m13p15w6

At that time Deborah sold the Haypoint homestead to Perry for an estimated $500 on contract. Perry

and Estella purchased more stock and equipment and returned to the Haypoint property. The log barn

that Oliver had built had burned down between the time that Deborah, and their son Leslie and family,

left the farm, and Perry moved in. Apparently a transient had slept in the barn, and after his departure

the barn burned down. Perry replaced the structure with a smaller, frame barn. Perry farmed the land

until the early 1940's when he and his wife were no longer able to handle farming. At that time they

sold the property and moved to San Diego, California.

Oliver died on October 28, 1932, in a hospital in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where he had lived the last

couple of years with his daughter Elizabeth Ann (McAninch) Rodrek. He is buried in the Macville

Cemetery, also known locally as the Haypoint cemetery. This Cemetery lies just east and across

Highway 169 from the location of the logging camp that the McAninch family lived in during their

first winter in northern Minnesota. Deborah lived until March 20, 1950, spending her last years living

with her son Ira in Swatara, Minnesota, a nearby small community. She is buried next to Oliver in the

Macville Cemetery, Aitkin County, Minnesota,

The two log houses that Oliver and his sons built still exist in 2005. The smaller one, however, that

was the house / post office / store, is gradually rotting away, and is only partially standing at this time.

The large log house, however, has been maintained by the people that bought the property when Perry

sold it, and the property is being used as a combination tree farm / hunting camp. The logs in the house

all seem to be solid and in good condition, probably due to the sandy soil that they sit on, which

provides good drainage.

The river that originally ran through the property has been reduced to just a trickle, being bypassed

by a drainage channel in 1910, creating a shorter route to the Mississippi River, lowering the water

in the nearby swamps, and reversing the flow of the waters through the homestead. The old trail,

and later the tote road, has been replaced by U.S. Highway 169, which runs on fill dirt through the

swamps north of Aitkin, and runs along side the west property line of the homestead (it is interesting

to note that highway 169 also runs through Ringgold County, Iowa, just west of Caledonia, where

Deborah and Oliver were married, passes alongside the Aitkin County homestead where they finally

settled, as well as alongside the Macville cemetery where they are buried).

The information for this narrative was gleaned from notes from conversations with Leone McAninch

Schack, granddaughter of Oliver; from conversations with Donna McAninch Cluff, granddaughter of

Oliver; from published memories of Leslie McAninch, son of Oliver; from census and cemetery

records; and from personal observations of Dick Schack, great grandson of Oliver and Deborah.

Dick spent part of his youth living on the homestead with his grandparents, Perry and Estella.

These materials were assembled by Dick, and he is responsible for any errors the narrative may

contain (hopefully not many)

___________________________________________________________________________

McAninch Family History NL, v.XIII.n.2 / April 2005 / Frank McAninch, Editor / page 2005-15