Sunday, January 25, 2004
MY DAD (PART SEVEN)
Spring planting was hard work. Dad’s team was hooked to the plow and dad followed behind guiding it. Mom would come to the field often with cool well water and a lunch. Spring turned to summer, summer to fall and winter and back to springtime again. They were getting a good start. It was hard work but they were proving to themselves they could make a living at it.
Time went by and my brother, Louis, (named after dad’s oldest brother Louie) was born. He came in the fall, after harvest, on October 9th, 1928. He was a big 9-pound baby with mom’s pretty brown eyes. They stayed on the Boston farm until Emil decided to leave the Andersen “home farm” at Fontanelle. Emil had been staying there with his two younger brothers, Sophus and Robert, but now wanted to live in Blair. He was never cut out for farming and my dad loved it. Grandpa and grandma Andersen wanted mom and dad to farm for them and take care of Sophus and Robert. So the move was made and mom started cooking for dad and his two brothers, herself and Louis. If grandma had reservations about mom being able to hold up under the hard work of a farm she had been mistaken about my mother’s fortitude.
This was a carefree time for them. Mom’s sister, Mary, would come to the farm on Friday nights and they would all play cards until late. Mom would always have something to snack on and aunt Mary would bring things with her. It brought them all close together and was a nice break from the daily routine of the farm. Aunt Mary was teaching school and going to college in the summer to secure her teaching certificate.
When the stock market crashed in 1929 the whole world changed over-night. Grandpa Andersen had sold most of his farms to Danish friends who could no longer make payments. Grandpa held the second mortgages on all of them and kept making payments in their place. When the banks closed the money was gone and soon the farms were gone. My dad had tried to reason with Grandpa before it was too late but he wouldn’t listen. By the time he realized what was happening it was too late to save any of it.
One day the bank representative came to the farm and told my parents they would have to vacate because the farm was going to be taken over by the bank. Grandpa who had owned sections of land was now unable to even save the home place. My mother and dad put their personal things in the car, picked up my brother and drove into town. The banker gave Sophus and Robert a ride into Blair where they were left with my grandmother and grandfather.
Mom and dad drove to the Stricklett’s and told them what had happened. My great-grandmother Bovier had a nice little rent house in town and she told them they could move there. My dad had always been very fond of her…..she was one tough lady. One day I shall write a post just about her. So my parent’s moved to town and lived in the rent house. Dad was able to get work at a green-house there and later he worked at the city water works with the husband of one of mom’s cousins.
By the time I was born, work was drying up all over. Dad hauled two loads of oats to pay the doctor for assisting in the birth. My mother told me years later that Dr. Burr was a country doctor who didn’t believe even in giving an aspirin for pain during delivery. She lay for a day and a night and he feared he would lose mom and me both. I was born weighing 12-pounds 2-ounces, on May 28th, 1932 on Saturday night at 10:00 pm.
Later I was given the name Esther Belle after my maternal grandmother and my mother’s sister, Inabelle. I was born the night my aunt Inabelle graduated high-school and her own birthday was the previous day.
Men were flooding to the cities looking for work so they could send money home to their families. Dad was looking for work as well and drove to Omaha with mom and my brother. I was a toddler now and left at grandma Stricklett’s while dad looked for work. Mom told how they lived in their car parked in an alley. She stayed with Louis in the car and dad looked for work. He finally got a mechanic’s job in a small garage working for less than a dollar a day. He would stand in line to get bread for them to eat in the car until he would be paid.
Finally they were able to rent an apartment down-town near the garage and I joined the family. The hard work and being cooped up in an apartment all day with two small children was hard on everybody. My dad decided to build a small trailer so we could live out in the fresh air and be more independent. He was able to do this and work long hours as well. Dad was able to rent parking place in the yard of a large old home just ½ block from the Joslyn Memorial. He worked hard and a customer told him of a better job at another garage. Dad was now getting a dollar a day and worked 7-days a week in a cold, dark garage but he was thrilled. Other men were on the street, away from their families not knowing where their next meal would come from. At last we had a good clean place to live and food. My folks were survivors……they had known a lot of hard times…….but I never heard them complain. They were grateful and never thought about it any other way…………..
