Concentration issues?

April 13, 1932 - Last day of reviewing.  Wrote a letter to Walter tonite after school.  Mr. and Mrs. Walker, Evie and Mote went to Prayer Meeting this evening.  The rest of us went to bed early.
April 14, 1932 - Seems funny without Raymond and Louise at school.  Raymond stopped in after school and showed me the questions of exams they took today.  They should have passed in all of them.  Went to practice in the old Ford tonite.  It was great fun.
April 15, 1932 - Dismissed school at 2:30.  Handed out report cards today.  Raymond stopped and showed me the questions.  They should have passed them.  Ray, Mom and Grussmother stopped for me after school on their way home from Uncle Max'.  I gave them my suitcase and sent them travelling.  Practiced at schoolhouse tonite.  Went in the Ford again.  More fun!

Obviously, reviewing and play practice and riding around in the Ford has Grandma a bit off kilter.  Hopefully she is back on track soon.  I know I NEVER do this kind of thing in MY journal!

We haven't had a mention of Grussfather (Ola Brogren) or Grussmother (Dorothea Brogren) for a bit, so I will share a photo of them today.  This was taken in 1929, so very close in time to Grandma's diary entry.

Hopefully the Winside history isn't too dull yet.  Here's 1885:

     May 24, A. T. Chapin's farm home was destroyed by lightning, very little was saved.
     July 5, Wayne county's population this year is 3585.
     September 24, the last few windy days have ripened up the corn and put a red tinge on the grass.  H. N. Moore bought 78 head of cattle and will feed them out this winter.
     September 29, Candidates are ripening up fast this warm weather and we think that a large share of the crop will be harvested about October 14th.
     September 30, one of our neighbors went down to the east side, or the other side, anyway, to the new site with the intention of moving there soon.
     October 22, Northside is very quiet this week because there are no candidates around with cigars and whiskey to make them feel good.  Just a few days ago the boys were so happy you could hear them singing from Northside to This Side.
     October 29, Northside is like the Star Spangled Banner, "its still there", but not much left of it.
     October 30, a new Star was discovered early yesterday morning -- both mother and son are doing well says Warner.  James Hornby says "Northside is the longest town in Nebraska viz about four miles with a house at each end and plenty of room for more in the middle."
     November 12, Milligan and Co's. ware house at Northside will be open to receive grain Wednesday and Thursday of each week.
     November 26, J. W. Tillson has a hard time keeping a stock of lumber on hand -- he has not only sold what he had on hand, but seven car loads besides, also bought the Hoskins lumber yard and closed that out and every day some one wants more boards.

Some of these entries have a newspaper feel about them, others don't so much.  There is nothing in the history book on these pages citing sources.  Perhaps if I look elsewhere I might find some reference.

Imagine, candidates with whiskey and cigars roaming the streets!!

Pretty good excuse to skip church

April 10, 1932 - Didn't go to church because it was German.  Went up to Uncle Hans' for dinner.  After dinner Ola took me to Hall's.  Mayme and I talked school most of the afternoon.  She gave me some patterns.  Lloyd, Mayme, Alex and I went to Norfolk this evening.  Saw Chas. Farrel in "After Tomorrow."
April 11, 1932 - Reviewing to beat the band.  The other kids are getting tired of having so many written lessons.  I can't say that I blame them very much.  Went to bed early this evening.  The family went to church.  Reviewed after school.
April 12, 1932 - Aunt Mary Kahler and Alice and the baby visited school the last period this afternoon.  I was surely pleased and surprised.  Play practice tonite.  Mike and I sat on the floor after the bench had been pulled away from underneath us.

Obviously, at least in to the early 1930's there was a German service at church every now and then.  I think the one church in Lincoln had once-a-month services in Danish until sometime in the 1960's.  I would have liked to have gone to one of those.

Pretty neat movie poster, I think.  Here is the basic plot of the movie, taken from Wikipedia:

     Peter Piper and his girlfriend Sidney Taylor have been engaged for a long time, but the economic situation of the Great Depression and the selfish demands of their respective mothers have delayed the marriage. They imagine their future together "after tomorrow" in the lyrics of their favorite song. Sidney's mother thinks only of her own needs, while clinging Mrs. Piper can't bear the thought that her son will one day leave her, and does her best to break up Sidney and Peter's relationship.

I am hoping they all worked it out in the end.

