Richard Marburger Interview By Greg Gastler, Granddaughter Jenny’s husband December 29, 1986 Part 1

G: Grandpa and I are in his house, and we are going to spend some time talking about his childhood and things that he remembers and some things he would like for us to remember; especially things he would like for us to tell Katherine Louise in the future, or other grandkids, and so we are going to be spending our afternoon doing this kind of talking.

R: Well, my name is Richard Edward Marburger. I was born in Lincoln, Texas in 1898, September the second. I was baptized in St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lincoln, Texas. I lived in Lincoln as a boyhood. When I was a little boy, as soon as I got a little older, my daddy bought me a donkey. I don’t know how old I was, maybe about five years old. I looked like big on my age, and I rode that donkey, and I had a two-wheeled cart where I could ride around in it. And some of my cousins come over, we would enjoy riding with our donkey, we would drive it around. We built these little homes, and I lived here, and they lived there, and we’d visit one another and with our donkey, I’d take them around. One day we decided, I had a brother and a little sister, the littlest one was very small. We rode and the donkey never did like to leave the house. But, I rode down to the gate. We lived out a little ways from the gate and when they turned around old donkey decided he was going to take off. He took off and the first thing what happened, I lost one in the back and finally lost the second one, the third was me. I went upside down, and I got underneath, the saddle wasn’t tight enough and so here I went down. But the donkey kept agoin’ and when we got to the house. So, well, one summer day I decided when I was a little bigger, of course I wasn’t very big, but I could roach the tail on a donkey. So, well, I was in charge feeding cows and the hosses. I was a little boy, but I always liked to do that. So I decided that donkey needed his tail roached (trimmed). Well, I got the shears that my daddy used, and here I went to roaching tail. I got about half way through and I guess I cut the wrong thing and the donkey kicked me in my stomach. Oh, it hurt! Well, that made me, of course, upset, and I took the bridle off and run the donkey back to the pasture. Well, daddy sat the next morning with me, and he looked at the donkey and said, well, I declare, Richard it looks to me as if some rats got into the donkey’s tail the way he messed that tail up. Of course, that made me laugh and I said, yeah, it looks that away. And he said what happened and I told him and he said why didn’t you tell me that he kicked you like that and I said, well I got over it. So that was one good excitement. (1986)

1 Well, the next excitement I had was when my daddy was a blacksmith for the public when he got married from 1896, and he was blacksmith till 1906 when we moved to Dime Box. But, he had the blacksmith shop. Then, he had the neighbors bring meat one day and we’d bring the other. We just lived about a half-mile out of Lincoln, so they swapped around. One day the neighbor brought the meat, so I went down to open the gate for him, which was on one side and I was on the other side, and when he drove off his wagon wheel hit my big finger, my long finger, and cut my finger off at my knuckle, it’s hanging off. So I had my meat in one hand the other. The man said, let me have the meat, but I of course, was contrary and I didn’t let him have it. I carried my meat home, but daddy heard me crying and he came. Now, of course, you wouldn’t do that today, but daddy looked at my finger. It was hanging down cut off all but the back skin and he took tobacco leaf and wettened it good and soaked it good and he set my first joint, from my fingertip, set it back on together, which was set up just a little bit crooked. But, you know, nobody never looked at it and doc didn’t looked at it, and it stayed there and it grew up, and well, it’s a little bit crooked on there, but it came out just fine otherwise.

G: Was this your right hand?

R: Yeah. And so, that’s the way it goes. It’s the right hand. You can see it when I close my hand, the fingers, the front tip is just turned a little into the side. It’s not straight. But the doctor never did see that. So, of course, that wouldn’t happen today, it would be sewed on today. (1986)

Well, the next thing then I had the excitement. I was just a young boy, for you know we moved in 1906. I guess along about 1904 or 5 my mother and I, we was putting up sauerkraut which we made, we always bought a vinegar barrel. Vinegar used to come in 55 gallon barrels and then you’d take a gallon jug along, or either you had to buy a gallon jug to put it in. That’s the way we got our vinegar. Well, we was making sauerkraut, which we made about a half of barrel full at that time. Course, the way you make sauerkraut was, we had a long trough, but it’s about three feet long, I guess and has three cutters in it, and we’d cut it, use a washtub, and cut it into a washtub and when you had enough in there, you’d salt it down, and you’d mash it till the water was standing over your cabbage. When it stood over your cabbage, then you’d put it into the barrel. I wanted that job, but my mother made me trim the cabbage, and she’d cut it. Well, I wasn’t particularly satisfied on that deal, but I went along. I was cutting and all at once she said, oh my goodness and what happened, she put her finger down a little to far beside the cabbage and cut the tip of her finger off. Well, she had to go and treat it. She put it in coal oil, then she wrapped it up and then she said, well Daddy, I guess Richard you won. Go ahead, I can’t have no blood to come to cabbage, so you won. Go ahead, and you can work it. Well, that was just what I wanted, but I didn’t want her to cut her finger. But I went ahead and cut that cabbage, and of course, when I got it cut she couldn’t mash it enough to get the water. Now maybe some of you all have never tried it, but if you take cabbage and cut it real fine, put plenty of salt on it and mash it good, it’ll finally come to water standing over the top of it. So I got to do both jobs. My mother was out. She trimmed it for me, but she couldn’t do the rest of the job. Of course, kids all like to play and mash it and mash it till the water comes out. That was fun. Well, that was one job that I did. (1986)

2 Well, then finally our donkey deal went on, and if I had to go to town, we had to cross what they called the middle Yagua Creek. Well, that donkey never would go over a bridge. No matter what kind of bridge you’d find, it didn’t. I had to ride through the creek all the time to go to get to the store to get some things to go home. Donkey’s got their head like some people have, too. I had to go through that creek, and I’d come on home with whatever I had to get. (1986)

So time went on and finally Daddy decided to move to Dime Box. He was going to quit the blacksmith shop except for some of the neighbors around. In 1906, we moved to Dime Box. Well, that was quite a ways to move. We had about ten miles to move. Then, all the neighbors in the community, they’d come with the wagons, and we’d load the wagons up, all loaded up wagons and going from what they called Lincoln to what was at that time Old Dime Box. We lived about three and one half miles south of Old Dime Box. So we got loaded, and we’d get as far as when you’d go up the river, Middle Creek Bridge there and there was Knox Lake. That’s where we got till noon and then we all ate lunch, watered the animals and fed them, and then we continued our route on to Dime Box. Well, we lived three and one half miles south of Dime Box, we got there. Well, here it was getting later in the evening but we unloaded lots of stuff and got it done. Of course, now remember this was only 1906 and I was only but eight years old at the time, I was past seven going on eight, and so, but I can remember that we got it all done. Some went home and some spent the night. We got everything set up. That was the moving deal. We moved from Lincoln to Dime Box. (1986)

Well, my Daddy he farmed, but that farm we had had never been cleaned out. It had lots of trees. Lots of folks don’t know it any more, but these big post oak trees, they had rings chopped around them to kill the trees and we were farming it between the trees. Lots of trees left on the ground that never was cleaned up, it took quite a bit of job to clean everything up, so they’d kill it like that. We’d farm between the trees that were dead and then, when we got to the trees where they would come on down, why the fire was put to them, and it was burned up. Finally, we got our field and everything cleaned up right and didn’t have any more trees and brush in it. (1986)

Well, Daddy had to blacksmith, and you know, I was just a little boy, but when Daddy wanted to weld things, we welded things together with a temperature in the furnace. You’d get you a furnace, and you’d get the coals and it has a blower, and then when the thing gets hot enough, if you know how, you know iron gets so hot that it starts dripping. Just before it starts dripping, you take the two pieces that you have both in there and he’d let me take one piece and he’d take the other piece, and I’d lay them on the anvil and he’d lay the other one on top and he’d tap it light. And when you tap it real light that goes together, and after that goes together, you can almost guarantee that you’ll never break it where it was broke and put together. Well, Daddy had me to sharpen sweeps. (Used to plow the ground) So I got so I could sharpen sweeps. It made no trouble for me. I was just a kid. Of course, I done that before we left and moved away from Lincoln. I’d get an old sweep and sometime I burned ‘em up but sometime I’d get them sharp. I was only about six years old, but I liked to hammer those sweeps out too. (1986)

3 So that’s the way it goes, and when we want to sharpen things, we didn’t have electric, we had a great big stone. It was about, oh I guess in diameter through it was about 18 inches and it sat on a jack-like, and it was made on both sides where you could tromp on there and that wheel would turn. Daddy had made it where you could just sit there and sharpen your axe and tools and tromp it with your hand and that would turn that wheel. Turn that wheel just like a grindstone, turn it and you could sharpen your axe just like you wanted to sharpen it. He had one side fixed where it would go through a little water in the bottom, a little pan would keep the stone wet and that’s the way you sharpened your tools. When the blacksmithin’ was a little rough, making your sharp points, and fixing your points and your sweeps were not so nice and smooth you’d put ‘em on there and run ‘em along there and get ‘em nice and straight and smooth. Of course, now it’s all electric but at that time it wasn’t. We got more exercise working that time doing things. (1986)

Back in Lincoln when my Daddy was a blacksmith, the blacksmith he had buggy wheels, the tires would get loose. You’d take a buggy wheel and there’s about a quarter in bolt that takes the rim to the wheel. When that gets loose, you take that rim off and you heat it at one place, and you mark it and you measure around the wood where the rim is on and then you measured inside the iron rim that came off and it was probably about an inch and a quarter and about a quarter inch thick. You measure it and then you would know how much you would have to shrink the outside tire in order to put it back on so it would be tight. Well, he would measure it and then he had a big outfit. It was heavy and you’d put it in there, put the lever down, and when you put that lever down it would push that together at that place. Then, you would push it to where it made it exactly where it would be tight on the wheel and then when you got it then you’d cool it off and it was ready to put back on the wheel again. Course, sometimes when there was a whole lot you had to redrill some of the last holes. (1986)

Then, when he got through with that, we had a big tree there at the shop right on the outside. He had a piece put in there like an axle-like and then he’d get through with that he had a pan on the bottom which we would built a fire to. I was just a kid, but you know of course, kids like to play with fire. That’s what I did, and I would get the job to put some fire on there, and he’d put linseed oil down in the bottom of this and I would slowly turn that wheel around, until I’d get around and linseed oil’d get on that rim on that wheel. Then, when I got through with that, why Daddy would let me paint. Of course, I was little but I loved to paint, too. I’d done, I think, everything imaginable when I was a kid. So, he let me paint the wheel, but he would not let me paint the rest of the body on the buggy. Why, he said, you can’t make a job there, but you can paint the wheels. Well, I got through with that, then I had a job. I could paint those wheels. (1986)

Now, one thing, too, that you must remember, that you don’t might think. I was born on the second of September. There was a strict law that they would not let you go to school if you wasn’t seven years old when school started. Well, so the whole thing was, I didn’t get to go to school the first year. I was eight years old when I got to go to the first day of school. And on top of that, I had to walk about two miles to school. But then, I didn’t go. That was in 1906 when I got to go to school. And so we moved in that fall. Of course, when we moved I didn’t gain anything, but I sure enjoyed my life while I was a little boy. I done lots of little things. (1986)

4 Then we moved to Dime Box. Well, now I did things in the past but, I couldn’t even speak English, just a very little. I’d speak German but not English. Oh yeah, I got to go back again to when I was a little boy; about Santa Claus. Well, you know Santa Claus, sometimes you believe him and sometimes not. I was the oldest one. I had a brother and I had little sisters. Of course, 1905 the last one was born. But they were little. And so I watched my Daddy. One day he went to Giddings, and he came back late. And every time he came home I had to go help unhitch the mules and take ‘em up and and help feed ‘em and put ‘em up. Mama always let me go out and do it. One night he came back and it was already dark. I told Mama, why’s Daddy coming home so late and she said, well, I guess he just got delayed. Well, that wasn’t the thing. He wasn’t delayed on account of that, but he was late for me, I was going to get a little wagon. That little wagon was to be put up that night.

At that time, we cut off tops off of the corn and we made bundles out of it. It was in the barn. Of course like I said I had to feed, too. At night when I’d feed, I’d go get that fodder out and give it to the hosses, two mules, and my donkey. When I went to feed that night, I looked in the corner of that barn there, there was a hallway, one side feed and the other side corn, and the mules and hosses, and on the end of it was the stable. I went up to get top fodder. I got a bundle, and I said, oh oh, somebody been in here beside me. Lookee yonder that corner. That top fodder’s all set against that thing over there. That shouldn’t be. Who done that? Well, you know what boys do. I walked right on up there, and I had to investigate. Ha! Ha! Here’s Santa Clause. Now I know why Mama didn’t let me go out. There was my little wagon and a number of little things. Everything stored behind that stock fodder. Well, I found out what it was. Well, I was very quiet. I didn’t say nothing that I seen, and I put it back the best I could. I knew that he didn’t want me to know about it. (1986)

But Christmas came along. Here come along a couple of Santa Claus at night. Oh, they were having a ruckus around there, and they came in, threw candy at me once in there, and I judged those two men. I found out who they were before they left. So the next day, I told Daddy, I said, Huh! I know good and well there’s no Santa Claus. He said, oh, you’re mistaken. I said, now Daddy listen, I’m goin’ to tell you somethin’. Did you know that wagon was hid up there on that barn there and that’s the reason I couldn’t help you unhitch that night, you hid them wagons there. And I’m going to tell you who they were. And I told him who the men were that were there that night that were Santa Claus. Well, he seen that I knew it. He said, I tell you Richard, don’t you tell Louie. Louie was about a year and a half younger than I. I said, well, I ain’t goin’ to tell nobody nothing, but I know there ain’t no Santa Claus. You don’t have to tell me no more. So he said, well most little boys and kids don’t find out about it. (1986)

Well, Mama always had a funny thing doing. She’d go fix up the trees in there, and we wasn’t supposed to go in there, what we called the Gude Stube (Good room). And so, of course, she fixed up the trees, but then that was all over with. From there on, I could help decorate the trees. But my brother didn’t find out till he was about ten or eleven years old that there wasn’t no Santa Claus. (1986)

5 Well, I had lots of fun playing Santa Claus. When we got moved, Daddy got me a hoss after I got my donkey, and at night I had me a mask, I found me a mask, and I’d ride around the neighbors and I’d throw some candy through the windows and things and I had lots of fun doing that. That was the way I played Santa Claus. I played Santa Claus so many years, I guess I was 14 years or 15 years old, I started playing Santa Claus. You know, I played Santa Claus right where I’m living till about two or three years ago right here at church. That’s the way Santa Claus went. Of course, maybe I shouldn’t have said there isn’t no Santa Claus. Kids might not know it. There is a Santa Claus all right. What we should believe and give things like the Lord gives us, too. God give us Something and He gives a little Baby, though, in place of Christmas toys, why we got a little Baby for Christmas. (1986)

G: Tell us some of the names of your brothers and sisters, when they were born, and when they were baptized maybe, too.

