Life Without Mother

Two more children were born after Clarence. John Walters Hyde was born 18 August 1917 and Baby Nettie was born 4 October 1919. When little Nettie was born, she was a healthy baby, but her mother Antoinette did not recover. It was determined she had an infection after the baby was born. Due to this infection, on the 10th of November 1919, the mother of this family passed away. Left to mourn was her husband John Walters Hyde, Eliza age 22, now married to George Atwood, Mary age 13, Ella age 11, Harriet age 8, James age 7, Clarence age 4, John age 2, and Nettie one month. She was predeceased by twin sons, William Israel and Ervin Levi.

The towns people were of the opinion, the doctor who delivered Baby Nettie had poison hands. He also treated animals and did not clean his hands properly between patients. In my Dad’s (Clarence) words, angry fathers of young families who were left with no mother, finally “drove the doctor out of town on a rail”.

John was devastated. What would he do? How could this young family survive without his wife and their mother? Originally some friends and neighbors helped by taking the children in while John worked in his Blacksmith shop, but this was not a permanent solution. The children were kept together, and 13-year-old Mary became the cook, housekeeper, and mother figure in the home. This seemed to be working quite well, but John worried about the heavy load Mary was carrying.

He called a family meeting and discussed the problem with his children. He made the announcement that there would be some changes made. He offered the baby to Eliza and George who had been married for some time with no children. Eliza was excited and pleased with the gesture. Mary was furious but John was firm in his decision.

John then proceeded with the other half of his plan. He didn’t want Nettie to be raised as an only child, so he gave Eliza and George the opportunity to choose one other child. They chose Clarence. In George’s words, they choose him because he was “the most feisty one of the bunch”.

Mary was beside herself. She did not want Clarence to go either. She voiced her anger and said, “Why do you have to give them away? All we would have to do is put another plate on the table.” But John still stuck to his decision.