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.  1 

B  I 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 
Brigham  Young  University-Idaho 


http://archive.org/details/beck02maryannbeck 


I 


PROPERTY  OF: 
DAVID  O.  McKAY  LIBRARY 

BYU-IDAHO 
REXBURG  ID  83460-0405 


DAVID  O.  MCKAY  LIBRARY 


3  1404  00904  1036 


From  Mary  Ann  Beck,  Family  Genealogist 

I  have  taken  upon  myself  the  pleasure  and  project  of  being  the 
genealogist  for  my  family.  I  have  done  research  for  my  immediate 
family,  my  sister  Rowena,  and  my  first  cousins.  I  have  spent  hours 
reading  and  searching  newspapers  and  making  phone  calls  to  search 
out  the  information.  Because  of  my  disability,  I  then  had  a  couple  of 
friends  do  the  typing  for  me.  (It's  hard  for  me  to  type.)  They  have 
typed  the  information  from  the  various  family  lines  onto  a  disc  which 
I  then  sent  to  the  International  Genealogical  Index  in  the  Family 
History  Library  in  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  so  that  it  will  be  preserved 
for  generations  and  available  on  the  internet. 

I  researched  all  my  mother  and  dad's  first  cousins,  as  much  as  I 
could  find.  I  did  their  temple  work.  The  majority  were  not  members 
of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints,  but  some  needed 
only  to  have  some  of  their  ordinance  work  finished. 

None  of  my  cousins  seemed  to  have  an  interest  in  doing  genealogy 
work  or  hadn't  the  time  to  do  it.  I  remembered  what  a  teacher  of 
mine,  John  L.  Smith,  told  me  years  earlier  in  1960  about  doing 
genealogy  work  for  the  dead  instead  of  spending  money  on  flowers 
for  the  graves.  I  took  his  advice  to  heart  and  became  interested  in 
Genealogy.  I  guess  that  became  one  of  my  hobbies,  along  with  read- 
ing, especially  the  daily  newspapers,  and  doing  needlepoint  when  I 
can  find  the  time. 


iLtUL^Q^^1^-    jys^ 


Mary  Ann  Beck 
1442  W  1000  South 
Rexburg,  ID  83440 

Occupation:  Telemarketer  for  the  Jefferson  Star,  in  Rigby,  Idaho. 

Church:     Stake  Librarian  and  various  other  callings  including  presently  being  Visiting  Teaching 
Leader 

Things  of  Interest: 

Since  we  last  met,  I  took  a  wild  flower  class  on  August  5,  1989.  I  enjoyed  the  Wild 
Flower  Field  Trip  to  Teton  Canyon  Camp  Ground  which  is  on  pass  Driggs.  We  parked  the  cars 
and  hiked  up  the  South  Teton  Creek  for  three  miles  to  the  fork  in  the  trail.  One  trail  continues  to 
Alaska  Basin  and  Jenny  Lake. 

We  however,  took  the  other  turning  and  hiking  the  trail  to  the  Devil's  Staircase,  a 
distance  of  2.7  miles.  I  hiked  a  total  of  eight  miles.  The  challenge  came  when  I  started  climbing 
the  Devil's  Staircase.  Climbing  the  mountain  was  steep  and  the  footing  was  unsure;  gravel  and 
rocks  were  my  enemies.  If  I  took  one  step  at  time  I  could  make  it  and  I  finally  did.  The  higher 
we  went  the  steeper  it  was.  For  me  to  reach  the  top  of  the  mountain  I  had  to  stop  and  rest  quite 
often.  The  teacher,  Lorentz  Pearson,  lent  me  a  hand,  which  was  very  helpful  the  last  mile  which 
seemed  to  never  end.  He  helped  me  and  guided  me  until  I  reach  the  top.  It  was  a  breath  taking 
view  of  the  valley.  I  felt  I  was  on  top  of  the  world.  I  had  conquered  The  Devil's  Staircase.    This 
to  you,  may  not  seem  too  impressive,  but  for  me  looking  down  from  the  8,000  foot  height  I  felt  I 
had  conquered  something  very  tremendous.  It  gave  me  the  confidence  I  need,  to  conquer,  with 
God's  help,  the  things  that  come  my  way. 

The  Staircase  was  covered  with  Columbine,  Green  Gentian,  Flax,  Snow  bush,  Owl 
Clover  and  Louise  wort.  There  was  another  quarter  mile  across  Alpine  Meadow  to  Little  Lake. 
It  was  a  beautiful  lake  of  clear  running  water.  I  drank  of  the  water  and  it  tasted  really  good.  The 
lake  was  formed  from  the  melting  snow.  There  were  many  lovely  wild  flowers  there  also 
growing  all  over  the  place.  I  liked  walking  though  the  beautiful  flower  garden.  It  was  a  lovely 
day. 

The  big  challenge  was  yet  to  come.  I  had  to  get  over  the  mountain  and  back  down.    It 
was  more  tricky  going  down  because  your  feet  would  not  stop  when  you  wanted  them  to  stop. 
Thanks  to  the  help  of  Brother  Pearson  again.  I  made  it  down  the  mountain  safely.  All  of  this 
was  an  enjoyable  experience  for  a  summer  day. 

After  this  experience  I  felt  so  confident  that  I  took  another  excursion  hunting  for 
mushrooms.  We  drove  through  Heise  and  on  around  through  the  back  roads  to  Moody  and  on 
north  some.  We  stopped  now  and  then  to  find  the  mushrooms.  We  built  a  fire  and  fried  some  in 
butter  and  onions.  They  are  delicious  that  way.  It  was  a  beautiful  warm  day.  It  was  another  fun 
and  enjoyable  accomplishment. 


My  Personal  History 

The  life  history  of  MARY  ANN  BECK 


BEGIN  AT  THE  BEGINNING 

[,  Man  Ann  Beck,  was  born  of  goodly  parents  in  Rexburg,  Idaho,  on  October  14,  1940,  in 
the  Sutherland  Hospital.  Dr.  Sutherland  delivered  me  by  Cesarean  section.  For  my  angle 
mother,  I  was  her  first  child.  She  had  me  when  she  was  39  years  old.  She  had  my  sister  Amelia 
at  the  age  of  43.  My  parents  were  Otto  G.  Beck  and  Anna  Marie  (Mary)  Weber. 

Uncle  Henry  Larsen  and  Aunt  Amelia  tells  the  story  of  the  day  I  was  born.  They  were 
quite  interested  when  I  was  born  as  they  didn't  have  any  of  their  own  children.  They  waited  all 
day  for  my  arrival.  In  the  early  evening  Uncle  Henry  took  a  cow  to  the  neighbors  to  sell.  When 
he  came  back,  my  father  had  called  to  say  that  Mary  Ann  had  arrived  to  her  earthly  home  at  7:00 
p.m.  My  sister,  Rowena,  told  me  how  Uncle  Bill  had  made  a  bet  with  my  father  for  a  sack  of 
potatoes  that  I  would  be  a  boy.  Dad  wanted  a  boy  to  carry  on  his  name.  But  when  my  father  saw 
me  he  was  happy.  He  rejoiced  over  my  safe  arrival.  He  loved  me  and  was  happy  to  have  another 
daughter.  He  gave  me  the  nickname  of  Butch.  He  called  me  that  all  his  life.  I  was  his  baby-girl. 
Father  liked  my  blue  eyes,  blond  hair  and  fair  skin.  Mother,  was  happy  that  I  had  arrived  safely 
too. 

My  birth  was  during  the  potatoes  harvest.  It  was  a  cold,  snowy  day.  Winter  came  early 
that  year.  It  was  the  first  snow.  Dad  was  working  out  in  the  potato  fields,  so  Rowena  took 
Mother  to  the  hospital.  The  weather  was  so  bad  that  the  potatoes  froze  in  the  ground.  They  did 
not  get  them  out  nor  did  they  get  the  sugar  beets  out.  This  made  my  parents  very  humble.  Arlo 
Frost  told  me  that  he  worked  with  my  father  and  was  in  the  field  with  him  the  day  of  my  birth. 

They  named  me  after  my  mother  and  Aunt  Anna,  who  had  passed  away  when  she  was 
young  about  19  years  old.  My  Dad  gave  me  the  nickname  of  Butch.  He  had  always  wanted  a  son 
to  carry  on  his  name.  When  I  was  an  infant,  they  fed  me  on  the  bottle.  I  learned  to  walk  and 
eventually  I  got  my  first  tooth. 

Something  different  about  our  family  is  that  Father  married  sisters.  His  first  wife  was 
Molla.  They  had  one  child,  Rowena.  Molla  passed  away  of  a  heart  attack  in  September  of  1938. 
At  that  time  Rowena  was  14  years  old.  About  six  months  later  Dad  married  Molla's  sister  Mary. 
And  then  I  was  born  to  Mary  and  Otto.  This  makes  Rowena  my  half-sister  and  also  my  first 
cousin. 

About  three  years  later  Amelia  was  born.  She  is  my  full  sister.  She  was  born  three 
months  premature,  on  June  13,  1943,  and  passed  away  that  same  day. 

About  the  time  I  was  old  enough  to  sit  in  a  highchair,  my  parents  noticed  that  1  was  using 
mostly  my  left  hand.  It  seemed  my  right  hand  had  a  birth  defect.   When  I  was  about  12,  after 
having  several  seizures,  they  took  me  to  the  doctor  to  be  checked.  The  Doctor  took  an  x-ray.   It 
showed  a  scar  on  the  left  side  of  my  brain.  That  meant  I  had  a  stroke  during  birth.  The  stroke 
damaged  my  right  side.  My  right  hand  has  only  50%  use.  My  right  leg  is  shorter.   It  slurred  my 
speech  some,  and  it  is  still  hard  to  enunciating  some  words. 

My  father  always  enjoyed  the  good  things  of  life.  He  advised  me  to  attend  church  and  yet 
a  good  education.   My  mother  remembered  that  I  was  shy  and  had  my  feeling  hurt  very  easil) 


MY  CHILDHOOD 

According  to  my  family,  I  had  an  outgoing  personality  but  as  I  grew,  I  soon  became  very 
shy  and  self  conscious  of  my  handicap.  People  would  look  and  stare,  which  made  me  feel,  they 
were  talking  behind  my  back. 

Many  things  happened  to  me  when  I  was  younger  some  were  good  and  some  not  so  good. 
I  remember  going  on  day -type  outings  with  my  Grandparents  Weber  to  places  like  Lava  Hot 
Springs  and  Green  Canyon  during  the  summers. 

When  they  took  out  my  tonsils  at  the  age  of  four,  I  remembered  my  Grandparent  Weber 
being  there  waiting  for  me  when  I  returned  home.  I  enjoyed  seeing  them.  This  really  made  me 
happy. 

As  a  youth  I  was  a  tomboy.  I  liked  going  fishing  with  my  father.  I  enjoyed  helping  him 
grease  the  pickup  and  other  farm  machinery.  My  father  and  I  loved  being  together.  We  would 
also  go  to  the  movies  about  every  week  as  a  Daddy  Daughter  Date.  This  was  the  big  highlight  of 
the  week  for  me.  Dad  liked  cowboy  shows  but  my  mother  did  not  care  for  them.  So  she  stayed 
home.  An  interesting  thing  about  my  family  is  that  my  Mother,  Father  and  I  were  all  born  in 
October. 

My  father  told  me  a  story  about  when  I  was  very  young,  how  mother  enjoyed  playing  with 
me  by  biting  my  fingers.  So  he  would  tell  me  to  bit  her  back. 

We  lived  on  a  farm  situated  about  one  mile  southwest  of  Rexburg,  Idaho.  I  played  house 
by  myself  and  pretended  to  be  the  mother  of  a  large  family.  I  also,  played  with  my  cat  and  dog 
pretending  that  they  were  my  children.  Sometimes  my  cousin,  Konra  would  come  and  play.  We 
would  make  mud  pies  and  pretended  to  be  bakers. 

As  for  childhood  diseases,  I  had  the  measles  and  chicken  pox. 

Franklin  D.  Roosevelt  was  the  32nd  President  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  my  birth. 
We  were  at  war  with  Germany,  World  War  II,  which  started  in  1939.  As  I  was  born  a  year  after 
the  war  started,  I  can  remember  my  parents  having  and  using  the  food  and  gas  ration  stamps. 

I  remember  that  my  sister,  Rowena,  worked  in  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  She  would  come 
home  some  weekends  by  train  or  bus.  When  she  came  by  bus,  they  would  let  her  off  at  the 
corner  and  I  would  run  to  the  corner  and  walk  back  with  her.  I  was  always  happy  to  see  her 
again. 

SCHOOL  DAYS 

When  I  began  going  to  school  it,  was  sad  at  first,  then  it  became  more  fun,  and  enjoyable. 
The  first  grade  is  the  year  I  will  remember  most.  Being  an  only  child,  I  did  not  want  to  leave  my 
parents.  I  had  not  been  around  any  other  children  except  Sunday  School  and  Primary.  That  was 
not  enough  to  prepare  me  for  school  as  the  children  teased  me  because  of  my  handicap. 

Being  very  shy,  I  did  not  like  this  new  situation.  I  started  the  first  grade  two  different 
years.  The  first  time,  I  was  still  five.  When  the  teacher  slapped  a  naughty  child,  it  scared  me. 
My  mother  had  to  really  talk  me  into  starting  again  the  second  year.  She  told  me  how  great 
school  really  was  and  enrolled  me  anyway. 

The  first  day  of  school  my  teacher,  Mrs.  Hudson,  gave  me  a  seat  across  from  a  little  girl 
who  poked  fun  and  teased  until  I  was  crying.  That  was  the  beginning  of  my  mother  going  to 
school  with  me,  which  continued  for  weeks.  Then  one  morning  my  mother  drove  me  to  school, 
told  me  she  was  going  home,  that  I  was  to  go  to  school  alone.  She  then  drove  off,  and  left  me 


standing  there.  So,  I  walked  into  the  class  room  and  sat  on  my  little  chair  in  the  reading  circle.  1 
remember  my  teacher's  face.  This  really  surprised  her!  With  that  all  behind  me  I  continued 
attending  grade  school  and  learning  to  love  it. 

I  started  school  at  Washington  School,  in  Rexburg  at  age  five.  Then  restarted  again  in 
1948  and  continued  this  time.  I  was  changed  to  the  Adams  Elementary  School  for  my  fourth  and 
fifth  grade,  I  then  returned  to  Washington  for  the  sixth  through  eighth  grade.  I  remember  being 
afraid  to  start  school  and  shy  of  the  teacher  and  other  students.  As  time  progressed  I  overcame 
these  feeling  and  learned  to  like  school.  Learning  was  something  I  soon  began  to  love  and  was 
happy  to  be  there.  However,  I  still  remember  the  little  girl  that  teased  and  make  fun  of  me 
because  of  my  handicap.  She  was  very  ignorant  toward  me. 

When  I  was  in  the  fourth  grade,  I  had  an  operation  on  my  right  foot  so  I  would  walk 
straighter.  As  I  remember,  my  foot  hurt  for  about  three  months.  They  had  a  cast  on  my  leg  all 
the  way  to  my  hip  for  three  months,  then  to  my  knee  for  an  additional  six  months.  It  was  hard 
learning  to  walk  again.  It  felt  weird. 

I  remember  participating  in  a  school  play  during  the  fifth  grade.  I  was  one  that  helped 
dump  the  tea  into  the  bay  during  the  reproduction  Boston  Tea  Party.  The  class  I  liked  best  was 
Health.  The  least  favorite  subject  was  arithmetic.  I  never  understood  it  and  had  to  have  a  tutor 
help  me.  My  report  cards  would  usually  show  that  I  was  a  cooperative  and  pleasant  person.  My 
favorite  games  at  school  were  jacks  and  jump  rope.  My  first  grade  teacher  was  Mrs.  Hobson  and 
my  Aunt  Amelia.  Aunt  Amelia  was  really  my  tutor.  She  helped  me  get  through  the  fourth,  fifth 
and  sixth  grades.  She  was  a  great  teacher. 

In  the  sixth  grade  I  liked  my  Art  class  the  best.  I  had  a  good  friend  that  help  me  in  art. 
His  name  was  Karen  Keppner.  Mr.  Robert  Pedersen  and  Victor  Anderson  are  teachers  I 
remember.  I  was  a  "C"  student.  I  participated  in  Physical  Education  and  Softball.  One  time  Mr. 
Pedersen  took  the  class  outside  to  play  ball.  He  played  right  with  us.  We  were  surprise  but 
enjoyed  him.  Once  we  were  going  to  give  him  a  surprise  party,  however;  he  walked  in  right 
when  we  were  preparing  for  it.  So  it  was  not  a  very  good  surprise. 


GROWING  UP  DURING  TEENAGE  YEARS 

I  attended  Madison  High  School  in  Rexburg,  Idaho  from  1955  to  1959.  I  remember  Mr. 
Teuscher,  and  I  especially  remember  Mrs.  Bigler  because  of  her  greetings.  She  was  the  English 
teacher.  She  always  had  a  big  smile  for  everyone  as  they  came  to  class.  My  report  cards 
indicated  I  was  a  well  behaved  and  a  good  student.  I  participated  in  softball.  I  graduated  May 
1959. 

During  these  years,  I  learned  to  drive  the  truck  and  tractor  for  my  Dad  while  he  was 
putting  up  the  hay.  Driving  was  a  skill  that  I  have  been  glad  I  learned.  I  used  it  repeatedly. 

The  Twist  and  Rock  'n  Roll  were  the  popular  dances  then.  Elvis  Presley  was  the  big  hit 
rock  'n  roll  singer  and  actor.  My  favorite  song  was,  Love  Me  Tender  by  Pat  Boone.  My  favorite 
movies  were,  Where  the  Boys  Are  and  Summer  Place.  I  had  some  conflict  with  my  mother 
during  these  years  as  I  thought  I  knew  more  than  she  did.  My  father  died  during  my  teenage 
years  in  December  1955. 

I  graduated  from  Madison  High  School  in  1959. 


COLLEGE  YEARS 

I  started  college  by  taking  a  typing  class  the  summer  after  high  school.  I  enjoyed  college 
very  much.  My  goal  for  attending  college  was  that  I  would  become  a  well-rounded  person  in 
every  phase  of  life.  I  hope  that  I  am  a  kind  and  understanding  person  with  a  likeable  personality. 

One  of  the  classes  I  enjoyed  was  Child  Development.  I  think  it  is  one  of  the  best  classes  a 
girl  could  take.  The  nursery  was  good  and  a  fun  thing  to  have  and  to  observe.  I  graduated  from 
Ricks  College  with  an  Associates  degree  in  General  Education. 

One  of  my  hopes  and  admirations  was  to  get  a  job  in  a  bank  or  business  office.  Another 
dream  was  to  find  the  right  man  and  get  married. 

I  was  unable  to  finish  college  because  of  limited  ability.  I  attended  Ricks  College  off  and 
on  for  several  years-from  1959  to  1973.  I  studied  various  subjects.  I  really  bloomed  and 
developed  mentally,  physically  and  spiritually.  Before  I  started  college,  I  wanted  to  be  a  nurse  or 
teacher.  But  found  that  college  was  difficult.  I  had  to  work  very  hard  to  get  a  degree.  I  did 
however,  receive  an  Associates  Degree  in  1970.  I  continued  taking  classes  as  they  interested  me. 

Some  of  the  classes  I  took  were  Office  Education,  Family  Living,  Communications  and 
Journalism.  I  sang  in  the  Choir  and  received  award  for  being  a  good  member.  I  worked  on  the 
Scroll,  the  college  newspaper,  for  a  year.  And  I  worked  on  the  Rixida  Year  Book  for  another 
year  and  received  an  award  for  my  work  there.  I  also  joined  the  International  Students  Club. 

I  lived  at  home  with  my  mother  while  attending  college  and  learned  patience  and  long 
suffering.  My  social  life  consisted  of  going  to  the  dances.  Besides  my  Associates  degree  in 
1970, 1  received  a  one  year  certificate  in  1962  in  General  Education. 

My  mother  said  that  when  I  went  to  College  I  started  to  bloom  like  a  flower.  My  College 
life  was  the  best  experience  I  could  have  ever  had. 

On  August  5,  1989,  in  one  of  my  college  classes,  I  enjoyed  a  Wild  Flower  Field  Trip  to 
Teton  Canyon  Camp  Ground.  It  is  on  past  Driggs.  We  parked  the  cars  and  hiked  up  the  South 
Teton  Creek  for  three  miles  to  the  fork  in  the  trail.  One  trail  continues  on  to  Alaska  Basin  and 
Jenny  Lake. 

We  however,  took  the  other  turning  and  hiking  the  trail  to  the  Devil's  Staircase,  a 
distance  of  2.7  miles.  I  hiked  a  total  of  eight  miles.  The  challenge  came  when  I  started  climbing 
the  Devil's  Staircase.  Climbing  the  mountain  was  steep  and  the  footing  was  unsure;  gravel  and 
rocks  were  my  enemies.  If  I  took  one  step  at  a  time  I  could  make  it  and  I  finally  did.  The  higher 
we  went  the  steeper  it  was.  For  me  to  reach  the  top  of  the  mountain  I  had  to  stop  and  rest  quite 
often.  The  teacher  Lorentz  Pearson  was  very  helpful  the  last  mile  which  seemed  like  eternity. 
He  helped  me  and  guided  me  until  I  reached  the  top.  It  was  a  breath  taking  view  of  the  valley.  I 
felt  I  was  on  top  of  the  world.  I  had  conquered  The  Devil's  Staircase.  Looking  down  from  the 
8,000  foot  height  I  had  confidence  enough  to  conquer  anything  with  God's  help.  I  could  conquer 
anything  that  might  come  my  way. 

There  was  another  quarter  mile  across  Alpine  Meadow  to  Little  Lake.  It  was  a  beautiful 
lake  of  clear  running  water.  I  drank  of  the  water  and  it  tasted  really  good.  The  lake  was  formed 
from  the  melting  snow.  There  were  many  lovely  wild  flowers  up  there  all  over  the  place.  I  liked 
walking  through  the  beautiful  flower  garden.  It  was  a  lovely  day. 

The  big  challenge  was  yet  to  come.  I  had  to  get  over  the  mountain  and  back  down.  It  was 
more  tricky  going  down  because  your  feet  would  not  stop  when  you  wanted  them  to  stop. 


Thanks  to  the  help  of  Brother  Pearson  again,  I  made  it  down  the-mountain  safely.  All  of  this  was 
a  very  good  experience  for  me. 

The  flowers  were  in  full  bloom.  I'll  name  some  of  them.  They  were  Cow  Parsnip,  Water 
Hemlock,  Monkshood,  Bedstraw,  two  species  of  Geranium,  Willow  Herb  (or  fire  weed),  Lupine, 
low  Larkspur,  tall  Larkspur,  three  or  four  species  of  Indian  Paint  Brush,  two  or  three  species  of 
Cinquefoil,  at  least  four  species  of  Henbane  Daisy,  at  least  five  species  of  Asters,  little  Mountain 
Sunflower,  two  species  of  Arnica,  two  or  three  species  of  Agoseria,  one  of  Hieracium,  Mountain 
Bluebell,  Harebell  (or  Bluebell  of  Scotland),  Forget-me-nots,  and  Coreopsis. 

Also  for  the  mountain  lovers,  there  were  shrubs,  bushes,  and  trees  for  each  to  enjoy  like 
Black  Twinberry,  Red  Twinberry,  Sarvis  Berry,  Englemen  Spruce,  Alpine  Fir,  Fake  Hemlock 
(Douglas  Fir),  Quaking  Aspen,  Willows,  Dogwood,  and  Green  Mountain  Ash. 

On  the  Staircase  at  the  top  of  the  mountain  were  Columbine,  Green  Gentian,  Flax,  Snow 
bush,  Owl  Clover  and  Lousewort. 

On  September  14, 1  went  hunting  for  mushrooms  with  Lorentz  Pearson's  College  class. 
We  drove  through  Heise  to  South  Moody  and  on  north  of  Moody.  We  found  some  mushroom 
and  I  got  to  take  some  home  to  eat.  We  also  built  a  fire  and  fried  some  in  butter  and  onions. 
They  are  delicious  that  way.  It  was  a  beautiful  warm  day.  It  was  a  fun  day  and  I  enjoyed  myself. 

From  my  college  experience,  I  believe  I  learned  to  like  and  meet  people  better.  That  is 
important  because  that  is  what  life  is  made  of  most.  I  learned  how  to  be  more  gracious.  I  enjoy 
being  with  people.  I  feel  I  accomplished  a  neat  thing  because  I  took  the  challenge  and  conquered 
it— I  graduated  from  Ricks  College. 

MY  FAMILY 

My  father  was  Otto  G.  Beck,  the  son  of  Johann  Beck  and  Wilhcelmine  Weber.  He  was 
the  fourth  child,  and  the  third  son  in  a  family  often  children.  He  was  born  October  19,  1 893,  in 
Germany.  Some  special  qualities  I  remember  about  my  father  while  growing  up  was  that  he  was 
a  good,  hardworking  honest  man  who  went  to  church.  He  dealt  fairly  in  his  business.  He  was  a 
loving  and  good  father  to  his  family.  Nobody  had  a  better  father  than  I.  He  was  a  farmer  all  his 
life.  He  passed  away  on  December  24,  1955.  He  died  of  a  cerebral  hemorrhage  or  stroke  at  the 
age  of  62.  I  was  1 5  years  old  at  the  time. 

My  mother  was  Anna  Marie  (Mary)  Weber,  the  daughter  of  Gottlieb  Weber  and  Anna 
Marie  Grassmick.  (This  is  not  the  same  Weber  as  Grandma  Weber  Beck.)  She  was  the  third 
child  and  the  second  daughter  in  a  family  often  children.  She  was  a  twin.  Her  twin  sister  died  a 
month  later.  She  was  born  October  12,  1901  in  Russia.  My  parents  were  married  on  March  22, 
1939.  Some  of  the  special  qualities  I  remember  about  my  mother  are  that  she  was  a  good, 
hardworking,  honest  person.  She  was  loving  and  special  to  me.  She  had  lots  of  faith  and  hopes 
for  me.  One  of  her  biggest  concerns,  in  leaving  this  world,  was  leaving  me  on  my  own.  My 
mother  passed  away  on  December  26,  from  a  heart  attack,  at  the  age  of  72.  She  was  a  widow  for 
1 8  years.  She  was  very  dedicated  to  me,  and  saw  that  I  was  taken  very  good  care  of  until  her 
death.  Her  dream  was  to  see  me  married  to  a  good  man  and  have  a  family.  She  worried  about 
me  because  of  my  handicap.  The  best  thing  my  parents  did  for  me  was  to  help  me  get  my 
education. 

I  remember  my  sister,  Amelia,  was  born  at  home.  It  was  during  the  summer.  Dad  and 
Aunt  Amelia  were  putting  on  my  shoes.  Each  had  a  separate  foot.  Mother  was  in  the  other 


room.  I  remember  the  other  man,  who  was  the  doctor,  being  there. --Mother  had  a  very  hard 
delivery  and  had  to  stay  in  bed,  so  Aunt  Amelia  stayed  several  days  to  help. 

I  remember  Rowena  came  home  for  the  weekends.  She  almost  always  brought  me 
something  special.  She  was  an  outgoing  and  smart  sister.  She  married  Eric  D.  Bresee  on 
October  19,  1946.  They  had  two  sons,  Charles  E.  Bresee  and  Gary  Beck  Bresee. 

My  father's  brothers  and  sisters  were  Christian,  Rosalie,  Fred,  Otto  (my  father),  Bill,  Elsa, 
Albert,  Bob,  John  and  Minnie.  My  mother's  brothers  and  sisters  were  Alex,  Molla,  Mary  (my 
mother),  Katharine,  Katie,  Anna,  Gottlieb,  Amelia,  Bill  and  Mada. 

My  favorite  aunt  was  Aunt  Amelia.  She  was  a  school  teacher  who  did  not  have  any 
children  of  her  own.  She  helped  me  with  my  school  work.  She  was  a  good  kind  person  and 
teacher.  She  was  also  a  peacemaker.  Another  favorite  was  Aunt  Mada.  She  was  a  good  lady. 
Aunt  Katie  was  also  a  favorite.  Freeda  and  Mollie  also  were  good  ladies  in  their  own  way. 

My  mother's  parents,  Webers,  lived  about  a  mile  from  us.  We  could  visit  them  often. 
They  lived  in  town  and  were  always  happy  to  see  me.  Mother  and  I  would  take  Grandma  to  town 
every  Saturday.  They  had  a  player  piano  which  I  enjoyed  playing.  Grandma  would  give  me 
pennies  and  Grandpa  said  he  was  going  to  give  me  his  car  when  I  grew  up. 

Grandpa  Gottlieb  Weber  passed  away  on  August  7,  1957,  in  Rexburg,  of  a  heart  attack. 
Grandma  Anna  Marie  Weber  passed  away  on  December  29,  1954  in  Rexburg  from  a  stroke. 
Grandpa  Johann  Beck  passed  away  on  July  27,  1939  in  Rexburg  of  old  age  and  Grandma 
Wilhcelmine  Weber  Beck  passed  away  on  December  25,  1930  in  Rexburg  also  of  old  age.  They 
were  from  Germany  and  Russia. 

I  will  tell  you  a  brief  story  about  Grandpa  Weber  and  his  brother  Alex.  They  escaped 
from  the  Russian  army  and  came  to  America.  They  were  in  starving  conditions  over  there. 
Grandpa,  worked  for  a  period  of  time  and  saved  money  enough  to  send  for  Grandma  and  their 
five  children.  She  left  her  mother  behind  in  Russia  never  to  see  her  again  on  this  earth. 
Grandpa's  parents  were  dead  when  he  left.  He  was  one  of  the  younger  children.  They  had  more 
than  five  children,  we  think.  All  the  records  were  destroyed  because  of  the  wars  between 
Germany  and  Russia.  Grandma  and  the  children  were  on  the  ship  many  days.  My  mother  told 
me  about  how  the  ship  captain  gave  the  children  some  peanuts.  This  was  their  first  American 
food.  They  left  Europe  in  1906  and  arrived  in  America  sometime  in  1907.  They  settled  in 
Lincoln,  Nebraska  for  a  time.  Then  came  to  Sugar  City,  Idaho  for  sugar  beet  work.  This  was 
hard  work.  They  then  moved  to  Rexburg,  Burton,  Idaho,  where  they  bought  a  farm  and  started 
farming.  My  mother  and  Uncle  Alex  said  that  some  of  both  sides  of  the  family  starved  to  death 
in  Russia  because  there  was  no  food. 

My  grandparents,  Becks,  through  the  influence  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter- 
day  Saints,  came  to  the  United  State  of  America  in  1901 .  It  took  the  family  six  weeks  to  cross 
the  ocean.  After  about  a  year  in  the  United  States  they  joined  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 
Latter-day  Saints.  From  New  York  they  came  directly  to  Rexburg,  Idaho  and  started  farming. 
They  lived  their  lives  out  and  died  there.  My  dad,  Otto,  was  baptized  on  August  2,  1906,  with 
his  family. 

REMEMBRANCES  OF  HOME  LIFE 

My  sister,  Rowena,  was  15-years  older  than  I.  So,  I  was  raised  mostly  as  an  only  child.  I 
always  knew  my  parents  loved  me.  My  parents  showed  their  love  by  caring  and  sharing- 


unconditional  love.  I  spent  most  of  my  time  with  them,  even  through  my  youth.  My  parents 
instilled  the  values  of  honesty,  truth,  and  hard  work.  They  taught  me  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  to  be  true  to  the  faith.  My  mother  was  always  home  when  I  needed  her  and  Dad  was  not  far 
away -maybe  just  out  in  the  fields.  They  taught  me  not  to  hate,  to  forgive  and  forget  and  not  to 
hold  a  grudge. 

