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Show He brought a parrot home also. Polly was a cheerful companion to his daughter Pearl, and the parrot soon learned to call her by name, also saying "Hello" and "Polly wants a cracker." She loved to chatter over and over but her vocabulary never became large. She did not learn to swear as did some of the other parrots brought home by a few of the men in the group. Polly lived for nearly twenty years and died as a result of pneumonia. How old she was when John K bought her was never known by him. After his return from Mexico, John K again lost himself in his work, more determined than ever to make a success of his sheep herd. With the future of his two little girls to think about, along with his own, he was especially dedicated and spent much time at the sheep camp. HIS FIRST PROPERTIES Late in 1906, John K purchased a small piece of ground from John E. Stansfield, Sr., on the south side of Pleasant Creek about a mile east of Mt. Pleasant. He planned to use it as a huck grazing pasture, yet found that its size limited its use. The 14.45 acres in the Bottoms that he had inherited from his mother produced wild hay and was also used as pasture. Those two pieces of land were the first ones owned by him, aside from his home and large lot in the southeast part of town. In May, 1907, he bought a corner lot on Second South and State Street. J. P. Jensen Qarother of Sophus E. and Fred C.) 85 |