Salt Lake Telegram | 1923-07-29 | Page 4 | Big Families

birth of t baffy irl to Mrs. Mary J.-. Barton of Kellyville, N. H., recenUy maJe ber t!tf mother of twenty children at the age- of 4$. . . You don't often hear of such big families in our feneration. In grandfather's day, a family of tventy children would not hare attracted at-tracted much attention, for a perusal of the average family Bible will disclose that five or six children were considered i small family In Civil war times and, while offspring totaled twenty only occasionally, twelve to seventeen children were not at all uncommon. '- ' Big families are gerttinj fewer aa the years slip by. The mother of twenty -children is almost as much of a curiosity in 1923 m the Ormsby quadruplets were in 1901. There'd be plenty of twentyhlldren families, fam-ilies, however, If the economic pinch were not quite, so tight,, though" Lemuel R. Barton, farmer-father of the big New England family, says he finds It as easy to take care of twenty twen-ty as of five. . . "Proudly he points out that If every family had twenty children our communities would have a great increase in population. They certainly would. There are about 20,000,-000 20,000,-000 families. In' America, and if each had twenty children our popufatlonwTuld be around 440,000,000 four times as big" a? It is' now. ; ; ; 4 1 ' Eij Familie . I fT'HE Ormsby quadruplet, who became na-' na-' 1 tionally famous as dime museum attractions attrac-tions in 1902, stiH are livlnj." It is said by authorities that this is the only case of all four members of a quadruple birth surviving Into maturity. Their mother, Mrs. Josephine K. Ormsby, is farming at the outskirts of Chicago. Ehe was 26 years old when -she rr.arriei Charles Ormsby, plumber, in 1894. r'er chilJren came as follow: ' 1395 A boy. . ' ' J ' '.896 Twins. " 1 897 A rrl.' '- 893 Twins..' . 1899 Triplets. ' ' 1900 A boy. l?c I Quadruplets. ' Tc ,,rv-n c; i'Jre.i ia seven j ears! . Tlie ' -Vs cv- ' ,'.:J cf three sons and a -. Tv-y p.cVed the' dime museums . ; ; if ears and thereby brought ... . . to t'.'.:.'f n-.jthe.'. The