Godfrey (Fred) & Nettie's Married Life (Edna's Parents)

Godfrey Leo Crider, or Fred as he was more familiarly known was the son of Godfrey & Mary Crider and father of Edna Crider King.  He grew up on his parents farm.  He attended the rural schools of Lincoln Township and attended the Moravian Church which was located adjacent to his parent's farm.  He assisted his father wiht his general farming and was the only child in this family that devoted his entire life to that occupation.  When a young man, he met and later married Nettie Grace Nussbaum.  She had come with her parents from Albany, New York to Clarke County, Iowa in 1856.

Shortly after their marriage, Nettie & Fred packed their few belongings and with some livestock, they boarded a freight train leaving for Kansas.  They settled on a ranch near Zenda, Kingman County, Kansas {near Wichita} and there they engaged in wheat farming and cattle raising.  It was much different there than living in Iowa.  They had to battle sandstorms, rattlesnakes, and loneliness.  During the wheat harvesting season, Fred would be gone for weeks as the threshing crew went from ranch to ranch until the harvest was done.  This covered a great many miles and acres and made it impossible for the ranchers to return home each evening.  Nettie would stay alone during that time with only their watchdog for company and protection.  Any neighbor would be miles away. 

After living there for three years, they decided to come back to Iowa.  They disposed of their extra livestock and loaded their other belongings into a covered wagon and with a gentleman friend, John Spears, they started in the long trip home.  They travelled by day and camped at night.  It was necessary to preserve the strength of their horses.  They had many exciting and frightening experiences along the way in their six week journey back to Iowa, including rustlers trying to steal their horses. 

After returning to Iowa, they lived on a farm where the Harold Carlsons now live, and there their first child Anna, a daughter was born on November 24, 1907.  They next lived on a farm where the Clark Halls now live and then moved to a farm four miles northwest of Brooklyn, Iowa in Bearcreek Township.  It was there that their second daughter was born on March 13, 1910, Edna Mae Crider King- writer of this story.

Their other child, also a daughter, was born on January 29, 1913.  Lois Wilma who later married Edward Reitzler.  Anna was also married to a Reitzler.  She married John who was Edward's brother. 

{wasn't she gorgeous?}

After living in Bearcreek Township for eleven years, they purchased a farm in Scott Township 5 1/2 miles southeast of Brooklyn, Iowa and moved there in February of 1919.  There Fred engaged in general farming and as the farm was quite hilly and much of it could not be cultivated, he went into sheep raising and wool production.  This was quite profitable at the time because man made fibers had not yet come into existence.  They built a new home there which had inside plumbing, a bathroom, a wood or coal furnace and waxed floors, all of which were practically non existent in the country homes at that time. Here Fred and Nettie lived until her death (heart disease) on November 26, 1945. 

{Furnace probably looked a little something like this}

The Crider's had lost ownership of their farm during the depression, but had continued to live there renting the farm.

After Nettie's death, Fred left the farm and spent much of his time staying in homes of people who were away on vacation or living as a companion to older people who could not stay alone.  He passed away on December 9, 1962 at the age of 83.

They are both buried at the north side of the I.O.O.F Cemetery