Theodore Hans was born April 22, 1900. I always thought it was neat that his age went with the years. Where it was easy to forget the other uncles birth years I could always remember his. Grandma and Grandpa had acquired several farms by the time he came along and though he still had to help with the farm-work, he did go to school.

School in those days was quite a different proposition. A small white frame building with a bell on top to ring the beginning and end of each day was the structure. The teacher was a girl not much older than the students who had more than likely graduated high-school the Spring before. The interior was one large room with a pot-bellied stove for warmth in the winter and windows to open in the heat of Spring and Autumn. Coat hooks lined one wall and there was a shelf over those where students put their lunches. Over-shoes were placed under the coats on the floor.

This young teacher would be expected to teach grades one through eight. She was expected to keep order, be a pristine example in the community and do her own janitor work. Nearby farmers would cut wood for the stove and provide supplies but she was on her own after that. If she was pretty, more than likely the older boys attending would gladly offer to carry wood in for her. If she was not. …..you can imagine….she was on her own. If she was considered to be mean she was open to pranks of all sorts and her life was a nine-month miserable existence. If you were a fan of “Little House on the Prairie” you have the picture.

Uncle Ted didn’t like farming even as a boy. He didn’t like anything Danish and it was his plan to become “American” as fast as he could. School provided the knowledge and opportunity to sample that a few hours a day. Summers were spent in the fields to plant, cultivate and harvest……cows had to be milked, pigs, chickens, geese fed and watered. The windmill kept the horse tank full so that water needed for the animals was convenient to the different pens.

The boys were dressed very well now but as Danish boys. They hated long stockings and knee pants topped with sailor shirts and a cap. The pictures I have of them at this age look “like they just got off the boat.” My dad shuttered at the thought of how they looked back then.

Not much is known about uncle Ted’s younger life. He rarely talked about it to anyone and even my cousin Dale didn’t know anything he could offer. What we DO know is after he left the farm and went to work in Omaha. He applied for work at the Union Pacific Railroad and was hired. He loved the city life and bought clothes and a car as soon as he saved enough money. He wanted to be as far away from farm life as he could distance himself. That isn’t all bad, it was just a choice. To some it is bone-weary work for a hard master who is never satisfied. To the ones who love farming, they put their whole self into it and became part of the land. America needed both.

Tomorrow we learn about uncle Ted’s life after the farm.
Until then,

Essentially Esther