by Susan Butler
page 22: 27,000 civilian lives ...: Essay by David McCullough; Walter Zinsser, ed., Extraordinary Lives, p. 45.
page 22: “None labored ...”: Hickman, History of Midland College, p. 13, Midland Lutheran College, Fremont, Nebraska.
page 22: it was a life of hardship ...: Earhart, Brief History.
page 23: On a Sunday when Edwin ...: MEM, CITP, p. 17.
page 23: having secured a pastorate ...: Earhart, Brief History.
page 23: Harriet Earhart Monroe ...: Hickman, History of Midland College.
page 23: Edwin became the first head ...: Midland College Catalogue 1887-1888, Luther Library.
page 24: would permanently look down ...: KCP interview. Speaking of the Tonsings, Katch would express it thus: “No style, that family.”
page 24: “Energetic” and “useful,” ...: AG, June 2, 1885.
page 24: three of whom listed themselves ...: listed as roofpainters in the 1888 Atchison city directory, Atchison Public Library.
page 25: This minister’s son ...: KCP interview.
page 25: The wedding was held ...: AG, Oct. 17, 1895.
page 26: only twenty feet wide ...: 1887 plat of Ann Street, provided by the Wyandotte County Museum.
page 26: “lifted the lid ...”: AE, FOI, p. 5.
page 26: saw a bear ...: JM, LITHW, SLRC.
page 26: “hoped for many a day ...”: AE, FOI, p. 5.
Kansas Girl
page 27: “I ... was lent ...”: AE, FOI, p. 5.
page 28: orphaned granddaughter ...: Morse interview.
page 28: “Dignified and of aristocratic ...”: Obituary in AG, May 7, 1912.
page 28: a complete mental breakdown ...: Ibid. “and it seemed for a time that he had reached the period of life when the grasshopper becomes a burden ... but eminent physicians who were consulted ... assured the family that such incidents were common to men of about that age ... that nature was tired.” Ibid.
page 28: fully expecting to die ...: Ibid.
page 28: “He realizes fully, ... : Arthur G. Otis, letter to Charles Otis, Apr. 18, 1906; given to author by Nancy Balis Morse.
page 28: “It grieves me to tell you ...”: Alfred Otis, letter to Charles Otis, Dec. 15, 1899.
page 29: Mary Brashay, the Irish cook, ...: KCP interview.
page 29: She finally gave them ...: AE, FOI, p. 18.
page 29: the tales of Beatrix Potter, ...: AE, FOI, p. 5.
page 29: the hollyhocks, phlox, ...: MEM, CITP, p. 61.
page 29: its huge window ...: Louise Foudray, curator, Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum, Atchison, Kansas.
page 30: two great-great-grandchildren ...: Martin, Family Tree, p. 69.
page 30: Amelia’s first word ...: Amy Otis, Queer Doings and Quaint Sayings, Amy Otis collection, SLRC.
page 30: Amy kept a baby book ...: Amy Otis, Queer Doings and Quaint Sayings, Amy Otis collection, SLRC.
page 30: “Don’t go near ...”: AG, July 21, 1963; Mrs. Paul Tonsing.
page 31: “Why doesn’t he ...”: JM, LITHW, II p. 18, SLRC.
page 31: a sign had been put up ...: Frank Baker, interview with author.
page 31: The most exciting ...: Ibid.
page 32: golden wedding anniversary ...: Martin, Family Tree, p. 10.
page 32: her second cousin Orpha ...: Ibid., p. 82.
page 32: “Such a kind, thoughtful ...”: KCP interview.
page 32: “getting me up there ...”: Ann Park, interview with author.
page 33: her own Indian pony ...: AOE interview, SLRC.
page 33: “Amelia was much too kind ...”: KCP interview.
page 33: “this horse opened ...”: AE, FOI, p. 9.
page 33: putting up “beware” signs ...: Ibid., p. 14.
page 33: “you don’t realize ...”: Ibid., p. 11.
page 33: “I think” ...: JM, LITHW, II, p. 5, SLRC.
page 34: “Cousin Annie is just...”: JM, LITHW, II p. 9, SLRC.
page 34: wanted to hunt snakes ...: JM, LITHW, III p. 10, SLRC.
page 34: she decided to build her own roller coaster ...: Muriel has this taking place in Kansas City (MEM, CITP, p. 30). But Balie Waggener didn’t live there; he lived in Atchison, and in an interview July 21, 1963, in AG, he said the roller coaster had been built in the barn of Judge A. G. Otis.
