8E.  Alma Gilbert was born in Michigan on Saturday, June 17, 1865, and died in Vulcan, Alberta, Canada, on April 14, 1931. She died in the home of her daughter, Henrietta. Grove Lilly was born in Byron Center, Kent County, Michigan, U.S.A., on Sunday, June 3, 1860, and died in Vulcan on February 8, 1933. They were both buried in Vulcan Cemetery, Alberta, Canada. They were married _____. She took the name Alma Lilly. She is the daughter of Truman and Henrietta P. (Robbins) Gilbert. He is the son of David V. and Harriet B. (Terril) Lilly. They had nine children:

Grove Lilly and his engine, a large steam-powered tractor, here shown with an 8-set plowshare which required two men, in addition to the driver, to operate.

After their children were born, Grove Lilly returned to Canada to look for a place to possibly move his family. After one or two trips, they all moved to Alberta. Family pictures show the Lilly farm near Nanton, Alberta being large and successful enough to afford the large steam tractor shown in the picture. The land was absolutely flat and rich, having been formerly a prairie. During the fall harvest, there were enough men working to warrant a cook, a cook house, and the assistance of several of the Lilly daughters. In Fall, 1914, daughter Hattie wrote of being "a dining-room girl on the outfit this fall, the first time I have ever been out...". The cook must have lived on the farm at the time since there is a picture showing her with Alma, Hattie, and Roy who is holding her cat.

While the steam engine was used for heavy tasks like plowing, horses were used for much else. For example, they had a 10' drill which was pulled by three horses. (A drill is a planter which creates a series of continuous furrows in plowed soil, drops in seeds at the appropriate rate, and covers them over.) The picture at the right shows Grove and daughter, Hattie, on the drill to see that the seeds are distributed properly.

The Lilly Ladies: Hattie, Alma (Gilbert), Etta, and Alma About 1918

The adult children of Grove and Alma (Gilbert) Lilly about 1950

The following was written by Ruth (Clark) Dann, granddaughter of Grove and Alma Lilly, in April, 2002.

We didn't know too much about Grandma and Grandpa's life. I was only six when she died, and eight when he died. But from word of mouth of my parents and aunts and uncles, I have figured out some of it. Mostly what I remember of Grandma was that her hair was completely white, and I loved to stand behind her chair and comb and brush it for her. I also remember the day that she died. Mom told us in the morning not to go into her room, and then some men came and took her away on a stretcher. Her face was covered up and we knew that she had passed away. She died in the night of a massive stroke, we were told later.

Grandpa Lilly and his eldest son, Elton came to British Columbia in 1906. They apparently worked in sawmills and clearing land in the Revelstoke area for a few years. Then Grandpa went back to Michigan to prepare to bring the rest of the family west. They arrived in Nanton, Alberta, about twenty four miles west of Vulcan, in 1914. They then worked for farmers for a few years before renting land about twelve miles south west of Vulcan, and twelve miles east of Nanton.

Harriet (Hattie), Leroy (Roy), Henrietta (Etta) and Glen went to school in Nanton first, and then to Boyne school after they moved. This is the same school where most of the next generation started. They only taught up to grade nine, so then we had to go to Vulcan to High school. I believe Grandpa Lilly was farming, but I don't know for sure. Elton bought a section of land a mile north and about three miles east of his parents place Roy and Ruby and Deb lived a mile north of there. I don't think they owned the land. because they didn't stay there long. I don't think they were cut out to be farmers. Anyway, they moved in to Vulcan, and Roy worked in the flour mill for many years. Deb worked in Vulcan also, as a mechanic at an International Harvester Dealers. Finally, they moved to Calgary during World War II and worked at a place called Robinson Machine where they were welders. This place was partly owned by Gus Spaeth, their brother-in-law. They retired in Calgary and lived there until they passed away. Roy and Ruby had two children, Gilbert, and Ellen. Gilbert never married. Ellen married Ed Church and had one daughter.

Aunt Hattie and Uncle Gus were also farmers, but Gus had a hand in many other things also. They lived on a farm three miles southwest of Vulcan. Their grandson Jim Spaeth lives there now, and has just sold most of the land. He has had two heart attacks and is cutting down on his activities, although he is fine, following surgeries. Gus and Howard died in the same month, September, 1965. Howard died of a heart attack. Gus had broken his back years earlier and been wheel chair and bedridden since that. I think that Howard's death contributed to his death. Aunt Hattie died the same year on December 5. Mary passed away a couple of years before that from hepatitis. So Howard's wife, Mae was left with all the business of three estates, but she finally got it all straightened out.

When Grandpa and Grandma Lilly moved to Alberta they left their oldest daughter, Alma, in Michigan. She would have been twenty-one then, and was probably married to Charlie Gonyea by then, because Althea was born in Michigan on February 21, 1914. They also had a second daughter, Marie on February 24, 1916. They then moved to Montana, where Robert was born on August 16, 1917, and Harriet on April 23, 1919. 1 don't exactly know what Charles was doing for a living, but probably was a laborer on a farm, or farming his own land. In 1920 they moved into Alberta and farmed on land southwest of Vulcan, where David was born on May 28, 1921, Elizabeth on July 30, 1923, and Bruce on October 6, 1925.