I  always  enjoyed  decorating  the  graves  on  Memorial  Day  with  my  parents.  Other  fun 
times  were  watching  television  and  reading.  It  was  always  an  exciting  time  in  the  spring  when 
the  baby  animals  were  being  born.  My  mother  taught  me  to  pray  at  her  knee.  I  first  learned  the 
Lord's  prayer. 

I  can  remember  we  had  the  tradition  of  taking  fishing  trips  during  the  summer.  My 
parents  would  help  me  celebrate  my  birthday  almost  every  year  by  giving  me  a  birthday  party. 
They  would  invite  all  my  friends.  One  thing  I  remember  about  each  birthday  was  that  I  felt  I  was 
getting  older. 

We  always  had  Thanksgiving  with  my  aunts  and  uncles.  At  Christmas  time  Rowena 
would  always  come  home  until  after  she  got  married.  We  would  all  go  over  to  Aunt  Mada's  and 
Uncle  Burton's  because  they  had  a  big  beautiful  home.  We  would  generally  go  there  for 
Christmas  and  New  Years  too.  I  remember  having  a  big  special  dinner  and  having  a  joyful  time. 

I  enjoyed  having  animals  around.  When  I  was  about  ten  years  old,  we  had  rabbits.  Dad 
would  butcher  them  to  eat.  We  also  had  dogs  and  cats.  They  were  my  favorite  pets.  I  remember 
that  they  were  my  best  friends. 

Sometimes  we  went  on  vacations  to  Yellowstone  National  Park  and  Lava  Hot  Springs. 
On  these  vacations  we  camped  in  a  tent  although  sometimes  we  would  stay  in  a  motel.  Some  of 
the  special  memories  I  have  of  these  times  were  watching  Old  Faithful  blow.  That  was  great!  I 
also  liked  watching  Dad  catch  fish.  He  would  do  some  fishing  and  then  get  a  load  of  wood  for 
our  winter  heat  supply.  We  would  do  both  on  the  same  trip. 

One  time  Mother  and  I  took  a  special  trip  to  Yellowstone  National  Park  with  Rowena  and 
her  family,  Gary,  and  Charles. 

I  was  born  and  raised  in  the  same  home  all  my  life.  It  was  a  stucco  home  that  Dad  and  his 
cousin,  Bill  Foell,  built  about  1935-1936. 1  am  still  living  in  it  today. 

I  grew  up  in  Rexburg,  Idaho,  home  of  Ricks  College.  In  later  years,  I  was  able  to  work  at 
the  college.  The  population  of  Rexburg  in  1980  was  10,000.  It  is  within  100  miles  of 
Yellowstone  National  Park. 

WORKING  YEARS 

The  very  first  job  for  which  I  was  paid  was  driving  tractor  and  truck  for  my  Father  in  the 
hay  fields.  He  paid  me  about  $1 .50  per  hour  or  bought  my  school  clothes.  In  high  school  I 
worked  in  the  cafeteria  for  a  year.  This  mainly  paid  for  my  meals.  I  enjoyed  working  best  for  my 
Dad  because  it  was  outside  and  I  was  helping  my  Father.  I  felt  that  he  needed  me  too. 

I  worked  at  Ricks  College  part-time  as  a  custodian  before  receiving  my  degree.  I  also 
worked  at  the  College  in  the  Registrars  Office  part-time,  for  seven  years. 

I  did  telemarketing  work  for  the  Standard  Journal  for  the  Classify  Ads  Department.  In 
September  1995, 1  started  working  for  the  Jefferson  Star  newspaper  in  Rigby  doing  telemarketing 
also. 


BEGINNING  ANEW  ■* 

I  was  given  my  name  and  blessing  shortly  after  my  birth  in  1941  in  the  Rexburg  3rd 
Ward.  I  was  baptized  December  4,  1948,  in  the  old  Rexburg  Tabernacle. 

I  received  my  Patriarchal  blessing  on  June  13,  1956,  from  Peter  J.  Ricks,  in  Rexburg, 
Idaho.  This  blessing  has  guided  my  life.  It  promised  me  the  gift  of  leadership  and  admonished 
me  to  call  upon  the  Lord  in  times  of  disappointment  and  sorrow.  Some  counsel  contained  in  that 
blessing  that  I  would  like  to  share  with  my  posterity  is  to  stay  with  good  companions  and  people, 
and  to  stay  with  the  Saints. 

In  April  of  1975  I  went  to  the  Idaho  Falls  Temple  and  received  my  endowments. 

RELIGIOUS  ACTIVITY 

I  participated  in  Primary  from  1948  to  1951 .  I  remember  a  favorite  teacher,  Mrs. 
Henrietta  Klingler.  I  was  semi-active  in  Primary.  When  I  was  about  ten  years  old,  I  had  the 
chicken  pox  or  measles  and  I  was  sent  home  from  Primary.  My  teacher  later  called  my  mother  to 
find  out  what  was  wrong.  She  told  how  she  and  the  class  members  missed  my  not  being  there. 
So  when  I  got  better,  I  went  back  to  Primary  and  never  missed  it  again  except  for  illnesses.  That 
was  the  beginning  of  going  to  church  and  staying  active.  My  Primary  teacher  took  a  special 
interest  in  me  and  that  is  why  I  became  active  in  the  LDS  Church. 

I  remember  John  L.  Smith.  He  was  a  favorite  Sunday  School  teacher.  He  was  a  very 
spiritual  teacher.  One  thing  he  told  us  was  that  for  Memorial  Day,  it  would  be  better  for  the  dead 
if  we  would  do  their  genealogy  work  rather  than  by  putting  flowers  on  their  graves. 

At  church  I  developed  some  good  friendships.  I  always  enjoyed  when  missionaries  would 
return  from  their  missions  and  give  their  report.  I  remembered  one  missionary  telling  us  to  live  a 
good  life  and  followed  Christ's  example  so  we  could  inherit  the  celestial  kingdom.  They  always 
seem  so  spiritual  when  they  first  return  from  their  missions.  I  appreciated  their  messages. 

I  have  given  talks,  taught  a  few  classes  and  bore  my  testimony  of  the  Church.  These  have 
helped  me  learn  to  express  myself  better.  At  first,  I  felt  very  humble  and  shy  about  participating 
but  later  I  would  have  a  good  feeling  and  was  glad  I  had  done  it.  I  have  learned  to  have  faith, 
hope  and  never  give  up.  My  parents  taught  me  that  if  I  would  go  to  church,  and  be  good,  that  I 
would  have  an  active  and  good  life. 

In  MIA  I  received  six  individual  awards  and  I  earned  my  Golden  Gleaner  Award  as  a 
young  woman.  I  fulfilled  the  following  requirements.  I  had  a  strong  desire  to  become  a  Golden 
Gleaner.  The  award  in  and  of  itself  was  not  as  important  to  me  as  actually  doing  the  work  for  the 
different  areas  of  development. 

I  thank  my  Heavenly  Father  that  I  was  born  of  goodly  parents  who  were  members  of  His 
church.  I  am  grateful  that  I  was  born  and  raised  in  the  gospel.  I  have  followed  the  rules  that 
were  set  forth  in  the  application  to  earn  this  award.  The  ones  I  chose  to  do  are  as  follows: 

Spiritual  area  - 

2.         I  taught  a  Primary  class  from  July  1958  to  1961 . 
5 .         I  did  research  on  five  ancestors  of  my  mothers. 

Executive  area  - 

1 .  I  was  a  council  officer  in  the  Rexburg  Third  Ward  from  November  1 960  to 

1961. 


4.  I  was  a  council  officer  on  the  Rexburg  Stake-Board  from  November  1959 

to  1960. 
7.         I  was  chairman  of  four  firesides.  They  were  held  March  18,  April  29, 

June,  and  July  17,  1962. 
Cultural  area  - 

1 .  I  gave  two  talks,  one  in  Sunday  School  June  1 960  and  one  in  Mutual  in 
November  1961. 

4.  I  read  and  wrote  reports  on  important  articles  in  the  Improvement  Era  for 
the  year  of  1961. 

5.  I  was  in  the  Road  show  in  August  1959. 

6.  I  was  in  the  Road  show  in  August  1960. 

7.  I  was  in  the  Ricks  College  Ward  May  1961 . 
Creative  area  - 

2.  I  helped  edit  the  Rexburg  Third  Ward's  news  bulletin  for  three  months, 
Dec.  1961,  Jan.  and  Feb.  1962. 

8 .  Canned  during  August  and  September  of  1 96 1 . 

9.  I  created  menus  and  served  meals  to  my  family  for  one  week  in  November 
1961. 

10.  I  earned  the  Silver  Gleaner  award  1959. 

I  did  this  in  good  faith,  I  thank  my  Heavenly  Father  for  my  membership  in  His  church  and 
for  the  high  standards  that  are  set  for  me.  Through  these  activities  my  knowledge  and 
understanding  of  the  gospel  have  been  broadened,  and  my  testimony  has  grown.     My  first 
church  job  was  as  a  Primary  teacher.  I  was  twelve  or  thirteen  years  old  when  the  bishop  of  the 
Third  Ward  called  me  to  this  position. 

I  enjoyed  going  to  Relief  Society  in  the  College  Wards.  That  is  where  I  gained  my 
testimony  and  love  for  Relief  Society.  I  learned  that  Relief  Society  is  the  Lord's  place  for  the 
sisters  of  the  church.  I  was  also  the  Sunday  School  Secretary  of  the  College  First  Ward  during 
one  summer. 

I  have  enjoyed  working  in  the  Church.  I  have  been  the  Young  Special  Interest  Leader, 
Primary  Teacher,  Visiting  Teacher,  Sunday  School,  Relief  Society  Secretary  and  Message 
Leader.  These  all  helped  me  grow  in  developing  my  leadership  ability,  meeting  people  and 
gaining  a  testimony. 

I  started  attending  the  Single  Adult  Activities  and  Dances  when  the  organized  it  in  1 974- 
75.  I  lived  in  the  Rexburg  3rd  Ward  for  39  years.  When  they  divided  the  ward  on  September  7, 
1 980, 1  became  a  member  of  the  Rexburg  19th  Ward.  I  have  been  a  Visiting  Teacher  in  the  3rd 
Ward  for  more  than  four  years.  In  1989  through  1996  I  was  the  Stake  Librarian,  the  first  and 
only  Stake  position  I've  held  so  far.  At  present  I  am  the  Visiting  Teacher  Message  Leader  again. 

Something  I  have  enjoyed  doing  is  genealogy  work.  I  have  compiled  the  histories  of  my 
mother's,  Webers,  side  of  the  family.  I  have  also  completed  the  temple  work  for  my  ancestors. 

SPIRITUAL  GROWTH 

In  1959,  President  McKay  stated  every  person  is  a  missionary.  And  he  said  that  more 
temples  were  being  built  now  than  ever  before.  I  contribute  to  Christ's  work  by  doing  my  part  in 
the  Gospel,  by  fulfilling  my  callings  in  my  Ward  and  Stake  to  the  best  of  my  ability. 


I  had  an  interesting  opportunity  to  preach  the  gospel  when  the  Teton  flood  happened. 
There  were  lots  of  nonmembers  that  came  to  help  clean  up,  etc.  Those  that  worked  or  had  any 
connection  with  me,  I  gave  a  Book  of  Mormon  to  them  before  they  left.  I  was  surprise  to  learn 
that  they  thought  Mormons  had  more  than  one  wife.  That  was  all  they  knew  about  the  Mormons 
and  all  they  wanted  to  talk  about. 

Special  counsel  given  to  us  by  Church  leaders  include,  stay  close  to  Gospel  and  Church, 
stand  in  Holy  Places  and  pick  good  companions. 

During  my  lifetime  there  has  been  some  prophesies  fulfilled  concerning  the  Last  Days. 
One  of  these  was  when  the  Lord  revealed  that  the  Negro  could  hold  the  priesthood.  I  feel  this 
was  a  good  thing  because  they  are  good  people  too  and  should  have  this  blessing. 

TETON  DAM  FLOOD 

Mary  Ann  Beck  was  living  by  herself  at  the  time  of  the  flood.  She  was  36  years  old  at 
this  time.  She  lived  at  Route  4,  Rexburg,  Idaho,  and  was  living  there  during  the  flood. 

Mary  Ann  was  a  business  woman  and  worked  at  Washington  Grade  School.  She  owned 
her  home,  farm  and  business  before  the  flood.  She  supported  the  construction  of  the  Teton  Dam 
because  she  felt  that  the  people  and  farmers  in  the  valley  needed  flood  control  and  extra  water. 
She  felt  that  water  had  been  short  for  years. 

Mary  Ann  was  in  West  Yellowstone  with  some  girlfriends  the  weekend  the  Teton  Dam 
broke.  She  couldn't  believe  her  ears  when  she  heard  that  the  dam  had  broken-she  seemed  to  be 
in  a  daze.  Mary  Ann  was  unable  to  save  any  of  her  household  or  personal  belongings  before  the 
water  hit  as  the  phones  and  communications  were  out.  She  felt  it  was  a  miraculous  thing  that  she 
was  away  during  the  flood.  She  stayed  at  the  Three  Bears  Motel  in  West  Yellowstone  until  June 
7,  1977,  then  upon  arriving  home  she  found  a  town  of  destruction. 

The  evening  of  June  4,  was  the  last  time  Mary  Ann  was  to  travel  the  Sugar  City  overpass 
on  her  way  to  West  Yellowstone.  Anita,  Carol  and  Connie  were  with  her.  At  the  time  the  Teton 
Dam  broke  they  were  at  Old  Faithful  in  Yellowstone  National  Park.  They  over  heard  comments 
about  a  dam  breaking  but  never  once  figured  it  could  be  their  Teton  Dam.  After  returning  to 
their  motel  they  heard  more  rumors  and  comments  about  it  breaking.  When  Anita  went  for  some 
ice,  she  learned  it  was  the  Teton  Dam  and  wanted  the  television  turned  on.  So  the  four  young 
ladies  sat  on  the  edge  of  their  beds  watching  the  water  flooding  Rexburg.  She  was  petrified, 
shocked,  and  wondered  whether  her  eyes  were  playing  tricks.  The  whole  town  of  Rexburg  was 
underwater.  Homes  were  floating  down  Main  Street  of  Rexburg.  She  even  saw  her  aunt's  home 
floating  down  the  road.  We  heard  on  television  that  the  State  of  Idaho  had  called  the  National 
Guard  out  for  emergency  action.  That  was  when  two  of  the  girls,  Anita  and  Connie,  decide  to 
leave  for  home  as  soon  as  possible.  Carol  and  Mary  Ann  decided  to  wait  until  daybreak  to 
return. 

Before  Anita  and  Connie  left  for  Rexburg,  they  all  knelt  for  prayer.  They  were  up  there 
for  a  Special  Interest  activity.  Ron  Bird,  the  Priesthood  representative,  gave  the  prayer.  When  he 
finished,  Mary  Ann  had  a  clam  feeling  come  over  her  and  felt  she  did  not  need  to  panic  about 
getting  home.  There  was  peace  in  her  heart  she  had  told  her  relatives  that  she  would  be  gone  for 
the  weekend.  The  other  girls  left  not  knowing  what  the  roads  were  like,  they  went  on  faith. 

Mary  Ann  spent  two  restless  nights  in  West  Yellowstone  thinking  about  home  and 
relatives.  The  next  day  on  Sunday  she  went  to  Church  but,  "my  heart  wasn't  there;  it  was  in 

10 


Rexburg  thinking  of  my  home,  if  it  was  gone  and  about  the  two  girls  that  had  left  the  night 
before,  and  whether  they  had  made  it  there  or  not."  The  Bishop's  sister,  Sister  Knight  was  in 
West  Yellowstone  and  offered  to  take  Mary  Ann  home.  They  started  out  Monday  afternoon. 
They  had  to  go  through  Felt,  Idaho.  The  road  conditions  in  Teton  were  terrible,  bridges  were 
washed  out,  lumber  was  scattered  in  fields,  tractors  were  turned  over,  cattle  were  dead  and  the 
crops  were  under  water. 

When  they  arrived  at  Rexburg,  it  looked  as  if  a  natural  disaster  had  hit.  The  place  was 
covered  with  mud  and  debris  all  over.  Traffic  could  only  go  one  direction  and  only  on  certain 
roads.  The  National  Guard  was  picking  up  dead  animals  from  off  Main  Street  and  other 
surrounding  areas.  All  the  stores  were  boarded  up  with  signs  reading,  Out  of  Business.  People 
wearing  fishing  boots,  were  cleaning  up  other  businesses.  Ricks  College  was  like  an  invasion  of 
helicopters.  They  were  flying  and  landing  on  the  hill  like  flies.  The  college  campus  was  a 
lifesaver  for  the  valley. 

Mary  Ann's  home,  a  mile  and  half  west  out  of  town,  was  the  best  sight  as  it  was  standing 
in  one  piece.  She  was  nervous  trying  to  get  out  of  the  car  and  into  the  house.  In  fact  she  could 
hardly  get  the  key  to  open  the  door  for  fear  of  what  she  would  face.  Good  fortune,  the  top  floor 
was  dry.  Her  car  was  still  there  and  it  started.  The  electricity  and  water  were  off  for  three  days. 
There  was  five  and  a  half  feet  of  water  in  her  basement.  People  seemed  to  be  in  a  daze.  It  was 
terrible— the  condition  of  Rexburg  and  her  home.  Rexburg  was  truly  a  national  disaster.  Mary 
Ann  was  really  relieved  that  she  was  spared  from  more  damage  than  she  did.  She  was  grateful 
and  thanked  God  for  His  goodness  and  mercy. 

Some  of  the  major  damage  she  suffered  was  that  the  pump  was  gone,  the  stairway  to  the 
basement  was  gone  and  about  forty  acres  of  the  farm  had  to  be  leveled.  Logs  and  other  debris 
were  all  over  the  farmland.  Mary  Ann  was  blessed  in  that  her  home  was  still  there,  and  her 
personal  and  cherished  belongings  were  not  lost  with  the  flood. 

Soil  Conservation  hired  some  boys  and  men  to  help  clean  up.  They  took  the  logs  and 
debris  off  the  farmland.  The  HUD  came  in  and  slopped  out  the  basement  because  it  had  a  dirt 
floor.  They  built  a  new  stairway.  It  was  hard  to  manage  with  no  electricity  and  no  water. 
Volunteers  from  the  Latter-day  Saints  also  helped  in  cleaning  up  the  debris.  Buckets  and  mops 
were  received  from  HUD  to  sanitize  the  basement.  Both  HUD  and  BOR  helped  and  did  a  fine 
job. 

There  were  a  few  bad  incidents  that  did  happen— like  the  one  that  was  in  the  newspaper, 
of  two  brothers  that  filed  false  flood  claim  amounts  and  got  sent  to  prison. 

Mary  Ann  felt  that  the  flood  was  a  manmade  disaster  but  that  BOR  didn't  intentionally 
want  the  dam  to  break.  She  felt  that  some  of  their  engineers  made  some  misjudgments  in  their 
work.  It  really  was  not  divine  intervention  or  punishment.  She  would  like  to  see  the  dam  rebuilt. 
People  of  Teton,  Rexburg,  and  Wilford  need  the  dam  for  water,  irrigation  purposes,  and  flood 
control. 

Because  of  the  flood  Rexburg  became  a  brand  new  town  and  was  soon  enough  smelling 
sweet  as  a  rose.  People,  in  general,  were  better  off  than  they  were  before.  Through  the 
experience  of  the  flood  people  discovered  that  their  families  are  the  most  important  thing.  Cars, 
property,  everything  worldly,  can  be  gone— swept  away— in  matter  of  minutes  and  can  be 
replaced.  But  families  and  children  are  eternal  if  you  are  prepared.  Things  like  this  tend  to  make 
people  humble. 

11 


MEMORIES 

It  happens  every  time  I  sit  in  the  public  library  in  front  of  the  picture  window.  Memories 
flow  back  to  my  mind  of  happy  times  when  I  was  a  child  growing  up.  I  would  go  over  to  my 
Aunt  Mada's  and  Uncle  Burton's  home  and  play  with  three  of  my  cousins,  Konra,  Billy  and  Bob. 
Their  home  was  a  large  and  beautiful  wood  frame  home.  My  Uncle  at  one  time  owned  Montana 
and  Idaho  Lumber  Company  which  was  on  First  North  and  Center  Street.  Their  home  was  the 
envy  of  the  neighborhood.  All  the  neighborhood  children  would  congregate  there.  That  is  where 
the  Weber  family  on  my  mother  side  would  get  together  for  the  Thanksgiving,  Christmas  and 
New  Years  holidays.  On  Saturdays  I  would  get  to  go  there  to  visit  and  play  with  cousins. 

My  Grandparents  would  take  their  weekly  bath  there.  This  was  done  because  my  Aunt 
Mada  was  the  only  daughter  that  lived  in  town  and  had  indoor  plumbing  inside  her  home.  After 
a  few  years  my  Grandparents  moved  to  town  and  built  a  home  next  door  to  Aunt  Mada  and  Uncle 
Burton.  It  was  a  little  white  frame  home  made  of  wood.  They  both  lived  out  their  lives  there. 
Their  home  is  still  standing.  It  is  the  only  home  left  in  that  block.  All  the  others  have  been  sold 
for  commercial  businesses,  due  to  the  commercial  zoning  laws. 

Aunt  Mada's  home  was  torn  down  after  the  Teton  Dam  flood.  The  floor  destroyed 
everything.  The  flood  was  in  1976.  All  that  was  left  standing  was  two  evergreen  trees  and  the 
brick  border  around  the  property. 

Also,  while  visiting  Grandmother  on  Saturdays,  I  loved  to  play  her  player  piano.  I  always 
looked  forward  to  playing  it.  I  thought  I  was  really  smart.  I  could  play.  Grandma  had  a  lot  of 
piano  rolls  to  play.  Her  favorite  was  the  song.  My  Country  Tis  of  Thee  and  America.  When  I 
would  leave  to  go  home,  she  would  always  say,  "Put  America  back  on  the  roller"  that  way  it 
would  be  always  ready  for  her  to  play. 

Another  memory  was  that  I  would  walk  to  Grandma  and  Grandpa  Weber's  home 
sometimes  for  lunch  when  I  was  attending  Adams  Elementary  School.  I  remember  after 
Grandmother  passed  away,  Grandpa  moved  in  with  Aunt  Mada's  family  because  he  had 
Parkinson  Disease  and  couldn't  stay  home  by  himself.  Aunt  Mada  had  a  swing  on  the  front  porch 
of  her  home.  And  Grandpa  would  sit  and  rock  for  hours.  That  was  his  favorite  thing  to  do.  lean 
still  see  him,  in  my  mind,  swinging  back  and  forth,  back  and  forth,  back  and  forth  watching  the 
traffic  pass  by. 

Whenever  I  drive  by  the  old  gray  rock  home  on  my  way  to  Hibbard  which  is  about  two 
miles  west  of  Rexburg,  I  think  of  my  Grandparent  Weber.  It  sits  nestled  near  the  canal  on  the 
north  of  the  road.  As  a  child  I  could  hear  the  rushing  waters  as  it  ran  down  the  stream,  through 
the  culverts  and  over  the  rocks  on  it  way  to  irrigate  the  thirsty  farm  fields.  They  had  beautiful 
Flocks,  Irises  and  a  beautiful  Snowball  tree.  I  loved  going  over  there  in  the  Spring  and  Summer 
times  to  pick  the  flower  for  Decoration  Day.  It  was  a  tradition  to  go  to  the  different  cemeteries  to 
decorate  the  graves.  All  of  my  family— both  the  Weber  and  Beck  grandparents  are  there  in  the 
Rexburg  Cemetery  as  well  as  a  lot  of  aunts,  uncles  and  cousins.  I  feel  that  is  where  I  got  my 
interest  in  genealogy. 

On  Saturdays  my  mother  and  I  would  take  Grandma  and  take  her  to  town  to  do  her 
Saturday  shopping.  She  would  always  spoil  me  and  give  me  some  of  her  change,  two  to  five 
pennies,  whatever  she  had.  I  really  liked  that  and  looked  forward  to  her  gift. 

They  raised  chickens,  geese  and  white  sheep.  We  always  had  a  goose  dinner  for  the 
holidays.  My  parent  and  Grandparents  would  butcher  the  beef  or  pork  and  make  liverwurst  out 

12 


of  it.  They  used  a  receipt  from  the  old  country.  Some  of  it  I  liked  and  some  I  did  not.  But  it  was 
a  tradition  that  they  did  every  winter.  This  was  something  I  didn't  enjoy  very  much.  They  moved 
from  the  farm  to  Rexburg  in  the  early  1950s. 

I  remember  in  the  Spring  my  parents  and  I  would  go  out  to  pick  the  asparagus  around  the 
farm  near  the  canals.  That  was  one  of  the  signs  of  spring.  I  remember  one  spring,  when  I  was  a 
little  older,  I  went  with  Dad  to  pick  the  asparagus.  On  this  particular  day,  I  managed  to  fall  in  the 
water.  The  ditch  banks  were  very  uneven  probably  causing  me  to  lose  my  balance.  If  I 
remember  correctly,  I  fell  in  more  than  once. 

I  enjoyed  going  with  my  mother  for  that  special  walk  until  I  finally  was  old  enough  to 
pick  the  asparagus  myself.  It  became  my  job  then.  I  still  look  forward  every  May  to  pick  the 
asparagus.  I  enjoy  walking  through  the  fields.  I  feel  blessed  to  have  lived  all  these  years  in  the 
same  location,  growing  up  doing  these  activities— learning  from  my  parents.  Picking  asparagus 
was  one  of  my  highlights  of  spring. 

I  also  remember  when  I  was  about  ten  or  eleven,  I  decided  I  could  pay  my  folks  telephone 
bill.  I  had  gone  with  them  many  time  and  had  seen  them  pay  the  bill  with  a  check.  So  I  took  one 
of  my  mother's  checks  and  while  she  was  into  the  grocery  store,  I  went  into  the  telephone  office 
and  gave  the  clerk  this  check  that  I  had  signed.  She  took  it.  In  thinking  about  this  I  am  really 
surprised  that  she  would  even  take  it.  However,  when  I  told  my  mother  what  I  had  done,  she  was 
really  shocked  and  tried  to  explain  to  me  that  I  did  not  have  an  account— that  I  could  not  just  go 
write  a  check.  She  then  took  me  back  into  the  telephone  office  and  paid  the  bill. 


MY  OBITUARY 

We  usually  say  all  our  nice  things  about  people  only  after  they  are  dead.  And  we  rarely 
say  nice  things  about  ourselves,  at  least  not  in  an  obvious  way. 

As  I  am  doing  my  own  "advance  obituary"  I  am  going  to  try  take  enough  nerve  to 
verbalize  all  that  is  good,  decent  and  lovable  about  myself.  If  I  were  to  die  at  this  point,  this  is 
how  would  I  would  summarize  my  life  and  person. 

Mary  Ann  knew  she  was  a  Child  of  God  and  that  God  loved  her  very  much.  She  was 
very  humble  and  prayerful  in  her  life.  She  tried  to  stay  close  to  God  and  her  religion. 

Because  of  Mary  Ann's  handicap  and  after  her  parents  passed  away  people  had 
reservations  about  her  being  able  to  take  care  of  her  own  business  affairs.  She  has  done  very  well 
in  this  regard. 

The  second  thing  was  the  schooling  she  took  advantage  of.  "In  all  thy  getting,  get 
understanding,"  taken  from  the  scriptures.  Mary  Ann  never  gave  up  trying  to  reach  her  goals. 
When  she  was  down,  she  came  bouncing  back,  and  would  try  again,  and  kept  on  trying.  She  was 
a  good  listener  especially  for  her  friends  and  relatives.  She  is  a  warm  and  very  good-hearted 
person  who  would  do  anything  to  help. 

Here  lies  Mary  Ann  Beck  who  was  a  very  warm  understanding  person  who  was  a  good 
listener  and  a  very  just  person. 


13 


HISTORICAL  LINKAGE  -  ,/ 

1940  -  Mary  Ann  was  born  on  October  14,  1940,  at  7:00  p.m.,  in  the-Merefeeff^temesari 
Hospital,  in  Rexburg,  Idaho.  During  that  same  year  the  following  events  took  place. 

In  that  year  also  the  Mormon  Battalion  Monument  was  dedicated  in  San  Diego,  CA. 

U.S.  population  was  131,669,175.  Average  life  expectancy  was  64  years  /49  in  1900 

The  Jack  Benny  Show,  Fibber  McGee  and  Molly.  The  Shadow,  and  Gangbusters 

were  popular  radio  shows. 

Carson  McCullers'  The  Heart  is  a  Lonely  Hunter  was  published. 

Mae  West  and  W.C.  Fields  starred  in  My  Little  Chickadee. 

For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  by  Earnest  Hemingway  was  published. 

Hattie  McDaniel  was  the  first  African- American  woman  to  win  an  Oscar,  for  the  best 

supporting  actress  in  Gone  With  the  Wind. 

John  Steinbeck  was  awarded  a  Pulitzer  Prize  for  Grapes  of  Wrath,  Carl  Sandburg  for 

Abraham  Lincoln:  The  War  Years. 

U.S.  foreign  policy  shifted  from  neutrality  to  non  belligerency. 

President  Roosevelt  submitted  $8,400,000,000  budget,  including  $1,800,000,000  for 

national  defense,  50,000  airplanes  a  year. 

AFL  and  CIO  pledged  support  to  the  national  defense  program. 

Many  of  Europe's  greatest  scientists  fled  to  the  U.S. 

Smith  Act  required  registration  of  all  aliens. 

Congress  created  Selective  Service  System,  requiring  men  of  21  to  27  to  register. 

U.S.  President  Franklin  D.  Roosevelt  signed  the  Act  setting  up  the  nations  first  peace 

time  military  draft  in  history. 

George  Washington  Carver  Foundation  for  Agricultural  Research  was  established  at 

Tuskegee  Institute  in  honor  of  Carver,  a  former  slave. 

The  40-hour  week,  provided  by  Fair  Labor  Standards  Act  of  1938  went  into  effect. 

The  Alien  Registration  Act  was  passed,  requiring  registration  and  fingerprinting. 

July  4~  American  Negro  Exposition  was  held  in  Chicago  in  celebration  of  the 

Emancipation  Proclamation. 

Thomas  Wolfs  You  Can't  Go  Home  Again  was  published,  posthumously. 

Cartoon  character  Bugs  Bunny  was  created  by  Tex  Avery. 

U.S.  embargoed  export  of  scrap  iron  and  steel  to  Japan. 

Radiation  Laboratory  was  established  at  MIT  for  radar  experimentation. 

Vladimir  Zworykin  and  James  Hillier  invented  the  electron  microscope. 

President  Roosevelt  suggested  lending  arms  to  Great  Britain  (lend-lease). 

George  S.  Kaufman  and  Moss  Hart  wrote  George  Washington  Slept  Here. 

Raymond  Chandler's  Farewell,  My  Lovely  was  published. 

By  September  isolationist  groups  were  increasing  across  the  country;  Charles  A. 

Lindbergh  joined  the  America  Firsters. 

Congress  established  the  Fish  and  Wildlife  Service  to  develop  and  administer  a 

program  of  wildlife  conservation. 

