1. Name: Patricia Carrol Sylvanias Grossman

2. Date of Birth: June 1, 1860

3. Place of Birth: Lewiston, Montana

4. Parents: Joseph and Martha Sylvanias

5. Siblings: Jeremiah Daniel (1858-), Caroline Mae (1862-1863), Diana Rene (1865-)

6. Describe your childhood. I grew up on a cattle ranch in Lewiston. My father was very successful and independently minded, traits I have striven to pass down to my own children.

7. What did you enjoy doing as a child? Spending time with my mother. I learned more from her than I did in all of my years in school.

8. What is your earliest memory? Riding on a cow. My father put me on one as a joke. My mother was very upset with him.

9. How old were you when you went on your first date and where did you go? 14. I went out with a boy in Lewiston. I can't remember his name. Anyway, he took me to a dance. Sweet boy, he gave me my first kiss..... oh, my goodness! His name was Tommy! That's why I came up with that name. Please, never let Augustus see this.

10. Married? Augustus Grossman, June 11, 1877 in Rapid City

11. How did you meet your spouse? My father sold cattle. He was friends with Augustus' father, Jacob. My father knew Augustus to be a smart, shrewd, hard working boy, so my parents and his parents arranged a meeting at church in Wolf Point.
I was angry when my mother told me why we were going to church that day, however, when I saw Augustus it was love at first sight.
I remember every detail of our first lunch together that afternoon. I was very excited over the prospect of being his wife.
I had one year to gather together everything I would need to start a home and a family. Augustus had a year to build a house, till a garden and secure cattle.
We ended up not getting married a year later, when we were supposed to. Instead, we ran away together and moved to Rapid City.
I rented a room with this lovely family in Rapid City. Augustus got a job at a feed 'n grain store. Within a year, he was a store manager and he had invested his money in stocks.
When he asked me to marry him, I was ready and he was ready to love each other for who we were rather than who we were supposed to be.

12. Children: Olivia Shannon (1886-), Bernadette Matine (1888-), Isaac Nicholas (1891-1901), Diane Ellen (1892-), Thomas Wayne (1894-)

13. Grandchildren: Kimberly Denise (1903-), Carter Buck (1904-), Kyle Casteel Cox (1907-), Lorrie Olivia Norman (1907-)

14. Pets? August gave me an Appaloosa for my birtday. I named her "Whisper" which was the title of the first poem Augustus wrote for me after our first fight.

15. Education: I completed tenth grade at Lewiston High School.

16. What brought you to Eagle Creek? We had lived in Rapid City about five years after we married. Augustus had the opportunity to open his own feed 'n grain store but what he really wanted was to own a cattle ranch.
We couldn't make up our mind about where to go so we purchased a map of North Dakota, went to a local tavern and nailed it up against a dart board.
Augustus threw a dart and, instead of landing in North Dakota, it landed on the town of Eagle Creek.
Incidently, that was my first and last entrance to a tavern.

17. Current friends: Paula Conrad, Jean Clementine, Mavis Tallard, Janet Hall

18. Occupation: Caretaker for the ranch. I make breakfast, lunch and dinner for the ranch hands. Add in my family and that comes to serving meals to 14 people 3 times a day!

19. What was your first job? The family I lived with in Rapid City, Nicholas and Olivia Asquith, ran an ice house. I worked as an accountant there for six years.

20. How much did you make? When I left, my salary was thirty-five cents an hour.

21. What is your favorite word? Whisper

22. What are you doing now? Preparing lunch. Trying to pry Diane out of bed so she can give me a hand.

23. Do you admire a famous person? I met James A. Harding at a lectureship in Billings last year. He's famous.

24. What makes them admirable? Harding was an amazing speaker, passionate about Christian unity.

25. What is your favorite food? Cornbread

26. What is your favorite color? Gold

27. What is your favorite song? All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name by Edward Perronet

28. Hobbies: I like to write short stories, poems, observations.

29. Name of the last book you read? Three Lessons From the Book of Romans by James A. Harding.
We have a women's home bible study through church that meets at our house on Wednesday nights.
We usually sit outside on the porch, read a book together and discuss it. It's a wonderful way to introduce some women to the ideas of religion if they don't want to go to church.

30. Tell me about a memorable moment in your life; a time you will never forget. The most memorable moment was the day I lost Nick. He was only 10. He fell off a horse, hit his head and died.
That was... well, I really don't want to talk about it anymore. I need to concentrate on the task at hand. What is your next question?

31. What things do you find yourself doing that you said you'd never do? Submitting my private works to a publisher. After much cajooling, Augustus convinced me to have some of them printed and sent to a publisher to be evaluated.
That was three months ago and I still haven't heard anything yet but I am told that it takes six to twelve months for a publisher to get back to you.

32. What are the goals you are still working toward? I would like all of the ranch hands to have a basic, fundamental education: reading, writing, simple math.
I am thankful we have men like Hugh Rippon, but he's almost fifty and he can't read. If something were to happen to us, he'd have a hard time finding a job.

33. When people look back at your life, how do you want to be remembered? Dedicated to my family and my God.

34. What is your favorite quote? "All things come round to him who will but wait." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

35. Do you attend church or religious services? I was one of the founding members of Eagle Creek Memorial

36. What is your favorite Bible verse? Romans 8:31

37. What makes you happy? Seeing my children happy.

38. What makes you sad? Self doubt

39. What frightens you? The possibility of my children being foolish. You can only raise them so high, eventually, they must face the bar alone.

40. What is there about you that would surprise people if they found out? My food bill. I spend more money on food in a week than most folks do in a month.