Marvin McMillen, his wife, Martha (Addie) Adaline (Jester), and Lois
      (5 months) came from Missouri in a two wagon caravan with Addie's
      brother, George Jester, and family. They arrived south of Gerlane in
      October of 1907. A short time later the Elmer Eastburn family came to
      join the families. They all lived with Addie's brother, Lew, until the
      following summer when Marvin rented the Fodd Allison farm and worked
      for Aubrey Newkirk.
        The main crops were corn and wheat. Many hogs and cattle were raised.
      The neighbors gathered at the Newkirks each year to butcher 10 to 15
      hogs. Sausage was stuffed, lard rendered, and hams and shoulders
      prepared for the smoke house treatment. A traditional lunch of liver 
      and tenderloin was served.
        Lois attended Glenco school with Erma Albright (Frieden) and Ted
      Boose as classmates. A pot-bellied stove stood in the middle of the
      room for heat.
        In 1915 they rented Newkirk Mule Creek Ranch, where they built a
      silo, cut feed, and filled the silo as it was being built. Sometimes
      as many as 40 men were fed. The women dug potatoes, gathered garden
      vegetables, dressed chickens, baked bread, and cooked everything on
      a wood burning stove. The house was piped for carbide lights.
        When Marvin was learning to drive his first Model-T, he bounced a
      culvert three feet high and threw Addie and her father into the top. 
      Addie's head was cut and her dad's last teeth were all knocked out.
        In 1918, the home was blessed with a baby girl, Erma Lee. Alma
      Burris, Marvin's niece, came to live with them after her mother's
      death and helped care for the baby.
        Neighbors included Wileys, Wrights, Vannamans, Hutchinsons, Colsons,
      Cornwels, and Whittons. Addie stayed with the Whittons and cared for
      the children when Mrs. Whitton passed away.
        Trading was done in Hardtner and Kiowa. Grandma and grandpa Green
      McMillen were visited on their trips to Kiowa. Green drove the dray
      wagon which hauled freight from the depot to the customers.
        In 1920 the McMillens moved to Kiowa, and Marvin worked for the ice
      company. Lois was in the 8th grade. Wayne Newkirk and Bessie Harbaugh
      (Hewitt) roomed and boarded with the family.
        In 1923 the family moved back to Springfield, where Marvin worked 
      for Frisco Railroad. One year later they returned to Barber County
      and farmed the Newkirk land, south of Gerlane. Their home was struck
      by lightning and burned to the ground. Addie was injured and spent
      several weeks recuperating. They moved to the Blackstock farm near
      Hardtner where they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.
        Erma Lee graduated from Kiowa High School and worked for Filson and
      Miexner.  In 1946 she married Henry Kinsey. They lived in Kiowa and
      operated a filling station. Erma Lee's health failed, and she passed
      away in October of 1947 at the age of 29 years.
        Marvin retired, and they moved into Hardtner and later to Medicine
      Lodge with Oral and Lois Hensley. Addie died in 1959, age 75, and 
      Marvin passed away in 1960, age 76.
        
                 
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 307 
     Submitted by: Lois McMillen Hensley