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Following their marriage on April 2, 1899, which was Easter Sunday, Mother and Dad began their life on the homestead. They began building a new house along with Grandpa Christian, which took the better part of 2 years to build. They also did the farming on the acreage. On Jan. 20, 1900, their first son, William was born. On Sunday, Jan. 27, 1901, a little girl, Magdelena Dorothea, was born, She died of scarlet fever on Sunday, July 5, 1903. In Mother's Bible she made the notation, "She was born on Sunday and died on Sunday." Dad and Grandpa Christian planted many trees on the homestead during these years, both fruit trees and several evergreens. Mother always had a large garden as well as many lovely flower beds. As the family grew so did Mother's garden. John Jr. was born September 10, 1904. Son no. 3 was born July 17, 1907, being named Theodore, better known as Ted. This same year the well at the top of the hill west of the house was drilled. A concrete reservoir was built so that Mother could irrigate the garden, flowers and trees around the house. Water was piped from the reservoir to an open top 6 ft. steel tank south of the house. This was the second well on the place, the first one being drilled shortly after 1890. The first well had an "O.K." brand wildmill on it. I faintly remember the huge wooden slot wheel with a large and small tail; the small one being used to slow the speed of the wheel in a strong wind. Every revolution of the wheel completed a stroke of the pump rod, quite different from the windmills of today. It was replaced in about 1917 with a new "Samson" all steel windmill with special oil reservoirs on the bearings. This same year, 1907, Grandpa Christian, along with others, built a one-room school house about 1/2 mile from our homestead. The school district was formed and the 1908 census listed 24 females and 34 males. Sherman K. Yale was the secretary of District 22. On August 31, 1910, another son, Arthur, better known as Art, was born. In 1910 or 1911 Dad donated 5 acres of ground in the southeast corner of our section for the building of a new church, known as the Hope Congregational Church. The small white frame building served the needs of the congregation for several years. The dedication was held Feb. 18, 1912, with a double male quartet furnishing the music. In 1928 it was replaced with a stately red brick building dedicated Sept. 2, 1928, along with a frame parsonage. In 1913 quite a building project took place on the homestead, a 30 x 60 ft. cement barn with all the sand used being hauled out of the creek that runs through the entire section. The cement came in returnable cloth bags. The barn was designed with a hip roof and a hayloft with a track and unloading fork for hay. In later years I remember leading the horses back and forth to pull the hay up into the loft. In the construction of the barn, the forms were set up to pour a depth of about 3 ft. of cement at a time, then the forms were raised and another 3 ft. were poured until the job was finished. It was a long tedious process, but a very sturdy barn was the end result. This same year Dad bought our first Model T Touring car, the first one in the Settlement. What a treat it was to ride in a car instead of a buggy! About 1915, a community telephone company was organized. It was quite a simple installation, with a single wire line having about 4 circuits, with the switchboard being at Aunt Christina Knodel's home. Our ring was 2 long rings. Emergencies brought one long ring to alert all of the neighbors. 1916 brought about more building and improvements on the homestead. A combination granary and corn crib under a roof was built. Dad also purchased 320 acres of land 8 miles northwest of Burlington. Walter was born January 8, 1918, boy no. 5. A new Deering Header was also purchased about this time and water was piped into the house. From now on, no more trips to the milk house to fill the water bucket. In 1919, Bill, the oldest, graduated from Burlington High School. He had rented a room and hatched in Burlington during the week coming home on weekends, in order to further his education. The following fall he taught at the "Blue View School" which was District 24. In 1920 he enrolled at Colorado A & M College in Fort Collins, now known as Colorado State University, where he later received his degree in Vocational Agriculture. In 1919, the west schoolhouse of District 22 was moved 1 miles west of where it was built. Harry Degering moved it with his "Rumley Oil Pull Tractor." About this same time, a new Dodge touring car was purchased by Dad to relieve the Model T. He also added a used Hart-Parr tractor to the machinery line along with a 10 ft. tandem disc. This helped to relieve the horses of some of the hard work. An incident I will never forget, was - the time Dad was raking and a thunderstorm came up. Dad unhitched the team, piled some hay on top of the rake teeth and sat under the makeshift shelter holding the horses still by the reins. Lightning struck, killing both horses, but left Dad untouched. Another time we lost a team of horses by lightning as they grazed in the pasture. 