__________________
_Garrett Conover BERGEN _|__________________
_Peter G. BERGEN ____________|
| | __________________
| |_Mary BANTA _____________|__________________
_Oscar Clarence BERGEN _|
| | __________________
| | _________________________|__________________
| |_Martha FLEMING _____________|
| | __________________
| |_________________________|__________________
|
|--Esther BERGEN
|
| __________________
| _Cholbee ROYCE __________|__________________
| _Roderick R. ROYCE __________|
| | | __________________
| | |_Eliza MCLEAN ___________|__________________
|_Edith ROYCE ___________|
| __________________
| _Henry J. DIVINE ________|__________________
|_Charlotte Elizabeth DIVINE _|
| _Daniel REYNOLDS _
|_Charlotte F. REYNOLDS __|_Billicha JONES __
[47]
ESTHER B. JACOBS Born at Shellsburg, Iowa, on August 24th, 1899, she
was the fourth of five, the only girl, and the apple of her daddy's
eye. With four lively brothers, it was little wonder that she was a
bit of a tomboy. Her hair ribbons spent more time in the apple trees,
where they cought as she raced her pony through the orchard, than in
her flying brown hair. Her beloved father died when she was twelve
years old, and her mother raised this handful of young folk all alone.
Esther graduated from Cedar Falls (Iowa State Teachers College) and
tought first grade at West Bend, Iowa, about a hundred miles up the
Rock Island railroad from home. She caught the eye of a handsome
young man who was finishing high school after having stayed at home
during World War I to help his father farm a big farm, while his older
brothers went to war. Harry and his twin brother Harvey were too young
for the Service, but not too young to serve their country behind the
plow. Esther Bergen and Harry Jacobs were married on July 13, 1921,
at Shellsburg, on a blistering hot day, according to a newspaper
account of the wedding. They farmed through the great depression,
the drought years, through chinch bugs and grasshoppers and six
children! When the youngest proved to be highly allergic to grain
dust, they "sold out" and went to town. Harry spent part of World War
II working in a defense plant while looking for a non-farm occupation.
They bought a Coast to Coast store in Oelwein, Iowa and began a new
life as hardware merchants. Esther and little Barbara took a trip
to Phoenix, Arizona to visit Uncle Clarence Bergen, and lost their
hearts to the wild and wooly west. With the adventuresome spirit of
pioneers, the Jacobs family pulled up stakes in August, 1947, and
something like the turtle with his house on his back, chugged over the
Colorado mountains to Arizona, pulling a loaded house trailer behind
them. During the next few years in the Phoenix area, Esther renewed
her teaching certificate and worked almost full time as a substitute
teacher in schools where migrant kids were shunted to the quonset hut
out back. She loved the little tykes who came and went with
whatever crop was being harvested that week or that day. She refused
to be just a glorified baby-sitter and used ingenuity in teaching
children whose schooling was so haphazard as to be nearly nonexistent.
She interested them in arithmetic so they could figure up what they
would have coming when they started to work in the field, so no one
could cheat them. She took unbleached muslin and all the supplies
and had them measure, figure the size, cut and sew curtains for their
bare windows in the school room. They drew designs on the material in
crayon and ironed it so it was washable. Most had never seen an
electric iron, or scissors, or needle and thread. They loved it and
learned a lot. They nearly burst with pride of accomplishment - a new
feeling. She always wondered what became of her migrant kids.
Sometime during all this, Esther and Harry bought a hardware store at
Bethany Home Road and 16th Street. Esther used her artistic talents to
design window displays for which she won several awards. The people
who bought the store when they retired still own it. Though she had
both an organ and a piano and could play a sparkling rendition of
"Glow Worm", as well as hymns, her favorite pastime was reading. Her
walls were lined with bookcases of books. She had six eye operations
and eventually only one good eye, but still read a huge tote bag of
books from the library every week or two. She and Harry helped found
and build the Crossroads Methodist Church on N. Central Avenue. She
sang in the choir or chorus that presented the Messiah, with a
beautiful recording available to the public. After Harry had a stroke
they started attending church nearby. Esther would fix her hot dish,
help Harry into the car and trundle off down Bethany Home to the
friendly Baptist Church at the end of the street, to meet and have
lunch with the "Happy Bunch". What a good time they all had - good
food and good fellowship. Esther was program chairman for Happy
Bunch for a few years and put lots of thought and energy into it. She
would plan and write and prepare all month. Various members of her
family, including a baby great-grandchild, were willing volunteers for
the programs and turkey dinners. About three months before their
60th wedding anniversary - in March of 1981 - Harry left his "angel on
earth" and joined the heavenly chorus. With courage and faith, Esther
stayed on in the big house until the opportunity presented itself to
rent an apartment in Mesa near her daughter. Once more she picked up
and moved to a new life, new friends and a new church (Church of the
Saviour, American Baptist). Wherever she lived, she never forgot her
friends and wrote newsy letters called "The Windjammer". She typed one
up just the other day to send with her Christmas cards. Esther was
a lifetime member of Eastern Star, having twice been Worthy Matron.
She had a flair for writing poetry. She added a personal touch to a
great-granddaughter's get-well card recently, with a cute little
jingle. A year ago in February she suffered the second loss of a
son. The heartache is great whether they are age two, as little Kenny
was, or 59, as George was. All her ten grandchildren and her thirteen
great-grandchildren call her "Grandma J." On November 30, 1988, our
beloved Grandma J. began her greatest new adventure into the Kingdom
of God. By Harriett Jacobs McGrew
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