George Loyal Oliver was the last child born to Orris and Martha. He was born right in the middle of the Civil War, while some of his brothers were off fighting. From some of the stories passed down through the generations, he was apparently, quite a character. One story that sort of sums up part of his personality: In 1885, he was driving his horse-drawn wagon along a narrow country lane, when another driver met him going the other direction. Neither wagon moved off the road to let the other pass. The driver of the 2nd wagon said, "Give the road young man and let me pass". George replied, "You give the road, I was here first." To which the second man replied, Listen, son, don't you know who I am? I am the priest from West Albany. (a small neighboring town) Now, will you move aside?" George answered, "Well, I'm the Pope from Guilford Township, now, will you move aside?" From that day on, his nick-name in those parts was "The Pope". I never heard who moved off the road, but I'll wager it wasn't great-grandpa.

Records show that George Loyal was married first in 1886 to a Mary Marshall, also from that county. That marriage did not last long and I have found no children from that union. In 1896 he married again to a beautiful young woman by the name of Emma Dickman from Hammond, a nearby township. He affectionately called Emma "Snowball". The Dickmanns hailed from Germany and moved to Hammond from Indiana. George and Emma had seven children:

My grandfather always told another story; When his father was about 12 years old, a small band of Native Americans passed through the Orris Oliver farm (which they often did) on their way to a large tribal gathering in Wisconsin. It was a cold and snowy evening and one of the members of the band approached the house to seek shelter from the approaching storm. Apparently, the Chief's daughter was in intense labor with the birth of a child imminent. Permission was granted to use the barn. Several hours passed and there was once again commotion at the front door. Orris went to check. The Native-American was speaking excitedly and pointing to the barn. Orris didn't know what was wrong but summoned Martha to come with him. Upon arrival in the barn, Martha could tell that the situation was not good. There were several elderly tribal women hovering about the young maiden, chanting and waving smoke over her. Martha saw blood everywhere and soon assessed that the maiden was in grave danger of losing the child and probably dying herself if they didn't get the baby out. Martha had assisted Orris and Frank Warren many times in difficult births for the animals and had become somewhat of a midwife in the area. She went to work. A short time later, the child was born; the mother although weak from the loss of blood and exhausted from the ordeal seemed to be okay and Orris and Martha returned to their home as daylight was breaking. The next day, there was a beautiful blanket placed on the front steps, a token of the chief's appreciation for saving his daughter and his grandson. They had left, making a travois for the mother and baby. The blanket remained in the family, grandpa said, for many, many years.

George Loyal died on September 23, 1941 in a Rochester, MN hospital. Emma died July 29, 1959 in Zumbro Falls, MN, where she had lived alone since George died.

Ferdinand Dickman, Father	Henrietta Dickman, Mother

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