Mother's Family

- Festus Lloyd Warrant, Ella Cora Halverson & Louise H. Hugunin

The Warrant family background that I learned from family discussions is mostly fragmented events rather than continuous story. Mother used to tell a few stories about her family but not enough to weave a fabric of their history. Most of the early family history that follows is taken from information passed on from Ken Bruce (my cousin). Mother did let us know that she was 1/4 English, 1/4 Pennsylvania Dutch (German), 1/4 Scotch Irish and 1/4 Norwegian. I recall her mentioning an Uncle Ben who was a bachelor and lived in the house just up the hill from them in Kasota. Also an Uncle Sam who they lost track of - I thought during the civil war.

James Warrant was born in England in 1813. He immigrated to Ontario, Canada in 1845 and to LeSueur County, Minnesota in 1856. He farmed East of Kasota.

Charles Nelson Warrant was the tenth or eleventh child of James Warrant and Margaret Keye. He was born in Ontario in 1850 and died in Kasota 1931. I do not recall Mother ever saying anything about her grandfather. Charles Warrant married Lucinda M. Turrittin. Lucinda died in 1919. Charles and Lucinda had three children: Charles Elmer Warrant 1874 - 1951. Festus Lloyd Warrant 1875 - 1958 and Daisy Ann Warrant 1879 - 1928. I remember mother mentioning an Aunt Daisy but not an Uncle Charles.

Mother did not talk much about her extended family. She did tell of her experiences. The story of Grandpa Warrant (Festus Lloyd) can be pieced together from the following.

Mother mentioned often that her father had owned a steam threshing machine when he was sixteen and did custom threshing. Grandpa told of trading a team of black horses for a used threshing rig. The only advice the seller gave him was to not give an opinion to a potential customer as to if his grain was ripe enough to cut. If he did he would be blamed for a disappointing yield. The only story I recall Grandpa telling about a steam engine was when he was asked to help someone else run a steam engine up a big hill - which he did without a problem. A technical note: The reason it is difficult to run a steam engine up a long steep hill is because a hot fire was needed to produce the power to get the heavy engine up the hill. If the water level in front end of the boiler were to drop below the fire tubes they might burn through and blow the engine. Grandpa apparently took some pride in being able to do the job without a problem.

Later he and a partner (I thought that it was an Uncle somebody) had a cement tile and block manufacturing business. The garage and pump house were built from block they had manufactured. I remember playing on some metal aparatus with a foot operated lever that was from that business. I assume that the thing I played at was a mold that lifted the blocks off the form once they had set. There were some flat wood frames that were about rotted out at that time. My guess that was when Lou was born i.e. 1943.

At some point Grandpa got a contract to build a county ditch. Grandpa told the story about the ditch many times in my presence. It seemed one of the farmers whose land the ditch crossed had built a wood plank dam across the ditch where it entered his land. He had even nailed lath over the cracks between the planks. Grandpa and his crew were close to tapping the lake the ditch was to drain and had asked someone, possibly the county engineer, what to do about the dam. The advice he got was to promise the crew a case of beer if they tapped the lake that afternoon - which they did. When they went back to check on the dam all that was left was a few boards along the side of the ditch. Grandpa said that he didn't hear any more about it from the farmer involved. As far as I know that was his only effort at contracting.

Grandpa worked as state boiler inspector for many years. He lost that job when a Democrat Governor was elected and his best friend took his job. After that he sold insurance, worked as a plumber and was a Justice of the Peace.

back row: Charles, Don Bruce, Grandpa, Howard (Gerry), Harlan, Ralph, Ken
middle: Alice, Alice, Grandma (?), Ella (Dean), Lucy (Glen), Dorthy(Carrol?)
front:Pattie, Louise, Linda, Louella, Bill, Jay
Thanks to cousin Louise for this picture.

The picture above was taken in the summer of 1946. I don't remember what was the special occasion. I see that Aunt Alice and cousins Ken and Louise were visiting from 'out west.' My recollection of the occasion is of the photographer and his camera. It was on a tripod, he got under a cloth to compose the picture and slid flat pieces in and out of the back of the camera.

I recall mother saying that the house in Kasota had been moved in from the country. At a family gathering, I would guess in the early 1950's, Grandpa was asked about it and he said, yes it had, and then he told how it had been pulled in by oxen. That would have been about the turn of the century - I would guess just before he got married. It was an impressive house in its prime. It sat near the top of the hill overlooking Kasota. There was a windmill there at one time. Over the years it had running water, one of two in town with indoor plumbing, gas lights (acetylene generator in the cellar), low voltage electric lights before the hiline was available. I think they had a wind generator but my memory is not clear on that. They did have a team of horses. Mother told how the driveway had come up the hill next to the creek when they had horses and how the horses had to pull harder the last part of the hill. When they got a car the driveway was changed to the other side of the house so it wouldn't be so steep.

At one time Grandpa owned a farm just south of the house. I remember one time when I was staying with Grandma that she took me with her to visit the people just up the road. I later assumed that was the farm Grandpa owned. Aunt Lucy and Uncle Harlan started farming on it. I would guess that it was an investment - he never farmed it himself.

Grandpa married Ella Cora Halverson on September 9, 1901. They had three children, Alice Lillian (1904), Ella Mae (1907) and Francis Carlton (1909). I learned at an early age that Grandma Warrant was a (step-grandma) but did not attach any significance to it. Grandpa Warrant married Louise H. Hugunin in January 1911. Grandpa would have been 36 and Grandma 26 years old at the time. They had three children, Lucy Belle (1912), Charles Burton (1913) and Ralph Lloyd (1921). I have a faint recollection of Grandma Warrrant telling me about a boy who died (Francis).

Grandma Warrant to me was the classical Grandma. She took care of Linda and me when Mother was sick or in the hospital. She had a big garden (two in fact) and gave us little red and yellow tomatoes. She bottled her own tomato juice and would give us a bottle once in a while. She had a cellar full of good food from a sand box of carrots under the steps to shelves and shelves of canned goods. She made us rugs from old clothes. She liked children.

Mother did not talk much to me about growing up in Kasota. I do recall that Mother mentioned going to swim in Lake Washington. She played the piano but I never saw her play for anyone but the family.

(The following contributed by Louella) Ella Mae Warrant graduated from Kasota High School in the Spring of 1923 at age 16 after completing high school in 3 years. Our father said shortly after she died that "she could learn just about any subject and that she had gone through high school in three years and college in three years." She attended Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. which was a Presbyterian-affiliated but nonsectarian liberal arts college founded in 1874. She had many college girl friends and took a trip to Niagra Falls with some of her friends. Ella taught at Laporte High School for 3 years before marrying and 1 more year after she married. She enjoyed walking with other women teachers around the countryside. Dad teased her that they were out walking to catch the eye of eligible males.

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