Per Betty Jo McCracken Ehn: In 1910 the Hoar family were living in Osborne, Kansas. America's mother lived in Portis and Charles' parents in Woodston. Mother and her brother and sisters attended school in Portis. Clara and her sisters were very well dressed. Their mother, America, made all of their clothes by hand and they always had pretty ribbons in their hair. Mother, must have inherited this talent, because most of the clothes I had during my growing up years were made of material that she was going to use for the new kitchen curtains. She could take an old dress or coat and make it into a great new outfit. The Christmas present that I remember most from my childhood was a little coat she made for my doll. The material was an old shirt of Grandpa's. I still have that doll. Mother really did have a talent in the art of "making do."
In 1912 Mother, along with the rest of the family, moved from Kansas to Eastern Colorado. They homesteaded in the Sheridan Lake, Kiowa County area. The children went to school in a one-room school house and her father was the teacher.
Mother could never understand why they left a good happy life in Kansas to move to such an isolated place as Sheridan Lake. She talked about the difficult times: the cold, the wind, the blizzards and the burning heat. Life on the prairie and living in a crowded homestead dugout with very little water and always the fear of snakes was not her idea of the good life. I can only imagine how difficult it was for a nine year old girl to give up all she had known; a nice home, grandparents and friends. But, much like the ancestors before her, she and her generation were survivors; they were the pioneers that helped settle and build this part of the west.
Sometime in 1916, Clara Myrtle Hoar moved with her family to New Raymer, Weld County, Colorado and enrolled in the 7th grade. The school records for 1918 show that she was 14 years of age. The record for 1919 gives her age as 15 and the last grade that she had completed in school was the 8th grade. I did not find her listed in the 1920 school year census. That is the year she moved with her parents to Prowers County, Colorado. Russell Sage McCracken married Clara Myrtle Hoar on May 16, 1920. Her brother Raymond Hoar and her friend, Mae Renolts, were witnesses to the wedding. The ceremony was performed by Reverend LeGrand, a Baptist Minister, in Holly, Prowers, Colorado. After their marriage they returned to New Raymer, Weld, Colorado and lived in the home of Russel's parents. It would appear that 1921 was the last formal schooling she had and that she completed the 9th grade. The New Raymer school records in 1921 lists her as Myrtle McCracken. This school data is the first information that I find about Russell McCracken and his brothers and sister.
Shortly after the 1921 school year, Russell and Myrtle moved to Sterling, Logan County, Colorado. On August 5, 1922, Russell and Clara Myrtle McCracken welcomed their first daughter, Aleida Roark. Aleida was born in Denver, Denver, Colorado at Denver Maternity Hospital. In 1923, Aleida Roark died of Spinal Meningitis and was buried in Riverside Cemetery, Sterling, Logan County, Colorado. Sterling is about 50 miles east of New Raymer. Russell was studying to be a mortician and to supplement the income, he worked as the caretaker for the Riverside Cemetery. Riverside Cemetery was privately owned and a house was provided for them on the grounds. Later the Cemetery was sold to the City of Sterling. I have made made several trips to visit this cemetery. I have located the house that my parents lived in and most important I found the grave of my sister, Aleida, and was able to place flowers there.
I, Betty Joe, was born on October 8, 1924, in Sterling, Colorado and the following year we moved to Dalhart, Texas. Mother entered nursing school and Russell worked as an auto mechanic. A third daughter, Bonnie Lee, was born, on September 26, 1926.

1930 United States Federal Census
Name: Russell McCracken
Home in 1930: Dalhart, Dallam, Texas
Age: 31
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1899
Birthplace: Kansas
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's Name: Myrtle McCracken
Race: White
Household Members:
Russell McCracken, 31
Myrtle McCracken, 26
Betty Jo McCracken, 5
Bonnie Lee McCracken, 3

Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Dalhart, Dallam, Texas; Roll: 2312; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 6; Image: 792.0.

