The building in the logging camp that Oliver and his family lived in during the first winter in the |
area, later became the first school of the area. This is the school that the McAninch children attended |
for their education in the area. The first teacher at this school was Jonathan J. Gildersleeve, brother |
of Deborah, wife of Oliver. |
Perry Moses McAninch, the oldest son of Oliver and Deborah, did not move north with his family, |
but remained in Minneapolis to work and receive needed eye surgery. He worked in a creamery, |
learning the processes involved with the milk and cream, and would find use for these skills later |
in life. It appears that he did eventually follow the family to the homestead, for there are tales from |
his time there that were from the period prior to his marriage. Probably the most notable was the |
incident when a neighbor died. The closest authorities that would need to be notified were in Aitkin, |
so Perry walked the 40 miles there in one day, and returned with the authorities by wagon 3 days |
after his departure [11]. |
Oliver can be located on the 1910 census for Macville Township, Aitken County, Minnesota [12]. |
In 1913 Oliver, Perry’s father, made a verbal agreement with Perry to take over the Haypoint |
homestead. Oliver and Deborah lived with their son Ira in Swatara, and spent some time traveling |
over the next years. It appears that they had maintained contacts with relatives in Iowa, Nebraska, |
and Kansas, and they may have visited them during this period. |
Perry thought the agreement was an agreement to sell him the Haypoint land on contract. With that |
in mind, Perry and Estella took their personal possessions, equipment, and stock, and moved from |
a homestead they had developed on Hill Lake. At Haypoint, Perry and Estella built up their herd of |
cattle to include a purebred Guernsey Bull, a small heard of high grade Guernsey cows, and the |
team of horses that they had since their marriage. With Perry’s background in the creamery business, |
they were able to produce a high quality cream, which Stella churned into butter in the summer and |
sold in Hill City, 6 miles away. During the winter months they hauled the cream the 4 miles to |
Swatara where they were able to ship it by train to a creamery in Bemidji, Minnesota. This gave |
them a good cash income to survive on [13]. |
In 1918 Oliver returned, and indicated that the property agreement was a rental, and not a sale, and that |
he wanted to take possession of the property again. Perry and Estella took their family, cattle, equipment, |
and personal possessions, and moved back to their Hill Lake homestead, which they still owned. |
Oliver appears again on the homestead on the 1920 census for Macville Township, Aitken County, |
Minnesota [14]. Oliver is by then 65 years old, and Deborah 61. Living with them are Leslie McAninch, |
their son, age 26, and Edith (Olds) McAninch, 24, his wife. Oliver continued to farm on the Haypoint |
homestead, with the aid of his son Leslie, until 1930, when Oliver became incapacitated by a stroke. |
___________________________________________________________________________ |
“Oliver Olin McAninch (1854-1932)” page 4 of 6, by Dick Schack, Copyright 2005. |
McAninch Family History NL, v.XIII.n.2 / April 2005 / Frank McAninch, Editor / page 2005-14 |