Byron News: All is quiet until it is not

Three crashes shake Byron’s Main Street, damage historic cabin

The past few weeks in Byron have produced some excitement on Main Street. If things happen in threes, then we should be done.

Weeks back, a driver missed the main curve coming into town and drove straight into the ATM building at the Co-op on the corner, resulting in the removal of the ATM. Then last week, a driver jumped the curb and crashed into a car at the car lot next to Trendsetters. It missed the second car, proceeded down the sidewalk, and barely missed the corner of the Trendsetters building before coming to a halt in front of the business. Saturday afternoon, a driver bashed into the old “Littlefield” cabin across from the church. It took out half of the wall and the back corner of the structure.

These accidents all happened on our new five-lane highway through Main. In all cases, sirens, lights, and law enforcement were on the scene within minutes.

The little log cabin has some interesting history. The original lot was owned by Jimmy Brown when Byron was first settled. Over the years, the lot changed hands and was eventually purchased by Margaret M. Will, who later married Christian Sanders (great-grandfather of Elden and Grant Sanders). According to family records, Christian Sanders is credited with building the cabin sometime between 1922 and 1925.

He died at the age of 75 after hauling in wagon loads of wood. The record states he died in the doorway of the home.

Fannie Wolz left some records of her days in Byron. She was a young teen when she came with the first settlers. She recalled, “They (speaking of Christian and Margaret) always came together to visit us. We were always doing things together like making pickles and canning vegetables… Brother Sanders always found something to do.”

“One day he asked me if I minded if he cut a piece of limb from an apple tree. As we visited and worked in the kitchen, Brother Sanders kept whittling away on this apple tree limb. The first thing I knew, he had made a beautiful butter paddle for me. One that did not stick to the butter and make the cube rough. Making butter at this time was the biggest part of our income… Many pounds of butter were made with it that were sold to the store for soap, sugar, and rolled oats. Those were the days neighbors were close. We did not dress up to visit. We helped with the work that was being done.”

“The place where they lived was surrounded with big trees. Cutting them down was his last project… His work was neat and orderly. No rubbish was left.”

Margaret, now a widow, sold the home in 1925 to D. E. Olsen.

In the late 1940s, the cabin belonged to the Littlefields. Essie Littlefield is known to many who grew up in the fifties and sixties as just “Littlefield.” She worked in Cozzens’ store for many years. Essie was a young widow with three children. Her husband was killed in an oil field accident. She rode with him to the hospital and recalled her young husband assuring her they would be able to support themselves by raising strawberries. He later died from his injuries.

In my early days, I was in Littlefield’s home a few times and was fascinated by her method of getting water. She had a red, long-handled pump at her kitchen sink. They used an outhouse until her children were grown and in college. As they graduated and began working, they installed indoor plumbing for their mother at the cabin.

That cabin holds many memories and stories. It now belongs to Chad Petrich, who was quick to get the roof shored up to prevent further collapse. It’s a Byron landmark. I hope it stays.

Those days were interesting. Churning butter and raising strawberries to support a family. They were an industrious bunch, those pioneers.