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Page 3 of 28 Early Exploits: Life in Marceline

Main Street in Marceline

Main Street in Marceline,
then called Kansas Avenue,
around 1906
 

In fact, had Walt featured many of the stories of his life on the farm in his films, critics would have accused them of presenting an idealized version of life. As he remembered it, neighbors pitched in, selflessly, to help one another at harvest time, as their wives put out heaping meals of cornbread, chicken and pie. All his life, Walt held the view that this was how people should work together; a fantasy from which he was frequently awakened by the disillusioning events of real life in the film business.Winters the children skated on a nearby pond, and warmed their hands by a big bonfire. Summertime, they'd go fishing for catfish and bowheads in a creek. If the day got hot, they'd take off their clothes and swim. Meanwhile, Ruth was always available for fun. She regarded Walt as the most fascinating of companions -- even when he led her into trouble.  There was, for example, the time he persuaded Ruth that they could use a big barrel of tar to paint the side of the house. Ruth did have the sense to question -- at least briefly -- the wisdom of this act. "Will this come off?" she wanted to know.
Ever confident, even then, Walt assured her there would be no problems. Soon thereafter, the two children discovered that they had permanently marred the house with dry hard tar. For years, Flora and Elias reminded the two children of the time they used tar to paint the house. On other occasions, Walt and Ruth would cut through the big bull pasture that separated the Disney house from the open fields where they played. Before they were halfway to safety, the children invariably heard the bull snorting. When they made it across, Ruth collapsed in a panting heap -- safe, for the moment. On the way home, she knew Walt would have her running from that bull again.

Through his life, Walt retained loving memories of the adults in Marceline as well.  His inquisitive nature and expressive brown eyes attracted an unusual number of older friends. These were people like Erastus Taylor, a civil war veteran who regaled Walt with dramatic battle stories of Shiloh and Bull Run. Or L.I. Sherwood, a retired doctor who enjoyed young Walt's company. They presented an odd couple, as they walked the streets of Marceline; the elderly doctor in his black Prince Albert frock coat, and the young boy bouncing by his side. Doc Sherwood won Walt's everlasting gratitude by paying him 25 cents to draw a picture of his horse, Rupert. Family was ever-present. Grandma Disney was energetic, even into her seventies. Walt always had a fond memory of the time she encouraged him to sneak into a neighbor's yard to filch some turnips. "She loved turnips," he said.

Walt and his sister Ruth

Walt and his sister Ruth in 
their Sunday best, around 1910

Marceline Depot

Children witness the arrival of the Santa Fe at the Marceline Depot.  Seeing giant steam engines close to his home began Walt's life-long love affair with trains.

His mother's brother-in-law, Mike Martin was a railroad engineer. Walt happily anticipated his arrival behind the throttle of the powerful locomotive when it came roaring into town. Sometimes, Uncle Mike would even bring along a striped bag of candy for the children. In this relationship was likely born Walt's life-long love of trains; a love that, in part, led to the building of Disneyland. One of Elias' brothers, Uncle Ed, was "a little slow," the relatives said. He would just show up from time to time, and stay with the Disneys. His childlike approach to life may have been the subject of whispers among family members, but Walt loved this uncle who enjoyed playing children's games. 

Yet another brother of Elias' was Uncle Robert, a fastidiously dressed man, who always had a cigar in his mouth. Robert did well in business, and would be a source of cash to Walt into his early years in the cartoon business. Robert's  wife, Aunt Margaret, had a special place in Walt's life. "When she'd come she loved us kids, and she'd always bring something for my sister and me. And she'd bring me big tablets -- Crayola things -- and I'd always draw Aunt Margaret pictures and she'd always rave over them." Unfortunately, paradise for Walt became a sort of purgatory for his oldest brothers, Herb and Raymond.  Their father paid them nothing for the back breaking labor of the farm. In fact, even when they worked on neighboring farms, to pick up a little extra cash, Elias had them add it to the family's coffers to help pay debts. .

In 1908, Herbert and Ray snuck out of the house, and left for Chicago. Some writers have described them as "running away from home." Of course, they were sixteen and eighteen years old; men by the standards of the time. This was hardly running away, any more than a 22-year-old could be said to run away from home in the 1990s! Still, their departure was painful for Elias. Roy was his only farmhand. Meanwhile, although Elias was a tough man by any standards, he had to endure recurring bouts of chills and fever that stemmed from a case of malaria in his twenties. The last straw came in 1910, when he came down with typhoid fever. Flora was terrified. Typhoid fever was a member of a hellish club whose roster also included tuberculosis, cholera and diphtheria, and killed hundreds of thousands of adults and children in those days.
Walt and Ruth were too young to be alarmed. Flora held orange slices up to Elias' dry lips and the children regarded him jealously. "Those orange slices looked so wonderful to me, I almost wished I was sick so I could have some too," Ruth remembered. The family was fortunate. Elias survived. But he knew that he could never again hope to make a big success out of the farm. So, it was sold for $5,175, and Elias invested in a newspaper route, delivering the Kansas City Star to some two thousand customers. 
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Walt's oldest brother Herbert

Walt's oldest brother Herbert

 
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