The first actual home of the George Henry Seebarts was in the Turtle River, in close proximity to the Fort Totten Trail and within easy driving distance of the farms of Grandfather August Ziebarth and William Henry Ziebarth. (See the Sketch Map). The court records refer to this property as "160 acres homestead" and "160 acres Pre-emption" "S.E. 4 - Sec. 13-150-54" and "S.W. 4 Sec. 18-152-53." Total farm: 320 acres. Mr. Julke bought this farm at a later date and it was always referred to thereafter as the Julke Place. The Fort Totten Trial, which wound its way across the prairies, was within a mile or so of the home place. This, as has been observed elsewhere, was not a graded road but simply a trail, which followed, for the most part, the beach heads left be the retreating Lake Agassiz of millenniums past. The North Dakota Sioux Indians, located at the Fort Totten Reservation in Devils Lake, traipsed back and forth between that site and the Indian Reservations in Minnesota every summer. The crossing of the Turtle River was at a point near to the farm building on the home place. Consequently, Ella Henrietta saw a lot of Indians and Half-Breeds at her home. They often stopped in to beg for food for themselves and their horses. These incidents gave rise to the thrilling stories which Ma used to tell us kids. (See my Tales My Mother Told Me.)

The Move to Grand Forks

After living on this farm for a couple of years and having completed the payments on the land, George Henry became discouraged with the numerous adversities which he constantly faced, and decided that life would be easier in a growing city like Grand Forks, so he traded his homestead farm for 41 lots in the booming city of Grand Forks, and with his family moved to Grand Forks. It is not known whether he moved by wagon, following the Fort Totten Trail, (a distance of less than 20 miles) or by way of the new Great Northern Railway which was projected West from Grand Forks, beginning in 1881. (Probably went by horses, wagons, buggy). They established residency on North Sixth Street. It was here that the second child was born to this couple on October 3, 1883. He was named Charles Wesley. The first name was probably in honor of forebears who had borne that name. The second name may have been chosen because this was the era of the great Methodist evangelists: Charles and John Wesley, whose "Revival" was sweeping America at that time. (Perhaps the second name was chosen by Ma in the hope that her second son might become a minister like her favorite brother, Edward August. See details elsewhere.

A Great Loss

It was not long after his move to Grand Forks that George Henry discovered that the title on the 41 city lots for which he had traded his farm had not been properly researched and that the lots were heavily encumbered with unpaid back taxes and assessments. For a while he fought valiantly to earn money to clear the titles but he found the load too great and he had to give them up. What a sad day! Being honest himself, he was inclined to trust others as well, only to discover that there are a lot of people in this world who appear to be trustworthy, but only long enough to fain another's confidence and then swindle them out of everything they can get. The family stayed on at Grand Forks, just getting by; for a year or so. Then an opportunity came to George Henry to rent, on shares, the Bond Place which was located just a mile or so west of the city of Grand Forks. Ella Henrietta deeply regretted that the family had been wiped out financially, but she was delighted that they were returning to farming where they would have a chance to get their feet under them again. She simply could not adjust to the process of trying to raise a family in the city, and she repeated the phrase, "I never want to live in the city again," over and over to all of us. At heart, she was a country girl; although, she had worked in cities a considerable length of time in her young womanhood. The soil was in her blood. She missed the blue sky, the wide-open spaces of the Dakota Prairie, the garden plot with its fresh vegetables, the flowers which she always grew in abundance, the sunrises and sunsets of the open plains, the song of the returning summer birds, the pungent odor of the freshly turned soil and all the many other things which were really great about pioneer farming in Dakota. The Bond Place located one and one half miles northwest of the Grand Forks city limits, and on what was called The English Coulee Creek, which flowed north, along the West Boundary of the campus of the University of North Dakota and then on past the Bond Place eventually emptied into the Red River of the North. It ran like a river in the spring of the year when the snow melted, but became a pussy cat of ponds and slowly trickling water in the summertime.

The two boys Herbie and Charlie spent a great deal of their time playing in and near the English Coulee. One day Herbie fell into one of the rather good sized ponds. He could not swim. Seeing his plight, Charlie quickly grabbed a dead tree branch that´was conveniently lying on the bank of the creek and, wading out into the pool, shoved it toward Herbie, thereby saving his life. Herbie and Charlie remained inseparable pals all through their lives, but Charlie often found occasion to remind Herbie that he, Charlie, had once saved him from drowning. It was one of those things.

In addition to working the Bond Place, George Henry also share-cropped some land southwest of Grand Forks, and not far from the small town of Thompson, owned by a man named A. I. Hunter. This was known as the Hunter Place. A town south of Thompson is named Hunter, probably for the same individual. Pa must have worked awfully hard to farm so much land. No mention was ever made of his having a hired man and it is quite likely that he did most of the work alone.

Notation: The Bond family who owned the Bond Place was no relation to the Bond family into which Arthur Seebart married in 1920. It was on the Bond Place that Clara Mable was born, April 13, 1886.

After two or three years on the Bond Place the George Henry family moved to what was known as the Hummis Place located on Hazen Brook, which flowed into the Turtle River one-and-one-half miles west of a brand-new town called Emerado. (This town was located thirteen railroad miles west of Grand Forks.) This move took place in the early spring of the year 1887.

The land was bought on contract from a man named Lewis Emery, a big landowner in that area, for whom the town of Emerado was named. (The Emery Farm was a landmark there for a least a quarter of a century.) The reason we know that the move to the Hummis Place was in the spring is that most of the farm, which probably consisted of two quarter sections, was under water when the Seebarts made the move. A fast spring break-up always flooded the regions drained by the streams, creeks and rivers of the Red River Valley. Although the Great Northern Railroad ran right through the town of Emerado and within a few rods of the Hummis Place, the George Henry Seebarts moved there by wagons, buggy and by foot with extra live-stock tied to or loaded into wagons and hay-racks. The total trek would have been about 14 or 15 miles from the Bond Place.

The following quotation from the pen of Brother George, describes in a vivid manner the conditions under which the journey took place.

The Seebarts spent eight years on the Hummis Place. They appear to have been happy years.

On this farm were born (1) Grace Ellen, October 21, 1888; (2) Edward August, November 1891; and (3) Ida Emma, April 1, 1893. (Detailed biographical sketches later in this manuscript.)