Memories of the Calls 24 - Robert and Charlotte Call's Characters

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Robert Call was very literal and matter of fact. So far as I know his honesty was unimpeachable. He didn't care for stories, didn't believe in them at all, I think. 

Some of the children said to him one day, "Grandpa, I believe we can make you say Black." "No, I don't think you can make me say Black." (Slowly and deliberately.) "What colors is the United States Flag?" "Red, white and blue." "There, didn't we say we could make you say blue!" "You said you could make me say Black!" It was hard to make him see the joke. 

In her later years Charlotte Call, who was always a great reader, read only solid reading, - the temperance and religious papers and magazines, biographies and sermons. She once said that the Youth's Companion, which I was brought up on, and was bringing my children up on "was but a pack of old stories." But Lizzie her daughter said, "Isn't it strange! Once mother would sit up till midnight reading stories!"

Charlotte Call was exceptionally fine looking. Though quite fleshy, weighing not two hundred, her beautiful blue or violet eyes, dimples and intelligence were very attractive. My mother, Deborah Coe, said she, Charlotte Call was one of the finest looking old ladies she knew. E.F. wrote once, "Mrs. Call is handsome as ever."

To their children - and others - they sometimes seemed stern and harsh, but their integrity was unquestioned. 

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Patty's notes on this entry



The Youth's Companion was a children's magazine published from 1827 to 1929, when it then merged with The American Boy. Early on, the magazine focused on religious stories, later it focused more on entertainment. Over the years, authors such as Willa Cather, Winston Churchill, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Booker T. Washington and Harriet Stowe were published in the magazine. By the 1890's, it was more of a family magazine, rather than one focused on children. 

Charlotte Joslin Call (photo taken about 1904)
Charlotte Joslin Call (photo taken about 1904)

Deborah Coe is Deborah Prentice (1833-1910), daughter of Southwick Prentice (1800-1876) and Elizabeth (Betsy) Ann Smith (1802-1846). She married Albert Coe (1827-1927) and was the mother of Elizabeth Ann Coe, author/recorder of the Memories of the Calls. 

E.F is Ezra Frank Coe (1853-1942), son of Albert Coe and Deborah Prentice, older brother of Elizabeth Ann Coe. 

Next Post in the Series Robert Call Benevolence

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