Family Roots and Spring Flowers

It is "Springtime in the Rockies" in mid-May I planted all the flowers I received as Mother's Day gifts in my little garden in Logan, Utah.  This week I will plant the vegetable garden.  There is something about getting one's hands in the soil that literally "grounds" a soul.  My great-grandma Phoebe Fish knew that.

Phebe Fish in her later years.

Phebe planted flowers all around her home in Norman, Indiana. She had pansies on the north side of the old Fish farmhouse, snapdragons on the west side, with roses and flowering shrubs in front.  By the well house scarlet sage grew each summer.  Verbenas were at the edge of the wood house and mums, irises, daffodils and bleeding heart bordered a yard fence.  Purple and white clematis grew on each side of the scarlet sage bed. 

Phebe Fish standing at right with the youngest children. My Grandma Ida Fish (Owen) in the middle front by her father, Isaac Fish. Note the woodwork on the home in Norman, Indiana. The damage to the photo is on the original.

I keep Phebe's picture on my fireplace mantel much of the year.  My sister, Sandy, was able to visit the old white frame house that stood on top of a hill near Norman, Indiana.  (Fish home is located north of US Route 50 and south of Norman on State Route 58.)  I was named after Phebe's mother, Cynthia Fountain Owen who was an early settler of Jackson County, Indiana.  Phebe's daughter, Ida Ellen Fish Owen (my paternal grandmother), also loved flowers.  I think of my family roots each year when I plant bulbs and then again each spring as I watch the flowers bloom.

Isaac and Phebe Fish family.  My paternal grandmother, Ida Ellen Fish, is standing next to her mother, Phebe, who is seated. 

Phebe was born August 7, 1851, the eighth child in a family of thirteen children.  her parents were among the early pioneer families of Jackson County, Indiana.  She was a member of Guthrie Creek Primitive Baptist Church sincer her early girlhood and attended services regularly as long as she was physically able.  She was a widow for 22 years of her life and known as "Aunt Phebe" to many.  Her obituary said, "She was a kind Christian lady who believed in living her religion.  She was very fond of singing the old songs of Zion and the last few months lamented so much that her throat was so she could not sing."  She lived to be 89 and was remarkably healthy and active up until about two years before her passing on February 3, 1941.  She is buried in the Old Liberty Cemetery.

Jim Owen his mother Ida E. Owen and sister Delcie, at their 
Lincoln, Nebraska home. This photo was taken in 1941, the same year Ida's mother, Phebe Fish, died.  I don't know how often then traveled back to visit the extended family in Indiana.

Phebe was much devoted to her children and grandchildren, ever urging them to live a practical Christian life.  The extended family would often come to visit Phebe on Sundays, birthdays, or holidays.  the adults sat on the side porch while the children played in the yard.  Rarely would anyone enter the front door to the parlor.  In the parlor the beautiful furniture and pump organ were kept which the grandchildren were allowed to play as they got older. 

Four Generations:  Great-Grandma Phebe Fish in chair, my grandma Ida Fish Owen on right, my Aunt Delcie Owen Gunn and her two children, Jeryce and Howard Gunn. 

Although the old frame house is deserted and the out buildings have been damaged by tornadoes, I like to imagine that a few of those seeds, bulbs and shrubs still attempt to send up flowers each spring.   I know that Phebe's strong family roots have resulted in a fruitful posterity who will be anxious to meet their gardening ancestor one day.