Eilleen Gish - the Early Years

Eilleen Frances Vinson 1906 - two years old

Born at the turn of the century on November 13, 1904, my Grandma was the firstborn child to a young couple in the small town of Cottonwood Falls,  Kansas. Her parents were Thomas E. Vinson (born Sept. 16, 1879 in Iowa) and Malina "Lina" Sieker (born 9/5/1884 in Kansas) married on October 1, 1901. Lina's family came from Schweinfurt, Bavaria in Germany where her father, George Adolph Sieker, was born. George immigrated to Wisconsin with his family when he was 13 years old. Her father worked as a Hardwareman in 1880 in Hillsboro, KS and a flour miller in 1900 in Cottonwood Falls, KS. Lina was one of seven children. Lina's mother's parents also came from Germany in the Zimmern area of Prussia. Here's a link to more information about Germany in the late 1800s-early 1900s.

Eilleen (r) and Floyd Vinson about 1908

Eilleen's younger brother Floyd was born in about 1908. They were the only children of Lina and Tom. Eilleen's father worked as a Lineman and they lived in town, in Hillsboro, KS. Her many aunts and uncles lived nearby, several were first-generation immigrants: from Russia (a German-Lutheran settlement) and Germany. One uncle was a Teamster and owned a large threshing machine to help with farm work. Others were farmers. I recall my fascination when my Grandma talked about how she spoke German as a child. I always wanted her to say something in German to me, but she said she forgot how to speak it.

Eilleen went to school through the 10th grade but dropped out before she graduated. This was a common at the time, with only about 16% of students graduating high school nationwide in 1919-20. She did enjoy school, though, and even participated on the women's basketball team, a sport newly invented in the late 1800s by James Naismith. It was thought to be especially beneficial for women, as reported in the Kansas University newspaper, 'By 1896, the Kansas University Weekly had published an editorial calling for the introduction of basketball to the University precisely because the game was “especially well-adapted for girls as quickness and accuracy count instead of muscular strength.”' 


In the next blog we'll look at Sam's early years and then how they met and fell in love.

Eilleen is the second from right, bottom row, with the great smile. Their costumes were stylish but don't seem conducive to vigorous exercise.

High School in Hillsboro, KS about 1914

Sam and Eilleen, My Grandparents

Eilleen and Sam Gish in their garden 1960s: they were featured in a local newspaper

Grandma and Grandpa Gish seemed old for as long as I can remember, though they were only in their sixties. But I loved visiting them on weekends and for that golden week each summer when I could pretend I was an only child and the center of attention, instead of the oldest of three kids. They lived in a retirement community in Hemet, CA. When I stayed with them I fell into their daily routines. Grandpa got up early for his morning walk or bike ride around the trailer park. We had a nice breakfast with a stack of buttered toast, eggs or oatmeal. There were plenty of water breaks throughout the day as it was hot in Hemet. Grandpa in his quiet, joking way called water, "soup" as in, "that's some good soup!" They took me swimming in the community pool, full of old ladies in their flowered swim caps and skirted bathing suits. I loved going on the water slide that arced down to splash into the water. Soap operas, my Grandma's "stories" -- with dramatic storylines of unfaithful spouses, murders, and unexpected turns of events -- every afternoon followed by an afternoon nap for everyone in the heat of the day. An early dinner, often "Shake and Bake" chicken (healthier than fried chicken!), and an evening walk or bike ride. Cereal on TV trays watching Lawrence Welk or other "old people" shows before bed to help us make it through the night before we started again.

Grandma and Grandpa loved their garden. Even on the small scale of their trailer lot, they kept roses, and well-maintained plants along with a lot of little statues. They had a bulldog statue that Grandpa named "Butch" who watched over the place, and a Grecian-style goddess he called, "Big Suzy." Grandma took advantage of classes offered at the community center, gifting everyone in the family with ceramics: hearts painted to commemorate wedding dates and births, coffee mugs painted with flowers and birds. Most important of all, Grandma and Grandpa loved each other and their family: two daughters and their husbands, four grandkids, along their own brothers and sisters. Grandpa always referred to Grandma as his "Little Lady." At about 5'4", Grandma was petite to Grandpa's 6' frame.

They told fascinating stories about their life before retirement. They were far from sedate. Next blog we'll take a look at how they met and their early years.

Telling Our Family Stories

Though this isn't a family photo, Grandma and Grandpa probably drove something like this on their adventures from Kansas to California, across the desert where there weren't even paved roads.

I'm inspired to use some of my retirement time to capture some of the stories I heard growing up. Stories about Grandma and Grandpa Gish and their adventures crossing the western US in early automobiles, the hardships of their lives and their amazing resiliency, the children they bore, raised, lost, and adopted. I'm also going to try to reconstruct stories from my Dad's side of the family. If you have any stories, photos, or information you'd like to pass along, let me know. I hope it'll be something you'll enjoy reading!