Tomorrow opportunity knocks for the family,
Until then,
Essentially Esther
Time went by and my brother, Louis, (named after dad’s oldest brother Louie) was born. He came in the fall, after harvest, on October 9th, 1928. He was a big 9-pound baby with mom’s pretty brown eyes. They stayed on the Boston farm until Emil decided to leave the Andersen “home farm” at Fontanelle. Emil had been staying there with his two younger brothers, Sophus and Robert, but now wanted to live in Blair. He was never cut out for farming and my dad loved it. Grandpa and grandma Andersen wanted mom and dad to farm for them and take care of Sophus and Robert. So the move was made and mom started cooking for dad and his two brothers, herself and Louis. If grandma had reservations about mom being able to hold up under the hard work of a farm she had been mistaken about my mother’s fortitude.
This was a carefree time for them. Mom’s sister, Mary, would come to the farm on Friday nights and they would all play cards until late. Mom would always have something to snack on and aunt Mary would bring things with her. It brought them all close together and was a nice break from the daily routine of the farm. Aunt Mary was teaching school and going to college in the summer to secure her teaching certificate.
When the stock market crashed in 1929 the whole world changed over-night. Grandpa Andersen had sold most of his farms to Danish friends who could no longer make payments. Grandpa held the second mortgages on all of them and kept making payments in their place. When the banks closed the money was gone and soon the farms were gone. My dad had tried to reason with Grandpa before it was too late but he wouldn’t listen. By the time he realized what was happening it was too late to save any of it.
One day the bank representative came to the farm and told my parents they would have to vacate because the farm was going to be taken over by the bank. Grandpa who had owned sections of land was now unable to even save the home place. My mother and dad put their personal things in the car, picked up my brother and drove into town. The banker gave Sophus and Robert a ride into Blair where they were left with my grandmother and grandfather.
Mom and dad drove to the Stricklett’s and told them what had happened. My great-grandmother Bovier had a nice little rent house in town and she told them they could move there. My dad had always been very fond of her…..she was one tough lady. One day I shall write a post just about her. So my parent’s moved to town and lived in the rent house. Dad was able to get work at a green-house there and later he worked at the city water works with the husband of one of mom’s cousins.
By the time I was born, work was drying up all over. Dad hauled two loads of oats to pay the doctor for assisting in the birth. My mother told me years later that Dr. Burr was a country doctor who didn’t believe even in giving an aspirin for pain during delivery. She lay for a day and a night and he feared he would lose mom and me both. I was born weighing 12-pounds 2-ounces, on May 28th, 1932 on Saturday night at 10:00 pm.
Later I was given the name Esther Belle after my maternal grandmother and my mother’s sister, Inabelle. I was born the night my aunt Inabelle graduated high-school and her own birthday was the previous day.
Men were flooding to the cities looking for work so they could send money home to their families. Dad was looking for work as well and drove to Omaha with mom and my brother. I was a toddler now and left at grandma Stricklett’s while dad looked for work. Mom told how they lived in their car parked in an alley. She stayed with Louis in the car and dad looked for work. He finally got a mechanic’s job in a small garage working for less than a dollar a day. He would stand in line to get bread for them to eat in the car until he would be paid.
Finally they were able to rent an apartment down-town near the garage and I joined the family. The hard work and being cooped up in an apartment all day with two small children was hard on everybody. My dad decided to build a small trailer so we could live out in the fresh air and be more independent. He was able to do this and work long hours as well. Dad was able to rent parking place in the yard of a large old home just ½ block from the Joslyn Memorial. He worked hard and a customer told him of a better job at another garage. Dad was now getting a dollar a day and worked 7-days a week in a cold, dark garage but he was thrilled. Other men were on the street, away from their families not knowing where their next meal would come from. At last we had a good clean place to live and food. My folks were survivors……they had known a lot of hard times…….but I never heard them complain. They were grateful and never thought about it any other way…………..
Tomorrow opportunity knocks for the family,
Until then,
Essentially Esther