R: Okay, he asked me about my brothers and sisters. Well, I was the oldest one. Brother Louie (Luis), he was born in 1900. And I was baptized in the Missouri Lutheran Church, St. John Lutheran Church in Lincoln, which is still there today. My Daddy, when I was born, and I was baptized he belonged to the Lutheran Missouri Church. As it was at that time, he joined The Herrmann Sons (a lodge). When he joined them, they told him he could come to church, but he wouldn’t have no say no more in church or nothin’. Of course, that stirred up some more, and some of the others went to the Herrmann Sons, then a bunch of them around there joined up. Of course, I can’t remember that ‘cause I was a baby. That happened after I was baptized. Well, when that happened, there was a young preacher, pastor, come to Giddings. His name was William Mueller. That was the first place that he ever came to. Well, they went to talk to him at the American Lutheran Church. So they went and talked to him and got him to come to preach, and he preached in the little schoolhouse there where I went to school there. But of course, at that time I didn’t get to go to school because I was a little baby but that’s where I went to school. Well, then, he preached there in the afternoons. He come in his hoss and buggy, and he come to our house. He had a little mare named Sally, a pretty little red mare. Well, we’d all unhitch her, and you know that little booger loved sugar. Well, I was just a little bitty kid, too, but I loved hosses. I would get some sugar whenever I could in the palm of my hand, and I had to feed that little mare a little sugar. Then, he rode with us at the schoolhouse and had church there, then they would come back and Mama would have something maybe a cup of coffee and something and then he would go back to Giddings. Giddings was ten miles to go back on this buggy. (1986)

Well, from then on my brother Louie was baptized by Pastor Mueller. Then, my sister came along. She was named Lena. She was born in 1901. Then, another one came along in 1903, and her name was Clara. And then in 1905, my sister Hulda was born. Well, there was all baptized by Pastor Mueller. Of course, now that was another thing. This is the years past now. We had, I don’t know what you would really call ‘em, a maid (midwife) or something. We had no doctors at that time that came to deliver us babies. We had a woman there and whenever a woman had to deliver a baby, they would go and get her, and those was hoss and buggy days, and get her. Oh, a midwife, I think they called her. She delivered me and delivered all four of my brothers and sisters. There never was a doctor who delivered either one of us. We were all delivered by a midwife. (1986)

6

Well, after my youngest sister, Hulda, was born, I think that the birth was probably okay, but she took sick, my mother did. I think the reason she did, I pulled them little kids. Hulda, Mama was carrying her and the others in a little express wagon, and we went to chop potatoes. Of course, I had to help chop, but then the rest of them was under a tree, under the shade. While I was working there, we didn’t notice the clouds building up and here a shower of rain came and hit us, and we all got pretty well soaked. Of course, Mama was the worst one. After that she took a cold, which she never did get rid of. She just kept that cold and nobody knew what to do about it. So we went on with that a long time, and when we moved she still had that and she kept it. (1986)

Well, in 1910 finally the doctor discovered it. We went to Carmine down there, which was my Daddy’s cousin. He was a doctor at Carmine which was quite a ways down there. We drove in the buggy down there. He discovered on her that she had a start of TB. Well, so she lived for quite some years, but she just finally went down. Well, when she went down, she knew it. Well, Richard you’re going to have to learn how to cook. You’re going to have to learn to cook and bake. Well, I was just a little boy, you know, of course, when she died. She died in 1910 in May. I wasn’t a very old boy; I was past 11 years. I baked bread, and I baked one cake, a white cake, and I could do anything else in the kitchen. I could bake and cook. I didn’t get to go to school anymore to speak of. I had to help in the house. Didn’t start till I was eight years and didn’t get to go to school much. So, well, I didn’t care if I went to school or not, lessons when I had ‘em I always knew them by heart anyway. (1986)

Then, well here I was. I had to learn to do all of that. Finally, one of our cousins came riding in before she died. She got bedridden for about a year, and I done the work. At that time, of course, we didn’t have no linoleum on the floor. We scrubbed the floors. Most of the time I put soap and water on it and used a broom to scrub it. When I got through, I’d run that out on some door that was a little bit lower and the water would all go out. Then, I’d take a big rag and get on my knees and mop those floors as dry as I could with a rag, and rinse it and dry it, and keep those rags clean. Well, that’s the way I got the floors cleaned up. (1986)

Well, my mother always said on Saturday, if I cleaned the yard and had everything looking nice, why then, we could bake a raisin cobbler is what they call it now, we just called it more like a pie. We’d put it in a pan, then you put it in there and you make your dough, and lay it down in the bottom and cover it up to the side, it’d be pretty deep, little dish there maybe about two inches deep or two and a half, and then we’d put some raisins in it and then put another layer of dough in it between and then raisins again maybe make about three raisins sets like that, and then we’d cook it. Oh my, that was the best thing we kids loved. We loved that raisin pie, whatever we wanted to call it. So that was another thing. (1986)

Well, we had a wild plum tree and they were growing out in the woods. We had it on our fencerow. There I went out there one evening, and the plums were just getting ripe, and they were very small plums, and I picked a whole bucketful of them little plums there. I told my mother I was going to make some jelly out of that and she said okay go ahead. She was bedridden, and I cooked them. We used to buy flour in a 48 pound sack, it wasn’t like what you get now, it was all 48 pounds or 24. It washed a few times, why it would be thin enough where I could take those plums, after I got ‘em cooked in water soft, then I put them in that bag and mashed, and mashed, and mashed ‘em till I got all 7 the juice out of ‘em. When I got all the juice out of ‘em, then I was ready to make some jelly out of them. Well, I spent my day doing that. I worked on my plums, and I got ‘em all done and I got my jelly and now it was time to cook it. Well, Mama told me when I cook it to take a spoon and when I got through I could put it down and raise it up and watch how it dropped. I could tell about how thick it was. Well, I did it. I got my plum jelly done. So, I got my jelly and I cooked it. But, the saddest thing about it was, when I got it cooked, I took a piece of bread, it was homemade bread, we didn’t have no bought bread. There was no white bought bread. Well, I put a little butter on there, and I put that jelly on there and I told my Mama to taste it. That was about three o’clock in the afternoon. She tasted it and said Richard you done a excellent job. That is some good jelly. You hit it just right. Well, of course, I was proud of that. I put it up in jars and everything, and so that was jelly. (1986)

The sad thing was about three hours later Mama said she needed to get up to the pot. Well, I and my cousin, we got her up and she was so weak she fell over on us. She fell against the bed. My cousin said, Richard we got to go tell, my Daddy was out there plowin’, tell him to quit and come in quick. I had pulled a stunt that week. I had to feed the hogs and while I was feeding the hogs that week, I jumped over the fence. I had to clean the trough and there was an old board laying with a nail. Well, I had stepped on that and pulled it through my shoe and it went in my foot down there. Well, it was pretty sore. I had it still wrapped, but of course, I had done all that job and my Daddy came there, and he said Richard run quick to your uncle George and tell him to get the doctor quick. Of course, that was four miles to ride hossback, so I run through the pasture with that foot limping but of course that didn’t make no difference. I was running and he went to get the doctor. Of course, Daddy got in and they laid her on the bed and she was gone. She died that same evening. That was May 26, 1910. So that was that. The doctor came, but she was gone. Then, of course, now it sounds funny but she was buried in High Prairie, which was about eight miles. Then, the funeral came. She was carried in a wagon that had two mules hitched on the wagon and that’s what the casket was on. They all followed whoever got notice, and she was buried out there. She’s still in High Prairie. (Gloyna cemetery – off Hy 21 east of the Hy 77 intersection) (1986)

Now, later on, I think in ’62 my dad died, I went and spent lots of time getting some of these cemeteries fixed up. I lived down here at Sinton, but I went up there and I tried to get some things straightened up. Daddy was buried in New Dime Box. After the church was built everybody went there and this old cemetery was discarded. Grandpa Marburger had a half an acre where she was buried and my grandma and grandpa Marburger, which was my daddy’s folks, they were buried there. Well, out there in the pasture the fence had gone down, there was a barbed wire fence around that, and the fence was gone. I was visiting down there and saw that the fence was all gone. So, in ’62, I went up there and I had them to put a hurricane fence around them three graves, but grandmother, my grandfather, and my mother. Put a gate on it, there’s a pretty good size tree, but the last two years I have not been able to get there. But, I’ve always went there to see that everything’s all right. Ida and Ben and I took my grandson Richard, I took him there, too, he knows that, so he knows where the grave’s at. There’s nothing around there. There is just open pasture. I’ve never seen no cattle around there, it’s just a small plot there. But there is quite a number of people buried there. Some of them are named. They lived around there and they are buried there. But nobody has anything around. You just see it open; some of them have stones on it. But you’ll find is a hurricane fence around there with a gate in it. So you can always tell where it is coming out of Lincoln a little ways why that’s the way you get there. (1986) 8 Then, in later years, in 1907, if I’m not mistaken, we didn’t have no church either, and when we moved to Dime Box we just met in an old schoolhouse that I went to, a one room schoolhouse, that’s where I went to school when I went. Seven grades in one school and one teacher. That’s where we went to church. Pastor Mueller came there, and we went to church there, which was quite a ways to go. (1986)

When I moved to Dime Box, I had to walk to that school which I told you all but the teacher wouldn’t allow nobody to talk German to me. There was lots of Germans going there and hardly no Americans, just one family. The Bohemians and Germans were the only ones in that school and one American family. Their name was Fears, but the rest of them were all, a couple of Bohemian but most of them were Germans. So, the teacher said you cannot talk German to Richard, but the worst part was when I got there, about a quarter mile from there, the Fears lived. There was no water at that schoolhouse. Of course, we took our lunch. So, well, every boy brought a bottle of water to school. We had to bring a bottle of water, or whatever you wanted to drink, you brought the water. That was for awhile. Then, we decide it was better to go to Fears’ house. We had one of those cedar buckets, that’d hold about two and a half gallons, and a couple of boys, bigger boys, they would go to Fears’ and get some water. Then, we had a bucket of water at the schoolhouse where we could drink water. I guess we weren’t so particular. We had one dipper in there, and we all drank out of the same dipper. We didn’t have no separate dippers. We just all drank out of that one dipper. (1986)

However, that was the same thing at home. We done the same thing. We had a bucket sitting there with water in it and that was it. Course, I’m getting some of this chopped up. This didn’t all go in rotation like that. (1986)

When we got moved to Dime Box; we didn’t have no water on that place. When we moved there was not water for a chicken on that place. So, Daddy fixed the wagon, and we had three 55-gallon barrels on that wagon. We had to go about 2 and one half miles and we had a real good well, it was a dug well, and laid out with bricks. It was about three and one half feet in diameter, with two buckets. One bucket would go up and the other bucket would come down. So, we pulled water and filled them three barrels with water and take them home. We had to water the cow, hosses, and ourselves. That’s the way we got water. Well, Daddy didn’t like that very much, and they said there was no way we could get water. Well, my uncle Robert, my Daddy’s brother, was a well digger. My grandpa Kuehn, he could find water with a switch, which was something unusual, but then, he said he could find the water. So, he came there and made him a switch out of a peach limb. Well, he held it in both hands and the point was up. He walked all over that place, and he walked down, I guess about 200 feet from where we lived, and said he said, well, right here’s water, and that water’s between 55 and 60 feet deep. Daddy said, well, if that’s water but up at the house he said that water’d be way over 100 feet at the house, but down there it’s a little bit lower, we could find water there. (1986)

So, my uncle Robert came and drilled that water. Of course, this is different than what we have now. That water he set up to drill that well. There was a hoss inside the center that would go round and round, and uncle Robert let me drive that hoss around and round. There was a digger. That digger was about 12 inches in diameter and about two and one half feet long. On the bottom was a little point where it would take the dirt as it went in and fill that thing up, and then we had to pull it up by block and tackle and clean it out, and then put it back down again, and hitch the hoss on there and get him to go round and round until we’d fill it again. Well, that’s the way we got it dug. Lucky me, we found 9 the water at about 56 feet. Well, that was fine. Then, Daddy had a bucket, and he built a little room or house on it, which was on the side where we could turn the rope on a spool. You could turn it and let the bucket down, the bucket would fill up, and you’d turn it and here it’d come up and it was a bucket of water. Oh, I think it held, my guess is, I can’t remember to close, maybe two gallons of water. That was a job. We had to take it for our cows and hosses. We had about three cows at that time and a couple of mules, and then had to carry the water up to the house. We had a hog pen; we had to carry water to the hogs. All the water we wanted in the house to wash and everything, we had to carry it from down there. (1986)

Well, that went on for a couple of years, but Daddy decided that wasn’t going to work. So, he finally got uncle Robert to come and right on the south of the house, we drilled another well. Well, we had to go a little over 100 feet deep, but at least we had water by the house. So that sure did help out, but there wasn’t no cistern or nothing, so, we still had to pull it up and carry it into the house and go on. (1986)

So that lasted on till I guess I was about, oh I guess in about 19, I’m not quite sure, about 1911 or something to twelve. I guess I was about 14 years old. Daddy decided, his cousin came up from Carmine, had a hardware store. He said Henry, my Daddy’s name was Henry, and he said Henry why don’t you put a pump, a hand pump on there. Come down to my place and I’ll cut the pipes all for you, and you come and get them. Well, that was fine. He told me when I could come and get them. I had a cousin here that was with me who was a little younger than I. I was about 14 years old. Daddy said, Richard you got to go down there and get that. I went through the country. Quite a ways through that country to get to Carmine, I guess 20 some odd miles. Well, I left early in the morning with the wagon. So, I started out that morning and he went along and we sat on there and we drove and got there about noon. It’s a long drive, over 20 some odd miles. We got there and he wasn’t quite ready with them pipes when we got there. That was a bad deal. Well, we ate dinner at his house, then the evening work. Behold me; we didn’t get done cutting them pipes and everything till just about 30 minutes or so before sundown. He said, Richard you can’t go home. I said, but I got to go home. Daddy’ll be coming this way looking for me. I got to go home. He said, you can’t drive all the way in that cross-country when you don’t know the road, maybe one time. I said, yeah but I’m going home. Well, I had a head of my own. Well, we started out. Oh goodness alive, half moonshine, half dark. We kept agoin’ and finally I got to a house and I told Carl that we’re on the wrong road, we turned wrong somewhere. I went to a house, walked to that house, there was a light when I got there, and you can behold me when I hollered they turned the light out and wouldn’t answer me. I told them I was in trouble. I wanted to go to Dime Box and didn’t know the road. I wanted to know am I on the right road. But they did not answer me. Well, I saw another light so I walked to the other house. They answered me, told me, yeah you just a little piece off, just turn around and go back and turn left and you’ll be right on the same road. Well, we couldn’t trot. We had to walk step by step with them mules and so we got going again. Well, behold me, you know when we got home the sun was almost coming up. About 4 o’clock in the morning we got back to the house that morning. Well, that was a good trip, but we made it. (1986)

10 So, if you think back about things we had to do and what we do now you can’t even imagine it any more. But, there we had our well, and it had a hand pump on it and you could pump the water, and we had water there. That lasted for a few more years. Then we finally decided, the windmills came in, and we finally got a windmill, and we put a cistern up. (1986)

The meanwhile when we moved there, the first thing we did, we had a porch and we dug a big hole. Daddy was pretty good. We built forms and there was a great big cistern we put down in the ground to catch the rainwater. Well, that’s the first water we caught when we first got there was that rainwater, but we couldn’t use it for the cattle because it wouldn’t last. So, we got rainwater pretty quick. I can remember that very well. The grubbing hoe and I got to far down and got on top of my head and I cut me a little hole in my head, and boy, did it bleed. So, well, I had a patch put on. We dug that and poured that concrete out. Then we had a man who knew to lay brick, and he came around and laid the brick, come around and laid us a nice top on it and came on up and about three feet above the floor level, and then Daddy built a porch around there and a roof on it and brought the water all in and that was the first rainwater we had. But that was real good. That cistern was always real nice and cool water. When we had a watermelon, when it was so hot, we’d get some watermelons and put them in a bucket and wash them off and put them down the cistern and let them get cool. The watermelons tasted real good. Oh, they come out of there real fresh. So, that’s the rainwater. That’s the first thing we did when we got to move. That’s the very first thing we did so we’d have some water to drink. We had that cistern for a long time ‘till by brother, Oswald, after Daddy died, and in the late 40’s my brother moved into that place and they finally tore that out and they got wells and water and discarded that and broke it all up. I hated that they did, but they did. He said, no we ain’t going to have that cistern, we got well water now and we don’t need it no more. So, that’s what they did with that. Well, that’s some good stories there. (1986)

