of the cow
barn to raise hogs, a chicken house, and two brooder houses for raising
small chickens. Sometimes they would raise over 500 chickens.
During those years all the farming was done with horses. However,
Henry was the first farming in the area to buy a tractor. I believe that
it was around 1919 when he purchased a Fordson tractor, plow and disk.
Sometime in the 1930s he bought a 1020 International Tractor from Ed
Pardieck.
Henry also built a shed west of the horse barn. He had room to store
his Model T Ford and Fordson tractor on the south side of the shed, and
a workshop on the north side. In his workshop he had a bench, vice,
cheese box, and other wooden boxes with bolts, nuts, and odds-and-ends
in them. On the east end he had a forge and anvel. North of the forge
was a pie safe where he kept his Borax to clean the iron when he was
welding in the forge. I don't remember what else he had in the shed, but
I always enjoyed cranking the blower when Grandpa and Dad were working
there.
I believe that his first automobile was a 1919 Model T Ford. The next
one was a 1928 Model A Ford. The road past the house was always dirt
until the late 1940s and early 1950s when it was oiled. In the winter
the road was muddy and full of ruts, so it was hard to get in and out.
Their mail box was by the Wabash School, so they had a long way to go
after their mail (approximately 1/2 mile).
As Henry got older he shelled and ground corn for the chickens,
gathered the eggs, hoed in the garden and mowed the yard. On wash day he
would build a fire under the copper kettle to heat all the wash water,
then he helped Grandma wash clothes with a hand washing machine.
They
made this their home until Grandma's death on November 29, 1955. Henry
stayed by himself for over a year after her death, then he stayed with
all the children for several hears. Finally, he moved to Shelbyville and
stayed in a private home with 4 or 5 elderly folks. He lived in
Shelbyville until his death on July 10, 1966. His funeral was held on
July 12, 1966, at 2:00 p.m. at the Christian Church in Stewardson,
Pastor Harry G. Kaye officiating. Mrs. Perl Stevens was the organist,
and Harold Brown sang "Beyond the Sunset" and "Good Night
Here, Good Morning Up There." Pallbearers were his grandsons: Dale
Quast, Edward W. Quicksall, Charles W. Kessler, Glen L. Kessler, Donald
D. Kessler, and David Goddard. Burial was in the Stewardson Cemetery.
Amanda Josephine McAnally (1874-1955)
By Edward William Quicksall
(Amanda Josephine McAnally was commonly known as "Josie.")
Amanda Josephine McAnally was born on April 26, 1874, in Brookville,
Franklin County, Indiana. She was the oldest of eleven children born to
Joel and Mary Wendelena (Becker) McAnally. She moved with the family
from Indiana to a farm northeast of Sigel in 1880. She lived there until
she married William Henry Quicksall on November 28, 1895. She then lived
in Big Spring Township, Shelby County, about five miles northeast of
Stewardson. She raised their five children: Joel Minor, Mary Isabelle,
Haxel Mildred, Grace Lucille, and Beulah Mae. Josie loved to milk the
cows, work with the chickens, hoe in the garden and take care of the
flowers.
She was a real good cook, as well. I can still see the bread dough
raising behind the heating stove in the winter and smell the bread
baking in the summer kitchen in her old wood cook stove. It seems she
always had ginger bread or spice cake on hand, and in the summer she
fried a lot of young chickens. When we farmed with horses and were there
at noon, we stayed for dinner. I remember eating a lot of meals with
Grandpa and Grandma. I think we all remembered Thanksgiving and
Christmas best. Josie was a charter member of the Busy Bee Sewing
Circle, a member of the Christian Church at Stewardson, and a hard
worker with the Ladies Aid.
She
passed away at her home near Stewardson, Illinois on November 26, 1955,
at the age of 81 years and 7 months. Her funeral service was held on
November 29, 1955, at 2:00 p.m. Reverend David Watts conducted the
service, Mrs. Sam Elliott played the music, Mrs. James Parish was the
soloist, pallbearers were her grandsons, and the granddaughters were in
charge of flowers. Burial was in Stewardson Cemetery.
A Few Items Maybe of Interest
By Frieda (Pardieck) Quicksall
(1900-1988)
(Frieda was the wife of Joel Minor Quicksall and was a great inspiration
for genealogical research. She wrote this piece in 1987, the year before
her death.)
For several years the McAnally family would come to the Henry and
Josie Quicksall place around Thanksgiving time. This also was near to
their wedding anniversary which was November 28. They would come with
baskets of food and would eat on the big porch situated between the main
house and the house built over the cellar. This was her kitchen and she
loved that kitchen, even if they had to walk across the porch to get to
it from the main house in zero cold weather. Grandpa would get up and
have a good fire going in the cooking stove.
Her sisters and their families would come with baskets filled with
food. Pet (a family member) would come with her usual black iron cooking
pot full of chicken and dumplings. Maurine (a family member) brought
baked apples for one thing. Aunt Della was famous for her persimmon
puddings. Everybody brought something. Grandma liked to make chicken and
noodles and dressing made from old hens which made it richer. I can't
think now what I took, but I took several things, not always the same
thing.
Grandpa had a long wooden shelf along the east side of the porch. The
men would fill their plates and head for the shelf. They would stand up
to eat their food never bothering to sit down. Of course the shelf was
kind of high for that.
Whenever rabbit law was in, the Wilson boys and Uncle Don Stephens
would usually come and kill a lot of rabbits, dress them and take them
home and put them in their freezer. Those fellows are all gone now. For
several years we didn't see any rabbits, but now in 1987 we saw quite a
few around here. Of course in those years times were a little higher to
buy meat, but some people just naturally like rabbits. |
