My Grandfather was Joseph Charles Clipston.  He came to America from Warkton,  Northamptonshire, England with his parents and siblings in 1863.  I never knew him  since he died in 1933 and I was born ten years later.  After my Father (Earl Alvin  Clipston) died in 1997, I was given a picture of my Grandfather.  It is 13" wide by  18" long, oval, tinted, bubble glass, and Grandpa is a young man probably in his 20's  dressed in a suit and tie.  I began to wonder how a man with 11 children could afford  such a picture.

So I began to dig into the Clipston Family Tree.  Their first home in America was on  a farm in Decatur County, IL.  Later the family moved and was among some of the  earliest settlers in Fremont County, IA. I was also curious how such a large family  could live in what Dad called the "Home Place".  The Home Place was a farm; it was  just south of Shenandoah, IA.

When my Great Grandfather died, my Grandfather had charge of the family farm.  His  Mother, Eliza, stayed on the home place until her death in October of 1916.  The farm  house had a large kitchen, a living room and a small bedroom downstairs.  There was  also a second floor, but it couldn't have had more than four very small bedrooms up  there.

Well, I found out why Grandpa could afford that picture, he didn't get married until  he was forty!  My Grandmother was Delpha Stitt and she worked in a dry goods/grocery  store in Thurman, IA.  They married when she was only 19 years old.  The next year,  1896, their first son was born.  Then in 1898, 1900, 1902, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910,  1912, 1914 they had a child and finally, in 1919, the last child was born.  By then  Grandma was 43 and Grandpa was 62 and they had 11 children ranging in age from  newborn to 23 years of age.

My Grandfather spent years traveling with his steam engine, thrashing wheat.  This  left the family at home to do chores and harvest crops.Working in the cold and bitter  months, frostbite was a problem.  In later years, Joseph lost a leg because of this.   Joseph became very ill in 1931, as a result of his illness, he lost his hearing.  He  died on December 18, 1933 at his home at the age of 78.

My Uncle Frank, the second-born son stayed on the home place.  Grandma Clipston lived  there until her death on August 26,1954.