Anna Mayme Wolf ~ A Biographical Sketch

by sarahmfry, December 08, 2009
My sister Rachelle wrote this Sketch of Grandma Wolf's life several years ago, when Grandma was 91.
If you were to pass through Vernon County, Missouri in 1914, you may have seen a farm that stretched across almost a thousand acres. You might have noticed the large pastures where cattle, hogs, and sheep grazed or the rather large barn that contained rows of horses and cattle. Up on the hill, the “Red House”, one of three houses in which the hired hands lived would be sure to catch your eye. A panoramic view from that same hill would reveal the farmhouse, divided into two apartments. Mayme Evangeline and Henry Ellsworth Potter lived in the east side of the house, and in the west side, their eldest son Lewie and his wife Lilla resided. Each side of the house had six rooms, and the windows were open to the outside. During bad weather, they would pull canvas across the windows and fasten it to the wall, but there was no glass, which made the house much cooler on hot summer nights. The two couples shared ownership of the farm.



 However, on February 23 of that year this picture changed forever. The family doctor, Fred Albright paid the farmhouse a visit, and Lilla and Lewie had their first child, Anna Mayme Potter. Two years later, Paul was born, and Donald came along by the time Anna Mayme was four.


Together, the three children walked to school through the cow pasture carrying their lunch buckets. On snowy days during the winter, whoever was feeding the cattle in the morning would drive the children to school on a big “sled”, a wagon with snow runners attached and oil lights on the front. They attended a one-room country schoolhouse with a single teacher all through grade school. Anna recalls that on her first day of school, a boy threw her lunch bucket in the creek, and she “never much liked him after that.”



Most of the teachers of the school lived in the Potter family’s home during the year they taught. While it was typical for most teachers to stay for only one year, there were a few exceptions. Miss Marcella Sharp stayed for two or three years. Anna was not too thrilled with this, arrangement. She still remembers Miss Sharp’s first day, because she filled the blackboard with rules. Anna’s dearest teacher, Mrs. Melinda Welch, only taught at the school for one year. Although she had planned to return, she went away for vacation that summer, and got married. Melinda and her husband, Ritchie remained close to the Potter family, and they would often visit each other’s homes for dinner.





 On a typical day at school, the students would say their pledges, and Anna Mayme would lead the singing. Her aunt Ada was one of only two holiness women who taught at the school, and would lead the children in prayer. When they played sports, Anna Mayme was always the last to be picked. She was never athletic, and all her peers knew she couldn’t play ball. However, she was very smart. Even though her grades were second in the county during her eighth grade year, Grandma did not always pay attention in class. Sometimes she would get in trouble for passing notes or not getting her lesson, and would have to stand on the floor in front of the classroom.    read the rest of the story here.... 


Including:
  • How Grandma & Grandpa Wolf secretly eloped, then went back to their own separate homes to live for months before their marriage became public!
  • A scandalous story about the three Wolf brothers and a bucket of beer
  • Why Grandma was forced to be the woman of the house when she was only 16.
  • Why Grandma's legs were different lengths
  • A doll named Annabelle Evangeline
  • An embarrassing story about chasing Grandpa around the yard with a rolling pin
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