Memos from Jennie L. Clarks notebook
To Father and Mother on their sixty third anniversary of their marriage.
Sixty three years you have journeyed together
Side by side
Many have been the changes
Since you were groom and bride

Along the pathway of life you’ve wandered
Hand in hand
Gathering the sweet and the bitter
In every land

Many have been the sorrows and cared
That have scoltered along your way
But you’ve had joys as well and pleasant times
Since that bright October day

Eight children came to cheer your home
With their bright and winning ways
And lighten the burdens small and great
Of your declining days

Six of them have gone to the better land
Where they watch for you, and they wait
Only two are left to mourn
When you enter the pearly gate.

You are nearing the sunset of life
Your work is almost done
May the angels meet you at the gate
With the glad acclaims – well done.
Written on our ninth anniversary

Nine long years we’ve lived together
Through sunshine and through stormy weather
May He who guides each wandering one
Be near us till our lives are done.

And when for us this life is o’er
May we meet on that happy shore
Where love and friendships are unbroken

May future years being sweeter joys
And as we gather round our girls and boys
May we grow young again with them
And happy years together spend.
To Moulton – Christmas 1905

I give to you a suit-case
To use in case of need
When traveling round the country
It will be fine indeed.

To can pack your clothes smooth and nice
To keep them very neat
And put the suitcase by your side
Upon the plush car seat.

Some time I may want to borrow
When going to see a friend
And hope you will be obliging
And be willing your suit case to lend

Now this is all for the present
So I will say Good bye to you
Wishing you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New year too
To Moulton

Here is cloth for a new dressing coat
The old one we will put out of sight
For in its ragged condition
It makes you look like a freight

So we’ll consign it to rag bag
The place where it now belongs
And dress you up in a new one
That is made pretty, neat and strong.
Surprise party, Jan. 25th, 1906, Caledonia, IL

Come again kind friends to see me
It filled our hearts with cheer
To see so many smiling faces
Of the old friends so near and dear.

The visit was a complete surprise
To the mistress of the house
But the preacher knew it al the while
And kept as still as any mouse.

That a man and can keep a secret
Was proven to us that day
Was proven to us that day
When the minister knew about it
And never a word did say

The mistress of the Manse
Was ill that fateful day
And had taken herself to bed
Intending there to stay

The preacher was doing the housework
Working dishes and making the bed
Said he cared not for a sumptious dinner
But would take simply milk with his bread

So the mistress was resting easy
Caring not for the dust or the dirt
Trying to get well in a hurry
But her back Oh how it did hurt

All at once she fancied she heard
Many footsteps out in the hall
Then in they marching came
Big and little, short and tall

First came Maggie, Cora and Lettie’
Parnee and the two Jennies 80 fair
Maltie, Katherine and Fannie
And katie with the silvery hair

Poor Loues was left behind
A victim of grips icy chill
But we hope she will soon be well
And not long be very ill.

They came with their boxes and baskets
Their suit cases large and small
Until the house seemed crowded
And scarcely room for them all

The afternoon was for to short
For the hours sped swiftly by
And the day was gone with all its joys
Into the “Sweet-bye and bye”.

Nothing unpleasant happened
To mar the happy day at all
Except when Jennie slipped on the ice
And received such a terrible fall

Now the good byes were quickly spoken
For all wee going away
Wishing us many happy returns
Of this pleasant January day.

To Mary
Eighteen years old today
The years speed right along
Let us enjoy them as they go
With many a jest and song

May your future be like your past
Happy and free and bright
Trying to do some good as you go
And always remember the right

When you reach the sunset of life
And your work on Earth is done
May the angels meet you at the gate
With a glad acclaim – well done

Here after you must be on time
For the watch will keep you right
Ticking away from night till morn
And from morning until night

It has been your hearts desire
A little watch to own
And now you have one nice and bright
You must keep it till you’re grown

Let hands and face be like the watch
Always clean and neat
And never fail at nine o’clock
To be sitting in your seat.
To Lula on her birthday (thirty-first)

Thirty one years you have been with me
And we hope much longer you may stay
And have very many happy returned
Of this, they natal day.