Cornelius  Warmerdam  set  a  pole-vault  record  of  15  feet.  Two  years  later  he  set  a 

new  record  of  1 5  feet,  7  3/4  inches. 


14 


Cincinnati  Reds  won  over  the  Detroit  Tigers  4-3.  The  Red's  first  World  Series  win 
in  21  years. 

The  Willy  Corporation  introduced  the  high-clearance  4-wheel  drive  Jeep. 
The  Gallup  poll  reported  weekly  movie  attendance  at  54,000,000. 
Oscars  went  to  James  Stewart  for  best  actor,  in  The  Philadelphia  Story,  to  Ginger 
Rogers  for  best  actress,  in  Kitty  Foyle,  and  to  Rebecca  as  best  film. 
Franklin  D.  Roosevelt  was  reelected  as  President,  Henry  A.  Wallace  elected  as  Vice- 
President,  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  the  first  presidential  third  term  in  U.S.  history. 


1948  -  In  December  1948  Mary  Ann  was  baptized  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 
Latter-day  Saints  at  the  Rexburg  Tabernacle.  That  same  year  the  Church  announced  that  Ricks 
College  in  Rexburg,  Idaho,  would  become  a  four-year  college  in  the  1949-50  school  year. 

•      Production,  employment  and  national  income  were  high;  strikes,  higher  wages  and 

prices  resulted  in  an  inflation  spiral. 

Mohandas  Gandhi  was  shot  fatally  by  a  Hindu  Fanatic  in  New  Delhi. 

The  world's  largest  telescope,  with  a  200-inch  mirror,  was  installed  at  Mt.  Palomar, 

California. 

Miles  Davis's  combo  pioneered  cool  jazz. 

Secretary  of  Interior  Krug  urged  voluntary  conservation  to  meet  the  oil  shortage. 

Norman  Mailer's  The  Naked  and  the  Dead  was  published. 

David  Smith  created  his  abstract  sculpture,  The  Royal  Bird. 

The  U.S.  accepted  membership  in  the  World  Health  Organization. 

Displaced  Persons  Act  authorized  admission  of  205,000  Europeans  in  the  next  two 

years;  the  first  shipload  arrived  in  October. 

James  Gould  Cozzens'  Guard  of  Honor  was  published  and  won  the  Pulitzer  Prize. 

The  Housing  Act  authorized  Federal  loans  for  private  construction  of  lowcost  homes. 

James  Faulkner's  Intruder  in  the  Dust  was  published. 

The  UN  Loan  Act  authorized  a  $65,000,000  loan  for  the  UN  building  in  New  York. 

Agnes  DeMille  staged  the  ballet  Fall  River  Legend  with  Nora  Kaye  and  music  by 

Morton  Gould. 

Bardeen,  Brattain  and  Shockley  invented  the  transistor. 

Eero  Saarinen  designed  the  630-foot  Gateway  Arch  in  Saint  Louis. 

Peter  Goldmark  developed  the  LP  (Long  Playing)  phonograph  record. 

The  City  and  the  Pillar  by  Gore  Vidal  was  published. 

Vitamin  B-12  was  isolated  from  liver,  to  be  used  in  treatment  of  pernicious  anemia. 

Maxwell  Anderson's  Anne  of  the  Thousand  Days  was  published. 

Norbert  Wiener's  Cybernetics  was  published,  establishing  cybernetics  as  the  science 

of  control  and  communication  in  organisms  and  machines;  provided  theoretical 

background  for  developing  computers. 

The  US  Air  Force  began  Project  Blue  Book  for  investigation  reports  of  flying  saucers 

Idlewild  International  Airport  in  New  York  was  dedicated  by  President  Truman;  it 

was  the  largest  commercial  airport  in  the  world. 

The  U.S.  assisted  in  the  airlift  of  food  and  supplies  to  West  Berlin,  blockaded  by  the 

Soviets. 


15 


Eddie  Arcaro  was  the  first  jockey  to  win  the  Kentucky  Derby  4  times. 

The  School  of  American  Ballet  became  the  New  York  City  Ballet;  Lincoln  Kirstein 

was  its  director. 

Irwin  Shaw's  The  Young  Lions  was  published. 

Stan  Musical  of  the  St.  Louis  Cardinals  was  a  third-time  winner  of  the  Most 

Valuable  Player  Award. 

Madame  Chiang  Kai-shek  arrived  in  Washington  to  seek  aid  against  Chinese 

Communist. 

President  Truman  issued  an  executive  order  forbidding  segregation  in  the  armed 

services. 

Laurence  Oliver  won  an  Oscar  for  his  role  in  Hamlet. 

Harry  S.  Truman  was  reelected  as  President  and  Senator  Alben  W.  Barkley  of 

Kentucky  was  elected  Vice-President,  on  the  Democratic  ticket. 


1955  -  In  August  1955  Mary  Ann  started  Madison  High  School.  In  that  year  David  O.  McKay 
was  President  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints.  In  January-February  he  took  a 
trip  covering  more  than  45,000  miles  to  the  missions  of  the  South  Pacific,  selected  a  site  for  the 
New  Zealand  Temple  and  discussed  plans  for  the  building  of  a  church  college  in  New  Zealand. 
In  August- September  The  Tabernacle  Choir  made  a  major  concert  tour  of  Europe.  On  September 
1 1  the  Swiss  Temple,  near  Bern  was  dedicated  by  President  McKay.  And  in  December  they 
announced  that  students  at  BYU  would  be  organized  into  campus  wards  and  stakes. 

•      The  Census  Bureau  reported  that  the  population  of  the  U.S.  rose  2.8  million  in  1954, 

largest  yearly  rise  on  record. 

U.S.  began  a  program  of  economic  aid  to  South  Vietnam,  Laos  and  Cambodia. 

Dr.  Martin  Luther  King  rose  to  national  prominence  for  his  advocation  of  passive 

resistance  to  segregation  in  public  places. 

Marian  Anderson  became  the  first  African- American  to  sing  at  the  Metropolitan 

Opera. 

Why  Johnny  Can't  Read  by  Rudolph  Flesch  was  published. 

Family  of  Man,  photography  exhibit  opened  at  the  Museum  of  Modern  Art  in  New 

York. 

Tennessee  Williams'  Cat  on  a  Hot  Tin  Roof  was  published. 

The  National  Hurricane  Center  was  established  in  Miami,  Florida  after  hurricanes 

devastate  the  East  coast. 

Lawrence  Welk  began  his  weekly  TV  musical  show. 

An  effective  oral  polio  vaccine  was  developed  by  Albert  Sabin. 

Arthur  Mitchell  was  the  first  African- American  to  dance  with  a  major  company 

(New  York  City  Ballet). 

The  American  Shakespeare  Festival  opened  in  Stratford,  Connecticut. 

Jim  Henson  created  the  first  of  the  Muppets—Kermit  the  Frog. 

Gregory  Pincus  developed  an  effective  birth  control  pill. 

Radio  waves  coming  from  Jupiter  were  detected  by  Bernard  Burke  and  Kenneth 

Franklin. 

The  U.S.  Air  Force  Academy  opened. 


16 


Rock  'n'  Roll  music  was  condemned  as  immoral. 

The  Supreme  Court  held  that  racial  segregation  in  public  parks,  playgrounds,  and 

golf  courses  was  unconstitutional. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  ordered  an  end  to  racial  segregation  on 

busses,  trains,  and  in  waiting  rooms. 

A  $3.25  million  foreign  aid  bill  was  passed  by  Congress. 

AFL-CIO  merger  took  place;  George  Meany  was  its  new  president. 

Auntie  Mame  by  Patrick  Dennis  was  published. 

The  minimum  wage  was  increased  from  75  cents  to  $1  per  hour  by  Congress. 

Thomas  Merton's  No  Man  is  an  Island  was  published. 

The  Nobel  Prize  in  Physics  was  awarded  to  Willis  Lamb  for  work  on  the  hydrogen 

spectrum  and  P.  Kusch  for  measuring  the  magnetic  moment  of  the  electron;  The 

Prize  in  Chemistry  went  to  Vincent  de  Vigneaud  for  synthesizing  a  hormone. 

Vladimir  Nabokov's  Lolita  was  published. 

School  desegregation  was  to  begin  at  once  by  order  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Heavy  rains  in  northern  California  and  Oregon  caused  74  deaths  and  $150  million  in 

damage. 

The  White  House  Conference  on  Education  endorsed  a  program  of  federal  aid  for 

education. 

African- American  Rosa  Parks'  refusal  to  give  up  her  seat  at  the  front  of  a  bus  in 

Montgomery,  Alabama,  caused  her  arrest  and  lead  to  a  bus  boycott  that  ended  a  year 

later  after  the  city  complied  with  the  Supreme  Court  ruling  that  segregation  on  buses 

was  unconstitutional. 
1959  -  In  May  1959  Mary  Ann  graduated  from  Madison  High  School,  Rexburg,  Idaho.  In 
November  the  Tabernacle  Choir  received  a  Grammy  award  for  its  recording  of  the  "Battle  Hymn 
of  the  Republic." 

•  Alaska  became  the  49th  state-the  largest,  with  the  smallest  population 

•  Hawaii  became  the  50th  state. 

•  Radar  contact  with  the  planet  Venus  was  reported  by  an  MIT  research  group. 

•  The  St.  Lawrence  Seaway,  the  world's  largest  inland  waterway,  was  opened, 
dedicated  by  President  Eisenhower  and  Queen  Elizabeth. 

•  A  radio-optical-telescope  tracking  statio  for  monitoring  space  vehicles  was 
demonstrated  by  GE. 

•  Carl  Sandburg  addressed  the  members  of  Congress  on  the  sesquicentennial  of 
Abraham  Lincoln's  birth;  in  1939  Sandburg  was  awarded  a  Pulitzer  Prize  for  his 
Lincoln  biography. 

•  International  Atomic  Energy  Agency  was  formed  to  explore  peaceful  atomic  energy. 

•  A  reflection  telescope  with  a  120-inch  mirror  was  installed  by  the  Lick  Observatory 
in  California. 

•  Rogers  and  Hammerstein's  The  Sound  of  Music  starred  Mary  Martin. 

•  NASA  selected  the  first  candidates  for  space  travel  to  be  called  astronauts. 

•  Raisin  in  the  Sun,  by  Lorraine  Hansberry,  was  the  first  drama  by  an  African- 
American  woman  to  be  produced  on  Broadway. 

•  A  nationwide  steel  strike  lasted  for  116  days,  the  longest  in  U.S.  history. 


17 


The  National  Radio  Astronomy  Observatory  in  West  Virginia  announced  a  program 

of  monitoring  radio  signals  possibly  from  "intelligent  beings"  on  other  plants. 

The  Barbie  doll  was  introduced. 

Monkeys  Abel  and  Baker  returned  safely  from  a  space  flight  to  an  altitude  of  300 

miles. 

The  Guggenheim  Museum,  designed  by  Frank  Lloyd  Wright,  was  completed  in  NY. 

Lady  Chatterlev's  Lover,  by  D.  H.  Lawrence,  was  published  after  a  30-year  obscenity 

ban. 

The  first  television  pictures  of  Earth  were  returned  from  Explorer  VI. 

Soviet  Premier  Khrushchev  arrived  in  Washington  for  talks  with  President 

Eisenhower  and  a  tour  of  some  American  cities. 

Congress  passed  a  housing  bill  authorizing  $1,000,000,000  expenditure,  including 

$650,000,000  for  slum  clearance. 

Pioneer  IV,  launched  from  Cape  Canaveral  passes  the  Moon  the  next  day  and  went 

into  orbit  around  the  Sun.  . 

The  discovery  of  a  new  radiation  belt  around  the  earth  was  reported  by  the  National 

Aeronautics  and  Space  Administration. 

Severo  Ochoa  and  Arthur  Kornberg  were  awarded  The  Nobel  Prize  in  Physiology  or 

Medicine  for  synthesizing  RNA  and  DNA. 

Berry  Gordy,  Jr.,  founded  Motown  Records;  he  recorded  "Soul"  groups  of  the 

Sixties. 

Vanguard  II,  the  first  space  weather  station,  returned  photographs  of  Earth's  cloud 

cover. 

The  National  Academy  of  Science  and  the  Russian  equivalent  agreed  to  hold  forums 

for  exchange  of  information  between  their  scientists. 

Film  actress  Linda  Darnell,  a  Cherokee  Indian,  raised  money  on  behalf  of  children 

for  the  Kidney  Disease  Foundation. 


1962  -  Mary  Ann  started  Ricks  College  in  Rexburg,  Idaho,  the  summer  of  1959  and  graduated 
in  1 962  with  a  one  year  certificate.    In  March  the  age  was  lowered  from  20  to  19  for  young  men 
to  be  eligible  for  missions.  On  December  3,  of  that  year  the  first  Spanish-speaking  stake  was 
organized,  headquartered  in  Mexico  City. 

A  plan  was  submitted  to  Congress  for  the  building  of  neighborhood  fallout  shelters. 

Lt.  Col.  John  Glenn  was  the  first  American  to  complete  an  earth  orbit  on  February 

20,  1962,  aboard  the  Friendship  7  space  capsule  in  one  hour  and  37  minutes. 

The  U.S.  and  Soviet  Union  approved  a  two-year  cultural  exchange  agreement. 

The  Labor  Department  set  minimum  wages  for  migratory  Mexican  workers. 

The  U.S.  and  Soviet  Union  agreed  to  take  part  in  a  global  weather  watch. 

Congress  established  a  federal  matching  grant  program  to  help  in  the  developing 

educational  television  broadcasting  facilities. 

Pop  painter  Andy  Warhol  painted  Green  Coca-Cola  Bottles  and  Marilyn  Monroe. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  Melville  Burgess  was  the  first  U.S.  African- American  bishop  of  the 

Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  a  mostly  white  diocese  in  Massachusetts. 


18 


1970 


Rachel  Carson's  Silent  Spring,  which  will  arouse  interest  in  controlling 

environmental  pollution,  was  published. 

The  Philadelphia  Warriors'  Wilt  Chamberlain  was  the  first  basketball  player  to  score 

100  points  in  a  game. 

Tennessee  Williams'  The  Night  of  the  Iguana  was  published. 

The  Century  21  Exposition  of  the  World's  Fair  opened  in  Seattle. 

The  Supreme  Court  ruled  against  the  reading  of  prayers  in  New  York  City  schools. 

American  air,  naval,  and  land  units  were  ordered  to  move  toward  Southeast  Asia 

following  reports  of  a  major  Communist  military  victory  in  Laos. 

One  Flew  Over  the  Cuckoo's  Nest  by  Ken  Kesey  was  published. 

African- American  James  H.  Meredith  enrolled  at  the  University  of  Mississippi 

accompanied  by  U.S.  Marshals. 

Ranger  4  Lunar  Probe  strikes  the  Moon;  M.  Scott  Carpenter  completed  three  orbits 

aboard  Aurora  7. 

TV  programs  from  the  U.S.  to  Europe  were  relayed  by  Telstar  1 . 

Catch  22  by  Joseph  Heller  was  published. 

John  Steinbeck  won  the  Nobel  Prize  in  Literature. 

Edward  Albee's  Who's  Afraid  of  Virginia  Woolf?  was  published. 

President  Kennedy  ordered  a  blockade  of  Cuba  because  of  a  Soviet  missile  buildup 

on  the  island.  Premier  Khrushchev  agreed  to  withdraw  the  weapons  in  return  for  an 

American  pledge  not  to  invade  Cuba. 

Pledges  were  signed  at  the  White  House  by  some  100  unions  to  end  discriminatory 

practices  in  organized  labor. 

President  Kennedy  forbad  discrimination  in  federal  housing. 

Katherine  Anne  Porter's  Ship  of  Fools  was  published. 

Johnny  Carson  became  the  host  of  the  Tonight  Show. 

Cuba  agrees  to  released  Bay  of  Pigs  invasion  prisoners  in  trade  for  $62,000,000  in 

food  and  medical  supplies. 

The  New  York  Yankees  won  4-3  against  the  San  Francisco  Giants  in  the  World 

Series. 

Former  First  Lady  Eleanor  Roosevelt  died  at  78. 

1 1 1  prominent  citizens  of  Atlanta,  Georgia,  were  killed  in  an  airline  disaster. 

Jackie  Robinson  was  elected  to  the  Baseball  Hall  of  Fame. 

The  U.S.  traded  Soviet  spy  Rudolph  Abel,  for  captured  U-2  pilot  Gary  Powers. 

Arnold  Palmer  was  voted  Player  of  the  Year  by  the  Professional  Golf  Association. 

Bob  Dylan  became  known  for  his  song  Blowin'  in  The  Wind. 

Mary  Ann  graduated  from  Ricks  College  with  an  Associates  Degree  in  Education. 
Population  of  the  U.S.  passed  the  204,000,000  mark. 

Paris  peace  talks  continued  and  public  concern  to  end  the  Vietnam  War  increased. 
The  trial  of  the  Chicago  Seven,  with  unprecedented  contempt-of-court  displayed, 
resulted  in  some  not-guilty  decisions  and  5 -year  sentences  for  Rennie  Davis,  David 
Dellinger,  Tom  Hayden,  Abbie  Hoffman,  and  Jerry  Rubin. 


19 


26-year-old  Joe  Frazier,  former  Olympic  champion,  won  the  heavyweight  title, 

defeating  Jimmy  Ellis  in  five  rounds. 

Antiwar  protestors  at  Kent  State  University  in  Ohio  were  fired  on  by  National  Guard 

troops;  four  students  are  killed,  10  wounded. 

Robert  Altaian,  directed  the  film,  M*A*S*H.  later  it  became  an  extremely  popular 

TV  series. 

Erich  Segal's  Love  Story  was  published. 

448  universities  were  either  on  strike  or  closed  by  student  protest  against  the 

Vietnam  War. 

The  1856  British  Guiana  one-cent  stamp,  the  world's  most  valuable,  was  auctioned  in 

New  York  for  $280,000. 

Earnest  Hemingway's  Islands  in  the  Stream  was  posthumously  published. 

The  Doonesburv  Gomic  strip  by  Garry  Trudeau  began  to  appear  in  newspapers. 

U.S.  troops  were  sent  to  Cambodia  to  destroy  North  Vietnamese  outposts. 

Amtrak  was  created  by  Congress. 

April  22  was  designated  Earth  Day  by  environmentalists. 

Former  Gov.  Wallace  of  Alabama  urged  Southern  governors  to  defy  the 

government's  order  to  integrate. 

The  first  two  women  generals  in  the  U.S.  were  named  by  President  Nixon. 

Mae  West  returned  to  the  screen  in  the  film  Mvra  Breckenridge. 

Irwin  Shaw's  Rich  Man,  Poor  Man  was  published. 

Physician  David  Reuben's  Everything  You  Always  Wanted  to  Know  About  Sex  But 

Were  Afraid  to  Ask  was  published. 

Linus  Pauling  claimed  the  large  doses  of  Vitamin  C  may  help  prevent  the  common 

cold  and  flu. 

Erik  H.  Erikson  received  the  Pulitzer  Prize  for  his  work,  Gandhis'  Truth. 

Women  across  the  nation  marched  in  celebration  of  the  50  years  of  suffrage  which 

demanded  equal  rights  under  the  constitution. 

The  National  Air  Quality  Control  Act  called  for  a  reduction  in  automobile  pollution 

by  90%.  Congress  established  the  EPA. 

Hospital  care  costs  reached  an  average  of  $81  per  day. 

President  Nixon,  in  radio  address,  appealed  to  "the  great  silent  majority  of  my  fellow 

Americans"  for  support  against  antiwar  demonstrations  in  the  streets. 

A  copy  of  the  second  draft  of  the  U.S.  Constitution  sold  for  $160,000. 

A  report  showed  the  Sesame  Street  helps  develop  preschool  skills. 

For  the  first  time  in  its  102  years  the  University  of  California  charged  tuition. 

Rock  star  Janis  Joplin  died  of  a  heroin  overdose  in  Los  Angeles;  Jimi  Hendrix  died 

of  sleeping  pill  overdoses  in  London. 

Nimbus  Four,  a  research  weather  satellite,  was  launched. 

Diane  Crump  was  the  first  woman  jockey  in  the  Kentucky  Derby. 

Massachusetts  initiated  no-fault  auto  insurance;  California  initiated  no-fault  divorce. 


20 


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LIFE  HISTORY  OF  DOROTHEA  STIEFEL  WEBER 

Dorothea  Stiefel,  my  Great  Grandmother,  was  born  30  March  1823  in  Niedern- 
dorf,  Jagstheim,  Wuerrttemberg,  Germany,  to  Christian  Stiefel  and  Eva  Dorothea 
Morath.   She  was  the  fourth  child  in  a  family  of  six  children. 

She  married  Ludwig  Weber  on  3  May  1846.   To  this  union  was  born  eight 
children,  my  Grandmother,  Wilhelmine  Weber,  being  the  youngest  child  and  born 
on  21  May  1864,  at  Glashofen,  Jagstheim,  Wuerrttemberg,  Germany. 

On  28  September  1888,  her  husbsnd,  Ludwig  Weber,  died,  which  brought  great 
sorrow  into  her  life.   A  few  years  later  she  was  converted  to  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints  and  was  baptized  on  4  June  1891  by  Jacob 
Miller  and  confirmed  the  same  day  by  Jacob  Miller.   After  joining  the  Church 
and  learning  more  about  this  new  religion,  she  had  a  great  desire  to  immigrate 
to  the  United  States  to  be  near  the  headquarters  of  the  Saints  and  also  to  be 
able  to  do  the  necessary  Temple  Ordinances  for  her  kindred  dead. 

The  decision  to  leave  her  children,  grandchildren,  home,  and  friends  could 
not  have  been  an  easy  one  to  make.   Her  faith  must  have  been  strong  to  give  her 
the  courage  to  make  this  final  decision.   She  left  Germany  12  August  1893  for 
Liverpool,  England  where  she  sailed  for  the  United  States  19  August  1»93  as  a 
passenger  on  the  ship  "S.S.  Alaska." 

When  she  arrived  in  New  York  she  went  directly  to  Rexburg,  Idaho  where  she 
lived  in  the  Second  L.D.S.  Ward  until  1901  when  she  moved  to  the  Salem  Ward. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  getting  settled  in  her  new  home,  she  started  to 
make  arrangements  to  go  to  the  Temple  in  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah  where  she  was 
sealed  for  time  and  all  eternity  to  her  beloved  husband,  Ludwig  Weber,  on  20  Dec- 
ember 1893.   She  also  did  Temple  work  for  many  others  of  her  deceased  relatives. 

Her  daughter,  Rosine  Dorothea  Weber  Foell  left  Germany  30  April  1894  with 
her  two  children  (William  Charles,  born  1885,  and  Lena,  born  19  July  1886)  and 
joined  her  mother  in  Rexburg,  Idaho  in  the  Second  Ward. 

My  Grandparents,  Wilhelmine  Weber  h   Johann  Beck  and  four  of  their  children, 
(my  Mother,  Rosalie  Karoline  (Rosa),  Johann  Friedrich,  Otto  Gottlieb,  k   Wilhelm 
Gottlieb)  left  Germany  18  July  1902  to  come  to  America.   This  must  have  been  an 
exciting  time  for  my  Great  Grandmother  ton,  as  she  anticipated  being  able  to  see 
and  be  with  her  daughter,  son-in-law,  and  grandchildren  again  after  so  many  years 
of  being  separated. 

Great  Grandmother  lived  only  about  eight  months  after  the  arrival  of  her 
youngest  daughter.   Sho  passed  away  29  March  1903  and  was  buried  in  the  Rexburg 
Cemetery. 

Compiled  and  Written  by  Her  Great  Grandson 
Ralph  W.  Kauer  --  March  28,  1982 


LIFE  HISTORY  OF  JOHANN  BECK 

My  Grandfather,  Johann  Beck,  was  born  January' 24 ,  i860  at  Hausen, 
Wurttenberg,  Germany,  the  son  of  Johann  Andreas  Beck  and  Katharina  Regina 
Qffenhaeuser.  He  was  the  youngest  child  in  a  family  of  four  boys  and 
three  girls. 

As  a  young  boy  he  was  raised  and  went  to  school  in  Hausen.   Here  the 
family  were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  where  they  went  for  their 
religious  training.  His  Father  died  when  he  was  only  13  years  old.   Some- 
time later,  while  still  a  young  man,  he  started  working  as  a  freighter. 
While  traveling  from  town  to  town,  he  often  stopped  in  Glashofen,  where 
he  met  a  special  young  lady  by  the  name  of  Wilhelmine  Weber. 

They  were  married  December  24,  1889  in  Hall,  Wurttenberg,  Germany. 
They  became  the  parents  of  ten  children,  seven  boys  and  three  girls.   Three 
of  these  children,  Elsa  Margarete,  Albert,  and  Johann  Robert  died  in  infan- 
cy in  Germany. 

Grandpa's  Mother-in-law,  Dorothea  Stiefel  Weber,  and  one  of  his  sis- 
ter-in-laws, Rosine  Dorothea  Weber  Foell,  had  joined  the  Latter  Day  Saint 
Church  and  gone  to  America.  Grandpa  and  his  family  had  become  acquainted 
with  some  of  the  IDS  Missionaries,  one  of  which  was  Conrad  Walz  from  Rex- 
burg,  Idaho.  No  doubt  from  the  urging  of  the  Missionaries  and  the  letters 
from  his  Mother-in-law  and  sister-in-law,  they  made  up  their  minds  to  come 
to  America  also.  As  I  understand,  at  this  time  their  son,  Christian,  was 
serving  in  the  German  Army  and  wasn't  able  to  leave  with  the  family. 

They  left  Germany  on  July  18,  1902  with  four  of  their  children,  Rosa- 
lie Karoline  (Rosa),  who  was  my  Mother,  Johann  Friedrich,  Otto  Gottleib, 
and  Wilhelm  Gottleib,  heading  for  America. 

After  about  six  weeks  on  the  ocean  they  arrived  in  America.  They 
'"Came  directly  to  Rexburg, . Idaho  where  they  spent  some  time  with  Grandma's 
Mother.  Then  they  moved  to  a  home  west  of  where  the  old  Third  Ward  Church 
used  to  be. 

Grandpa  found  work  wherever  he  could.  He  worked  on  the  Rexburg  Canal 
and  on  the  railroad.  He  acquired  ten  acres  of  land  that  is  located  across 
the  road  north  and  east  of  the"  present  Rexburg  Stake  Center  and  they  built 
a  log  house  on  it. 

Within  a  short  time  they  acquired  a  20  acre  farm,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Swensen  farm,  located  one  and  a  half  miles  straight  east  of  the 
Burton  Church.  It  was  here  that  they  built  a  new  four  room  house. 


i 

l 


He  homes teaded  another  80  acres  of  ground  on  the  Rexburg  Bench.   It 
was  on  these  farms,  through  hard  work,  that  he  was  able  to' raise  and  care 
for  the  needs  of  his  family. 

After  arriving  in  Rexburg  another  two  children  were  born  to  their 
family,  a  son,  John  Fredrick  and  a  daughter,  Minna  (Minnie). 

Grandma  and  three  of  their  children  had  been  baptized  members  of  the 
latter  Day  Saint  Church  several  years  before.   Now  Grandpa  was  baptized 
a  member  on  August  4,  1913 . 

Grandpa  and  Grandma  were  sealed  as  husband  and  wife  in  the  Salt  Lake 
Temple  October  1,  1919-   At  the  same  time  they  had  six  of  their  children 
sealed  to  them,  the  three  who  had  died  in  infancy  in  Germany,  William, 
John  Fredrick,  and  Minna  (Minnie). 

When  I  was  a  small  boy  I  remember  going  with  our  family  for  many 
visits  to  Grandpa  and  Grandma's. 

Grandpa  was  already  over  sixty  years  old  and  always  used  a  cane  when 
he  walked.   Mother  told  me  he  had  hurt  his  leg  as  a  younger  man  and  it 
didn't  heal  right  but  left  him  lame  the  rest  of  his  life. 

By  this  time  he  had  pretty  well  retired  from  the  hard  farm  work. 
Each  day  you  would  still  find  him  out  taking  care  of  his  chickens,  pigs, 
feeding  the  cows,  and  doing  odd  jobs  around  the  yard.   He  was  very  metic- 
ulous about  keeping  his  chicken  coop,  runs,  etc  clean  for  his  chickens  and 
the  other  animals. 

I  always  enjoyed  being  around  at  chore  time  when  they  milked  the  cows 
as  they  would  take  the  milk,  pour  it  into  the  separator,  and  then  let  me 
help  turn  the  separator.   The  cream  would  go  into  the  cream  can  and  we 
would  take  the  skim  milk  out  to  the  pigs.   It  was  no  wonder  that  Grandpa's 
pigs  were  always  so  big  and  fat. 

It  was  a  very  sad  time  for  Grandpa  when  Grandma  passed  away  December 
25i  1930.   His  family  all  rallied  around  him  but  I'm  sure  it  couldn't  be 
the  same  for  him. 

For  the  last  year  or  so  of  his  life  he  went  to  live  with  his  daughtter, 
Minnie,  in  Rexburg.   It  was  here  that  he  passed  away  July  2?,  1939  at  the 
age  of  79.   Funeral  services  were  held  in  the  Third  Ward  Church.   He  was 
buried  in  the  Rexburg  Cemetery  beside  his  wife. 

Written  March  22,  1984,  by  his  Grandson, 

Ralph  W .  Kauer 


BECK  FUNERAL  SERVICES  HELD 
RESIDENT  HERE  FOR  PAST  35  YEARS 
SERVICES  HELD  IN  THIRD  WARD  CHAPEL 
Funeral  services  were  conducted  Saturday  In  the 
Third  Ward  LDS  Chapel  for  John  Beck,  79,  resident  of 
this  community  for  the  past  35  years,  who  died  at  the 
home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Alonzo  Hinckley,  of  ailments 
incident  to  old  age.   Bishop  Edward  Powell  officiated 
at  the  services  and  internment  was  in  the  Rexburg 
Cemetery  under  the  direction  of  the  Beneficial  Mor- 
tuary.  Mr.  Beck  was  born  January  24,  i860  at 
Wurttenberg,  Germany.   He  came  to  the  United  States  as 
a  convert  to  the  LDS  faith  in  1902  and  moved  to  Rexburg 
where  he  has  resided  since.   He  was  engaged  in  farming 
until  a  few  years  ago  when  his  health  forced  him  to 
retire.   His  wife  preceeded  him  in  death  eight  years 
ago.  He  is  survived  by  three  sons  and  one  daughter, 
William  Beck  of  Menan,  Otto  Beck,  John  Beck,  and  Mrs. 
Hinckley  all  of  Rexburg. 

Rexburg  Standard  -  August  3,  1939 


i 
4 


LIFE  HISTORY  OF  WILHELMINE  WEBER  BECK 

My  Grandmother,  Wilhelmine  Weber  Beck,  was  born  May  21,  1864  at  Glas- 
hofen,  Wurttenberg,  Germany,  the  daughter  of  Ludwig  Weber  and  Dorothea 
Stiefel  Weber.   She  was  the  youngest  child  in  a  family  of  four  boys  and 

four  girls. 

She  attended  grade  school  and  spent  her  early  childhood  at  Glashofen, 
where  she  and  her  family  were  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.   The  family 
owned  a  small  farm  out  in  the  country.  Her  Father  was  ill  for  many  years 
so  her  early  youth  was  spent  in  helping  her  parents.   She  used  to  tell 
about  how  they  would  go  into  the  nearby  woods  to  cut  hay  for  their  animals. 
Her  Father,  Ludwig  Weber,  passed  away  September  28,  1888. 

