CzGen by Radomir Zelenacek

Life on the Farm: February 10, 1899 to July 29, 1912

Media file
Title: Life on the Farm: February 10, 1899 to July 29, 1912
Media type: story
Format: htm
Record ID number
47b23ac9-aa5f-4e80-8793-8d0e12264ac2
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by George Mathew Suda
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<metadataxml><content><line>Life on the Farm: February 10, 1899 to July 29, 1912by George Mathew Suda&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;I was born and reared on a farm owned by my grandparents, Francis and Katherine Suda, located in the township of Orion, Richland County, state of Wisconsin.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My mother, Theresa Suda, was divorced from her husband, my father, Frank Brunslich. They were married in 1896 and lived at Richland Center. My brother, Charles, was born about 1897 and died when only a few months old. He was buried in the Muscoda Catholic cemetery. He lies beside my mother. A headstone marks the graves which was erected in October, 1957.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mother, when divorced, forsook her married name and used her maiden name, Suda, and of course I was always called George Suda, and never used the name Brunslich.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My father never contributed to my upkeep or paid any alimony to my mother. The grandparents took my mother and me, and gave us a good home and proper facilities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The home in which we lived was a log-type house about twenty feet wide and thirty feet long, with an upstairs. For a kitchen, there was a lean-to about ten feet by twenty feet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Considering modern facilities as of today, this home was very inconvenient, with no running water, heating plan, etc. I remember Grandma and Grandpa had a bed downstairs; mother and I slept upstairs. There was a small cellar under the house, where such items as potatoes and canned fruits were kept.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;About 1903, Uncle Joe Suda married Antonia Parizek. A frame house was built just west of the log house for them. An old friend and part-relative, Joe Peska, was the carpenter, and I can remember the folks talking about him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As I grew up and started to remember from childhood, my mother worked with housework, and helped with the minor chores, as feeding the chickens, milking cows, sewing for us and practically all of the relatives. She was very proficient in sewing &amp;mdash; making dresses for her nieces, sister, and other apparel for us and possibly neighbors and friends.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On April 28, 1903, Uncle Joe Suda and Aunt Toni had their first arrivals: twin boys, Joe and Tony. Later on Vandy, Louis, Madeline, Agnes and Helen were born. Helen died very young and was possibly six or seven years old.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I started the Oak Ridge country school in 1905 when I was six years old. A Miss Kate Stafford was my first teacher.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The next year a Miss Belle Collard was my teacher for a year or two. She later married Jess Miller, a farmer near her home on what is county trunk &amp;quot;0&amp;quot; in Orion township. Miller has been State Senator for the past twenty years, representing Sauk, Richland and Columbia counties. He was also a prominent auctioneer in those parts. Up to this time, he is still State Senator. His home is in Richland Center.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My next teacher was Willard Manley, one of the better country school teachers in the country. He taught there from 1908 to 1912. At one time, fifty-four pupils attended. Usually school started about September 1st. Thanksgiving vacation and Christmas were always looked forward to. March was always a vacation period, due to the cows becoming fresh or calving, and the kids were needed on the farm to help with the calves.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Under Mr. Manley, I reserved a lot of knowledge from school work. He was a fine teacher and held the respect of his students, as well as the parents.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mr. Manley was discharged by the school board in the spring of 1912 or thereabouts. A Miss Carrie Wheaton took his place, but she was later replaced by Lola Cornwall. A Mr. J.B. Logue was superintendent of schools in Richland County. He visited school about every year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;From memory I can recall these boys and girls: Stella and Pearl Rella; Earl, Bernard and Leon Smith; John and Louie Williams; Tom, Ike and Martha Thayer; Leo, Mary, Joe and Jim Manning; Glen Snyder; Glen, Hazel, Pearl, Effie, and Ed Radel; Charlie, Bernice, and Leon Fulfing; Ed and Mary Koss; William, Ben, Otto, and Mary Bomkamp; John, Henry and Frank Bomkamp; Albert, John Carl and Paul Leuscheird; Gertie and Ann Leuscheird; Willie and Alfonse Leuscheird; Elmer, Grace, Blanche, Herman and James Conhart; Stefla Landou; Gladys and Hazel Landon; Chet Bulesh; Walter Robingson; Mary and Agnes Komurka; Maggie, Joe, Mabel, Theodore, and George Rue; Austin Rue; Ed, Mary, Frances and Katie Suda; the Sherman&amp;#39;s; McLanen&amp;#39;s; and Charles Frye.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In reviewing the locality in which we lived, there were quite a few log houses and barns used up to about 1908. As mentioned, mother and I lived in a log house. The Alves Rue, Wes Rue, John Rue, Ed Sherman, Frank Shedivy, Frank Komurka, Sylvester Blake, Touschek, Simon Abbey and George Snyder homes were log, and a few afterwards were covered with siding.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The roads were wagon trails up to about 1915 when the autos started being used. In winter time, snow blocked the roads and many fences were out or gates opened to go through the fields to enable people to make their destination.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;About 1904, when the new Oak Ridge School was built, the old school was moved to what was called the crossroads, about one-half mile from the new school. A cheese factory was opened by Schmidt Brothers of Byrds Creek, later of Blue River. These opened up dairying to this locality, and farmers hauled their whole milk here instead of separation or hauling to the Oak Creek factory.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The cheese factory was sort of a community center where farmers met every morning to sell their milk and secure whey for the hogs. Many arguments were in evidence with the patrons over butterfat tests, whey price per-hundred weight, and prices paid for cheese. Some of the cheese makers at the factory were Will and Carl Schmidt, Carl Matthews, Charlie Roberts, Joe Dalskey, Leo Manning, Frank Sherman and Sam Vogel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Aunt Mary Manning died in December, 1907, and Grandma Suda in February, 1910. Amelia Suda, Uncle Frank&amp;#39;s daughter, died in about 1906 of diptheria. They lived on the ridge about three miles from the Oak Ridge school &amp;mdash; east.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After Grandma Suda&amp;#39;s death, Uncle Joe Suda traded farms with Uncle Frank Suda, who lived near Basswood. A transfer was made November 1, 1910. Mother, Grandpa Suda, and I lived here until July 29, 1912, and moved to Muscoda.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Recollections of my early boyhood were enjoyable as school was interesting; life on the farm gave me plenty to do and I could live among the birds and the bees. The woods were beautiful in the summer and fall, in those days a great portion of the country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now barren, were woods. Game was plentiful, such as rabbits, squirrels, coon, skunk, fox and some deer. Rabbit hunting was by far the greatest fall and winter sport. They were so plentiful that hunters from Milwaukee came to the Manning farm and shipped them back to the city in barrels. In those days, ferrets were used to secure rabbits, but later the state passed laws to eliminate this unsportsman-like manner of securing game. I recall that game wardens came to the Manning farm and arrested a group of hunters and confiscated ferrets and guns and fined these men a good deal of money.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;From a social standpoint, the folks on the Ridge entertained themselves with house dances, with music usually furnished by my Uncle Frank Komurka, who played an accordion. Our neighbor, Henry Sigrist, many times joined and played his fiddle in accompaniment. John Peska, who played base violin, also helped furnish music. These three usually put up a good tune at house parties. Young folks from around Oak Ridge, Hoosiun Hollow, and Ash Creek would come and join in the fun.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Card playing, such as euchre, was a very popular pastime, with some rival contests being fought over the kitchen tables at Mannings, Suda&amp;#39;s, Komurka&amp;#39;s and Sigrists. Only once did I ever see a man get euchred by holding the right and left bower and ace. This was James Miller playing against Willard Manley, the school teacher. Many of the fellows would walk two or three miles on cold winter nights to play cards, and snow was a foot or more deep. Some would hitch up a horse and cutter and make their trips that way. Games got so interesting that midnight was the usual time to terminate a most enjoyable evening.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Threshing time in the late summer and fall was another community affair. The farmers exchanged services. Women helped in cooking for the threshers. The usual thresher crew consisted of an engineer, water boy, separator man and weigher. Steam engines were of terrific sizes and grain separation too. We would prepare a week or two in advance for the threshers, hauling wood for the steam engine, preparing a place for the straw stack, and checking up on the food supply. Some of the men operating threshing machines and owning the outfits were Joe and Bill Yarrow, Bill Hillesheim, Henry Emshoff and Joe Conkle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another thing that I remember well were the gypsies that used to travel through our vicinity. They engaged mostly in horse trading, begging and stealing crops along the highways. On one occasion, a gypsy train passed by our farm home with fifty or more wagons, many horses, cats and dogs. The people traveling this gypsy caravan were dark skinned. The women wore colorful scarves and men bright shirts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While still living on the farm, I was required to go to Muscoda for Catholic instructions. Usually, Leo Manning and I went together. We left about 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays during June, July and August, and got to Muscoda about noon. Mother usually gave me a quarter. This bought me a ring of baloney, crackers and a bottle of pop for lunch. About 4:00 p.m. we&amp;#39;d go back home, walking the six miles and getting home about 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. Very seldom did we get a ride. Our first auto ride was when coming home on Saturday. Someone with a Model T Ford with top, brass head lights and leather straps gave us a ride up to the crossroads. We were certainly excited about that, as we had it over some other kids who never had an auto ride.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;What you have read so far were some of the recollections while living on the farm. Many amusing things happened, and as one looks back to years before July, 1912, they were growing years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Although people never had autos, radios, television, movies, and other modern conveniences and gadgets, they entertained themselves or saw to it that entertainment was made. An enjoyable day was always the Fourth of July where a picnic was always held at Grandma and Grandpa Suda&amp;#39;s. A beautiful dinner was always served and a keg of beer on tap kept up the spirits of the older folks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We kids played games and picked cherries from the large number of cherry trees aside of the old log home. There were lots of fire-crackers to set off and hear them crack or go boom.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</line></content></metadataxml>
Created at
2010-12-18 16:35:52.460
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OBJE:_CLON:_DATE: 2009-10-27 18:53:19.520
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