Thomas Pope of Plymouth Colony (not Plymouth Boulevard)

Well, technically he's not an official "Pilgrim" but he's close. This is about Thomas Pope, our ancestor. It's a story that's revealed by small details in the first-hand accounts of Plymouth Colony. It involves land, taxes, Indians, marriage and children, barrels, corn, beer, disputes, slander, murder. It also involves a property, belonging to Thomas' in-laws, that offers modern-day tours. How great is that? This blog post is not meant to be a full accounting of Thomas' history. Just enough to get you started.

The world in 1630 - showing an unfinished North America

Thomas Pope, came to America from England around 1632. We don't know why. We don't know which ship he sailed on. We're not sure who he came with. It's estimated that he was born anywhere from 1608 to 1612, which would make him between 20 and 24 years old when he landed in the new world. The Mayflower had arrived only twelve years earlier.

Mayflower Replica - Plymouth 

Below is the only known photo we have of Thomas arriving on the ship.  (Well, I tried.)

Robbie Hummel - Mayflower Replica - 1963

When Thomas arrived, there were a little more than 300 residents of the Plymouth (also spelled "Plimoth") Plantation. His name first appears in Plymouth in the tax list (of course) of 1633, with a tax of 9 shillings. He was a "cooper," one who makes and repairs wooden barrels or tubs.

From the "Geneology of Thomas Pope and His Descendents":

Of the life of Thomas Pope little is known beyond the brief entries which appear in the records of the town and colony of Plymouth, but these are sufficient to show that he was a man of positive character, and of some consideration in the community... 

His name appears in a list, August, 1634, entitled, "The names of all the males that are able to beare armes from XVI years old to 60 years wth in the seuerall Toune Shipps."

October 6, 1636, he was granted five acres of land "at the fishing point next Slowly field, and said Thomas be allowed to build." 

June 7, 1637, we find his name among the list of persons who volunteered to go under "Mr. Prence" on an expedition against the Pequots.

The Pequots were, as you might imagine, less than thrilled that their lands were being encroached on by the colonists.  It was no surprise that eventually war broke out, with the Pequots facing an alliance of the Plymouth, Massachusettes Bay, and Saybrook Colonies along with the Naragansett and Mohegan tribes.  The war lasted 4 years.  The Pequot lost.  Many hundreds of Pequot died and hundreds were sold into slavery.  

Below is a diagram of one of the battles - an attack on a Pequot fort at Mystic (now Connecticut), on July 13, 1637.  Of the estimated 600 people in the village, only seven survived to be taken prisoner, and seven escaped.  Then the village was set on fire. All within an hour.

The war was pretty much the end of the tribe. Even their name was taken away from them. A treaty was signed in which:

The Pequots were then bound by COVENANT, That none should inhabit their native Country, nor should any of them be called PEQUOTS any more, but MOHEAGS and NARRAGANSETTS for ever.

When he returned from the Pequot expedition, Thomas Pope married Anne Fallowell "before the Govrnor" [William Bradford] in Plymouth on July 28, 1637. (NOTE: the spellings of names and everything else was pretty wobbly in those times, so bear with me.) Anne's father was Gabriel Fallowell and her mother was Catherine Finney (or Phinney), both living in Plymouth.

Governor William Bradford's history, "Of Plimoth Plantation"

Thomas and Anne's daughter, Hannah, was born around 1639, and it is believed that Anne died shortly thereafter.

From the "Geneology of Thomas Pope and His Descendents":

[Thomas] sold his property at the fishing point to John Bonham, August 28, 1640, perhaps on account of the death of his wife, the precise date of which event is unknown.

November 2, 1640, he was granted "5 acres of meadowing in South Meadows toward Gavans Colebrook meadows." 

He was chosen constable June 4, 1645, and was on a jury August, 1645.

Plymouth Plantation - now

On May 29, 1646 Thomas married Sarah Jenney.  Sara's father (then deceased) was John Jenney  who had come to Plymouth with his wife, Sarah Carey, and two children in 1623. John and Sarah were originally from England but moved to Leiden, Holland, as part of the Separatist movement, in a search for religious freedom. They then sailed to America on the ship, "Little James." A son was born on the ship. Daughter Sarah was born two years later in Plymouth.

Here's an excerpt from a letter written by Emmanuel Altham, a visitor to the Plymouth Plantation, September, 1623 [emphasis added]:

After our arrival in New England, we found all our plantation in good health, and neither man, woman or child sick. And here, likewise, we found the other ship set forth by the Company, who came from Portsmouth six days after us, and arrived here at New England ten days before, with all her people well - as we with our people did the like, and yet one good wife Jennings was brought abed of a son aboard our ship and was very well.