In  her  early  years  she  met  Johann  Beck,  who  was  a  freighter,  who  often 
came  to  Glashofen.   She  was  married  to  Johann  Beck  December  24,  1889.  They 
became  the  parents  of  ten  children,  seven  boys  and  three  girls.   Three  of 
these  children,  Elsa  Margarete,  Albert,  and  Johann  Robert  died  in  infancy 

in  Germany. 

Her  Mother,  Dorothea  Stiefel  Weber,  joined  the  Latter  Day  Saint  Church 
June  4,  1891  and  two  years  later  on  August  12,  1893  migrated  to  America 
and  settled  in  Rexburg,  Idaho.   Her  sister,  Rosine  Dorothea  Weber  Foell 
left  Germany  April  30,  189^  with  her  two  children,  William  Charles  and 
lena,  and  joined  her  Mother  in  Rexburg. 

The  fact  that  her  Mother  and  sister  were  already  in  America  perhaps 
was  one  of  the  incentives  that  started  my  Grandparents  thinking  of  coming 
to  America.   The  LDS  Missionaries  were  also  encouraging  them  to  go  to 
America.   Conrad  Walz  was  one  of  these  Missionaries  and  proved  to  be  a  real 
friend  to  them  after  they  arrived  in  Burton. 

On  July  18,  1902  they  left  Germany  for  America  with  four  of  their 
children,  Rosalie  Karoline  (Rosa),  my  Mother,  Johann  Friedrich,  Otto  Gott- 
leib,  and  Wilhelm  Gottleib.   Their  oldest  son,  Christian,  never  did  come 

to  America. 

Upon  arriving  in  America,  they  came  directly  to  Rexburg,  Idaho.   They 
spent  some  time  with  her  Mother  and  then  moved  to  just  west  of  the  old  Third 

Ward  Church. 

They  acquired  ten  acres  of  land  that  is  located  across  the  road  north 
and  east  of  the  present  Rexburg  Stake  Center,  and  built  a  log  house  on  it. 
Later  they  built  a  home  on  a  20  acre  farm  in  Burton  that  is  located  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  straight  east  of  the  Burton  Church.   It  was  here  my  Grand- 


mother  spent  the  remainder  of  her  life.  After  arriving  in  America  their 
son  John  Fredrick  and  a  daughter  Minna  (Minnie)  were  born. 

Shortly  after  arriving  in  Burton,  she  and  three  of  her  children, 
Rosa,  Otto,  and  Bill  were  baptized  members  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  Church 
on  August  2,  1906. 

On  October  1,  1919 i  when  her  son  William  was  married  in  the  Salt  Lake 
Temple  to  Rosa  Rottweiler,  Grandpa  and  Grandma  Beck  were  sealed  as  husband 
and  wife  in  the  Salt  Lake  Temple  on  the  same  day.  They  also  had  six  of 
their  children  sealed  to  them.   The  three  who  had  died  in  infancy  in  Germany 
and  William,  John  Fredrick,  and  Minnie. 

My  earliest  memories  of  my  Grandmother  was  when  my  folks  would  take 
us  kids  there  to  visit.   One  of  the  great  fascinations  to  me  was  Grandma's 
pie  cupboard  that  hung  on  the  wall  in  the  kitchen.   1  don't  remember  of 
there  ever  being  a  time  when  there  weren't  pies  in  that  cupboard.  No  one 
was  ever  at  her  home  very  long  before  she  was  serving  them  a  piece  of  pie, 
cake,  cookies,  or  just  a  drink. 

One  of  our  favorite  days  to  visit  Grandma  was  on  Easter.   She  always 
made  little  Easter  Nests  of  green  twigs  and  filled  with  Easter  Grass. 
She  would  fill  these  with  colored  Easter  Eggs,  chocolate  bunnies,  marsh- 
mallow  chicks,  and  a  toy  bunny  or  chicken. 

As  I  grew  older  I  enjoyed  being  with  Grandma  as  she  was  always  very 
interesting  to  talk  to.   She  seemed  to  take  a  special  interest  in  each 
one  of  us  and  we  always  knew  she  loved  us. 

They  had  a  basement  in  their  home  that  was  always  filled  to  capacity 
in  the  fall  with  their  fruit  and  vegetables  from  their  garden.  She  also 
had  two  or  three  barrels  that  she  used  to.  make  her  apple  cider  or  wine 
from  her  various  kinds  of  berries.  Some  of  the  old  timers  of  our  Ward 
used  to  tell  us  that  they  always  liked  to  go  Ward  Teaching  to  her  home 
last  because  then  they  were  sure  she  would  always  have  a  glass  of  wine 
and  some  goodies  for  them. 

Grandma  always  kept  a  neat,  clean,  yard  with  beautiful  flowers  that 
she  enjoyed  sharing  with  her  friends.   She  was  often  found  visiting  the 
elderly  or  ill,  always  thinking  to  take  them  a  pie,  cake,  loaf  of  bread, 
or  something  to  brighten  their  day. 

She  was  a  Relief  Society  Visiting  Teacher  in  the  Burton  Ward  for 
many  years  and  always  enjoyed  taking  part  in  her  Relief  Society  meetings. 

For  the  last  few  years  of  her  life  she  was  afflicted  with  Sugar  Dia- 
betes.  She  passed  away  December  25,  1930  at  hor  home  in  Burton.   Funeral 


Services  were  held  Monday,  December  29th  at  the  Burton  Church.  Sh 
buried  that  day  in  the  Rexburg  Cemetery  near  her  Mother  and  Sister. 


e  was 


Written  March  20,  1984  by  her  Grandson, 

Ralph  W.  Kauer 


MRS.  MINNIE  BECK  PASSES  AWAY 

Impressive  funeral  services  were  held  Monday 
December  29 t  at  the  Burton  Church  for  Mrs.  Minnie 
Beck.   Mrs.  Beck  was  one  of  the  early  pioneers  of 
this  valley,  coming  here  from  Germany.   She  leaves 
a  husband  and  a  large  family  of  grown  boys  and  girls 
to  mourn  her  passing.  Speakers  at  the  funeral  were: 
Sterling  Nelson,  James  Blake,  Bishop  Conrad  Walz, 
and  Bishop  James  R.  Smith.  The  opening  prayer  was 
offered  by  Mr.  Rottweeler  and  the  benediction  by 
Wm.  Beattie.   Internment  was  in  the  Rexburg  Cemetery 
under  the  direction  of  Vern  J .  Keller  of  the  Beneficial 
Mortuary  Co. 

Rexburg  Journal  -  Jan  2,1931 


CHRISTIAN   BECK 


Christian   Beck   was   born   December   21,     1881.       He   was    the 
oldest    of   a    family   of    ten   children.       Grandpa   Beck   adopted   him. 
He   was   Grandma   Legitimay's    son.       He    stayed    in   Germany  where    he 
was   born,    grew-up   and   died   in   Hall,    Wurttenberg,    Germany.       He   was 
a   baker.       He   died   February   14,    1920. 

His    temple   work   has   been   done.      He   was   baptized   July   14, 
1920,    endowed   on   December   20,     1921,    and   was    sealed   to   his   parents 
on— Oefeetee-r— 3-7 — 3r^3r9    In    Liu 


Dear  patron: 


s-s\\ 


L^4 


Please  list  the; ch^dlChristian,  born  21  Dec.  1881,  on  a 
separate  | sheet  with  the  mothe j|^jdy,%b©cause  he  was  born  illegitimate , 
and  Johann  Beck;isi;his' step^faM  transcript  of  his  Temple 

Index  card  with  name  Christian  We  per  .IjS'ji;^ 

Note  also1 the  red  underlined  discrepancies  on  the  datas. 
Christian^  sealing  date  on  your) sheei/ '3  °ct»1919,   could  not  be  located 


Christian i;could  be  {"sealed  ;;tb'' her^and^'td' his  step-father •  \ 


Li 

U 
i 


":'M,"  ■  --•:;':'/:'v:         ■■'■■  '-^i^'Slfe^tfS'  ---     ■ 

•::*-■■-     •&■■■■  ■      U ..■■■■■  •■■/•^^^■t-^iV ^  . 

INDEX  CARD  TO   /W(AA/U  : ^W;  TEMPLE  RECORDS 

No    fo   3  V  Bpok  \2)  -  P         Page,        /  f7 


Name  in  full      W EM%  -      ?AaJU 


X 


When  born 


Where  born       /^A^/,      IaMjUA/^  ; 


it 


When  died 
j'       Father 


/^  ggg   /y//9 


:Ti;JWi 


*"."«.    _-; 


Mother 


'■•  -  si 


When  married         , 

Instance  of       J  ftfvAA.    "B  -tCW. 


When  baptized      ?  J)  .  bjS  .    I  °\  2  I 


|  to 

When  TT   /  K  «  i  /2  i    / 


Husband 

Sealed  wift 
References 


Endowed      l  3       £_P,fc   .      /  ^j    / 


.To 
Parents 


X 

JOHNANN  FRIEDREICH  BECK 

Johnann  Friedreich  Beck  was  born  October  6,  1891  at  Hall, 
Wurttenberg,  Germany.   The  son  of  Johnann  Beck  and  Wilhelmine 
Weber  Beck.   He  was  the  third  child  of  a  family  of  ten  children. 
At  the  early  age  of  eleven,  in  the  year  1902,  Johnann  emigrated 
with  his  family  to  the  to  the  United  State  of  America. 

His  grandmother,  Dorothea  Stiefel  Weber;  his  aunt,  Rosine 
Dorothea  Weber  Foell;  and  her  two  children,  had  come  to  the 
United  States  of  America  prior  to  that  time  and  were  living  in 
Rexburg,  Idaho.   Upon  arriving  in  America  the  Beck  family  went 
directly  to  Rexburg  to  be  with  them. 

Father  John  Beck  built  a  log  cabin  on  ten  acres  of  land 
north  of  Rexburg.   It  still  stands  today.   They  lived  there  about 
a  year.   Then  they  moved  to  a  farm  south  west  of  Rexburg  and 
lived  in  the  Burton  Ward.   They  built  a  home  and  that  is  where 
Fred  spent  his  childhood  days  growing  up  with  his  family. 

Fred  went  to  Marietta  and  Cedar  Point  public  schools.   When 
Fred  was  a  teenager  he  left  home,  never  to  return.   All  ties  with 
the  family  were  cut.   Some  say  he  went  to  fight  with  the  Germans 
in  World  War  I .   No  records  were  ever  found  in  the  US  Army 
records.   Others  say  he  went  to  Montana.   Wherever?  no  one  has 
heard  from  him. 

My  father,  Otto,  told  of  how  the  two  of  them  had  to  sleep  in 
the  same  bed.   Father  also  told  of  feelings  between  Fred  and 
their  dad.   Anyway  no  one  has  any  record  of  where  he  went  or  what 
he  did .    H4-s-  tempi  e  work  hac  not  boon-deae — a-s  of  Januaxy— 2-Q-, 

Note:    I  just  found  out  today  that  Ralph  Kauer,  did  Uncle  Johnann  Friedreich  Beck's  temple 

work.  On  December  11,  1998  he  did  his  Baptism,  April  16,  1999  the  initiatory  work  and 
on  May  4,  1999  his  endowments  were  done  in  the  Idaho  Falls  Temple. 
Sealed  to  parents  on: 


*r2+s 


LIFE  HISTORY  OF  ROSALIE  KAROLINE  (ROSA)  BECK  KAUER 


My  Mother,  Rosalie  Karoline  (Rosa)  Beck,  daughter  of  Johann  Beck  and 
Wilhelmine  Weber  Beck,  was  born  March  25,  1890  at  Hall,  Wurttenberg,  Germ- 
any.   She  was  the  oldest  daughter  and  the  second  child  of  a  family  of  ten  ' 


Her  "Grandmother ,  Dorothea  Stiefel  Webeitf, had  joined  the  Latter  Hay™ 
Saint  Church  and  about  two  years  later  sailed  for  America  on  August  \?. ,    1893. 
She  made  her  home  in  Rexburg,  Idaho.   Mother's  Aunt,  Rosine  Dorothea  Weber 
Foell,  with  her  two  children,  William  Charles  and  Lena,  had  left  Germany  on 
April  30 »  189^  and  were  living  with  Mother's  Grandmother  Weber  In  Rexburg. 
I  understand  that  some  of  her  Uncles  and  their  families  on  the  Beck  side 
had  come  to  the  United  States  prior  to  this  time  and  settled  in  or  around 
the  state  of  Ohio. 

Mother's  family  received  letters  from  her  Grandmother  Weber  in  America 
encouraging  them  to  come  to  this  new  country  where  they  could  start  a  new 
life  and  enjoy  the  new  freedoms  she  had  found.   I  have  been  told  that  her 
Grandmother  may  have  even  financed  their  trip  over. 

At  the  early  age  of  twelve,  Mother  emigrated  with  her  jvarents  and  three 
brothers,  Fred,  Otto,  and  William,  to  the  United  States.  Her  oldest  brother, 
Christian,  remained  in  Germany  as  he  was  serving  in  the  German  Army.   On 
July  18,  1902  they  left  their  home,  relatives,  and  friends  in  Germany  and 
started  on  their  journey  to  America. 

Upon  arriving  in  America  they  came  directly  to  Rexburg,  Idaho.   They 
spent  some  time  with  her  Grandmother  and  then  the  family  moved  to  the  south 
west  of  Rexburg  into  a  home  on  the  farm  owned  by  the  Cook  Family.  While 
living  here  my  Mother  attended  school  in  a  green  frame  schoolhoune  that  was 
on  the  north  side  of  Main  Street  near  1st  West  in  Rexburg. 

The  following  year  the  family  moved  to  a  ten  acre  farm  south  west  of 
Rexburg  where  her  Father  had  built  a  log  house  for  them. 

Later  they  built  a  home  on  a  20  acre  farm  in  the  Burton  Ward  that  is 
located  about  a  mile  and  a  half  straight  east  of  the  Burton  Church.   It 
was  here  that  Mother  spent  her  early  youth.  She  attended  school  in  the 
Marietta  School  House  in  Burton  and  everyone  tells  us  what  a  good  studont 
she  was.  She  especially"  excelled  in  Arithmetic,  but  was  at  the  top  of  her 
class  in  all  her  studies.  She  was  always  active  at  parties  and  on  programs. 
She  was  very  good  at  reciting  poetry  and  loved  to  sing.   She  was  very  ambit- 
ious and  spent  several  summers  thinning  and  hoeing  sugar  beets  around  Salem 
and  Parker.  One  summer  on  the  4th  of  July  she  and  a  group  of  her  friends 


Wami:j}<\:  .•         .*•.»■.■        ..i      ;-        .  ■■•.■i:<-ui'::.±*iiS-',!ii£L*LL\;M 


a* float  in  the  ;,pai§flj| ^fligl^feujp^Jaiif Jtjif^ptory^isj  told>tnat  she  was 

?4'M  ".-^^thelflife v'of  the  crowd  and  created  a  lot  of  fun  for  all. 

j..   ,';i:A  At  the  time  the  Beck  Family  left  Germany  they  belonged  to  the  Lutheran 
v ■■■'. ;,._•:,  .  Church..  After  moving  to  the  Burton  Ward  they  were  converted  to  the  Church 
^..V^  i  .of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints  and  Mother  was  baptized  on  August  2, 
1906  as  were  her  Mother  and  two  brothers,  Otto  and  William. 

About  this  time  in  her  life  she  spent  a  lot  of  time  working  for  other 
people  in  their  homes.   It  was  while  working  at  the  Charles  Woodmansee  home 
that  she  became  interested  in  Ernest  Ferdinand  (Fred)  Kauer,  whom  she  later 
married  in  St,  Anthony,  Idaho  on  March  28,  1910.  They  were  married  by 
John  Donaldson  and  a  reception  was  held  for  them  at  the  Beck  home  in  Burton. 


.. -\<  She  and  Dad  made  their  first  home  on  the  ^0  acre  farm  that  he  owned 
in  Burton.  He  was  also*  homesteading  on  80  acres  of  dry  farm  on  the  Rexburg 


. » 


f-r 


}  -■ 


•-'■.  >:■> 


'.Bench  so  they  built  a  one  room  log  house  on  it  and  lived  there  part  of  the 
time  as  was  required  by  law  to  prove  up  on  their  dry  farm.  They  made  their 
permanent  home  on  the  farm  in  Burton.  To  this  couple  were  born  eleven 
children;  Fred  James,  Ernest  (who  died  when  only  two  weeks  old),  Richard 
(who  died  at  the  age  of  twelve  years),  Mary  Vilate,  Ralph  William,  Grace  B., 
John  Douglas,  Opal  B.  (who  died  when  10  days  old),  Lorin  B.,  Thelma  B.  (who 
v"?:  '   died  when  two  years  old),  and  Vera  B. 

In  telling  us  children  of  the  "old  country",  she  said  she  remembered 

:•;>?"  Vs.:/;:/. 

when  the  Mormon  Missionaries  came  to  see  them  and  stayed  over  night  at 

their  home.   The  next  day  and  for  a  week  afterward  the  other  children 

v*v-.r! '   .  '.';■ 
•.  threw  things  at  them  and  called  them  "Little  Mormons".   Bishop  Conrad  Walz 

ftftfGfcJ  " .  .1.:  '' 

was  one  of  these  missionaries  and  was  a  real  friend  to  the  family  here  in 

5-1  :•?*.   .  ■  ' 

the  Burton  Ward.  She  also  remembered  her  parents  taking  the  family  to  the 

oi...  }■•  .«j 

Museum  in  Germany  the  spring  before  they  came  to  the  United  States.  Here 

they  saw  the  old  torture  blocks,  and  beheading  blocks  with  the  blood  stains 

still  on  them.  Ihey  also  went  up  to  historic  "Hangman's  Hill",  which  was 

absolutely  bare  on  top  as  there  had  been  so  much  blood  there  that  not  even 

*  grass  could  grow. 

Throughout  her  life,  Mother) was  very  faithful  to  her  religion.  She 

spent  a  good  deal  of  time  at  Relief  Society  and  teaching  Primary.  She  was 

sustained  as  President  of  the  Primary  in  the  Burton  Ward  on  July  1,  1928 

and  ae\   apart  by  Bishop  Conrad  Walz.  She  was  assisted  by  Margaret  Burns 

as  first  Counoilor,  Maud  Hall  as  Seoond  Councilor,  and  Georgia  Jensen  as 

Secretary.  She  served  in  this  capacity  until  she  was  released  October  12, 

1930 •.  She  used  to  take  the  sleigh  and  team  to  Primary  in  the  winter  and 


-  • 


-2- 

■i 


always  picked  up  all  the  children  along  her  way.  They  tell  us  she  always 
had  a  full  load  and  she  would  tuck  the  smaller  ones  under  a  blanket  and 
often  there  would  hardly  be  room  for  all  that  wanted  to  go  with  her.   She 
is  remembered  by  these  youngsters  as  always  having  a  cookie  or  a  treat  of 
some  kind  for  them  at  Primary. 

She  was  a  very  good  mother  and  wife,  helping  out  wherever  she  could. 
Throughout  her  life  she  did  all  the  family  washing  on  the  washboard,  never 
knowing  the  convenience  of  a  washing  machine.  The  water  was  all  pumped 
with  the  old  hand  pump  that  stood  to  the  north  of  the  house.  Then  it  had 
to  be  carried  to  the  house  in  a  bucket  where  it  was  heated  on  the  old 
cookstove  in  a  tea  kettle,  copper  boiler,  or  the  reservoir  on  the  end  of 
the  stove.  Even  though  she  had  a  large  family  to  care  for  she  always  kept 
her  house  spotless  and  her  children  clean  and  well  dressed.  She  often 
helped  in' the  fields  thinning  beets  and  hauling  hay  or  whatever  she  could 
do.  , 

..  _, In. spite  of  all  this  work  she  always  had  time  to  help  her  neighbors 
^^>*|ajj^te>ught.-nany  new  babies  into  this  world  for  them  before  the  doc  tor ;4   „ 
arrived.  She  gave  freely  of  the  things  she  had  and  often  visited  the  poor 
and  sick  with  food  and  to  help  where  needed.  It  might  be  said  that  she 
inherited  this  characteristic  from  her  mother,  who  was  also  known  for  her 
hospitality  and  kindness  to  others. 

One  year  a  group  of  her  friends  and  neighbors  decided  to  have  a  sur- 
prise party  for  her  on  her  birthday.   They  brought  a  lunch  with  them  and 
she  was  "REALLY  SURPRISED"  when  the  large  group  arrived.   Later  in  the 
evening  she  brought  out  all  kinds  of  cookies,  homemade  candy,  and  even  a 
freezer  of  ice  cream  and  a  cake  to  serve  to  them.   Seemed  they  could  never 

0 

get  ahead  of  her,  but  everyone  had  a  grand  evening. 

Her  life  is  quite  well  portrayed  by  the  following  tribute  that  was 
written  to  her  by  Mildred  Jensen  Johnson,  a  neighbors  daughter. 

TO  A  NEIGHBOR 

Her  life  has  been  a  period  of  unselfish  denial  for  others.  She  is  a 
typical  farm  wife  who,  besides  caring  for  her  own  family  is  the  neighbor- 
hood nurse.  She  is  the  Mother  of  eleven  children.  Two  of  them  lived  long 
enough  to  receive  names  and  then  silently  took  their  flight  to  the  unknown 
world.  t  Two  more  had  the  privilege  of  staying  in  the  home  for  sometime  and 
then  death  in  the  form  of  typhoid  fever  and  convulsions  silently  claimed 
them  for  her  own.  Through  it  all  she  remained  calm  and  said  it  was  for 
the  best  even  when  her  heart  was  crying  in  agony  for  those  who  had  gone 


-3- 


ahead.  Cheerfully  she  worked,  that  her  husband  and  children  might  not  b< 
discouraged  with  life. 

Sometimes  in  the  stillness  of  midnight  a  worried  neighbor  comes  fori 
her  assistance  and  in  the  breaking  of  another  day  she  lays  la' 'new  born  bal 
in  the  tired  mother's  arms,  sees  that  they  are  comfortable  and  departs 
with  a  cheering  word  and  a  kind  smile.  Then  she  patiently  goes  each  dayj 
bathes  the  baby,  and  cares  for  it's  mother  until  the  woman  is  able  to  do, 
her  own  work.  :;;*  ,f: 

When  silent  death  comes  to  a  neighbor's  home  she  comes  to  soothe  thi 
stricken  parents  or  children.  It  is  she  who  keeps  a  silent  vigil  through 
the  night- -keeping  a  fire  and  turning  the  conversation  to  pleasant  thingi 
It  is  she  who  thinks  to  carry  to  the  cemetery  pretty  flowers  for  her  own< 
relatives  and  others  graves. 

When  sickness  comes  to  the  community  she  appears  at  the  time  of  grei 
est  needs.  If  there  is  a  quarrantine  case  she  keeps  in  touch  with  the 
family  by  telephone.  Her  name  is  recorded  as  a  teacher  and  willing  Presi 
ident  of  the  Primary. 

At  this  time  she  is  quite  weak  and  sick  probably  caused  from  her 
strenuous  life  of  activity,  but  she  is  cheerful  as  ever,  thinking  not  of| 
herself  but  of  those  near  her. 

She  is  indeed,  an  ideal  for  all  women  to  pattern  after! 


Mother  died  at  the  early  age  of  42  years,  on  June  5,  1932  at  the  ol< 
Beck  Home  in  Burton.  -, 

She  was  loved  and  held  in  high  esteem  by  her  friends  as  shown  by  th< 
large  crowd  which  attended  her  funeral.  The  Church  was  "filled  to  over- 

0 

flowing  and  some  of  her  friends  were  unable  to  get  into  'tne'  Church  at  fal3. 
This  was  in 'spite  W'one^'of^the  Severest  rain  storms  Imowrf^^his%oinmii| 
ity.     It  seemed  like  even  the  Heavens  were  crying  with  us.     '1  remember  wl 
how  the  funeral  procession  had  to  stop  on  the  way  to  the  Church  as  the  r4 
came  down  so  hard  they  could  not  see  to  drive.     During  the  funeral  the 
storm  cleared  and  the  sun  was  shining  as  she  was  buried  in  the  Burton1 " 
Cemetery,  along  with  four  of  her  children.  '    f-  '  '  V      n  ^-': 

*  ■ 

..  <>:i  '     .  .    •=••  raft    feVV        ,  L{rM-" 

'  Compiled  and  written  in  1955*"by  her  sonj 

Ralph  W>I^uer]f  ^;-;    ^ 
,    ,  ,  ,    -,  ■;  w,v,,  f  ■■  ■;•':.     ,,T^;^-f^.^^. 

•  \  ''  ...        ..'  •*    ■!■■    ,.';       t         r 

.     -  •-,.'•     j  .    I.  .:    ■,        i 

-4- 


'  r"  LIFE  HISTORY  OF  ERNEST  FERDINAND  KAUER 

My  father;  Ernest  Ferdinand  Kauer,  or  Fred,  as  he  was  known  to  his  friends, 

was  born  June .3 i  1878  in  Durrenroth,  Bern,  Switzerland,  the  second  son  of  Johannes 

Kauer  and  Anna  Elisabeth  Anliker.  He  had  two  brothers,  Johannes (John  or  Jack)  and 

Erail,'  and  two  sisters,  Freda  and  Pauline.   He  also  had  a  half  sister  and  a  half 

brother  from  his  father's  former  marriage.  His  half  brother,  Ernest  Johannes,  died 
1 
in  infancy  and  his  half  sister,  Eliza,  came  to  the  United  States  and  later  married 

I 

Ole  Gothe  of  Salt  lake  City,  Utah. 

)  '  V 

While  dad  was  very  young,  only  two  or  three  years  of  age,  his  parents  learned 
) 

of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  Church  and  were  baptized.  They  soon  moved  to  the  Mission 
) 

Home  to  care  for  the  Missionaries.  They  lived  there  for  about  five  years.  While 

I 

there  it  was  decided  that  the  family  should  go  to  America,  where  they  could  be 
\ 
nearer  their  Church  and  the  Temples.  As  money  was  very  scarce,  the  parents  decided 

k  to  send  the  children  to  America  with  returning  LDS  Missionaries  as  the  children 

could  travel  for  half  fare  that  way.  John  was  sent  first,  then  Eliza.  At  the 

tender  age  of  about  seven  years,  my  father  was  sent  to  America  with  Missionaries, 
V 
leaving  his  parents  and  family.   He  sailed  on  August  29  •  1885  from  Liverpool, 

]*     " 
England  on  the  S.S.  Wisconsin  with  his  destination  listed  as  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

When  he  arrived  in  Utah,  he  went  to  a  place  called  Pleasant  Green,  now  Magna,  and 

was  met  by  a  Mr.&  Mrs.  John  Hurst,  with  whom  he  lived  for  the  next  four  or  five 

years  until  the  rest  of,  his  family  were  able  to  come  to  America  in  1889 .  While 

.living  with  the  Hurst  Family  he  went  by  the  name  of  Freddie  Hurst.  They  taught 

.him  to  speak  English  and  he  had  no  reason  to  use  his  Swiss  language  anymore.   He 

.was  accepted  as  a  member  of  the  Hurst  Family  so  much  that  when  his  parents  came 

.from  Switzerland,  it  was  hard  to  accept  them  as  his  parents  as  he  did  not  know 

I 

fcthem  anymore.  It  was  very  difficult  for  him  to  communicate  with  his  parents  as 

P 

fcthey  could  not  understand  any  English  and  he  had  almost  forgotten  the  Swiss  language, 

P 

~He  often  told  us  of  his  life  with  the  Hursts,  and  how  he  used  to  herd  sheep  and  do 

^ other  odd  jobs  for  them.  Even  though  he  had  to  work  hard  while  living  there,  he 

W 

^ always  appreciated  what  they  did  for  him. 

^     It  was  while  living  in  Pleasant  Green  that  dad  started  his  schooling.  He  also 

^attended  school  in  Logan,  Utah  and  finished  his  schooling  at  the  Marietta  School 

Win  Burton,  Idaho. 

I    After  leaving  Pleasant  Green  the  family  moved  to  Salt  Lake  City  and  then  to 

k Logan,  Utah.  It  was  while  living  in  Logan  that  dad's  parents  were  able  to  go 

^through  the  Temple  for  their  own  Endowments  and  have  their  children  sealed  to  them 

Lfor  time  and  all  eternity.  Dad  was  baptized  into  the  LDS  Church  on  January  3,  1893. 


> 


After  living  here  for  about  two  years,  the  family  decided  to  move  to  Rexburg,  Idaho, 
bo  dad,  with  his  father  and  two  brothers  made  the  trip. to  Rexburg  in  a  covered 
wagon.  Grandpa  hired  a  negro,  by  the  name  of  Enoch  Able,  to  drive  his  team  and 
wagon  to  move  the  few  things  they  had  accumulated.   In  payment  for  the  trip,  Grand- 
pa gave  Mr.  Able  a  cow  that  Uncle  Jack  had  earned  while  living  in  Logan.  They 
arrived  in  Rexburg  June  1,  1893»  Dad's  mother  and  sisters  came  about  two  weeks 
later  by  train  as  far  as  Market  Lake,  now  Roberts. 

It  was  while  the  family  was  living  at  the  Henry  Flamm  place  north  of  the  Sugar 
City  Cemetery  that  dad  had  the  misfortune  to  break  his  leg.  He  was  about  1?  or  18 
years  old  at  this  time  and  some  of  the  boys  were  out  in  the  corral  roping  horses. 
One  of  the  horses  hit  the  fence  and  knocked  a  pole  into  dad's  leg,  breaking  it. 
His  parents  tried  bathing  it  in  sagebrush  tea  for  about  8  or  10  days  but  it  did 
no  good  and  he  was  really  suffering  with  it.   His  mother  sent  his  brother  Emil  for 
a  Doctor  and  he  brought  back  a  Dr.  Rivers,  who  set  the  leg.  As  soon  as  the  doctor 
finished,  dad  seemed  to  relax  and  was  able  to  sleep.  The  leg  healed  alright  except 
for  the  fact  that  it  was  set  crooked  and  always  bowed  in  a  little  after  that. 

Soon  after  this,  dad  went  to  work  for  A.M.  Carter  in  Burton.  As  I  remember, 
dad  told  me  that  he  was  to  be  paid  $15.00  a  month.   During  the  summer  they  would 
cut  wild  hay  in  the  meadow,  then  pitch  it  onto  a  wagon,  pull  into  the  end  of  the  big 
barn,  where  he  would  pitch  the  hay  into  the  loft  of  the  barn.   He  worked  for  Mr. 
Carter  all  one  summer.  When  they  went  to  settle  up  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  Mr. 
Carter  told  dad  that  he  didn't  have  any  money  to  pay  him  but  would  give  him  a  colt 
for  his  summer  wages.   He  took  the  colt  home  with  him.   A  short  time  laterGrandpa 
wanted  to  pay  his  tithing  but  had  no  money.  He  gave  dad's  colt  to  the  Bishop  in 
payment  of  his  tithing.  This  was  rather  upsetting  to  dad. 

He  later  went  to  Yellowstone  Park  to  work  with  his  brother  John,  taking  care 
of  a  herd  of  cattle.   Here  they  furnished  the  milk  and  veal  for  the  Yellowstone 
Hotel.  They  also  took  a  wood  contract  for  supplying,  cutting,  and  cording  the 
wood  for  the  Hotel.  For  about  three  summers  he  also  drove  the  stage  in  Yellowstone 
lark.  He  hauled  freight  in  and  out  of  Yellowstone  Fark  with  a  team  and  wagon.  He 
used  to  tell  his  family  stories  about  his  experiences  while  hunting  and' fishing  : 
there . 

