A little bit about the Thornton's part three

If, I had any sense at all I would have paid attention to the old adage “let sleeping dogs lie” and not got involved in this. But I said I would. So I guess there is no turning back now!

I must reiterate these memories are from a very isolated youngster. On the rare occasions, that I broached, this sensitive subject. I got what I like to refer to as “the hesitation waltz” The look that went along with the delay (body language) clearly said, the person did not want to pursue this subject. So when I asked, did this or that happen? I always got an emphatic “no!” And then usually a quick subject change or vague double- talk. This was the reaction from all family members, whether it was ignorance or embarrassment is open to conjecture

As I proceed, conjecture, is the key word. Let’s hope there is more fidelity than fallacy to this undertaking.

For years I was bitter. I could not for the life of me understand how the Lemp family would just cut us kids adrift. But now I realize it was a complex situation and probably was handled the right way.

So I will proceed with what little bit I know about the Lemps.

Grandfather Harry Lemp

I first became aware of him, when things started to deteriorate in our household. All the kids were packed off to friends or relatives. This hiatus was meant to be a time of healing. David and Harry went to stay with neighbors. Adele stayed with Aunt Ethel Parker. Delice, with another Pa. relative. I have no idea where Noel went as he was still an infant. I, with the luck of the draw, got the Col. At the time he was married to his first wife and they lived in New York State. Or it could have been Pa. I’m not sure it just seemed awfully far away to me. It was a rigid atmosphere and in retrospect I’m sure it was not a lot of fun for them. The few times I saw him in the future he came across as being quite pompous. Although the last time I saw him before he passed away, he seemed to be reflective and a little rueful. Later I learned that he was not as affluent as I thought he was. I vividly remember two incidents that were outshoots of my brief stay with him. One I prefer to keep to myself. The second one occurred on my first night of basic training. The DI’s spend the first day striving to scare the living shit out of the recruits. So that first night when we were all in our bunks after lights out. All I could hear was troopers crying. As I lay there, the thought popped into my head. “Look at me, Col. I ain’t crying!

Uncle James-Herman’s brother
Up until about fifteen years ago I had only heard his name mentioned a few times. When I finally did get to meet him I was impressed. He came across as a humble gentleman. He was an art Professor at a college on Long Island in New York. He had a studio at his home and was a renowned artist. Although I only met him a few times he has had a big impact on my life style. Allowing me to have a little financial freedom in my retirement.
When I think of him, I feel as though he and my great-grandfather must have had the same demeanor.
Aunt Clara Hutchings-Herman’s sister
Clara was slight of stature and rather timid. But very intelligent, refined and pleasant. She lost her only son Richard to an automobile accident. He was a young man in his twenties (him and David were close) She also lost her husband Maurice (I think that was his name) when he was only fiftyish. Adele lived with Clara for a few years, and Clara was a good influence on her. Clara lived in a affluent section of Newton, Mass. and was a librarian there for many years. I remember her and her husband coming to Beverly to pick up Noel and I and taking us to Merrimac Mass. for Delice’s wedding to Ralph Wilson. When she passed away there was a good representation of Lemp’s in attendance.
Clara was the type of person who made you proud to be a Lemp. And I do believe that it was her type of demeanor that attracted her brother to Leah Thornton.
David Lemp-Herman’s son
David is the oldest child. And the one I know the best. Although we did not see eye-to-eye on most things and had not seen much of each other during our childhood. We did communicate when we became adults. Dave liked to make periodic visits back to the area, to visit family and friends. He is much more qualified to relate the saga of the Georgetown Lemp’s than I am. He like the rest of the family was tight lipped when approached. But on occasion there were hints of knowledge, or maybe they were slips.
He would talk about visiting relatives and I would have no idea who they were.
Although I often thought that David was blind in one eye and could not see out of the other. I felt we were similar to a certain degree. Anytime someone would stand up and say “If I had my life to live over again, I would not change a thing” I would say to my self what a crock of shit. I’m sure Dave agrees and like me, rues many things.
I am beholden to him for certain things, but feel as though we are square.
One summer his step daughter Linda came to live with me and my family at Danvers port Mass. She turned out to be a delightful person. And we are very fond of her and her mother Jan. I for one think David should thank his lucky stars for having Jan. In reciprocation my daughters Becky and Diana went out there one summer. And became friends with Dave’s daughter Sandy, who my daughters often speak of when we talk about the family. I went out there for a combination hunting trip and Linda’s wedding. It turned out to be quite an experience. My wife at the time, Priscilla and my daughters Lisa and Becky followed a few days later and arrived at O’Hare airport right after a horrific airplane crash. My memory is sketchy on the details but they lost all of their luggage. Someone had to go pick them up and they barely made it to the church on time. I also recall Linda being a nervous wreck the night before the wedding and was outside with me cleaning rabbits in a snow shower.
I also recall a pleasant trip out to Omaha. From there I, Dave, and two of his friends drove up to International Falls Minn. Where we flew to a fishing camp in the middle of Canada for a week of walleye fishing.
Dave's looks and demeanor remind of grand father Harry.