page 35: “We thought being ... : KCP interview.
page 35: “She could get as rough ...”: AG, July 21, 1963.
page 35: “Until the eighth ...”: Waggener interview, AE, 20H, p. 29.
page 35: “our home, creaking ... : GPP, S W, p. 12.
page 35: AE, FOI, p. 4.
page 35: I watch the birds ...: GPP, SW, p. 169.
page 36: Katch’s favorite voyage ...: KCP interview, Oct. 9, 1986.
page 36: “dashing wildly ...”: AE, American Magazine (Aug. 1932).
page 36: “We weighed ...”: AE, LF, p. 144.
page 37: “To mine angel cousin ...”: KCP interview.
page 37: But her favorite poem ...: Ibid.
page 38: the private College Preparatory School ...: AE FOI, p. 5, Muriel, who wanted to do everything Amelia did, loved it, too, and wanted to go there but was, to her regret, “never enrolled,” as she admitted to me.
page 39: “Amelia’s mind ...”: GPP, SW, p. 29.
page 39: Macaulay’s Lays ...: On the flyleaf of the book is inscribed: “To Millie Earhart—For Writing The Best Theme.” Sarah Walton wrote on the flyleaf, “The joy of achievement was uppermost in Amelia’s mind. The prizes at school as the plaudits and awards of the world were secondary to her personal satisfaction in a job well done.” SLRC.
page 40: “We girls would like to play” ...: Baker interview.
page 40: Under Amelia’s guidance ...: Park interview; MEM interview.
page 40: heading straight for a junkman’s ...: AE, FOI, p. 12.
page 40: she played with Ann and Katchie ...: Park interview; MEM interview.
page 41: “Millie was always ...”: Park interview.
page 41: “I just adored ...”: KCP interview.
page 41: Blanche Noyes, friend and ...: Columbia OH
page 42: “Amelia had her own...”: MEM, interview with author.
page 42: “I thought that my father ...”: AE, FOI, p. 7.
page 42: “We watched, wide-eyed, ... : MEM, CITP, p. 26.
page 43: a girl named Lily ...: MEM, CITP, p. 53. Muriel puts the Orphan’s home in Kansas City, but the Soldier’s Orphan’s Home was in Atchison, according to NYPL records.
page 43: “This particular elevator ...”: JM, LITHW, III, p. 6, SLRC.
page 43: the dress code in Atchison ...: Baker interview.
page 44: “though we felt terribly ... : AE, FOI, p. 11.
page 44: “pretty much like a sieve”: MEM, CITP, p. 65.
page 44: had hinged backs....: JM, LITHW, III p. 12, SLRC.
page 44: she held worm races....: GPP, SW, p. 29.
page 44: she also tried to make manna, ...: AE, FOI, p. 16.
page 44: “concluded then that overgrown radishes ...”: AE, FOI, p. 16.
page 45: created imaginary playmates ...: GPP, SW, p. 13.
page 45: “We always waited ...”: Katherine Dolan O’Keefe, AG, July 20, 1976.
page 45: “All I knew ...”: GPP, S W, p. 24.
The End of Childhood
page 47: the three men would retire ...: Patricia Antich interview.
page 47: “I didn’t like him,”: KCP interview.
page 47: what manner of man ...: Ibid.
page 48: “the happiest of times.”: MEM, CITP, p. 26.
page 48: still he needed more money ...: Ibid., p. 28
page 48: “This news is a terrible ...”: Ibid., p. 27; Edwin’s letter is dated May 12, 1903.
page 49: a vacation spot ...: GPP, SW, p. 31.
page 49: Lucy called them horse pies ...: GPP, SW, p. 31.
page 49: calling her Dr. Bones.: GPP, SW, p. 10.
<
br /> page 50: “Dear Madam: ...”: Edwin Earhart, letter to MEM, Aug. 2, 1909.
page 50: contingent on moving ...: Des Moines city directory, 1908; Edwin Earhart is listed as a claims agent living at 1443 Eighth Street.
page 50: after “Millie” Earhart left ...: interview with Orpha Tonsing, Martin, Family Tree.
page 50: they lived in four houses....: Des Moines city directories for those years. Muriel, writing many years later, claimed that they had lived in only the one house on Cottage Grove Avenue, but she was writing fifty years after the fact. The Cottage Grove house was the last happy home for her and her family for many years.
page 51: “He bore on his nose ...”: AE, FOI, p. 8.
