The Old Bucklin Place

I was reminded this week that I now have a share in some property that my great grandparents owned.  The great grandparents in question were Louis and Addie Hine Bucklin.  When Addie died in November 1960, it was left to her children, including my grandfather Fred Bucklin.  Once Fred and Myrtle died, his share was split between their children.  After my mom’s death, her share was split between her children.

This photo shows the area in Hathaway where the Bucklins lived.  In the foreground was the nursery owned by Fred and Clarence Bucklin around 1929.  From what I’ve heard, my grandfather and his identical twin brother started out in business together with a nursery.  Later on there was some type of falling out and they then had their own separate nurseries about a mile apart out in the sparsely populated Hathaway/China community.

In the background on the left is the home of Louis and Addie Bucklin.  It was a large two-story house that was built in 1888.  I’m not sure when the family bought this house.  Louis and his family came to Louisiana in 1884 from Iowa.  They came by train, which brought their belongings including cattle and horses.  Addie and her family came in 1894 from Indiana.  Louis and Addie were married on June 12, 1898, and started their large family shortly afterward.

I like being from a large family.  There is a drawback, though.  You have to share everything.  That original land was divided between 10 descendants.  The 1/10th my grandfather got was divided between his 5 children.  That 1/5th my mom got was divided between her 6 children.  That makes my share 1/300th.  So you could just say that I own that small little shrub and the dirt around it in the foreground of this photo.   Woo hoo!  I come from the largest family in each generation, so it’s the smallest share of all the great grandkids.

And that’s more than okay… Yes, it is perfectly okay… I assure you (and myself) that it is indeed okay.