NOTE:  As an example of the challenges of the variable spelling of the time period, I offer the following description of the betrothal and marriage of John Jenney and Sarah Carey in Leiden:

Jene, Jehan of Norwich in England, Brewer’s mate, living in Rotterdam, acc by Rogier Wilson his acq betr 5 Sept. 1614, mar 1 Nov. 1614 to Sara Kaire of Monksoon in England, acc by Johanna Leyns her acq

John was a brewer and miller.  He was described as:

a godly, though otherwise a plain man, yet singular for publicness of spirit, setting himself to seek and promote the common good of the plantation of new Plimouth.

In 1626, Jenney helped with the refinancing of the Plantation.  He also served several terms as an Assistant to the Governor. However, John Jenney's lasting legacy is his corn mill.  In 1636 he was authorized to:

...erect a mill for grinding and beating of corn upon the brook of Plymouth. 

The first settlers tried to find water on Cape Cod. But they gave up, finding instead further north "a very sweet brook," which they (imaginatively) called "Town Brook."  The brook was fed by springs of "as good water as can be drunk."  It was close to the marsh, which made it easy for them to anchor their boats.  Town Brook became the main water supply for the Pilgrims. 

Jenney Grist Mill - reconstructed

Prior to the mill, the Pilgrims would grind their corn using a mortar and pestle, as they'd been taught by the Patuxet people. This laborious process, however, was not going to work for a growing colony. So the mill allowed the Pilgrims to use the power of the brook to grind a great quantity of corn in a short period of time. And thus singlehandedly bringing to an end the mortar and pestle industry :)

The waters of Town Brook turn two 2,500-pound grooved stone wheels, which, in turn, grind the corn. If you want more detail than that, you'll have to go on a tour... with this guy (below).

The Jenney grindstone

The Jenney Mill guide says that industry and capitalism began here. John Jenney was the first person paid for services in the United States, and this mill is considered America’s first manufacturing facility. 

When John died in 1644, it is recorded that his wife, Sarah, promised to run the mill:

Mris Jenney, upon the psentment agst her, pmiseth to amend the grinding at the mill, and to keepe the morters cleane, and baggs of corne from spoyleing and looseing.

In truth, day-to-day operations were most likely run by one or more of their sons. The mill operated continuously for over two hundred years. It burned down in 1847 and was reconstructed in the 1970's. It is open for tours, as is the Jenney home.  And they serve ice cream. And beer.

John Jenney House

Above is the John Jenney house. If you believe the enthusiastic pitch of the Jenney Mill's owners, Jenney had a malting floor and kiln here, and thus it was the site of the "first microbrewery in America." 

So, it looks like the Pope clan (or at least the Pope clan's in-laws) can be considered  responsible for the birth of manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and beer in America. Go, Popes!

Over the next seventeen years, Thomas and Sarah had seven children.  Their second-born, Seth, is our ancestor.  (More about Seth, as well as his sister Susanna and brother John in another blog post.)

Susanna - born c. 1647

Seth - January 13, 1648 or 1649

Thomas - March 25, 1651

John - March 15, 1652 or 1653

Sarah - c. 1656

Joanna - c. 1658

Isaac - 1664  

In 1648, Thomas served on a committee to investigate a murder.  The account of Alice Bishop's killing of her four year old daughter is particularly gruesomely detailed. Here is what the committee reported [emphasis added]:

These sheweth, that on July the 22cond, 1648, wee, whose names are vnderwritten, were sworne by Mr Bradford, Gouerner, to make inquiry of the death of the child of Allis Bishop, the wife of Richard Bishope. Wee declare, yt coming into the house of the said Richard Bishope, we saw at the foot of a ladder wh leadeth into an vpper chamber, much blood; and going vp all of us into the chamber, wee found a woman child, of about foure yeares of age, lying in her shifte vppon her left cheeke, with her throat cut and the said Allis hath confessed to fiue of vs att one time, yt shee murdered the child with the said knife. 

[signed] John Howland, James Hurst, Robert Lee, John Shawe, Francis Cooke, John Cooke, James Cole, Gyells Rickard, Richard Sparrow, THOMAS POPE, Francis Billington, William Nelson.  

Alice Bishop was hanged on October 4th of the same year.  It is thought that this was the fifth hanging in Plymouth Colony, and the first of a woman there. It's likely that most people in the colony witnessed her execution.