Of course, we had cotton to pick and chop and everything. After we moved in 1906, my grandpa and grandma from my mother’s side, one year later, they moved and joined us. They bought 90 acres of land that joined our place. They had a house on it and a well, a cistern on it. Then, they had a nice big tank. Daddy helped make it. There was a little sloop, we called it a slip, and they made a nice big tank there, and there was sandy land. That water was just as clear as rainwater, just as pretty and clear. Well, we drank lots of that water, too. There wasn’t nothing wrong with it. It was all good, clean water and we just drinked it. They didn’t have no cistern at that house for the time being. They hauled that water and drinked that water for many years before they ever got them a cistern going. (1986)

So, well, that’s fun. That was such good water, after I got a little bit bigger, I used to like to go in the tank swimming. Well, we had two tanks that we had dug. Those tanks were in sort of clay dirt, and when you came out your feet were so muddy and everything we had to wash them and try to get them clean. Grandma’s tank, oh it was about a half a mile from where we lived there, but it was good and clean. You know at night sometimes after supper in summer, I would trot up to that tank and go take a swim. I loved to swim in water and dive into it. I’d run on the dam and jump in the water and finally my brother got big enough he went along too. That’s where we’d go take a swim stead of washing in the tub, we had to carry the water in the house and that was harder work than running to the tank to take a swim. That was fun. (1986)

11

Well, after I got a little bigger, I had a little saddle, of course. About two years later riding up to Old Dime Box, we had a meat market up there, and in the summertime they would butcher, they would have a club. Well, whoever belonged to that club, one Saturday they would butcher a calf, and the next Saturday they would butcher another calf. Of course, we would butcher one, too, and take it up there and have someone cut the meat up and divide it up. I had to ride up there, and my donkey wasn’t very good. I was just young but then my donkey, I didn’t like to ride my donkey up there. He was just slow. So my Daddy got me a hoss. (1986)

Well, my uncle Emil Kuehn, which was my mother’s brother, he was older than my mother. He had a wagon and some feed on it, and he was a trader, hoss trader. That’s what you would call them at that time, I guess, a hoss trader. He would go to different places, and he’d trade hosses and mules and whatever he could trade. If he had a hoss he thought you might like it, why he’d come to your place, talk you out of another hoss, and he’d trade you for that one. Well, Daddy said he wanted a hoss for me to ride, and he said well I got one. He came there, course he spent the night with us, too. He said, here’s a hoss Richard can ride anywhere he wants to ride. It’s a good, gentle hoss. Fine. So, Daddy bought that horse, and behold me, it was a good, gentle hoss. It was too gentle, as far as gentle was concerned. I’d put the saddle on that booger, it was a little tall but I’d get my small saddle on it, and then I was supposed to ride and get the meat. That hoss had one bad habit. When I went out the lot gate, and I got on it, that sucker wouldn’t leave the gate. I could do what I wanted to, it stood like an old mule right there and it just wouldn’t move. Well, Daddy said, that ain’t going to work. That hoss got to go. Well, behold me; Daddy had a chase chain there. It was about six or seven feet long, and he took that horse, and he gave that hoss a whuppin’, and I was a sittin’ on it. I guess I was just about, I expect I was about eight years old, and he whupped that hoss till that hoss decided it was no good standin’ at that gate. So, he got up and left. I went on up, and you know from there on I never had no more trouble with my hoss. When I saddled that hoss and went out to the gate it left. It did not wait for Daddy to come use that chain any more. That hoss sure did learn to ride quick. (1986)

Then, I would ride up there, and then, my uncle George, he lived a half a mile from there, and we moved in 1906, and he moved in 1908 and that’s when my grandma and grandpa moved, too, to Dime Box. Well, all joined at our place. Well, I would bring all the meat. When I would go get it, I’d bring my uncle George’s meat, and ours, and my grandma and grandpa’s meat. I’d hang it on a saddle knob. I had it all in there. Well, like I told you flour came in a 48-pound bag. We’d have those flour bags, and I’d tie them around on that saddle, I’d hang ‘em on there, and that’s where I’d bring my meat back from the store up yonder. That’s where Old Dime Box was. I’d take it to each one of those places, and then the next Saturday the other one would go and get it. Of course, grandma and grandpa didn’t get it. Either I got it or uncle George got it. So, that’s where we got our meat. (1986)

Then, of course, we had no refrigeration whatsoever. My daddy, the tinner, had made a little thing, what we called a cooler. On the bottom it had a pan with water, and then each corner had a stave and it had three shelves in it. And those shelves were, the bottom was little bigger and the top was smaller, but on top it had another little container that held water. There was a container, they would make that hold about a gallon and a half of water, and you could take it and fill it and turn it upside down on top of that. You had to have rags all the way around that cooler, we called it cooler, and that water would drift 12 through those rags and keep them rags damp, until it ran out of water. Of course, you had to fill it in the morning and sometimes at noon but most of the time it depends on how hot the weather was. Sometime it run a little longer. If the weather was real hot, just run a little more water down there. That’s the way we kept our stuff cool, and you’d be surprised what a little wet rag hanging around something, it was on the porch on the south side against the wall, and that’s where we kept our butter. (1986)

Our meat, when we would get it in the summertime, well, most of the time you’d have soup bones you had to cook it up next day for soup. If you got steak, you had to cook up steak, and if you got meat to grind, you ground it up to make meatballs out of it or chili or whatever you wanted to make out of it. But most of it had to be done either Saturday or Sunday so it wouldn’t spoil. Well, Monday was about the end of your meat, then, we were out of meat as far as meat was concerned. (1986)

Well, we had a smokehouse. We kept meat in there, butchered hogs all the time. We had bacon, and we had lots of sausage, dry sausage. Sometimes real late, it’d get rancid, but then later on we learned that, when we butchered hogs, fried the fat out, and got lard out of it. That was the lard that we used. When we was kids, hogs had to be so rollin’ fat, there was more fat than lean meat. We had lots of lard all the time. It got to where after the sausage was good and dry, smoked, and then got good and dry in the smokehouse, you could take that sausage and take a crock, maybe a five gallon crock, we had five and ten gallon crocks, take that crock and lay your sausage in, and then get your lard, get it warm and when it’s warm, pour it over that. You filled your crock with sausage and put the lard on top of it and that’s the way you kept your sausage for the summer. (1986)

Then, the ham, it kept hanging out in the smokehouse. It was smoked real good, cured real good. During the summer, oh you don’t know how good that cured ham tastes, when you was out there picking cotton, sweating, and come home. Sometime you had to watch it. There is a little bug that would get into that lean meat and try to dig a hole, and if you didn’t catch it, he’d dig right in there and there would be a worm in there. Most of the time we watched it awful close. So that’s the meat we had. Out of the smokehouse was bacon and dry ham. That ham was nice and red, a little fat on it. Oh boy, you take that, lay it on a piece of bread, and you had really something good to eat. (1986)

Of course, we always had lots of chicken. Now, the chickens did not lay like they lay now. We generally had around 100 chickens. We had a pretty good size chicken house, and we always had some eggs for sale, too. Eggs were worth five cents a dozen, four cents a dozen. We would take them to town and the merchant would buy them. (1986)

You’d take the money and then when you’d get to the store. Well now, you take your raisins, they come in a box, prunes come in a box, apples and everything, these dried apples comes in a box. Well, they came in a box, but you know when they came in a box the store man, they came in about a 25-pound box, he’d put them on the counter. Well, the store man didn’t have no screens on the doors either. But, you go in there and you want prunes, or you want raisins, he’d just grab his hand and take his scale, and his bag sat on there, and you’d get whatever you wanted. He’d just weigh them in pounds and that’s the way you got your raisins and your prunes and all that stuff. That’s the way you bought it. It wasn’t in no packages, it came loose that a way. (1986)

13 Candy. Well, you never see it anymore, but candy came in about a 25-pound bucket, too. There was a cross petition in that bucket and there was mixed candy. It was in a little thin, wooden bucket. He’d take the top out and if you bought any little amount of groceries. Of course, when I was a little boy, the man that had that store, he was my sponsor. He was my mother’s cousin. He was always pretty good to me. When I rode down there on my donkey, and bought the stuff I’d need, he’d done give me a hand full of mixed candy. I didn’t have to buy it. Most of them time he’d give it to me. Of course, that’s mixed candy, and oh well, if you know what mixed candy is it’s all just mixed candy, plain sugar candy and they had gum candy and sugar candy and that’s about all there was and stick candy. But stick candy wasn’t in there. They had some stick candy. But about four different kinds of candy, jelly beans were in there and four different kinds of candy in that bucket. Course, when that bucket would play out, the merchant, he’d open another bucket up and that was the candy deal. You didn’t buy no candy wrapped like you do now, except some stick candy. That came in later. That’s the way candy was sold. Oh, it was fun, I guess, what it was. We lived through it. (1986)

It seemed like we always had time to visit with one another when we was little kids. When I was little before we moved away from Lincoln, my cousins would come over and visit me, and I’d go over and visit them. We always had lots of fun. When we got moved, well, my cousins that lived, my uncle George’s Selma, the oldest daughter was about two and a half years older than me and the next one was a year older than me. That was his oldest girls. Then, the boys, one boy was just a little bit older than Louie. On Sunday evenings we would go visit one another, and we’d play Handy Over over the houses. We’d choose sides, a couple would go to that side and a couple to that side, and we’d throw a ball over, and whenever you caught the ball, it came flying over the house, and you caught it, then you could run to the other side, and if you caught them, why the one you could catch and touch them with that ball, they had to play on your side. If you was on the good side, sometime you would get them all to the last one on the other one. Then, that side won. Got all over. That’s the way we had lots of play. (1986)

We played lots of Hide and Go Seek. We’d go out in the barn and hide and everywhere we could find a place to hide. Then, somebody had to count and after awhile we’d go and hunt them. Then, when we found them, they had to run back to the base. We’d have a base. If he beat you there, then you had to go ahead and be the one that had to hunt again. But, if you could beat him there, if you could find one run back and see that you beat him to the place and get there before he got there, why it’s all right. If you didn’t get to touch him with that ball, and if he got to the base and you didn’t touch him with the ball, why, he was free. He didn’t have to hunt next time. You had to. If all them would do that, then you had to do it over. Most of the time, you always caught one or two, and the one you caught last, he had to do the hunting then next time. So, that was a good entertainment, playing ball. Of course, that was one thing that we enjoyed and that was the biggest. (1986)

Finally, we go to where we played a little baseball. Then, when we went to school we played baseball or catball. Baseball was at noon and cat ball was at recess. We had 15 minutes recess. Then, you’d choose sides. The bases were, I don’t really remember how far apart, I would guess, about 40 feet from one to the other. We would throw the ball from one to the other, and one that was at bat that strike and one that was a catcher behind. He’d catch the ball and he’d throw it to the other end again, they’d swap ends. That’s the way we would play ball. (1986)

14

Richard Marburger Interview December 29, 1986 Part 2

R: Well, in school we played. If we went down there at noon, we’d play alligator down there. Of course, we’d choose, some were down at the creek and the others would run across and if you got on the bank they couldn’t catch you. Alligator lost out. So, if he’d catch you though before you got to the bank, you had to help him catch the rest of ‘em. That’s the way we played until we’d catch ‘em all. Of course, we had an end where you could run through and you’d run through and that was the way to catch ‘em. We’d choose sides again and then the others would run, couple of ‘em in to start, maybe two of ‘em in to start with. As you run through, if he could catch you, then you had to help ‘em. That was fun there. (1986)

Lots of time it was real cold and we had brush there and sometimes we would eat our lunch there, some of them would have a little fire there and we’d eat lunch. One of my cousins, and some of the other boys, they always had to scrap (fight) every dinner. There wasn’t no way out, when we got to playin’ for a little while, they would have to put up a scrap. They had to have a little fight. That wasn’t nothin’ unusual with him. He had to scrap maybe a couple of times a week. The rest of then never did fight, I never did fight in my life. I never would fight and I never got a whuppin’ in school, never had to stay in, I always got by real good. . (1986)

One day was real funny. We had a fire in between this wash deal, about two feet deep and about a foot and one half wide. We had built our fire in there all time to keep warm as we were eatin’ in the wintertime. We had fire in there and ashes were pretty soft in there and we had water that went through there and it was pretty soft. Of course, that cousin of mine, his name was Ernest; he always did like to scrap. There was about three boys. He’d pick one one day and in two or three days another would pick with ‘em. Course, they found that out that he liked to scrap, so he always lost but that made no difference. Well, that day there was a little accident. That one boy got him and he threw him down in them soft, wash, dirty ashes. Oh boy, did he look a sight. Came out and he got mad at me. Said, Richard, why didn’t you help me? I said, I don’t care what they do with you. If you want to scrap that’s your business. I ain’t goin’ to scrap there, if you want to fight, you fight. Well, he got mad and he fussed at me and fussed at me and then he wanted to scrap with me. Of course, I was just a little bit stronger than he was and a little faster than he was. He tried to scrap with me, I jumped at him from the back and I caught both hands and I pulled them over and said, now Ernest, what are you goin’ to say. If you want to say somethin’ say it, if not, I’ll slap the heck out of you and you’ll never ask me again. I said I’m not gonna help ya. Ya can fight all you want to, do what you want to, I’m not gonna help ya. Well, his sister, the oldest one Selma, said, Ernest you didn’t have to scrap. I don’t blame Richard, he doesn’t have to help you. Well, he got mad and cried. I turned him loose and he went on home. He didn’t say nothin’ no more, he never asked me to help him no more though. That was the end of that. So, that was real fun in school. I’m goin’ to quit on school business, that’s enough of school. (1986)

Well, I’m goin’ to go back to when my mother died. Before my mother died, she told my daddy, never let us five kids grow apart. He should keep ‘em and let me run the house, that I could cook and I could keep house and for him to keep the family together and for 15 him to get married again so there’d be somebody to take care of the family. I didn’t go to school to amount to anything when my mother was livin’, maybe two days a week. That’s about all I ever went to school. I always had to stay and help her. Then until she died, I took care of her, she died in May. . (1986)

My daddy remarried, I don’t know the date exactly, he remarried, I guess, in about eight months or nine, he married again. There was a good friend of his who knew a woman that was livin’ with her dad out at String Prairie. And so they went out there and someway they talked with ‘em and she agreed she wanted to marry him. Then, when they got married, why Daddy built an extra little room to our house, and her daddy lived with us. They were Wends. . (1986)

Of course, they could talk German as good as I could, but they also could talk Wend just as they ever could. Well, when they got married, the funny part about it, was my step- grandpa wanted to say somethin’, I wasn’t supposed to know it, he would talk Wendish. But you know, that didn’t last very long. They’d talk Wendish but that wasn’t but a very short time. They didn’t put it over me long. I knew what they were talkin’ about. So, that didn’t work out like they thought it would. They never would tell me what they talked about, but I figured it out. So they talked Wendish quite a bit. . (1986)

Well, when daddy got married again, there were five more children born. There was Walter, and Oswald, and sister Anna, and Esther, and Edwin. Edwin was the baby again. Then, they grew up well that made ten of us in the family. In 1917, sister Lena, my sister Lena, she got sick and she died and she was buried up there in Old Dime Box cemetery. This is still used by the people, Old Dime Box has a church, they still use that cemetery. She died in 1917, when she was a young girl. So, that was that.