Here is the next installment of Winside history, typos and all:

     January 10, 1884, the R. R. Co., began building a cozy section house at Northside -- a depot is expected this spring.
     January 25, 1884, R. E. Templin and Mary Hamilton were married by Justice of Peace R. G. Sines.  This was Northside's first wedding.
     March 8, 1884, District No. 16 or the old Northside school closed its winter term.  J. Ziegler was the teacher.
     March 24, 1884, H. N. Moore and John James of Red Oak, Iowa arrived at Northside with a car load of household goods, lumber, grain and machinery.
     May 16, 1884, L. W. McDerby of Norfolk opened a general store in Northside.
     August 2, 1884, horse and mule races seem to be popular Sunday pastime.  Long ears has had the edge on nearly all of the races to date.  Warner Starr manages to take at least second.
     August 23, 1884, R. B. Crawford bought the land where Winside stands today.
     September 26, 1884, J. W. Tillson and family arrived in Northside.
     October 8, 1884, the R. R. Co. has built a good stock yard -- the town is really on the "boom".

Laundry

April 7, 1932 - Reviewing for the exams like the very dickens.  I'm back in my own room now.  It seems nice but I'll surely miss the evening chat with the girls.  We practiced tonite at the schoolhouse.
April 8, 1932 - Louise asked today if they could stay after school next week to review.  Mom and Ray came up to the schoolhouse after me while we were practicing.  Mr. Scheurich told Ray he wanted a more experienced man.  So that's why Ray isn't there anymore.  Lillie Brogren and Meta Brogren Shipley birthdays.
April 9, 1932 - Washed and ironed my clothes and cleaned up the house.  Used the machine to wash my clothes, too much fun to wash them on the wash board.  Mom came home from Hansen's tonite. Annie, Ola, and family, including Ray, were in tonite.

I think this may be the first real sarcasm we've seen in Grandma's journal.  I remember well the wringer washer, and I have seen a washboard.  I don't recall seeing Grandma or Grandma Anna use one, so perhaps the machine had totally won their trust by the time I was "helping" with the laundry.  I wrote some time back about how neat I thought the bluing was.  I can still see it in my mind's eye spreading out in the clear water after it was poured in.

Since the Winside history book is full of milestones (for lack of a better word) and since I have only shared a few of them up until now, I will go back to the earliest and start putting them in this or that post.  Starting with this one.

     They lumped 1867 to 1882 together:

     March 1, 1867, Nebraska was admitted to the Union as a State.
     During 1868, H. H. Moses bought 520 acres of land in what is now known as Brenna precinct.
     In the spring of 1869, Mr. Moses came out to see the land that he had purchased.
     September 26, 1870, Wayne County was organized in the house on the Scott homestead.
     November 10, 1870, William Stewart bought considerable speculation land in Nebraska, the half section on the south side of the highway or the business section of Winside today, was included in this purchase.
     July 10, 1872, George I. King bought the land where old Northside once stood.
     March 1, 1877, H. H. Moses and Franz E. his son, began farming the 520 acres the elder Moses bought in 1868.
     July 1878, William Hoffman and Frederick Glaser took claims on Humbug Creek, four miles south of the present Winside site.
     October 26, 1879, William Hoffman and Pauline Glaser were married in the school house two miles west of Hoskins, which served as a school, church and all kinds of public gatherings.
     March 1, 1881, A. T. Chapin moved from Blair to his new location, four miles north of the present Winside site.
     1881, Carl Splittgerber and family moved to Wayne County, buying a half section in Brenna precinct.
     1881, H. B. Miller bought the farm two miles east of Winside.
     October 3, 1882, Eugene L. Jones, a farmer near Northside, was commissioned as the first postmaster of Northside.

Either my imagination is getting away from me, or the photo in the book of William Hoffman looks quite a bit like the Hoffmans I am aware of still in and around Winside.  So, I am thinking they may be descended from this particular Hoffman.  But, will confer with my official historian (Mom) and see what she thinks/knows.

Some interesting data

April 4, 1932 - Lovely day.  Birds seem to be all here, they're singing all the time anyway.  Got the geography workbook tonite.  Went to schoolhouse for practice this evening.  Went thru first act and half of 2nd act.  Ironed my dresses after school tonite.  Mrs. T.J. Pryor's birthday.
April 5, 1932 - Nice today, but terribly windy.  Ray isn't at Scheurich's anymore.  I just found out this evening.  I wonder why?  Went to League at Wittler's.  We had a good time but not as good as some other times.  Everyone was sleepy.
April 6, 1932 - I was quite tired in school today.  Mrs. Walker, Evie, Mike and Mote went to Prayer Meeting this evening.  The rest of us went to bed early.  Mom called up this evening to see whether or not I wanted to come home Friday nite.

