Prelude to Royle Helle and his wife Alta ( Fouts ) Helle

                                             daughter to Maria Theresa ( Helle ) Fouts

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                               Tracy and Sherm

MARIA THERESA "TRACY" HELLE

Tracy and Sherm

MARIA THERESA "TRACY" HELLE, 14g (Frederick 13)

b.Bushnell, IL;  Mar. 1869

d.EllisviIle, IL; at home;  May 1928

br. ElIisville, IL; Wiley Cemetery

m.Lewistown, IL;  Dec. 1895

ROBERT SHERMAN "SHERM"

George and Eliza M. Fouts.

b.Ellisville, IL;  Sep. 1866

d.Ellisville, IL; at home;  July 1928

br. Ellisville, IL; Wiley Cemetery

MARIA THERESA "TRACY" HELLE was the sixth child of a family of thirteen children of Frederick and Katharine Frances (Krauser) Helle. According to diaries kept by Tracy, daughter, Alta, and sister, Dena and information gathered from various relatives and friends, Tracy was a very quiet, hard - working woman. She received numerous letters and beautiful cards from her many relatives and friends. Many of these are in the possession of her oldest grandchild, Ava (Helle) Boyce. Tracy was especially close to her older sister, Dena Kuehn, and a younger sister, Kate Blout. Sister, Kate, lived a mile south and part of their family farms joined each other.

As teenagers, Dena and Tracy spent some of their spare time picking wild blackberries which were traded at a grocery store in Smithfield for necessary items. One frivolous purchase was a beautiful glass candy or square cake dish with a glass cover which has been handed down through the generations. The girls gave it to their mother. Dena had it for quite some time and then gave it to Tracy who gave it to her daughter, Alta. Alta gave it to her oldest daughter, Ava (Helle) Boyce.

The diaries kept by Tracy give details of a quiet farm woman's life in the early 1900's. Her greatest enjoyment was listening to an old Edison Phonograph in earlier years and listening to the radio from 1926 on. She had a record collection that would be the envy of her great - grandchildren in the stereo era. Several hundred cylinder records have survived the years.

Many hours were spent on necessary sewing construction. All dresses, slips, underwear, towels, household items and baby layette were hand - constructed. She made numerous quilts, crocheted bedspreads, tablecloths, dresser scarves for her own household as well as gifts for neighbors, friends and relatives. She crocheted rugs in 1926 which a great - grandson and wife used as "mud rugs" in 1980. A great - granddaughter uses one of Tracy's crocheted bedspreads as a sofa throw in her home in 1985. These items were made to be used and used!

Tracy's marriage to ROBERT SHERMAN "SHERM" FOISTS made at least four different publications according to newspaper clippings kept by her sister, Dena Kuehn:

"Sherman Fouts and Miss Tracy Helle were married in Lewistown on Monday, Dec. 16, 1895. The TIMES (London Mills Times) extends its warmest congratulations and trusts that Mr. and Mrs. Fouts may have a pleasant journy down life's pathway.

"There were some aggravating circumstances to these young people connected with the above event, and it isn't exactly 'telling tales out of school' for the writer to tell them now that they have ended happily. The wedding was to have taken place at the home of the bride's parents, Mr. Fred Helle, south east of here, on Sunday. The license, a necessary adjunct to such an event, was sent for early in the week preceding. Sunday morning at last came, but the license came not, yet the parties thought probably some other member of the family had received the precious document out of the office and would bring it with them. The guests arrived, Squire Mitchell among the number, he coming to officiate. The wedding dinner was ready, and then it was discovered that the license had really not been received at all. Two friends were immediately dispatched to Lewistown to find out what caused the delay and to bring the lost paper. When they arrived there they found both the clerk and his deputy out of the city spending Sunday with relatives. They learned, however, that the license had been issued in regular form and mailed on Wednesday. With this unsatisfactory news they returned to Mr. Helle's and the guests and the Squire were obliged to return home, having eaten of the wedding dinner but having failed to witness the ceremony and kiss the bride. So on Monday the young couple went to Lewistown and were married there as noted above."

Tracy and Sherm had a daughter:

ALTA FLORA FOISTS, 15g

b.Ellisville, IL; 26 Feb. 1899

Sherman Fouts was the sixth child in a family of eight children of George and Eliza Fouts of rural Ellisville. He was the youngest son. In 1870 his parents bought a farm bordered by Spoon River on three sides four miles south of Ellisville in Lee Township. (The farm was certified as a Centennial Farm in 1972.) His grandparents had come to Illinois with his parents and lived on the farm; thereby, making Sherman and his brothers and sisters the third generation to live there. Daughter, Alta, was the fourth; her five children the fifth; her grandson, Jerry Boyce, the sixth; and his children, Melanie and Andrew Boyce, the seventh.