I’m going to have to make the Thornton and Lemp blog a few more installments longer as I am turning into a real gas bag. I have yet to mention Harry, Noel, my sisters, mother and father, great grandfather or a line or two about his nibs. So I will end this segment with the last newspaper article I have of the Thornton’s. I will end what ever segments that are left with some literature about my great grandfather Dr. Hermann Lemp

             North East Breeze Wednesday August 22 1990
                 Old Days in North East by Ralph Hartley
                          The Village Blacksmith
Soon after the Civil War the Village of Little Hope appeared about as it does today, with eight of ten little houses n the south side and a few houses and several mills on the north side.
So far is known, Myron Stetson had the first fulltime blacksmith shop in Little Hope. It was on the north side, about where the store used to be. The pioneers had lots of horses, and oxen too. Whether they were “shoed” is not certain. Roads were soft in early days.
Heavy hauling on graveled roads with loads of logs, feed, etc., meant horses’ hooves needed protection. Myron may have had a shop prior to the Civil War. He died in 1917. He took Hiram Thornton as apprentice about 1889.
When horses and oxen provided transportation and farm power, the blacksmith was perhaps the most important man around. In addition to shoeing animals, he put steel rims on wagon wheels, steel runners on sleighs and cutters. He repaired machinery, put spokes in wheels, made sleds for kids, make milking stools, and did a lot of useful things.
Hiram ran the shop until 1919. By this time automobiles were becoming common. Hiram could see it happening. No longer was the horse dominant and no longer was the blacksmith as important. In 1919, Hiram bought his first car, a Maxwell, sold to him by Ora Pierce.
Lee Thornton says his dad bought it to experiment with mechanically, evidently hoping to learn enough to look after cars as well as horses. He had greatly enlarged the shop in 1916, and had a gasoline-powered lathe. He made baseball bats and other things with the lathe. Area baseball teams had Hi’s bats. You couldn’t break them over your knee as they do today. The handles were much too thick.
Adding to Hi’s troubles was the January, 1917, fire which burned his small barn. Three horses died and a cow and the winter’s hay and oats. A visitor dropped a cigarette in some straw on the floor, it was believed. The wind was blowing toward the house when the fire began, but luckily it changed directions and the house was spared.
Hiram sold his shop in 1919 and tried farming for a year or two. After a brief stay near Hornby, Hiram moved to North East where he lived until he died Dec. 24, 1925. He was only 59. Lee suspects that a horse’s kick to the stomach area some years before, may have affected his health.
Horses were nervous creatures, suspicious of persona approaching from the rear. Hiram made just one careless move, and it was a painful experience. Blacksmithing was a dangerous occupation in many ways. Horses could bite as well as kick, or they might use their weight to crush you against a wall.
Then, too, Hiram was heating iron to a white-hot, soft condition. He judged its readiness to shape by its color. A careless contact with the heated metal could cause a severe burn. A leather apron gave protection protections against sparks, but his face was uncovered. He wore a mustache and a cap. A long-sleeved undershirt helped guard his arms against burns.

Hi’s powerful hands were bare. He needed the touch of the hammer to guide his strokes. If a live spark hit a hand, he could always dip his hand in a nearby bucket of water.

On a typical day he arrived at the shop at seven, went home at noon, and then worked until work was finished in the afternoon. Sometimes in a rush of urgent business he might return to the shop and work until eleven.Mary, his wife, kept a big kettle of stew on hand in case Hi brought a customer or two home for lunch. Mary bore him 13 children, over a period of 25 years, from 1892 to 1917. Omer died at age 9 n 1902. Two girls died soon after birth. Ten children grew into hard-working, responsible adults and lived to old age.

When Hi got married about 1891, his father, Buel, told him, “If you have more children than I had, I’ll give you a hat”. Buel had 11 children. So Buel, after Spencer was born in 1917, presented Hi was a hat.

Buel had served in the Civil War. After the war ended, he had some peacetime service in New Orleans and met a Southern lady who be(came) his wife. Somehow she survived northern winters after Buel brought her home to the Saginaw, Michigan farm where he had a land grant from…… duty. He later moved to Harborcreek and then to the Wilson Road farm which was later owned by Archie Buel’s wife was Amelia Scherman Thornton.