Eden Valley

“Through this valley so fair, flows a river so rare
The "Eden" it always will be:
It is fed by the rills that flow down from the hills
And wendeth its way to the Sea”

…Those were words written by Great Grandpa Christopher Gelder, about his homeland in Westmorland, England. Christopher was orphaned at age 11, and he supported himself by herding sheep in the hills surrounding his village, until he immigrated to North Dakota at age 24, in 1891.

I had the opportunity to visit this beautiful area two weeks ago, and hope to share some photos in what may become a series of blogs here. I’ll also reproduce some of the poems Grandpa Christopher wrote about his memories of home, the place that shaped our own genes. Thanks to Dad and other relatives who have contributed to the collection of information we have about these ancestors in our Gelder line.

Westmorland was the county in north-west England of our ancestors. In 1974 Westmorland merged with its neighbour, Cumberland, to form a new county called ‘Cumbria’. The Eden River Grandpa wrote of flows through Appleby and is the longest river in Cumbria. In the southeast portion of the county, the river forms the boundary between Cumbria and North Yorkshire.

This map (which I stole from the wiki) shows Cumbria County:

This map (also from the wiki) shows the bit of Cumbria that was known by our ancestors as Westmorland:

Here’s another map stolen from the wiki, which shows the location of the Eden District within Cumbria. I adulterated the map by showing my own rough approximations of the location of the villages we’re interested in:

Cumbria contains the Lake District, considered to be one of the most beautiful areas of England. The north-east edge of Lake District National Park is just a few miles west of Appleby. That part of the county is mountainous. Although Appleby and Hilton are somewhat flat themselves, there are some decent-sized hills (or ‘Fells’, as they call them) within walking distance of Hilton. Those fells are where Grandpa Christopher herded sheep in his youth.

The villages in Westmorland that are of most interest to us are:

• Hilton, the village where the Gelders lived
• Appleby, the nearest town to Hilton (with stores) , just four miles away.
• Bongate, the ward in Appleby where Christopher’s mother, Hannah Horn, grew up.
• Strickland, where Christopher’s wife (great-grandmother Alice Austin), was born. I unfortunately never made it to Strickland. I guess we don’t know if Alice actually ever lived in Strickland itself.
• Orton, where Alice’s parents, John Austin and Mary Atkinson, were born and married. Orton is about 15 miles from Hilton.

There’s no doubt that Westmorland and the Eden Valley was the home of our ancestors for generations; possibly centuries or longer.

Here’s what Grandpa Christopher expressed about the Eden Valley. The photos of the River Eden were taken in Appleby.

 

The Beautiful Garden Of Eden

By Christopher Gelder

I will tell you a tale of a beautiful vale,
The valley of Eden so fair;
It was there I was born, and I often return
In "Visions" and "Dreams" over there,
To walk on my dear native sod:
In the land where I roam, I still call my old Home
The Beautiful Garden of God.

Through this valley so fair, flows a river so rare
The "Eden" it always will be:
It is fed by the rills that flow down from the hills
And wendeth its way to the Sea --
A blessing wherever it flows;
For its lifegiving voice, makes this valley rejoice --
And waste places bloom like the Rose.

There is borne on the breeze, from the blossoming trees
A fragrance I ne'er can forget:
And the sweet scented air, near the Rose Bushes there
Is wafted across to me yet --
Those dew-laden Roses I love.
And I fancy there's room for such Roses to bloom
Somewhere in the "Eden" above.

In that beautiful dell, I can still hear the bell
Its echoes float over the Seas
As it called us to pray, in the old-fashioned way
And worship the Lord on our knees
And sing our Hosannas to God --
We shall sing them some more with the friends gone before
Up there at the "End of the Road."

In the years long ago, when it threatened to snow
Or tempests were bitter and cold,
We would gather the sheep, from the mountains of sin
To walk in this heavenly way,
The beautiful pathway of Love.
When the storms are all past, He will give them at last,
A home in the Eden above.