Hi all, My Dad and Mom chose to do this, so I have some experience with the situation.  In his case, his body went to UI at the end of July.  They explained to us that in about a year to a year and a half his ashes would be returned to us, by mail!  There was a letter sent to warn my mother  that the package would be arriving.  Not a package you wish to receive without notice.  A year later, when his ashes were safely delivered, the family had a small ceremony at the family cemetery (Mallory, Jefferson township, Louisa County.  A beautiful quiet place on a hill. dating to the 1850's, possibly earlier. My gr gr gr grandfather, Elisha Hook, is in Plot one, 1852.) Because he and my Mother chose to do this, they were buried together in half a regular plot, under a small headstone. You would have no idea of the type of burial.  It was an interesting process, one I will carry on.   My grandmother took me to help tend the graves as her mother had taken her.  Her mother lived across the road and had many memories of burials at night for soldiers and victims of a nearby epidemic.  Burris City was a steamboat landing where the Iowa meets the Mississippi.  Very boggy land, latent with mosquitos. A flood decimated it in 1858, with its obliteration not long after.  She told Wallaces Farmers Magazine in an interview sometime in the '30s(?) that a yellow fever ravaged the town when she was a child.  She would wake up in the ni ght to hear wagons on the road and wake up in the morning to see long strips of freshly turned dirt in the snow.  Also steamboats heading to Rock Island with Confederate soldiers would stop to remove the dead who were then buried at Mallory Cemetery.  There are still large stretches of grass with no headstones, although there is now an historical marker.  It always fascinated me as a child to think of so many unknowns there.  I know my fascination with the past started there. Thanks for all the fascinating posts on laundry day and all the work involved.  I remember most of it well.  Any one remember the frames used to dry sheer curtains?  Wooden, adjustable to some extend with tine sharp pins along the edges to hold the cloth taut while it dried.  Not a pleasant task, lots of pinpricked fingers, but the curtains weren't out of line when they were dry.  This was a real harbinger of Spring, done during the cleaning whirlwind.  I still line dry clothes when I can. Susan It is never to late to be what you might have been. George Eliot

>Any one remember the frames used to dry sheer curtains? Wooden, adjustable >to some extend with tine sharp pins along the edges to hold the cloth taut >while it dried. Not a pleasant task, lots of pinpricked fingers, but the >curtains weren't out of line when they were dry. This was a real harbinger >of Spring, done during the cleaning whirlwind. I still line dry clothes >when I can.< I have the "curtain stretchers" that my Mother used still wrapped and tied with a piece of binder twine. They are exactly as Susan described - very sharp and an easy way to get a finger pricked. Anyone interested? No way is my wife going to touch them ;-) The twine, of course was from a ball left over when Dad quit using the grain binder for harvesting the oat crop. The bundles were set up butt end down, and shocks built to allow the grain to dry. We put six bundles or eight in a shock, and spread one bundle out over the top as a cover. They would set for a couple of weeks, until ready to be threshed. And that's another story. Don Woodley RAOGK for Bremer, Butler, Floyd and Franklin Counties in Iowa. Researching Woodley, Butler, Ayers, Trindle, Cornford, Relf, Lingenfelter and others as time permits.

Hello Susan: Great story. Your folks were amazing and I hope I would have the courage to do so when the times comes. I do have one question about the location of Mallory, Jefferson Twp, Louisa County? Is this in Iowa? (I am Iowa born but am sorely lacking in knowledge of towns, counties, etc.) The reason I ask is that I have just discovered my Swiss gg grandmother and her large family were living in Mallory, Clayton Co., Iowa. (Twp. of Jefferson has been mentioned in a letter also.) What do you think? Just curious. Sandy Childs Researching Mallory residents: Gisiger, Schroeder, Mosier/Moser. On Mar 20, 2009, at 8:52 AM, ra4055@aol.com wrote: > Hi all, > My Dad and Mom chose to do this, so I have some experience with the > situation. In his case, his body went to UI at the end of July. > They explained to us that in about a year to a year and a half his > ashes would be returned to us, by mail! There was a letter sent to > warn my mother that the package would be arriving. Not a package > you wish to receive without notice. A year later, when his ashes > were safely delivered, the family had a small ceremony at the family > cemetery (Mallory, Jefferson township, Louisa County. A beautiful > quiet place on a hill. dating to the 1850's, possibly earlier. My gr > gr gr grandfather, Elisha Hook, is in Plot one, 1852.) > > Because he and my Mother chose to do this, they were buried together > in half a regular plot, under a small headstone. You would have no > idea of the type of burial. It was an interesting process, one I > will carry on. > > My grandmother took me to help tend the graves as her mother had > taken her. Her mother lived across the road and had many memories > of burials at night for soldiers and victims of a nearby epidemic. > Burris City was a steamboat landing where the Iowa meets the > Mississippi. Very boggy land, latent with mosquitos. A flood > decimated it in 1858, with its obliteration not long after. She > told Wallaces Farmers Magazine in an interview sometime in the > '30s(?) that a yellow fever ravaged the town when she was a child. > She would wake up in the ni > ght to hear wagons on the road and wake up in the morning to see > long strips of freshly turned dirt in the snow. Also steamboats > heading to Rock Island with Confederate soldiers would stop to > remove the dead who were then buried at Mallory Cemetery. There are > still large stretches of grass with no headstones, although there is > now an historical marker. It always fascinated me as a child to > think of so many unknowns there. I know my fascination with the > past started there. > > Thanks for all the fascinating posts on laundry day and all the work > involved. I remember most of it well. Any one remember the frames > used to dry sheer curtains? Wooden, adjustable to some extend with > tine sharp pins along the edges to hold the cloth taut while it > dried. Not a pleasant task, lots of pinpricked fingers, but the > curtains weren't out of line when they were dry. This was a real > harbinger of Spring, done during the cleaning whirlwind. I still > line dry clothes when I can. > > > > > Susan > > > > It is never to late to be what you might have been. > George Eliot > > _____________________________________________ > > For additional information concerning how the list > works, how to sub and unsub and list rules, visit > http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~richard/ialist/ > _____________________________________________ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IOWA-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message