Sommerer Family Website

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Uncle Mahlon’s Story (part 7)

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Sundays after church from 12-5:30 or 6:00 was free time for the children. I often remembers finding a gunnysack when I would walk home from Brazito where a small country store was located. On way way to the store, I would pick up pop bottles and cash them in for a one of the following: 16oz bottle of pepsi for five cents, candy bar for five cents, or a sack of candy for ten cents. While on my way back I would walk on the opposite side of the road and pick up bottles for the next time I went to the store. The return price on a bottle was two cents. If I had leftover candy, I would share it with the smaller kids.

mo-cole-county-1904-map
The file says this map is from 1904. Lots of interesting details.

 

Uncle Mahlon’s Story (part 5)

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I did not know any of my siblings really well. They were all far enough apart, but I do remember some specific memories of a few. From oldest to youngest they are: Elizabeth, Lillian (Sis), Bud (Earhart), Felix, Marjorie, Vernon, Beatrice, Me, Cleopha, Lolly, Naomi, and Lloyd.

I don't think this has been on the website before. I don't have a larger version.
I don’t think this has been on the website before. I don’t have a larger version.

I remembers Elizabeth cleaned the house and took care of the siblings because she was the oldest. Once she moved to Saint Louis, Missouri, Elizabeth did the same things for other people as well. Elizabeth was grown up and moved out before I was born.

I remembered a time with Vernon when a neighbor gave a horse drawn wagon load of apples to our family. The apples were either bought or picked. To keep the apples fresh for a longer period of time, we had to dig a hole then line and cover the bottom with straw. After the straw, the hole was lined with tarpaper to waterproof it. Straw was then put on top of the tarpaper. When someone wanted an apple out of the hole you had to dig another hole to get back in, grab an apple, and then cover the hole back up with the dirt. Because of this system with the tarpaper and straw, the apples would not freeze, but would be kept fresh. Anytime work was done like this there were never tractors, but rather horses with manual plows.

I remembers Felix and Bud worked in the Civilian Conservation Core (CCC). This was a government program for boys who worked on rocks, bridges, and around cemeteries. The boys were allowed to keep half and the other half went to the boy’s parents.

 

Uncle Mahlon’s Story (part 4)

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Near our house there was a hillside, which used to be full of timber, therefore a two-man chainsaw was used with me on one side. The timber would be toppled over one another and I was instructed several times to trim the trees and pile the brush. The timber was cut and sold four dollars a cart for heating and cooking. During this time we had a green and cream-colored Kalamazoo cook stove. Irons were heated on this stove and it had an oven. This oven was removed from the house during the time the kitchen was being renovated with a new gas stove. The Kalamazoo stove was taken outside and set in the woods.

Stove like, but not Grandma's (Click to enlarge)
Stove like, but not Grandma’s (Click to enlarge)

In order to get water we had a cistern and a well. The spring was to the left of the house and the barn sat on the right with the well in the front right of the house. If the cistern ran dry there was well water and was pumped as needed. When the summers were dry I remembers climbing into the cistern  to clean out the worms and dirt. I can remember being so thirsty I laid down and drank out of the cistern.

Kenny Williams on the cistern
Kenny Williams on the cistern

Plowing the corn… by Uncle Mahlon

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Now Vernon being the big brother that he was didn’t cut me too much slack.  I was about twelve years old and he said if he had to work, I had to work.  So when it came time to plow the corn he used the team of mares on the cultivator to plow the corn, and he hooked up the mule for me on a five shovel plow to plow.  And thats what I did.  the mule was smart enought to know how to do it.  He’d go down one row and miss one row and turn and go back up the next.  Our plowing was like making ovals.  He would never step on a stalk of corn when he turned at the ends.  He had enough room.  I’d do that plowing and pretty near fall asleep plowing.  But when I harnessed him I couldn’t reach the top of the mule to put it on so Vernon had to do that for me.

I guess it was good that Vernon taught me how to work that hard.  I remember us getting into arguments out in the barn about who was stronger than the other one.  We’d do chin ups, Dad would yell at us to do something worthwhile.  We didn’t get tired doing them we just ran out of time.