Speaking of the schoolhouse, I talked to Mom and she thinks Grandma was teaching at District 86 in 1932.  This is what the History of Wayne County (1938) book says about that school:

"Prior to 1915 pupils in district 86 attended school in district 78 or Hoskins.  As this seemed too far for pupils to travel, the district decided to build a school.  Among those who were in the district when the building was put up and still reside there are Carl Jochens, Wm. Maas, Andrew Johnson, Louis Nurnberg and Frank Maas.  Andrew Johnson is one of the earliest in the district.  Officers of the first term were Carl Jochens, Andrew Johnson and John Werner.  Anna Miller taught 24 pupils the first term.  The school had 36 students when Verl Wilson taught.  A cave was dug on the grounds in 1934."  The history was provided by Martha Utecht.

The book also lists the teachers for the 1937-38 school year, for the time the book was written.  The names I recognize most are Helen Iversen at District 28S and Dorothea Rew at District 40.  I didn't find Grandma's name so I am guessing that was the first year she didn't teach as she was starting her family about then.

This next bit of information has nothing to do with schools or teachers, and I should probably save it for a future post but I am inpatient.  Plus, I may forget.  From the 1930 census, of the 10,566 people living in Wayne County, 1,132 were foreign-born.  The greatest number of those, 592, were natives of Germany, while 174 were born in Sweden, 133 in Denmark, 64 in Wales and 38 in England.

The German, Swedish and Danish numbers don't surprise me, but Wales?  I wonder if there was a particular town most of them lived in.  And subtracting those figures from the whole leaves 131 from "several other countries".  Several?  I wonder what some of those were.

And get this -- in 1930 Wayne County had 6 miles of concrete, brick or asphalt roads and 73 miles of gravel roads.  Improved dirt roads numbered 774 miles, unimproved dirt roads 577 miles, and "other roads" totaled 74 miles.  No wonder rain kept Grandma from going places and different occasions.

April Fools' Day and beyond

April 1, 1932 - April Fools' Day, fooled 5 times -- R.J. telephone call this a.m., George's word in school, rap and door blocked this p.m. at school by Maas', I think, Evie's fake call, and an April Fool letter from Pierce.  We were going to practice tonite but I went to the Hoskins class play with Arnold W.  Play real good, "The Man in the Green Shirt."  Reuben Meierhenry and Vona Woods were the best.
April 2, 1932 - Washed some dresses this a.m.  Walked to town and went to Norfolk on the 11:10 train.  Got me a new coat, hat and dress.  Saw the Meierhenry girls and came home with them.  Walkers went to Norfolk tonite, I stayed home, did the dishes, and went to bed early.  Got a letter from Annie and Mom.  Edna Ruschmann's birthday.
April 3, 1932 - To church and S.S. this a.m.  Then over to dinner at Herman Jochens.  Bill Maas' there, also.  And did Ruth say and do the craziest things.  In p.m. took pictures and 6 of us were in the back seat of the Buick, curtains pulled down, and driver alone in front seat.  Fun.  To League and church in evening.

Well, now -- some hi-jinx on April Fools' Day.  I don't think I have ever counted the times I have been fooled, but even though the references are vague and mean nothing to we readers now, they obviously were worth writing down in Grandma's opinion.

Here I have the name of a play to research and cannot find a reference to it anywhere so that I can share something of the plot.  Which isn't all that surprising since I imagine it was a non-royalty play and there have to be oodles of those floating around.

I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that trains went to and from Winside and Wayne and Norfolk once upon a time.

And good gracious, what on earth went on on April 3?  I can't do it on my machine here, but Grandma underlined the word "fun" three times, not just once.

There are two references in the Winside history book of events from April of 1932:
     April 20:  80 Wayne county farmers have applied for government seed loans.
     April 21:  Mrs. Dave Render called to rest.

The photo is of a Buick from the 1930s or earlier, but of course, I have no idea what year or model Buick Grandma was talking about.  Cool-looking car, regardless.