Coming  back  to  Rexburg,  he  purchased  *K)  acres  of  land  in  Burton  from  a  Mr. 
Bunnell  for  $700,00  and  also  homesteaded  80  acres  of  dry  farm  land  on  the  Rexburg 
Bench.  .  '•  :  '  :' 

On  March  28,  1910  he  was  married  to  Rosalie  Karoline  (Rosa)  Beck  in  St.  Anthony, 
Idaho  by  John  Donaldsen.   A  wedding  reception  for  them  was  held  at  the  Beck  home 
in  Burton.   From  there,  he  took  his  bride  and  moved  to  their  farm  in  Burton.  They 
built  a  one  room  house  on  their  dry  farm  and  lived  there  part  of  the  time  as  the 


o_ 


law  said  they  must  live  there  six  months  out  of  the  year  to  prove  up  on  the  land. 
Their  first  three  sons  were  born  at  the  Beck  home  in  Burton.   Fred  James  was  bom 
November  *f,  1910,  Ernest  was  born  May  11,  1912,  and  Richard  was  born  August  18, 
1913.  Ernest  died  when  only  two  weeks  old.  Next -a  daughter,  Mary  Vilate,  was 
born  to  them  November  20,  1915;  followed  by  Ralph  William  born  January  12,  1918; 
Grace  B.  born  February  20,  1920;  John  Douglas  born  April  12,  1922;  Opal  B.  born 
December  5,  1923  died  when  she  was  ten  days  old;  Lorin  B.  born  December  16,  192^; 
Thelma  B.  born  May  **,  1927  died  at  two  years  of  age;  and  Vera  B.  born  April  10, 
1930 ;  who  were  all  born  on  the  farm  in  Burton. 

Dad  did  all  his  farm  work  with  horses  and  was  always  a  hard  worker.   After 
the  crops  were  planted  on  the  wet  farm,  he  would  take  the  horses  and  wagon  and  go 
up  and  stay  on  the  dry  farm  for  a  week  at  a  time,  getting  the  crops  in  and  things 
taken  care  of  there.  They  hauled  all  their  water  from  down  by  Erickson's  for  use 
on  the  dry  farm.  This  water  was  hauled  in  a  big  steel  tank  on  a  horse  drawn  wagon. 
He  would  drive  his  four  head  of  horses  across  the  ditch  and  with  the  wagon  in  the 
water,  he  would  put  one  foot  on  the  wheel  and  the  other  on  the  bridge  and  would 
dip  water  from  the  stream  into  the  opening  on  the  top  of  the  tank  with  a  bucket 

1 

that  had  a  long  dipper-like  wooden  handle. 

While  dad  was  away  on  the  dry  farm  the  summer  that  Richard  was  about  10  or  11 
years  old,  Richard  decided  to  play  with  matches  out  by  the  hay  stack,  and  had  the 
misfortune  to  set  it  on  fire.  The  neighbors  all  came  to  help  put  out  the  fire  but 
it  completely  burned  the  hay  stack  and  barn.  They  managed  to  save  part  of  the^  . 
'chicken  coop,  part  of  the  grainery,"  and  the  derrick.  These  stlll^fcarry  marks- of 
the  fire.  The  following  summer  dad  and  Ed  Davis  (Pauline's  first  husband)  bui^l 
a  new  log  barn  that  is  still  standing.  Richard  died  at  the  age  of  12  years  of 
Typhoid  Fever. 

Dad  used  to  run  about  50  to  75  head  of  cattle  out  in  the  lava's  every  year 
for  pasture.  We  would  take  them  out  early  in  the  spring  and  leave  them  until  fall. 
It  was  always  a  joy  to  dad  to  be  able  to  ride  a  horse  out  there  with  one  of  us  boys 
and  check  over  the  cattle.   It  was  a  very  common  thing  to  see  rattlesnakes  in  the 
lava's  at  that  time. 

In  1927  came  the  real  thrill  for  our  family  of  owning  our  first  car. *  It  was 
a  new  Chevrolet  Coupe  with  two  seats  and  two  doors  and  we  were  really  proud  of  it. 

On  February  9i  1928  his  mother  died  at  her  home  in  Rexburg  and  was  buried  in 
the  Burton  Cemetery.  '  J    v.:  •;•„.. 

Dad  had  a  great  love  for  hunting  and  fishing  which  he  has  passed  on  to  his 
sons.  He  often  kept  the  family  in  meat,  such  as  ducks,  pheasants yrand  fish.  He 
also  killed  one  of  the  first  Antelope  ever  shot  in  the  Burton  area.  ;;  He  and  mother 
often  took  us  children  and  went  on  fishing  trips  with  relatives  and  friends.  About 


"5f  .:, 


-3- 


once  or  twice  a  year  he  would  make  a  trip  by  team  and  wagon  with  some  of  his  neigh- 
bors to  get  out  timber  for  farm  buildings  and  corral  poles. 

He  often  went  on  rabbit  drives  with  us  boys  that  were  held  in  the  Lava's  west 
of  Piano.   This  was  rather  exciting  as  thousands  of  rabbits  were  driven  from  all 
directions  into  a  net  fence  corral,  to  be  killed.   The  farmers  used  this  method 
to  keep  the  rabbits  from  destroying  their  crops. 

Dad  was  always  ready  and  willing  to  help  a  friend  and  often  loaned  money  Lo 
his  neighbors  and  friends.   At  the  time  of  his  death  there  were  still  several  notes 
that  people  owed  him  that  were  left  unpaid. 

Quite  a  tragedy  in  dad's  life  was  when  my  mother  died,  June  5.  1932.   He  never 
seemed  to  be  well  after  that  but  his  grief  seemed  to  drive  him  on  to  work  even  harder 
than  usual.   The  winter  after  she  died  was  called  an  "open  winter"  and  he  plowed  in 
the  field  every  month  with  a  hand  plow  and  team  with  him  walking  behind  it.   He 
managed  to  keep  the  family  togetHer,  but  seemed  to  sort  of  pine  away  after  losing 
mother.   He  was  always  a  loving  father  and  husband  and  a  good  provider. 

After  going  to  several  doctors  in  Rexburg  and  getting  no  relief  from  the 
terrible  suffering,  he  was  taken  to  the  LDS  Hospital  in  Idaho  Falls  where  Dr.  Cline 
took  care  of  him.   When  the  doctors  decided  they  could  do  no  more  for  him  he  was 
moved  to  his  sister  Freda's  home  where  he  passed  away  May  16,  193^  a^  the  aSe  of 
almost  56,  leaving  four  sons  and  three  daughters.   He  was  buried  in  the  Burton 
Cemetery  next  to  his  beloved  wife  and  their  four  children  who  precoeded  him  in 
death. 

Compiled  and  written  by  his  son,  Ralph  W.  Kauer  in  1955 


a.. 


Written  by  Mary  Ann  beck  a  Daughter 

HISTORY  OF  OTTO  GOTTLIEB  B£CK 

Otto  Beck,  son  of  Johann  Beck  and  his  wife  Wilhelmine,  was 
born  October  19,  1893  at  Hall,  V,\jrtemberg,  Germany,  He  was  the 
fourth  child  of  a  family  of  ten.   At  the  early  ag-e  of  eight  years, 
in  1901,  he  emigrated  with  his  family  to  the  U.S.   Landing  in 
New  York,  they  saw  the  statue  of  Liberty.   Some  of  his  uncles  and 
tholr  families  had  come  to  the  U.S.  prior  to  this  tirre  and  had 
settled  in  and  around  the  state  of  Ohio.   Being  in  search  of  a 
place  where  they  could  build  their  home  and  find  future  happiness, 
the  Becks  moved  on  west  until  they  arrived  in  Rexburg,  Idaho. 

Here  they  lived  for  a  year  in  the  Rexburg  Third  Ward  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  Eva  Cook.   While  living  here  Otto  attended  school 
in  the  green  frame  school  house  near  where  the  high  scho:>l  now 
stands. 

The  following  year  the  family  moved  to  a  farm  south  west  of 
Rexburg  and  later  to  the  old  Beck  home  in  the  Burton  Ward,  now  known 
as  the  Seventh  Ward.   Otto's  father  had  purchased  this  farm  and 
had  built  a  house  on  it  and  it  was  here  that  Otto  spent  his  youth 
until  he  was  married.   He  attended  school  at  Cedar  Toint.   Otto 
enjoyed  Arithematic  most  of  all.   He  went  to  the  Seventh  grade. 
Then  he  was  a  sheep  herder  for  2  or  3  years.   Then  he  was  a  dry 
and  wet  farmer  with  his  family.   Otto  and  Bill,  a  brother,  went 
to  the  timber  to  get  logs  for  fence  posts.   Otto  enjoyed  being 
in  the  timber  where  it  was  peaceful  and  quiet,  he  loved  to  be 
close  to  nature.   He  like  hunting,  fishing,  dancing,  and  going 
to  the  shows  and  Church. 

He  worked  for  the  Rexburg  Lumber  Co.  for  a  few  suTurers.   He 
was  very  ambitious,  many  summers  he  worked  at  thinning  and  hoeing 
sugar  beets,  milking  cows,  and  building  fence.   Otto  and  his  ti**i<e  C- 
Bill  jfeft  built  the  home  Otto  lived  in  until  he  died.   His  wife 
Mary  and  daughter  still  live  in  the  house  on  the  farm  that  he 
built. 

At  the  time  the  Beck  family  left  Germany  they  belonged  to 
the  lutheran  Church,   After  moving  to  the  Burton  Ward  they  were 
converted  to  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Lattor-Day  saints. 
Otto  was  baptized  on. August  2,  1906  as  were  bother  his  parents, 
one  sister  and  two  brothers,       / 


2 

Otto  was  married  when  he  was  about  30  years  ol<^ .   Pie 
met  Holla  Weber  at  a  dance  at  K^M^^^^m^^4^^^f'i^ho. 
They  got  married  in  December  26,  1923.   Otto  and  his  wife  moved 
to  a  40  or  80  acre  farm  which  he  was  renting  from  Richard  Smith. 
That  is  where  their  only  child  was  born,  a  daughter  named  R.owena . 
They  were  neighbors  of  Holla's  parents  the  Gottlieb  Weber  family. 
Her  sister  Mary  helped  to  care  for  the  baby  when  it  ca^e.   They 
lived  over  there  for  about  10  years.   During  this  time  Holla  became 
interested  in  the  L.D.S.  Churhh  and  became  a  member.   She  had  a 
strong  testimony  and  she  and  her  husband  and  daughter  went  to  the 
Logan  Temple  to  be  sealed  for  time  and  eternity.   She  was  a  Relief 
Society  teacher  for  many  years  and  started  on  geneological  work. 

Then  the  Becks  divided  the  land  and  Otto  got  the  10  acres 
from  his  parents  farm  south  west  of  the  city.   He  and  his  family 
moved  there  into  a  log  cabin  house.   During  this  time  his  wife 
Molla  became  ill  with  a  bad  heart.   Her  sisters,  Mary  and  Meda  came 
and  helped  her  with  the  house  work  and  other  things 

Otto  build  a  home  next  to  the  log  cabin,  it  took  about  two 
years  to  complete.   They  moved  in  to  it.   Molla  lived  in  the  new 
home  about  a  year  befor  she  died  in  1938  of  a  bad  heart. 

In  1939,  March  22,  Otto  married  a  second  wife.   She  was  Molla1 s 
sister  Mary.   To-*  this  union  was  born  two  children.   Mary  Ann 
Oct.  14,  1940  and  AaS\i*  June.  13,  1943.   Mary  was  converted  to 
the  Church  on  September  6,  1941. 

Otto  farmed  about  110  acres.   Otto  was  an  Elder  and  in  1952 
became  a  high  priest.   He  was  also  a  director  on  the  Rexburg  Canal 
for  about  five  years.   He  had  his  picture  in  the  Rexburg  paper  for 
being  one  of  the  outstanding  farmers  that  believed  in  building 
up  his  land. 

He  was  a  hearty  person  and  tried  to  help  every  person  along 
his  path.   On  December  22,  1955  he  had  a  Stroke  and  on  Dec,  24  he 
died  at  the  age  of  62, 

On  June  6,  1956  Mary  and  Mary  Ann  had  the  Sealing  Ordinance 
done  for  time  and  all  eternity  in  the  Idaho  Falls , Temple. 

Otto  was  preceded  in  death  by  his  first  wife  and  daughter 
Amelia  who  died  at  birth,  parents,  all  his  brothers  and  sisters 
except  his  brother  John  Beck  and  sister  Minnie  Hinckley. 


Memories  of  Uncle  Otto  Beck  as  recalled  by  his  nephew, 

Ross  Beck  Hinckley 


Uncle  Otto  was  about  the  kindest  and  most  generous  man  I 
have  known.   He  had  a  good  sense  of  humor  and  a  very  contagious 
laugh.   He  had  a  gruff  voice  that  may  have  frightened  those  who 
didn't  know  him,  but  he  was  very  gentle.   He  was  like  a  second 
dad  to  me  and  always  treated  me  like  I  was  his  son. 

About  the  first  thing  I  can  remember  about  Uncle  Otto  was 
the  1935  black  Chevrolet  car  he  owned.  It  had  dented  fenders, 
but  other  than  that  it  was  a  really  good  car. 

We  would  go  on  many  fishing  trips  in  it  to  Warm  River  and 
Island  Park.   He  had  a  trailer  that  he  would  put  behind  it  and  in 
the  fall  and  we  would  go  into  Island  Park  and  cut  and  load  fire 
wood  into  the  trailer.   We  enjoyed  many  fishing  trips,  my  dad 
(Lon) ,  brother  (Kay),  and  myself.   When  my  brother  Carl  got  old 
enough  we  would  take  him  to. 

There  was  a  really  good  fishing  hole  up  by  Last  Chance,  near 
a  railroad  bridge.   Although  it  was  illegal,  we  would  put  snag 
hooks  on  our  lines  and  we  would  really  catch  the  fish. 

Uncle  Otto  loved  candy  so  we  would  always  stop  at  Jack's 
Store  near  Warm  River  and  get  a  supply  of  candy  and  pop.   Uncle 
Otto  was  the  one  who  introduced  me  to  Pepsi. 

At  one  time  Otto  chewed  tobacco,  but  realizing  it  wasn't  a 
good  thing  to  do,  he  substituted  bitter  sweet  licorice  for  the 
tobacco.   He  would  keep  it  in  a  little  cigar  box  in  the  garage. 
One  day  he  offered  me  some;  I  really  didn't  like  it,  but  I  told 
him  it  was  good. 

I  remember  a  lesson  he  tried  to  teach  us  once  about  drinking 
wine.   He  offered  Kay  and  me  some  one  day  to  see  what  we  would 
do.   We  both  took  a  sip  and  I  thought  it  was  really  terrible 
stuff.   It  sort  of  burned  all  the  way  down  and  as  I  jumped  around 
he  laughed  and  told  me  to  remember  how  uncomfortable  I  was  if  I 
was  tempted  to  ever  try  it  again. 

He  was  a  very  hard  worker  and  was  always  busy.   He  raised 
mink  and  fox,  cattle,  cows,  horses,  and  always  had  ducks  and 
geese  around.   He  loved  animals  and  would  go  to  the  livestock 
auctions  and  buy  animals  no  one  else  wanted.   He'd  then  fatten 


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them  up  and  would  make  nice  looking  animals  out  of  them.   He  also 
would  buy  old  horses  to  have  slaughtered  to  feed  to  his  mink  and 
fox. 

Many  times  he  would  get  too  attached  to  them  and  couldn't  do 
away  with  them.   Once  he  bought  such  a  horse,  a  white  one.   He 
told  us  we  could  have  it  if  we  would  take  care  of  him.   We  had  so 
much  fun  that  summer  with  the  horse.   I  can't  remember  his  name. 
But,  by  fall  the  novelty  of  caring  for  him  wore  off  and  so  my  dad 
had  Uncle  Otto  come  and  get  the  horse.   We  were  sad  to  see  it  go, 
but  the  deal  was  that  we  would  take  care  of  it  and  we  didn't  so 
we  had  to  pay  the  price . 

Kay  and  I  would  work  for  Otto.   We  would  grind  the  meat  to 
feed  to  the  mink  and  fox  and  also  feed  them.   We  also  would  help 
during  the  grain  and  hay  season.   I  remember  that  Mary  Ann  would 
drive  the  tractor  that  pulled  the  hay  wagon  and  we  would  have  to 
tell  her  to  slow  down,  as  she  liked  to  go  too  fast. 

The  going  wage  for  a  man  was  one  dollar  per  hour  and 
seventy-five  cents  for  boys.   Uncle  Otto  told  us  that  we  worked 
like  men  and  were  worth  the  one  dollar  per  hour.   Many  times  he 
would  just  reach  into  his  pocket  and  give  us  whatever  he  had  as 
he  said,  "Boys  always  need  to  have  some  money  to  spend." 

He  loved  watermelon  and  so  all  during  the  summer  we  would  be 
treated  to  watermelon. 

In  the  early  1950' s,  Otto  bought  a  one  ton  Dodge  army  truck. 
He  loved  that  truck  and  built  a  nice  grain  bend  on  it . 

I  also  remember  the  194  9  green  two-door  Ford  car  that  he 
bought.   He  was  so  proud  of  it.   When  he  bought  the  1949,  I  was 
the  lucky  recipient  of  the  1935  Chevy.   Kay  got  a  calf.   I  really 
didn't  have  the  money  to  pay  for  the  car  so  he  said  he  would  take 
the  calf  back  for  payment  so  Kay  and  I  could  be  co-owners  of  the 
car. 

In  the  early  1950 ' s  Otto's  health  started  going  down  hill 
and  he  had  to  have  surgery.   We  did  he's  chores  for  him.   He 
never  could  do  his  work  alone  from  then  on  so  Kay  and  I  helped 
out.   Aunt  Mary  rented  the  farm  out  to  a  Japanese  fellow  so  Otto 
didn't  have  to  worry  about  the  farm  anymore. 

He  had  a  nice  Ford  tractor  and  he  ran  into  the  ditch  once 
and  he  laughingly  said,  "Whoa,  whoa  (he  was  use  to  horses) ,  but 
the  tractor  didn't  stop." 


Otto 
Page   2 


He  had  an  Oliver  wire-tie  baler  and  he" would  cinch  the  wire 
so  tight  that  the  bales  were  really  big  and  heavy.   We  always 
wondered  why  he  did  that . 

We  enjoyed  visiting  back  and  forth  and  if  we  didn't  go  see 
him  when  he  thought  we  should  he'd  come  over  and  say,  "Don't  you 
believe  in  visiting  your  relative?" 

In  the  spring  of  1955  he  bought  a  blue  Ford  car.   He  really 
was  proud  of  it,  but  only  got  to  enjoy  it  for  about  seven  months; 
before  he  passed  away. 

I  loved  Uncle  Otto.   He  was  really  quite  a  special  person  in 
my  life. 


Otto 
Page 


LIFE  HISTORY  OF  OTTO  GOTTLIEB  BECK 

Otto  Gottlieb  Beck  was  born  October  19,  1893  at  Hall,  Wurttenberg, 
Germany,  the  son  of  Johann  Beck  and  Wilhelmine  Weber  Beck.  He  was  the  4th 
child  of  a  family  of  ten  children.  At  the  early  age  of  nine,  in "the  year 
1902,  he  emigrated  with  his  family,  to  the  United  States.  His  Grandmother, 
Dorothea  Stiefel  Weber,  his  Aunt,  Rosine  Dorothea  Weber  Foell  and  her  two 
children,  had  come  to  the  United ' States  prior  to  that  time  and  were  living 
in  Rexburg,  Idaho.  Upon  arriving  in  America  the  Beck  family  came  directly 
to  Rexburg  where  they  could  be  with  'some  of  their  family  and  old  friends 

from  Germany. 

They  spent  some  time  with  his  Grandmother  Weber  and  then  they  moved 
to  a  home  west  of  where' the  old  Third  Ward  Church  used  to  be. 

They  next  moved  to  a  log  house  that  his  Father  had  built  on  a  ten  acre 
plot  that  he  had  acquired  that  was  about  a  mile  south  west  of  Rexburg. 

A  year  or  so  later  they  moved  to  a  farm  southwest  of  Rexburg  and  in 
the  Burton  Ward.  Otto's  Father  had  purchased  this  farm  and  built  a  home 
on  it.   It  was  on  this  farm  that  Otto  spent  his  childhood  days. 

That  fall  Otto  went  to  the  Marietta  School  in  Burton.  The  next  fall 
he  went  with  his  brothers  to  the  Cedar  Point  Public  School,  and  it  was  there 
that  he  completed  his  schooling.  From  the  time  that  he  completed  his  school- 
ing until  he  was  married  he  worked  with  his  brothers,  sisters,  and  parents 
on  the  farm  and  on  a  small  dry  farm  that  they  had  purchased. 

At  the  time  the  Beck  Family  left  Germany  they  belonged  to  the  Luthern 
Church,  but  were  converted  to  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints 
not  long  after  moving  into  the  Burton  Ward, and  Otto  was  baptized  on  August  4,^ 
^1906  along  with  his  Mother,  one  sister,  and  one  brother. 

On  Sef£5S«r^ 36,  1923  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Molly  Weber.  To  this 
marriage  was  born  a  daughter,  Rowena.   Otto  and  Molly  made  their  first  home 
on  the  ten  acres  where  they  lived  in  the  log  house  his  Father  had  built. 
Then  they  rented  the  Richard  Smith  farm  and  moved  there  for  a  number  of  years 
During  this  time  they  purchased  a  sixty  acre  farm.   Later  they  moved  back  to 
the  ten  acres  where  they  built  a  new  home.   On  September  18,  1938  Molly  pass- 
ed away.  This  added  mora  problems  and  sorrows  to  Otto's  life. 

On.  March  22,  1939  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Mary  Weber,  his  present 
wife,  and  to  this  marriage  was  born  *  daughter^  Mary  Ann,  c+xj*.  A47i4Ac*J-^ 

Throughout  his  life  Otto  took  an  interest  in  Mother  Earth  and  he  liked 


to  till  the  soil  and  care  for  his  crops  as  they  matured  from  seeding  to 
harvest.  He  always  had  an  interest  in  livestock  and  always  managed  to 
have  a  number  of  cattle  about  his  farm.  He  was  not  afraid  of  hard  work 
and  spent  most  of  his  time  out  with  his  cattle  or  working  the  land.  He 
enjoyed  visiting  with  his  neighbors  and  was  often  seen  along  the  road  or 
on  the  farm  talking  to  and  discussing  problems  with  his  friends.  He  took 
a  big  interest  in  the  Rexburg  Irrigation  Company  and  represented  the  comp- 
any as  a  Director  for  a  number  of  terms.  He  always  had  an  interest  in  the 
Church  and  especially  during  the  last  ten  years  or  so  and  has  given  freely 
of  his  time  for  his  Priesthood  activities.   He  was  ordained  a  High  Priest 
on  January  4,  1952  by  Thomas  A.  Archibald.   He  has  been  a  Ward  Teacher 
for  a  number  of  years  and  for  the  last  two  years  has  been  a  Ward  Teacher 
Supervisor . 

It  should  be  said  that  Otto  had  two  of  the  finest  parents  that  ever 
lived,  and  he  often  spoke  of  them  to  his  family  and  friends.   His  Mother 
had  a  heart  of  gold  and  was  always  to  be  found  at  the  home  of  the  sick 
with  a  helping  hand  and  a  basket  of  cookies,  pies,  or  something  fitting 
the  occasion.   She  was  loved  by  all  that  knew  her  because  of  her  hospit- 
ality and  kindness  to  others.   Otto  had  many  of  these  same  characteristics 
and  therefore  enjoyed  life  and  helped  others  to  do  the  same. 

Otto  believed  in  being  diligent  and  was  always  busy.  He  had  complet- 
ed his  morning  chores  and  was  busy  in  the  yard  when  he  became  ill.  He  was 
taken  to  the  hospital  by  his  wife  and  friends  where  he  died  December  24, 

1955. 

Because  of  his  faithfulness  he  has  been  blessed  with  much  of  this 
world  and  I'm  sure  that  he  will  find  a  just  reward  in  his  Father's  Kingdom, 
He  is  survived  by  his  loving  wife,  Mary,  and  two  sweet  daughters,  Rowena 
and  Mary  Ann,  also  two  grandchildren,  a  brother  John,  and  a  sister,  Minnie, 


Written  and  given  at  his  funeral  by  his  nephew, 

Ralph  W.  Kauer 


LIFE  HISTORY  OF  WILHELM  GOTTLIEB  BECK 

Wilhelm  Gottlieb  Beck,  or  Bill  as  he  was  later  known  by  his  friends, 
was  born  December  7,  1895  at  Hall,  Wurttenberg,  Germany,  the  son  of  Johann 
Beck  and  Wilhelmine  Weber  Beck.   He  was  the  fourth  son  and  the  fifth  child 
of  a  family  of  ten  children,  seven  boys  and  three  girls.   At  the  early  age 
of  six,  in  the  year  1902,  he  emigrated  with  his  family,  to  the  United  States. 
His  Grandmother,  Dorothea  Stiefel  Weber,  his  Aunt  Rosine  Dorothea  Weber 
Foell  and  her  two  children,  had  come  to  the  United  States  prior  to  that  time 
and  were  living  in  Rexburg,  Idaho.,  Upon  arriving  in  America  the  Beck  family 
came  directly  to  Rexburg  where  they  could  be  with  some  of  their  family  and 
old  friends  from  Germany. 

They  spent  some  time  with  his  Grandmother  Weber  and  then  they  moved 
to  a  home  west  of  where  the  old  Third  Ward  Church  used  to  be. 

They  next  moved  to  a  log  house  that  his  Father  had  built  on  a  ten  acre 
plot  that  he  had  acquired  that  was  about  a  mile  south  west  of  Rexburg. 

A  year  or  so  later  they  moved  to  a  farm  southwest  of  Rexburg  and  in 
the  Burton  Ward.  Bill's  Father  had  purchased  this  farm  and  built  a  home 
on  it.   It  was  on  this  farm  that  Bill  spent  his  childhood  days. 

That  fall  he  began  his  schooling  by  going  to  the  Burton  School.   The 
next  fall  he  went  to  the  Cedar  Point  Public  School,  and  it  was  there  that 
he  completed  his  schooling.   From  the  time  that  he  completed  his  schooling 
until  he  was  called  into  the  army  he  worked  with  his  brothers,  sisters,  and 
parents  on  the  home  farm  and  on  a  small  dry  farm  that  they  had  purchased. 

In  July  1917  he  was  called  into  the  service  of  his  country  as  a  soldier 
in  the  United  States  Army,  this  was  during  the  first  World  War.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  in  1918  and  with  an  honorable  discharge  he  returned  home. 

On  October  1,  1919  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Rosa  Rottweiller. 
To  this  happy  marriage  was  born  a  family  of  six  children,  two  boys  and 
four  girls.  The  first  two  children,  a  girl  and  a  boy  died  at  birth.   Bill 
and  Rosa  made  their  first  home  on  a  small  farm  just  south  of  Rexburg.   About 
five  years  later  they  moved  to  Camas  Creek  where  they  purchased  a  cattle 
ranch.   This  ranch  lies  about  nine  miles  southeast  of  Dubois  and  is  still 
owned  by  Bill  and  his  family.   In  1932  they  purchased  a  farm  in  Hamer,  Idaho 
and  made  their  home  there  for  the  next  three  years.   During  the  summer  of 
1936  they  purchased  their  farm  here  in  Menan,  but  before  they  had  moved  into 
their  new  home,  Rosa  died,  February  3,  1937-  This  added  many  more  problems 
and  sorrows  to  the  many  that  Bill  already  had,  but  with  hard  work  and  a  lot 


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of  good  managing  he  was  able  to  give  his  children  the  necessary  care  and 
requirements  of  life  for  the  next  few  years. 

On  March  5»  19^0  he  was  again  united  in  marriage  to  Lucy  Sellers, 
his  present  wife,  who  had  five  children,  three  girls  and  two  boys  from 
a  former  marriage.  This  was  a  large  family,  but  with  love  and  kindness 
in  the  home  much  happiness  has  been  found. 

It  should  be  said  that  Bill  had  two  of  the  finest  parents  that  ever 
lived,  and  he  often  spoke  of  them  to  his  family  and  friends.  His  Mother 
had  a  heart  of  gold  and  was  always  to  be  found  at  the  home  of  the  sick 
with  a  helping  hand  and  a  basket  of  cookies,  pies,  or  something  fitting 
the  occasion.  She  was  loved  by  all  that  knew  her  because  of  her  hospit- 
ality and  kindness  to  others. 

At  the  time  the  Beck  Family  left  Germany  they  belonged  to  the  Luthern 
Church  but  were  converted  and  baptized  into  the  Church  Of  Jesus  Christ 
of  latter  Day  Saints  not  long  after  arriving  in  the  Burton  Ward.  From 
that  time  to  the  present  they  have  always  been  active  in  Church  work. 
While  living  on  his  ranch  at  Camas,  even  though  it  was  nine  miles  from 
Dubois,  Bill  was  active  in  the  Church  and  for  a  number  of  years  was  in 
the  Bishopric  of  that  Ward. 

After  coming  to  Menan  he  became  interested  in  the  Cooperative  program 
and  was  a  great  backer,  and  builder  in  helping  organize  and  build  to  it's 
present  standing  the  Menan  Co-op.   He  has  served  two  three  year  terms  as 
a  director  within  the  Menan  Co-op,  being  in  that  position  at  the  time  of 
his  death. 

He  had  a  great  interest  in  cattle  and  always  had  a  small  herd  on  his 
ranch  or  farm.   He  believed  in  being  diligent  and  was  always  busy.   Because 
of  his  faithfulness  he  has  been  blessed  with  much  of  this  world  and  I'm 
sure  that  he  will  find  a  just  reward  in  his  Father's  Kingdom. 

He  died  April  13,  19^8  and  is  survived  by  his  loving  wife,  Lucy,  and 
the  following  children,  Lois,  Clyde,  LaRue,  and  Joy,  five  stepchildren, 
three  grandchildren,  two  brothers,  Otto  and  John,  and  one  sister,  Minnie. 

Written  and  given  at  his  funeral  by  his  nephew, 

Ralph  W.  Kauer 


ROSA  ROTTWEILER 


Rosa  was  born  January  13,  1901,  in  Baigheim,  Nordlingen, 
Germany,  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fred  Rottweiler.   She  came  to  this 
country  when  she  was  one  year  old.   She  moved  with  her  family  to 
Salt  Lake  City  where  they  lived  for  two  years.   After  leaving 
Salt  Lake  they  came  to  Salem,  Idaho.   They  lived  there  for  14 
years . 

Rosa  married  William  Beck  of  Dubois,  Idaho,  where  they  made 
their  home. 

At  the  age  of  36,  Rosa  passed  away  in  the  Idaho  Falls 
hospital  on  Feb  3,  193  7,  with  pneumonia  and  heart  trouble. 
Interment  was  made  in  the  Cedar  Butte  Cemetery. 

Survivors  include  -jade  husband,  William  Beck,  four  children, 
Lois  Norma,  Clyde  R. ,  Larue  and  Joy;  her  father,  Fred  Rottweiler 
of  Menan;  and  the  following  brothers  and  sisters:   Mrs.  William 
Clark  of  Menan;  Mrs.  Con  Jensen  of  Spencer;  Paul  and  Carl  of 
Menan  and  John  of  Hamer . 

