LIFE OF O. E. HOBACK as told to Edna Greet (Vernon’s grandmother)
Additional Notes: 1907 to Nowood from Wolton, there three years. To Lost Cabin short time, driving state. Married early 1910, to Carl De Groot Sawmill in Natrona County, Wyoming at head of Buffalo Creek on east slope of Big Horn Mountains, Mary born. There to Hyattville in 1910, there three years. Bertha and Oscar born there. To Ten Sleep in 1913, there two years, Billie born during that time at Tola’s mother’s home in Basin.
From Ten Sleep to Worland for a while, there to Institute (blacksmith and assistant field boss. Johnie born there at Coulter, back to Worland with Jim Gifford, three years. From there to Manderson, there nineteen years.
Tola worked in Park seven years, to Pitchfork 1938-1941. To California in oil field three years, to Ten Sleep, to Oregon and back to California. Tola cooked for Frison’s three springs, Spratt’s two years, Pitchfork five years. To Cheyenne three times for three operations.
With a horse shoe nail? He was not very big.
Uncle Oscar picked the lock on his step mother’s trunk and took some jewelry, which he took out in the weeds and smashed with a hammer and ax. He then took it to Mr. Shoemaker, the jeweler and tried to sell it to him. Mr. Shoemaker got him to tell him where he had got it. Oscar told him his father had given him two dimes and a nickel for 4th of July. The step-mother found out about it and took it away from him. Oscar told the whole story, when he was threw (sic) Mr. Shoemaker was silent for a while. Then he told Oscar he would help him this time, but never do such a thing again. He weighed up the mangled metal and told Oscar it was worth about $2.50. He gave it to Oscar a nickel or a dime at a time at not too frequent intervals. Mr. Shoemaker had a boy Winfred whom Oscar liked and chummed with.
A Mr. Hatfield lived in the old stone hexagon shaped house. He had a son Willie, with whom Oscar spent quite a bit of his time. There was a work bench in the basement of the Hatfield house, and the boys made things which they sold to other kids and made a little money. Mr. Hatfield wanted to send Willie to a school to learn some skill or trade or profession. Willie didn’t want to go without Oscar, so the father went to Oscar’s father and offered to send Oscar with his son, paying all his expenses and treating him in every way the same as his own boy. But grandfather had his heart set of Oscar becoming a minister.
Find me here!
Hardy! lots of ingenuity!
Sure wish our family had a written record of their lives from the late 1800’s. We do have a written account of one Grandma who went across
country with a very early car club…goggles and all!