Then, my step-grandfather, he lived with us. Daddy built him a little room, and he had his bed and everythin’ in there. He loved to play cards, Scot, and my daddy’s brother Oscar he loved to play cards and they learned me how to play Scot. I learned how to play Scot and I came to where I could really play with them two guys. They were rough on me but I sure managed to get where I could play good. He’d come on Saturdays. . (1986)

Another thing, when daddy got married again, my step-grandfather, his name was Nimtz. Then, my step-grandfather, he always went to town to shave. At that time you could get a shave in town for ten cents, and you could get a haircut for about ten cents. Well, but he said, Richard, you ought to shave me. Well, I was a young boy. I got a pair of good clippin’ scissors. My uncle Emile Kuehn, he always cut my hair and he cut my brothers, too. My uncle said, Richard, why don’t you cut your brother’s hair. Well, so daddy got me a pair of scissors to cut hair, and a comb, and I started cuttin’ hair. I was a young kid, maybe 11 or 12, and I started cuttin’ hair then. . (1986)

Well, I cut hair before then. When my mother died, my sister Clara had curls. I could take them curls and wrap them around my finger and make such a pretty curls as you could ever please when she went to school. Lena had straight hair and Hulda had straight hair. Well, I enjoyed that but I got to cuttin’ hair, my brothers, first thing I knew I got to cuttin’ hair for boys all around the country. Sunday morning, we had church Sunday afternoon, Sunday morning the boys that needed haircuts would come, and the ones that didn’t need a haircut, they’d come anyway. They’d come out to the blacksmith shop, where we had the big shop, and I’d cut everyone’s hair that needed it. So that was my first start of cuttin’ hair. . (1986) 16

Well, later on my step-grandfather he said, Richard you got to shave me. Well, I wasn’t to convinced about that, but I said okay. He said, you shave me every Saturday at noon. I said, okay. Then, he’d walk to town about a mile and a half to New Dime Box. That was a habit. He’d go to town every Saturday evenin’. Well, I got to shavin’ him with a straight razor and it worked real good. One day I wasn’t in, I was doin’ somethin’ and he was ready to go to town and I wasn’t in and he went to town. He loved to drink beer. He never got drunk but he drank beer. He came home that evenin’ and he came home and got there and said, Richard you’ve got to shave me. Okay, I got my soap and I soaped his face. Well, behold me, he had drank beer, and I never did like the smell of beer. So, I told him, I said, Grandpa, I’m goin’ to tell you somethin’. If you’re gonna drink beer, I’m not goin’ to shave you no more. You’re goin’ have to shave in town or wherever you want to. I’ll shave you if you don’t drink beer but if you drink beer, no more shavin’. I don’t like that stinkin’ breath you got. So, that settled that. From there on I had a job at noon all the time. That settled that deal. . (1986)

I’ll go a little back again. I always liked to do carpenter work. My uncle Charlie Kuehn lived in Old Dime Box. Whenever I had time and could get away from home, I’d work with my uncle Charlie building houses. Well, I built a house for a couple that got married, Edwin Wilson married Erna Hannes. Well, now this is 1916 but last year in ’15. Uncle Charlie told me, Richard, you put the baseboard down in the house. I said okay, so I started puttin’ it down. I was just young, I don’t know how old I was before 20 anyway. So, I put the baseboard down and went into the kitchen. I put the baseboard down and behold me, I hit my thumb. For some reason, nailin’ baseboard down and I was drivin’ a nail, and I hit pretty hard, and I hit my thumb. Behold me, it turned blue and black as soon as I hit it and did that hurt. I never had hit it before, and I jumped out of the kitchen window to the outside. I sucked it and rubbed it and everything and oh, it hurt so bad. First thing uncle Charlie came, and he didn’t hear the hammer goin’ and he called me and said, where you at? I said I’m out here. He said, what did you do? Oh nothin’. He said come in here. He had an idée what happened, I guess. He come and looked at my thumb, and said, my goodness, you’ve got a black hand, haven’t ya? I said, yeah, I got a black hand and it hurts. He took a sharp knife and drilled me a hole in my fingernail and the blood came out of that. Well, that relieved my pain all right. That was the first accident I had in doin’ carpenter work. I liked to do carpenter work. . (1986)

17

Well, when I was still young, why a neighbor who lived about four miles up there in 1912, a fella’ named Schultz, they lived up there and went to the same church, and in 1912 they moved to Kingsville. When they moved out of that house another family was goin’ to move in there, a fella’ named Jergens, behold me that house burned down between that time. So they was to move and the house had burned down. My uncle Charlie got me to help him to build that house, I helped him build that house. . (1986)

The funny part about that night, was open house, and they were goin’ to have a dance that night. I never did dance, I liked square dance. That was my favorite. So, they would not start dancin’ till I danced a set, the first set in the house. Well, they played two pieces and I wouldn’t go. So finally, they said we ain’t goin’ to have no dance if you don’t dance. So, I went and the lady who was goin’ to live in the house, she said, oh come on Richard. So I danced a round for ‘em. But you know, before I made a round, that room was full of dancers and they didn’t know if I was dancin’ or just walkin’. But that’s the only set of dance I ever danced. I quit that round dance. I didn’t like it, but I loved music. So that was settled. . (1986)

Well, let’s go back to the family. Well, all of us grew up, but my stepmother also got sick again. My sister had died of TB and then for some reason she took it. Then, in ’22, they built a church in New Dime Box, ALC, American Lutheran Church. They built a church down there. They had a Missouri Lutheran Church up at Old Dime Box in the schoolhouse. But we decided to build a church down there, we had plenty of members. We had church at Old Dime Box all the time, too. The Missouri Church was there but most of the members went to ALC church, so they had a meeting to build a church. Where ya goin’ to build it New Dime Box or Old Dime Box? They went about three fourths of them for New Dime Box. Well, there was some in there that didn’t want New Dime Box, they lived in Old Dime Box, they said, we’re goin’ to have it in Old Dime Box. So, they got mad, and then we had a little squabble there and the preacher had to get it all straightened up. But, we went ahead and built a new church in New Dime Box, and I worked on it 92 days. . (1986)

I boarded at home. In 1922, I was a lot bigger. And we had a man help build it. I said, I could build the church, but I couldn’t build the steeple and everythin’, they wanted a steeple. So, he helped me get the steeple, and they got everythin’ done, and I worked ever day. When he got that steeple up and the outside of the church finished, he said, Richard, it’s all yours, you can finish it. Well, I put beading ceiling inside, and everythin’ and around the altar and back there, and I had quite a job doin’. But I got it all cased up, and the windows cased up and everythin’. But the funny part about it, they had a church meeting, and we was ready for a bell and we didn’t have no bell. I told the congregation well, we need a bell to go in that church, the steeple is ready for a bell. We ain’t got no money for a bell. President said, nah we’ll get it later. I said, no, I wanted a bell in that church. No one wants to dedicate a church without a bell. So, I took my hat, and I didn’t have no money to speak of, but I took a ten dollar bill and put it in that hat. I said, now, each one of ya drop in this money here and see if we get enough money together to buy that bell. Well, behold me, when that got around and went to the president, we had 120 dollas. I told ‘em that the bell cost 110 dollas, and we had 120 dollas, and I got my bell in that church what I wanted. Well, that was one thing that I won.

G: What happened after you got the bell? You went on to finish the church then? 18

R: Yeah, I went on finished the church up, ceiled it all out and everythin’. But, we had a bell up top what I wanted. So, I had the price and everythin’, I knew what I was talkin’ about. I’d done had the price, so we got our bell, and I finished the church up. . (1986)

And just as I was getting through with the church there was a carpenter and paint gang came to Dime Box. When I got done with the church they wanted to pay me a dollar a day to build houses. When I get a job, oh you’re just a young kid we can’t pay you. We get labor around here for 75 cents and a dolla. We give you a dolla or a dolla and a quarter, that’s all we’re goin’ to pay ya. I said, I need a little more money. I got my tools now. My daddy had gotten me some of them. I said I can’t work for a dolla a day. Carpenters are getting two and a half a day, I ought to get two dollas. No, ya ain’t getting it. . (1986)

Well, this carpenter paint gang came along, and I went and talked to a fella named Mitschke, he was the foreman there. I said, Mr. Mitschke what do you pay? He said, well, we pay beginners 50 cents and when you work a little while like you are and done a carpenter the first one started at 40 but you’ve done work so you probably get up 50 cents an hour for workin’ with us. He said, well, that’s sure good since you know your carpenter already, and you paint that church and done a good job, I looked at it. So you know how to paint and you know how to do carpenter work. I said, yeah, I’m pretty good at that, of course braggin’ on myself, I guess. So that was fine. . (1986)

When I got through with that church, I went to work for Mitschke on a carpenter gang. Well, had a man named Dad?. He was an older man. He done the woodwork and had two men that done that painting. Well, Dad?? didn’t have no carpenter to help him, so he put me with the carpenter to help him, and we went to the section foreman’s house, and we’d repair whatever needed to be done. Section foreman always told me, said, now Richard any time you get to a house and the woman is satisfied, she appreciates everythin’ you do for her inside cabinet work or anythin’, she appreciates it , why go ahead and do it. But, if she gripes and raises hell all the time while you work, well, then ya need to get out of there as quick as we can. Well, that was a pretty good motto. Most of ‘em was pretty nice, except for one woman she didn’t like the way I was puttin’ things down, so she went to gripin’. First thing I know the man said well, we’ll just have to quit. The carpenter doesn’t know how to it. Well, Dad said, we can’t satisfy that woman. She didn’t get her cabinet. . (1986) h

19 But, then I didn’t work there very long. My stepmother got sick and the doctor said for her, in order for her to live and could live and get on, she had to get to a dry climate. Well, this was in ’22, in the fall then, no, it was ’23 already. Went down there to Charlotte, and went to Jourdanton. So, Daddy bought a place down there. He wanted me to move down there. I wanted to take care of the farm and let him go. But he wouldn’t go, so he had me to go down there with her in the fall of the year then. So, I went there with her in the fall. And I stayed down there, I moved down there, and I had 30 acres to work on that place. I had a mule and a hoss I moved down there and the cultivator and my plow. . (1986)

I still have my plows, turnin’ plows and walkin’ plows, which Ben now fixed them up, they look like brand new. . (1986)

So, I went there, and behold me, I went there to church, too. They had ALC church in D? . . (1986)

And, in no time my mother, I took care of her, but in no time she got bedridden. Then, I had myself a job. Tryin’ to take care of her, and doin’ work. So, daddy said, I just got to take her home. So, he took her home. (1986) (The tape recorded was turned off and Richard told about his marriage to Alma Nimtz.)

I lived by myself (most of time) there, but I didn’t stay but two years down there. And then I got to buildin’ houses around there. But, I got 50 cents an hour for doin’ all my work. I built a house for a fella. And, then I got a job with another man, wanted a new gin built, I built a new gin with him and done quite a bit of work. Well, my stepmother went back home but she died, not that year but the followin’ year, she died, I think, in February (1925) she died. . (1986)

G: What year was that again?

R: That must have been in ’25 she died. Then, all the rest of the family, my sister Clara, and Hulda, they went on and kept the family goin’. . (1986)

And, of course, later Walter got married, and Oswald also got married. Oswald went to World War II. He was in the war. Then, they all got married. . (1986)

I stayed there and worked in Charlotte after that and I farmed, but I couldn’t make money like I wanted to make money. Then, I didn’t like the old repair work so much and it looked like that’s what I was runnin’ into. . (1986)

Well, I had a big roof that I repaired and when I got through with that on a Saturday, I told a Bohemian fella’ I was workin’ for, I’m goin’ to Corpus Christi Monday mornin’, and then from there I was goin’ to Kingsville to see if I couldn’t find somethin’ better than what I’m workin’ at. So, he said, I’ll go with ya. Well, Monday mornin’, in my Model T, we went to Corpus Christi. I looked around and spent the night in Nueces hotel. And the next day, I went down to Robstown, through Robstown and through Bishop and down to Kingsville. . (1986)

Well, I knew people in Kingsville. Schultzs’ had moved down there in 1912, I knew them. I knew Garret Schkade. I knew all of them. So, the first thing I did the afternoon I 20 got to Kingsville, I drove up against a hardware store and Rudy ? was standin’ on the sidewalk when I stopped in. I got out and he said, well, sonny you must be a stranger here and I said, yes sir, I just drove in. He asked me what I was doin’ and what I wanted and I told him, well, I was lookin’ around and seein’ if I could find a job doin’ carpenter work or paint work either one. He said, well, I got a carpenter back here, a contractor, he’ll hire ya. If you want to work, he’ll put ya on. I said, well, I want to see the Schultz boys first and the Schkade. I said, are the Schultzs’ in contract yet, and he said, oh yeah, they’re big contractors here he told me. And, I said, well I want to talk to them before I do anythin’ else. He said, well, I’m goin’ to take you out to the ranch. I got cattle out there and I’ll show you my cattle and everythin’ and then I’ll show you where the people live. So, we went out to see big Angus cattle and we looked at them and everythin’. And so, we got through lookin’ and he brought me back and he told me where the Schkades’ lived. . (1986)

And so, I drove out to Schkades’ and Garret Schkade never did work by daytime. He worked at the roundhouse, but he always worked at night all his life he was down there till he retired. Well, he was home; he didn’t go to work that day till late. So, I got up there and they knew me. When I walked up, they knew who I was. I hadn’t seen them since 1912. They recognized me and they said, oh you’re goin’ to stay with us tonight. Well, they called the Schultzs’ up and the Schultzs’ came over and we all got to talkin’ together, and Hugo and Emil were the contractors there. I said how about a job workin’ in carpenter work. He said, Richard, we can’t use you for the next 10 days we’re pretty much catchin’ up, but we’re goin’ to have lots of work after that comin’ in; the paper’s just not ready. I said, well, I can go to work for so-and-so down here and he said, well, go to work for him then. . (1986)

So, I spent the night there, that was Tuesday night, and Wednesday mornin’ I went back and talked to this man and he said, yeah I’ll be glad to have ya, go to work in the mornin’. I said, I ain’t got no tools, I got to have tools. Oh ya, I said no I gotta finish the job at Minard, I’d built a parish hall there, and I finished paintin’ it the other evenin’ and I got to go put finsihing on and I got lots of other things to tend to. I said, I’ll be back Friday mornin’ and he laughed at me. And Friday mornin’ was the 19th of June, nigger day. They laughed at me but I went home in my Model T Wednesday and Thursday I worked all day and got things done and about eight o’clock I got things finished and I got in my Model T and went back down to Kingsville. . (1986)

I got there at two o’clock in the mornin’ and the Schkades wanted me to stay with him so I stayed with the Schkades. And, so that went right on I just enjoyed stayin’ and workin’ there. . (1986)

Well, I worked there and oh I had a couple of good girlfriends around. I never went with one in particular but then in 1927 in August at Kingsville, at Bishop, Pastor Kohlmeyer? They had a mission festival. And Lydie and Jim Adams, they came down to that mission festival. But, I’ll have to back up to the fourth of July, I’m getting’ ahead of myself. Fourth of July, Mrs. Preston made a date with me down in Kingsville, uh Sinton. Her folks lived in Sinton. So, I came up with them Saturday, and we went swimmin’. Well, the lady I had as a blind date and I took her and Ethel Preston, we went to the section house in Taft and there I met Jim Adams and Lydie. Then, we went on down to North Beach and went swimmin’ that evenin’. We got pretty well all acquainted. Some reason, somehow I took 21 up with Lydie in place of who I had a blind date, well, I just loved Lydie better, seemed like we both just matched good together. We went down deep and Mater? ,that’s the blind date I had, she was a little feisty, she didn’t like that deep water. Lydie went on with me and we really enjoyed it, good day.

