Cottonwood Farm was the Birkby homestead. Robert Birkby is on tractor next to barn at rear of photo. Evelyn Birkby was a radio homemaker for KMA. This photo appeared on the cover of Birkby's book Up a Country Lane.
Diaries kept by Ellery M. Hancock (1850-1929) of Waukon, Iowa. His family moved to Waukon in 1856, where his father, Moses, worked as a butcher. His mother, Sally, raised Ellery and his nine siblings, many of whom died at an early age. His brother…