The hills, streams, and bluffs of southwest Missouri were home to me. My
  father Alfred Uhlmann, left Dresden, Germany, to marry and homestead land
  south of Mountain Grove. I grew up with three brothers and one sister. My
  parents worked hard to build up the farm, but they made sure their children
  had love and good times. Music parties were frequent; everyone played some
  instrument. My parents gave me an organ; my brothers received violins when
  they learned tunes on home strung cigar boxes. Father took us in the road
  wagon camping overnight, so we could see a circus. The sorghum making pan
  was a boat in summer; sledding parties and pulling taffy were winter sports.
  We rode horseback on dates to church, country picnics, and shool programs.
  The party line kept everyone informed of good and bad news in which all
  shared.
     A friend, member of the school teacher's large and lively family had a
  brother, Claude Hibbard, who came courting. We were married in 1912, with
  friends and family filling the house that held my past, and moved to a
  nearby farm. Claude taught school, getting home on horseback to chore after
  dark.
     Three children were born, Grace, Glenn, and Susan. Claude took extra jobs
  to supplement teaching. We moved to Ava, where Claude became High School
  Principal, then County Superintendent. I packed hundreds of school lunches
  and greeted home-from-schoolers with home baked treats.
     There was always room for visitors at our table and always room for
  nieces and nephews staying for school events. I never lacked for things to
  do, sewing, gardening, canning, neighboring, church and clubs, and my
  friendship flower garden.
     Claude became a State Supervisor of schools, but we kept our Rumpus Ridge
  home. We celebrated our Golden Wedding Anniversary there with friends and
  family. We enjoyed friends, foxtrotting horses, and a full life. The Uhlmanns
  remained a closely knit, loving family with many gatherings. Yet, after my
  husband's death, I decided to leave all this. The years bring a natural cycle
  of change, and that kind of change is, of necessity, bittersweet. For me, the
  joy was in exchaning lonely responsibility for a comfortable home next door
  to my oldest daughter and her family with whom I share many interests. It also
  meant I would be closer to my younger daughter, Susan, and her family in
  Concordia, Kansas. The pain was in pulling up the deep roots so firmly planted
  and nurtured in the Ozarks, among family and friends Claude and I treasured so
  dearly. I have learned these roots can transplant and flourish in new associations
  without losing identity with the past.
     Medicine Lodge was a place we formerly came to visit the George and Allan
  Hibbard families; and more frequently after Grace and Ray Sheldon married. It
  is now home. I am grateful to the friendly, kind people of Medicine Lodge for
  helping me feel a part of this fine community.
               
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 229 
     Submitted by: Mrs. C.H. Halie Hibbard