In June 1651 Thomas was chosen surveyor of highways.

Starting in 1647 and continuing off and on over the next twenty plus years, Thomas had some run-ins with his neighbors and with the law:

June 1, 1647 -  an action for slander was brought against Thomas Pope, confessed, authors and defendants were brought in equally guilty, and damages paid. 

June 5, 1656 -  Thomas Pope was listed as a "quarrelsome trespasser" by John Barnes in "Barnes vs. Thomas Pope and Samuel Jenney."

August 2, 1659 - The Court ordered Cooke, John Howland and John Dunham, Sr. to set the boundaries of the lands of Thomas Pope and William Sherttife "att Strawberry Hill, on the Reed Pond" in the township of Plymouth because of the controversy between the two.

1659 - Thomas Lettice brought charges against Thomas Pope for abusive "carriages" at the mill at Plymouth, and Pope was fined ten shillings to the use of the colony.  [NOTE: a "carriage" has something to do with an assault, as far as I can tell.]

December, 1663 - Thomas Pope and Gyles Rickard, Senirt, were arrested "for breaking the King's peace by striking each other, and were fined each three shillings and four pence;" and "said Pope, his striking of said Rickard's wife, and for other turbulent carriages, in word and deed, the Court have centenanced him to find sureties for his good behavior."

February 7, 1664, and also May 2, 1665 - Thomas quarreled with one John Barnes about a boundary.

May 1665 - Further complaints by Barnes against Thomas Pope for trespass.

May 1665 - Pope accused Barnes for violent opposition to his (Pope's) children, and for striking one of the children.

October 4, 1665 - Another land boundary dispute, "Barnes against Thomas Pope" and "Pope against Gyles Rickard," "to be settled by Court appointed surveyors Lt. Morton and George Bonum."

June 7, 1670 - Thomas Pope was "fined 10 shillings for vilifying the ministry."

1668 he is recorded as having taken the "Freeman's Oath," which is a fascinating loyalty oath with delightfully Puritan language:

 I _____ being by Gods providence, an Inhabitant, and Freeman, within the jurisdiction of this Commonwealth; do freely acknowledge my self to be subject to the Government thereof: And therefore do here swear by the great and dreadful Name of the Ever-living God, that I will be true and faithfull to the same, and will accordingly yield assistance & support thereunto, with my person and estate, as in equity I am bound; and will also truly endeavor to maintain and preserve all the liberties and priviledges thereof, submitting my self to the wholesome Lawes & Orders made and established by the same. And further, that I will not plot or practice any and reveal the same to lawfull Authority now here established, for the speedy preventing thereof. Moreover, I doe solemnly bind my self in the sight of God, that when I shal be called to give my voyce touching any matter of this State, in which Freemen are to deal, I will give my vote and suffrage as I shall judge in mine own conscience may best conduce and tend to the publike weal of the body, So help me God in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Plymouth Plantation 

Maybe it was the land disputes, personal disputes, or disputes with the ministry. We'll never know. But something caused Thomas Pope to want to leave Plymouth. In 1673 he was granted land on the east side of the Acushnet River at Dartmouth. It was said that it was a purchase from the Indians, however it appears that the land had previously been purchased by William Bradford and Miles Standish twenty years before. It's likely that Thomas acquired one of the shares of the Bradford/Standish land.  He was over 60 years old.  He moved to Dartmouth with his wife Sarah and their children. His daughter, Hannah, from his first marriage, stayed in Plymouth.

I'll end this post with the inventory of the belongings of Katheren Fallowell, the mother of Thomas Popes first wife, Anne. The inventory is from her will of 1673. I think it gives us a small window into the sparse simplicity of life in Plymouth Colony. 

The Inventory of Katheren Fallowell

An Inventory of the Goods of the widdow Fallowell taken by vs Robert Finney; and Thomas Cushman
 
Item 1 bed and bolster
Item 2 pillowes 2 blanketts
Item 1 Couerlid and a paire of sheets
Item a paire of Curtaines
Item 2 pillow beers
Item 1 Sew homspon Coate plaine
Item 3 Coates 1 paire of bodies
Item 1 mohear Coate and a Carsey wastcoate
Item 1 stuffe Coate and a Cersey wastcoate
Item 2 Cloth Coates and a Cloth wastcoate
Item 1 Cloake and a hatt and a Green Apron
Item 6 old shifts 3 quoyffs 6 Crosclothes and 1 dressing;
Item 2 Cowes a sheep and a yeerling Lamb
Item 3 pound and 17s in mony

Mr Thomas Cushman and Robert Finney made oath to this writing on each sydes therof viz that this is a true Inventory of such parte of the estate of Gabriell Fallowell which Katheren Fallowell; by his will was ordered to dispose off; and likewise; of her owne proper estate;

Taken before mee Constant Southworth Asistant;

The 7th day of June Anno: domine 1673.


