Eighth Generation

59. Herbert Harrison "Herb" BELCHER was born on 14 March 1878 in Juneau County, WI.¹ He appeared in the census in 1880 in Necedah, Juneau County, WI.¹⁸ He appeared in the census in 1900 in Cutler Township, Juneau County, WI.¹⁹ He was living with his parents and his occupation was "Farm Laborer." Herb died on 12 August 1963 at the age of 85 in Dallas, Dallas County, TX.¹ He was buried on 20 August 1963 in Wimbledon, Barnes County, ND.¹ in the Prairie Creek Cemetery.

Herbert Harrison "Herb" BELCHER and Laurena Maude "Maud" REYNOLDS were married on 25 December 1900.^1,60,61

"By Stephanie Burns Sylvester(daughter of Barbara GaleBelcher Burns Levine Lovelace, his granddaughter)
 
I have many memories of my great-grandfather, since he lived with my family for the first nine years of my life.  He was very important to me, and spent a lot of time playing with me and keeping me company. We all called him Grandpa Herbie. 
 
My knowledge of his life came from his very devoted daughter-in-law, my grandma, Segred Barnhart Belcher.  She told me many stories about him and Maud.  She had taken Herbie into her household around the time of Maud’s death, and he lived with my grandparents for the next twenty years, until his death. Grandma loved Herbie, and never resented his presence.  She always said he was the easiest person in the world to get along with, a perfect gentleman, and that he never made any demands.  In addition, he contributed to the household by doing construction and maintenance on their homes.  I know he helped my Grandpa Dallas build asecond story onto one of their homes, in Tulsa, I think, or maybe Minneapolis.  He and my grandfather were inseparable companions, going fishing, maintaining the home, or admiring my grandmother for all her skills, including making them feel loved and cared for.  He must have moved in with them around 1943 in Tulsa, because he passed away in the summer of 1963.  My mother and my uncle were still young children, and they loved having their grandfather live with them.  He was an important part of their growing up years.  He set an example of a loving grandparent who modeled adult virtues such as sobriety, thrift, and industry.
Herbert had married Maud Reynolds around the turn of the century.  They had two sons, Dallas LeRoy and Jasper.  Jasper died when he was two,and Dallas became an only child, with two completely devoted and admiring parents.  Herbert was a carpenter by trade, and created some unusual pieces of furniture that are still in my family.  There is a set of wooden chests that have curved drawers.   I’ve never seen anything like them anywhere.  The large one was passed down to my daughter, Susan Sylvester Baranowski,recently.  The smaller one now belongs to my brother, Robert Morris Levine, and I hope he will someday pass it on to his children.  Sometime during Dallas’childhood, I believe, Herbie had taken up cowhorn carving.  He created the amazing pieces of artwork that are stored in the museum at Wimbledon, North Dakota.  As a child, I was able to look at and handle most of those pieces.  They were so beautiful, with incredible details and impossible shapes.  I remember the animal pieces best.  I particularly admired two deer that were mounted on an oval.  Perhaps that piece is still at the museum.  I hope so!  Herbie was no longer carving anything by the time I met him. He was limited in his activity, then, by a fairly severe case of Parkinson’s disease.  The only symptom I ever knew of was the palsy.  One of his hands shook quite a bit.  This just meant that he didn’t go out much, like to church with us on Sundays.  He seemed old to me, but now it does seem that the disease had aged him quite a bit, since he was only seventy-four when I was born.  He was quite stooped, and walked with a cane.  I saw many pictures of him as a younger grandfather, and knew that he had been a tall,distinguished gentleman before his illness.
I grew up in an extended family in the Dallas area.  My mother and I, and later my stepfather and brother, lived with my grandparents until I was twelve.  That made seven of us, including Herbie, of course.  At one point, my uncle and his family, consisting of a wife and two girls, lived in our home, too!  The little home in University Park(4013 Amherst Drive) was too small for all of us, and my grandparents had bought a nold four-plex in Highland Park(3414 Potomac) in Dallas, Texas, and converted it into a single family dwelling in 1960. We ate supper together every night, all those adults and one little girl, until my mom remarried and had my brother.  Then my grandparents moved into the upstairs of the house, leaving Grandpa Herbie downstairs with us.  When my brother was a baby, my grandparents paid my mother a small stipend to be her grandfather’s caregiver.  She would take him to the doctor, make his lunch, do his laundry and cleaning, that kind of thing.  It worked out well for everybody, because she got to stay home with her new baby that way. 
My mother had gone to work when I was two.  I did not go to daycare, because I had my Grandpa Herbie to watch me during the day. He would play cards with me, or read me books.  I was really happy with him.  It was special for another reason.  When my mother brought me to live with her parents at the age of nine months, I had been through some traumatic experiences.  I would begin to cry at the sight of any man.  But not Herbie.  He was the only one who didn’t frighten me,and I went to him willingly, much to everyone’s surprise.  Thank goodness that he was there!  He was the sweetest person to all of us.  There wasn’t anyone in our entire family who did not absolutely adore him.  We were so blessed to have him in our lives!  I remember being really proud and feeling privileged because I got to see my grandparents and my great-grandfather every day.  They, in turn, doted on me, which might explain why some people thought I was spoiled. But these adults in the 1960’s did not indulge me, although they paid a lot of attention to me.  They expected me to do my part, even though there were four (and later five) of them, and just one kid, me.  I had the job of doing the dishes for all of us every night after supper. Grandpa Herbie would help me, scraping dishes or drying.  He was pretty impressed when my Grandma insisted that the family obtain an electric dishwasher.  He knew that I still had a lot of work to do,though.  He would keep me company, and I missed him a lot when he was no longer able to come to the kitchen.  Those earlier nights he would make us a special dessert after we finished the dishes: canned peaches with syrup, poured onto slices of white bread.  It still sounds like a yummy dessert to me, even though my peaches don’t come in that heavy syrup anymore. 
My memories are of a soft-spoken, kind-eyed old man, who was always happy to see me.  I could go to his room after school, and we would talk for just a little.  He insisted that lunch was at noon, and supper was to be served at six p.m., but never asked for anything else.   His spirituality was not advertised, yet he never missed going to church on Sunday.  He was a special member of our family, and my grandparents were unfailingly respectful and considerate towards him. He was not well-educated, but he was an artist of exceptiona ltalent.  I know that very few are lucky enough to have someone like Grandpa Herbie in their lives, and I am grateful to God. 
Stephanie Sylvester
October 5, 2010, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma"

. Laurena Maude "Maud" REYNOLDS, daughter of William Wallace REYNOLDS and Susan Ann RING, was born on 25 September 1881 in Wood County, WI.⁴¹ She was buried in Wimbledon, Barnes County, ND.¹

Herbert Harrison "Herb" BELCHER and Laurena Maude "Maud" REYNOLDS had the following children: