Dad's First Car

Dad's first car was a new 1928 Model A Ford Tudor, Robin Egg Blue in color. It was bought right here in town from Oltman's Motor's. Dad said the Model A cost $520. He had some wages coming from working for his folks on the farm and they had raised 20 acres of rye that summer. The money they got from selling the rye and what his folks owed him was put together was put together and the car was paid for. Dad said he didn't even have a drivers license at the time. He said Will Oltman wrote on a slip that he was a good driver and they sent it to the state along with a quarter and the license came back in the mail. That started his driving career which lasted almost 60 years.  Dad drove the Model A until 1940 when he traded it in on a 1932 Model B ford from a dealer in South St. Paul. I was disappointed when I saw the 
Model B come around the corner of the house the first time, I was hoping for a newer V 8 like our neighbor had. I didn't know it at the time but the Model B was a quite a rare car. In 1968 dad finally sold it to Jerry Radkey who restored it and won a number of prizes at old car shows.  Will Oltman stopped out at our place once in the 1950's. He grew up the on road just across the field from our farm so I suppose he was out remembering the good old days.  Dad at that time was driving a 1941 Ford Club Coupe and it's 85 h. p. flat head V 8 ran as smooth as glass. Will looked it over and said "you kept it good." Dad asked Will "why did the older cars have such high wheels ?" Will answered," with the roads they had in those days you had to have enough clearance to get over what ever you might encounter."  Dad then asked Will "what did a Model T cost?" Will said, most of them cost around $340 but one time Henry Ford said if he sold half a million cars in six months he would reimburse $50 of the purchase price. Ford did sell half a million cars in that time period so who ever bought their Model T at that time got a new car for less than $300.  Will went on to tell about a time he took a Model T out to a farmer east of town in an attempt to sell him the car. When he got there the farmer said they had just put up a field of hay with a steep hill and he wanted to see if the car would go up the hill.  When they got to the hill the farmer said he wanted to get out to see if the wheels would slip, Will said the farmer was really afraid to ride up the hill. Will said the car went up the hill like nothing and the sale was made and when he they got back to the house he was invited in for dinner by the farmers wife.  Dad went on to have quite a few more cars in his lifetime, but I once read where an old fellow said" There' no car like the first one." 

Written by Richard Langer August 23, 1999

Jack Lowe a Man of Many Talents

When I first remember John T. "Jack" Lowe he was running a very successful Feed and Seed business in East Ellsworth. It was a place where farmers could buy almost anything in line of feed or seed for the farm and could also sell their surplus grain and seed. Farmers could have all their feed grinding and mixing done there and all the concentrates added too.  Downstairs I remember we would sell our eggs where there was a complete grading and candling system. Just east of the mill was a cement block building where live chickens were bought and I think buyers from the Twin Cities would buy them from Jack.  As the title would suggest Jack was very talented. He could write with both hands at the same time and also draw pictures with both hand at the same time. 

I was told by Jack's nephew Tom Lowe of River Falls that he remembers two older ladies who were very fussy how their turkey mash was mixed came into the mill. Jack was standing behind his desk and they were on the other side. As they were telling Jack just what they wanted in their feed he was writing it upside down to himself so the ladies on the other side could see that they were getting just what they wanted.  According to the History of East Ellsworth by Marvin Struve, Jack Lowe bought the house formerly owned by Jacob Christenson and started his feed mill in it. Later many addition were made to it and it was modern mill in every way. Jack also bought the H. O. Junkman grain elevator just up the street from the mill.
Jack was a cousin of my grandfather John Murphy of Big River. Jack's daughter Mary Vance came to our family reunion in 1999. I asked Mary when her dad started in the grain business? She answered " He started running a grain elevator in Pepin, WI in 1929 and when it burned he came to Ellsworth in 1930."  After many years of doing very good business and many happy customers Jack sold his business to the Farmers Union who tore it down and sold it to the Fullerton Lumber Co. The Fullerton office - store is now where Jack's mill stood for so many years. The Junkman elevator is now owned by Deiss and Nugent.  There are many former employees of Jack Lowe still around and they all speak very highly of him.  

My grandfather told me Jack also had a way with animals. Jack worked for my gandfather's brother Tim Murphy in Halbrite, Sask. It was said Jack would harness horses and send them out of the barn and they would go and back up to what ever implement he was going to hitch them to. There is a large picture in Hinck's Super Valu showing Jack and another man riding a pair of oxen. Jack could drive them and also ride them it seems. Tom Lowe told me that Jack and a brother homesteaded land near Saskatoon, Canada but came back to this area later. I'm glad he did, a visit to see Jack and his mill made a trip to town so very interesting.

Written by Richard Langer October 3, 1999 

Memories

By Richard Langer

A Prince Of A Horse

Sometime in the middle 1930's when I was too young to remember, Dad went to Red Wing and came home with a fine little horse he named "Prince."  Weighing only 1100 lbs he was a little small for a work horse, but what he lacked in size he more than made up in spirit.

He was the most faithful animal we ever had. You could work him like a horse, ride him like a pony and pet him like a dog, what ever you wanted him to do he done without a neigh or a whinny.

One day towards the end of July (In the same summer dad brought Prince home) dad had Prince and three other horses hitched to our old ground driven binder and was out in the field cutting grain, when he noticed two men coming across the field.  He wondered what they might want and when they got up close enough to talk he found out it wasn't a social call. One of the men was a farmer from south of Red Wing and the other was the Goodhue County sheriff.

They informed dad in no uncertain terms that Prince didn't belong to him, but was a stolen horse. Well dad was more than a little surprised to say the least. The farmer explained he had let his hired man ride Prince home one Saturday night and the fellow just took the horse to Red Wing and sold him to the same dealer dad thought he had bought Prince from.  I don't know how it all worked out, but dad and the farmer made a deal and dad was able to keep the little horse. I suppose the dealer in Red Wing had to give the farmer the money dad gave him and the hired man was cooling his heels in the Goodhue County jail.

Since Prince was bought as a single horse he didn't have a team mate, so he ended up being hitched with quite a few different horses and I should add some the them were "a little different."  His first partner was an rangy old mare named "Babe" She usually pulled her share, but was a little too smart for her own good and could open the barn door lock with her teeth. Babe didn't know it, but her days were numbered and one day Al Neely rolled into the yard with his trailer and hauled her off to the fox farm.  Prince's next team mate was a grey gelding named "Dick" This horse worked pretty good, but he had the bad habit of biting people. He bit my uncle Francis once, and my uncle didn't' care much for Dick after that at all.

One day in October in 1941, when we were still living on the old Langer homestead, grandpa decided to bank up the buildings before the coming cold weather. He hitched Prince and Dick to the slush scraper to drag the dirt up to the buildings.  A slush scraper in a small implement that looks like a big scoop with as wooden handle on each side to hold on to while filling the scoop with dirt. There is a heavy metal loop on the sides extending from the scraper to 
hitch the horses to the scraper itself.  Grandpa was getting the dirt down by the road next to the mailbox. One time when we were filling the scraper the horses were really having a hard 
time pulling the heavy load. Grandpa was holding the handles and I was driving the horses, I rapped them on the back with the lines to give them a reason to pull harder. I don't know just what happened, but the scrapper must have hit a root and it gave grandpa a good twist and he toddled off a few steps and disappeared down over the road bank.  Now gramps could be a real grump at times and so as I crept over to the bank and looked down I didn't know what to expect. Well there was grandpa laying down in the wet ditch with long blades of damp grass draped down on him and believe it or not he looked up a me and laughed. I was saved, he 
did had a sense of humor.  By the end of the day, poor little Prince was just about down in, but 
after a good drink of water from the tank and some hay and oats in his manger he seemed to revive pretty well.

In the fall of 1942 we moved up the road a couple of miles and one day after school I found Dick laying dead out behind the granary. I don't know what happened to him, but horses are very touchy and if they eat even a little mold it can do them in.  After Dick was gone dad had to go horse hunting again and this time he bought a gangly gelding from a auction near Ellsworth named" King". The way it turned out he was more of a "Knave" than a king. He worked pretty good but he had a mind of his own and if he wasn't in the mood he would do just 
what he wanted to no matter what you wanted him to do.  One day in the winter when King and Prince were hitched to the sled, I said giddy up and King came backing up faster than most horses go ahead. I guess he decided to advance to the rear.

Another time in the summer we had the same two horses hitched to the hay rack and were hauling some rotten straw away from the strawpile before threshing. This time when I told the horses to go King reared up on his hind legs so far he broke the wagon pole off when it came up under the wagon bed. Oh well he wanted the rest of the day off anyway.

We kept Prince and King around for a few more years and sometime in the early 50's dad sent them both off to the glue factory. I didn't feel too bad about King going this way, but a good horse like Prince was hard to part with. I think Prince was close to thirty years old when he had to go, he was the most faithful horse we ever had.

Written February 2, 2000

Memories

by Richard Langer

Lyle Keller Local Produce Man

One of the former businesses I remember from the 1950's was Lyle Keller's Produce Station. It was located on South Chestnut, right where the Pierce County Herald office is now.  According to an article that was in the Herald in September 21, 1939 at the occasion of the opening of Keller's new produce and feed store, it is stated that on August 16, 1935 was the date that Lyle Keller opened his first produce station at the same location of his new store.  The article goes on to say that Keller's first store was in the Toman building and was one of the oldest building in Ellsworth, having once been used as a law office by the late Albert Combacker.

Lyle was said to have soon realized the need for a larger quarters and 1938 he purchased of Mrs. Mae Peterson the two buildings and lots at that location.  In July of 1939 the Frank Johnson Construction Co. started to work on the new building and was said to have been completed by September of the same year.

The building was 28x60 feet in size with a full basement and was one of the most complete and modern produce stations and feed stores in the state.  I do remember we took eggs in there on occasion but I do not remember buying feed there.  From the picture of the new store that was in the Herald in September of 1939, we can see that the front of the building still looks almost the same today.

Keller produce kept on doing business until the 1950's. From the obituary in the Herald, December 29, 1955 we learn Lyle died following a stroke. It goes on to tell.  Lyle Keller was born in the township of Trimbelle on August 25, 1894, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Keller. He spent his boyhood on the farm and in 1915 was married to, Otilla Thom of Trimbelle. They farmed in the town from 1918 to 1931 and then moved to Ellsworth where Lyle entered the produce business. He had been prominent in civil affairs and always worked for the best interests of the village.  

In a telephone conversation I had lately with Mrs Connie Hovde I was told the Hovde's bought the Keller building in 1957 and turned it into a hardware store. The Hovde's did business there several years and in 1962 they sold it to the Farmers Union, who also sold hardware. In 1978 the building was sold to Jay Griggs who had just bought the Pierce County Herald from Stan Doolittle. The building has been used as the Herald office ever since.

One thing that always amazes me is how people used to recycle older buildings. In the same story that told of the opening of the new Keller produce, it also tells that the old produce building was sold to the Boy Scouts as a club house for $100.  It was moved to the Pierce County Fair Grounds. The next time you go in the old west gate of the fair grounds just look to the left and there you will see it still being put to good use.

The old building to the left of the Keller produce was also sold and torn down. Nothing much went to waste in those days. Maybe that was one of  the things that was good about the "Good Old Days."

Written February 3, 2000

Homemade Soap

My folks Richard and Anna Langer made soap for as many springs as I can remember. Not only my folks but my dad's mother and almost all older families did too.  They would save all the meat and fat scraps from butchering from the fall before including a lot of the bones. In the spring dad would set up the old cast iron kettle in the road ditch right east of the house. The big old kettle set in a jacket where after everything was ready, he built a fire underneath. There was also a stove pipe on the back of the jacket just long enough to send the smoke over dad's head while he sat beside it waiting for the soap to cook.

The ingredients that went to making soap were a little interesting. First the right amount of water was placed in the kettle, then the meat scraps and finally some lye and borax was added. Last of all the fire was started under the kettle and then dad would set on an old chair and wait for the slow process to take place.

