I was just over two years old when my Grandfather Hiram Martin died on April 9 1921.I do not remember him at all but I do remember a little about the grieving after his funeral. It was my first experience of death and I just did not understand it.
There were many visits by my mother to the Martin homestead located on the corner of Boom Road and 144th Street. I can remember the house was a large, two story and was built in a kind of square design, and was painted brownish orange col or. It was built by grand father Hiram. The first house on the place was more or less a shed and after the new house was built it was turned into a barn which held the family cow and a horse. The new house had a porch along the south side. The l iving quarters had four rooms , a kitchen , dining room , a living room and a parlor. I could roam the house as a little boy but the door to the parlor was always locked shut. I only saw the inside a time or two, It was completely furnished and w as only opened on special occasions such as weddings, funerals or a visit by the minister. My grand father had set out many fruit trees of apples cherries and grapes. He did his own grafting. There was one apple tree that had three varieties of apples gr owing on it. A small wood lot went through the center of the forty acres and had many of the old original white pine trees , they were straight and tall and more than two foot diameter. It was fun to roam and play in the soft needles under them.
We would have Sunday dinner with grandmother Emma Martin on occasion She had many nicknacks and old furniture. There was even one of the first Edison victrolas. It had cylindrical records and a horn for a speaker. Grandma would bring out her best china for these occasions. I can remember the set as having a gold band around the edges. The cups were larger than the ordinary and had special designed handle . They must have been very special because we children were watched closely so that we did not drop them. They were not real china but of a good quality dishes. After grandma gave up housekeeping when I was about ten she gave the set to my mother . She kept it in the china closet and it again came out only on special oc casions. A few pieces are missing but one time I saw some of the same pattern at a sale so some more pieces were added. I have no idea when the set was first purchased, it must have been many years before my time. and could have been hand me downs to my grandmother. After my mother died in 1968 the dishes stayed in the cupboard for a few years but at the time the contents of my folks house was divided among all of the relation this set of dishes came into the possession of Charlene Peterson who lives in the old Peterson homestead. She is displaying them on the same hooks in the cupboard that my mother had them. She is at least the fifth generation of the same family to proudly own them.
After Grandma {Emma Deremo Martin } left the house to live with my aunt ,one of my batchelor uncles lived in the house alone He found it difficult to maintain so he left it for a travel trailer . It soon deteriorated and vandals ransacked it breaking windows and having parties in it. Destroying many family records and antiques. The property was finally probated and a cousin bought the place to speculate on. The land is now in a housing development.