AD DULANEY, Our Yesterdays, Jefferson Co., MT USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. "List transcribed and organized by Ellen Rae Thiel, thieljl@aol.com All rights reserved." Copyright, 1998 by Ellen Rae Thiel. This file may be freely copied for non-profit purposes. All other rights reserved. AD DULANEY In 1880, Ad Dulaney was living on his homestead in Boulder Valley with his wife, Sarah. They had a daughter an two sons, Lettie, Henry and Caleb. His brother, William, and another brother all had homesteads that joined each other in an L shape. They all worked so hard. The land was rocky and pick rock by hand, as was the only way in those days, was a back-breaking job. So many rocks were picked that in some places they were placed in position to make a varmint proof fence. They had a dug well that was symmetrically rocked up. Sarah was a frail delicate girl who was always exhausted from work much too hard for her. She was prone to catch any sickness going around. One spring day, she woke with dysentery and as the days went by she got weaker and weaker until finally she took to her bed. She never recovered and soon death took her. Ad was so sad and lonely as were the little children, Lettie, Caleb and Henry. Ad s brother, William, was also stricken with illness when he was a fairly young man. He lingered on for two years and in May 1890, at the age of 44, he died. He left a wife and two children to mourn him. Ad was lonely and his children needed a woman s care. After his grief and after William's widow's grief was eased, they came to love one another and decided to marry and make a home for the five children -- her two and his three. Life was much better for a while. All worked hard because there was no other way to make a living. Ad s wife was four months pregnant-- just beginning to round out a little in front-- when one evening her back started to ache and there was no way to ease it. Soon she had cramps and it wasn t long before she was in labor. Before Ad could get back with the Doctor she had miscarried and hemorrhaged so bad there was no way to save her. Ad was devastated in his grief as were all the children. It seemed life was always hard for Ad. He was a good, hard working man and it didn't seem fair for so many sad things to happen to him. But time does wonders and heals many wounds. Time passed and he eventually married his older brother's widow. Their children were Lilly and Kate, the last children of Ad Dulaney. When Lilly grew up, she married Tom McCauley and they had one son, David. Ad was a tall man--six feet--and thin. He had dark hair and wore a mustache and beard until his later years. His teeth were bad and eventually he got false ones. He had the habit of standing of leaning against something and crossing his legs. His son, Hank, also did the same thing. Ad died at the age of 80 or more years and was ailing in his last years. He spent them in Boulder with the Vosburgs. Ad's son, Henry or "Hank", as he was called, stayed on the ranch and eventually bought out the other heirs. He was also a hard working man, but did take time out to play baseball on the local team and was a very good player. It was one of the few relaxations he had. The years passed quickly and Hank had very little spare time to go about the business of finding a wife. Ad once said to him, "Hank, if you don't get married pretty soon guess I'll have to do it again!" Hank was in his early 40's when he married Hattie Maronick, who was much younger than he. Besides all the ranch work at home, Hank did custom threshing all up and down the valley. The ranchers eagerly awaited his coming in the fall so their grain could be harvested. Neighbors all exchanged help with each other at this time for it took a big crew to get the job done. Hay racks, or "bundle wagons" as they were called for this job, required two men apiece to run - one to pitch grain bundles in the wagon. Two men were needed to run the thrashing engine and two more at the thrasher to watch the grain and the belts and other things on the thrasher. There must be two men for each grain wagon to haul the grain away from the machine. Someone else generally had a water wagon handy. Oh, it was a busy time! To take care of all the teams of horses night and morning was no small task. The women also exchanged help for there were long hot hours spent in the kitchen preparing homemade bread, butter, pickles, pies, cakes, jellies, and many kinds of vegetables and meats. For the children it was truly a heyday. The bigger ones were allowed to stay home from school to help and the smaller fry spent the days running and romping and playing games. Hank and Hattie Dulaney had four sons and a daughter; Bill, Pete, Charles, Archie and Georgia May, who all survive except Pete. Hattie is also still living. Hank passed away and for a time his sons, Bill and Pete, ran the ranch but eventually sold it. The place now belongs to Tom and Helen Carey of the valley who added it to their other holdings. SUBMITTED BY MR. AND MRS. GEORGE DAWSON