We moved back to Colorado and lived with Grandma and Grandpa at their home in Hartman, Colorado. Mother had earned a nursing degree. Mother was the nurse that made the "house calls." She would go into the patient's home and often she would have to stay several days. She not only cared for the sick, but many times she would have to clean the house and cook the meals. This was not unusual when a new birth was expected. The term used in those days was "confinement." One of her prized possessions was a baby scale. This little scale was hooked onto the baby's diaper and the baby was lifted up by the scale and it would register the baby's weight.
Mother went to work full time for Dr. Frank E. Casburn. The Towner school bus tragedy occurred in 1931. Mother and Dr. Casburn were members of the team of doctors and nurses that went out to rescue these children. I remember how they used horses and a wagon to get the bodies back to Holly. The bus was stalled for about 36 hours in a freak spring blizzard which began on March 26, 1931. The bus driver and five of his 20 passengers lost their lives. Mother and Dr. Casburn were married in 1933 and I remember how excited we were. We moved into the apartment which was located in the back part of the building that housed the medical office. It was furnished very nicely and Bonnie and I got to share a room of our very own. It was the first place that we had lived that had electricity, running (cold) water and a bathroom. We did not have a bathtub, only a toilet; we still took our baths in the galvanized wash tub. The apartment was heated by two gas stoves and cooking was done on a coal and wood burning range in the winter and a gas stove with an oven on the side in the summer. You can imagine how wonderful this modern world was for two little girls who had lived most of their lives on a farm without any of these modern conveniences.
This was also the first time I listened to a radio and a phonograph. The program of the times was "Amos and Andy." Every evening at about five we would have to stop playing, get dressed for dinner and then go to the living room to hear the radio. The radio was one of the very latest Philcos. The "Amos and Andy" show was followed by some sort of news and after this we ate dinner.
During the depression years of the 1930s few people had the money to pay doctor's bills but we always had plenty of food. Most of the accounts were paid by: chicken, butter, eggs and beans. They would never have considered sending statements and they were seldom paid in cash. Many years after my stepfather's death, when we were living in Colorado Springs, mother received an unsigned letter saying how sorry they were that they had not been able to pay for the delivery of their child and had enclosed a ten dollar bill. Mother never did know who it was from.
Dr. Frank E. Casburn had a stroke in 1935. After his stroke his practice was very limited. Mother tried to keep the office opened and did what she could to help. He died on January 30, 1937 in Lamar, Prowers, Colorado. Mother tried to stay in Holly. We moved into a little house across the street from the Catholic Church and she tried to go back to home nursing. The dust storms had caused many people to leave Eastern Colorado and there was very little work available.
By 1938 mother's health was being affected by the dirt storms and she made the decision to move. We moved to Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado. Mother rented a large house on Fountain Street and started a board and rooming home. Bonnie and I were enrolled in public school and Mother went about trying to get the business started. It was not long before her reputation as a good cook was known and on Sundays she had two seatings for dinner. I do not think that she wanted to stay in this type of a career and when the opportunity arose she returned to nursing.
In 1939, Mother borrowed $1000.00 and bought the house at 920 East Costilla and started what was to be her life's career, The Casburn Nursing Home. The Casburn Nursing Home was one of the first license homes in El Paso County. She tried to keep the place as "homelike" as possible. We lived in the home with the patients and all shared the house together. In the beginning Bonnie and I helped with the household chores and Mother did the nursing care. One lady that cleaned and cooked for Mother was Buelah White. Buelah was devoted to Mother and us girls. I do not know how many years she worked for us, but when she died, Mother took care of her funeral and fulfilled her burial wishes. Her coffin was placed on a wagon and was pulled by a team of horses. It was brought up the hill on Costilla Street and stopped in front of the house so the patients could come out on the porch to say goodbye. I think this tells what type of home the Casburn Nursing Home was.
At the start of World War II, mother volunteered as a nurse with the American Red Cross. She was assigned to the Hospital Unit at Fort Carson and drove a Red Cross Ambulance. She also served as the neighborhood security marshall. Colorado Springs was under total black-out, from dusk to dawn, during the entire war. Every night Mother would walk the blocks to be sure all was well. She had this job for nearly four years and accepted the responsibility very seriously.
During the war years Bonnie went to Mount Saint Scholastica Girls Academy in Canon City and I graduated from St. Mary's in Colorado Springs. We were provided with excellent educational opportunities.
By 1946 life was returning to normal. The Nursing Home grew and at this time she joined a dance studio and learned ballroom dancing. She performed in many exhibitions and recitals, including a performance in Havana, Cuba.
The years went forward very fast and grandchildren started arriving. She loved the role of Grandmother, but she did not want to be called Grandma and it was her first grandson that coined the phrase "MoMo." She lived to see all of her grandchildren grow to maturity and establish families of their own. She tried to help each of the grandchildren in any way that she could. This was not always in terms of money but with her wisdom.
Over the last years of her life, she would have liked to have closed the nursing home, but she felt sorry for the ladies that were still living there. When she died there were still 5 patients in the home. Mother died on May 19, 1989. She had gone grocery shopping and had the first heart attack in the parking lot of the grocery store. She was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital where she had the second attack and died. She was entombed in the Mausoleum at Memorial Gardens in Colorado Springs on May 23, 1989. Eight of her nine grandchildren were at the funeral and her six grandsons served as pallbearers.
Her health had not been good for the previous two years and her eyesight was failing. Mother's death was the passing of a way of life. She was the true matriarch of the family. She was the last generation that tied us to our past and yet she was the generation that laid the ground work for our future.

OBITUARY
Clara Myrtle Casburn, 84, of Colorado Springs died Friday in Colorado Springs. She had owned and operated the Casburn Care Center in Colorado Springs since 1939.
Visitation is 3 to 9 p.m. today at Swan-Law Funeral Home, 501 N. Cascade Ave. The funeral will be 9 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Memorial Gardens.
Mrs. Casburn was born on April 2, 1905, in Plainville, Kan., to Charlie and America (Rourke) Hoar. She was married in Holly to Dr. Frank Casburn, who preceded her in death.
Mrs. Casburn is survived by two daughters, Bonnie Mercier of Colorado Springs and Betty Ehn of Greeley; a sister, Zola Dodge of Colorado City; nine grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by a brother and three sisters.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, El Paso County Heart Unit, 601 N. Nevada Ave., Suite 205, Colorado Springs 80903.