Provided photo Pictured is Bonnie Daviswith her father on their Lynd farm circa 1938 when she was about 3 years old.

Bonnie Jean (Madden) Davis was born in July 1935 in the old, Dr. Ford hospital on South 4th Street in Marshall, but her story begins on a farm in rural Lynd. Her life journey brought her back to Marshall and a career teaching kindergarten in the Marshall Public Schools.

Bonnie identified her parents and explained how their stories began near one another, diverged for many years, then came together again when they were young adults.

“My mother’s maiden name is Alice Delores Dwire. She was born by Lynd in April 1910. She lived there for a while and then they moved to Missouri. My dad’s name is Kenneth Karl Madden. He was born in Lyon County in March 1908. Dad grew up on the Madden farm, only a mile and half from where our family grew up just outside of Lynd. He worked very hard with his brothers for a dad who expected much of them. He lived there his whole life.”

Bonnie’s mother’s family returned to Minnesota after only a few years in Missouri.

“My mother’s family didn’t stay in Missouri long. They came back in a covered wagon. Mother said they had a cow tied behind. They made their way back to Minnesota, but didn’t stay around Lynd. They moved to Hawley and that’s where my mom grew up. Mom’s dad died when she was young, so she had to work for other family relations around Hawley.”

Bonnie’s parents met in Lyon County as young adults.

“Some of my mom’s family came to visit relations around Lynd. (During that visit) she attended a barn dance in Lyon County. My dad was at the barn dance and that’s where they met.”

The young couple married and settled on a 240-acre farm southeast of Lynd. Bonnie Jean was their first-born, but she explained that brothers came along later.

“Clyde Madden was born at the Anna Marie Memorial Hospital in Marshall in November 1940. Charles, they call him Chuck, Madden was born in the Tyler hospital in December 1943.”

Bonnie described the farmhouse where she and her brothers grew up.

“The farmhouse was small. There were three rooms upstairs, with a tight stairway up there. One room was where we hung all of our clothes. Then there was my room and my youngest brother’s room in the middle; and my oldest brother on the other side. Downstairs it was two rooms to start with. (Their parent’s room was also downstairs.) There was a porch and a little room where you washed up. On the other side was where you fixed the food. There was a cookstove there and a telephone on the wall. We stored canned goods in the basement.”

She also described the buildings on the business side of her parents’ farm.

“The barn was the newest building on the farm, built before my dad bought the farm from his dad. It had a silo and a lean-to for the hogs. My brother told me they blew flax straw for the roof of the lean-to. (The barn) had a room that was like a shop for my dad. That was upstairs and was where he did a lot of his work. One side of the shop had a place for a car, so he always put his car in there. There was a granary, a corn crib, and a tin grain bin. I recall that bin blowing over in a windstorm. There was also a good-sized chicken coop.”

The Maddens raised livestock and field crops.

“(We had) milk cows until they got ungulate fever; stock cows; pigs; 400 or more chickens; and horses. Molly and Dolly were their names and they did field work. (Dad) raised flax, corn, oats, and beans. These were the beans that you eat. I remember once putting one in my nose and we had to go get it taken care of. We had a huge garden and raised sweet corn. We did a lot of canning.”

Bonnie had her favorite places on the farm.

“I liked my dad’s shop. He had this old scale where he’d weigh grain. I liked to go there and see how much I weighed. Then I’d climb the stairs to where I wasn’t supposed to go and look around. I didn’t find anything great up there, but it sure was fun.”

A mixed agriculture farm like the Maddens’ operation, raising diverse livestock as well as multiple field crops, involved a lot of work. Bonnie had farm chores as early as she was able to manage them.

“I had to pick and wash the eggs. I hated that job — washing the eggs and getting them ready. I had to bring the cobs in ([for the cookstove). I’d go and pump the water, if the wind wasn’t blowing, and bring the water in to drink.”

Bonnie carrying water to the house meant the family did not have running water. This also meant the family used an outhouse and used the cookstove’s tank to heat water for washing and other household chores.

Bonnie recalled another chore at a young age where she had a helper.

“It was also my job early on to take the dog, go down the lane, and bring the cows in. I was always a little scared if they were way back in the trees, but the dog, Pal, was with me, so we made it back just fine. It was good for me to have to do those things when I was smaller.”

As Bonnie grew older and the family grew, Bonnie’s responsibilities changed as well.

©2026 William D. Palmer.