Notes for Edward Leon Galbraith

GAYLE AND MARTY GALBRAITH GENEALOGY

Notes for Edward Leon Galbraith

My brother, Edward Leon Galbraith was born when I was 3 1/2 years old. I remember walking every day the 1/4 mile to Grandmas farm to get milk for baby Leon. I carried the milk in a tin 1/2 gallon sorghum can with a press-on lid. One time I came across a big snake lying in my path along Akin road. I wasn't terrified of snakes, but I did tend to give them a wide berth. I got off the road, climbed the fence, and walked out in the pasture till I got well past the snake.

My first memory of Leon is when he took his first steps at one year of age. Mom stood him in the corner of the front bedroom and coaxed him to walk out into the room. He made it almost to the middle of the room before falling. I don't remember much more about him till he was several years old. We were inseparable until I got into my early teens. We even slept in the same brass double bed until I was seventeen. Years later, Mom told me it was the bed I was born in.

We tended to quarrel and fight a lot when we were growing up. I believe now that part of this was because of the very closeness with which we lived. We loved to wrestle and spar around. Since Lee was younger, I had to be careful not to hurt him. Sooner or later, these mock fights turned into the real thing when one of us got too rough. Lee had the advantage. Being younger, he felt justified in fighting me with everything he had. I had to defend myself from injury without hurting him, or leaving any visible marks. When an outsider intruded into our affairs, we put up a united front, and were very protective of each other.

I remember when I was about 11, one of the neighbor boys and I got into a scuffle, and he got me flat on my back and roughed me up a little. Seven-year-old Leon turned red in the face, burst into tears, and ran for our house. A few seconds later he was back with with tears in his eyes and a hatchet in his hand. He headed for my oppressor, and If the other boys hadn't grabbed him, I'm sure there would have been mayhem. We never consulted Mom or Dad in such matters. We solved our own problems.

When we were both in our teens, we had a lot of good times together, hunting, fishing, ice skating, and playing sandlot ball. We both loved the outdoors and In later years, we had some memorable fishing vacations together.
When he was young, we called him Leon. After he got into his teens, we called him Lee. People outside the family always called him Ed.

His death was a terrible blow to us all, when he died of a massive coronary at the age of 41. No one knew he had heart trouble, but he had been hypertensive for years. He was with a friend in his new johnboat, when, without a word, he fell overboard. The coroner later judged his death to result from a heart attack.