What's with Such a Little House?

Why Edmund, Sr. and Mamie Tripp Gates Lived in a Two-Room House

            Recently, I saw a couple of old photographs from the Gates family taken over 100 years ago. I did not recall viewing these pictures of the latter 19^th century. What a window into the past a vintage photograph opens!

            When handed a photograph of the barn on my great-grandparents’ farm in Crawford County, near Girard, Kansas, I remembered Dad’s comment about his grandfather’s barn. I held up the photograph that I had never seen before and stated, “This is why Grandpa and Grandma had such a small house.” Dad had indicated Grandpa  insisted a big barn be constructed first. 

The barn on the Gates farm in Crawford County, Kansas. My grandfather is 

with the horses by the wall of the barn and his younger brother, John, is in 

the doorway of the barn with a team. Standing in the forefront of the photograph

 is John Fredrick Gates, the incredibly successful farmer father of my grandfather.

           In the early 20^th century, when my grandparents married, houses were not sprawling, massive dwellings. Their residences sheltered families and provided a place for family activities – like eating meals together, congregating for evenings of singing and storytelling, and the making of shadow pictures on the walls.
            I vividly recall my father, Edmund Gates, Jr., entertaining me with shadow pictures to get me to sleep. I tried in vain to create the shadow animal pictures with my own little hands.

When writing this blog, I finally made a rabbit!

              According to Dad, making animal shadow pictures on the walls of the tiny living room/family bedroom whiled away many winter evenings. The wood stove would have provided exceptional lighting for the little dexterous hands of my father and his siblings to perfect the shadow animals modeled by their father.
            The Gates family home on the 95-acre farm on the Arkansas River was comprised of two rooms – a kitchen and a living room that doubled as a bedroom at night. Each of five boys, upon promoting out of the baby bed, moved to sleep in the bunkhouse just steps from the little two-room main house. The arrival of the next baby prompted the graduation of a little Gates boy from the baby bed to the bunkhouse!
            Descendants of Ed and Mamie Gates discussed, with consternation, the challenge of raising a family of twelve in such cramped quarters. Then the question often was posed, “Why didn’t they build a larger house?”
            My great-grandfather, John Fredrick Gates, as a hearing-impaired farmer in the late 1800s, succeeded in his work in agriculture, first building the barn as shown in the photograph. At the time of the photograph in 1895, he was age 54, whereas my grandfather, Edmund, Sr. was 18 and his brother, John was 13.
            Then John Fredrick proceeded to his second goal, constructing the house shown in the second photo. He posed with his wife, Elizabeth, also deaf, and his children, Edmund, Sr., Merry, John, and Ella for the photograph taken a few years later.

The John Fredrick Gates Home - posing in front are Merry and Ella, his

daughters, Elizabeth, his wife, and John and Edmund, his sons, and finally the

mastermind behind the entire farming operation.

             John Fredrick’s success couldn’t keep harmony in his family. My grandfather left Kansas disgruntled, settling in Indian Territory, returning only occasionally for business and visiting family.
            Yet even though my grandfather disagreed  sharply with his father, my grandpa carried his father’s goals with him when he settled in Osage County. Grandpa’s first goal was to erect a big barn. Then he wanted to build a large home. One of his children said he wanted to have a room for each child.
            As my mother, his daughter-in-law, Bernyce Gates said, many obstacles got in his way of achieving his dream. First the Great Depression hit in 1929 when he and Grandma had seven children. The Dust Bowl descending on the farm during the 1930s, decimated his early dream for his family. Finally, twelve children diminished that plan for a room for each of his children!
            Grandpa was so committed to his plans for a dream home for his family, he struggled with seeing it "die." He pressed forward with his plans and purchased concrete blocks for the foundation. (As a child, I recall seeing the blocks stacked near the little house.) Yet he died in the same house, only a little bit larger, with renovations of indoor plumbing and a bedroom approved by Grandma, but not by Grandpa. 

The two-room home of Edmund, Sr. and Mamie Gates in August of 1964. The 

fish cleaning table is in the forefront. The only cooling appliance is the window

unit visible on the left of the house. It was only operated if company came. Only

antenna TV here. A wood stove served as the sole source of heating.

            A study of historical figures reveal Grandpa wasn’t the only one who had unrealized goals. Abraham Lincoln tried various business ventures - unsuccessfully. C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors, studied and tutored at Oxford University for near 30 years but was never offered the position of professor. Instead that dream of being named chair of medieval and Renaissance studies was realized with a move to Cambridge University. Amy Carmichael, a committed missionary at the turn of the 20^th century, determined to serve in China. Her health prevented that. She was approved for work with at-risk children in India but due to a debilitating fall was confined to bed for the last two decades of her life. During those 20 years, she produced manuscripts forged because of unrealized dreams. Yet Carmichael's writings still inspire today.
            Grandpa was committed to education. He would be astounded how many of his descendants acquired marketable skills and degrees, allowing them to occupy positions of impact that render good in each of their chosen fields. Many of his sons, grandsons, and even great-grandsons could have designed and constructed Grandpa's dream dwelling. Numerous of his descendants exhibit creativity in a myriad of artistic areas.

            Edmund Gates, Sr. was characterized by his children as a man of principles. He valued honesty in thought, word, and effort. His children and so many of their offspring carried on Grandpa’s standard. How much more powerful are the influences of principled people than an edifice of wood and stone!

            Inspired by the Spirit of God, King Solomon penned in Proverbs 16:9 these insightful words for the one who feels dreams have been dashed and unrealized. 
                      A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

Father, help us to place our dreams and goals in Your hands, recognizing You may have plans that exceed what we imagined for ourselves. Reveal to us when we need to loosen the grip on our goals and dreams so we can accept an even better plan. Enable us to carry on the legacy of the principles of our ancestors and bring honor to Your name. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.