Old Obituary

 On my Mothers side of the family, my Great Grandfather Dietrich (Dick) became a widower in 1913 when he was 47 years old and he had three sons ages 9, 6 and 4 and a daughter 2 years old who would be my Grandmother.  He sent my grandmother off to live with his sister Elizabeth. ( I have heard that My Great Grandmother's death in 1913 was questionable...she was pregnant and fell or was pushed down some stairs by her husband.)

In 1915 Dietrich procured a "mail order bride"...not truly an ordered bride but perhaps some one knew someone...or some men and women took out ads in newspapers.  There were also people who were "bride brokers" and for a fee you could get a name and write letters back and forth. 

 The bride, Bertha was 45 when she arrived in Minnesota from New York.  Her step sons would be ages 11, 8 and 6 by then.  It must have been quite a shock to become an instant mother to three young boys.  My Grandmother never returned to the family fold...she remained with her fathers sister until she married. ( Perhaps it was safer for her there)

I never heard anything nice about Bertha...in about 1935 she turned two of her step sons and my grandfather and grandmother in for making moonshine.   After that she was known as an "evil woman".

I found her obituary the other day. 

Far Side

Minnesota Amish

Amish from Pennsylvania came looking for farmland a few years back. Farmland was much cheaper in Minnesota than Pennsylvania.  They settled in Becker County in Evergreen and Spruce Grove Townships.  It seems they came one by one until there was a colony. 

One of the farmsteads they bought belonged to my maternal Grandparents.  For awhile they ran a bakery out of this farmstead, but the Minnesota Department of Health shut them down. It was rumored that they were still selling baked goods they just had to take their roadside sign down.

From the highway the old garage is unmistakable.

See the old garage behind me?

The Amish work hard and they have a wonderful land ethic.  Putting back more than they take out.  My Grandparents would be pleased with the way their land is being used. 

This is a neighbors field.

The Amish Semi used to haul benches was one wagon hitched to another.

 

There is another colony near Staples Minnesota.  I don’t know if they are related or not. 

I have photos of some of the children, they don’t like having their faces showing in photos so those will remain unpublished.

I would like to take more photos of them working in the fields with their horses.  Maybe I should put that on my photo bucket list.

There are some signs of furniture for sale and garden vegetables in the late summer.  We have never stopped..maybe someday we will.

Clandestine Shenanigans

Yesterday I had to laugh out loud at the clandestine bakery shenanigans going on at my Grandparents D old farm.Of course I know some of the history...

My Grandparents were married in 1927. My Grandfather was 23 and my Grandmother was 15. My Grandmother had holes in the soles of her shoes the size of fifty cent pieces that day. My Grandmothers Mother had died from a fall down the stairs when she was pregnant, my Grandma was just fifteen months old. She went to live with her fathers sisters family. She lived with them working in the fields and helping to care for babies until she married my Grandfather. She had a very tough life..without a real Mom..always being sent around the family to stay with who ever needed her help the most.

My Grandparents had a number of children in quick succession. A boy in 1928, my Mother in 1929, two more little girls in 1931, and 1933.

In 1934 and 1935, farming was tough with dry years and bad crops. My Grandfather found a way to earn some extra money...MOONSHINE..they built a still in the woods and made their own whiskey. On Saturday nights the customers would show up, my Grandfather would go into the other room and come out with a paper bag. Far Guy's Father was just one of those customers ( He told me on many an occasion "Your Grandpa made REALLY good whiskey.") Apparently it was a booming business, rumor has it that the Moonshine made it all the way from Grandpa's backwoods to Chicago.

Then things turned sour. My Grandmothers Father had remarried. He ordered a mail order bride. The mail order bride blew the whistle and turned in my Grandfather, Grandmother(her step daughter), two of her other new step children and a few neighbors. No one liked her. I have heard her refered to as "That evil woman."

The Dry Agents came and went into the woods behind the barn and brought everything up to the garage. There they cut the copper into small pieces and smashed everything else. The Dry Agents went into the pig barn where the mash was, they poured it out on the ground and the pigs all got drunk. My Mother recalls the pigs and how funny they acted. Only the barrels of mash were put on my Grandparents record, not the whiskey. They had to go to Fergus Falls everyday for two weeks as a part of their sentence.

So to me, a clandestine bakery seems rather fitting on their old farm..:)

The Moonshine Garage