She  had  been  ill  for  the  last  24  days  in  the  hospital. 


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ROSA  ROTTWEILER  RECK 

THE  LIFE  OF  ROSA  ROTTWEILER  PECK  WAS  SHORT,  RUT  SHE  HAS  A  LOVEABLE  HARD  WORKING 
LADY,  HER  AND  RILLS  LIFE  ON  THE  RANCH  AT  DUBOIS  WAS  HARD  WORK  RUT  THTIP  LOVF  TOR 
EACH  OTHER  WAS  WONDERFUL  (THEY  WORKED  TOGETHER)  HAYING  IN  TUF  SUMMER  AND  MILKING 
COWS  AND  SKINNING  MANY  RAEBITS  IN  THE  WINTER. 

THE  SUMMER  AFTER  LA  RUE  WAS  BORN  IN  JANUARY  LA  RUE  BECAME  VERY  ILL  RUNNING  A 
VERY  RICH  FEVER  ROSIE  BROUGHT  l!ER  TO  IDAHO  FALLS  TO  THE  HOSPITAL,  SHE  WAS  IN  THE 
HOSPITAL  FAR  DAYS  VEPY  ILL,  WHEN  SHE  WAS  ABLE  TO  LEAVE  THE  HOSPITAL  ROSIE  CAME 
AND  STAYED  AT  OUR  HOME  IN  MENAN  FOR  A  FEW  DAYS  AND  OflE  MORNING  AS  ROSIE  WAS  BATHING 
LA  RUE  SHE  DISCOVERED  A  WOOD  TICK  BURIED  IN  HFR  HAIR  ON  THE  BACK  OF  HER  HEAD  SO 
THEY  DECIDED  THAT  SHE  HAD  HAD  TICK  FEVER. 

WHEN  ROSIE  AND  BILLS  CHILDREN  WERE  SMALL  BILL  WAS  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LDS  BRANCH 
IN  DUBOIS,  IDAHO. 

MANY  GOOD  TIMES  WERE  HAD  ON  THE  BECK  RANCH  AS  WE  WOULD  DRIVE  THERE  AND  STAY 
OVER  THE  WEEK  END  HELP  WITH  THE  CHORES  AND  FISH  IN  THE  CREEK.  ROSIE1 S  COOKING  WAS 
OUT  OF  THIS  WORLD  HER  BREAD  MAKING  FAR  WHICH  SUE  LEARNED  FROf1  HER  MOTHER  PIES, 
CAKES  AND  HOME  MADE  ICE  CREAM.  ROSIE  WAS  A  HARD  WORKING  LADY,  HER  HO?1F  AND  CHILDREN 
WERE  ALSO  CLEAN. 

ROSIE  AND  BILL  OWNED  A  RANCH  IN  HAMER  AND  WOULD  LIVE  THERE  DURING  THE  SCHOOL 
TERM  SO  THEIR  CHILDREN  COULD  ATTEND  SCHOOL  AND  CHURCH. 

THE  THREE  ROTTWEILER.  BOYS  PAUL,  JACK  ?.   CARL  WORKED  FOR  BECKS  FAR  A.  NUMBER  OF 
SUMMERS  IN  TUF  HAY.  SO  THEY  HAD  CLOSE  RELATIONSHIP  WITH  THEIR  SISTER  ROSA. 

WORDS  CAN  NOT  EXPRESS  HOW  WE  FELT  AT  THE  PASSING  OF  SISTER  ROSIE  AS  THEY  HAD 
BOUGHT  A  NICE  FARM  IN  MENAN  THAT  WINTER,  ROSIE  WAS  STAYING  IN  DUBOIS  WITH  THE 
CHILDREN  SO  THEY  COULD  ATTEND  SCHOOL  AND  COME  SPRING  THEY  WOULD  BE  MOVING  TO  MENAN 
TO  LIVE.  SO  WF  HAD  PLANNED  ON  BEING  TOGETHER  VISITTNG  AND  RAISING  OUR  CHILDREN. 

SO  MY  TRIBUTE  TO  ROSA  BECK  THAT  WE  LOST  A  LOVEABLE.  KIND  AND  HONEST,  HARD  WORK- 
ING SISTER. 

EDNA  ROTTWEILER  (SISTER  IN-LAW) 


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ATTENDED  SCHOOL  THERE,  MOVED  BACK  TO  SALEM  WHERE  SHE  MEET  WILLIAM  HECK.      BILL  AS 
HE  WAS  CALLED  COURTED  FOR  SOMETIME.     THAN  HE  WAS  CALLED  INTO  THE  SERVICE. 

DURING  THAT  TIME  SHE  WORKED  DOING  GENERAL  HOUSE  WORK  FOR  ANY  ONE  WHO  NEEDED 
HELP,  SHE  WAS  VERY  NEAT  AND  CLEAN  AND  WAS  ALWAYS   IN  DEMAND. 

BILL  RETURNED  FROM  THE  SERVICE  AND  THEY  WERE  MARRIED.     THEY  LIVED  IN  BURTON 
2  CHILDREN  1   YEAR  APART  WAS  BORN  AND  THEY  LOST  BOTH  A  BOY  *  GIRL  THEY  LIVED  A 
FEW  HOURS  AFTER  BIRTH.     THEY  FARMED  A  SMALL  ACREAGE.      LATER  THEY  PURCHASED  A  FARM 
EAST  OF  DUBOIS  WHERE  THEY  RAISED  CATTLE,   HAY  &  GRAIN.      MILKED  COWS  SEPERATED  THE 
MILK  AND  SOLD  THE  CREAM. 

ROSA  WORKED  VERY  HARD  DURING  HER  MARRIED  LIFE  WITH  FOUR  MORE  CHILDREN  SHE 
WORKED  LIKE  A  MAN.      BESIDE  HER  HOUSE  HOLD  DUTIES  SHE  WORKED  BESIDE  THE  MEM   IN  THE 
HAY  FIELD,  GOT  MEALS   FOR  THEM.     AFTER  THE  DAYS  WORK  WAS   DONE  THE  COWS  NEEDED' TO  BE 
MILKED  AND     CALVES  FED,  SHE  WAS  READY  FOR  BED. 

WHILE  THERE  THEY  DECEIDED  TO  MOVE   INTO  DUBOIS   FAR  THE  WINTER  SO  THE  CHILDREN 
COULD  GO  TO  SCHOOL  THERE  IS  WHEN  SHE  GOT  PNEUMONIA  AND  WENT  TO  THE  HOSPITAL. 
ALONG  WITH  A  BAD  HEART.     SHE  COULDN'T  MAKE   IT  SHE  PASSED  AWAY  FEBRUARY  4,   1937 
BURIED  FEBRUARY  7,   1937   IN  ANNIS   LITTLE  BUTTE  CEMETRY.      THUS  LEAVING  BILL  AND  FOUR 
CHILDREN  LOIS,   CLYDE,   LA  RUE  AND  JOY.     JOY  BEING  6  MONTHS  OLD.      SHE  NEVER  GOT     TO 
MOVE   INTO  THE  NEW  HOME  THEY  PURCHASED  IN  MENAN  WHERE  THEY  PLANNED  TO  SETTLE  DOWN. 


LILLIE  CLARK  -    (SISTER^ 


ON  JUNE  17,   1932  ROSA  CAME  [)P  TO  MY  PLACE   IN  KILGORE.     WIT!!  A  HUNCH  SOMETHING 
WAS  WRONG.     SO  WHEN  SHE  GOT  THERE  SURE  ENOUGH   I  WAS  SICK.      BERNICE  WAS  ON  HER  WAV. 
I   HAD  EVERY  THING  ALL  READY  TO  PLAY  DOCTOR.      CON  WASN'T  HOME  SO  ROSA  SAID  I'LL  ^0 
TO  DUBOIS   FAR  THE  DOCTOR  AND  CON  COULD  BRING  ME  DOWN  TO  HER  PLACE  WHERE  SHE  LI^FD 
ON  THE  CREEK.   ROSA  .  GOT  THE  DOCTOR  AND  WE  HOT  THERE   IN  TIME.      THE   DOCTOR  WAS   SO 
SCARED.      ROSA  DROVE  SO  FAST  SHE  COULD  HARDLY   DO   ANY  THING   FROM  SHAKING  SO  HARD 
BUT  EVERY  THING  TURNED  OUT  OK  THANKS  TO  ROSA  AND  ALSO  HER  GOOD  CARE  SHE   HAVE  f<E. 
ROSA  WAS  ALWAYS   DOING  GOOD  THINGS   FOR  EVERYBODY   I   NEVER  HEARD  HER  COMPLAIN.      SHE 
WORKED  HARD  ALWAYS  GOOD  TO  HER  FAMILY. 

SHE  ENJOYED  GOING  TO  DUBOIS  TO  CHURCH  AND  WE  OFTEN  CAME  DOWN  TO  HER  PLACE 
GOING  WITH  THEM  TO  SPEND  THE  DAY.     SHE  WAS  A  GOOD  COOK  AND  HOUSEKEEPER.      SHE  LIKED 
HAVING  A  GOOD  TIME.     THE   LAST  DANCE  SHE  WENT  TO  SHE  HAD  A  PAD  COLD  AND  GOT 
PNEUMONIA  WENT  TO  THE  HOSPITAL  AND  THERE  SHE   DIED.      IT  WAS  WINTER  AND  IT  WAS  COLD. 
I  WENT  DOWN  TO  THE  HOSPITAL  AND  STAYED  WIT!!  HER  WHILE   BILL  WENT  HOME  TO  CHECK  ON 
THE  CATTLE.     WHEN  BILL  COME  BACK  ONE  DAY  FIE  WENT  DOWN  TO  THE  TELEPHONE  TO  CALL 
SOMEONE  TO  COME  AND  STAY  WITH  ROSA  ONE  NIGHT  WHILE  HE  GOT  A  GOOD     NIGHT'S   REST. 
WHEN  HE  COME  BACK  TO  HER  ROOM  SHE  DIED,   PEACEFULLY. 

JACK  AND  MAUDE  TOOK  THE  CHILDREN  UNTIL  SCHOOL  WAS  OUT. 

ELSA  JENSEN   (SISTER) 


ROSA  ROTTWEILER  WAS  HORN  JANUARY  13,  1901  IN  GERMANY,  SUE  CAMF  TO  TIIF  U.S.A. 
WITH  HER  PARENTS  WHEN  SHE  WAS  A  YEAR  OLD.  LIVED  IN  SALT  LAKE  CITY,  UTAH  EAR  A  FEW 
YEARS  WHEN  HEP.  PARENTS  MOVED  TO  SALEM,   IDAHO. 

SHE  STARTED  SCHOOL   IN  SALEM  AND  LATER  TO  SUGAR  SALEM  EI.F'TMTAPY   SCHOOL.     SHE 

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LIFE  HISTORY  OF  JOHN  FREDRICK  BECK 


John  Fredrick  Beck,  or  Jack,  as  he  was  known  to  his  friends,  was  born 
August  14,  Ik,    1903  at  Rexburg,  Idaho.  He  was  the  son  of  Johann  Beck  and 
Wilhelmine  Weber  Beck.  He  was  the  seventh  son  and  the  ninth  child  of  a 
family  of  ten  children.   His  parents  and  older  brothers  and  sister  had 
left  Germany  and  come  to  the  United  States  in  search  of  a  new  home  and  a 
place  to  find  future  happiness.  They  arrived  in  Rexburg,  Idaho  in  August 
1902  and  lived  there  for  about  a  year.  They  then  moved  to  a  farm  south- 
west of  Rexburg,  in  the  Burton  Ward,  and  this  was  Jack's  home  throughout 
his  entire  life. 

He  attended  the  Cedar  Point  elementary  school  and  completed  three 
years  of  schooling  at  the  Ricks  Academy. 

From  his  boyhood  on  he  worked  with  his  Father,  Mother,  brothers,  and 
sisters  on  this  home  farm  and  also  on  a  small  dry  farm  his  Father  owned. 
He  always  had  a  great  love  for  horses  and  enjoyed  working  with  them  and 
caring  for  them. 

When  he  was  about  18  years  of  age,  as  most  boys  do,  he  and  a  friend 
decided  to  find  employment  away  from  home.  They  found  work  on  a  construc- 
tion job  and  spent  the  summer  living  in  Shelley. 

In  July  19^2,  at  the  age  of  38  years,  he  was  inducted  into  the  serv- 
ice of  his  Country  to  serve  in  World  War  II.   On  August  13»  19^-2,  he  re- 
ported to  Fort  Douglas,  Utah  and  then  to  various  other  camps  before  being 
sent  to  the  Asiatic-Pacific  Theatre. 

Upon  receiving  an  honorable  discharge  from  the  Service,  he  took  a  job 
with  the  railroad  at  Pocatello.  About  19^5  he  went  to  Portland,  Oregon 
and  worked  in  the  shipyards .  He  also  spent  a  number  of  summers  in  Montana 
working  in  the  mines.  A  few  years  later  he  went  back  to  Montana  during 
the  summers  and  worked  for  some  ranchers  there.   He  was  very  particular 
about  the  way  he  stacked  hay  and  everyone  wanted  him  to  stack  for  them  as 
he  did  such  a  neat  job. 

This  characteristic  of  neatness  was  seen  in  all  Jack  undertook  to  do. 
His  home  and  yard  was  always  kept  in  excellent  condition.  As  you  visited 
him  you  would  always  notice  that  tools  and  equipment  and  everything  was 
kept  in  its  place  and  ready  for  use. 

J.ack  lived  a  quiet  life,  he  loved  his  home,  and  loved  being  in  it. 
He  spent  many  hours  reading  and  working  in  his  home  and  about  his  yards. 

He  was  well  thought  of  by  all  of  his  neighbors  as  he  was  never  too 
busy  to  lend  a  helping  hand  with  chores  or  wherever  he  might  be  needed. 


Many  times  he  went  the  extra  mile  in  repairing  fences,  cleaning  ditches, 
and  doing  the  things  that  farm  neighbors  jointly  do.  He  was  never  known 
to  speak  unkindly  of  anyone. 

Jack  was  an  Elder  in  the  Latter  Day  Saint  Church  and  though  he  didn ' t 
attend  services  in  his  later  years  I  personally  feel  that  he  lived  a  good 
life  of  high  ideals  as  I'm  sure  those  that  knew  him  best  would  agree. 

He  had  "been  in  ill  health  for  the  last  four  or  five  years,  but  was 
able  to  continue  to  live  on  at  his  own  home.  He  was  very  independent 
and  insisted  on  doing  things  for  himself.   Last  April  he  suffered  a  partial 
stroke  and  his  sister,  Minnie  Hinckley,  moved  him  to  her  home  to  stay. 
Here  she  cared  for  him  and  nursed  him  back  to  health,  so  that  during  the 
summer  he  was  able  to  go  back  home  once  in  a  while  and  walk  over  the  fields 
he  loved  so  much. 

I  would  like  to  pay  a  special  tribute  at  this  time  to  Aunt  Minnie 
for  the  way  she  has  watched  over  Uncle  Jack,  not  only  since  his  illness, 
but  throughout  their  lives.   She  has  always  kept  in  touch  with  him  while 
he  was  away  and  kept  a  close  check  on  him  while  he  was  at  home  to  see  that 
he  was  all  right  and  if  he  needed  anything.   It  was  a  common  sight  to  see 
her  car  parked  at  Uncle  Jack's  and  know  that  she  was  there  visiting  him. 

He  passed  away  February  7i  1961,  at  the  age  of  5?  years.  He  was 
proceeded  in  death  by  his  parents,  six  brothers,  and  two  sisters.  He  ic 
survived  by  his  sister,  Minnie  Hinckley,  and  a  number  of  other  close  rel- 
atives. 

Written  and  given  at  his  funeral  by  his  nephew, 

Ralph  W.  Kauer 


mJt 


LIFE  HISTORY  OF  MINNIE  BECK  HINCKLEY 

Grandmother  was  "born  at  the  family  home  in  Burton  on  April  11,  1906. 
She  was  born  so  near  midnight  she  could  have  been  born  on  the  12th.   She 
was  delivered  by  a  midwife,  Conrad  Walz's  mother.   She  was  the  youngest  of 
ten  children,  born  to  John  Beck  and  Wilhelmina  Weber  who  were  German  imigr- 
ants. 

They  were  converted  to  the  Gospel  by  Conrad  Walz,  who  was  serving  a 
mission  in  Germany  for  the  Church  and  they  then  came  to  America. 

Grandmother  and  her  brother  Jack  were  born  in  America  while  the  other 
eight  children  were  born  in  Germany. 

When  Grandmother  was  four  years  old,  her  sister,  Rosa,  got  married. 
She  got  a  beautiful  new  dress  and  long  white  stockings  and  her  Aunt  Dora 
gave  her  a  pair  of  blue  garters  to  wear.   It  was  an  exciting  time  for  a 
little  girl. 

She  went  to  school  in  1913  at  Cedar  Point.   Her  teacher's  name  was 
Miss  Larson,  who  she  dearly  loved.   She  was  a  good  speller  and  could  recite 
well. 

She  attended  Cedar  Point  for  eight  years.  She  would  walk  two  and  a 
half  miles  through  the  fields.   In  the  winter,  the  drifts  were  so  deep. 
Very  seldom  did  the  children  ever  get  a  ride,  but  when  they  did  they  rode 
in  a  buggy  or  on  horse  back.  When  it  was  very  cold,  Marion  Taylor  Spaulding, 
who  lived  along  the  way  to  school,  would  help  Grandmother  carry  her  books. 
She  liked  Marion. 

She  then  attended  school  for  three  years  at  Ricks  Academy,  now  known 
as  Ricks  College.   She  lived  with  her  Aunt  Dora  while  she  attended  the 
Academy  and  would  go  home  to  Burton  on  the  weekends. 

Upon  finishing  school,  she  worked  in  a  seed  house  in  Rexburg  for  two 
years  and  then  in  St.  Anthony  at  a  seed  house  for  one  year. 

She  soon  met  a  young  man  named  Alonzo  (Lon)  Hinckley  and  they  went  to- 
gether for  several  years.  Grandmother's  Mother  was  in  very  poor  health 
having  diabetes  and  Grandmother  took  care  of  her  for  quite  some  time.  She 
and  Lon  had  to  keep  postponing  their  marriage  because  of  this  so  they  were 
engaged  to  be  married  for  awhile. 

Her  Mother  passed  away  on  Christmas  Day  in  1930-   On  January  12,  1931 
she  and. Lon  were  married.   Soon  after  their  marriage  they  moved  to  Salt 
Lake  City,  where  Lon  attended  Barber  School.  While  living  there  Grandmother 
did  housework  for  Bishop  Lamont  of  the  Hawthorne  Ward.   They  became  very 
home  sick  after  a  few  months  and  came  home  to  Rexburg.   They  lived  in  a 


little  house  belonging  to  Grandmother's  parents  at  317  South  4th  West.  While 
living  in  Rexburg  four  children,  Phyllis,  Jean,  Ross  and  Kay  were  born  to 
this  union.   In  1944  they  sold  their  home  and  moved  back  to  Burton  to  the 
old  home  place.  They  worked  together  on  the  farm  and  enjoyed  life  there. 
Soon  after  moving  back  to  Burton  their  last  son,  Carl,  was  born. 

In  1947  Grandmother  and  Grandfather  bought  a  70  acre  farm  along  the 
Rexburg  foothills  and  began  to  construct  a  new  home.  This  was  a  family 
project  with  Grandfather  doing  most  of  the  work  himself.  The  home  was 
completed  in  1953  and  the  family  moved  in  Thanksgiving  Day  and  this  has 
been  her  home  every  since. 

In  1962  a  flood  came  due  to  an  early  spring  run  off  and  it  was  a  real 
struggle  trying  to  keep  the  water  from  reaching  the  main  floor  of  their 
home.   Grandmother  froze  her  leg  and  it  caused  an  ulcerated  vein,  which 
gave  her  much  pain  and  problems  the  rest  of  her  life. 

In  I968  while  working  in  the  potato  harvest,  Grandmother  contracted  a 
very  bad  bronchial  infection  which  developed  into  asthsma  and  caused  much 
misery  and  discomfort  to  her  with  many  stays  in  the  hospital. 

Grandfather  Hinckley  passed  away  unexpectedly  on  November  2,  1970. 
This  was  a  great  loss  for  her  as  they  were  very  close. 

As  the  year  197^  came,  Grandmother  began  to  lose  her  vision  and  it 
was  discovered  that  she  had  cataracts  on  both  eyes.   It  was  in  Hflarch  that 
same  year  that  she  made  an  appointment  and  went  to  the  Idaho  Falls  Temple 
and  took  out  her  endowments.   Her  son-in-law,  Merrill  did  the  work  for 
Grandfather  and  they  were  sealed  on  this  day.   This  made  her  very  happy. 

On  October  9.  197^  she  entered  the  Idaho  Falls  Hospital  and  had  sur- 
gery on  her  left  eye.  Things  didn't  go  as  ,well  as  expected  and  she  lost 
the  sight  of  this  eye.  The  right  eye  became  steadily  worse  and  at  the  time 
of  her  death  she  was  planning  a  second  operation  on  the  right  eye. 

As  December  1975  came  Grandmother  began  to  have  very  serious  problems 
with  her  lungs  and  spent  16  days  off  and  on  in  the  hospital.  On  Christmas 
Day  she  re-entered  the  hospital  and  was  there  at  the  time  of  her  passing  on 
January  7,  1976. 

She  enjoyed  going  to  Church  and  loved  Relief  Society.   She  taught  Prim- 
ary and  was  a  Visiting  Teacher  for  many  years.  When  she  could  no  longer 
attend  Ghurch  it  made  her  very  sad.   Grandmother  was  a  very  warm  person. 
She  was  always  interested  in  what  her  family,  grandchildren,  and  friends 
were  doing.   She  was  a  good  wife,  mother,  sister-in-law,  daughter-in-law, 


-2 


l*NWI!*l»fc*»**^f**>-^;M»^»^**«v»J 


and  Grandmother.  She  loved  people  and  always  was  doing  things  for  others. 
Her  life  was  one  of  industry  being  always  a  hard  worker.   She  took  pride  in 
her  yard,  garden,  and  home  and  was  an  immaculate  housekeeper.   No  one  could 
have  asked  for  a  better  neighbor  and  friend.  She  loved  to  visit  with  people 
and  particularly  enjoyed  going  to  wedding  receptions. 

Grandmother  did  a  lot  of  fancy  hand  work  and  was  known  for  the  beautiful 
tatting  she  did.  She  was  generous  and  one  of  the  dearest  and  sweetest  women  I 
have  ever  known. 

We  will  miss  her,  but  our  loss — will  be  heaven's  gain. 

She  leaves  five  children,  15  grandchildren,  and  one  great  grandson. 


This  history  was  written  by  her  daughter-in-law, 

Nancy  P.  Hinckley 
Read  at  Aunt  Minnie's  funeral  by  her  grand  daughter, 

Susan  Hinckley  Cook 


-3- 


CARL  ALONZO  HINCKLEY 


Written  by  Mary  Ann  Beck 

cl  /?  i  -e  c  jL 

Carl  Alonzo  Hinckley  was  born  May  13,  1905,  in  Hibbard, 
Idaho,  to  Ira  Natherial  and  Emma  Luella  Keppner  Hinckley.   Lon 
(short  for  Alonzo)  was  one  of  a  family  of  eleven  brother  and 
sisters.   He  attended  school  in  Hibbard.   He  was  a  carpenter  and 
farmer.   He  married  Minnie  Beck  Hinckley. 

Minnie  and  Lon  kept  postponing  their  marriage  because  of  her 
mothers  illness  so  they  had  a  long  engagement . 

On  January  12,  1931,  she  and  Lon  were  married.   Soon  after 
their  marriage  they  moved  to  Salt  Lake  City,  where  Lon  attended  a 
barber  school.   They  became  very  home  sick  after  a  few  months 
that  they  came  back  home  to  Rexburg . 

They  lived  in  a  little  house  belonging  to  Minnie's  father, 
John  Beck.   It  was  located  at  317  South  4th  West.   While  living 
in  Rexburg  four  children,  Phyllis,  Jean,  Ross  and  Kay,  were  born 
to  the  union. 

In  1944,  they  sold  their  home  and  moved  out  to  the  country 
in  the  Burton  area  to  the  old  Beck  home  place .   They  worked 
together  on  the  farm  and  enjoyed  life  there.   Soon  after  moving 
back  to  Burton  their  last  son,  Carl,  was  born. 

In  1947,  Minnie  and  Lon  bought  a  70  acre  farm  along  the 
Rexburg  foothills  and  began  to  construct  a  new  home.   This  was  a 
family  project  with  Lon  doing  most  of  the  work  himself.   The  home 
was  completed  in  1953  and  the  family  moved  in  on  Thanksgiving 
Day.   They  have  lived  there  ever  since. 

In  1962,  a  flood  came  due  to  an  early  spring  run  off  and  it 
was  a  real  struggle  trying  to  keep  the  water  from  reaching  the 
main  floor  of  their  home. 

As  the  year  1974  came,  Minnie  began  to  lose  her  vision  and 
it  was  discovered  that  she  had  cataracts  on  both  eyes .   It  was  in 
March  that  same  year  that  she  made  an  appointment  and  went  to  the 
Idaho  Falls  Temple  and  took  out  her  endowments  on  March  20,  1974. 
Her  son-in-law,  Merrill  Pincock  did  the  work  Lon  and  they  were 
sealed  on  the  same  day  in  the  Idaho  Falls  Temple.   Minnie  was 
sealed  to  her  parents  on  October  1,  1919,  in  the  Salt  Lake 
Temple.   Minnie  had  been  baptized  July  3,  1914. 

Uncle  Lon  died  November  2,  1970,  in  Rexburg,  Idaho,  of  a 
bleeding  ulcer  and  was  buried  in  the  Burton  Cemetery.   Uncle  Lon 
was  baptized  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day 
Saints  as  an  eight  year  old  child  on  August  3,  1913.   His 
ordinance  work  was  all  done  in  the  Idaho  Falls  Temple.   He  was 
endowed  and  sealed  to  his  wife  March  20,  1974.   He  was  later 
sealed  to  his  parents  December  20,  1989. 

I  remember  Uncle  Lon  being  my  Dad's  fishing  buddy.   The  last 
summer  my  Dad  (Otto)  was  alive  Uncle  Lon,  Carl,  Dad  and  myself 
went  to  Henry's  Lake  in  Island  Park  on  a  fishing  trip.   I  had 
never  see  such  beautiful,  large  trout.   I  will  always  cherish  the 
memory  of  that  summer  with  my  Dad  and  Uncle  Lon. 


Saratov 

CapaTOB . 

A  city  approximately  400  years  old  and  oddly  shaped  (25  miles  long 
and  3  miles  wide),  Saratov  has  a  fascinating  history  with  the  Germans. 
Saratov  began  as  a  frontier  post  in  the  1500s. 

Germans  were  brought  to  the  Volga  region  by  Catherine  the  Great 
in  the  1770s.  She  needed  them  to  stabilize  the  area  against  the  many  attacks 
by  foreigners  and  make  the  land  productive.  Actually,  she  wanted  the 
Germans  to  take  the  brunt  of  most  of  the  attacks  so  her  Russians  wouldn't 

i     suffer  any  more.  Interesting  choice  of  people  for  her  to  make  the  scapegoat, 

|.  since  she  was  German  herself. 

jp  The  terms  they  got  were  fairly  reasonable.   They  could  settle  where 

%   they  wanted  and  worship  how  they  wanted.    They  would  not  be  taxed  for 

a- 

%.  30  years,  would  receive  interest-free  loans  for  tools  and  equipment  for  10 
^  years,- and  would  be  guaranteed  no  military  conscription.   Thirty-thousand 
^X came. to  the  Volga  region/ and  other  groups  went  to  other  regions,  like 
(ry  Ukraine  and" the  Crimea.  "By  1900,  300,000  were  in  100  German  settlements 
^with  Saratov  as  the  center.     They  were  proficient,  prolific,  productive 

farmers.  '•:':'■  V"  '.  ". 

%  \  At  the  time  of  World  "War  I,  there  were  two  million  Germans  on  the 

'Volga.  Lenin  established  the  German.  Autonomous  Soviet  Republic  after  the 
f  Revolution.  .Saratov  became  the  largest  city  on  the  Volga  River  and 
£-  exported  grain  and  food.  • 

t  When  Stalin  formed  collective  farms  in  1927,  the  Germans  refused, 

[:'•.  which  historically  was  their,  right.  Pointing  out  the  law  to  Stalin  only  made 
things  worse.  They  were  taxed  more  than  the  value  of  their  property,  so 
they  departed  throughout  the  1930s.  Those  who  did  not  leave  voluntarily 
were  deported.  Police  vans  abducted  whole  families  in  the  middle  of  the 
night.  They  resettled  in  the  forests  of  northern  Russia,  back  to  Europe  and 
to  America. 

Though  the  Germans  proved  themselves  resilient,  they  couldn't 


I 

m 


i  5? 


m 


m 


% 


>c 


c  :  ..i.-*v 


.  mpped^nsoutfaan^fe^ia mayb^ 
freed  if  4the  local  governor,  carries 

-  but  his  promise  to  pay  a  $300,000  \ 
ransom^    Worldwide    Television 
Ne\vs*repqrted  Saturday. 

Gov,  DnritikAkyatskov  of  Russia's 
SaraW  region-said  that  if  the  ran- 
som Is  taid,  he  might  expel  the 
Mormon  mission  from  his  region,  the 
Rrjtish-based  agency  reported. 

\Mr\r-mnr\     T*lis«31onJlT^eS    "AW*' 


/ 


Kussia. 

!'  B^#^* feSftjffi^sionaries  were  ab- 
LiU^?i?  Sar§to*  about  450  miles  souS- 
•f;/S^0SC0^  *&&&  for  $300,000  ran- 
i^fffi  f0Ul4»^^church  never  paid 
b(Xjhe  ransom,  but  the  missionaries  were  freed 
^ang>P  men^ar^^d^d  jater  convicted. 


survive  Hitler.  After  Germany  turned  on  Russia,  Russia  turned  on  Saratov. 
The  German  ASSR  was  banned.  The  German  language  was  banned. 
Germans  were  banned  and  by  cattle  cars  joined  their  families  in  exile  in 
northern  Russia,  Siberia,  Kazakstan,  and  other  regions. 

Meanwhile,  Saratov  participated  in  the  Great  Patriotic  War  (World 
War  II).  Because  the  plants  in  this  city,  especially  the  jet  aircraft  plant, 
supplied  Volgograd,  then  Stalingrad,  in  the  Battle  of  Stalingrad,  it  was 
bombed  heavily,  and  one  million  people  were  killed.  A  war  monument 
appears  high  on  the  highest  hill  in  tribute  to  the  soldiers  of  that  war. 

Nevertheless,  the  German  problem  continued.  At  the  time  of 
Gorbachev,  more  than  100,000  Germans  were  fleeing  the  country,  mostly 
to  western  Germany,  which  didn't  mind  immigrants  who  already  spoke  their 
language.  Other  cities,  such  as  Ulyanovsk,  accepted  the  Germans  because 
they  would  help  restore  the  farms  in  disrepair.  Unfortunately,  some  ethnic 
problems  will  exist  among  some  of  the  citizens  of  Saratov. 

