bearable. Of course, there were joys shared by a fine neighborhood and community.

Earle and Irene were brought up with the principle of buying only what one could pay for. Therefore, it meant water on wash days had to be heated in a copper wash boiler on the stove. Incidentally, that beautiful restored copper boiler sits in the home of Wayne and his wife Beverly. Wind whistled around the house until a grove of Norway spruce became mature enough to provide shelter from the wintry blasts.

In 1968 the Corletts moved in Castalia where Wayne and Lowell also live and where Earle and Irene, together with Wayne, operated the Skelly Oil Company for several years. Their daughter, Carmen Paddock, a registered nurse, lives in Tacoma, WA.

Earle and Irene had 7 grandchildren: Troy and Cheryl Paddock; Matthew, Crystal and Nicholas Corlett; and Sara and Michael Corlett.

Earle died 1 Jul 1986 after 40 years of marriage. Irene as of 1995, continues to live in the family home surrounded by friends of long standing and her sons and their families.

The Cornell Family in Winneshiek Co.

(C. C. Cornell)

W.E. Cornell

Nathaniel and Emma Ann (Loomis) Cornell were 7th generation Americans who moved to Bloomfield Twp. in 1854. Nathan first visited this area in 1853. He returned the next summer to purchase land at the Federal Land Office in Dubuque and make arrangements for quartering his family in Castalia during construction of housing on the homestead. His 258 acre farm included 3 military land grants and cost $1.25 an acre. It was surveyed and recorded by the E. Middlebrook Co. for a fee of $3.00. Taxes for the year were $14.31.

CC Cornell December 1992. Presenting a research report to the WCGS.

Emma was Nathan’s second wife. He first married Hannah Diadama Palmer 2 Feb 1831 at the home of Behn Palmer in Rodman, NY One son Alphonso P was born to this union. The young mother passed away 9 days after his birth. He used to joke that he was more than "half baked’’ having been popped in and out of the oven so many times during his first bitterly cold winter. The journey from Belguim, NY by covered wagon had only 3 passengers and held all of their possessions that could be stowed. Stops were made along the way at Milwaukee and Sackville, Wl to visit relatives.

Nathan had been the buyer of produce for the Loomis store in New York State. He continued to pedal spices, tea, coffee and syrup furnished by the family firm of Ostrander, Loomis & C. The firm maintained an office in Paris so these products were probably imports.

The Cornells were active in building the Castalia Uni-versalist Church at the site of the Bloomfield Cemetery. This became the burial ground for 4 generations of Cornells.

The Elias Freeman family of Canastota, NY moved to property they purchased southeast of Ossian in 1856. Rosaltha Freeman became the bride of Alphonso Cornell 15 Dec 1858. Elias was a brother-in-law of Emma’s sister Fanny, so the families had many acquaintances in common. This marriage produced 12 children: Willis (b. 1859); Cora D. (b. 1861) married Charles H. Cain; Charles (b. 1863) marrried Leora MacGinitie; Mary E. (b. 1865) married Walter E. Mowers; Chester C. (b. 1867); Levi F. (b. 1869) married Ida Whitney; Anson P (b. 1871) married