Lillie Belle LYTLE REASOR

Back Left: "Bood" Richard Sylvan REASOR b.1900, Edgar Webster REASOR b.1885 IN-d.1953 IN, Lillie Belle LYTLE REASOR b.1887 IN-d.1985 IN, "Ella" Mary Alice Bell went thru life known as Ella Hammond b.1862 standing behind her sister, Elizabeth Jane BELL REASOR b.1863 IN-d.1947 IN, Gladys Gwendolyn REASOR LINTON b.1909.
Front Left: in front of "Bood" the blond boy Gerald Lester REASOR b.1914, taller boy Glenn Winnifred REASOR b.1910, two little boys are twins Gordan Lloyd REASOR b.1917 IN and Garland Lee REASOR b. 1917-d.2004 WA, sitting Elizabeth CURL BELL b.1839 IN-d.1933 IN, Opal Hall (with hand over her face) died at age 18, in front of of Gladys is Goldia Blanche REASOR GOLDMAN MILLER b.1913.

The life story of Lillie Belle Lytle Reasor.
as written for Kay....August 19, 1965,

Lillie had come from Indiana to Colorado to visit her son Lee and spent a month.

"The year 1887, James Warren Lytle lived on a small farm in a valley with cliffs on either side. He had six children. Namely Austin, Charlie, Lemuel, Rosa Monzelle, George Fredrick and Zena Monroe. On February 23, 1887 another little blond girl, that little girls name was Lillie Belle. Me. Came to live with them. The last of the family increase.

We lived in a four room house. Pretty full but we had fun. At Mifflin, Ind. When I was five years old I started to school. Had to walk 1 1/2 miles through mud and over creek, on footlogs. One time my sister Rosa fell off a foot log into the water. I got pretty scared. My teacher's name was Henry Dolittle. I went to a one room school through the 8th grade. We didn't have high school to go to then like we do now. I went to summer school instead. Studying to be a teacher which my mother wished me to be.

Back to the farm, we all had fun. Horse back riding, going to partys, apple pealing and cane stripping. We would work awhile then we'd all go out and play tag, or drop the handkerchief. The boys and girls went around together. Thats where I met my husband to be. We were at an apple pealing party. He took me home from there. Not in a car, no. We didn't have carsback then. We walked, rode horse back, or in a buggy. If a young man had a horse and buggy he was some 'pumpkin'! The girls were all after him. I generally rode on the horse behind Edgar.
That was my husband's name. Edgar Webster Reasor from Mifflin, Ind. He was borned in Dubois Co, Ind, near Birdseye.

Talking about horse and buggy days, one day my boy friend and I were walking along a road along came another boy with two fine horses to a buggy. He stopped and asked me to ride. I did. How silly! Anyway the next Sunday the boy I left went to the livery stable and hired a horse and buggy to take me to a church dedication. It worked. Ha. Guess we were naughty girls then, the same as now. No we didn't smoke, wear shorts, or drink.

I joined the Methodist church at Mifflin when I was about 15. The only church we had to go to. We enjoyed going to church and Sunday School. I never worked away from home. I did pick black berries and sell them for 10 cents per gallon, for spending money.

Back them days one could get a new calico dress for six cents per yard, took four yards for a dress. A new pair of shoes for $1.25 and we wore yarn stockings in the winter, which my mother knitted. In the summer cotton stockings, about ten cents a pair. We did very well selling berries at ten cents per gallon.

On April 15, 1908 Edgar and I were married. We rode in a buggy to English and got the license and were very quietly married. I had a white dress. We never had any honeymoon. Went back home. But oh what a charivari we did get. Even crawled under the house and shot guns. My husband had been converted to the Mormon Church. We were both baptized May 1909 by Mormon Elders. We had six children. Gladys Gwendowlin was born at Mifflin Sept 29, 1909. Glenn Winfred was born near Taswell Dec 16, 1910, Goldia Blanch March 18, 1919 at Taswell, Gerald Lester Dec 15 at Eckerty. Garland Lee Jan 21, 1917 and Lloyd Gordon Jan 21, 1917 at Eckerty. When the twins were 3 years old we moved to a farm near Grantsburg. Where they all grew up and went to school. Lee and Lloyd graduated from high school at Leavenworth, Ind. The children were all baptized in the LDS church. After children were all married we stayed on the farm awhile. Edgar contacted hart trouble. We bought property and moved to Endlish, Ind. He passed away in 1953. I went to work babysitting and am still babysitting."

!Letter excerpts from Lillie Reasor sent to ...Kay... 28 Nov 1977 "In regard to the kind of dress I wore when I was pregneant. We called them Mother Hubbards. Had a yoke at the top then gathered the rest and sewed onto the yoke. And let it hang loose around and long. In regard to nursing twins--I'd sit in a rocking chair. One on each knee and each one had a breast to suck on. Then they would go to sleep. I'd have to sit till Edgar came in and took one and put it to bed. Then I could get up with the other one and put him to bed. Never had a bottle for either one. I had a man to tell me one time I was as good as a Jersey cow. Ha. Boy it was fun raising two boys. A fellow don't know what he can do till he tries. Any way we raised two wonderful boys. Don't you think so"

!26 Feb 1978 "You were talking about my wedding dress. It was white and I made it myself. I embroidered it with white. Real pretty. It wasn't real long like most of them now. I didn't like long dresses.

!21 Mar 1978 "You asked about games we played when I was young. I remember one, we called 'Smile.' Everyone sat in a circle, one person went around to one at a time and tried to get them to smile. If they smiled or showed their teeth they had to give a 'forfeit,' like a pencil or knife, ring, or something they would want back. Then some one took a forfeit in his hand and goes to a person and says 'heavy, heavy hangs over your head.' He says fine or super fine, if it is a girls forfeit they say superfine, a boy is fine. What shall the owner do to redeem it? Then he tells some crazy thing they have to do. Like turn a somersault or stand on their head, roll over on the floor or some crazy stunt. We kids liked to play that, and tag. The kids all form a ring by joining hands and some one goes around to tap someone and start out running. If they catch you, you go into the ring for "soap grease." And another one was to drop a handkerchief behind someone. If he doesn't see it the one that dropped it gets back around and puts him in to the ring for "soap grease". Well probably you know how to play these games but they are fun to play.

!31 Jan 1978 "You wanted to know how we made soap. We lived on the farm and raised hogs. We butchered the hogs for our meat. When we butchered a hog we would strip the fat off the intestines. And rendered the grease out of them and made soap out of the grease. Or we used chicken fat or any other fat, fried bacon fat. We had a big iron kettle we would put everything in it. Some times I had meat scraps I'd put them in the kettle with some water and a can of lye and boil them until the meat scraps were cooked up with lye water. It would boil like jelly when it was done. Now there, ha ha! Is that the way you made soap? I guess you just had the pease and lye and a little water.