Saratov  was  a  closed  city  until  1990.  With  a  population  of  one 
million,  it  has  much  to  boast  of.  Because  of  a  direct  pipeline  to  Moscow, 
Saratov  has  natural  gas.  Yuri  Gargarin,  the  first  Russian  cosmonaut,  was 
born  here.  A  bust  of  him  is  displayed  in  the  town  square.  The  other  bust 
in  the  town  square  is  the  man  who  first  invented  the  light  bulb  (though  our 
Edison  did  make  ..many  improvements). ,  :V  ^  /  ^au    ■  ,..;. 

^l7^Saratov"also:has'theJ  best-art  ■  museum^  outside  of -Moscow  and  St. 
Petersburg.  It  is  loaded  with  the  art  of  Levitan  (of'Plyos)  and  other  popular 
Russian  artists.  ::Even  the  building  itself  is  beautifully  designed  and  deserves 
some  attention/;'^'  '-';-- ;-:,  _     '  v       -;  -^i'-'-F^   :      - 


-.'  S 


*£ 


■V'' 


\V. 


^^  ^^-    fee^^^s^^ 


HISTORY  OF  GOTTLIEB  AND  ANNA  MARIE  WEBER 


Gottlieb  Weber  and  Anna  Marie  Grassmick  were  born  in  Balzer, 
Russia.   Gottlieb  was  born  to  Johanes  Jacob  and  Katherina  Speck 
on  March  13,  1876.   Anna  Marie  was  born  to  Bill  Grassmick  and 
Elizabeth  Hymbuck  (or  Heimbuch)  on  March  12,  1874. 

The  Webers,  Grassmicks  and  other  ancestors  migrated  from 
Germany  into  this  section  of  Balzer  Saratov,  Russia,  which  was 
newly  opened  for  settlement.   They  were  a  religious  group  of 
German  Lutheran. 

When  they  first  came  to  this  section  of  Russia  they  lived  in 
dug  outs  in  the  side  of  the  mountains. 

The  German  Colony  of  Balzer  (Goloi-Karagish  or  Balzer, 
German  Republic  of  Volga,  Russia)  lies  in  the  Valley  of  the  Volga 
about  eight  miles  from  the  river's  bank.   The  valley  slopes  down 
from  the  north  and  Balzer  is  on  the  right  side  or  "Mountain  Side" 
and  about  60  miles  below  the  city  of  Saratov. 

The  village  was  not  very  large.   Each  family  owned  a  small 
section  of  land.   On  this  land  they  were  allowed  one  cow,  a  pig, 
some  chickens,  ducks  and  geese.   Ducks  and  geese  were  very 
important  to  the  people  as  they  supplied  the  families  with  enough 
feathers  for  bedding.   The  down  quilts  were  light  and  warm.   Each 
member  of  the  family  slept  in  a  feather  bed. 

All  families  were  required  by  the  local  authorities  to  raise 
a  vegetable  garden.   This  would  give  them  fresh  vegetables  in  the 
summer  time.   And  they  could  store  potatoes,  cabbage  and  other 
produce  in  a  ground  cellar,  for  winter  use.   Meat  was  never 
plentiful.   They  also  had  to  have  fruit  trees.   Apples  and  pears 
were  the  most  popular.   The  fruit  could  be  dried  and  would  not 
turn  dark . 

The  village,  in  which  they  lived,  was  surrounded  by  forest. 
Each  family  was  issued  a  permit  allowing  them  to  herd  their  cow, 
ducks  and  geese  at  the  edge  of  the  forest  to  graze.   This  permit 
also  allowed  them  to  carry  enough  wood  home  each  day  for  the 
fireplace.   Wood  was  the  only  fuel  they  knew  and  the  fireplace 
was  the  only  heat  in  the  home . 

Their  homes  were  all  built  on  the  same  order,  long  barrack- 
like structures  made  of  brick  and  mortar.   Each  house  had  a  large 
living  kitchen  with  a  brick  fireplace  covering  one  entire  wall  of 
the  kitchen.   A  brick  oven  was  built  into  the  fireplace.   Meals 
for  the  day  were  prepared  in  the  morning,  put  into  the  oven  and 
baked  all  day.   It  was  this  long  slow  baking  that  made  everything 
taste  so  good,  especially  the  whole  wheat  bread  and  the  custard 
pudding . 


There  was  a  bedroom  next  to  the  kitchen  which  was 
partitioned  into  smaller  sections  with  heavy  linen  curtains 
reaching  from  ceiling  to  floor. 

There  was  also  a  storeroom  where  grain,  flour,  cured  meat, 
butter  and  eggs  were  stored.   Other  things  the  family  owned  were 
also  locked  up  in  the  room  so  they  wouldn't  be  stolen. 

In  1914  a  revolution  took  place  and  a  lot  of  this  group 
starved  to  death.   This  is  when  Anna  Marie's  Grandma  Grassmick 
died. 


The  Webers  came  from  a  family  of  tall,  big-boned,  hard- 
working people.   Johanes  Jacob  Weber,  had  blond  hair  and  blue 
eyes  while  their  mother,  Katherina  Speck,  had  very  red  hair  and 
green  eyes.   Katherina  died  when  Gottlieb  was  young  (maybe  about 
seven) .   Johanes  never  did  remarry.   This  left  the  oldest  girl 
responsible  for  the  household  chores.   Gottlieb  often  felt  sorry 
for  her.   There  were  one  girl  and  four  boys  in  the  family. 

The  Grassmicks  were  smaller  people,  not  much  over  five  feet 
tall.   They  had  dark  brown  hair  and  grey  eyes.   Anna  Marie  never 
spoke  of  her  father  as  he  died  when  she  was  very  young  perhaps 
three  years  old.   That  left  her  mother  with  two  boys  and  two 
girls  to  raise.   Anna  Margaretha  was  the  older  girl  and  Anna 
Marie  was  the  younger  girl.   The  older  brother,  David,  died  of 
Black  Fever  as  young  man,  he  had  studied  for  the  ministry,  he  was 
married  and  left  three  young  children  that  his  mother  then 
raised.   The  younger  brother  also  died  of  Black  Fever  when  he  was 
fifteen.   He  had  been  studying  to  be  a  brick  mason. 

Being  without  a  man  in  the  house  put  a  lot  of  hardship  on 
the  widow  Elizabeth  and  her  two  girls.   One  of  the  girls 
responsibility  was  to  carry  the  water  from  the  well  that  supplied 
the  village  with  pure  drinking  water.   The  girls  each  carried  two 
buckets.   They  were  only  six  and  eight  years  old  and  the  well  was 
located  just  beyond  the  Weber  home.   The  Webers  had  a  big  dog 
that  would  bark  and  chase  them.   This  frightened  the  girls  making 
them  cry  and  run  as  fast  as  possible  and  worry  about  spilling  the 
water.   When  the  Weber  boys  realized  this  they  called  the  dog 
back  and  tied  him  up.   The  girls  must  have  been  very  grateful  for 
this  act  of  kindness,  as  in  later  years  the  two  girls  married  the 
two  brothers . 

Young  boys  and  girls  were  hired  out  at  the  age  of  twelve, 
and  by  the  time  they  were  fourteen  they  were  expected  to  do  full 
days  work  just  like  men- -from  sunrise  until  sunset. 

Gottlieb  and  his  brother,  Alexander,  went  to  work  in  a 
Cleaning  and  Dying  factory.   They  were  lucky  to  get  work,  as 


their  uncle  owned  the  factory.   It  was  here  they  helped  dye  the 
yarn  with  which  they  made  overalls. 

Anna  Marie  also  worked  in  the  dye  factory.   Her  sister,  Anna 
Margaretha  went  to  work  for  a  landowner  who  lived  at  the  edge  of 
the  village.   The  landowner  let  her  go  home  to  visit  her  mother 
on  Sunday.   The  dye  factory  was  also  closed  on  Sunday,  so  the 
young  folks  could  go  to  church  with  their  families.   This  is 
where  these  young  folks  would  meet  and  get  better  acquainted  with 
each  other. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  Gottlieb  was  drafted  into  the 
Russian  Army  to  serve  his  country  for  four  years .   Alexander  was 
twenty-one  when  he  was  also  drafted.   This  was  a  blessing  in 
disguise  for  Alexander  as  it  got  him  out  of  the  dye  factory. 
Alexander  was  a  sick  man,  his  skin  and  the  whites  of  his  eyes 
were  yellow  and  he  couldn't  eat.   The  fumes  from  the  dye  was 
poisoning  his  body.   They  were  drafted  in  1894  and  released  in 
1897. 

Gottlieb  and  Marie  were  married  February  9,  1895  in  Russia 
at  the  age  of  19  and  21.   Marie  was  two  years  older  than 
Gottlieb.    Alexander  and  Margaretha  also  married.   Alexander 
went  back  to  the  factory  to  work. 

When  the  Webers  immigrated  into  Germany,  the  country  was  so 
poor  that  the  Russian  ruler  let  them  work  in  Russia.   Gottlieb 
worked  in  Russia  during  the  summers  and  moved  back  to  Germany  in 
the  falls.   He  was  a  carpenter  and  farmer.   While  he  worked  in 
Russia,  the  Weber  family  lived  with  Anna  Marie's  mother, 
Elizabeth  Grassmick. 

To  the  union  of  Gottlieb  and  Marie,  ten  children  were  born. 
Six  of  whom  were  born  in  Europe  and  four  were  born  in  the  United 
States  of  America.   Alex  was  born  on  January  10,  1897;  Molla  was 
born  on  July  19,  1898;  Mary  and  Katharine  were  twins  and  were 
born  on  October  12,  1901;  Kate  was  born  on  May  1,  1904;  Anna  was 
born  on  May  31,  190  6;  Gottlieb  on  August  19  1908;  Amelia  on  July 
13,  1910;  Bill  on  February  1,  1912;  and  Mada  was  born  on  July  18, 
1915. 

It  didn't  take  long  before  Alexander  was  sick  again  and 
knew  he  could  not  work  in  the  dye  factory  much  longer.   These 
were  a  sad  and  unhappy  people .   There  was  no  future  for  them  and 
even  less  for  their  children.   It  was  the  children  they  were  most 
concerned  about . 

Things  were  never  good  for  the  German  people  in  Russia.   The 
Russian  people  had  always  resented  the  Germans  that  settled  in 
that  part  of  the  country.   Schools  were  few  and  far  between,  they 
were  even  being  burnt  down.   There  were  many  adults  that  had 
never  attended  one  day  of  school .   They  could  neither  read  nor 


write.   Very  little  was  being  shipped  into  the  village,  and 
nothing  was  being  sent  out. 

Everyone  who  was  able,  was  moving  to  America.   America  was  a 
land  of  freedom  with  opportunities,  resources,  and  lots  of  land 
for  the  people  to  live  or  settle.   It  was  inconceivable  to  the 
mind. 

It  was  Margaretha  who  never  gave  up  scheming  of  how  to  get 
to  America.   The  problem  was- -there  was  no  money. 

Through  the  grapevine  they  hear  about  a  captain  who  shipped 
purebred  cattle  to  America.   He  also  had  room  for  a  few 
passengers,  for  considerably  less  money  than  it  would  cost  to  go 
first-class.   So  they  sold  every  thing  they  had  to  raise  the 
money  and  started  their  journey  to  America- -Alexander ,  Margaretha 
and  three  children,  in  November  1902. 

They  left  Saratov  to  set  out  on  the  first  leg  of  their 
journey  to  America.   They  traveled  by  train  to  the  coast  of  the 
Baltic  Sea.   On  the  coast  of  Poland  Port  they  boarded  a  boat  and 
sailed  through  the  Keil  Canal.   From  there  they  sailed  across  to 
the  English  Port  of  Hull.   Then  they  traveled  across  England  to 
Liverpool  by  train.   They  were  taken  from  there  by  a  motor  boat 
some  distance  out  to  sea  and  put  on  a  large  ship  and  sailed 
between  what  is  now  North  Ireland  and  England  from  America.   They 
landed  at  St.  John,  Canada,  then  traveled  by  train  to  St.  Paul, 
Minnesota.   Then  they  arrived  at  Lincoln  on  January  17,  1903. 

Everything  was  fine  for  a  while;  however,  there  was  a  few 
things  the  passengers  had  not  anticipated.   One  was  that  the 
cattle  had  priority  over  the  passengers.   They  were  not  prepared 
for  the  cold,  the  food  was  poor  and  there  was  not  enough  of  it. 
They  sailed  twenty-eight  days  before  landing  in  America.   When 
the  people  got  off  the  ship  they  were  dirty,  sick,  and  starving. 

Gottlieb  came  to  the  United  States  of  America  later  about 
1906,  to  join  his  brother.   He  worked  on  the  Burlington  Railroad 
in  Nebraska  for  a  year.   He  earned  enough  money  and  sent  for  his 
family  to  come.   They  joined  him  April  18,  1907.   They  settled  in 
Lincoln,  Nebraska.   Everything  was  new  for  them  in  America  and 
lots  of  adjustments  were  made. 

After  Grandmother  Grassmick's  two  daughters  and  their 
families  left  for  America  she  continued  to  take  care  of  her  three 
grandchildren- -the  children  of  her  oldest  son,  David,  who  had 
passed  away.   She  died  over  there. 

Gottlieb  and  Marie's  daughter,  Mary,  remembers  the  Volga 
River  where  they  played  in  the  water.   It  was  always  clean  and 
clear  and  not  very  deep.   They  also  washed  their  clothes  in  the 
river.   When  she  was  about  five  years  old  she  helped  her  Mother 


in  the  factory.   Her  Mother  spun  yarn  on  a  spinning  wheel  and 
made  different  fabrics  and  Mary  helped  by  rolling  the  yarn  into 
balls . 

Mary  was  six  when  she  and  her  parents  came  to  America.   She 
remembers  the  trip  as  being  long  and  hard.   Everyone  seemed  to  be 
sea  sick  and  her  Mother  had  a  small  baby.   They  did;  however, 
have  good  food  to  eat  on  the  crossing.   The  Captain  also  gave 
them  peanuts  which  was  their  first  encounter  with  American  food. 

While  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  the  family  was  caught  in  a  big 
flood.   It  was  necessary  for  Gottlieb  to  carry  the  family  to  the 
roof  of  a  near-by  house  where  they  stayed  a  long  time  before 
being  rescued  and  taken  by  boat  to  a  dry  house. 

After  living  in  Nebraska  for  about  two  years,  they  moved  out 
west  and  settled  north  of  Rexburg,  Idaho.   Later  they  moved  to 
the  Burton  area  west  of  Rexburg.   They  moved  to  work  in  the  sugar 
beets.   Alexander  and  his  family  stayed  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska  to 
work  on  the  railroad. 

Gottlieb  lived  in  Burton  for  about  35  years.   He  was  a 
farmer  and  a  stockman.   He  worked  between  4  0  to  8  0  acres.   During 
that  time  all  the  family  except  Gottlieb  and  their  son  Alex  had 
scarlet  fever.   Their  daughter  Mary  said  they  were  all  on  their 
backs  for  two  to  three  weeks.   They  were  quarantined  for  a  month. 
Gottlieb  killed  a  beef  and  fed  it  to  the  family  in  the  form  of 
soup.   That  helped  them  regain  their  health  and  strength.   After 
that  they  moved  to  a  home  just  west  of  Rexburg. 

Then  in  1918,  Gottlieb's  brother,  Alexander,  decided  to 
apply  for  a  railroad  pass- -one  he  had  earned.   He  took  his  oldest 
son  Alex  and  came  to  visit  his  brother,  Gottlieb  and  family,  out 
west  in  Idaho.   This  was  fine  with  the  rest  of  the  family,  until 
they  returned  from  their  vacation  and  calmly  announced  that  they 
both  had  fallen  in  love  with  the  farms,  mountains,  people,  the 
way  of  life  out  west  and  wanted  to  live  there. 

His  wife  Anna  Margaretha,  wasn't  too  anxious  to  make  the 
move,  but  Alexander  had  his  way.   They  sold  all  their  belongings 
and  moved  to  Rexburg.    He  started  to  farm  in  Burton,  then  moved 
to  Thorton,  Idaho  and  farmed  there  until  1931.   They  bought  a 
three  room  home  in  Lorenzo  and  lived  there  and  had  a  few  chickens 
and  one  cow.   Their  children,  all  lived  around  the  area  close  by. 
They  loved  this  little  home  and  all  the  people  around  them. 

Alexander  became  a  mail  carrier  for  the  Postal  Service.   He 
did  that  until  he  retired. 

Gottlieb  was  President  and  Director  for  the  Rexburg 
Irrigation  Canal  Company.   Gottlieb  and  Marie  were  hardworking, 


good  people.   They  were  very  conscious  of  their  family's  needs. 
Gottlieb  enjoyed  doing  business. 

The  Weber  family  was  Lutheran.   Anna  Marie  became  interested 
in  the  LDS  Church  some  but  never  joined. 

They  could  not  read  or  write  much  English.   Marie  would  only 
make  an  "X"  on  contracts  and  such  while  Gottlieb  would  scribble 
his  name.   Mary  Ann  remembers  her  grandmother,  Marie,  taking  her 
ABC  book  and  trying  to  learn  the  alphabet  in  her  late  seventies. 

Marie  Grassmick  Weber  passed  away  December  29,  1954  at  the 
age  of  80  in  Rexburg,  Idaho.   Gottlieb  Weber  passed  away  August 
7,  1£|5  7,  at  the  age  of  81  in  Rexburg,  Idaho.   They  had  been 
married  59  years.   Brother  Alexander  died  June  28,  1949  in  Sacred 
Heart  Hospital  in  Idaho  Falls,  Idaho.   Sister  Margaretha  passed 
away  first  when  she  was  only  sixty-two  years  old. 

They  all  lived  to  see  their  dreams  come  true.   Their 
families  were  safe  in  America.   They  wanted  their  children  to 
live  in  freedom  and  become  good  Americans. 


Memories  of  Grandpa  and  Grandma  Weber  by  Mary  Ann  Beck. 

My  mother,  Mary  and  I  would  take  Grandma  Marie  Weber  to  town 
every  Saturday.   I  remember  Grandma  would  give  me  five  cents,  in 
pennies  to  spend  at  the  fair  or  on  whatever.   I  remember  we  would 
never  miss  a  Saturday  of  going  to  town.   This  was  a  very  special 
time  for  the  three  of  us.   Even  after  Grandma  passed  away  and 
moved  into  town,  Saturdays  were  still  special  for  Mom  and  me. 

Grandma  had  a  player  piano  that  I  loved  to  play.   It  used 
rolls  to  create  the  music  after  a  lot  a  pumping  from  me. 
Grandma's  favorite  song  was  America .   When  I  would  finished 
playing  the  piano  Grandma  would  always  check  to  make  sure  I  had 
left  the  roll  of  America  on  the  piano  ready  to  be  played  again. 

Grandpa  and  Grandma  always  had  a  beautiful  yard  with 
raspberries  and  flowers.   In  August  the  Flocks  would  bloom  with 
lovely  colors  of  purple  and  white. 

Early  in  the  year  193  0,  my  grandparents  purchased  a  farm 
with  a  home  on  it.   It  was  about  two  miles  west  of  Rexburg .   It 
was  by  the  canal .   I  remember  that  they  would  warn  me  to  stay 
away  from  the  canal  and  never  go  near  it . 

Grandpa  was  not  a  religious  man.   Grandma  would  have  joined 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints  along  with  their 
daughters  if  it  had  not  been  for  him.   She  was  converted  and 
believed  the  gospel  was  true.   She  even  bought  the  LDS  garments 
to  wear.   My  mother  said  that  she  wanted  to  be  baptized.   It  was 
sad  to  me  that  Grandpa  was  not  interested  in  the  gospel . 

I  felt  that  my  Grandparents  were  interested  in  me  mainly 
because  of  my  disability.   I  know  they  were  concerned  for  me. 

Grandma  lived  to  be  80.   She  had  high  blood  pressure  but 
died  she  from  a  stroke.   Grandpa  lived  to  be  81.   He  had 
Parkinson  disease  but  died  of  a  heart  attack. 

Grandma  and  Grandpa  were  both  buried  in  the  United  States  of 
America.   A  land  they  were  very  grateful  to  have  lived  in.   They 
were  very  happy  that  they  came  to  this  land  of  opportunity- -a 
rich  heritage  for  their  children. 

Written  by  Mary  Ann  Beck  a  grand-daughter. 


'■Zr 


HISTORY  OF  ALEXANDER  WEBER 

Written  by  Mary  Ann  Beck,  a  niece. 

Alexander  Weber  was  born  January  10,  1897,  in  Balzer, 
Sarat##  Russia.   He  was  the  oldest  son  in  the  family  of  ten 
children.   His  parents  were  Gottlieb  Weber  and  Anna  Marie 
Grasmick.   Six  of  the  children  were  born  in  Russia.   Alex  was  a 
veteran  serving  in  World  War  I .   Uncle  Alex  was  a  farmer  and 
drove  the  bus  for  the  School  District  until  he  retired.   He  died 
on  April  16,  1971,  from  a  heart  attack  at  the  age  of  74  at  his 
home  in  Rexburg . 

Alex's  parents  immigrated  from  Germany  into  Russia  to  work 
the  land.   Because  of  poor  conditions  in  Germany  and  Russia  his 
father  Gottlieb  and  his  Uncle  Alex,  immigrated  to  America  and 
worked, on  the  railroad  in  Nebraska.   When  they  had  earned  enough 
money-jflel/ sent  it  back  to  Russia  to  bring  their  families  to 
America.   Alex  and  his  sister  Molla  enjoyed  the  boat  trip, 
especially  visiting  with  the  people  on  the  boat .   Alex  could  not 
speak  English,  but  he  learned  quickly. 

After  arriving  in  the  United  Stated  of  America  they  settled 
first  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska.   Then  they  came  to  the  Rexburg,  Idaho 
area,  Gottlieb  settled  in  the  community  of  Burton  and  Alex 
settled  in  Lorenzo. 

Alexander  married  Freda  Christensen  on  November  9,  1927. 
They  had  four  girls,  Bernice  (Shirley),  Thelma  (Kington),  Rayola 
(Fisher) ,  and  Shirleen  (Chandler) . 

Freda  Christensen  Weber  was  born  1904  and  died  February  9, 
1980.   Freda  was  a  homemaker  all  her  life.   They  moved  to  town 
(Rexburg)  from  the  farm  in  Burton  about  1965.   They  moved  into  a 
good,  religious  neighborhood- -a  church  going  people  that  fellow 
shipped  Alex  into  the  LDS  Church.   They  loved  him  right  in. 
Freda  prayed  for  and  worked  with  Uncle  Alex  until  he  was  ready 
for  baptism.   That  was  one  of  her  happiest  moments.   Alexander 
was  baptized  on  May  4,  1968  and  a  year  lat*fe/f  he  received  his 
endowments  and  was  sealed  to  Freda  in  the  Idaho  Falls  temple  on 
June  10,  1969.   Freda  was  born  into  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 
Latter-day  Saints.   Alex  was  sealed  to  his  parents  on  April  5, 
1973  . 


FREEDA  F.  CHRISTENSEN  WEBER 


Freeda  C.  Weber  was  born  September  14,  1904  at  Hyde  Park, 
Utah.   She  died  February  9,  1980  at  the  age  of  75,  at  a  Salt  Lake 
City  hospital  following  surgery  on  Saturday. 

Freeda  is  the  daughter  of  Martin  and  Fredrikka  Jensen 
Christenseruf  When_  sjhe  was  a  small  child,  the  family  moved  from 
Hyde  Park^vEb  Grantj.l!--  The  sixth  child  of  a  family  of  nine,  she 
attended  schools  at  Grant  and  Midway.   She  worked  in  Salt  Lake 
City.  ^hU^€> 

She  was  married  to  Alexander  Weber  at  Pocatello,  Idaho,  on 
November  9  1927.   The  marriage  was  later  solemnized  in  the  Idaho 
Falls  LDS  Temple. 

Freeda  was  a  member  of  the  LDS  Church  and  served  as  a 
Primary  teacher.   She  and  her  husband  farmed  in  Burton  until  they 
retired  and  moved  to  Rexburg  in  1967.   He  died  in  1971. 

Survivors  include  four  daughters,  Mrs.  Fred  (Bernice) 
Shirley  of  Rigby,  Mrs.  Norman  (Thelma)  Kington  of  Rexburg,  Rayloa 
Fisher  of  Bountiful,  Utah  and  Mrs.  Berdett  (Shirleen)  Chandler  of 
Stockton,  California;  one  brother,  Orin  E.  Christensen  of  Salt 
Lake  City,  Utah;  13  grandchildren  and  two  great-grandchildren. 


J  fat**' 

;(U%f    ""  "~ 

($-/yrl^6^LL<L'  HISTORY  OF  MO^LA  WEBER  BECK 

Written  by  Mary  Ann  Beck,  a  niece. 

/{_,MolL*  W.  Beck,  daughter  of  Anna  Maire  Grasmick  and  Gottlieb 
Weber,  was  born  July  19,  1898,  in  Balzer,  Saratov  Russia.   She 
was  the  oldest  daughter  of  ten  children,  six  of  whom  were  born  in 
Europe  near  the  borders  of  Germany  and  Russia  which  was  called 
the  Great  Republic  of  Russia. 

/folia's  parents  immigrated  into  Germany  after  she  was  born. 
The  country  was  so  poor,  the  Russian  ruler  let  those  that  wanted, 
work  in  Russia.   Gottlieb  worked  in  Russia  during  the  summer 
months  and  moved  back  to  Germany  in  the  fall.   They  apparently 
lived  near  the  border  of  the  two  countries.   He  was  a  carpenter 
and  a  farmer.   While  he  was  gone  Anna  Maire  and  children  lived 
with  Mollis  grandmother- -Anna  Maire  '  s  mother.   Molla  loved  her 
grandmother  very  much  and  loved  being  with  her. 

AMolla's  sister,  Mary,  said  they  played  in  the  water  and 
washed  their  clothes  in  a  Russian  river  named,  Volga.   When  Molla 
was  seven  or  eight,  she  helped  her  mother  work  in  the  factory. 
She  helped  her  mother  spin  yarn  on  a  spinning  wheel  and  to  make 
different  fabrics.   Molla  helped  by  rolling  the  yarn  into  balls. 

Because  of  the  poor  conditions  in  Germany  her  Dad,  Gottlieb., 
immigrated  to  America  and  worked  on  the  railroad  in  Nebraska. 
When  he  had  earned  enough  money,  he  sent  for  his  family. 

The  family  came  by  boat  and  settled  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  in 
1907.   Molla  was  nine  years  old  when  they  came  to  America.   Molla 
and  her  brother,  Alex,  enjoyed  the  trip  by  boat  and  especially 
enjoyed  visiting  with  the  people  on  the  boat  with  them. 
Everything  was  new  to  them  in  America.   Molla  could  not  speak  nor 
understand  English  but  she  learned  quickly. 

While  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  the  family  was  caught  in  a  big 
flood.   It  was  necessary  for  her  Dad  to  carry  the  children  to  the 
rooftop  of  a  nearby  house  where  they  had  to  stay  a  long  time 
before  being  rescued  and  taken  by  boat  to  safety. 

After  living  in  Nebraska  for  about  two  years,  they  came  west 
and  settled  north  of  Rexburg,  and  later  moved  to  the  Burton  area, 
west  and  south  of  Rexburg.   They  came  to  work  in  the  sugar  beet 
fields.   Her  parents  were  hardworking,  good,  people.   Molla 
worked  in  a  seed  house  in  St .  Anthony  and  Rexburg  with  her 
sisters;  Mary,  Kate,  Anna  and  Amelia  for    several  years.   She 
also  worked  as  a  nurse's  aid  for  the  Weber  family  doctor,  Dr. 
Walker,  for  about  two  or  three  years. 


/^Molla 
Page    1 


She  met  Otto  Beck  at  a  dance  which  was  held  at  the  Burton 
Ward  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints.   They 
were  married  December  26,  1923.   Molla  and  Otto  moved  to  a  40  or 
80  acre  farm  which  Otto  was  renting  from  Richard  Smith.   Their  • 
baby  was  born  while  living  on  this  farm.   She. was  born  on  March 
27,  1925.   They  named  their  only  daughter,  Rowena . 

During  this  time  Molla  became  interested  in  the  LDS  church 
and  became  the  first  member  of  the  Gottlieb  Weber  family  that 
join  the  church.   She  developed  a  strong  testimony  of  the  Gospel. 
/^J4olla,  Otto,  and  Rowena  went  to  the  Logan  Utah  Temple* and  on  June 
5,  1929,  they  received  their  endowments  and  were  sealed  as  an 
eternal  family.   This  was  a  two  or  three  day  trip  by  car  from 
Rexburg.   But/^Molla  felt  it  was  so  important  she  was  willing  to 
sacrifice  to  have  it  completed. 

r^Iolla  enjoyed  being  activity  in  the  LDS  Church.   She  was  a 
Relief  Society  teacher  for  many  years  and  sang  in  the  Ward  choir. 
/\>Iolla  also  got  started  doing  genealogical  work  and  enjoyed  that 
work . 

Otto's  parents  divided  their  land.   He  inherited  ten  acres 
and  moved  his  family  onto  the  land.   They  lived  in  an  old  log 
cabin  until  he  built  a  new  home  beside  the  log  cabin.   During 
this  time  Molla  took  ill  with  heart  trouble.   Molla  lived  in  her 
new  home  for  one  year.   On  Sept.  18,  193  8,  she  died  of  congestive 
heart  failure.   She  was  survived  by  her  husband,  Otto,  and  one 
daughter,  Rowena. 

In  later  years  there  were  two  grandsons ,  Charles  and  Gary 
Bresee,  and  f ive7\grandchildren;  Kelly  and  Amy,  and  Eric,  Jamiee 
and  Katie.       *F="£etf?f 


A^Molla 
Page    2 


ANNA  MARIE  (MARY)  WEBER  BECK 


Mary  W.  Beck,  daughter  of  Anna  Marie  Grassmick  and  Gottlieb 
Weber,  was  born  October  12,  1901  in  Balzer,  S-aratpj/,  Russia.   She 
was  a  twin  and  either  the  third  or  forth  of  ten  children,  six  of 
whom  were  born  in  Europe  near  the  border  of  Germany  and  Russia. 

Mary's  parents  immigrated  into  Germany  after  she  was  born. 
The  country  was  poor  so  the  Russian  ruler  let  them  work  in 
Russia.   Her  father  worked  there  in  the  summer  and  moved  back  to 
Germany  in  the  fall.   They  seemed  to  have  lived  near  the  border 
of  the  two  countries.   Her  father  was  a  carpenter  and  farmer'. 
While  he  was  gone  her  mother  and  the  children  lived  with  her 
Grandmother  (on  her  Mother's  side) .   She  loved  her  Grandmother 
very  much  and  loved  to  be  with  her. 

Mary  was  six  years  old  when  her  family  came  to  America  on  a 
boat  so  she  doesn't  remember  much  of  her  early  life.   However, 
she  does  remember  a  river  called  the  Volga  river  where  they 
played  in  the  water.   It  was  always  clean  and  clear  and  not  very 
deep.   They  also  washed  their  clothes  in  the  river.   When  she  was 
about  five  years  old  she  helped  her  Mother  in  a  factory.   Her 
Mother  spun  yarn  on  a  spinning  wheel  and  made  different  fabrics 
and  Mary  helped  by  rolling  the  yarn  into  balls. 

