Autobiography of Alice Amber McAnelly Quinn As found handwritten in her parent's family Bible

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Alice Amber McAnelly

I, Alice, the youngest daughter of Frank and Arrie McAnelly, who were married August 18, 1878, at Corydon, Iowa, was born at Grain Valley, M.O. October 13, 1893. When at the age of 8, moved West to Washington State in December 1901 with my parents, sister Pearl, and older sister Linna, with her husband, Ed Maxwell. Mama had prepared food and nuts to be eaten on our train trip. We reached Havre, Montana on Christmas Day, and saw our first Indians. (I was afraid of them.) We reached Wilson Creek town, next day, and a friend, Mr. McIntyre met us at the depot, and took us to their home, where the wife had a lovely Salmon fried steak dinner prepared. (The first Salmon we had ever eaten.) Mr. McIntyre had a shack all ready with living quarters prepared. My father had filed on a homestead, prior to our moving, 5½ miles north of town, so he and the helper went out to build the homestead house. One Sunday noon, the news came, the high water was coming and would flood the town. My mother quickly started to pack taking the dinner dishes off the table and putting them in tubs and boxes. With team of horses and wagon, we were loaded and on our way, crossing the creek the water ran into our wagon box. The men finished the building of the house, which was almost finished, then it was the field work to be started on new soil. In 1905, my older sister passed away with typhoid fever leaving a young son about 3 years old.

We moved into town in 1907, and again moved to Spokane in 1911, on a nice place a few miles from the city, in the fall sister Pearl was married to Fred Griesinger. They lived at Wilson Creek 9 years, then moved to Montana, where we had moved in 1919 from Idaho, from a dairy farm with lot of hired men help, with cattle and haying. In Idaho, we lived near the banks of the Kootenai River, which always looked green water - We had a beautiful house, 7 bedrooms, and usually we boarded 2 schoolteachers. My grandmother had been living with us several years, but passed away at Copeland, Idaho in 1918.

August 1971

In 1920, June 12th, I was married to Emmet Quinn, who had worked for my father in Idaho from 1913 to the time he entered the war of 1918, we rented a farm and moved there for 7 years, was just a short distance from the folk's main ranch on what was called the Little Sandy Creek Ranch, a Log house, built for a bride in 1893. We had two sons, Mack the oldest, and Joe. We moved and later bought another farm, to be on the mail route and school bus route. Our sons received their education, and college degrees. Mack entered the U.S. Navy for War 2 and served 4 years. Before retiring, he and Dorothea Stammler were married on the naval base at Charleston, SC, she being a Navy WAVE in service. They came back to Montana to take the farm, as we were retiring in 1948, and we moved to Great Falls, Mont. Joe joined the Navy, and was stationed at the Great Lakes Station, and other places of training. He and Doris Freeland were married at Bozeman, Mont., her home in 1950, and they lived at Havre, Mont. Joe joined the Federal Land Bank Business, and later was transferred to Spokane, Wash. They bought a nice home, and had two daughters, and one son. Mack and Dordy had one son Bob, and a daughter Debby.

Alice Amber McAnelly Quinn died 25 April 1985 in Big Sandy, Chouteau, Montana at the age of 91 and was buried 29 April in the Big Sandy Cemetery.