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Uncle Vernon’s Story (part 14)

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Before we left Selma’s place electricity was installed in the house, but when we got to the next place (Stressnor – the 7th place) we were again without electricity until after WWII, about the spring of 1948. In the summer of 1941, Daddy and I cut logs on the Hemeyer place. The idea was that we cut enough logs (lumber) to make two silos, one for us and one for uncle Henry. We built Uncle Henry’s silo, but didn’t have enough lumber left to build another one, so we were without a silo for several years. We built a silo at Schubert also and tore it down and took the lumber along to Selma’s place, but never got around to reassembling it.

The silo we later built on the Stroessnor place was much larger, 28 ft tall. Beatrice and I both helped build that one. I had corn out on Selma’s place, Uncle Henry’s place, and also on the Uncle George Miller place, plus 17 acres on the Stressnor place that we took care of. That marked the end of my formal education. I was 15 that fall and they had a birthday party for me.

Margie was more fortunate than I. she got to finish high school at Eugene. The war with Europe and Japan started that fall. It became hard to get gas to market products in Jefferson City like we did at Schubert, so we sold our milk in the bulk to the Kraft cheese factory in Eldon.

Daddy read some article about genetic engineering done in Germany for the purpose of producing female offspring and I on occasion had to go to the drug store in Jefferson City to purchase this product. One time they asked me what it was being used for and of course I couldn’t tell them. The purpose was to produce heifer calves instead of bull calves. Normally they are more male calves than female calves, so I think it may have worked.

 

Uncle Vernon’s Story (part 12)

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We were very poor while at Selma’s. It it hadn’t been for Elizabeth and Justin bringing groceries out for us, we would have been in bad shape. Bud sent money for Margie and I to buy school clothes. I wore Daddy’s wedding pants to Walther League meetings at Honey Creek. Ha! I was always a big boy with big feet, so Bud and Felix always kept me in good shoes (army shoes) they got from the CCC camps.

The Ford truck that we used for about five years didn’t have much power when we went from Schubert to visit the Honey Creek folks. We put two farm wagon seats in the back of the truck and we would ride back there. When we got to the Honey Creek hill, the truck could not make it up, so we all had to get out and push…when it would stop or stall, we had to block the wheel so it wouldn’t roll back down the hill. I finished up the 8th grade at Honey Creek.

 

Uncle Vernon’s Story (part 11)

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Elizabeth and Justin married while we lived at Schubert. They moved into a completely furnished 5-room home: a new kitchen, dining room, living room and two bedrooms. Justin had a good job. I suppose he must have saved his money. He was in his late twenties when they married.

I’m not sure how this happened, but I believe that one of the families that Sis worked for in Jefferson City moved to St. Louis and they took her along with them. Later, she met and married Ted Kuegele. Their wedding took place at Honey Creek. Ted’s dad officiated at the wedding. We had the chiverie at our house (Selma’s). We were very poor at Selma’s. The farm was smaller yet than the one at Schubert with no electricity.

I rented ground from Uncle Henry and also Uncle George Miller. I did go to Eugene high school one year while at Selma’s place. Naomi was born on Selma’s place in 1941. Margie started taking confirmation instructions from pastor Bultman then, along with Gilbert Stressnor. She was confirmed in a separate adult class and not with the regular 8th grade kids.

 

Uncle Vernon’s Story (part 10)

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I think the most pleasant memories of Schubert’s was when Elizabeth and Justin were dating. They would come out in the evening and we would play games, cards, etc., and eat popcorn. They always bought a sack of candy, too. Sometime after they would leave, I would look out the window and their car was still in the barn lot. I was sure Justin had car trouble, but Mom would never let me go out to help them…ha! We had a contract to provide firewood for the Forest Hill School. The school owned 40 acres of land around it, so we cut the wood off the school property. The furnace in the school took 3-foot length wood, so we cut it all by hand with a cross cut saw. We could see the MO. PAC Railroad tracks from Forest Hill School and when the first streamline train (The Colorado Eagle) went by, we saw it. One time a Forest Hill School, a while after the last recess of the day, a funeral procession went by.

Now the Forest Hill School at one time was a church and on top of the hill nearby was a cemetery. It was so grown up with brush that you couldn’t hardly walk in it. But across the road in Diedler’s wood pasture the brush wasn’t so thick, so they took the fence down, dug a grave and buried the man in the pasture. I suppose it would have been illegal anyway to bury him in the cemetery because he was an African American. Well, the kids from Osage City convinced the teacher that he was a good friend of theirs, and so she dismissed school so they could attend. I guess that was my first and last time to do such.

 

Coal oil and dried peas… by Aunt Bea

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Down at Schubert’s,  Mahlon drank coal oil and put the dried peas up his nose.  Once he had his whole mouth full of those black wasps.  I think he was stung and once I remember he had a bumble bee in his mouth.  Mahlon had a dark temper as a child.

In the morning when the stove was really hot in the living room, like red hot, he would get too close and burn himself then he would get so mad and hit the stove.  That’s when mom talked Elizabeth into getting the enamel stove, or Sis, I forget now who bought it.  Could have been the boys.

Uncle Vernon’s Story (part 9)

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When we moved from Schubert to Honey Creek, we hired a truck for $2.00 a load to move us. I don’t remember how many loads there were, probably three or four, but the last thing was the wagon, a small load of equipment and me to drive it to Honey Creek. I was 13 then. When I was going through Wardsville, dogs from Schrimpf’s farm came out barking at the mules and they were really spooked. We moved on March 15, 1940. The days were pretty long, so I got to Honey Creek before it got dark. While at Schubert, Daddy purchased the ‘32 Buick from Heisinger’s that was quite a step up for a family that had used a model T-Ford. While at Schubert there were many Roosevelt projects designed to help poor people. One was the Farm Credit Administration. They made loans to help people that lost everything and poor to get started again. We got $500 and from that we got a bull, a cow, 3 heifers, 10 ewes and a buck, a sow, a pressure choker and lots of canning jars. When Lolly was born, she had trouble with milk and Dr. Hill said to get a goat and give her goat milk. We would keep the goat on a long chain in the yard or the chicken yard and when Lolly got hungry, there was always some nice warm milk nearby.