Well, then I went on home to Bonarden’s (Ethel’s partents who had a rooming house in Sinton) and spent the night and the next day we went back down to North Beach and then I met the Persons that day down there. Well, I got acquainted with them. Well, when they got acquainted with Lydie, they went to discussin’ how they met down there, had met somebody at North beach. Well, I went back down to Kingsville and I never saw Lydie from July then till the fourth Sunday in August we had mission festival at Kingsville. Here come Lydie and Jim down there for mission festival. Well, then I took Lydie out and showed her the college at Kingsville, she hadn’t been down and looked at nothin’ there, showed her all around. And then I let her go again and I never heard from her and I never wrote and she didn’t write me. . (1986)

The next thing was in fall they had a mission festival at Bishop. Well, I always liked to go to mission festival at different churches when I was at home already. I went to Bishop, and behold me; here come Lydie and Jim again. So, then I met Lydie again and then I took Lydie out ridin’ around from Bishop that evenin’. I took her back and then we corresponded, wrote a little bit along. . (1986)

Well, it went on and I didn’t see her ‘til the 14th of February. She invited me to come to see her; it was her birthday. And so, I went back to Bonardens that night and then the next day, why that evenin’, why Ms. Preston and myself we went out to see the Adams out here in West Sinton. I saw Lydie there and enjoyed it pretty well. But then, we just wrote each other. I didn’t come to see her either. I was sorta not quite ready. . (1986)

So, I went on and then I came to see her oncet or twice, a few times, and then we caught up at Kingsville. I was down there workin’ and they said, well we’re going’ to take a vacation now. Richard, if you want to do somethin’ you can do whatever you want to. . (1986)

Well, I had heard that they had just started a job down at Odem building new schoolhouses. So, I came to Odem and asked the foreman about a job, that was on a Friday, and he said, sure you can go to work. Go to work Monday mornin’. I said, well, that’s fine with me. I said I got a little job to finish at Kingsville, too. I got to put some hardware on there and the painters are supposed to get and I’ll put the hardware on Saturday and then I’ll be ready to go. I’ll be here Monday mornin’. So, Monday mornin’ I came back. . (1986)

After I talked to him, I thought well, I’ll drive out to Adams’ and see Lydie and them and see what they’re doin’. And, I drove out here talked to Lydie a little at the house, and Jim had built some on a little Mexican house down there. That was on a Friday evenin’. So, Bill? said, I’m not goin’ to work tomorrow, I got a roof to put on. Jim said, well, I want that roof on tomorrow. They went to fussin’ around there. Finally I told Jim, I said, well Jim, I got about two or three hours work at Kingsville, but I can do that anytime. I can nail that roof on there for a few hours in the mornin’ and they laughed at me, puttin’ that on three rooms about 38 feet long or 40 and built in all with a shed and the rooms. And I said, yeah, I’ll put that on in the mornin’. He said, okay go ahead. So, I said, well I got 22 to find a place to stay and then, Jim said, oh you can stay with us. You don’t have to worry about stayin’ place. So, I stayed with them the night. Next mornin’ we went out there and here we went. Got on that roof, had a couple of Mexicans handin’ up sheet and nails and everythin’, and I got Bill’s hammer and we went on there and, oh boy, nailin’ that tin on there. I just got that done little no time and about nine thirty, I was through. They couldn’t figure out how I did it. They thought they was goin’ to have all days work. Well, I was through and that sure did give me a boost. . (1986)

R: When I worked that morning, got that roof on so quick, he couldn’t imagine it. He said him and Bill, it took ‘em all day to get that roof on. Then I went on down to Kingville and went to work, and fininshed that job. . (1986 )

I had seen some people named Owens where I was going to stay. Then I got back here to Odem Monday morning then, and they told me well that boss was awful. Firing everybody that came along to work. Everybody told me I was going to be fired. I told ‘em, well it’d be the first time. So, about 15 minutes before work I asked him, I said where do you want me to go and what to do. So I get my tools out. He give me a big, snotty answer. It’s not time to go to work, it’s not eight o’clock. I thought to myself, that’s the way you feel, I’ll feel like you do. I’m goin’ to set down my suitcase and just wait till you tell me. And so I did. I sat down and he told everybody where to go and finally he came up to me and said you go to work with Bob. I said okay. I went up and worked with Bob, getting’ foundation down and settin’ the forms to pour concrete. Well, I worked with Bob and in about an hour he came up there and said, I want you to go down in that other repair building down there and I want you to build the forms down there. Can you build them? Do you know how to read the blueprints? I said, yes I can read blueprints and build forms. He said, well go down there and go to work. I’m going there with you and show you what I want you to do. So, I got down there and there was two Mexicans building forms. He told them two Mexicans, go get your paycheck you all are through, he’s going to take over here. Well, I took the job and went on to work. Of course, I worked there 13 weeks, I stayed on. . (1986)

Well, then I came to see Lydia quite often during the week. I’d come out at night and work during the daytime. . (1986)

Then, the funny part, I went and built them forms and he told me to get them forms built. The Mexicans had built a few and it was quite a bit to build the schoolhouse. There wasn’t nothin’ to it, but just shiplap and then square the ends, and of course, I done that in a hurry and by 11 o’clock I was through. I was just as bullheaded as the foreman was. He was tryin’ to be so smart, so I made up my mind I could be like he was, I just sit down and wait for him. And here he come and he said, well I thought I told you to build them forms what’s the matter. I said, well, I built all the blueprints called for. He looked at the job over and he said, well, by gosh you sure did, you all through? I said, yes sir, I’m through. He said well that’s good, well, go up there and work with Bob. I said, okay that’s fine. So I went up there to work with Bob. Well, at noon about half the crew was gone, he’d fired them. And so, in the afternoon I went to work with Bob again. He hollered out, time to quit, five o’clock, everybody quit. And so they went to quittin’ around there. No, we was workin’ ten hours, workin’ till six. Well, I’m mistaken, it wasn’t five it was six o’clock, we was workin’ 10 hours. He called out for everybody to quit. Bob told me no keep aworkin’ here. I’m not quittin’. I’m goin’ to work another hour. You work another hour if you want to. I said, no listen the boss hasn’t told me to work an hour. He said, I am though. I’m tellin’ you to work here another, we’re goin’ to 23 work here another hour. Well, I didn’t like it, but I done it. I worked another hour, but you know, from there on I had the best job I ever had. I worked 13 weeks. . (1986)

In the meanwhile, I went to see Lydia out here and we got together that we was goin’ to get married out here and build a home. Then when we got through there, we had to make our mind up either get married and get on to farm work here, do work here, or I was offered a job in Dallas. They was going to let me be a foreman on that job, it was a big job, it was goin’ to have two foremans on it. I didn’t want that job, and I asked Lydia do you want to go to Dallas, and she said, no, I don’t want to go to a big city. I said, well, I don’t either. So that’s when we got married. . (1986)

Then, I built my house. I come out here where my home is now. There was cotton stalks about five feet tall. I put the cotton stalks out. I had made my plans. Lydie looked at the plans, and she okayed the way we was goin’ to build it. I got the chalk out and then I surveyed, lookin’ up and down the road so I’d get it square with the road. And, I went ahead and built the house. I used mesquite posts to cut my blocks. Gus Adams, my father-in-law, they had brought posts up here for me. So, I started cuttin’ them and a man came along, oh it was about ten o’clock he came along and introduced himself. He said, I’m old man Norvel, I live out there and I want a house. I live in a Mexican shack and I need a house ‘fore Christmas. You do carpenter work? I said, yes sir. Well, I want you to build me a house before Christmas. I said, mister that’s impossible. For me to build this house I’m goin’ to do my own carpenter work, my own paintin’, my own electrical work, and all my own paintin’. I’m doin’ my own self everythin’. I’m not hirin’ things except plumbin’ in the bathroom, I don’t have equipment for that but the rest of it I’m doin’ myself. He said, well, I sure need a house. My father-in-law, Mr. Adams, Grandpa Adams we called him, said, well, you build him a house and forget about yours. You’ve got a place to stay, but that old man, they’re livin’ in a terrible old Mexican shack there, and you’re goin’ to build his house. I said, well, okay then. But, I’m getting mine under the roof before I’m goin’ to quit. So, I went to work on mine. I got the walls up, and I got a man from Kingsville to help me seven days. He stayed here with Adams, too. I got the roof on and got the overhead shiplap on my house and the ring around the windows and the doors. I let him go and I went to work and started Mr. Norvel’s house. So, I started that house. I’d work to five o’clock, come back, and Lydie would have ready somethin’ to eat and then I’d eat. Then, I’d light a coal oil lantern that I had with two mantles that was good light. Then, I’d come back up here and cut my shiplap and nail shiplap ‘til about nine or nine thirty, then I’d go back to the house and call it a day. So, in the mornins’ I’d get up at five o’clock, help him get started milkin’. When I’d get through with that, I’d come on back and get my breakfast, go back out and work some. Well, I’d work real good. Christmas eve about four o’clock I finished that old man’s house up and he had moved in but I was doin’ the finishin’ work around there and he moved in ‘fore Christmas. Had his house ready and I had my shiplap all nailed down ready to start casin’ up. So, everythin’ worked out. . (1986)

On the 14th of February, why Jim Adams went to a party and come back and he was exposed to, I believe it was small pox or some kind of pox. And he said, well I might get that now. Lydie said, we’re getting out of here. So, all we had ready in the house was the kitchen and I didn’t have my floor sanded yet. So, we put a bed in the kitchen and had a little Star stove, two burner, and I used a box and she had a chair to sit on. I had made me a table that they still have in the storeroom ( the table in my sewing room). I built that table for us to use and that’s what we started on. I got the floor sanded and got

24 everythin’ done and then we had the furniture. We bought it when we got married. . (1986)

When we got married, we left here. Pastor Wolfe married us at Three Rivers. Grandma Adams and Jim Adams went along and we got married, then we went to San Antone. Then, we went to Seguin and stayed the night with her brother Helmuth & Regina). The next day we went out and stayed with my brother (Louis). The next day we went out to my dad’s. . (1986)

They had a big birthday party for my grandmother Marburger. Everybody was there and we met everybody. So, Monday we went on. I had some good friends who lived in Charlotte and we went from there back to Seguin and spent the night in Seguin. In the meanwhile, while we was gone to Seguin, they had arrived a new son, Gilford was born. But, she’d just got back that day so we got to see him. We went down to Charlotte and the next day went to San Antonio and that’s where we bought our furniture, in San Antonio and everythin’. Then, went to and spent the night and went home. And, that’s when we went on to work. So, that was about it. . (1986)

G: This is Greg Gassler. We’ve just been looking through Grandpa’s closet and found his birth certificate, which he mentioned was on the 2nd of September in 1898. He was baptized, St. John’s Lutheran church on September 18, 1898. Pastor W. Mueller confirmed him on July 13th, 1913. Looking at Grandpa’s baptismal certificate here. Now, who are these people again? Let’s sit down over here. Tell us about the sponsors here. You were telling me some people were related to you by marriage.

R: Well, I was born, I believe I got that down already, on September 2nd, 1898. I was baptized September 18th. My sponsors were my Grandma Kuehn, which was my mother’s mother, Otiellie Kuehn. Then, my daddy’s brother, Oscar Marburger, and, then again my mother’s brother, Emil Kuehn, and then aunt Lena, which was a sister of my daddy. They were all my sponsors. . (1986)

G: Pardon me; this was Pastor Ernst, you said?

R: Pastor Ernst, that was in the Missouri Lutheran church. But after I got baptized, Daddy joined the American Lutheran church. . (1986)

I was confirmed by Pastor Mueller. Now, that’s no more there. That old building was an old schoolhouse, stood in Old Dime Box coming or goin’ towards Lincoln down that low place where that creek is at right before you get there to the right there was a school building, just a big old school building, one room. But they had retired that and build a big three room. But our confirmation class was in that place and I was confirmed in that place. And, July the 13th , you talk about no air conditionin’ that afternoon. We sat there and sweat. And, that preacher, he asked ever’ kind of question and of course, I should have been confirmed the year before but we had two of them that did not get what they should have got and the others didn’t get like they should have either. He asked me if I wanted to be confirmed by myself and I didn’t want that. So, I just went on. I learned everythin’ by heart. I was confirmed in German, and I couldn’t read German. Daddy was readin’ it to me. I memorized it. I memorized all my confirmation deal. I memorized it, ya could ask me anythin’ ya want to and I can answer it. I guess I answered about a third of the questions. There was six getting confirmed, four boys and two girls, but I guess I answered a third of the questions because the others just couldn’t 25 get it memorized. They were like us, didn’t have no school either. So, I could memorize. That didn’t bother me, memorizin’ things. If I could hear it once, I could repeat it again. . (1986)

Well, after we got moved, I was feelin’ very lucky that we could live along and we got that floor all sanded. When I got it sanded that night, why I had to put filler on it that night. They said if I didn’t, the grain would raise by next mornin’. So, I worked ‘til one o’clock that night. I got all my fillin’ on and when that dried up I varnished it. I had a beautiful floor. It looked like a mirror to everybody that looked at it. . (1986)

26 Well, when Lydie and myself got married in 1928, Grandpa Adams had some land that was not paid for, there was just a down payment on it. So, he decided he was goin’ to let the kids pay their own place out if they wanted it. So, he gave us, Lydie got 106 acres and one third right here in the center there mile road. Herman Adams brother got his on the north side and H.W. got his on the south side and Jim got his across the road there. So, they each had a place to go. Well, we had to pay it out ourselves. Well, I didn’t mind that. It was 20-year payments so it didn’t amount to very much, so, that was real good. We could handle that amount. . (1986)

In fact, when I got married, we had 75 acres that had been in cultivation and 25 acres was all new ground that was just grubbed out. Fact is, Lydie stayed at home ‘til she was, well she was already past 32. She never got no salary or anythin’. She stayed at home and fed the folks and got the money she needed to buy her groceries. They fed her and she bought the dry goods and things but she never got no pay. So she never had no money to spend anythin’ for, they give her whatever she asked for. So when we got married Grandma Adams she paid for that furniture that we bought. That was our weddin’ present. Well, that was real nice. That was 500 and some odd dollas, and we still have two of the rockin’ chairs right here (the slat backed rocking chair in my bedroom and the rocking chair Julie has)and we still have the dining room set (Richard got it and is now in Kim’s house in St. Louis) that we bought. It’s been worked over and these two chairs have been worked over, but we still have them two. We’ve got some other things here we still have stuff on. That’s all bought in that time we got married. . (1986)

But, Grandpa said, well, if you help me a little bit, I’ve got 25 acres there that’s yours yet but it’s not cleaned up yet. So, he had some Mexicans in there and they cleaned it up and he give me a Farmall tractor with lug nuts on it with a disc plow. I plowed it and broke it up good and I got it in good shape, and I planted it in cotton. And, behold me, the cotton didn’t know when to stop growin’. They grew and grew, and they got taller than I was. Well, mother-in-law Grandma Adams, she drove down there with Jim looked back, came back, Richard, you got a bale of cotton to the acre. I’ve never seen no cotton like it, it’s just beautiful cotton. I was proud of it. I said, well, that was good for me. But, behold me, when we went to pickin’, there was one man and his wife came here, and they camped here. So, I always liked to pick cotton myself so we went out there in that cotton patch after that cotton opened and behold me, we went from one end to the other and we had about two pounds of cotton. I took my knife and went to examine it and there wasn’t a good boll in that cotton. All I did, I came right home and took the stalk cutter and cut them things down. . (1986)

My other cotton that I had on my other land, well, I made five and a half bales. Course we got eight cents for it, when you go to figurin’ that out you’re not getting very much money. The main reason Lydie and I got along as we did, I had just started my house to build. I had built another house in the meanwhile, so that was some extra money I had made beside my farmin’. But, we built a chicken house. We got six red chickens to layin’ to start with but, I built a nice house and first thing I know we had a hundred. Well, I built another house for him, and then I built a house for the Schmidts’ in the few years there up ‘til ’31 and most ’29 and ’30. So, I made a little extra money. Then, I did some work for Dennish, Repairin’ and I built some Mexican pickers houses. I built one for myself, it was 96 feet long, and one for the Adams, 96 feet long, and then another small one. So, it wasn’t all farmin’ that I made my money to start with, there was lots of extra work. . (1986)

27 Well, and then ’31 came along. Well, I did fairly good on my crop and sold my crop and put the money in the Odem bank in Sinton. And, I had one bale of cotton to be scrapped yet when that bank closed. That was it! My money was in there and I never did get a dime back out of it. So, I lost that money. (1986)

But, I had a bale of cotton to pick yet so we got that picked. However, the bank closed on the third of October and on the 14th why, then behold me, I had a wreck with the rowbinder and tore my hand all up, the right hand, and my leg was crippled where a hoss stepped on it. I had to be in the hospital for sometime. Had a few different licks everywhere, but I came out of it. I couldn’t stay in the hospital. I just couldn’t stand that. Then, I came on home here at home, and they give me pain pills to sleep. I’ll never forget that, they gave me pills to sleep. My brother Louie came down and his wife when they heard what happened to me. I told them I wanted a glass of water, he said a glass of water, and he went and got me a glass of water and I told him, now I told you I want a glass of water and not a bucket full of water. Now, bring me a glass of water. I turned around and I didn’t sleep, I went kerserk with that sleeping pill, so the doctor said no more sleeping pills for him. I never did sleep. . (1986)