page 51: “an end to the pinchpenny days ...”: MEM, CITP, p. 55.
page 51: “Bring the girls ...”: JM, LITHW, III p. 7, SLRC.
page 51: They traveled in it ...: AG, July 20, 1976.
page 51: a sumptuous dinner ...: MEM, CITP, p. 72.
page 52: The same year the Earharts ...: Drake Neighborhood Association, From Keokuk On: The History of the Cottage Grove Area, p. 27, published by the Association.
page 52: They found Von Sol ...: GPP, SW, p. 28.
page 52: silk party dresses ...: MEM, CITP, p. 77.
page 52: she liked the German composers ...: AOE interview, SLRC.
page 53: an expensive set of Kipling’s ...: MEM, CITP, p. 69.
page 53: “wrote him the most hysterical appeals ...”: Mark Otis, letter to Charles Otis, Sept. 17, 1913: “It is only two years ago that he left her and although Mother offered to make suitable provision for her and the children at the time, she would have none of it and wrote him the most hysterical appeals to return, one of which he was graceless enough to send to me.” Forwarding the letter to Mark backfired—badly. Mark had thought little of Edwin to start with and even less now—he thought him contemptible for committing such a “graceless” act. And he thought less of his sister. He would later use the information to undermine her credibility with the family.
page 54: “although Mother offered to make ...”: Ibid.
page 54: “It is a great deal more ...”: E. W Howe, Country Town Sayings, p. 294.
page 54: Theodore, who sat all day ...: KCP interview. “It is my will that only the net income of the shares of my estate devised to my children Amy O. Earhart and Theo. H. Otis shall be paid over to them annually and that the entire principal and capital thereof shall be managed and controlled by my said Trustee Mark E. Otis for the said period of fifteen years after my death upon the trust hereinbefore described.”
page 54: she dictated a letter: Letter given to author by Nancy Balis Morse.
page 55: the terms of her will ...: On file, District Court, Atchison County, Kansas.
page 55: The Atchison Globe printed ...: AG, Feb. 24, 1912.
page 55: wasn’t totally accurate ...: Exhibit A, case #11220; District Court, Atchison County, Kansas.
page 55: Ephraim even agreed ...: AOE, letter to Charles Otis, Mar. 18, 1913. (“I felt sure uncle Eph would not have spoken as he did about them if they had not been thoroughly trustworthy.”) Mark Otis, Margaret Balis, and Amy “agreed by and between the parties hereto that all necessary and proper steps be immediately taken for the appointment of said The Northern Trust Company [of Chicago, Illinois] as such Successor in Trust.” Given to author by Nancy Balis Morse.
page 56: On the first Sunday in May, ...: AG, May 7, 1912.
page 56: “he sat on the porch ...”: AG, May 8, 1912. Mark Otis, letter to Charles J. Conlon, Apr. 17, 1912: “I am also enclosing herewith the bond required by the State of Kansas duly signed by my father, the Northern Trust Co. and myself.” Given to author by Nancy Balis Morse.
page 56: the family members who attended ...: AG, May 11, 1912.
page 56: a lengthy document ...: was filed in Probate Court in Atchison County, June 28, 1912.
page 57: “All the old bitterness ...”: MEM, CITP, p. 83.
page 58: raced to meet him ...: Ibid., p. 79.
page 58: “It was our ‘old’ Dad, ... : Ibid., pp. 82—83.
page 58: “I am now safe ...”: Ibid., p. 84.
page 59: Before long ...: Ibid., p. 83.
page 59: “We did have such a delightful ...”: Charles Earhart, letter to AOE, May 22, 1912; given to author by Nancy Balis Morse..
page 60: I cannot depend ...: AOE, letter to Charles Otis, Jan. 21, 1913; given to author by Nancy Balis Morse. The text of this letter is as follows:
My dear Uncle Charlie
I had expected to run in and see you for a little while tomorrow, but at the last moment some housekeeping matters prevented my coming to St. Paul with my husband, so I am asking him to leave some papers with you which I wish you would look over for me, and see if everything is being done as it should be. I cannot depend on my husbands opinions in this matter as the feeling between Mark and himself is so bitter than an unbiased opinion would be impossible while when I ventured to ask Mark for explanations of certain things, he immediately felt that I had been incited to ask by my husband, and has been suspicious and angry ever since.
I have no intention of breaking dear mother’s will, and while I cannot help feeling that she would have been far more careful about guarding poor Theodore’s and my interest if she had been her normal self when the will was written, I understand only too well her great anxiety that we be protected from the dangers that seemed to threaten me especially but on the other hand I spent so many years of my life near her and was with her weeks and months at a time, and knew so well her opinions of the business ability of each of us children that I know it was only in a spirit of desperation that things were left as they were. Mark does not realize and has blamed me for an atmosphere of seeming distrust of his business ability, which he had found lately in Atchison but Dear Uncle Charlie I have absolutely nothing to do with it, and have myself had letters urging me to look out for Theodore and myself as at the end of fifteen years there would be nothing left for either of us. I have been very careful not to say anything that would at all show any distrust to anyone and even to my husband I do not dare show any anxiety but there seemed such discrepancies between the appraisement of the properties at first and the reports to the State Department and the Trust Company that I felt as if I would like you to look over the papers for me and tell me whether it is only that I do not understand the statements that make them seem at variance.
page 60: I know truly ...: AOE, letter to Charles Otis, Mar. 18, 1913; given to author by Nancy Balis Morse.
page 60: “Plain, modest, ... : St. Paul History and Progress (Pioneer Press Co., 1897), p. 167.
page 60: Charles had at various times ...: Biographical reference data filed by Charles Otis for The Dispatch and Pioneer Press, St. Paul Public Library.
page 61: “the combination of a sick maid ...”: AOE, letter to Charles Otis, Mar. 18, 1913; in author’s possession.
page 61: Mark, in a preemptive strike, ...: Mark Otis, letter to Charles Otis, Sept. 9, 1913; records of Atchison County Court. She gave 1021 Ann Street as her residence in 1916.
page 61: “While the same is on the order ...”: Mark Otis, letter to Charles Otis, Mar. 12, 1913; given to author by Nancy Balis Morse.
page 62: the chauffeured Rolls-Royce ...: Morse interview.
page 63: Dear Mark; You will be ...: AOE, letter to Mark Otis, Sept. 3, 1913; given to author by Nancy Balis Morse.
page 64: “this will be supplemented ...”: Mark Otis, letter to Charles Otis, Sept. 9, 1913; given to author by Nancy Balis Morse.
page 64: Now, about Amy, pray ...: Mark Otis, letter to Charles Otis, Sept. 17, 1913; given to author by Nancy Balis Morse. The text reads:
I am just in receipt of a long letter from Amy which I have only had a chance to hastily glance over, but which points out most distressing conditions. It seems that E. lost his position last October and has done nothing scarcely for the family support since. She writes that she is penniless an
d speaks of a grocery bill and woman-like says nothing about any judgements or liens that may be outstanding against her interests under the trustee-ship. I immediately wired her to see you, as you have full power to act for me and as I stated in my first letter, any sums that you may advance for her temporary needs will be promptly repaid by myself immediately upon knowledge of the amount advanced....
Hastily and sincerely yours, [signed] Mark E. Otis
page 64: He took another day to ...: Mark Otis, letter to AOE, Sept. 19, 1913; given to author by Nancy Balis Morse. The text reads:
My dear Amy:
I have your letter and can assure you that there is no bitterness in my heart towards you and the children; I only regret your present straits and trust through the good offices of Uncle Charlie some means may be devised to intelligently assist you. You had better see him at once and give him the true statement of all your debts and promises to pay for rent, etc., any papers you may have signed relating to your interests under the trusteeship, then a statement of what is necessary for your immediate needs. Those together with your last reports from The Northern Trust Co. as to the amounts they let out at interest for you. This, then will enable him to determine how I can assist you in my capacity as President of The Otis Real Estate Co. or personally. However, from whichever source, it must be in the nature of a secured loan to be repaid in manner and time to be specified.
Amy would never know that it wasn’t her uncle’s fault but her brother‘s, never know just how devious Mark had been, how he had smeared her reputation with her uncle. Thus years later Muriel would write: “Mother’s wealthy and prominent uncle and his family paid us one surreptitious ‘duty call.’ They then ignored us completely. This was a bitter pill for Mother, who had never been treated as an unwelcome poor relation before.” So painful was Charles’s snub that when I asked Muriel, some seventy years later, for the name of the uncle, she set her lips and refused to answer.
page 66: Forty years later Muriel ...: MEM, CITP, p. 88.
page 66: the church provided Amelia ...: JM, LITHW, III p. 14, SLRC.
page 66: friends and activities: ...: Patricia D. Brynteson, parish secretary, St. Clement’s, letter to author; Marion Blodgett, interview with author.