The fuel for the fire under the kettle was just as interesting as the ingredients in the soap. Dad would start the fire by putting kindling it the small door in the side of the jacket. After it was lighted a good shot of burnt crank case oil was thrown in and a great amount of black smoke 
would come out of the stove pipe. Old worn out overshoes were also used as fuel, they were a good source of heat and of course also a good source of a lot more black smoke, larger fire wood was also used.  

After this all cooked for about three hours and the ingredients of the kettle would thicken to the right consistency the, fire was allowed to go out and the soap would harden over night.  The next morning the soap was cut into bars which were about three or  four inches thick and you had some of the best soap you can get for getting clothes clean. It made white clothes brighter and was very good for cleaning soiled work clothes too. 

In the bottom of the kettle were a few bone remnants and a good amount of liquid soap. My mother said her grandmother used this liquid to scrub the outhouse but as far as I know my mother just threw it away.

If the temperature fell below freezing over night the soap would not harden and if I remember right it would have to be cooked over again.  We hear a lot about recycling these days and its a good thing to do, but years ago people did all the time and they didn't know they were doing it, for them it was a way of life.  It even took care of the garbage so if you have some old meat scraps, old burnt oil or worn out overshoes don't put them in the garbage just go out 
and cook some soap.

I'm just waiting for Martha Stewart to tell us how to do it on her T V program some morning, she must know all about it. I suppose she has a lot of cast iron kettles too. At dad's auction in May of 1990 his kettle brought $135, that would surely buy a lot of soap now-a-days. 

Written by Richard Langer Oct. 17, 1999

J. S.'s Sawmill

J. S. Hines wore many hats and he did it very well, but the business that I remember best was his sawmill. It was located right where Eli's mill is now. Every time dad went to town he had to go down to the Hines mill a buy a few boards to fix things around the farm.

J. S.'s mill was on the north side of the yard just across from where Eli's is now. It was housed in a large board shed. The mill was powered by a 100 hp Minneapolis Moline Six Cylinder engine that was a gas burner. The engine was in a little shed of it's and own and when the carriage would move the log into the saw that powerful engine would let out bellow and it's little shed would just shake rattle and roll.

A lot of the time I would go along to town with dad and after so many visits to the mill I got to know some of the workers there. Johnny Young usually rode the carriage and I remember Fred Snow used to run the slab saw. J. S.'s brother Ernie Hines also worked at the mill, he seemed to know a lot about the business and would do many different jobs. I also remember talking to Ignatius Murphy, I think he turned the log on the carriage which had to be done after every few boards were taken off one side of the log to keep the boards as even as possible.

A sawmill could be a dangerous place to work. One time when dad and I were there, this day Harry Straub was running the big clutch lever which when it was moved ahead would start everything in the mill rolling.  For some reason Harry had his hand too close to the carriage and when the log was turned his hand right below the thumb ended up between the log and 
the carriage. We all stood there paralyzed including Harry. He stood there squirming around for a few seconds, he then turned and grabbed the clutch lever and everything started to move. He seemed all right but I bet he had a sore hand for a few days.

Dad had the Hines mill saw some of our logs into lumber a number of times. The lumber was used to built some of the buildings at home. It has been quite a few years since and the lumber is still as good as new, nothing lasts like home sawed lumber.

I think the last time dad had lumber sawed at the mill was in 1953. Our road was graded in the spring of that year and there was a large cottonwood south of the driveway that had to go. The R. E. A. and the Kenall Bros., who were grading the road took the tree down.  A truck from the Hines mill picked up the log and a week or so later just at supper time the lumber was brought back. They had hit a small nail in the log when it was sawed, but that was not unusual for trees that grow near a homestead.

Things have sure changed, now-a-days if a tree is taken down it most likely goes to a land fill. Then the only land fill we had was back in the woods and nothing was taken there unless there no other possible use for it. In other words if it wasn't garbage we found a use for it somewhere.

Written by Richard Langer Oct. 17, 1999

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