Temple Hill: A Christian Romance

By Barbara J. Kacer

This book is a Christian romance that spans the years from 1923 until 1946. The two main characters, Eleanor and Jim, live in a large house on a hill in Hancock, Missouri. They endure heartache and hardships along the way, all the while raising four beautiful daughters. Even though the majority of the family are Christians, Jim wants nothing to do with religion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504979986

Barbara J. Kacer

Barbara Kacer was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1935. Growing up, Barbara always loved to write stories, and in high school, she worked as the editor of the Fenger High School newspaper. She was married for over fifty years and lost her loving husband in 2013. Barbara has three children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Book preview

Chapter One

As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

Jim Gaylord was a wealthy, big and brawny man, who could be rough when he needed to be, and many people thought him handsome as well. But if you really knew him, as his family and close associates did, you forgot all these traits as they were taken over by his power to dominate people. He had been born, as they say, with a silver spoon in his mouth, being the sole male heir to Thomas R. Gaylord, the founder and owner of Gaylord Department Stores. Starting with one small store in downtown Hancock, Missouri, during the early 1900’s, Thomas and Grace Gaylord had built up a large business, while also raising four children, Jim and his three younger sisters. By the time Jim was ten years old the family had opened three more stores.

As he grew up, Jim worked in every area of each store, learning the business from the inside out, but he wasn’t at all content with just this. After he graduated high school he enrolled at Missouri State University, where he studied Law. He didn’t want to become a lawyer, but simply wanted to gain more knowledge in Accounting, Business Management and girls. The campus was located some sixty miles from Hancock, right near Springfield, so it was no problem to motor home each weekend with several of his buddies who lived near him in Hancock. However, while these friends lived near him, no one lived quite like him or any of the Gaylords. For the Gaylords lived on Temple Hill, which was actually such a large hill it sometimes seemed more like a mountain. Their huge, mansion type home sat atop the highest point of the hill; in fact, it was the only home up there.

Thomas Gaylord had built this beautiful home for his wife Grace, shortly after their marriage. He had taken out a large loan and even a second mortgage, but it had been worth it to see Grace’s face when she first beheld it. Jim had been born just six months after they had moved into Temple Hill so he grew up taking the luxury of his home for granted.

He would venture home each weekend possible, with his mind full of facts and figures and once in a while he would look around and see some of the beauty of his home. But most of the time, he was too busy.

Although Grace and Thomas were growing older, they were still in their prime and the senior Mr. Gaylord was shrewd and calloused. He bestowed money and all kinds of material possessions on Jim and his daughters, but in turn wanted something from them, their love and respect. However, he didn’t have much time to return that love or give them much attention.

In spite of this, all four children loved and respected their father. He was the boss. Therefore, Jim was working hard at college to prove to his dad that he could take over the business someday, as by then Gaylord Department Store had expanded to Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. And now Thomas Gaylord was dabbling in stocks and even had an oil well. Indeed, Jim had a silver spoon.

When Jim was in his third year of school he met blonde, vivacious Eleanor and immediately knew he wanted to marry her. She wasn’t the type of girl you would fool around with either; you could kiss her but that was all. As much as he desired her, Jim knew he would get nowhere without marriage. But the main reason he wanted to marry her was because he was in love with her.

He brought Eleanor to Temple Hill one hot weekend in September 1921, when they were both 21 years old. He could see she was impressed with the splendor and extravagance of his home, but it proved to be a bad choice of weekends. It seemed Grace was too busy getting ready for her eldest daughter’s wedding and didn’t have the time for entertaining guests. Jim’s sister Gloria was to be married in their garden, overlooking the grassy, steep slope jutting down to the fast moving Mississippi River, in just two weeks.

So, Jim had entertained Eleanor all weekend with stories of how the house on Temple Hill had originated and received its name. At first his dad had planned on having just two floors with servant’s quarters on the lower level. But, as he made money he got so carried away the house began to expand even before it was started.

