say Amelia-special creations; Lucy called them horse pies. The bottom layer was composed of âthe tenderest of grass,â covered by a layer of Mrs. Twitchellâs sugar cookies, covered by a layer of clover leaves, on top of which reposed Princeâs name spelled out in mulberries.
The girls helped out on the Mann farm with the haying, and milked the cows, and on some tennis court in Worthingtonâwhose is unknownâAmelia learned to play tennis. And they swam out to the raft in the lake. Nearby there was a pasture in which lay the bleached bones of three cows that had died in a blizzard. Amelia, fascinated, spent hours trying to sort out the bones to form one complete skeletonâso many hours that the locals took to calling her Dr. Bones. It was there in Worthington that Amelia also had her first ride in a car. The occasion was a picnic, and the twenty-mile ride to the picnic site
in the Mann car, a Reo, with the Mann daughters, took almost two hours.
Edwin joined the family when he could, and then his favorite pursuit was to take Amelia and Muriel lake fishing for bass, pickerel, and sunfish. It was a seemingly happy time for Edwin, too, who kept writing letters as he traveled about the country. One letter to Muriel, dated August 1909 on âofficialâ Rock Island Line stationery possibly written while in his private railroad car, certainly written when he was in an expansive frame of mind, survives. âDear Madam: I have your claim for $5.00 for having been bitten by a mosquito on our train. Before we can pay the same, we would, at least, like to know how big a bite the mosquito took and we would like to see the mosquito.â
In 1908 Edwin was offered and accepted a job as a claims agent with the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Line (commonly known as the Rock Island), where Amyâs brother Carl also worked, but it was contingent on moving to Des Moines, Iowa. Moving would mean changes for all of them, particularly Amelia because for her it would be the end of living with her grandparents, the end of living in a town where she knew everybody and everybody knew her, the end of College Preparatory School, and separation from her friends.
It was difficult for Amelia Otis as well. She missed her âMillieâ and began to fill in the lonely hours with visits from her other relations; Orpha Tonsing, particularly, noticed that after âMillieâ Earhart left, invitations to dine with Millie Otis in the state dining room came with greater frequency.
That last Christmas at North Terrace with her grandparents was ringed with sweet nostalgia for Amelia. All the wonderful presents and the excitement and the sense of place that comes with being part of a close, loving circle of friends and relatives would all be gone within a few years. From a childhood spent with caring parents and grandparents, in comfort, surrounded by friends, all wants fulfilled, they would be plunged into the dismal ranks of broken homes and poverty. Des Moines marked the beginning of the end of Ameliaâs childhood.
The first house they lived in, in Des Moines turned out to be just the first of many; Amy, steady mother that she was, blunted the blows, but the fact was that in the four years they were in Des Moines, they lived in four houses. They started out at 1443 Eighth Street in 1909, then moved down the street to 1530 Eighth Street in 1910, to 4201 University Avenue in 1911, and finally to fashionable Cottage Grove in 1912. Each was nicer than the lastâthey moved up as Edwinâs financial situation improvedâbut the constant movement was unsettling.
Edwin in those first years in Des Moines was still, when he was around, a wonderful father. On Saturday afternoons he would organize the neighborhood children into a game of cowboys and Indians, with himself as Chief Indian. Amelia loved those games and would never forget how once her father had become so excited that he had even bruised
The girls helped out on the Mann farm with the haying, and milked the cows, and on some tennis court in Worthingtonâwhose is unknownâAmelia learned to play tennis. And they swam out to the raft in the lake. Nearby there was a pasture in which lay the bleached bones of three cows that had died in a blizzard. Amelia, fascinated, spent hours trying to sort out the bones to form one complete skeletonâso many hours that the locals took to calling her Dr. Bones. It was there in Worthington that Amelia also had her first ride in a car. The occasion was a picnic, and the twenty-mile ride to the picnic site
in the Mann car, a Reo, with the Mann daughters, took almost two hours.
Edwin joined the family when he could, and then his favorite pursuit was to take Amelia and Muriel lake fishing for bass, pickerel, and sunfish. It was a seemingly happy time for Edwin, too, who kept writing letters as he traveled about the country. One letter to Muriel, dated August 1909 on âofficialâ Rock Island Line stationery possibly written while in his private railroad car, certainly written when he was in an expansive frame of mind, survives. âDear Madam: I have your claim for $5.00 for having been bitten by a mosquito on our train. Before we can pay the same, we would, at least, like to know how big a bite the mosquito took and we would like to see the mosquito.â
In 1908 Edwin was offered and accepted a job as a claims agent with the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Line (commonly known as the Rock Island), where Amyâs brother Carl also worked, but it was contingent on moving to Des Moines, Iowa. Moving would mean changes for all of them, particularly Amelia because for her it would be the end of living with her grandparents, the end of living in a town where she knew everybody and everybody knew her, the end of College Preparatory School, and separation from her friends.
It was difficult for Amelia Otis as well. She missed her âMillieâ and began to fill in the lonely hours with visits from her other relations; Orpha Tonsing, particularly, noticed that after âMillieâ Earhart left, invitations to dine with Millie Otis in the state dining room came with greater frequency.
That last Christmas at North Terrace with her grandparents was ringed with sweet nostalgia for Amelia. All the wonderful presents and the excitement and the sense of place that comes with being part of a close, loving circle of friends and relatives would all be gone within a few years. From a childhood spent with caring parents and grandparents, in comfort, surrounded by friends, all wants fulfilled, they would be plunged into the dismal ranks of broken homes and poverty. Des Moines marked the beginning of the end of Ameliaâs childhood.
The first house they lived in, in Des Moines turned out to be just the first of many; Amy, steady mother that she was, blunted the blows, but the fact was that in the four years they were in Des Moines, they lived in four houses. They started out at 1443 Eighth Street in 1909, then moved down the street to 1530 Eighth Street in 1910, to 4201 University Avenue in 1911, and finally to fashionable Cottage Grove in 1912. Each was nicer than the lastâthey moved up as Edwinâs financial situation improvedâbut the constant movement was unsettling.
Edwin in those first years in Des Moines was still, when he was around, a wonderful father. On Saturday afternoons he would organize the neighborhood children into a game of cowboys and Indians, with himself as Chief Indian. Amelia loved those games and would never forget how once her father had become so excited that he had even bruised
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