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To link to a rather poorly-produced yet mildly-informative little video about the John Jenney Mill, CLICK HERE.

Isaac Catlett Autograph Book 1887

One of the treasures we have in the Kemp/French/Pope/Catlett archives is an autograph book from 1887. It belonged to Isaac Catlett, the youngest half-brother of Lucy Grace Catlett Pope. If you remember from the last post, Lucy was mother to Frances, and grandmother of Paul Jr, Tom, Jack, and Dick.

I've never seen a photo or even a reference to Isaac, his older brother, Henry, and their half-sister, Ruth, so this autograph book is extra special, I think.

Their father, James, was married three times. His first wife was Winnie Thomas, and they had four children - Mary, Alta, Lucy, and Joe.  Winnie passed away in 1866 and then he married Elizabeth Thomas. They had two sons - Henry and Isaac.  Not sure what happened to Elizabeth, but then James married Mary Ellen Webb, and had a daughter, Ruth.

Below is a photo from the previous post, showing Mary, Alta, James, Lucy, and Joe in 1910. (Don't know where Henry, Isaac, and Ruth were...)

The autograph book was started most likely when Isaac graduated from high school. He was 17 years old, and the entries are from 1887-1889.

The book is remarkable for the beautiful handwriting and the language and thoughts expressed at that time.   They were living in Granville, Clay Township, Missouri at the time.  The 1880 census shows James listed as "Farmer." His wife is listed as "Mary E." and her occupation, "Keeping house." They are followed by Mary, Joe (listed as "School Teacher"), Lucy, Alta, and Isaac. Also listed as living with them is "Thomas Dimmit," a nephew.

1880 Census

At the end of the book, you'll see his sister Lucy's entry. She would have been 28 years old, not yet married to G.B. Pope. Below is a transcription of what she wrote. She quotes a lovely exerpt from a poem by an English poet Richard Monckton Milnes, written in 1840. (On a side note, Milnes was a classmate of Alfred Lord Tennyson at Cambridge, and was a persistent, yet unsuccesful, suitor of Florence Nightengale.)


TRANSCRIPT:

June 21^st, 1887

Dear Ike,

You are young and tender in years, just entering the great battle of life.  Then I would have you remember, “It is the battle, not the prize, That fills the hero’s breast with joy; And industry the bliss supplies Which mere possession might destroy.”

Ever remember your sister,

Lucy

Here are the pages of the "Ike" Catlett's autograph book. You can click on the first image to enlarge it and then click on the enlarged image to move ahead. To get back to the post, click in the black border or on the x. Enjoy.

Letter to Frances from Uncle Joe Catlett - April 18, 1919

Paula, Jennifer, Grandma, Judith, Grandpa, Anne, John, Carla, Jeff, Nancy, Tommy

This post is about a letter written to Frances Pope (my grandmother) in 1919 by her Uncle Joe Catlett.  Joe was writing to remember Frances' mother (Joe's sister) on the one year anniversary of her death.  The sweet poignancy of the letter and of the situation which prompted it, made me think of Frances in a different way.

I knew her solely as "grandma" and I'm not sure I ever could have imagined her as anything else. She looked exactly like a grandma and, as far as I could remember, never changed from that. She always looked like she did in the photo above. Always in a dress. Always in sensible shoes. Wavy gray hair. Surrounded by assorted grandchildren. (As an added bonus, she was far and away the fastest knitter on the planet!)

So, I started thinking about her as a young girl in high school, living in Miles City, Montana. And what it would have been like for her to lose her mother at that time in her life, a girl left with three brothers and a father. I went back over the photos I have of her growing up, and did a little more research on the internet, and tried to fill in some of the gaps.

I'm not sure I have the story entirely correct at this point, but I'm getting there. Here's my best shot at painting a picture of the early life of Frances Pope and family, so that the letter from 1919 will be nestled within some helpful context. Frances passed away in 1969, so I hope that those of you who didn't get to know her, will get to know her now.

