Thoughts about Sam Ross as told by Mary Ellen Quandt in the first person – read by Luke Christiansen Aug. 26, 2006 at the Charles Manatt Audubon residence

My name is Samuel J Ross – better known as “Sam”. I was born on July 6, 1888, to George M and Alice Carey Price Ross on a farm in Cameron Township – 6 miles north of Audubon. You may wonder about me not having a middle name—only the initial? My father had been named the same way – George M. Ross. My parents were early settlers in Cameron township in 1880. The lumber used to build my birth home was transported by team and wagon from Red Oak – 6 miles to the south. My family consisted of 2 older brothers—David Cameron and George M Jr.—younger brother Carl Price and sister Ann Elizabeth – always called “Bessie.” Our family was saddened when David passed away at age 35 from a massive heart attack. My brother George lost the sight of one eye at the age of 2. He was seated in a high chair in the kitchen, when the hired man tossed a bullet on the hot kitchen range. It exploded and a portion penetrated his eye. I think that hired man was soon seeking other employment. You learned to work hard early in life those days. There was always a big garden with a strawberry patch. I ran away from home during strawberry picking time at about the age of 1. I took off to the northwest by way of the railroad tracks. I got as far as Manning—20 miles away—before I was discovered and returned home to a rather stern reprimand. The railroad tracks bisected our farm – between Manning and Audubon. My father had donated land to the North Western Railroad when the route was established. This is how the town of Ross got its name – due to the gift of the land. How many people have had the honor of having had a town named for their father? The rural school we attended was 2 miles to the northwest of our place. We got there by walking the railroad tracks—which shortened the distance considerably. I attended and graduated from high school in Gray—about 4 miles to the northwest of our home. Our means of transportation were either horseback, horse and buggy or walking the railroad tracks. Following high school, I was fortunate to be able to go on to Des Moines to attend Capital City Commercial College [founded 1884]. Or $C College as it was commonly called. I took a business course and it was a big adventure for me. I worked at the Bolton-Hay restaurant to help with expenses. After graduating from 4C, I returned home and spent the next several years helping out there. I had a number of friends that I would gang up with for fun. One thing we did happened at Halloween time. At that time, everyone had out-door plumbing—better known as “out houses” or privies”. We would see how many of them we could tip over in the dark of night—when we were pretty sure no one was sitting in them. We were never punished for this and we made sure that we weren’t caught in the act. I had several young ladies that were good friends along the way, but I never really fell in love until I met that beautiful school teacher—sometimes called “school marms”. She was at the same neighborhood house party as I was and a romance quickly followed. After all, I was 26 years old and more than ready to leave home and settle down. However my Mother made the remark—“Sammy, I think you should wait another year to get married”. Wouldn’t you have thought that she would have been ready for me to be out of the house? Iola and I were married in the home where she grew up in Audubon on February 5, 1915. I had walked from my home to Audubon the day before in order to make wedding preparations. Bachelor parties hadn’t been invented back then. We had the greatest 2 week honeymoon—by way of railroad—to California and back. We came back and settled in on the farm just ¼ mile south of my birthplace. One hundred and fifty acres of land was enough to keep us busy when horses provided power for the machinery. There were good and bad times for us. The Great Depression and drought of the 1930’s was pretty devastating on all farmers. That is a whole story in itself, but we managed, later, to prosper by using careful management. I was always a people person and ended up being a politician. In the 1940’s, I was elected to the office of County Supervisor. This was interesting and challenging. One of the goals at that time was to have every road in Audubon County become graveled. There were mostly mud roads then. I was fortunate to live to see many of these same roads become paved.

Iola and I retired in 1946—31 years after we were married and I had jokingly, promised her that we would farm 15 years and then retire. We moved in to the house where we had been married and were very comfortable. In 1951 I was elected Mayor of Audubon. This involved leadership and a lot of decision making, but was challenging and fun. I got to crown all the “beauty queens” and, of course, kiss them on the cheek and, also, ride in parades. One thing Iola disliked was when I would hold Mayor’s court in our living room. This was for emergencies only. There was no Magistrate court at that time. I had several leadership positions in our Methodist Church. The grandchildren gave us a lot of pleasure and we did a fair amount of traveling around the Midwest. We really enjoyed trips to the Moreland farm and to our home place where George and Virginia were living. We were blessed with 2 children—George Eugene, born Sept. 16, 1916, and Mary Ellen, born December 9, 1920.

Epilogue: Granddad never knew a stranger and was a very loving, generous person. He had a way with people and never thought he had an enemy. Two of his favorite sayings were: “You can’t beat fun” and “Keep the money in circulation.” He provided us with many a chuckle—especially in his later years. You could say that he was an excellent example for right living.


Sam Ross story • Author: Mary Ellen Quandt; Reader: Luke Christiansen • August 26, 2006
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