Choir practice and play practice

March 29, 1932 - Another nice day.  Mailed my film today.  We went up to Maas' and practiced tonite.  Evie was tired and stayed home, so did Mr. and Mrs. Walker.
March 30, 1932 - Quite cold today.  Was 23 degrees this morning.  Mrs. Walker went quilting today.  Ordered a geography workbook today.  Went in to town tonite with the kids.  I stayed in the car and tried to sleep while they had choir practice.  Washed hose and rain coat and overshoes tonite after school.
March 31, 1932 - Warmer today.  Mrs. Walker went quilting again today.  Came home from school early this evening and washed my hair.  Willard and Harry down this evening to practice first act.

I don't think Grandma was commenting on the ability of the choir when she says she tried to sleep during practice, but it does conjure up a comical image.  Somewhat like Barney Fife and his cringe-worthy singing, to use the term loosely, with the fine folks of Mayberry.

I understand through the grapevine that there are a few more readers than I knew.  This is good!  I will attempt to both post more often and also make my commentary a little more wide-ranging than just our immediate family.  Heavens knows there are lots of cousins out there.

I am still hoping Grandma gives the title to the play they are putting on.  I recently purchased a play book, program, and ticket from the 1956 Winside Senior Class play.  I have yet to read the play, but the drawing on the program is less than politically-correct by today's standards.  I'll give a synopsis once I get it read.  The price to see the play was $.25 for students and $0.50 for adults.  Funny!

1932 ice cream (again) and a 2014 wedding

March 26, 1932 - Washed my clothes, cleaned up the house, and read all the papers.  Went down town this evening, then up to Schellenberg's.  Mayme was there and we talked quite awhile.
March 27, 1932 - Easter Sunday.  We went to church this morning and took Holy Communion.  This afternoon Ray, Willie and I went out to Ola's.  Took a picture of Annabel and Leeroy.  We took Mom to Hansen's and I saw the baby.  Rained a little this afternoon.  Ray took me back to Walker's.  Got here in time for supper.  To church this evening.
March 28, 1932 - Nice day.  Willard and Harry came down this evening.  We practiced the 1st act.  Mr. and Mrs. Walker went over to Nurnberg's to a party.  We were all invited but the rest of us had to practice.  We had ice cream.

I don't know if I've just discussed it with people in person or if I have recorded it here, but gosh they sure had a lot of ice cream back in and around Winside in 1932.

And boy, am I behind!  My last post was June 4.  No excuse really, other than general busy-ness.  Oh, and a wedding, too.  Big congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Dane Bowder, married in a lovely ceremony on a gorgeous day in Lincoln.  Grandma would have loved every minute of it.

We had a family picture taken while we were all there and cleaned up.  I hope there is a good one or two in there -- the photographer was very busy and darned quick.

Anyone else getting impatient?

March 23, 1932 - Quite warm today.  Walked down to Raymond and Alice's tonite after school.  The baby looks like Raymond.  They haven't named it yet.  The folks got back from Fremont about 7 o'clock this evening.  Early to bed.
March 24, 1932 - Scrubbed the hall and porch after school.  A letter from Jane today asking me to spend the weekend with her.  Can't of course.  Wrote to Jane, Mildred, and Aunt Mildred this evening.  Hektographed some work for tomorrow.
March 25, 1932 - Drawing period went pretty well today.  Tonite I walked a mile east of here to the highway to meet Ray.  Roads were too bad to get here with the car.  Went to church at Winside.  Mom is at Ihler Hansen's.  They have a baby girl born last Tuesday.

This is all well and good, but I sure would like to be at the point where Grandpa makes a meaningful appearance.  Patience is a virtue, or so I've heard, so we'll plod along.

I've heard the name Ihler Hansen, but I do not know why unless it was just this or that in conversation.  I looked in the Winside history book, but nothing jumped out at me.

Speaking of the Winside history book, I saw a section I don't remember reading before about the cemetery.  It has all sorts of interesting information, and I see they listed the first few people buried there including Jurgen Brogren, the first burial.  It also noted, interestingly, that Jurgen's mother, Mrs. Ola Andersen, was the 599th person buried.

Unrelated to anything Grandma has written about, I have picked the above photograph of my dog Sharice, aka Reese, aka Stinky because after 13 years of being our pal, I had to put her down this last Monday.  She was a big goof and a bigger marshmallow and could be mighty annoying at times, but I wouldn't have changed her for anything.