"Dad,"son of a Civil War Union soldier, and one of nine children was born on the family farm in eastern Nebraska in 1872. Dad was a farmer, a vagabond, an adventurer, but still and always a family man. "Dad's Reminiscences, Reveries, and Ruminations" was written in 1918 by Henry Frederick Cathcart while stationed in France in the US Army during World War One, where he served as a Mess Sergeant. It was there that he acquired the nick-name "Dad" because of his age, 46, which was far too old to become a new US Army recruit, (but "Dad" found a way.) "Dad's Reminiscences, Reveries and Ruminations is a compilation of true essays written by "Dad" in poetry form to be sent home in letters to his family back home. They reflect the reminiscences of a lifetime of adventure, misadventure, hardships, sadness, and romance.They mirror the attitudes and family-oriented culture that prevailed in America during the Victorian era in which "Dad" was raised.