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Did you know that in early 1900s Iowa, neighbors sometimes
held friendly vegetable-growing contests in their own backyards? Well, in one
garden in Coon Rapids, the competition got personal. Ed Raygor and his wife
Detta didn’t just grow food—they raced each other to see whose crops came in
first. New potatoes versus sugar snap peas. Winner got bragging rights and
probably didn’t have to do dishes that night.
Let’s rewind.
Thomas Edison Raygor—yes, Edison, like the
inventor—was born on May 10, 1881, in North Versailles, Pennsylvania.
His parents, Jacob Schrawger Raygor, a 41-year-old father with a solid
work ethic, and Susannah (Suzie) Cable, 31, moved the family west when
Ed was just three. In 1884, they settled in Coon Rapids, Iowa, a
small town surrounded by cornfields and bustling with promise.
Coon Rapids was pure Americana. Kids walked barefoot through
the dust in summer, church bells rang on Sundays, and neighbors popped by
unannounced—sometimes with pie and sometime with a live chicken. The food was
hearty and homegrown. Cornbread made from stone-ground meal, pork from the
family hog, and apple pie that was more than just dessert—it was an
institution.
But life wasn’t all sunshine. When Ed was just 11 years
old, his mother died on August 24, 1892, in Coon Rapids. Suzie’s
passing left a hole in the family and in Ed’s heart. By age 13, Ed was
already living apart from his family in Orange, Guthrie County, likely
working as a farmhand while maybe, just maybe, squeezing in a bit of school.
Let’s not sugarcoat it—life was tough, but Ed was tougher.
By the turn of the century, Iowa was booming with
farms and fierce community spirit. The year 1905 marked the birth of the
first high school equivalency exam in the U.S.— right there in Iowa. Education,
innovation, and manual labor went hand in hand. Churches were the social glue,
and town events like barn raisings and quilting bees weren’t just pastimes, they
were survival strategies.
It was around this time, in his late 20s, that Ed met
the woman who would become the center of his universe. At a boarding house full
of transient workers and wide-eyed newcomers, he crossed paths with Martha
Bernadetta Muller, known to all as Detta. She was Catholic and a schoolteacher,
smart as a whip and quick with a hug. He was a hardworking farmhand with
calloused hands and a soft heart.
They clicked and became great friends with her sister Amanda
Petronilla Muller and her husband Elbert James Beatty.
On February 22, 1911, in Coon Rapids, Ed and Detta
were married. He was 29. She was determined. They started a family that would
grow faster than Iowa corn.
Their first child, Elizabeth (Bessie) Amanda, was
born later that year on November 3, 1911. Ed's father Jacob passed away
the next year on July 29, in Regan, North Dakota, at 72. Then came Clara Ann
on August 18, 1913. Then Willard Anthony was born on May
19, 1915, and Edward Raymond (Eddie) on 16 May 1918—just
as the world was in the throes of World War I. Ed registered for the
draft, described as short, with a medium build, dark brown
eyes, and black hair, slightly graying. But with a growing brood, he
was exempt from service. Madalyn
Bernadetta was born August 6, 1919.
By 1920, he was a farmer in name—though truth be
told, he never owned much more than a truck garden. That's a small-scale
family plot, not a full-fledged farm. He worked for Jensen Creamery,
which later became Armour & Company (one of the five leading firms
in meat packing), and also drove a truck for a man named Leo Watrus. His
days started early and ended when the last chore was done.
More kids followed:
- Jacob
Henry (Jake) on May 25, 1921,
- Omar
Francis exactly one year later,
- Twins
Leonard John and Lawrence Andrew on May 17, 1924
(sadly, Leonard passed away just three weeks later),
- Twins
Josephine Cleo and Jonathan Leo on September 19, 1926,
- And
their final child, Henry Channing (Harry), born on Ed’s own
birthday—May 10, 1928.
Now here’s a little something about Ed: he adored hunting
in the winter and fishing in the summer. So much so that fresh fish
for breakfast became a Raygor family tradition. He taught his sons to shoot
and clean game and his daughters to work the garden (walking beans). Summers
meant contests with Detta over who could harvest first—potatoes or peas.
Their house was full of love, food when they could get it
during the depression, and the constant chaos that comes with 11 kids. Detta,
ever the teacher, would line them up in the kitchen for impromptu spelling
bees. Ed, on the other hand, kept discipline with a firm hand—and a belt.
Times were different, and so were expectations.
In 1936, they gathered the entire family for their 25th
wedding anniversary. The resulting family portrait is the only one
they ever took together with all their living children. It’s a moment frozen in
time.
But joy turned to sorrow in 1942. Detta passed away
on September 22, after a battle with stomach cancer, at Carroll
Hospital, aged 57. They had been married for 31 years. That
same year, Ed again registered for the draft (he didn’t go, of course—he was 61
by then). He was listed as 5'2½" tall, 113 pounds, with grey
hair and a scar on his forehead.
In 1945, while working at the municipal light
plant, Ed caught pneumonia. He was treated at Greene County
Hospital in Jefferson, Iowa. Just as he was set to be released, he
suffered a fatal heart attack on April 30, 1945, just ten days shy of
his 64th birthday. He was buried in Coon Rapids Cemetery, leaving behind
a house that would never be noisy again.
Ed and Detta lived a life of grit, faith, and family. They
weren’t famous. They didn’t make headlines. But they raised a small army of
children during some of the most transformative decades in American history.
From draft cards to potato races, their story is as deeply rooted in Iowa soil
as the cornstalks they walked past each day.
And just like those early morning fish fries or spelling
bees in the kitchen, their legacy still lingers—simple, strong, and
unforgettable.
