Clyde married Robbie Stuart June 23, 1929. Myrtle married Troy Jeffery in April 1930. Lorene married Doyne Stuart December 24, 1932. The grandchildren had started to arrive well before Maud had finished having children, Douglas Stuart in 1921, Wallace Martin (Clee’s son) in 1922. Before their last child married (Clelan in 1948) they had 22 grandchildren. In all they had 27.
As a hostess to her adult children and their families, she was amazing! At the time, I took it for granted, but for countless Sundays everybody went to their house and stayed most of the day, eating together and visiting. For the grandchildren it was wonderful to get together with all those cousins (probably at least a dozen at any given time.) In the summer we would play in the "branch", the stream running by the springs, on the sawdust pile, or maybe practice riding Hoyle’s bike (which usually didn’t have a chain so had to be pushed up the hill so you could coast down it.) Another favorite activity was playing with the newest babies. Sometimes some of the men would take a truck and go to Batesville and buy a 100 pound block of ice and make ice cream! It gives me a tic in the eye to even think of having such a crowd of people coming to overrun the place every week or so!
In the winter it must have been even worse. Probably even then the children spent some of the time outside, but not as much. I remember running all over the place, up and down the porches that ran around the house, playing hide and seek. Once I hid in the attic when Hoyle was "It" and he stopped looking for me! Maybe I’ll forgive him some day. Now I wonder if Grandma put him up to it. That would keep us quiet at least for a few minutes!
I have no idea who cooked all the food for those get-togethers. I don’t remember my mother taking food for a pot-luck, but maybe it was done that way and I didn’t pay attention because I took the good food for granted.