Hillmon came to Barber County, Kansas in the early spring of 1938.
     He stayed with Iona and Mike Stephenson until he could get possession of the
  Greenleaf Ranch, north of Sharon, which he had rented.
     I was teaching school in Oklahoma; so I completed my term, then came to Kansas.
  Hillmon and i were married July 3, 1938, at Anthony, Kansas.
     We went into partnership with Aron Greenleaf and bought Billie Hawkins' registered
  cows. Mr Greenleaf furnished the capital, and we the labor.
     During those years, to supplement our income, we raised chickens, milked cows,
  planted a large garden,a nd canned all our vegetables. Raising turkeys gave us the
  extra income for new clothes or whatever was needed in the house.
     Unlike other professions, where a man and woman spend their days separated, a
  farmer and his wife take on the tasks together, whether it was feeding the turkeys
  or driving the horses to the hay rack while Hillmon threw off the feed; in later
  years it was driving the pickup while he fed. Most of all we were partners in the
  business and all undertakings.
     In the fall the calves were rounded up, trucked to Wichita to the stockyards.
  Comission men would bid on them, and they were sold to the highest bidder. This was
  the time when all the family went, and we would take a streetcar and go downtown
  to shop. But it was economical shopping in those days.
     One January night after a big snow storm, we drove through fields getting to a
  highway and to Anthony, Kansas, just in time for our first child, Dovie to be born
  on January 24, 1940, at 2:40 am Dr. Galloway was our doctor.
     After spending about four years on the Greenleaf Ranch, we bought land of our 
  own north of Sharon. It was while living there, LaDene was born at Hardtner Hospital
  at Hardtner, Kansas, on September 18, 1942. When LaDene was 11 months old, we 
  bought land south of Isabel we liked better. We moved to the Isabel Community where 
  we lived for 37 years. Colin was born at Hardtner August 28,1 944 - a son to complete
  our family.
     We spent 12 years working with our children in 4-H Club from 1948 to 1960. The
  entire community worked together along with some families from Medicine Lodge.
     Everyone enjoyed these years because of the association with our neighbors and
  friends. Being with our children, helping and watching them accomplish what they
  were striving for was of utmost pleasure.
     Each child completed grade school at Eldred and finished high school in Medicine
  Lodge.
     Dovie attended Northwester State College and later worked for the First National
  Bank in Medicine Lodge for 19 years. On October 13, 1962, she married Edgar House.
  They had one son, Tyson. Edgar passed away February 1978.
     LaDene attended Wichita State University and is now married to Stan Blankenship. 
  They have two sons, Ky and Jay. Stan is a salesman in International Marketing for
  Gates Learjet in Wichita.
     Colin attended Fort Hays State College then Texas Christian University, completing
  a Ranch Training Program there. He is married to Ann Smith of Ryan, Oklahoma. She is
  a speech clinician to the Medicine Lodge School system, having taught there for 10
  years. They have one son, Chad. Colin is in the farming and ranching business and
  lives near our home.
     Hillmon passed away January 21, 1979 at the Medicine Lodge Hospital. We had spent
  our lives working together as most farmers and ranchers do, sharing the problems and
  satisfactions. This is why I have so many memories to be recalled, which are cherished
  now.
     
                
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 121 
     Submitted by: Aline Chain Cargill