In the 1880's Sherman traveled to the Northwest on an extended trip but, after seeking his fortunes, decided the old homeplace was most agreeable. According to an abstract of the home farm, a will dated Oct. 9, 1899, states: "I advise that my son R. S. Fouts is to remain on my farm in Lee township as long as he and his mother Eliza M. Fouts can mutually agree. [signed George Fouts."

According to diaries kept by his wife, Tracy, and daughter, Alta, Sherman led a busy life right up to his last years. He was a member of Ellisville Oddfellow Lodge and held several different stations on local and state levels. He enjoyed going to Sunday School since frequent mention was made of his walking to "Shanghai," Mt. Pleasant Sunday School, one and one-half miles east of his home for Sunday services. He also attended services at Wiley Church and in Ellisville. He was a member of Lee Township Farm Bureau in 1922 according to one entry in the diary of his wife. He served as a telephone line repairman for the old country lines in his neighborhood.

The diaries reveal that in his later years he worked frequently with his daughter in doing such chores as fixing fences, planting potatoes, hauling straw, cutting wood, etc. Extra help was provided by neighbors and relatives.

Recreation for men consisted of listening to radio and phonograph, reading, pitching horseshoes, hunting, fishing and visiting with their many relatives and friends.

Apparently, the couple prospered enough to purchase the Fouts home place. According to the legal deed, Tracy assumed ownership in her name in 1918. This was most unusual and the reason is not known to this generation.

Her daughter, Alta, then became heir in 1928 and owned it until her death in 1974. In 1975, the farm was divided and purchased by Alta's daughter, Ava, and family, and daughter

-in - law, Ilene (Jones) Helle, and family.

Tracy's last diary entry was made on May 25, 1928: "Am worse. Called the DR but he was sick. Sherm planted com. Hazel and Donna (neighbors) here. Men fixing (road) sewer." An obituary clipping from The Fulton Democrat, Lewistown, reads:

Mrs. Sherman Fouts aged 59 years passed away at her home in Lee township Saturday forenoon. She was, before her marriage, Miss Tracy Helle, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Helle, Sr. of this place. Besides her husband she leaves one daughter Alta Fouts at home; also one brother and five sisters. Funeral services were held Tuesday at 11 o'clock at the Wiley Church and the body was laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery.

Sherman followed her in death just five and one - half weeks later. His obituary is from a clipping from the Canton Daily Ledger:

Robert Sherman Fonts Dies in Babylon Bend Fairview, Ill.

Robert Sherman Fouts, well known resident in the vicinity of Babylon Bend, died at his home there July 6 following a short illness.

He was born in Ellisville, the son of George and Elizabeth Fouts on September 9, 1866. He had made his home at the same place near Ellisville for 58 years. On Dec. 16, 1895, he was married to Miss Theresa Helle, who preceded him in death less than two months ago.

Surviving are one child, Miss Alta, at home, one brother George of near Lewistown and two sisters, Mrs. Emma Kuter of Keokuk, Iowa, and Mrs. Flora Jenkins of Gentry, Arkansas. Four brothers and sisters preceded him in death.

Mr. Fouts was a well known member of the Ellisville, I. 0.0. F. and had held many offices in that lodge during his lifetime.

Funeral services will be held at the Wiley Church on Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock with Rev. N. A. Miller of Canton officiating. Burial will be made in the adjoining cemetery with members of the Odd Fellow Lodge of Ellisville in charge of rites at the grave.

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                                 Alta and Royle

ALTA FLORA FOUTS, 15g (Tracy Helle, 14, Frederick 13)

b.Ellisville, IL; 26 Feb. 1899

d.Macomb, IL; 13 Sep. 1974

br. Ellisville, IL; Wiley Lutheran Cemetery

m.Kahoka, MO; 3 Aug. 1929

ROYLE GEORGE HELLE, 15g (George A.14, Frederick 13) son of George Adam and Ida

Lodema (Kaler) Helle.

b.Smithfield, IL; 23 Feb. 1904

d.Canton, IL; 30 Sep. 1979

br. Ellisville, IL; Wiley Lutheran Cemetery

ALTA FLORA FOUTS, only child of Sherman and Tracy (Helle) Fouts, grew up on the Fout's family farm  southwest of  continued