Newton Caleb Letter to Home

"Letter to the Family"

1805 Cleveland Avenue
Baxter Springs, Kan. 66713
Sept. 23, 1970

Dear Folks at Hartford, Soo and Dells:

Well its just the way it was - there were three of them; three Welshmen around Wild Rose named John Evans. "Little John" was a farmer's son who was small for his size, only 5'6" when he had grown. "John the Baptist" lived in town and went to the Baptist Church. "Potatoe John" was a farmer and raised acres of potatoes.

Wild Rose in the old days was a community of Welsh and Polish settlers. My grandparents on both sides had settled there in the late 1800's and each set raised sons and daughters, and that's where I was born and grew up until I left there to go to Business College when I was 23.

Welshmen are known for their good singing; I have a deep, rich bass voice but the choir director, and my wife and children, always told me I was singing in the wrong key, so I never was of much help in the church choir.

With so many people of one nationality living in a community there was bound to be some with similar names. I can't recall that I ever heard of a Welshman named Oscar, Leo, Fred, Theodore, Erastus, Frank or Joe. But there were Johns, Hughs, Roberts, Samuels, Davids, etc. There were three Hugh Jones' there. "Hugh C" lived in town. "Hugh Charles" was a farmer on the lowlands near a marsh. "Hugh Top" was another farmer, but lived on the highlands near a hill. One never said "I'm going to see Hugh Jones over on the lowlands", but said "I'm going over to see Hugh Charles." Or "Have you seen Hugh C lately?".

There was David W. Clayton and David O. Clayton. David W. was my cousin, son of Edward G., while David O. was his cousin, the son of "Little Will" Clayton. "Little Dick" was all one had to say to identify Richard Davis, a farmer who had a pretty daughter. On the street someone would see her and say "who is that walking over there"? Oh, that's Carrie Little Dick." Everyone knew that "Bill O." was William O. Williams, brother of Owen E Williams. Bill O. had a grown son named Owen Eddie, so when you talked about Owen Williams you said either Owen E. or Owen Eddie. And you just knew without asking questions that Tom C. was a brother to Bill O. and Owen E. There were two Tom Jones' there. Tom Jones was one man, but the other had a younger brother named Gad, and so he was referred to as "Tommy Gad".

When you asked about "Maggie Bob" you knew she was the wife of "Bob H." Davies, the blacksmith. And when someone spoke of "Emma K." you knew they meant the wife of "Bob K." Jones the hardware store owner.

There was more than one Will Jones, but one was known as "Peek-a-boo Bill" He was rather a shifty character who walked around town and seemed to be always looking around the corner of a building or a tree to see if anyone was coming. I remember one night my mother had sent me to the store for something. I was walking along the street when I met "Peek-a-boo Bill" coming out of the alley, but peering around the building just as he came out. It didn't take me long to get home, I'll tell you. He never caused any harm, but his reputation was worse than he was.

But there was only one Newton Caleb Walters!!! Walters was not a Welsh name, but all my grandparents came from Wales. My paternal grandfather's name was originally Evan Thomas. When he came from Wales he settled around Waukesha, Wisc., amongst many other Welshmen. It seemed that when he went back to Wales he complained that his relatives had not written him while he was in America. But they really had been writing, but the letters had gone to another Welshman named Evan Thomas. So my grandfather then changed his name and took as his surname his father's first name, Walter, and became Evans Walters. So that's how come I, a Welshman, am named Walters. (** We have since found out that this story is not true. Our ancestors have always had the name Walters **)

Well there you have a history of Walters in Wild Rose. The only reason I've taken the time to tell it all is that I figure by the time you figure it all out, I won't have to write for another three weeks.

We've had a lot of rain since we got back. It rained most of yesterday and most of last night, and still hasn't cleared up as of noon today. Monday evening we went with Mary and Wendall to the Lions Club picnic out at the park. It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed the outing and meeting some new people. Wendall is a Lion and I've been asked to join, maybe I will.

Night before last we were sitting and watching TV about 10:30 when we heard a loud explosion. It turned out that some boys had taken dynamite and blew it off in an open field, leaving a good sized hole. No damage was done though, but it sure awakened lots of people who were sleeping or just relaxing.

Well, now I've just gotten back from rushing up to get Robbie. Mary called that she got stuck in the beauty parlor longer than she planned and wanted me to go to get Robbie so he wouldn't be scared when he got home from school and found her gone. Well, I got there and found Robbie cuddling a new kitten he brought home with him. They already has two cats, so I think I know what the answer will be.

Can't think of anything else now..

Love to all...

NCW and Gin

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