I’m goin’ a little bit to fast. In ’31, August 11, Ida was born. She was born. And then my sister Hulda came here and stayed with us when Lydie was pregnant. After a couple of months, she was in trouble and she had to lay in bed for a few weeks to not lose the little girl we had. The doctor gave her pretty strict orders not to do things. So my sister stayed with me, sister Hulda, she stayed with us ‘til all that way through. She was smart, too. I give her $15 which was pretty good price at that time, 15 dollars a month and she had the money in the same bank I had it in. Well, so there went our money. (1986)

Well, from there on in we saw we had to do somethin’ in ’31. Well, I went to the other bank and asked them, he knew me, Mr. Jackson, I told him I’m in trouble I need money. He said, well, that’s no trouble I got money. And you know that man let me have all the money I wanted. Nobody never had to sign a paper or nothin’. All if I wanted money, just told Mr. Jackson, I need another 100 dollars, 200, he just handed it to me, I’d sign a note and go on. Well, that suit me just fine. I couldn’t figure out why I was so lucky. Everybody else had to have people to sign notes and resign ‘em, for me he just took ‘em plain. Well, that was fine. (1986)

Then I bought me five hundred laying pullets. They were baby pullets but they were the good laying hens. The best that Bowie Johnson had. They were supposed to lay 290 eggs a year. Well, when them fryers came up (form hatching eggs) then in ’31, I took them down to Mr. Naylor to the hatchery and he bought ‘em. He said, where’s your pullets? I said, I got ‘em at home. He said, how many do ya have? I said, oh about 250. He said, wait a minute. You get you some more and I’ll buy your hatching eggs and I’ll give you 10 cents above the market. The market on the eggs was eight cents. So, that give me 18 cents for my hatching, if I’d sell hatching eggs. Of course, we had to be sure that they were the right size. Well, that was fine. We went ahead and I ordered me another thousand baby chickens. Then I built me a brooder house out here, still there, (no longer here. It sat where the old pickup garage is now) and with that and with another building I had I could accommodate a thousand chicks. Well, I had made another and had to build me another brooder house to keep the chickens in. So I build another chicken house, a big one out there. It was 30 feet long, 20 feet wide for some more chickens and had three places for chickens to lay. Well, that was sure lucky. I came out real good. When I got them thousand, I picked me 650 good laying pullets out of it and 28 they layed good. Had to take ‘em down to Corpus twicet a week. But when you can get 10 cents above 8 cents, they were worth only 8 cents getting 18, we were doin’ pretty good comin’ out. (1986)

But no, we wasn’t makin’ what we wanted to make. But I was also feedin’ hogs yet. So I talked to the grocery man if he could buy some sausage if I’d make it. He said, give it a try. So I butchered a hog and made some sausage and took it there and the people went crazy for my sausage. They wanted that sausage. They’d never tasted somethin’ so good. Well, I told ‘em it’s lots of work makin’ all them casings and cleanin’ ‘em and makin’ sausage all the time. He said, go ahead just make pan sausage, grind it up and season it and then bring it in here and see what the people do. And do you know the people went for that. Why, he sold out ‘til clear into summer. I butchered a hog practically ever week and he ground it. But he didn’t want to give me any money, so Grandpa Adams, my father-in-law, he was runnin’ a grubbin’ camp. And Jim Adams was at home. So I told the grocery man, would you give them the groceries on my name and he said sure would. So, Mr. Adams, they bought their groceries and that whole camp from this store and they give me the money and that a way I was doin’ real good. I was getting money for my stuff and it was workin’ out fine.

G: Now why wouldn’t that guy give you money for your sausage? R: Well he said he wants me to take it out in groceries. He didn’t want to put the cash out, he wanted to put it out in groceries. So, he sold it. So, I needed more hogs than I could raise. The price of number one hogs in San Antonio was 2 cents a pound. Of course, there was no way to get to San Antonio. Everybody had a hog or two they wanted to get rid of they let me know. Richard, come get my hog. I got a hog I want you to take. I give ‘em three cents a pound for hogs on foot. If a hog weighed 250 pounds you see what he got for it? You wouldn’t believe that today about $ 7.50 I bought hogs for. Well, I’d take it home and butcher it and carve it all up in sausage except for the bones and backbones somethin’ like that. (1986)

I kept agoin’ doin’ real good, happy ‘til along about August. The man told me I don’t want no more sausage. I said, what’s your trouble? He said, I don’t want no more, that’s it. I said, well I’m not complainin’. He owed me $140 in that store. Well, I told him, I haven’t hollered for money. He said, no you need to buy your money out. So Adams took the groceries for camp and finally run down. One night Lydie and myself went in there. They stayed open ‘til eight o’clock. After we ate we drove in. He kept pilin’ stuff on my cart. I told him I didn’t need nothin’ and he kept throwin’ it on there and first thing I knew I went and checked up and he still owed me ten dollars and 25 cents. He said, what else can you get? I said, I don’t want nothin’ no more. I got too much now. I don’t know what to do with it. Next mornin’ he didn’t open the door. He was bankrupt. He had let all the credit go out to so many people and he lost. Of course, I lost ten dollars and 25 cents. The man told me he would pay me and I told him to forget it he’d done a better job. So, you see how I got my start. (1986)

Other people, I can name a couple of them, they lost their places in’ 32 then and ’33 they just couldn’t make ends meet. I was makin’ it, for a young fella I thought I was doin’ real good and was makin’ real good money and that was how I got my start. I got goin’ right away. Of course, it was work and if you don’t want to work you can’t do it. But, I didn’t mind work; that was my middle name. I also, on top of that, I had six Jersey cows and I was milkin’ cows and sellin’ cream. So you just got to work if you want to make money and that’s what I did. (1986) 29

We went to church here in West Sinton and Pastor Wolfe from Three Rivers came and waited on us here in church. We had church at three o’clock in the afternoon. Well, they had a habit here waitin’ for the last person to get to church. Well, I done that one Sunday, I went along with ‘em. The next Sunday I told ‘em it’s three o’clock, church starts. Well, my father-in-law said well, so and so isn’t here and so and so isn’t here. I told him, it’s three o’clock. He said, yeah but you got to wait for ‘em. I said, we don’t wait for nobody. I’d already talked to the Pastor and he said no we don’t like to wait. So, I went in there and ring that bell. Well, they all came up. Ha! The last part that came in the Pastor was gettin’ there about half way through his sermon. He came in and walked down stairs and he said in German to my father-in-law, he said, why didn’t you all wait for me today? He said, my father-in-law laughed and he said, well I’m goin’ to tell you somethin’. That’s all over with now. Richard said when it’s three o’clock we’re goin’ to have church at three and if we want to have it at three fifteen we’ll have it three fifteen and if we want it at three thirty we’ll have it at three thirty. But, he said three o’clock is church time and the bell is goin’ to be rang and who’s there, is there. And so that settled that part of it. But, on top of that then, I got a job. They turned it over for me to be treasurer and secretary. Well, secretary wasn’t much to it, the Pastor just come in there, and it wasn’t much. But, they give me the job of treasurer. Well, I kept that job then, you know how long? Up to ’52, I had that job. Well, I didn’t mind it. That’s the way it went from then on. You just go and that was a nice start. (1986)

G: Grandpa, one quick question. When was this church built here in West Sinton?

R: In ’48.

G: Now, was it a mission then in ’48?

R: We were a mission before that time. We were on our own. We were a mission to start with.

G: When was that mission first started do you have any idea?

R: Well, that started before I got here. I don’t know exactly when they started it. The church they had it in Adams house they had the services. And, then after the school was built the school here in West Sinton, they had an old schoolhouse just a couple of rooms. Then, that was turned over to the Mexican school, the Mexican was separate from the white people. Then, this schoolhouse was built. It was a high school, it was built in 1924. And, it had a high school, it had five teachers there then. So, at that time I came here in ’28 there were 140 kids goin’ to school here.

G: So that would have been the old Adams school, right?

R: That was the old Adams school. So, that was really some school. (1986)

Well, when I first got married, the wife and myself, we went to visit a friend, oh that’s a good friend of them in Beeville and he was raisin’ grapefruit trees and orange trees. So, for our wedding present he give me three orange trees and one grapefruit tree. Well, I planted them out here in the garden and behold me, them trees grow up and we had the best oranges we ever had. But, after the first few years oranges were hangin’ pretty and full but the tree goin’ to the road out there. I got up one mornin’ and went out there and 30 behold me, there wasn’t an orange left on that tree. Somebody liked ‘em better then I did. So here went my oranges. But, they didn’t get the others that were close to down this way. They only got the ones on the end. They was afraid they might get caught comin’ down this way. But, I lost ‘em. But, I had enough oranges to give all the kinfolks around, my sisters and brothers and Adams’, they all got oranges from me. And, I had good grapefruit. They lasted a long time and didn’t freeze down to start with, was real good. But, they froze down in ’52. Well, them came back and was getting good production again. Here it come along ’62 and they froze down again but that ruined ‘em. I didn’t have much left. The grapefruit tree done a little but the orange tree didn’t. (1986)

INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD MARBURGER BY GREG GASTLER 1986 Part 3

R. Ida was baptized in the Adams School building.

That’s the first job I got in the church, was secretary and treasurer.

Then, in ’33, my Grandma (Marburger) died in Lincoln, Tx. Mama and myself we left here Friday morning, and went to Lincoln for that funeral. We came back Sat. evening, well, they already was milking and separating the milk, and had a white man at the time working for me. His name was Edgar Michalk, they were from Dime Box. Well, when I got in, he turned the separter and said to me, Richard, you got a job. I didn’t get a job. Well, what kind of job did I get? You know, you were selected on the school board. I said, Just one minute, I wasn’t even asked to serve to that board. We had one extra name on the ticket, and my name wasn’t even on the ticket. Yeah, but they got busy and you had the most write-in votes. You got the most votes. You beat them all. Well, now that get’s it all. I didn’t ask for that job. Well, I got that job in ’33. I served here until ’46 ( it was in ’43), I think it was. When we were annexed in Sinton. They didn’t even let me get the things straight out here, they put me on the Sinton board. Well, I served 25 years on the School Board. But, you know I always liked to work with kids and everything.

In ’34, we had an Ag teacher in town,(Herbert Gist), and he came to me, I said, will you help me with my youngsters? Well, I’ll help ya, that was the FFA boys. I worked with FFA boys for about 25 or 26 years. In ’34 we had a County Agent. He wanted to start 4H. Well, I hesitate. After a year, they talked me into being a leader in the 4H. Well, I also took that job. I had it 18 years and I decided that was long enough. So I retired on that.

31 Besides that, I served on a whole lot of other things. I helped organize the Co-op store in Edroy, I got it organized and served as director/president for 33 years. I retired.

Then, the gin (Co-op) down there, I was on the board, director, on that. Served as president most of the time, when I got on a board. We built a new gin, behold me, we had a tramp come through there, and he laid down there and smoked that night and we had two gins with a firewall between it, and we burned that gin up that night. So, we had to rebuild that gin. It’s still there, lots of improvements made since then. (Today, 2008, the Edroy gin is no longer used, it merged with another gin and is the Edcot gin near Odem.) I served in different capacities, so that how I served on that.

Way back, after the County Agent got here in the late ‘40s, in the 50s they got the FFA really going good and we needed a Show Barn. Well, of course, it seemed like nobody would leave me out. I was the one who always got roped up. They got me on that show barn committee. Well, you see until we get some land bought. The Ag teacher was on that committee, too, and another good business man, named Clyde Mayo, he got on it, and Leo Owens, we got all on there. Well, we looked all over Sinton, where to find the land. We found this 10 acre block there, but it belonged to Mr. Ewing, and Ewing & Sims had a hardware store here in Sinton. But he had, by that time retired. He got out of it. So we decided that ten acres we could use. It was all brush. We went to see Mr. Ewing. Talked to him. And he said, Well, I think I’ll let you have it, but I’m not ready to sell it. We waited for 6 months or so, Me and the Ag teacher and Leo Owens went back to talk to him. He said, well, ya’ll goin’ to get it. I told my daughter that if I die, ya’ll supposed to have it. Ya’ll supposed to have it. Lucky me, I hate to see a man die, but in less than a year, the man died. His daughter let us have them 10 acres. Well, at that time it sounded like we was paying a pretty fair price for that brush out there and sorta low. We paid $ 1,000 for the 10 acres. Don’t get me ..right on this, I was on that committee, but before we could get that money, the Commissioner’s Court had to ok it – and they paid for it, we didn’t. But I was on it (the committee). The next thing we done, we had to get it cleared out. We got it cleared out, then we drew up some plans, and then, I went to the Commissioners Court and showed them out plans. Some barn plans and the other rooms are still there – where we show dresses and all kinds of foods and cakes, for the youngsters. ( in 2007, the barns were rebuilt into beautiful modern facilities.) We got that done, we got the blueprints. They had me get a price on it. I got a price on it, and me 32 and the Ag teacher went and talked to them, and sounded like it is reasonable. Yeah, it is reasonable. So we got those two building up, and then another building. I said, we need another building, beside that. So, we got 3 buildings put up. That was fine. But, our show grew so that we didn’t have room. So then I went back to the Commissioners Court and said we need to add another 100 feet to the building where we have our arena in and change the other building and make it into a commercial exhibits in. and a kitchen and everything. So, they said, OK, go ahead, do that. So, I went ahead, we got bids on it, went back, and they oked it. I told the commissioners, now, that building that we moved out of, it’s a big building too, about 60 X100 feet, we need a concrete floor in that, that said, well, how about you taking over and see about that concrete floor. I said, well, I’ll see what I can do. I couldn’t get nobody together expect a man out of Corpus give me a bid. I opened that bid, I said, behold me, what’s that man trying to do, hold us up? I went to Commissioners Court and told them that man wants $2400 to put that concrete down. That’s absolutely too much. The bleachers got to be moved, we got to get them moved before we put t he floor down. If we send our men there, will you move the bleachers? I said ok. Well, on Monday each one sent their men. They only sent me 12 men to start with. I knew I couldn’t handle the whole thing. We started on each end. We had to take the bolts out so I had my son-in-law, Ben Hansen, work one end and I’d work the other. He helped me that day. We got them pretty well done that day, the next morning we finished up. That concret job would still cost $2400. I went to the Commissioners Court. Well, how much should it cost? Well, if I do the work, and ya’ll furnish the material, I can do the work for about $1400. But I won’t get no money out of it. I know men that would do it. I knew what the men got paid, because I asked them the day that man can out to look at the job. We got it all in there. And, I didn’t miss it $50. It was right on the button, $1400. Of course, there I worked a day and half, and I didn’t get nothing for that. I enjoy doing things, when they came along.