In Future years we hope to see
Improvement in your health
And all that your heart can desire
Of friendship, love and wealth

I trust you’ll choose the better part
Of which you’ve often heard
And treasure will each sacred truth
Of God’s own precious word

You ask for a verse for the thirtieth
Tis hard to refuse the required
So I will put my brain to working
And do my very best feat.

Its hard to make the lines jingle
For the right word will not come
And then they sound so foolish
I wish I had not begun

But I will write a little
To please you if I may
And help to make you happy
On this, yur glad birthday

My heart is filled with gladness
When ever I think of you
For to me you’ve been like a sister
So kind and faithful too.

May our lives be spared to each other
For many years to come
And then we’ll meet with the loved ones
In the bright eternal home.
We were camping on Delavan Lake
With our tent on the edge of the water
The wind blew so hard one day
That everything creakd and tottered

Then a furious qust came
It flew, and it blew, and it blew
It toss the tent right up the middle
In a place that was warn through and through

Their we wee in a plight
With a storm coming just all night
But the rain blew away
So we rested in our cots all right
To Lulu

As I sit and muse and ponder
On a day that’s long since past
That July day of sixty-seven
The memory of which will always last

A little child was ushered in
And joy was in the house
For the little bright eyed darling
Was sweet to look upon.

She came to gladden many hearts
With her sweet and winning ways
She filled the house with sunshine
On dark and gloomy days

A few years past, she left the home
A fair and happy bride
To walk with another down lifes path
And they journey side by side

Thirty six years have passed and gone
Since that day in sixty seven
And they are reaching the noontide of life
And are nearing the gates of Heaven

A few more years, and the gates will open
And we shall enter in
To dwell in the Heavenly City
In the land where there is no sins

With the loved ones all around us
Oh: how happy we shall be
Singing songs of rapture
And the glad jubilee

We are nearing the sunset of life
We know not when our work may be done
May the angels meet us at the gate
With a glad – Welcome home.

To Lulu, Christmas 1905

I was afraid you might prget
The place whereyou wee born
On July thirty, sixty-seven
On a bright and pleasant morn

To keep the place in mind
A spoon I send to you
With the name of the town upon it
In letters bright and new

Keep it for the love that prompts the gift
And cherish it; while it lasts
Think of the place that gave you birth
And the many years that have passed.

For you are thirty eight years old
Time is gliding right along
Let us enjoy the days as they go
With many a jest and song.

Now my verses are ended
So I will say good bye to you
Wishing you a Merry Christmas
And A Happy New Year too.

To Lula Dec. 25, 1908

These spoons were made to eat with
For Lula and nephew Fred
So take a bowl of bread and mild
Before you go to bed.

And in the morning early
A dish of oatmeal eat
It is for more healthy
Than eating so much meat.

It will keep the spoons so clean and bright
To use tham every day
So put them on the table
And use them right away.

This ear of corn, so dainty
Will fil the coffee pot
And keep your hand from burning
If the handle is read hot.

So pour your tea and take your ease
And never mind the heat
But think of your Aunt Jennie
When you sit down to eat.

Dear LulaTo you I now send a handkerchief fine. Hoping that some day wealth may be mine. Then I’ll send presents both costly and rare and not such small ones as this little affair.

To my nieces Grace and Ruby I now send
A picture fair of a dear little friend
One who’s weeks have been short and days
Have been few
But she wishes to send a Merry Christmas to you
When you want to take a nap
On a pillow soft and white
Just put your hand upon a rose
The thorns are out of sight

The cover was made in a hurry
When other work needed my care
So handle it gingerly, for the least little jerk
Might cause a horrible tear.

But it was made by loving hands
So the work will have to do
And now good bye for the present
With a Merry Christmas to you.

Sprinkle neither salt or pepper
On the table by your plate
If the food is not well seasoned
Shake first one and then its mate.

These shapers each have a mission
Which to you I now recall
A black stream from one will run
While from the other, white will fall.

Place these gifts beside your plate
Let no strange hand molest them
And think of the giver while you shake
And love the one who sent them
Ode To a Mouse
Mouse, mouse you came into my house
And made such havoc then
Long I have sought you
Now I have caught you
And your life I will not spare.