Godfrey and Nettie Crider - Edna's parents

Godfrey (Fred) Leo Crider was the son of Godfrey and Mary Crider and Edna's father.  He grew up on his parents farm and attended the rural schools of Lincoln Township and attended the Moravian Church which was located adjacent to his parents farm.  He assisted his father with general farming and was the only child that farmed his whole life.  

He married Nettie Grace Nussbaum who had come to this county from Clarke County, IA.  Daughter of Danial Nussbaum and Alta Mae Williams.  They had 10 children together.

What a beauty! Due to the poor health of her father Daniel Nussbaum, Nettie and her brothers and sisters were forced at an early age to leave home and make their own way in the world.  After completing country school, Nettie came to Poweshiek County and assisted with housework in homes of people who needed extra help.  During this time she was taught to be a very proficient dressmaker and later, with an Aunt, spent some time in Chicago, Illinois working in that profession.  She later returned to Brooklyn and was married

Shortly after their marriage, they packed their few belongings and with some livestock, boarded a freight train leaving for Kansas.  They settle on a ranch near Zenda in Kingman County. They engaged in wheat farming and cattle.  It was much different there than in Iowa.  They had to battle sandstorms, rattlesnakes and loneliness.  During the wheat harvest, 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 which 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.  They, along with a friend John Spears, started the long trip home.  The traveled 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 and in 1907, their first daughter Anna was born.  They moved to a farm four miles northwest of Brooklyn in Bearcreek Township.  There their second daughter Edna was born in 1910.  Their other daughter Lois was also born there in 1913. 

After 11 years, they purchased a farm in in Scott Township, southeast of Brooklyn, IA.  He engaged in general farming and, as the farm was quite hilly and much could not be cultivated, he went into sheep raising and wool production which was profitable at that 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 country homes at that time.  

After his wife's death in 1945 (heart disease), 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 along.  He passed in 1962 at the age of 83

He looks like he was an awesome grandpa