The names of the children of Jacob and Katerina Strobel are as follows: Theodore, Nov. 4,1893; Emma, Aug. 10, 1896; John, Jan. 6, 1899; Albert, July 26, 1904, and Emil, Dec. 2,1908.  Until 1921, our sole power was horses.  They did all the field work and the transporting of wheat and other commodities such as butter, cream, and eggs to market.  Sometimes dad would butcher hogs and deliver the carcasses to town.

   In l9l5 on July 4th, we bought our frirst car, a model T Ford, which made traveling to town much easier and faster.  We would buy our gas in 55 gallon barrels for 11 cents per gallon.  The cost of our first car was $545.00. The Ford Motor Company made a statement that if it would sell a half million cars in 1915, it would refund $50.00 to each customer.  Ford passed the half million car mark and dad received a refund of $50.00. Dad bought his first car from Griffith Davis, the Ford dealer.

    In 1921, dad bought our first tractor, a Titan 10-20.  It was a clumsy machine in comparison to the later models.  However, it relieved the horses from a lot of work.

    Around 1916, dad and mother built a new house.  The material used for the walls was adobe about 18 inches thick.  The outside was covered with tongue and groove drop siding and painted.  The house included the following rooms: kitchen, dining room, front room or parlor as it was called at the time, three bedrooms, another room for a pantry and a bathroom.

    In 1917, dad put running water to the house and corral.  Water at that time was pumped by windmill into a 5'x 7' supply tank which was put into the top of a 10' x 10' hexagonal building.  The supply tank was 10 feet off the ground and provided running water for 

    In about 1929, the depression hit our part of the country.  During the depression, the price on corn was as low as 12 cents per bushel, wheat 25 cents per bushel, two year springer heifers $12.00 to 15.00 per head, 40 to 50 test cream 5 gallons for $2.00, and eggs as low as 4 cents per dozen.  These are some of the things I vividly remember.  The drought commonly called the dirty thirties, also started about that time and lasted until about 1938, when we started raising more corn and wheat again.  At that time people started to summer fallow for wheat which made a big difference in the yields.  Continuous cropping yields were from 12 to 15 bu., where summer fallow yields were from 30 to 40 bu. per acre.  My brother Emil, and I bought two second hand combines, in 1943, one a 12' Baldwin and the other a 10' International Harvester.  However the grain was still unloaded by hand into the granary and then again loaded by hand to be taken to market.

     Later in about 1945, Henry Daum, an elevator man in Bethune, came up with an auger elevator, ten feet long and five inches in diameter.  This elevator was driven by a one and one half horse gas engine, which moved the grain more easily.

    On April 25, 1931, just before the drought and dust bowl years, Lena Zeigler and I were married.  We had a rough time during the 30's.  We have six children: Arnold, April 26,1932; Viola, Dec. 17, 1933; Alvin and Calvin, Jan. 21, 1936; Arthur, Jan. 22, 1941; and Roland, Feb. 21, 1942.  We always had enough to eat as we raised our own very: potatoes, squash, and plenty of watermelon, along with cream, butter, milk and eggs.