Well, now show business. In ’37, I was at the Dallas fair and I saw Milking Shorthorn cattle there, and I loved those cattle. Then I bought a bull from him and a heifer, and I got started in the Milking Shorthorn business. I bought some more cattle each year, and I keep buying. We went to Plainview and bought cattle up there and in Dallas. I got interested in good cattle, and I got to showing cattle. When I got into it, each county started showing cattle and asked me to show with them. Well, I had an outstanding bull 33 and outstanding cows. Well, I helped he show get stared in Refugio, I showed there in a tent, before they built a building there. I showed there I showed in George West and Three Rivers. I went there many, many years. I went there every year. And I got them started. Then, I got them started in Alice, I showed there and then I showed in Robstown. We tied up on the outside, and we just had 2x4s on a fence post. We showed out there for the first year before they got a building there, and I showed many years in there. Well, I had a good red bull to start with. Then, I showed in Bishop once and I showed down in Corpus Christi in tents one year. Well that was sorta fun. Mr. Knolle had a great big Jersey herd, milking thousands of cattle, and he had a champion bull. I had a champion bull too. I had bought a white cow in Roscue, I went to R. E Gracie and I picked me a cow in his lot. Good white cow. My daughter, Ida, said I want a white cow. I always had red, and she wanted a white. So I told him – R.E. Gracie, he knew me real good. We had been friends for a long time in the Shorthorn business. I said, what would you take for that white cow. He said, Richard, I hate to sell that cow. Well, that’s going to be Ida’s cow. He looked at me and said, If that’s going to be Ida’s cow, I’ll let you have it. It will cost you $600. I said, Ok, I’ll just give you $600. But, behold me, I won the show. I was in Dallas at the show. And they sold an All American Reserve Cow. And, behold me, I had to pay $750 for her, but I bought her. Well, that gave me a good herd. Then, I bought a good bull calf again, and that bull won everywhere he went. He took purple ribbons, he didn’t even take blue. His count, you have to have over 90 points in order to get a purple ribbon, and his count was 92, so I took it. And my cow, the white cow, done the same thing. Well, I showed against Mr. Knolle, the Jersey deal, and I beat him on the cow and the judge couldn’t make out which one he should give the bull, and I told him Give it to him. Mr. Knolle he’s all unset now, that he got beat, he had never been beaten before. If I beat on this one too, it will be too bad. Well, there is a half point difference, I’ll give it to Knolle for a half a point. So that was the show. I enjoyed my show.

Ida grew up, and after Ida got a little bigger we started Sunday School here. The first year I taught the little beginners. Of course, I didn’t have much material, they were still small. I had only books with reading in it and pictures. I taught one year and then I didn’t taught any more. Lydie taught Sunday School. Lydie planned the organ (piano) for us all until Ida got graduated ( I started playing when I was in high school, soon after I was

34 confirmed in 1945) and then she played. Up until that time Lydie played the organ (piano) in church all the time. When Ida was a baby, Ida sat with me. I always took are of the baby while she was playing the organ at church time.

We got Sunday School started then, and when Ida got a little bigger. We started a Walther League out here. We had a nice bunch of young people here, then they had a mission church in Alice, so we decided we would put them together for Walther League. One time we would meet over here and the next we would meet over there. So that’ s the way it worked. That really worked good, those fellas, was real interesting.

Way back in the ‘40s we also started Men’s Club. We got it started in church. It worked real good, we had 14 members. We have had it a long time, but now it seemed that the older ones died off and now we are down to 8. I don’t know what we will do from now on. Some of them want to quit and some want to keep on. I’m not sure. But the Walther League was real good. Ida enjoyed it. We took her to where Walther League was. (We had a pastor that was very supportive , Pastor Weiser, he usually took the group from here with him to Alfred ‘Alice’.) She made a couple of trips. Fact is, that one of the trips she made she met Ben on that trip. That was out of state somewhere.

Lydie and myself , we made lot so conventions. We had Lutheran Laymens’ League convention . We made lots of these conventions. We could name all the towns around. We could name Dallas and Houston and all these towns around. Also come right on down through Waco, Austin, and San Antonio. We made all them conventions.

When Ida graduated out of high school, she wanted to go to Seward, Nebraska to school. So she went to college in Seward, Nebraska. We took her up there. And then the year she graduated she was supposed to go to a wedding in South Dakota. So we went to South Dakota to that wedding. It tied up good with a LLL convention is Seattle, Washington. So we made a long trip. We keep on going. Went to South Dakato for the wedding and then to Seattle for the convention. And Ida had another girl friend from here along and she really enjoyed that too. (Mildred Lutz, a lady I had taught with in Austin went along.)

35 And then the next time we went in ’53, I think, we were going to Colorado Springs. Well, Ida went along. And took one of the teachers along what taught school there in Austin with her. ( This was Cathy Sieck Leimbach– not a teacher for a good friend from the church where I taught). And so we had a nice trip going there. I love conventions.

Then I made lots of district church meetings. I used to be going on that. But the last years I haven’t been going on any more.

Our insurance, Prairie Hochheim insurance, we had lots of district meetings with them. I went them quite a bit.

But then Ida met Ben on that one Walther League trip she made. I can’t remember where she went that time. (Ottawa, Canada) Well, she start school for one more year. She taught school in Austin for 4 years, and then she went Port Arthur and teached. And Ben was in Louisiana there and wasn’t too far, Lake Charles is where he was, so he’d come to see her once in a while. And then, she taught school that year, and then that fall (June 9. 1956) they got married. Well, it wasn’t fall, it was earlier, but they got married that year.

Then Ida didn’t teach school until her children was all old enough to be in school, then she started teaching school again. She is still teaching, I hope she makes her mind up, I think she is going to retire pretty soon. She’s been teaching about 16 years here, besides the 5 she teached in the other. She’s been teaching 21 years already, so it’s been quite some time.

Ben worked with me on the farm. And we worked together on the farm. Then, finally, Ben took up the Seamen’s Center and writing and all he had enough and graduated and was a Seamen’s Center minister. (Colloquey program). He went to serve down there and got the Seamen’s ministry started down in Corpus Christi. First to start with he went about every day of the week for a while, and then he got some others to help out. He is still taking care of it. I think he is the treasurer and secretary on that job, and keeps that agoing. (Only for the ministry’s part, not the genereal Seamen’s Center). So that’s the way things are going right now.

36 Oh, well, I’m going back again to where I started. Well, the first year I just farmed mine, the second year I got 25 acres rented and then it didn’t take long, I got more. In ’34 there was 80 acres to sell, which we named Rancho Duro. It was for sale, but I didn’t have money to buy it that year. But I wanted that piece of ground. So I went and looked it over, the careless weeds were so high, I lost my car. I couldn’t find it, I looked around for it. And I told my father-in-law about it . He said well if you want it, but you won’t keep it no how, if you keep it one year, you’ll be ready to give it up. I said, I don’t know about that. Well, I’ll go ahead and buy it, and I’m going to pay for it. With $50 an acre. But next year I’m going to buy you out. Well, he laughed at me. I bought his tractor, I did’t have no tractor in ’34 yet. I bought me one following that. I bought me a steel wheel tractor. Careless weeds, behold me. I was, everyone around here picked on me. A man selling a stalk cutter he came out here and had them heavy rolling stalk cutters in the ’30s’ and he said, Mr. Marburger, I want to sell you a stalk cutter. I said, does anyone in the country have one? No, what I want you to do, I want you to buy this stalk cutter and any stalk cutter that sells now from yours, you will get $10. They are $110, I’m going to knock $10 off and sell it to you for $10. Ok, bring it out. That’s a big heavy stalk cutter, 2 row. So I got that. I had to have something to cut that big old careless weeks down on Rancho Duro. Well, I cut them down. I had added a little money here at the house. Meanwhile, in ’31, ’32 Mrs. Adams had 230 acres down there,(the Mile Rows) and her step brother, he had that much. They had over 400 acres, and they rented it to a man in ’31 & ’32, and they didn’t like the idea that man the way he farmed. He come and wanted to borrow money all the time. So told my Jim Adams, why don’t we work that place? And he said, that would be the best. Then I got another 120 acres to work. I had my 120 acres there, and my 80 up yonder. I got the 120 two years before I got the 80. And after I made my first crop, I paid Grandpa Adams out, I got that place by myself. I didn’t pay it all off, but I paid about half of it down. So, I was in good shape.

We went along and in ’39, I talked with man who had talked with a man who had 320 acres, but he had lost it . This man took it over. And so him and his other brother had some money tied up in that place, an’ he came along. I was milking cows, I was milking 14 cows annd selling cream then, I started that in the late ‘32s. I had an electric fence here around the south side of the house. And he came along with his car. And he stopped and went to talking to me.I said, Mr. Armin, if you want to sell that 320, I wish you’d give me a chance on it. He turned his head around to me, and said, you can have it today 37 if you want it. I said, Mr. Armin, do you know I ain’t got $100 to put on that place right now? What I got to operate, I just don’t have extra money. He said, well, it takes $7,000 to buy that place. Cash, and the test of it I’ll carry. I got notes on it. I said, that would be $28,000. He said, I’m giving you a good price, it’s worth more than that, but I let to have it for that, I’d like to help you. He called me Sunny Boy. I said, OK, Mr. Armin, it’s Monday, will you give me time uptil Wednesday morning to get that money? Yes, I’ll give you time ‘til Wednesday morning I’ll be out to see you Wednesday morning. I said, might fine. Wednesday morning I’ll have the money for you. Well, I went out told my – I knew my Mother-in-law had a bunch of money – I didn’t asked her first. I talked to my wife and said, I wonder if Grandma is interested in loaning me bunch of money. And I went down there and asked her. She said, sure if you want to buy that place, I’ll loan you that money. So, she loaned me the $7,000. When Mr. Armin came I had Mr. Adams come up. There is one thing I didn’t like about the way he wanted it. He wanted life-time – half on it on royalty. (Oil and Gas) I told him I couldn’t stand for that. I told him. Well, grandpa Adams came up and he helped me out on it. The man was up in the 55 0r 60 years old already. So Grandpa said, Why do you want to tie him down like that? Well, we finally came to an agreement of 15 years. He could have 15 years, but whenever I leased it he would get ¼ of the lease and ¼ of the royalty if they drilled he would get ¼ of everything. He finally settled for that for 15 years. And, well, I may have leased it one time for $20. an acre. He got $5.00 out of it and I got $15. That was a 3 year deal. Of course, it was $10 after the first year. But I was glad when I got him off. And just when I got him off one year. And I released it and got more than that for it, I made a good lease. But then I was happy to think that I bought a good deal, for I had, I just bought on week, and then next week, a man came along, lived toward St. Paul. And he said, Richard, you slipped one on me. I said, What’s the trouble. He said, I want that place. You did? Well, I did, too. And you got it. Well, I’m going to tell you what I’ll do today. I just give you $110 an acre for that place. I said, $110. Yeah, I don’t care what you paid for it. Well, I had paid $88 for it. That would be a pretty good profit – about 300 acres. Nope, I’ll turn it down, I want that place, I don’t care what you offer me, you ain’t going to get it. Well, I turned it down, and I’m glad, today, we still got it. So, that was real good. (The 320)

Well, in ’55, I was getting in pretty good shape, so I gived her Rancho Duro, that 80 acres, I gave her Rancho Duro in ’55. Well. After she got married, first she got the rent 38 out of it, then it was their land. We worked it. Then came along in ’69, Ben built his home there, a new home, I had in the meanwhile, when Grandpa Adams died, inherited 120 acres down there (New Ground), it was all in brush and pasture, Well, I cleaned it all out in ’52 and put it all in field. Meanwhile , in ’52 while I done that, I also bought a ranch, 232 acres, the sand ranch. It had about 100 acres in cultivation, it was all in thick brush, so, I went ahead and bought that. That cost me $28,000 too. But I bought that place and got a man from Mathis to bulldoze all that land and come and clean this 120 acres up here. Well, I spent lots of money. I spent over $7,000 clearing land that year. Of course, I didn’t have it all in cash either, I had to borrow money, but I never had any trouble borrowing money. If I wanted to borrow, I always got my money. But I got that all in cultivation (New Ground) and that over yonder (Ranch) all cleared out. Then I planted some Rhodes Grass and Coastal Burmuda Grass over there and the 80 acres I had cleaned up at the New Ground. About 70 of cleared ranchland, I farmed that. The first year it didn’t do no good, just some little short stuff on that, and that don’t pay, so I turned all that into Coastal pasture And then I planted 14 acres of good Coastal in good land there and in few years later I …. But when it rained, it flooded, and all went under water, but it always made a good crop.

Then in ’67, they drilled me a gas well over there (Ranch). Gas was cheap, was $ .23, and the man contracted for 5 years. I made a big mistake that after that it kept going up and going up, but we had a contract and only got $ .23 for my gas. Then when the contract ran out we got a contract for $ 1.23 a hundred. Well, that lasted for about a year. The price was all right, but salt water started coming in the well. And it went down. I was still getting about $ 250. a month, but he said, I can’t stand no more, too much salt water and too much expense. I went on. He was going to drill another one on the north field there, the 80 acre patch. I told Lydie, let’s get rid of that and give that to Ben and Ida too. So turned around and gave that to Ben and Ida before they drilled. So it was up to them. But, well, they found a little gas there, but he said, they only got enough to pay the expenses. They put it into the same line that the other was going. But that line went dry. We left it back there for a well, we paid for the casing and we kept the well. Well, a few years ago, Ben thought he ought to have water back there in the pasture.

39 When my wife died, it will be 10 years in April, I had 160 acres left there, she (Ida) got half, that left me 80, and about 3 years ago I decided to give her the rest of the 80. So, the Ranch all belonged to them. I don’t have.

Decided to have some water go back there and behold me that gas line going from the house to the back pasture back there, which is quite a ways from the house, about ½ mile, at the well site we had a water trough and the water from the cistern at the house ran down the line to the trough. (Ben helped to make sense out of this section.) So there was water in the back pasture. All worked through that one well (at the house), in place of buying another well. It all went from one. I’m glad of that.

…I’m going back on some of that farming. I raised carrots, on them Mile Rows down there, I planted carrots one year and I had the most beautiful carrots, about 8 inches long and just as nice and smooth. I had 30 acres. A man told me to take the stalk and sulky plow and go down about a inch away for the carrot so I can pull them. I took two of my mules and went down there and run that 30 acres, and

However, I had planted some onions. They ran about $20 to $ 30 an acres. I could plant the onions and then plant cotton between the onions and when they gathered the onions, the cotton was about 6 inches tall but they never did hurt my cotton. I made good cotton crops.

Well then I planted onions and I planted, I think it was back in ’38,’39, or ’40, maybe. I planted onions on the 320 up yonder on the north side, I just planted 8/10 of a pound to the acre, and I had the most beautiful stand you could ever seen, and I made some onions that were almost number 1s all the way through. Everybody wanted my patch of onions. He asked me what I wanted, and I said $75 an acre. Oh you’re a little, high.

I had a leak, a gas leak in my car, so I had to put a new tank on that. My brothers were here, they lived on the place, about ’46, and we were putting on the tank, and the buyer came up and offered my $60. I told me, nope, $ 65. I cain’t give you thank, I’ll just have to pass you up. I said, OK. It’s up to you. Well, I had about 3 men wanting it. He didn’t drive very far, I guess about ½ a mile he came back. I told by brothers, well, here he comes. My brothers laughed at me, that if we ever saw a crazy man, we saw one now. 40 That’s all right. Here comes that man. Well, if that’s all you need I give you a check for $75. That’s the only time I ever got $ 75. An acre. I got $50 and $ 40. For them in ’45. And Behold me, I made a good cotton crop, almost a bale to the acre where I had those onions. Turned out real good cotton and it seemed like those onions in there was good for the insects or something made a real good cotton crop on it. Well, that’s the one time a piece of ground really paid off. We all know you have your ups and downs in cotton and maize.

Way back in ’37, I bought my first two row conbine. And done lots of combining with that two row. At first, I thought there wasn’t another combine around here that did custom work, so I got in the custom business and I mean to tell you, I hired a man to run the combine. I’d go out in the morning and get it ready for him to start about 9 o’clock, and we’d cut. For 6 weeks we lost one Sunday. And we just cut and cut and went all over the neighborhood. The stuff was getting so dry and dusty, we just kept agoin’. That that little 61 International was a real good combine.

