mccuistions.html

THE McCUISTION FAMILY
by Esther (Schmid) Jennings

David Hoyle McCuistion and Samantha Asmerine Richardson were married in Benton County, Arkansas on September 19, 1869. They were both born in Missouri, David on September 27, 1844, and Samantha on December 19, 1850. David & Samantha's 9 children were: John William (1870-1949), Hannah Tennessee (1872-1952), Sarah F. (1874-1898), David Hoyle (1877-1950), Ida May (1879-1899), Katie Ann (1880-1915), Margaret Jane (1881-1964), George Washington (1885-1969), and Lula Leona (1889-1978). They had moved from Rheatown, Tennessee to Rogers, Arkansas in the 1880s. After Lula was born in 1889, the family moved to Hood River, Oregon, a long journey in those days with such a large family. They had a berry farm in Hood River. David & Samantha moved to Trout Lake in the early 1900s, where they secured land northwest of the lake. From the sale of their land in Hood River they each kept a share of the money, and after David had a stroke in 1919 at the age of 75 he was unable to speak, but the family recalls how he "kept pointing." They assumed that he was trying to tell them where his part of that money was hidden, but it was never found. David died in 1920, but Samantha lived on in Trout Lake until the 1930s when, with her health failing, she moved to White Salmon where she died in 1939. Their daughter Sarah was born October 30, 1874. She married Charles Stanley on January 4, 1891 when she was 17 years old. They had one child, Grace, who was born May 10, 1893. Sarah died on May 13, 1898 at age 24. Grace was only 5 years old at that sad time. Her grandparents, David & Samantha, took her into their home and raised her. Their youngest child, Lula, was 9 years old at that time. Grace married C. Albert Elmer on March 12, 1910 in Trout Lake. She was 17 and he was 20 years old. Their 8 children are: Christ Albert (1911-1960), Lillian LaRue (1914-1969), Eugene Garvis (1916-2001), Ivan Stanley (1917-2000), Clyde William (1919-1975), Lucille Violet (1923- ), Leonard Norman (1925-2002), and Ruth Mabel (1929-2001). Lula was born July 10, 1889. She married Josua Aerni in 1906 when she was 18 and he was 29 years old. Josua and his brother Joseph had a farm not far from the McCuistion home. In 1907 Joseph married Grace McCray, whose family lived further north of the Aerni farm. The two brothers and their wives all lived together for a few years, then Joseph bought a farm just east of the school house. Lula & Josua had 12 children. They are: Olen Joshua (1908-1985), Edith Helen (1910-2002), James Edwin (1911-1986), Gladys Asberine (1914-1987), David Harold (1917-1943), Robert Lee (1919-1939), Maye Elizabeth (1921- ), Verlyn Paul (1923-1987), Betty Jean (1924- ), Delbert William (1926- ), Dan Christler (1928- ), and Ted Junior (1930- ). Edith recalls "I remember on Sundays around dinner time, we children would be watching for our grandparents. They would be walking side by side, dressed up in their best clothing. It was a real treat for us children to have them come to dinner with us. Grandma liked to have me stay all night, because I could read the Bible and pray with her. She was a dear little lady. My mother, Lula, would make all of Samantha's dresses, as she needed extra fullness to reach over her little humped back". Edith also recalls her mother telling her when "as a young bride, Lula cut up a pair of Josua's good pants to mend a hole in his old pants!" George had built a cabin not far from his parents, and in 1908 he married Lillian Schmid. She was 16 and he was 23 years old. That summer George and Lillian drove a horse and buggy to visit her Aunt Regina (Schmid) Elmer and her cousins, where they lived at Fulda not far from Glenwood. George and Lillian had 3 children; the twins Clarence Eugene (1909-1983) and Lawrence Edward (1909-1980) were born on October 8, 1909, and William John (1910-1995) was born on December 7, 1910. Lillian contracted tuberculosis and died May 27, 1912 when she was 20 years old. The twins were only 2 years old and baby William was 1 year old. Samantha had been taking care of Lillian and the children. She was 61 years old then, but continued to care for the boys until they were grown. William recalls his father telling him that when they first came to the Trout Lake Valley around 1900, one could drive a wagon team anywhere through the Ponderosa Pine country below Mt. Adams, as there was no underbrush or chaparral, only the big trees. He also remembers there were lots of wild strawberries that they would pick.