[As usual, you can click on any of the images to enlarge. To return to the blog, click on the black border, the ESC button, or the X in the upper right of the pop-up window.]

On December 29th, 1893, Gershom Barlow Pope (aka G.B. Pope, aka "Gert") married Lucy Grace Catlett in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  His first wife, Emma Wood Pope, had died the previous year. Within the next year, G.B. and Lucy moved to South Dakota.  

Gershom Barlow Pope

Lucy Grace Catlett Pope

Estelline, South Dakota

  In 1895, Clarence Catlett Pope (aka "Sandy") was born, in Estelline.  

Clarence

NOTE: I'm going to be including some reminiscences from  Clarence from an interview done with him in 1977.  Those reminiscenses will be in italics.

Mother [Lucy] was born in Missouri. They lived on a farm. Her father raised cattle, horses, and mules. He was a very successful man. Mother was on the farm in Missouri and father came by for some reason. She said that when dad stepped off the buggy, she said, "There's my man, right there!"  She knew it right then... knew the man she was going to marry. He never had a chance after that...

In 1897, James Marion was born. 

Sometime before 1900, G.B. and Lucy adopted Harold Pope.  Harold was born in 1888, so he would have been 13 when Frances was born the following year.

Harold was there ever since I could remember... I guess even before my day. He was older than I was and it fell on his shoulders to do most of the work, like carrying wood, water, etc. We had a pump outside. He was a tough ol' cuss, always into somethin'. He got many a whoopin' but that didn't seem to phase him. He just kept right on.

Frances was born on January 25th, 1901, also in Estelline.  (Note that this is about 30 miles from where Paul Kemp Sr. was born!)

Frances Elizabeth Pope

Father [G.B. Pope] was in the lumber business for a long time, in Estelline. Then he moved into the hardware business and Mother lived above the store. She had these "speakin' tubes" and she could whistle down these tubes and get Father when she wanted him.

Then he used to feed sheep there in Estelline.  He had an elevator where they used to store all the grain. And he had an old treadmill and a horse would furnish the power. The horse would walk all over this treadmill and keep the machinery running. Later on they got a gasoline engine and retired the horse. I can still see that horse walking on that treadmill...

The house in Estelline was down across the railroad tracks from the main part of town and there was a plank walk leadin' down toward the place. Those were the only sidewalks we had in those days. It was on the road that ran from Estelline out to the farms and outlying country. South Dakota in those days was about half wild country.

Father used to haul logs on a sled in the winter and the Indians used to climb on and ride with him. He used to delight in going down a steep hill and then he'd turn right quick and it would throw the Indians off. He was full of the devil.

Father went out to Montana with his brother, Leon. He and Uncle Leon had this ranch up on Fallon Creek and they had some cattle and sheep there. Uncle Leon kind of stayed there and looked after the place. My folks moved out to Fallon Creek first and then later on they moved to Big Timber.

Bertha, Elmer, George Leon "Uncle Leon" Pope, 1902

South Dakota, especially where we were, got pretty "settled up," so we moved out to Montana and started raising cattle and sheep.  Father was always very fond of sheep...

Pope Sheep in winter - horses had to plow so that the sheep could eat

Frances, Marion, and Clarence Pope c. 1903

Frances

Frances

Frances (left) in Kindergarten class

Frances - close up

If you recall the photo of the sheep in the snow above, you'll understand why the family began to spend some winters in California. The photo below is labeled, "Dr Coller and Pope families." It shows Frances on the right lying down, her mother Lucy far right, then (from right to left) Helen Coller, G.B. Pope, and Marion Pope. Amazing attire for the beach. I love those hats...

Long Beach, CA, 1906

Below is Big Timber Ranch in the county of Sweetgrass, Montana. The Popes owned this ranch and lived here circa 1908-1911. The ranch is listed as their residence in the 1910 census.

Pope's "Big Timber Ranch"

And below are Harold, Marion, and Clarence at the ranch.

That photo was taken out at Big Timber.  Sweet Grass was the name of the crick. A hard lookin' bunch!

Harold, Marion, and Clarence Pope 1908

My brother Marion was always kind of a cut-up. He was into everything there was to get into. He got some beer bottles one day and was taking them into the local saloon. He handed the bottles over the counter to the saloon keeper and Mother saw him and came marching down the street with a buggy whip and she went right into the saloon after him. She threw that buggy whip around his knees and he made for the back door. Uncle Joe was in the bank there and he was standin' there with Father when Mother came by with the buggy whip.

