Pip's Stories

Frank Robert Jr., my great-grandfather, was known as "Pip" to his grandchildren. This is simply a shortened form of "Pipere" which is used as a substitute for "grandfather" by all of Pip's descendants. The name for "grandmother" is "Mimere," and my great-grandmother Robert was always known as "Mim." Mimere, or Memere, and Pipere appear to be commonly used among French-Canadians for their grandparents.

Pip was the Chief Deputy Sheriff of Ramsey County, Minnesota (St. Paul), for many years. Pip died in 1948 about a month and a half before his 90th birthday. Towards the end of his life, he wrote down many of the stories of his life and the lives of his father and uncles. The stories reveal him as a skilled story-teller, with a great deal of practical humanity and a dry sense of humor. I was less than a year old when he died and so I do not remember him. In typing these stories, I find I know him a lot better.

The stories were handwritten in a vigorous, colloquial prose. I have attempted to preserve that style and have edited lightly, primarily redoing the punctuation and capitalization. The handwriting is reasonably clear but time has not been kind to it and fading is apparent on some copies. Occasionally, I have been unable to read a word or passage or even come up with a reasonable guess. I have noted those places and hope that someone may offer corrections, perhaps from a different copy of the stories.

I have placed each story on a separate page with links from Pip's first page. I have finished adding all the stories. Notes have been added when I have a questionable reading or where I think something should be added to the story as Pip told it. I hope that through these stories others of my generation and younger, may come to know Pip. I'll start by providing Pip's own introduction to these stories

The following write-ups I have written at the suggestion of Alex (more commonly called "Toots"). In doing so, I have written a few articles on matters and events which occurred during my career as a deputy sheriff, a Brewery Collector, Railroader, and on the family history. I have not enlarged on the statements made by me, but have given them to you, as I learned them, and where I personally was concerned, and I hope you take what enjoyment you find in them, though they may seem ridiculous to others.

............................................................................................................ Dad