Family History Pages

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Ancestorial Home Page

The front of the stone has Morris' inscription. Francina is on the left side of the marker and Margaret is on the right side. There are small markers around the monument that say Francina, Father, Margaret, John Morris (which is tossed up by the tree), David and Kyle R.

Morris Ocheltree Headstone
Sand Hill Cemetery near Tipton, IA
Inscription Front: Morris Ochiltree, d. 24 April 1884, 75 yrs., 11 mos., 13 da
Inscription Left: Francina Ochiltree, d. 27 Aug 1848, 30 yrs. 8 mos. 13 da
Inscription Right: Margaret wife of Morris Ochiltree died Nov 4, 1879 aged 59 ys 9 mo 23 da

SOURCE: Rita Gervais Personal Visit and Photographs September 2002, guided by Dr. Jeff Kaufmann, History Professor at Muscatine
Epitaph for Morris Ochiltree
Daughter Anna wrote of her father: "A true Christian gentlemen in the fullest sense of the word. Father's life is his epitaph; it is written in our hearts; he would desire no other. I speak of my own father as being more familiar to me; but the same applies to one all of the children of James and Elinor Ochiltree. Into the cold north, they brought the warm-hearted, open-handed hospitality of the South-land. My father had but three month's work in a school-room in his life; yet he had a fund of general information, which I have never found equaled. Seldom did I propound a question that he could not answer - of the birds, the flowers, the trees, in my childhood days, and, as I grew older, of people, politics, history - he was the same unfailing source of information. Through the winter, our home seemed more a hotel than a home in that there were always guests coming and going. The bonds of 'clan' were not worn so loosely then as now, and it was not only relatives and friends who crossed the threshold; no one was turned from the door in those days. When I was a child, there was a constant stream of emigrants. It seemed to me a prairie schooner was always in sight. My father, having a large family, there were few bed-rooms for the passing guest. But they were given the freedom of the floor in the kitchen, which was a very large, long room, with an immense fireplace, and the dining room was theirs. Once when my father and mother had gone into another county to visit my grandmother (who died in her hundredth year), my uncle Alexander was left, as head of the home. Being in the drive-way one evening, he saw a prairie schooner, drawn by weary horses, approaching through the dusk. Instantly the gate was thrown open with a hearty "drive in stranger", to emphasize the action. They did so and prepared their evening repast in the large barnyard. But the evening was chilly and the young wife indisposed; so they were brought in and installed in my parent's room. They remained members of our household for a month, or more and, whereas, four members formed the family, when it entered our gates, there were five at the going forth. When my father came to Iowa, the deer bounded past his dwelling, and the Indian camped in woodland. They were very friendly, and one night, as he passed their camp-fire, proffered their hospitality. They had a big feast, "skunk; heap good;" but father declined with his unvarying courtesy. The settlers in the neighborhood where my father settled were mostly Virginians; the woodland near being called "Virginia Grove." There were no schools and few books; so a resident governess had to be engaged the first few years, to teach the children. My father's little store of books was loaned far and wide; and often they failed to return. One book, a telling temperance story, when last heard from, was in an adjacent county and still moving northward."

Source: E-mail from Rita Gervais, g-g-g-grandaughter of Morris Tipton