Frances

Below is Lucy, along with her sisters, brother Joe, and her father, James William Catlett.

Mary, Winifred, James, Lucy, and Joe Catlett 1910

Mother was a member of the Christian Church. She went to church all the time. She would take us once in a while, when she could round us all up. Father didn't belong to any church. He was probably as religious as most men. 

Lucy Pope

In approx. 1911, the Popes moved to Miles City, but kept the ranch. 

Miles City, Montana

Sheep herding near Miles City

A story was told by Jack Kemp (Balboa), who claimed he'd heard it from his brother, Paul Kemp Sr.:

"G.B. had bought this new Franklin [automobile] because it was air-cooled. They didn't have water cooling in those days. He came home and had three sheep in the back seat, and the car was practically brand new! His wife, Lucy, saw it and she gave him the devil. He replied, 'Well, if it wasn't for these sheep, you wouldn't have the car."

Frances didn't go out to the ranch too often. She was mostly in town, but when she did come out to the ranch, she did a lot of riding.

Frances, 8th grade - 1915

Frances - 1917

Clarence - WWI - 1917/18

On March 26th, Easter Day, 1918, Lucy Catlett Pope passed away. Harold was 30, Clarence 23 and in the Army, and Marion was 21. Frances was 17, a high school junior. 

Lucy Grace Catlett Pope

One year later, Lucy's brother, "Uncle Joe," wrote to Frances to commemorate Lucy. The handwriting is full of flourish, as are the words themselves. It is in a style of that time, but conveys a sentiment true to all time. Below it is a transcription, courtesy of the transcription help of Emily and Rob Hummel. There's one phrase at the end that I've yet to figure out. (All suggestions are gratefully accepted.) But it's a letter filled with love, from a dear uncle.

Joe Catlett and his wife, Lizzie

Letter from Joe Catlett to his niece, Frances, 1919

TRANSCRIPT:

Miss Frances Pope                                                            Brookings, SD  Apr 18^th ‘19

Miles City Mont-

My Dear Niece,

If we have rightly timed ourselves, you will receive this letter on Easter Day and like ours, tonight & then, your thoughts will be on the sad event of Easter a year ago when, with moistened eyes and aching heart we bore to her last resting place our dear and your sainted Mother.  I think it was the immortal Washington Irving that said, “The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced.  Every other affliction we seek to forget, every other wound we seek to heal, but this we consider it a duty to keep open.”  To forget those sad, anxious, love lit eyes as they beamed in tenderness, awful tenderness, the long last goodbye to those loved dearer than life, to cease to recall at intervals the many acts of love and devotion, the many words of earnest counsel & fervent prayer that your feet may follow straight in the path of truth & right, I know would be foreign to your nature.

All our hearts will mingle in sorrow for our dead and I trust we will in remembering her virtues will resolve to honor her memory and live true to her ideals.  I hope that Clarence is getting stronger and that Marion has returned to his house sound & well.  We are rejoicing that none of our boys had to pay the great debt, make the great sacrifice not even [???].

With love and best wishes to all of you, I am your affectionate uncle,

Joe

Frances' high school graduating class
(Frances is in the back row, 4th from the right)

Frances

Frances completed high school and went on to the University of Montana.

G.B. Pope

G.B. had been building a new "Prairie Style" home in Miles City, but hadn't moved in when Lucy passed away. The house was described as being built with a new product called "Flex-O-Tile," a substance resembling stucco but said to be "more lasting and practically indestructible - and fireproof." The family moved in around 1919.  Below is a more recent photo of the home.

Pope Home - 1906 Main St., Miles City, MT

G.B. also bought a new ranch, called the "Cold Creek Ranch," and began to winter his sheep down in New Mexico.

Cold Creek Ranch

G.B. Pope, Clarence, and workers, New Mexico

Lucy was buried in the Custer County Cemetery in Miles City. Here's a photo of the site in 1929, followed by a more recent close-up of her marker.  (For those who would like to find it some day, the GPS location is: N46 23' 19.1" W105 49' 34.2")

Miles City

Jeanne Swick, a woman who contacted Dick when she thought her family tree was intertwining with ours, provided the photos (and GPS location!) above. She also happened upon a stained glass window in a Miles City church. The window is dedicated to the memory of "Mrs. G.B. Pope" and has a beautiful cross and crown. I don't know the name of the church, but will find out eventually.

I'll leave you with what I think is my favorite photo of Frances. It was taken around the time of her high school graduation, one year after her mother passed away. I think it speaks for itself.

Frances 1919