He was born at his Grandma and Grandpa Chase's home. When the time came for delivery, the doctor was unavailable. Grandma Chase put a clean sheet on the kitchen table, which became a delivery room.
Grandma McCracken (later Beard) was only sixteen and one half years old. Her husband Demar was thirty.
The home/makeshift hospital is no longer there, but was once standing near this pond. On the water's edge an eight by eight foot spring house was built, right above the ice cold spring which fed the pond. The family used the spring house with its natural refrigeration to store milk, cheese, and butter.
A hole was cut in the floor of the spring house for the purpose of fishing. One could sit in the spring house, munching cheese, with a fishing line down through the hole. Many a meal was provided in this way.
