Dominica's Castle

Wilma Andrews' book Dominica's Castle from Mennonite Press, Inc.,
(http://www.amazon.com/Dominicas-/Wilma-Andrews/dp/093049016) is
a story about her grandmother, a young pioneer girl with a dream. Her story speaks eloquently to anyone who knows where their ancestors came from and to those of us who wish we did know.

Dominica was a young girl who dreamed of having her own room in the nearby Belmont Castle. She loved to follow her father about as he worked, helping him and listening to his stories about the history of Belmont Castle. She was very sad when her father told her he was going to America to see if he could make a better living for his family.

Dominica's father made a grueling journey across the ocean and the prairie to Kansas, where he made a living as a stone mason and did odd jobs until he had enough money to go back to Switzerland and bring his family to the New World.

There they bought a small bit of land and he and his family worked hard to build shelter and a life for themselves. When they tried to think of ways to make enough money to pay for their land, it was Dominica who had the idea to herd the city residents cattle to their land to graze during the day and herd them back to their owners at evening. Dominica helped herd cattle every day.

Sometimes when she was herding the cattle, she would find herself dreaming about the beautiful mountains in Switzerland and living in a lovely castle.

As Dominica grew, she learned to cook and bake, and she became an expert housekeeper. She began working at the Poor Farm, a place where destitute people could come and work for food and shelter. There she fell in love with a young carpenter named Marrell. He asked for her hand in marriage and they were married in 1898. Dominica and Rella (Marrell) made a home and Dominca was happy, yet she continued to dream of living in Belmont Castle.

Dominica and Rella and their sons lived on a farm. The years sped by and soon the boys were grown and had families of their own. During the Great Depression, the boys and their families moved back to the farm with Dominica and Rella.

Being grandparents they decided they needed another home. They moved an old house to the east side of their property and began making it into a livable house for "Grandma and Grandpa."

During this process, money was in short supply so Dominica decided they could cover the house with rocks from the creek bed that ran below the house. "Minnie (Dominica) was watching the house become more beautiful everyday, wrote Andrews. It had a turret just like Dominica remembered hearing about on the ruins of the old Belmont Castle ruins in Switzerland."

When the house was finished, Dominca decided to name the house Belmont. They used the bottoms of green glass bottles to place the name on the front of the house. Now Dominica would have her own room in her own Belmont Castle. Dominica and Rella enjoyed several years living at Belmont and they had many family gatherings while there. Eventually, as they grew older, Dominica began to miss the cool mountain air.

The story continues as Dominica and Marrell experience the second greatest adventure of their lives.

Wilma Andrews is a retired teacher residing in Independence, Kansas. She does volunteer work and enjoys playing golf. She is also the author of Tag-a-Long a book for young children.