Pete of The Hill
by
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The car turned off the highway onto the familiar unpaved roads. Agnes and Edna had been down these roads for most of their lives and coming back every year was something they looked forward to greatly. In autumn the trees were like painted leaves, a mixture of red, gold, and green, and it seemed like in Henderson County, Il. Mother Nature put on a magnificent display.
Neither sister could see. Both had lost their eyesight years before but they could pick out ever road and field, telling who had lived there when they were youngsters.
The car went past Cumberland Cemetery where their grandparents were buried, as well as Uncle Andrew and Uncle John. Poor Uncle Andrew was such a handsome young man when he was brought down in the prime of life by a railroad accident. Agnes could still remember the funeral procession as it rolled down this very road to the cemetery. He had been engaged to be married soon and the sounds of his fiancee crying and sobbing still haunts Agnes.
Rounding another curve, the car passed the Bergren farm. The Bergrens were gone now and strangers lived there. Where the road forked in front of the house, they went to the left. The right turn went down to the “The Old Place” as they always called it, the place where they had lived and played. The old road had long since grown up with trees and brush, becoming impassable. It had once been the main road from Biggsville to Oquawka, but that was in the days of the horse and buggies. What a waste of scenery.
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About the Book
Back in 2006 my brothers and I sold our parents home after my Dad had passed away. Prior to selling the house we cleaned out the attic. Through all of the sorting there was a trunk hidden behind the chimney that was very heavy. We lugged it to my garage for storage. It wasn't until this summer that I finally opened it up and I sorted through it.
As I was sorting, I found the original unpublished manuscript that my Mother had written and finished in 1983 (my Mother passed away in 2000). It is a memoir of her immigrant grandparents (Pete and Emma) who settled in an area around Oquawka Illinois. The story begins and ends through the eyes of my Grandmother and her sister, from about 1853 to 1983.
I had remembered that it was my Mother's secret desire to have this story published, but back in 1983 it was more difficult to do than it is today. She had one rejection and became a little downcast so she put it away and it was all but forgotten.
The thought occurred to me to self-publish it and give it to my family members as a surprise Christmas gift. But as I was retyping it to send to the publisher, I really got caught up in it and thought it was a sweet story that had some things to be told.
If one is looking for profound writing, they might be dissappointed. But if one is looking for a story that is told in a sweet and simplistic way that tells of some profound moments in American History, it may be enjoyed.
The story tells about what life was like back in the mid to late 1800's around the Oquawka and Monmouth Illinois area. It tells a little about my Mother's two Uncles who were in WW 1, things my Grandparents had to endure during the great depression and my Mother's two brother's who fought in WW 2. She writes a little bit about F.D.R. and what a mad man Hitler was. Sometimes the simplicity of her writing almost reads like an older childrens book, but sometimes simplistic is good.
The story has some mishaps and adventures of Emma and Pete's childen when they were young and the story follows them into adulthood. There was sometimes sadness and tragedy. The story touches on the untimely and shocking death of my Grandmother's younger sister. She also writes about my Grandmother's brother who took his own life in the timber around the Oquawka area.
I was only 12 years old when my Great Uncle committed suicide. I do remember at the time how tragic it was, but it wasn't until I reread the story that it struck me so sad. I guess as one gets older we sometimes develop empathy. (Although it is not mentioned in the story, my brother told me he had been a runner in WW 1 over in France. He must have been very brave.) It is my hope that this part of the story may bring awareness to someone suffering pain, whether it is mental, physical or both.
I will be the first to admit I am not an editor. There may be some grammatical and spelling errors (due more to myself than my Mother.) My Foreward and Preface in the book are embarrassingly amateur. But if you can overlook all that, it is a sweet and poignant 65 page little story told from the heart of a women who left behind a hidden family treasure.
About the Author
June Morgan is the granddaughter of Emma and Pete Peterson. All research and details have been done by the Author. June Morgan was born June Clark in Monmouth Illinois in 1920. After her marriage to Paul Morgan of Monmouth they moved to Galesburg, Illinois where she lived until her death in 2000 at the age of 80. She was the Mother of three children, five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. She worked in Galesburg for 38 years at the Intra State Telephone Company as a Telephone Operator.
Her daughter LeAnn Morgan is the ghostwriter for Pete of the Hill. She is an award winning author of the short stories, Thomasine's Journal - A Midwest Gothic Tale, Even a Beautiful Swan, and A Writer Takes Her Pen To Write the Words Again. She is currently writing her first novel.