They moved to a farm in Athens Township, Jewell County, Kansas to start their life together. Today, their descendants refer to that chunk of land as the Slattery Place. The house that used to be there is where their three children were born. It's where they lived most of their married life together.
In August of 1929, Roscoe and Thelma moved a mile south of where they had spent their married life, to what their children and six of their grandchildren would refer to as the home place. It's the place where their three children were raised and where six of their grandchildren were raised.
The house they lived in at the home place is no longer there. There was a fire sometime in the 1940s and they lost the house. They did move another house to the farm.
The fire not only destroyed the last house that Thelma had lived in, but most of the pictures that existed of her.
August of 1929, a 29 year old Roscoe and a 25 year old Thelma moved to their new home. A quarter section that was theirs to farm. They moved there with their three children, ages 6, 4 and 2, plus the fourth one that Thelma was pregnant with. I can only imagine their excitement as they entered this stage of their married life together.
The world was theirs. Their dreams were coming true. They'd build a beautiful farm and raise a large loving family.
Then 29 October 1929 happened. Two months after they made one of the largest investments in their life, the stock market crashed. The economy was on shaking grounds. The price of grain had taken a hit. The milo crop was still in the field, but not worth near as much as it had been the day before.
It was time to tighten the old belt and do without, so they didn't lose their home, their farm, everything they'd worked so hard to acquire.
I don't know at what point in November Thelma realized she didn't feel good. Were her symptoms only muscle aches and pains? I suspect that, possibly with some agitation tossed in. Maybe her vision was a little blurry. It was November. They probably convinced themselves it was only the flu and would correct itself in a day or two.
All of that combined with the sudden, drastic economical fear of the stock market crashing delayed medical care and treatment.
On 15 November 1929, a little over two weeks after the country went into financial shock, Roscoe went into mourning. His wife died of eclampsia and nephritis.
I know my granddad carried the guilt of feeling responsible for his wife's death to his grave.
When his daughter approached him about marrying her beau, I for one second don't doubt that it was his fear for her that prompted him into suggesting she wait. The guilt he carried for not protecting his own wife was converted into outright fear that some man would cause the death of his daughter.
Did Roscoe refuse to let Thelma see a doctor? I seriously doubt it. I suspect they decided to wait it out, never dreaming it would end in her death.
He had turned 30 years of age in October. Their decisions were based on the information they had at the time. They had three kids to feed, another one on the way, a scary economy. Neither of them had any medical background. And in 1929, I'm not sure there was a lot the medical community could have done for her either.
I wish we'd been smarter when Granddad was alive. I wish someone, somewhere would have sat him down and told him he wasn't to blame.
One of Granddad's last acts was a tribute to Thelma. Buying the piece of land where he and Thelma had lived most of their married life was not so much for our benefit, but a tribute to his wife and the short life they'd lived together.
Look at the picture. Imagine the young couple and their three children. If you listen closely, you can even hear their laughter.
That's the story they want us to remember. The story of their lives together. Not the story surrounding Thelma's last few days and the decades of guilt that followed Roscoe.
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