The older children went to school in whatever district they were living in and then, to Boyne school, where some of the older generation had gone. When the older children reached high school, they moved to Vulcan. Finally, when the older ones graduated, they moved to Calgary, where the younger ones went to high school.

After high school Althea married Norman Love, a farmer at Vulcan., Marie married Marvel Dunbar. They were both ordained ministers of the Church of Christ. Robert (Bob) married Josephine Gordy of Manitoba. Bob is also a minister of the Church of Christ. Harriet married Bill Weale, a minister of the Church of Christ and a great musician. David married Gwen Bailey of Regina, Saskatchewan. Elizabeth married Melvin Breakenridge of Calgary, also a minister of the Church of Christ. Bruce married Claire Fleming of Vulcan. David was a house painter, and Bruce was a railway engine mechanic. Althea, Norman, Marie, Marvel Bill, and Melvin are all deceased. David and Bruce were in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.

Henrietta (Etta), my mother, married Percy Martin Clark on August 20, 1920. Dad had bought a half section of land about four miles east of Grandpa Lilly's place. He built a two room house there to start with and then added to it over the years. Dad had worked as a mechanic in a garage in Vulcan before going farming. His mother and stepfather lived a half mile north of Dad's farm, until they retired from farming and rented the place to Charles and Alma Gonyea. Later Dad bought a quarter section of land a mile west of our place. Boyne school was two miles west of our house, and we went to school by horse and buggy, or sleigh in the winter, or walked in the summer. In 1940, the government built a flying training school for the RCAF just on the next section to our place. There were at times three thousand air force men and women on the base. Some of the old hangars are still there. I finished high school in 1942 and trained in the telephone office as an operator. I worked there for five years. Eileen went outdoing housework for neighbors, and ended up marrying one of the sons, Ivan. Ivan was in the Army when they were married so was gone most of the time. Lloyd went into the air force after high school, and Myrel went into the army when he finished. The war was pretty well over by then.

As far as Grandma Lilly having any hobbies, I don't know. My mother and her sisters all knew how to knit and crochet, but I don't know whether Grandma taught them or maybe a teacher, or they learned on their own. I remember during World War II, Mom and I knitted a vest every weekend for the Red Cross, who sent them to the armed forces. She would knit the front and I knitted the back. Then during the week while I was away at school, she knitted socks for them. I have been knitting since I was seven years old. My other Grandmother taught me to crochet, so I have been doing both since then. Plus a lot of other crafts. Grandma Lilly always had a large garden, I guess, and canned vegetables for the winter, unless there was a drought. My mother told me that one winter they had nothing to eat except potatoes. They were still her favorite food, though.

They traveled around by horse and buggy. I think they must have had a milk cow or two. I know we did. We had horses too, and I can remember my Dad hooking up a four horse team to do the seeding and the harvesting. We had a horse that took us to school in a buggy that Dad built. He was called Jinx, and if he wasn't locked in the yard, we had an awful time catching him. He always seemed to know when we were going to use him, and would take off to the far end of the pasture, a half mile away. We got lots of exercise some days. The pasture was about an eighth of a mile wide too, so it usually took three of us to corner him, and put his bridle on. I never did care much for horses after that, but our kids did, especially our daughter. We had a couple of riding horses when they were growing up.

My mother was a horse person. Of course, they had to have horses to get around. I can't remember whether Grandma and Grandpa ever had a car. All the rest of the family gradually got cars and trucks. Dad owned a threshing machine and went away to do custom harvesting every fall. The had a bunk car for about twenty men to sleep in, and a cook car. Mom always went along in the cook car to do the cooking, and when I got to be about twelve, I went along too. I got to do dishes and peel vegetables. She baked bread and made pies or puddings every day in the cook car. We had a bed in one corner where we slept. They had a hired girl to stay at home with Eileen and the boys. Dad cut the grain with a binder, which made it into "bundles". Then the men stacked the bundles all over the fields where they were left until dried and ready to thresh. They had several hayracks on which the bundles were loaded, and hauled to the threshing machine to be run through. There were usually several hay stacks in the field afterwards. This hay was used for bedding and feed for cattle in the winter. I expect that this was also what Grandpa Lilly did, because Mom said that she was cooking for threshing crews when she was sixteen. She sure was a good cook, and it seemed so easy for her. Aunt Hattie did the same on their threshing crews. Uncle Gus also had a threshing outfit. Men would come west from Ontario and Quebec looking for work in what was known as the "Dirty Thirties", when there was a depression. So it was not hard to find men to work for you. They would hop off the freight trains in Vulcan and Nanton and just sit on the sidewalks waiting. If no one hired them, they would jump on the next train and go on to another town.

• Correspondence with Ruth (Clark) Dann; March and April, 2002
• Notes and interview of Walter Joshua Gilbert
• Winchester Cemetery tombstones
• Interview with Gladys Gilbert Nicolai