Lucile Kimball's 1980 letter about her mother Winnifred "Winnie" Moore.
Winnie's aunt was Abigail Flagg. "Abbie" and William Flagg lived at 91 Fountain St, Battle Creek, Michigan. Abbie's daughter and son-in-law Henrietta and George Willard also lived with them.
When Winnie's mother, Celestia, died in South Dakota in 1888, no one quite knew what to do with Winnie, who was 8 years old. Her 4 brothers and father were working on the farm, raising their crops and other products, and trying to make a living. They sent for Abbie to come help decide. Winnie went back to Battle Creek on the train with Abigail and never returned to the Dakota home.
Aunt Abbie felt, at the age of 18, that Winnie should come West for a visit with her four brothers, [who had since moved West]. So the two couples of Flaggs and Willards brought her as far as Vancouver, Canada, where George Willard was to attend a meeting of jounalists. She journeyed alone, by steamer, to Astoria, Oregon, where her brother Fred met her. Brother Myron was also in Seaside Oregon. She stayed there several weeks, then Fred took her to Riverside, CA., where Will and Ned lived. There she met Charles Cover, and much to Aunt Abbie and her family's pleadings for her to return home, Winnie insisted on a wedding, so they came to California for the event.