Well, then in a couple of years I bought a big 4 row. Then I added another 3 row. So I had a 3 row, a 4 row and a 2 row running. In the meanwhile, my brothers (Walter and Edwin) came on the place in ’45. We rented another 150 acres from Mr. Hartzendorf , over yonder. I let them boys have that, whatever that made, they could have. We were working things together, I told them, I don’t want that, ya’ll go ahead and get it. So, they worked me. And we ran 3 combines, talk about keeping me busy. We the combines were going, I had a job, one would get choked and anothere would do this. Sometimes I’d sit there and they would all be running smooth. I also had, I bought my first truck in ’52. However, I bought it not only for that (grain hauling) I also bought it to haul cattle to the show. I had a big trailor to haul cattle to the show, I made all these shows, so I had a good herd of Milking Shorthorns. I got out of the Jersey business when I bought the Shorthorns. I cross bred them, and got into the Shorthorn cattle. I was milking about 14 and had about 5 or 6 of them as nurse cows. Behold me, that good bull I had that won all the prizes and everything, a man came along from Alice and he was a Mexican fella, and he said, I want to buy that bull from you. He’s not for sale, I’m goin’ to San Antonio with him, he’s not for sale. After the show, I’ll sell him to you, if you give me enough for him. What do you want for him? It hit me, I didn’t know what to say, I told him, if you want him you’ll have to give me $ 1500. for him. But thought the man would turn it 41 down, but, behold me, he wrote out a check for me. Then I found out later that he told a man down in Alice when he left, I’ll pay that man up to $ 2500 for that bull if he let’s me have it. Well, I did’t know that, and that was the only Milking Shorthorn bull that I know of that sold directly off the farm for $ 1500. And he was 8 years old, but he weighed about 2600 lbs. A beautiful animal, but that was. It made me sick to see that animal go. I hated to see him go. He won all my shows and everything. Well, I had another white bull I had got from Roscoe. He was my pasture bull, run with the cows in the pasture. So I had to take home and get him in shape. Then I went to San Antonio with 14 head to show in the San Antonio show. That was in ’52. Behold me, we had to show in a tent. They didn’t have buildings – they got them later. On top of that, seems like that show we are in, seemed like it was low. He 14 head of cattle. I took my little Mexican along, who was working for me since ’37 alreadly he was with me. He stayed with me way up until he retired I the 70s. My mother-in-law had a cousin about 2 miles from where I was showing, and she said, Richard , you come and sleep with us during the night. Don’t stay down there. Well, there is that Mexican, I got him an extra stall and got it fixed up so he could sleep, and I can sleep there too. No, you come up to the house. We I stayed at the show until 11 o’clock And then it went to raining. Oh, it went to raining. I got up at 4 o’clock and went down there, and, behold me, I hd a time getting there. When I went in there, I ha 14 head of cattle ther, and I used shavings, that’s what I used for beddings, and ¾ of my shavings was under water and my cattle standing in water or laid in water. Here I was, coming up in the morning for show, and everything in water and mess. Well, I looked and told that little Mexican, untie them all and I’ll take them all out and tie them up on the outside. We got to get this cleaned up. Well, I got that cleaned up and ordered more shavings, getting fresh shaving, and went out there and started washing cows and brush and comb them down and get them ready for the show. The had to be feed too and had to be through by 9 o’clock but, I knew I had a sweating job to do. I left my little man working on the inside and I went on washing the cows. I was about through washing when two big husky niggers came along. Mister, do you need some help? I need help. What do you want for washing those cows for me? And drying the up? And finish them up? Mister, we wash them up and dry them for 50 cents apiece. Buddy, you done got a job. You go to work. So I let them two niggers washs my cattle, and then I finished them up – trimmed them up myself. That was the biggest relief I got that morning. All that water in that barn, that was the worst mess I ever got into, except when I was showing in Refugio. I was showing in a tent, and that night I left, I was sleeping in a 42 motel up on top on the north side. When I got there that night I went to bed. I was tired, and I wentto sleep and a norther blew in with a little bit of rain, not much rain, and I had the north window open because it was hot, and , behold me, I got wet on my head – before I woke up, my head was wet. I dried it up and closed the window, it didn’t rain very much, and went out the next morning and dust had covered my animals I had on the show. You could write your name on them cows in the sand on them. That norther blew that sand in that time there, and there were a few new cars there, and they were all full of sand. Well, I had to start brushing cattle, and I was all by myself, I had about 8 head there, so I thought I’ll clean up my cattle again. They were dry. So the sand came off pretty good. I got them all clean up and behold me, when you are in the show business, you never what stuff you going to run into.

I was showing down in Alice. I showed there for many,many years. On night I decided I was going home. They had just built a new show barn, with half the roof on it, half was still not covered. I been showing in tents. So I went home that night. But some way I got up before 4 o’clock, and I went down there, and behold me, we had a big rain down there and I had one rope halter on one of my year old bull calves, and he was just about choked to death. Well, went I got there and saw that, I just took my knife and cut the rope so he could breathe. And, there again, I runned into the same trouble that night. That half of roof that was off, it rained from that side and blew the water all over our cattle over there, and we had another job cleaning up and getting cattle ready again for the show. That was another funny job. When you are in show business, you never what to expect the next day. It’s all fun. I enjoyed the show. People know me all over the country, and I enjoyed it. It’s lots of work, but my farming I was doing, running a dairy feeding about 40 0r 50 hogs it sorta keep me on the job and running, but I kept agoin’.

G. Tell me more about the dairy stuff.

R. When I got married, my wife got one cow from her Dad. Then I bought another me, and then I went down below Kingsville and bought two more Jersey cows. That gave me 4. Then I went the King Ranch and I bought me a young Jersey cow that was going to have a calf. They had about 600 cows they were milking, and he let me that, and we called her Tiny, she was sorta a smaller cow. But her hind legs were crooked, that’s the only reason they would sell it. So I bought that, that gimme 5, then I bought another one, 43 and another one. First thing I had 7 and I raised Jerseys. Then I bought another one, that was my tiny, theone I bought in Kingsville, that was my Tiny. Well, When I brought her home. Ida was a little girl, I told Ida this is your cow. Whatever she produces when she has calves, the heifers I’ll keep for you, but the bulls, I’ll have to sell. She said, well, that’s all right, Daddy. Well, that was the first cattle that she had. That was that Jersey. She was a little bitty girl at that time. Well, when I bought the white cow for her, she was bigger. But, well, behold me, you know what that cow had? She had heifers every year. For 4 straight years, had heifers every year. Just heifers, heifers. Well, one of the cows got sick on me. Laid on the ground and for about 4 wells just feed and feed her. Even feed her white Karo. She just couldn’t get up. She laid out here, and I took care of her. I knew she was going to have a calf. One morning,behold me, I went out to the barn, we went to milking cows at 5 o’clock in the morning, I went there and here was that cow standing and licking her calf. After she had her calf she could get up and walk. She could stand and walk. That was a miracle to me. She did it, she had her calf and went out. So Ida had a pretty nice herd of cattle in there.

Well, them in ’37 when I bought the Milking Shorthorns, then, like I say,I gradually worked into it. My Milking Shorthorn bulls I sold those bulls when they were dropped by cow, about a week old I got $150 for those calves. If feed them to where they were a year old, if it was a good one, I got $300 for the bulls. So, you see, I was working ends and trying to make money, trying to do this and that, but I worked myself in pretty good shape (financially). But I was always glad

One time I sold a man down in R , down below Kingsville, he come in and he wanted a bull calf, a small one. He had called. Yeah, I had one for you, $150. It was about 10 days old, I let him have that calf. Well, he bought that calf, went on down there. About a year later, he called me and said, I wish you would come and get that – I got emphezema and I can’t breathe the Doctor told me I got to go to California. The Doctor done sent me over there. I got to get rid of this calf and the cow, do you want that bull back? I said, well, I - he said, he’s in pretty good shape, he grew some after I go him. I said, I’ll be down there in the morning. He told me where he lived. I went down yonder. Behold me, I was sick when I got there. That man hadn’t fed them cows and they were thin as a bone, and that poor calf they had out there in the pasture and it was sucking and it tried to eat cactus with thorns on it, and that poor little calf was so bad looking, I looked at him and I - why 44 would anyone pay $150 and let it starve to death? He said I just didn’t have money to feed them cattle, they just had to feed themselves. I said, I’ll give you your money back, but that’s all I’ll give you. That ‘s $50 too much, but I’ll give you your money back. I took that calf home and I fed it. Well, didn’t feed it but about 8 months, it came out and got to be beautiful. Well. I sold it for $250. A man came out and he looked at that calf and he liked it and I got $250 for it. Well, I didn’t loose money on it but it was an excellent, good calf if a man take care of him, it would be worth $350 by that time. Well then I sold another man some cattle at Flour Bluff. He bought a couple of cows and a bull. Well, about 2 or 3 years later he called me. He had to move and he had to sell the cattle again. I wished I could sell them back to you. What kind of shape? Aw, they’re all right. I took my trailor and went over there to Flour Bluff, and behold me, I found the same situation again. Well, he had increased the herd, though, there was more cattle and calves he had sold. What can you give me for them? I looked them over – I’ll tell you one thing, If I knew you was going to take care of them like you did, you never would have got ‘em. I don’t believe in selling my stuff and it goes like that, I want to go back and see that they take care of ‘em. I’ll give you your money back and forget it. He said If you give me my money back, you can have them. I took them back. I came out all right. When I got them home, I fed them and they all came out ok. But it’s a shame when you sell somebody something and they come out and don’t take care of them. I have never figured out when a man pays $150 for a calf that he don’t take care of it. That’s what I couldn’t figure out. I sold lots of cattle. I sold cattle down in the Valley, I sold cattle way on the other side of San Antonio. I never did sell to many heifers. I had an order for one car load of females from Mexico. They wanted to buy a car load of females from me. I said, I didn’t have that many females. I would sell a cow now and then. I sold some cows to a fella down here in San Patricio. He bought 2 of my real good cows too and he didn’t take care of them like he should. He bought a bull, too. I went down and he wasn’t taking care of them either. Well, he kept them. When I went down there and told him, he sorta taking care of hem better. He had paid a good price for those cows, he didn’t get them for nothing, and still they didn’t take care of them like they should. But then he told me, I sure like your cattle. Yes, but you gotta take care of them. But after I went, I went down again there again, he was after them gravel pits down there, he did take care of them better, they looked better. I don’t know how long he kept them, I never went back down there again.

45 G. Did you ever sell milk commercially?

R. Yes, I’ll tell you, when World War II came, Edroy had 2 stores down there and they had a little restaurant – a Mexican had a little restraurant – well, when WWII came they cut them out of milk delivery. Then they talked to me, if I would sell milk to them. I said, Yes, I would. And then we had a store at West Sinton, up here, an he wanted milk, and of course, the Adams they all got milk and the janitor up there at the school, they all got milk anyhow. Well, then I started selling milk by the quart. A quart and some pints, and I separated some with a little cream, I got real good milk business. I had to deliver every night and every morning. Well Ida was a little girl (about 12 years old) and she loves to drive that pick up and deliver milk, especially when she could take it to Grandma and Uncle Jim up yonder. She go so that she made my deliveries up here. But that was lots of work. But I made some pretty good money. Selling my milk, I was getting 10 cents a quart for the milk at that time, and they was selling it for 15 cents. So that was all right. I sold lots of milk. I don’t know just how many gallons I would have every morning. I took milk at night and in the morning. Had to deliver it. Didn’t have enough at one milking. Except, West Sinton , they only got milk once a day. They get it at night. Well, Ida would take that she would take to Grandma Adams, she’d take to Uncle Jim and she’d to the janitor living up there and she’s take it to store. She liked to do for me. In the 40s, she was a pretty nice girl!!! She loved to do that, then I’d take it down to Edroy, every night and morning I had to make my trip down there. Pick up the bottles- would get some bottles with sand in them, I finally told that one merchant – I’m going to charge you for that. For every time you get sand in the bottle, you – in place of giving them their money back, you just charge them 10 cents if they want to give you sand. Either bring it back clean or you will be charge. And that foolishness quit from now on.

I had a extra milk house that I built out yonder. I already had that when I was separating milk and then I had a double washer (sinks) and a hot water heater. One had hot boiling water and the other was cold soapy water. We washed the bottles in the first water and then they would go in that hot water and put on 1 x 2 rack and when they got a little cooled, we filled them with milk. So that runs into work – if you sell bottled milk. You got to clean them and everything, and scald them. You want clean milk. However, you make again as much selling milk as selling cream. Whole lot more money in that. I delivered them until ’52, I decided to quit milking. 46

I quit milking and used my cows as nurse cows. Then I went up to Cuero and bought 5,6,or 7 calves I buy them from $ 1.50 - $ 2.50. One time I bought a calf, it was sick though when I go it, I paid 50 cents for it. I didn’t know if I wanted to take it home or not, when the man (auctioneer) said, you’ll give me 50 cents for it, I raised my hand – I thought it would go higher than that, but I bought it for 50 cents. I got that little crippled bugger home, it was about 2 days old, I put him on good milk, and it turned out to be a pretty good calf. But I’d feed these calves, and when we needed more calves, I would go as high as La Grange to buy baby calves. I’d go in the pick up, it was fixed up to haul calved and I’d just go buy a bunch of calves. Maybe 5, 6, 7, whatever I needed. One time I sent Edwin up there. Edwin was working for me until ’55. And I sent him up there. Of course, at that time, Edwin could write checks for me, too. I had him in the bank where he could write checks. So, I bought lots of calves. Cuero was a good place to calves, they always had lots of calves. Beeville, I couldn’t get hold of much. But I hardly ever paid more than $ 3.50 for a calf. That was the biggest price I paid. Most of them were from around $2.00 or maybe $2.50. I got a few for $ 1.50 some calves. But that was the general price on them calves. But some calves were 10 days or 2 weeks old. Pretty good sized calves, some of them.

G. Tell us a little bit, what it was like when electricity came out here? What did you do before you had electricity?

R. I tell you, when I came out here and built this house, there was no electricity around here. My father-in-law down there had carbide deals, but I want that, I wanted electricity. I bought me a 32 volt battery set with a motor up, gasoline motor. And it charged up and I had a concrete block and I had a whole row of batteries, about 6 feet there and I had it completely full of batteries. Big batteries. And then I had 32 volts. When I built my house, I think I told you, I did the work myself and wired it all, I had light all over the place. And go back in the chickens Chickens like to lay when it is daylight. When it is dark, they don’t lay much. So I fixed me up – I didn’t want to get up at 4 o’clock in the morning to turn both lights on – the chicken house all had light in it. So I got me an alarm clock and I set it down and make me a little switch with a hole in it and made me a little string in and put that string down and wound my alarm clock at night and in the morning, it was set at 4 o’clock, and when that alarm went off the little 47 thing would turn and turn my switch on and I had lights all over the place. But people all wondered if I got up in the morning at 4 o’clock and put the lights on. They always saw lights over here. Yeah, I got a job and had to put the lights on every morning at the same time. Everybody knew them little alarm clocks. You would wind that little thing and that little thing would wind the string and turn the switch on and I had light all over the place. So you can do of things if you try to figure it out.

But I had 32 volts, I bought a little 32 v. motor to go on the sewing machine, even. She had a little motor on that belt and she could run the sewing machine with it. I had an electric iron with 32 volts. Then I bought me a radio, a 32 volt radio. Well, They came along and wanted to bring electricity. I signed up. I had already bought one set of batteries, so I was on my second set of batteries. I knew they wasn’t going to last too much longer. When you run irons, they take a lot of electricity. You chould sure tell, that motor would really be running out there. So they came along, I signed up, I had everything ready, my house was all wired, they looked it over and oked it. And they told us we would have lights for Christmas. (1939) Well, that looked for us. But, you know, it was just about an hour before sundown, maybe 30 minutes to sundown, and we still didn’t have no lights. All at once here they came (electricity) right before sundown and we had electric light. Took the other wires off. And we had electric lights then. In ’39, Christmas, I got electric lights in this place. But I was the only one in this whole country who had electric lights, ‘cus noone had spend that kind of money for batteries and a motor. And I didn’t just wasn’t going to do without electric lights, that was all there was to it. I was used to them in town there, and so I had myself electric light. Then I checked, I could buy all this stuff in 32 volts, so I bought it all. Yep, had the ole 32 volt batteries.

G. That was the REA?

R. Yeah, the was REA. Well, cut the thing off.

G. Ok.

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