Zesker was Dad's cousin, the son of Grandpa Jaspers brother Howell. Howell homesteaded the land just south of Grandpa. Dad's mother died when he was 6 years old, and Grandpa never remarried. Uncle Raymond was 2. Aunt Cora was 12. People picked on them a lot and got a lot of fights started. They spent a lot of time at their uncle Howell's playing with their cousins. Dad said that he always hated to go home, because ever time he left to go home Zesker would catch him and give him a whipping. He started to go home one time and Zesker told him to wait a minute, he had to have his whipping before he left. Dad decided he didn't want any more whippings. He moved over by a large rock and about the time Zesker grabbed him, he grabbed the rock and hit him on the side of the head and nearly knocked him out. That put a stop to the whippings. But Zesker must have been one of his favorite cousins, because he talked a lot about him. Unk Paul
