Ninth Generation

85. Alice Luella BELCHER⁶⁹ was born on 23 February 1902 in Orange Township, Juneau County, WI.^1,70,71

Alice's mother died the day after giving birth to Alice. Her father soon remarried someone whose family was already raised.

Alice loved school. Her love for reading and for poetry never left her and she would read everything she could and she wrote poetry all of her life. Unfortunately, all of it was misplaced after her death and never was found, with the exception of these two pieces. The first is written about her parents and the second is written about her aunt, uncle and cousins, the McLeod family:

"On the mossy bank of a woodland stream
Two lovers came to sit and dream.
Dream of the future, a happy home.
One they could call their very own.

Five years have passed, again by the stream
A young man comes to sit and dream.
Not of the future, but of the past
And of his wife then in her grave, at rest.

Two little children were left in his home
For him to care for all alone.

In May of ninteen twelve,
My uncle was taken above.
Leaving four little children
And a wife who knew his love.

My aunt then moved to the city
To care for her children there.
She is making an honest living
By doing more than her share.

She sews and washes and nurses
And tends their daily needs
And shows them and walks the pathway,
that God our Father leads.

Clara, the oldest, a daughter,
Now at the age of sixteen.
Whose tresses are most beautiful
And whose wits are most keen.

She was striken with tuberculosis
And was sent to a state San..
In a short time returned home cured
And will finish her grades if she can.

Margaret, now about fifteen,
Is a lover of country life.
Am sure some day, she will make
A most loving farmers wife.

Arthur, an auburn haired school boy,
At the age of thirteen, there abouts,
Is another of his mother's true helpers
And a loyal member of the local boy scouts."

.
She appeared in the census in 1905 in Byron Township, Monroe County, WI.⁴⁸ She was living with her father and step-mother.
She appeared in the census in 1910 in Lodi, Columbia County, WI.⁴⁰ Alice appeared in the census in 1920 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.²⁶ She appeared in the census in 1930 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.⁷² She appeared in the census in 1940 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.⁷³ Alice died on 16 October 1962 at the age of 60 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.^1,70,71,74 She was buried on 19 October 1962 in Lincoln Township, Monroe County, WI.^1,70,75 in the Lincoln Township Cemetery.

Alice Luella BELCHER and Philip Evan "Phil" JAMES were married on 4 January 1922 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.^1,70,71

Phil was a wonderful Christian man who was loved and respected by his family and friends. Serving the Lord and singing Christian music were an important part of his life. He sang in a male quartet with fellow members of the Tomah Evangelical United Brethren Church for more than 50 years. But it all started with a harmonica solo in church at the age of four. He was still singing in the church choir until just before his death at the age of 86. When he was 14 years old, he took over the family farm 2 1/2 miles east of Tomah and worked it for 45 years,
supporting his family off of the land.
Philip Evan "Phil" JAMES⁶⁹, son of William Lea JAMES and Lena May HOAG, was born on 11 January 1901 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.^1,67,70,71 He appeared in the census in 1910 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.²⁰ He appeared in the census in 1920 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.⁷⁶ Phil appeared in the census in 1930 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.⁷² His farm was on County Trunk CC and his occupation was "Farmer, General Farm."

. He appeared in the census in 1940 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI. His household was on Highway 16, next to that of his widowed father. His occupation was "Farmer, Farm." He died on 20 January 1987 at the age of 86 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.^1,71,74 Phil was buried on 23 January 1987 in Lincoln Township, Monroe County, WI.^1,75,77,78 in the Lincoln-Peterson-Kirby Cemetery.

Alice Luella BELCHER and Philip Evan "Phil" JAMES had the following children: