2005 Year in Review

“House By the Side of the Road”

Dorothy and Ed Abbott with "The Big Red Barn" in the background.

Abbott farm is a Sesquicentennial Farm.

The Abbott home as it is now.

The Lilac tree that was planted in 1850 is a Memorial to the Oatman Family

The "Big Red Barn."

Wooden pegs hold the stress bearing sections of the barn together.

Cover of the book

Susan Gidel and Jan Landow wanted to preserve the writings of their grandmother, Mrs. L.A. Abbott, so they combined their own talents, Susan a writer and Jan a photographer and put the writings together in a paperback book entitled “House By the Side of the Road.”

They are short stories written by Mrs. Abbott on life living along Highway Route 30 from the time it was only a dirt trail.

The Abbott farm has been named as one of the Sesquicentennial Farms by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The original “House by the Side of the Road” was built in 1848 when Asa Abbott, a gunsmith and great-great grandfather to Susan and Jan settled in Whiteside County and knew his gunsmith business depended on being easily seen from the trail.

The original structure was torn down in 1955 and replaced with the current house. A lot of the wood from the original house was used in building the new home.

In the Preface of the book Susan and Jan write, “In the evening, after the day’s work was done and the supper dishes had been washed, dried and put away. Grandma focused on creative pastimes. Many of her farm-wife friends did handiwork, such as embroidery, knitting or quilting in those evening hours. Not Grandma. For her, it was reading and writing. The stories in this book are a result of the countless evenings Grandma spent in front of her manual Olympia typewriter – often until the wee hours, as evidenced by the light coming from her window that we could see from our house across the driveway.

“These are real-life stories of farm life along the busy Lincoln Highway from the 1920s through the 1980s. They take you back to a time when being neighborly meant opening your home to those in need – even if they were strangers.”

In an interview with Ed Abbott, Mrs. L.A.’s son, he was asked if there was one favorite story in the book. He answered, “I have heard them all repeated so many times. I lived them all my life but the one I had never heard was entitled, Watching This Wonderful World.”

Editor’s note: In reading some of the stories in this book in my opinion they are incredible.

I had the chance to talk with Ed and Dorothy Abbott and it is so evident to see that Mrs. L.A. Abbott’s love for the land the Abbott family calls home and the love for the family heritage and stories was also seen through Ed and Dorothy.

I remember Mrs. L.A. as we called her when I worked for the newspaper and she would bring in her “Cottonwood Briefs.” Being younger at the time that part of the paper was of no interest to me but as I read through these stories I wish I would have taken more time to read her stories when they were submitted to the paper. It is such a joy to read them now. I too have to agree with Ed on the story of “Watching This Wonderful World.” I won’t tell you what it is about, but for me it left an unsettled feeling in my stomach. I wish I had taken the time to know her better.

A copy of the book is on display in the Sesquicentennial Store, 218 West Main Street. They will also be sold in the craft building during the Sesquicentennial weekend or can be purchased from the Abbott’s by calling 815-772-4736.

by Dawn Zuidema, theCity1.com
June 29, 2005