Hancock, situated on the Mississippi River, was the logical place to build as Jim’s grandparents had lived just five miles outside of town for the past fifty years. They had died many years earlier but had lived to see their son and daughter-in-law build a business and home together.

Thomas had always loved to hunt and hike and as a young lad he remembered one particularly beautiful hilly area where his dad would always take him. One Sunday he packed Grace up in their horse-drawn buggy and they rode around looking for this special site. They were living in town then, behind the store, and Grace was suspicious that she was pregnant. She hadn’t been feeling well for the past week and now, as Thomas led the horse up and down and around hills and curves, she began to get sick. It was much to her relief when they reached the top of a grass and pine tree covered hill, or to her it seemed more like a small mountain.

Why, this is fantastic! It’s so beautiful! she exclaimed, even forgetting her nausea for a few moments. Someone should build a temple of worship up here.

Thus it was when their house was completed it was called Temple Hill.

Eleanor had been interested and appreciative of Jim’s storytelling as it made his home so much more interesting to her.

It was built like a fort, with stone and brick shaping the foundation and continuing up to the start of its shingled roof. It had a cupola or widow’s walk on top of the left side of the house. A massive porch covered three quarters of the house and five columns stood on both sides of the massive front door which led into a big, impressive hallway. Curving around the front door and onto the side of the home were two large windows overlooking the mighty Mississippi River. Also on this side of the home stood another smaller door that led into a lower level with servant’s quarters and a big wine cellar with abundant storage space. Large picture windows graced all three floors on this side of the house and french doors from the game room led out to a huge stone patio. Beyond the patio was a lovely garden sloping down towards the river and surrounded by low, brick walls.

The servant’s quarters, for Ray and Louise, were located above the stables at the back of the house. They would leave the big house each night by way of a back door off the kitchen. After ascending a small porch and a short gravel path, they came to a carriage house, a large garage and the stables. A little farther down the path stood an old, unused outhouse, as several water closets had been added to the house at the turn of the century.

Several doors led off of the foyer in which hung a large, crystal chandelier, a full length mirror and a small hutch and table with a telephone. To the right, as you stepped down two stairs, was the living room; big, proper and carpeted in white, while all the furniture was upholstered in blue. Beyond the living room was a formal dining room and then the library with a huge, brick fireplace, leather couch and chairs to match.

To the left of the foyer was an office, spacious yet cozy with yet another fireplace. Here the rugs were brown and masculine. This was Thomas’ room, later to be Jim’s. Next came the large, sunny music room with its piano, organ and even a harp. A large picture window exposed the side of the house with its many trees; pines, weeping willows and oaks. If you looked hard enough you could see where the hilly ridge began to slope gradually toward the river. The front window of the room held more of the same with the flower garden seen out the back window. Jim and his sisters had all taken various music lessons from a private teacher who came to Temple Hill, just as Jim’s children were to do later.

Behind the music room was another large area; the game room which was also used for all their parties and where they would hold Gloria’s reception. An elegant bar lined one complete wall and several stools sat against it. The room also held a pool table and a ping pong table. French glass doors led outside to the immense, stone patio. Then the hallway led to the back of the house where a large kitchen and pantry were located.

As Thomas Gaylord loved horses, he kept six, one for each member of the family. He insisted on it even though Grace didn’t ride. So even when the horseless carriage became popular and Thomas had two cars, he still kept his horses.

Because the stables were large, the quarters upstairs were more than adequate and comfortably housed Louise and Ray who, as man and wife, served in the capacity of housekeeper, cook, butler, as well as the family’s chauffeur. Of course they also had help from Mollie and Paula, two maids who lived in the lower level of the house.

Upstairs in the main house, on the second floor, were four bedrooms with a bathroom in-between each two. These were besides the master suite which ran across the front width of the house and consisted of a large bedroom, sitting room, dressing room as well as its own bathroom. Each bedroom had a fireplace while on the third floor only two of the bedrooms had one. Therefore