Magdalena (Lena) Weisshaar Schlichenmayer was born at Talmage, Nebraska, on June 1, 1886.  Her parents, John Frederick Weisshaar and Christena Margareta Wilhelm Weisshaar migrated from Germany to the southern tip of Russia.  From there they left the village Lichtentaal through the Port of Odessa on the Black Sea in 1885 bound for the United States' and settled in Talmage, Nebraska.

     In 1887 Lena at the age of nine months moved to a farm near Idalia, Colorado with her parents.  In 1901 the family moved south to a farm 13 miles northeast of Bethune.  The farm had a house on it with two rooms.  One room was made of sod and the other room was made of stone - both being very large.  The sod room had the kitchen and dining area in it and also some of the children slept there.  It was partitioned off with curtains.  The rock room was partitioned off into sleeping rooms with curtains also.  The floors were all of sand and dirt wet down to compact them and then swept.  Later as the family increased another rock addition was added to the first rock room to be used as another bedroom.  Years later an adobe house was built.  They also built a barn and granary of stone and a frame granary.  Adobe was used for mortar to build the stone buildings.

     Life was extremely difficult for the family.  They had one horse and a neighbor had one.  They would work together so they had a "team".  They used this team to break the prairie with a plow in order to plant crops and a garden.  The women would hitch the team to a wagon to go to the river to wash clothes.  They would take barrels along to bring back water for drinking, cooking, some washing, and also for the livestock.  Besides the horse, a few cows, some hogs and chickens were added to their possessions.
After the crops were harvested the men would leave the women and children on the farm and would go to Denver to seek employment to earn needed cash.  As soon as the weather started clearing in the spring they would return home to tend to their farming.

     There were no trees available, therefore mainly cow chips and corn cobs were burned for heat and cooking.  For light, lamps were used that burned coal oil or kerosene which cost about ten cents per gallon.  Water was carried in from outside.  All water had to be heated on the stove to wash dishes, clothes, and for bathing.

     For beds, ticking was purchased in town and was sewn into a mattress cover which was then filled with soft corn husks.  All sewing was done by hand.  Shoes weren't well fitted or particularly well made and not many stockings were owned so the children went barefoot as soon as the weather permitted even to school.  Stockings were black or brown and didn't wear well nor last long.  To make soap, the tallow, cracklings and the lard would be warmed and mixed with lye.  This mixture was then cooked until done, then poured into a square pan and allowed to set and dry.  After it was dry, it was then cut into squares and used for all types of washing.

     Fresh foods were available from the garden during the summer but preserving for winter use presented a different side.  After the well house was built with a tank inside and fresh water running through it, milk and butter were stored there.  Butchering was done in the winter and hung in a safe place to stay frozen.  In order to preserve it for use in the summer it had to be cured by smoking, drying or frying down and then stored in the lard in a large stone jar.  No glass jars were available, therefore canning was out of the question.  Cabbage was shredded and pressed into stone jars to make sauerkraut.  Cucumbers and several other vegetables were pickled and stored in stone jars.  Corn was dried and stores in sacks then hung on nails in a dry location.

     The Settlement was nearly all German nationality.  Immanuel Lutheran Church was the center of their life and was attended every Sunday and all religious holidays except for illness or bad weather.

     Lena married Gottlieb Schlichenmayer on January 20, 1907 in the Immanuel Lutheran church and began their married life about three miles northwest of where she grew up.  This was on a homestead that was secured on December 9,1913 under President Woodrow Wilson.  Life afforded them many of the same problems as had been met by Lena's parents.  They lived in a small two room adobe house until 1915 when they then built a four room adobe house.  Both houses still stand although the later one has had rooms added on and is the home of her son, Lawrence.  In 1919 a drive-through granary was built and in 1920 a big red barn.  In 1916 they purchased their first motor driven vehicle - a Model T Touring car with kerosene lamps in front and rear plus magneta head lights.  The rear lamps had red glass.  In 1924 a Model T truck was purchased.  On December 14, 1929 they purchased their first power washer which was a Maytag.  The Guarantee Bond states that the motor or magneta were warranted for one year but the spark plugs were not covered.  Up until that time the washing was done in a tub on a washboard and later by a hand-powered washing machine.

     Lena and Gottlieb became the parents of ten children - Freda (Schaal), Frederick, Hulda (Bauder), Pete, Bernard, Elmer, Lawrence, Rudolf, and Vernon.  Gottlieb passed away on September 10, 1946, and as of January 1988, four of her children are still living - Pete, Lawrence, Rudy, and Vernon.  She has 11 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren.  Pete has been employed as an auctioneer for 54 years.  He and his wife, Jean (Messenger), reside in Bethune.  Rudy lives in Burlington and has been employed by the Yersin's at the Red Front Market for 34 years, besides being a piano and guitar music teacher.  Lawrence remains on the family farm and Vernon is in Nebraska.

     In 1986 Lena celebrated her 100th birthday with a reception at Immanuel Lutheran Church.  At that time she had been a member of the church for 85 years.  In April of 1987 following the death of her son, George, she moved to Grace Manor Care Center in Burlington where she celebrated her 101st birthday.