North Dakota Farming on the Frederick Farm and a July 4th Party

Not much to add to these photos.  Hard working people coming together to help one another.  People giving of themselves....



A photo from a distance.  You can see the grain blowing out the funnel to the left.  Lots of people, horses and heavy machinery.


 
This last photo is of a 4th of July picnic on the Frederick Farm in North Dakota.  When enlarged, I can see Sophia and John Frederick, along with Albert and May Frederick.  Several siblings are in the picture, but trying to identify each one specifically can be challenging.  Still, it's wonderful to just look at them all and know they are my hard working family, not afraid to venture out to the western frontier.

Frederick Houses - North Dakota

Since I was a young girl, I have always been intrigued with the west. Reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books have always brought me much enjoyment. And then, how surprised I was to find out that my dad's grandparents had actually homesteaded in North Dakota around 1900!

In ordering pension records and land patent records, I was able to find many things in the genealogy of John and Sophia Frederick. The photo immediately below was taken McHenry County North Dakota and probably a little prior to 1906. No trees, no flowers... it looks so barren, but many of these family members stayed in the area for a large part of their lives.



My grandmother's parents, Albert and Susie May, on the other hand left sometime prior to 1908 as she was born in Texas in 1908. (Their picture is in my first blog post.) I am amazed to think of how they lived out here on the northern prairie, having left the safe area of Clark County, Ohio to try a new life. What an incredible blessing to have this heritage.