My maternal grandparents, the Andrew Otts, came from Germany, settling
     in New York City, then moving west to Wabaunsee and on to Barber County,
     where they spent the rest of their lives. Their children were Leonard,
     Mary, Andrew, and Anna.
       My paternal grandparents were Walter and Sarah Hood, coming from Carmi,
     Illinois, to Kiowa. They made the run into Oklahoma, settling a few miles
     south of Kiowa. My father, Finnie, was among the oldest of thirteen children,
     so was a breadwinner to help this large family get started in a new home.
       Father met Mary Ott, and they were married in 1896. They made their home
     in Kiowa, where they lived out their lives. There were three of us girls:
     Ann, Lydia, and Pauline.
       I have a log cabin quilt that my mother made when she was twelve, while
     herding cattle on the open range. She carried small scraps of materal in 
     a flour sack over the horn of her side saddle, and worked the quilt under
     the shade of the trees.
       I was born in the family home on South Ninth. This house stood where the
     McGee Apartments are now, just north is the lovely home of Junior Tucker.
     He will laughling tell you his house is on the land where Finnie Hood had
     his potato patch.
       Father and Mother loved the outdoors and had beautiful gardens. Even 
     during the frough years, when gardens dried up, my dear mother, somehow, 
     always had things to can for the winter. They had chickens, hogs, and cows,
     so about all that was boiught was staple foods when we were growing up.
       I didn't like outdoor work, and Mother didn't like inside work, so I did
     all the housework. Being around cows most of my life, I never learned to
     milk. I don't remember if my sisters were that lucky, since they were a
     few years older and had married by the time I was old enough to do much.
       I remember the fun I had as a youngster, playing with the neighbor
     children, Rudolph and Mary Alice Ewing, who lived just south of us. They
     had a large maple tree with a sandpile under it. We were diving out of the
     tree into the sand, and I broke my wrist. Dr. Harris set it and told me to
     go back and break the other one so he could set it before he left. He was
     a big tease, and our neighbor, who lived up the hill from us.
       We attended the Congregational Church. Mr Ewell was our Sunday School
     Supt., and he looked so much like pictures of Jesus, children were in awe
     of him. If you weren't at Sunday School, he came by on Monday to see why.
       Ann married and had a son, Bill, sho died in 1963. My sister, Lydia,
     married and had three lovely daughters. Lydia died in 1959. I was married
     to Felix Fitzgerald. Felix was born on the family farm, twelve miles north
     of Kiowa. He farmed there until his death in 1964, when his nephew, Byron
     Bliss, took over the Fitzgeral farm.
                 
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 236 
     Submitted by: Pauline Hood Fitzgerald