Miriam and "Miltie" |
My aunt Dorothy Flint Schell was apparently quite fond of her. They corresponded right up until her death. However, to my recollection nobody in the family mentioned her. Not great-grandma Bertha, not Dorothy, not Grandpa Charles, not Mom (who never knew her but loved to talk about family), nobody. Now that I've found her letters it is quite interesting how accurate my other research of her has been. Still, she was nearly forgotten.
She must have been a hoot. She was apparently athletic being the a professor of physical education for women at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University). Her husband, Milton, was a professor of chemistry there. She seems to have been tight with a buck and yet a risk taker as demonstrated in her 9000+ mile trip around the country via auto in 1916 (with her husband). The Maxwell auto people even touted her trip and the low cost of repairs (they drove a Maxwell) in their advertising. Her letters, even what appears to have been her last letter in November 1919 mentioning her illness (only very briefly) are up-beat and lively. Interestingly, one of those last letters mentions that "Miltie" wants to get a dog and that she's not sure it is worth the trouble. How ironic that he really makes a name for himself in creating the dog food and breed, Malamutes, used to make the historic explorations of the Arctic and Antarctic AFTER he remarries.
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