1923 brought about several changes at our house. Dad bought a used Chevrolet truck, which enabled us to haul about 60 bushels of grain at a time, and traded the Dodge touring car in-on a 4-door Dodge sedan. Things were becoming quite-modern for a farming operation. In October of that same year, Grandpa Christian was taken from us. One of the many chores he always took care of around the place, was gathering eggs from both chicken houses. As was his habit, he threw his jacket around his shoulders as he went across the corral. The wind was blowing and the jacket was moving about, which caught the attention of the bull who had come in along with several of the cows for water. Grandpa did not see the bull attack from the rear. Mother called John Knodels for help when she saw what was happening, and then went to try to rescue Grandpa, but the bull kept a very close observation and was not about to give up his prey. By the time help came, Grandpa was dead. I remember Penny Mortuary coming out from Burlington in the little gray hearse, and then they brought Grandpa back to the homestead where they placed the casket in his little house until the funeral. Another sad time for our family, as he had shared lots of time and stories with us boys. Boy no. 6, Elmer, was born September 13, 1924, to complete the family. That same year Dad bought a used cement block machine. We tamped the blocks ourselves, getting about 12 or 13 blocks from 1 sack of cement. We had about 90 plates so were able to make about 90 blocks per day. The next morning the blocks were tipped off the plates and you could resume tamping more blocks. We built a 2-car garage, a workshop, and a new henhouse, as well as a new house and barn for John, all with homemade blocks. 1924 brought the first light plant, a Kohler 110 volt DC 1500 watt, and we put it in the basement of the 2-car garage. Along with this came the lights, Mother's new electric washing machine and an electric iron. On June 9, Bill married Ann Nelson. Dad also traded the Dodge disc wheel sedan in on a new Dodge 4-door sedan with natural wooden wheels. In 1928, Dad really splurged, trading the old Hart-Parr tractor for a new 18-36 Hart-Parr. That same fall he also traded the old Chevrolet truck for a new one having 30 x 5 rubber tires on all 4 wheels. We bought the chassis and the cab and built the box ourselves. Now we could haul 65 bushels of grain. The early 1930's saw many families leaving the country, trying to find better conditions than the dust storm plagued plains of Colorado. The drouth caused many hardships, including dispersion sales, which had to be postponed because of more dust storms. The community experienced the closing of the Stock Growers State Bank as well as the Bethune State Bank. Only meager amounts were paid back to the depositors after the final settlements were made. On May 3, 1931, John married Edna Conrad, a native of North Dakota. Again, Dad purchased a used 1931 Chevrolet 4-door sedan at a Sheriff's Sale, so now we were riding with 6 cylinders. In 1943 John and Edna moved to their new farm northwest of Burlington, so we farmed his ground northeast of the homeplace until he sold it. As the rains came and things once again began to return to normal, the grass grew back. The first grass was mostly "pepper grass", which made the milk and cream taste bad, but as the Buffalo grass and the Blue Grama returned, things improved considerably. Many of the families who had. left, returned to the Settlement once again. On February 22, 1934, Ted married Lydia Lebsack in Sterling, Colorado, and they moved to Ted's batching quarters on the farm northwest of Burlington. This same year, Walter started high school in Burlington. April 11, 1937, Art married Emma Ziegler. Having rented a partially irrigated farm near Proctor, Colorado, they moved their few belongings there and started out on their own. Dad and Elmer continued farming part of the ground on the homeplace until the spring of 1940 when Art and Emma returned and took over the farming of the homestead, Section 3-7-45. Walter graduated from Burlington High School in 1937 and enrolled at Yankton College in Yankton, South Dakota, the following fall and graduating in 1942. On June 12 of the same year he was married to Pauline Schillereff of Fort Morgan. After several years in the ministry he did graduate work at Andover Newton Theological School and Harvard Divinity School. In 1967 he received his Doctor of Divinity Degree. Pauline passed away in November ol 1980 and Walter in July of 1982. Their union was blessed with 3 children, David, Margaret, and Robert. After John and Edna built their new home on their farm in about 1947, Dad and Mother left the little house on the homestead and moved into John and Edna's first home. This was a modern home and was located closer to Burlington. In 1948 Dad had surgery in Goodland, Kansas at Boothroy Memorial Hospital, and died several days later on July 21, 1948. Mother remained here a few years, and later on moved to a little house in Burlington. On March 9, 1952, Elmer was married to Dolores Schaal. Mother passed away November 18, 1954. Both our parents passed away at 72 years of age. They are buried at the Hope Church Cemetery north of Bethune, Colorado, back on the same homestead where their life together began. 12 grandchildren, 25 great grandchildren, and 2 great great grandchildren, will remain ever grateful for the courage and the desire to search for something better for this family in a land of freedom, for their descendants. We thank God and our parents for the privileges we have enjoyed because of their decision to come to the United States. May we always honor these privileges. |