I was born in 1902 in Pembine in the store my Dad built while also running the Algonquin Hotel. It was a general store, everything and anything from meat to shoes (& the best chocolate candy in 5 # boxes).

There were four older children, Jim the oldest born in Niagara in a cedar swamp in a log cabin with no floor. My Dad & Mom were the first family there. My Dad & his Dad built the first paper mill there. Dad had the P.O. in Niagara and also ran the Grand Hotel, a large structure on the hill behind the Mill.

Brother Bill was also born in Niagara. Then Dad & Grandfather sold the Mill & moved to Pembine to operate the hotel & there my Sister, Lizzy, was born. This part is hazy for my folks moved to Amberg & Brother Joyce was born there.

Back to Pembine & the hotel & the store, where I was born. Mom worked in the store & Grandmother cared for me. They hired girls to keep house & also to work in the store for it was very busy & they stayed open every night to accommodate the people who came in on the evening train. It was always late when the folks came upstairs.

Somewhere along the line, the hotel was sold. The store was everything. I remember a few of the girls who kept house. We always had people who traded in the store at our dinner table, sometimes whole families who had driven in to shop for supplies.

There were no cars. We had horses and buggies. My Dad had a rig with King (our horse). He used to drive to Niagara on business trips and to our farms. He was active in politics, was county chairmen of Marinette County & was always going somewhere. They always ran the P.O. in the back of the store.

Dad had three farms which he hired people to run. One farm they called the Peanut farm. The others were the Pigfoot farm and the Allen Farm. I loved the latter as I used to go there and play in the barn. We had horses, cows and pigs on that farm.

In the winter we had a sleigh. No roads were plowed anywhere. It was cozy with a fur robe. You never felt the cold. When we were in our teens we had sleigh ride parties, which meant driving to our friends on a farm for lunch & games. Sometimes the boys had to get out and lead the horses as you couldn’t see the road. It was real fun. We had no electric lights. Everyday the lamps were cleaned, then filled & the wicks cut. We had gas lights in the store and one in our dining room. Our home was a meeting place. The young folks gathered and my sister played the piano and we sang. Also people met in the store in the evening to visit. On one side of the store was a dance hall. They discontinued that when the town hall was built.

Two cousins stayed with us and went to school. Grandma & Grandpa from Milwaukee spent many winters with us. Also my Mom’s Mother and sister Rill lived with us for a time. Anyone who needed help were never turned away and my Dad extended credit in the store to some who never could pay back.

I remember grapes came in a barrel packed with sawdust & pickles in a barrel. Butter came from the farmers and bread came from Iron Mt in a huge basket (not wrapped). Everything came by train and they hauled it to the store & in winter on a huge sled, we called the compound. I might add that we also used the big sled to ride down the cemetery hill. Things were simple and we skated on the creek, which the big boys cleaned off and hung lanterns on trees to guide us and a huge bonfire to warm us. We wore long underwear & long black stockings (no snow suits). Summertime was great. We played in the creek and made houses on the rocks.

Then my Dad got sick and died of cancer, Jan 1915. My Mom & two boys with helpers kept the store. Sis went to Iron Mt to finish high school. Jim took care of the P.O. too.

Then Bill enlisted in the home guard and went to Waco, Texas. The Mexicans were causing trouble. When that was over, he went to France. He was on the Tuscania which was torpedoed. We got a telegram saying he was lost & then another saying he was saved on the Irish Coast.

Then Jim went in the Army. Liz finished high school & took over the P.O. I went to Waukesha to stay with Grandma Mitchell & to finish high school. I came home for Xmas & didn’t go back. Mother remarried. War was over & the boys came home. Bill married & Jim worked at home. I kept house.

In 1921 Liz married & the same year I did too. I was 19 years old. We lived at home until Margaret was born in 1922. We moved to Gladstone in the early spring. Frank worked on the Soo Line. Then followed Bud & Joan. At one time, there was a Doctors office in one side of the store, Dr. Grimes. Then later when I was married, there was a Dr. Stewart who had an office upstairs. He was going to deliver my third baby (who turned out to be Joan). Then a friend (who my folks had kept while she went to school) came from Menominee & insisted on me going to Marinette to stay with my sister. She took me there. So at Marinette Gen Hop, Joan was born.

Then the depression hit. We had no money so home to Mother we went. Frank helped in the store & I kept house again. They were bad times for us. We had Jack while there & then I knew another one was coming. We rented a house in May from Grandma Gravelle. I was happy again to have a place of our own. Dot was born on the fourth of July, 1933…born at home. Dr. Ehmer & Mrs. Gravelle assisted at birth. Dot Arman from Lake Linden came that same day & helped. We named Dot after her.

Frank worked for the WPA on county roads & didn’t make much money, but we managed & almost felt rich. Finally, he was able to go to work on the Soo again & we moved back to Gladstone in 1937.

This Interview was recorded verbatim.  There are some slight errors in specific dates and some names. But generally it is an accurate remembrance of Rozella's life