Because  of  the  poor  conditions  in  Germany  her  Father 
immigrated  to  America  and  worked  on  the  railroad  in  Nebraska  to 
make  enough  money  to  send  for  the  family  to  come.   Mary  was  six 
when  they  came  to  the  United  States  by  boat  and  they  settled  in 
Lincoln,  Nebraska  in  1907.   The  trip  over  was  a  long  and  a  hard 
one.   Everyone  seemed  to  be  sea  sick  and  her  Mother  had  a  small 
baby.   They  did,  however,  have  good  food  to  eat  on  the  boat.   The 
Captain  also  gave  them  peanuts  which  was  their  first  encounter 
with  American  food. 

Everything  was  new  to  her  in  America  and  it  was  a  big 
adjustment  to  make.   She  was  very  shy  of  people.   She  could  not 
speak  nor  understand  English,  but  with  help  she  learned  the 
English  language  fast. 

While  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  the  family  was  caught  in  a  big 
flood.   It  was  necessary  for  her  Father  to  carry  the  children  to 
the  roof  of  a  nearby  house  where  they  had  to  stay  a  long  time 
before  being  rescued  and  taken  by  boat  to  a  dry  house. 

After  living  in  Nebraska  for  about  two  years  they  came  West 
and  settled  north  of  Rexburg  and  they  later  moved  to  Burton. 
They  came  for  the  sugar  beet  labor.   Her  parents  were  hardworking 
good  people,  very  conscious  of  their  children's  needs. 


Mary  worked  in  a  seed  house  in  St .  Anthony  and  Rexburg  with 
her  sisters  Molla,  Kate,  Anna,  and  Amelia  for  many  years  before 
she  got  married.   She  also,  milked  cows  for  20  years,  first  by 
hand  and  later  with  the  milking  machine,  but  she  enjoyed  it. 

Mary  was  the  next  to  the  last  in  the  family  to  get  married. 
She  and  her  sister  Mada  stayed  at  home  to  help  their  parents  on 
the  farm  and  with  their  business. 

She  met  Otto  Beck  at  a  dance  at  the  Burton  Ward  which  is  out 
west  of  Rexburg.   They  were  married  on  March  22,  193  9  in  Rigby, 
Idaho.   For  her  engagement  she  received  a  wrist  watch  and  mirror 
set  from  him.   He  was  a  widower  and  had  a  daughter,  Rowena,  who 
Mary  helped  raise  for  five  years  until  she  was  eighteen  years 
old.   Otto  had  been  married  to  Mary's  sister  Molla,  previously. 
So  Mary  helped  raised  her  niece. 

To  their  union  two  lovely  daughters  were  born- -Mary  Ann 
Beck,  October  14,  1940  and  Amelia  Beck,  June  13,  1943.   Amelia 
died  at  birth.   Otto  died  on  December  24,  1955.   Mary  had  their 
marriage  solemnized  in  the  Idaho  Falls  Temple  in  June  of  1956  by 
being  sealed  to  her  husband. 

Mary  was  baptized  into  the  LDS  church  on  September  6,  1941. 
She  was  active  as  a  Relief  Society  teacher,  enjoyed  doing  temple 
work  and  attended  the  temple  regularly.  Her  greatest  desire  was 
to  become  a  nurse  or  teacher.  But,  because  she  didn't  have  the 
opportunity  to  do  so,  she  has  encouraged  her  daughter  to  get  all 
the  education  she  can.  She  enjoyed  raising  chickens  and  geese 
and  a  small  garden. 

Tribute  to  Mary  by  Leona  Archibald. 

I  am  grateful  to  Mary  Ann  for  the  confidence  she  has  shown 
in  me  by  asking  me  to  read  the  life  sketch  of  her  mother,  that 
she  has  written,  and  I  want  to  thank  her  for  this  opportunity. 

I  am  very  appreciative  of  her  friendship.   My  acquaintance 
with  Mary  Ann  dates  back  to  about  1964  to  1966,  when  I  was  Stake 
Gleaner  Leader,  and  she  was  one  of  our  faithful  Gleaner  girls, 
who  always  came  smilingly  to  our  Firesides,  and  to  our  many 
social   activities. 

I  have  great  respect  for  all  of  the  Weber  family.   Brother 
Alex,  a  brother  to  Sister  Mary  Beck,  and  his  good  wife  lived  in 
our  2nd  Ward.   We  had  the  privilege  of  going  to  the  Temple  with 
them  for  the  first  time.   We  also  went  with  them  on  a  sealing 
mission  to  the  Temple. 

Bill  and  his  family  have  been  our  good  neighbors  for  many 
years  . 


All  of  the  Weber  family  are  respectable,  conscientious, 
ambitious,  honorable  and  fine  Christian  people. 

I  should  also  like  to  pay  a  tribute  to  Sister  Beck.  This 
good  woman  as  I  knew  her  was  a  quiet, -unassuming,  hardworking, 
thrifty  and  a  woman  of  great  faith. 

She  appreciated  very  much,  my  putting  her  name  on  the  prayer 
list,  during  these  last  two  years,  while  she  has  not  been  in  good 
health.   She  often  requested  Mary  Ann's  name  be  put  'on,  also. 

Mary  Ann  said  she  was  reluctant  about  going  to  the  doctor 
until  absolutely  necessary.   She  loved  her  family,  friends,  and 
neighbors,  and  seemed  to  see  the  good  in  people.   She  was 
conscious  of  the  welfare  of  those  who  were  near  and  dear  to  her. 
Their  problems  seemed  to  be  a  source  of  great  concern  to  her. 

She  wanted  the  best  in  life  for  Mary  Ann.   I  especially 
noticed  this  in  connection  with  our  M.M.  Gleaner  program.   She 
encouraged  Mary  Ann  to  attend  our  Firesides,  of  which  we  had  98 
in  two  years  on  Sunday  evening  after  church.   I  don't  think  Mary 
Ann  missed  one  of  them,  if  so,  she  was  very  ill. 

Her  mother  saw  to  it  that  she  had  transportation  to  our 
meeting  place  for  all  of  our  fun  activities,  summer  and  winter. 
Mary  Ann  has  been  attending  church  meetings  in  a  College  Branch. 
Her  mother  was  desirous  of  her  always. being  there. 

Especially  was  she  anxious  for  her  to  take  all  the  classes 
possible  at  Ricks  College  and  to  take  advantage  of  every  fine 
opportunity  offered  by  our  School. 

Mary  Ann,  herself,  is  ambitious,  and  willing  to  work,  at  the 
school,  to  keep  herself  financially,  in  order  to  accomplish  all 
she  can,  to  be  independent  and  to  get  an  education.   As  she 
stated,  her  mother  had  so  little  chance  for  education,  so  she 
wanted  Mary  Ann  to  get  all  she  possibly  could.   Her  mother  was 
anxious  for  her  to  have  all  the  best  opportunities  and  clean, 
good  times  that  are  available  to  our  young  people. 

There  was  such  a  close  relationship  between  Mary  and  her 
daughter,  Mary  Ann,  especially  after  her  husband's  death.   You 
always  saw  them  together.   They  lived  for  each  other's  welfare, 
well  being,  and  happiness. 

They  enjoyed  doing  Genealogy  work  together.   Mary  Ann, 
especially  has  a  great  interest  in  this.   They  have  spent 
countless  hours  working  on  Family  group  sheets  and  trying  to  get 
all  the  information  available  about  their  family.  Although  this 
has  been  enjoyable  for  them,  it  has  been  a  difficult  and 
challenging  task.   They  have  had  the  spirit  of  Elijah  in  this 
regard. 


Sister  Mary  loved  to  go  to  the  Temple.   She  did  the  Temple 
work  for  her  deceased  parents,  sisters  and  several  cousins. 

These  dear  ones  and  her  husband  will  meet  her  with  open  arms 
and  gratitude  for  her  devotion  to  them. 

She  attended  Relief  Society,  Sacrament  Meetings,  and  Sunday 
School.   She  loved  her  church. 

■ 

During  the  last  two  years,  she  has  had  a  bad  blood  disorder, 
and  a  heart  condition.   Mary  Ann,  has  helped  her  and  cared  for 
her,  giving  her  medication,  doing  all  that  was  possibly  in  her 
power,  even  to  her  last  breath,  for  which  I  am  sure  she  will  be 
blessed. 

Her  mother  was  devoted  to  her,  also  and  was  patient,  humble, 
and  long  suffering.   These  words  from  a  poet  seem  to  describe 
her . 

Whatever  the  year  may  bring  of  joy  or  pain 

May  I  remember  to  sing,  and  not  complain. 

The  days  are  dealt  impartially  with  sum  and  rain, 

Let  me  accept  my  share  and  not  complain. 

And  the  world  go  mad  with  greed  of  gain, 

Let  me  retain,  my  faith,  and  not  complain. 

Today  is  a  very  special  day  in  the  life  history  of  this  dear 
woman.   We  may  call  it  her  Graduation  or  Commencement  Day. 

She  has  passed  the  examination  or  tests  of  earth  life.   That 
of  hard  work,  cares,  sorrows,  of  hopes  realized,  of  dreams  that 
have  or  have  not  come  true.   She  has  met  the  tests  of  joys  and 
heartache,  of  health  and  sickness,  of  suffering  and  intense  pain. 
Tests  of  soul  sick  burdens,  and  disappointments,  loneliness.   The 
tests  of  parting  from  loved  ones,  and  tried  and  true  friends  and 
of  living  in  widowhood  for  eighteen  years.   These  tests  and  tasks 
have  proved  her  worth. 

So  on  this  Commencement  Day  she  passes  on  with  "A"  grades  to 
a  higher  school  of  learning,  to  a  rich  reward,  and  to  a  happier 
life. 

A  candidate  for  the  highest  degree  of  glory,  in  the 
Celestial  Kingdom  where  God  and  Christ  dwell. 

There  is  sorrow  here  at  her  leaving  this  sphere  of  action, 
but  a  great  reunion  and  rejoicing  with  her  loved  ones  in  the 
spirit  world  where  she  will  be  busy  teaching  the  gospel  she  loved 
so  much  to  those  who  are  waiting  and  anxious  to  hear  it. 

Mary  Ann,  you  have  great  courage  and  faith  and  a  strong 
testimony  of  the  Gospel.   You  will  meet  the  challenge  bravely. 


You  will  never  be  alone  as  you  pray  and  live  .close  to  your  Father 
in  Heaven.   You  have  a  knowledge  of  the  hereafter  and  know  that 
your  mother  will  never  be  very  far  away. 

May  your  friends  and  relatives  rally  round  you  and  may  our 
Heavenly  Father  bless  and  comfort  you  and  Rowena  -  the  sisters 
and  brother  and  all  the  nephews  and  nieces  who  mourn  this  day. 

She  was  proceeded  in  death  by  her  husband  and  daughter, 
parents,  three  sisters  and  two  brothers.   She  is  survived  by  her 
daughter,  Mary  Ann,  a  niece,  Rowena,  three  sisters,  Kate  Larsen, 
Amelia  Larsen,  Mada  Smead  and  one  brother,  Bill  Weber. 

In  conclusion  a  poem  by  Edgar  A  Guest. 

Who  does  his  task  from  day  to  day, 
and  meets  whatever  comes  his  way, 
Believing  God  has  willed  it  so. 
Has  found  real  greatness  here  below. 

For  great  or  small,  there's  but  one  test, 
Tis  that  each  man  shall  do  his  best, 
Who  works  with  all  the  strength  he  can. 
Shall  never  die  in  debt  to. man." 

Mary's  twin  sister,  Katharina  Weber,  was  born  October  12, 
1901,  and  died  January  1902.  / 

Written  and  complied  by  "h&£  daughter,  Mary  Ann  Beck. 


KATIE ,  DAUGHTER  OF  GOTTLIEB  WEBER  AND  MARIE  GRASMICK 

Written  by  Mary  Ann  Beck,  a  niece. 

Katie  was  born  May  1,  1904,  J^  %,  Russia .   She  was  the  fifth 
child  in  a  family  of  ten  children.   Katie  was  three  years  old 
when  she  came  to  the  United  States.   Katie  learned  at  a  tender 
age  to  work,  like  doing  field  work,  milking,  feeding,  etc.   She 
was  a  proper  lady  and  was  always  in  a  dress.   I  don't  think  I 
ever  saw  her  in  slacks. 

She  liked  going  to  the  dances  and  having  a  good  time.   That 
is  where  she  met  Arthur  Nephi  Larsen  and  they  were  married  on 
February  16,  1927.   They  had  one  son  and  named  him  N.  Marvin.   He 
was  born  May  7,  1933.   Aunt  Katie  learned  about  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  and  was  baptized  on  October  3, 
1936. 

My  sister  Rowena,  said  she  was  creative  and  would  make 
flowers  out  of  wax.   She  was  a  spotless  house  keeper,  very  clean. 
When  she  was  in  her  late  fifties  or  early  sixties  she  took  a 
sewing  class  from  the  Madison  County  Agent  and  learned  to  make 
her  own  clothes  which  she  was  very  proud  of  wearing. 

During  that  time  in  the  1960s  she  decided  to  take  in  some  of 
the  cultural  activities  of  Ricks  College.   She  went  with  me  as 
her  husband,  Nephi,  would  not  attend  with  her.   She  really  did 
enjoyed  attending  them,  however.   She  was  a  devoted  wife,  mother 
and  grandmother.   She  was   always  there  to  help  her  son,  Marvin, 
and  her  five  grandchildren,  Dennis,  Art,  Adam,  Camillc*.  and 
Natalie . 

Aunt  Katie  was  an  avid  gardener,  she  especially  like  growing 
flowers.   She  had  a  green  thumb.   I  remember  being  in  her  home 
and  seeing  plants  all  around.   She  had  a  beautiful  Christmas 
Cactus  which  bloomed  and  bloomed  it's  heart  out.   Aunt  Katie  was 
a  very  shy  person.   Her  best  friends,  besides  her  husband,  were 
her  sisters.   I  remember  her  calling  my  mother,  Mary,  once  or 
twice  a  day  to  just  talk.   Katie,  also  worked  in  the  seed  house 
picking  peas  with  her  sisters  before  she  got  married. 

Aunt  Katie  was  a  blunt  person.   She  told  facts,  whether  you 
liked  to  hear  them  or  not.   That  was  the  reason  I  liked  talking 
to  her.   She  would  never  beat  around  the  bush  on  any  subject. 
She  faced  reality.   She  died  July  15,  1988,  in  Rexburg,  Idaho. 
Katie  was  endowed  on  January  11,  1990.   She  was  sealed  to  her 
parents  on  February  1,  1990  in  the  Idaho  Falls  Temple.   Katie  and 
Nephi  were  sealed  June  3,  1994,  in  the  Idaho  Falls  Temple. 


Uncle  Nephi  was  born  on  November  13,  1896,  in  Redmond, 
Sevier,  Utah.   He  was  born  under  the  covenant  (BIC) .   He  was 
Baptized  August  6,  1904.   He  was  a  farmer  and  died  on  August  5, 
1964  in  Rexburg,  Idaho.   He  was  endowed  September  17,  1976.   And 
was  sealed  to  his  wife  June  3,  1994. 


.  -*-  

;.,   Written  by  Mary  Ann  Beck  a  niece 

h 

-JUL**  " 

UuL 

"LIFE  HISTORY  OF  ANNA  WEBER" 

Anna  Weber,  daughter  of  Anna  Marie  Grassniick  and  Gottlieb 
Weber,  was  born  May  31,  1906  in  Balzer,  Saratov,  Russia.   She  was 
the  sixth  of  ten  children,  six  of  whom  were  born  in  Europe,  the 
border  of  Germany,  Russia  called  the  General  Republic  of  Russia. 

Anna's  parents  immigrated  into  Germany  after  she  was  born. 
Her  father  was  a  carpenter  and  a  farmer.   While  he  was  gone,  her 
mother. and  the  other  children  lived  with  her  Grandmother,  on  her 
mother's  side.  Anna  was  three  months  old  when  her  family  came  to 
America.   Because  of  the  poor  conditions  in  Germany,  her  father 
immigrated  to  America  and  worked  on  the  railroad  in  Nebraska. 
They  settled  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska  in  1907.  The  trip  was  long  and 
hard  and  Anna  came  close  to  death  on  the  boat.   While  in  Lincoln, 
the  family  was  caught  in  a  large  flood.   It  was  necessary  for  the 
father  to  carry  the  children  to  the  roof  of  a  nearby  house  where 
they  had  to  stay  a  long  time  before  being  rescued  and  taken  by 
boat  to  a  dry  house. 

After  living  in  Nebraska  for  about  two  years,  they  came  west 
and  settled  north  of  Rexburg  where  they  lived  for  two  years  and 
later  moved  to  Burton.  They  came  for  the  sugar  beet  labor.   Her 
parents  were  hardworking,  good  people  and  very  conscious  of  their 
children's  needs.   Anna  attented  school  in  Rexburg  and  Burton  and 
graduated  from  Madision  High  School  and  went  a  year  to  Ricks 
College. 

Anna  liked  crocheting  and  needle  work  of  all  kinds.   She  was 
the  only  crocheter  in  the  Weber  family.   She  was  the  only  black- 
headed  daughter  of  the  Weber  family.   Anna  had  an  appendectomy 
and  the  doctor  left  some  infection  in  her,  so  for  a  year,  she  was 
not  well.   On  August  1,  1925,  she  died  at  the  age  of  nineteen. 


"LIFE  HISTORY  OF  GOTTLIEB, -WERER.  jUB" 

Gottlieb  v^er  Jr.,  the  seventh  child,  was  born  in  Lincoln, 
Nebraska  on  August  19,  1908.  After  he  was  born,  the  family  came 
West  and  settled  north  of  Rexburg  and  lived  there  for  about  two 
years.  Here  is  where  he  drowned  in  a  ditch  after  having  his  first 
birthday- on  August  19,  1909.   Gottlieb  Weber  Jr.  was  also  the  son 
of  tioitiieb  •>  Weber  and  Anna  Marie  Grassmick. 


£X^<k  CUL~tf  2<-j  JJq  cr 


^lVl^ 


TRIBUTE  TO  AMELIA  LARSEN- 


The  first  memory  I  have  of  Aunt  Amelia  was  June  13,  1943.   I 
was  three  years  old  and  my  younger  sister  was  being  born  at  home. 
I  remember  it  was  in  the  morning.   My  Dad  and  Aunt  Amelia  were 
dressing  me.   Dad  was  putting  on  one  stocking  and  shoe,  while 
Aunt  Amelia  was  putting  on  the  other  stocking  and  shoe.   The  baby 
was  coming  early  and  Aunt  Amelia  was  there  to  help.   Mother  named 
the  baby  Amelia  after,  my  Aunt  Amelia. 

I  don't  know  why  that  stands  out  in  my  mind  but  it  does. 
When  my  mother  or  her  sisters  were  ill  Aunt  Amelia  was  always 
there  to  help.   When  I  was  one  year  old  my  mother  had  an 
operation  and  Aunt  Amelia  and  Uncle  Henry  took  care  of  me  I  can 
bearly  remember  it.   But  Aunt  Amelia  said  I  cried  and  cried  so 
hard  it  gave  her  a  headache . 

When  I  stared  school  I  was  shy  and  a  slow  learner.   Aunt 
Amelia  was  my  tutor  in  elementary  school.   She  taught  first  grade 
and  would  often  say  about  me:   "Mary  Ann  is  my  extra  student." 

I  had  an  operation  in  the  fifth  grade  and  I  remember  Aunt 
Amelia  coming  to  Idaho  Falls  and  spending  the  day  with  me.   She 
would  braid  my  hair  and  do  everything ' a  mother  would  do  to  lift 
my  spirits. 

After  my  Mother  and  Dad  passed  away  Aunt  Amelia  and  Uncle 
Henry  became  my  second  parents.   I  had  to  report  in  once  a  week, 
usually  on  Sunday.   If  I  skipped  a  week  I  would  get  a  phone  call 
from  Uncle  Henry  asking  why  I  had  not  been  over  to  see  them 
during  the  past  week.   When  I  had  a  problem,  I  could  go  to  them, 
and  I  could  let  my  hair  down. 

Aunt  Amelia  was  a  very  proper  person  and  wanted  things  done 
right.   Mother  was  always  proud  of  her.   I  think  I  realized  how 
important  an  education  was  when  she  earned  her  Bachelor  of 
Science  Degree  in  Education.   Amelia  said  that  if  she  ever  went 
back  to  school  she  would  major  in  English. 

Aunt  Amelia  always  appreciated  it  when  I  put  her  and  Uncle 
Henry's  names  on  the  prayer  list  for  the  sick  in  the  temple. 
Amelia  married  Neil  Henry  Larsen,  March  31,  1931,  in  Rigby, 
Idaho.   Amelia  was  baptized  in  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 
Latter-day  Saints  on  October  3,  1936.   She  received  her 
endowments  on  July  23,  1974,  and  was  sealed  to  her  husband,  Neil 
Henry  Larsen,  the  same  day  in  the  Idaho  Falls  Temple.   Amelia  was 
sealed  to  her  parents  in  March  1979,  in  the  Idaho  Falls  Temple. 
She  died  May  3  /  ,  1987.   She  and  her  husband  had  no  children. 


&or».  fujy  13,  /c//o 
In    ^Hi/^^i,^ 


UNCLE  HENRY 


Services  for  Neils  Henry  Larsen,  79,  a  life-long  area 
farmer,  died  Sunday,  January  26,  1987,  at  Valley  Care  Nursing 
Home  of  causes  incident  to  age,  will  be  held  1  p.m.  Wednesday, 
January  28,  in  the  Flamm  Funeral  Home  chapel. 

Burial  will  be  at  the  Rexburg  Cemetery. 

Friends  may  call  Wednesday  at  Flamm  Funeral  Home  from  11:30 
a.m.  until  services  start. 

He  was  born  June  2,  1907,  in  Independence/rthe  son  of  Louis 
and  Marie  Louise  Larsen.   He  was  a  life-long  farmer  until  the 
time  of  his  retirement.   He  married  Amelia  Weber  Larsen,  March 
31,  1931,  and  the  marriage  was  later  solemnized  in  the  Idaho 
Falls  LDS  Temple.   He  was  a  member  of  the  Rexburg  L$S  19th  Ward 
and  a  high  priest  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

He  is  survived  by  his  wife  and  proceeded  in  death  by  his 
parents,  five  brothers  and  two  sisters. 


p~  Compiled  by  a  niece,  Mary  Ann  Beck 


UH     -/*LT^4      •+  I     J0, 


J/flJ^^^x^  WILLIAM  GOTTLIEB  WEBER  - 

Written  by  Mary  Ann  Beck,  a  niece. 

William  Gottlieb  Weber  was  born  February  1  1912,  in  Burton, 
Idaho.   He  was  the  son  of  Gottlieb  and  Anna  Marie  Grasmick  Weber. 
He  was  the  ninth  child  in  a  family  of  10  children.   He  attended 
schools  at  Burton. 

He  married  Mollie  Bratsman  on  November  18,  193  0,  in  Rigby, 
Idaho.  The  had  two  girls:  Dawnella,  who  was  born  on  March  3,  1931 
and  Kaylene  M.  ,  who  was  born  on  June  30,  1955,  and  died  in  June 
1961. 

He  was  a  farmer  until  he  retired  in  1976. 

He  was  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  enjoyed 
fishing  and  visiting  with  fiends,  children  and  grandchildren. 

William  (Bill)  died  on  Wednesday,  October  3,  1979.  He  had  been  fishing  at  the  Blackfoot  Reservoir, 
Bingham  County,  Idaho.  He  had  a  heart  attack  while  unloading  the  fish  from  his  boat.  His  body  was  taken  to  the 
Soda  Springs,  Idaho,  mortuary  first,  due  of  an  Idaho  law,  before  being  taken  to  the  Flamm  Funeral  Home  in 
Rexburg.  His  wife,  Mollie,  died  on  January  13,  1988,  in  Idaho  Falls,  Idaho. 

William  Gottlieb  Weber  work  was  done  in  the  Idaho  Falls 
Temple.  Baptized  April  16,  1981,  endowed  on  April  28,  1981,  sealed 
to  his  parents  April  28,  1981.  He  was  sealed  to  his  wife,  Mollie 
Bratsman,  on  June  3,  1994. 


V^ 


Mollie  Bratsman  Weber  was  born  on  September  3,  1912,  at 
Lincoln,  Lancaster,  Nebraska  to  Phillip  Bratsman  and  Mollie  Walker. 
She  died  on  January  13,  1988  in  the  Idaho  Falls  nursing  home  after 
a  period  of  declining  health.  She  was  buried  in  the  Rexburg 
Cemetery.  Her  work  was  done  in  the  Idaho  Falls  temple.  Baptized 
January  11,  1990,  endowed  February  1,  1990,  and  sealed  to  parents 
on  February  1,  1990.  Mollie  was  sealed  to  her  husband,  William, 
June  3,  1994,  in  the  Idaho  Falls  Temple. 


LIFE  SKETCH  OF  MADA  W.  SMEAD 


Mada,  sometimes  called  "  Madasha  "  by  her  nieces  and 
nephews,  because  of  their  German  descent,  but  most  known  by  her 
family  and  grandchildren  as  "  Gram  " ,  was  born  on  July  18,  1915 
on  the  family  farm  in  Burton  to  Gottlieb  and  Mary  Weber.  Her 
parents  migrated  from  Germany  Republic  Volga,  Russia  to  the 
United  States  to  start  a  new  life  for  themselves,  because  of  the 
hardships  that  Germany  was  having.  She  is  the  youngest  of  ten 
children,  three  brothers  and  six  sisters.  Alexander  being  the 
oldest,  followed  by  Molly,  Mary,  and  twin  sister  Katharina, 
Katie,  Anna,  Gottlieb  Jr.,  Amelia,  and  William  were  their  names. 

Grandma  did  all  things  that  a  farm  girl  would  do  in  her 
young  years.  She  would  have  to  herd  the  cows,  and  being  small  and 
tiny,  she  would  climb  onto  her  horse  called  "  Peggy"  and  off  they 
would  go  herding  the  cows  to  a  pasture  down  by  Ralph  Kauer ■ s 
place.  She  was  always  afraid  on  the  way  back  because  the  horse 
"Peggy"  knew  the  way  home  and  would  just  take  off  heading  for  the 
barn,  and  grandma  would  close  her  eyes  and  hang  on  for  dear  life. 
As  she  grew  older  she  decided  that  farming  wasn't  going  to  be  her 
way  of  life. 

She  attended  grade  school  in  Burton  and  continued  on  to 
Madison  High  School  in  which  she  graduated  in  193  3.  Grandma  and 
her  best  friend  Pearl  Burger  would  always  go  dancing  on  the 
weekends  at  a  place  called  Riverside,  in  Lorenzo.  Even  though  she 
had  fun  as  a  youth,   education  was  an  important  part  of  her  life. 


She  attended  Ricks  College  in  19  3  7  and  graduated  with  a  degree  in 
business.  She  had  a  special  talent  for  shorthand  and  had  won 
several  contests  because  of  her  speed  and  accuracy. 

Mada  worked  several  years  for  a  Law  office,  (Tom  Smith) 
in  Rexburg.  Then  she  thought  she  would  look  at  the  political  side 
of  life  in  which  she  moved  to  Boise  and  worked  for  a  legislator. 
When  he  was  not  elected  again  she  moved  back  to  Rexburg  and 
worked  at  the  Montana  Idaho  Lumber  Company  as  a  secretary.  Here 
is  where  she  met  her  future  husband  to  be  William  Burton  Smead. 
Not  knowing  for  sure  what  would  come  about  with  this  gentleman 
she  decided  to  move  to  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah  in  194  3  in  which  she 
held  a  job  at  Fort  Douglas  during  World  War  II. 

Burton  Smead  decided  that  he  could  not  live  without 
Mada  and  would  go  down  to  Salt  Lake  every  weekend  to  see  her.  As 
there  love  and  relationship  grew,  they  were  soon  married  Sept.  4, 
1943  in  Salt  Lake  City  in  which  she  moved  back  to  Rexburg  again 
to  live  the  rest  of  her  life. 

Burton  worked  with  his  families  business,   the  Montana 
Idaho  Lumber  Company  and  Mada  once  again  did  secretarial  work 
there  to  help  along.  They  lived  in  a  apartment  above  what  is 
called  Porters  Book  Store  now  in  Rexburg.  As  they  were  living 
there  their  first  child  Konra  was  born,  July  20th  1944.  Burton 
being  fiC  years  older  than  Mada  didn't  know  what  to  expect  of  a 
new  child.  They  thought  that  something  was  wrong  with  her  because 
she  drooled  so  much  not  knowing  that  some  babies  did  that. 
However,  she  grow  up  to  be  just  fine.  They  decided  to  move  closer 
to  the  saw  mill,  so  they  a  found  a  place  in  which  to  settle.  Soon 


came  along  their  second  child  a  son,  William  Henry  Smead  born 
June  28th,  1946.  Since  the  family  had  grown,  Burton  and  Mada 
built  their  first  home  in  1948  on  Center  Street  across  from  where 
the  Library  is  now.  Burton  was  a  engineer  and  had  designed  the 
home  for  them.  Konra  and  William  (  or  better  known  as  Billy) 
spent  most  of  their  childhood  there  and  have  many  fond  memories 
of  this  place.  She  enjoyed  cooking  such  things  as  Dumplings, 
Sauerkraut,  and  German  Pancakes.  Mada  would  always  have  big 
Thanksgiving  dinners  for  her  family  where  some  of  her  sisters 
would  get  together  in  the  morning  and  start  cooking  all  day.  Mada 
was  always  a  very  emaculent  housekeeper  and  when  her  brother-in- 
law,  Nephi  would  come  for  Thanksgiving  she  would  make  him  clean 
the  chandlers,  because  he  was  the  only  one  that  was  tall  enough 
to  reach  them. 

Burton  and  Mada  enjoyed  traveling  to  the  coast  on 
business  trips.  They  would  often  go  to  Tennessee  and  other  places 
also.  They'd  take  Konra  and  Billy  with  them,  but  hire  a  nanny  to 
help  watch  them,  so  they  could  enjoy  the  evenings  together. 
Winter  was  a  special  time  of  year  and  a  trip  was  always  made  to 
Sun  Valley  to  enjoy  the  winter  scenery. 

Much  to  their  surprise,  seven  years  later  grandma  was 
pregnant  with  their  third  child.  Her  now  being  3  7  and  grandpa 
being  63,  she  was  not  quit  sure  about  this.  However,  Robert 
Burton  Smead  (also  known  as  Bobby)  was  born  on  July  22,  1953.  As 
the  years  went  on  they  had  moved  to  several  homes  around  town. 
Grandpa  and  Grandma  were  very  good  to  their  three  child,  by 
giving  them  things  they  always  wanted.  They  also  were  good  to  the 


community,  and  helped  donated  in  building  the  Ricks  College  foot 
ball  field.  With  Konra  and  Billy  already  grown  up  and  moved  out, 
Mada  and  Burton  would  take  Bob  to  Salt  Lake  and  stay  at  the  Hotel 
Utah,  and  they  enjoyed  going  to  temple  square. 

Grandma  went  to  work  at  Madison  Memorial  Hospital  in  1970, 
where  she  was  the  first  ward  clerk  they  had.  She  would  always 
keep  everything  in  order,  and  some  of  the  employees  didn't  know 
who  was  giveing  the  order  the  doctors  or  Mada,  however  when  ever 
she  was  off  or  gone  they  were  always  be  glad  to  have  her  back  to 
straighten  the  paper  work  out.  Then,  during  Bob's  senior  year  of 
1971  Burton  passed  away  at  the  age  of  80.  Due  to  some  business 
dealings  the  sawmill  was  having  problems  and  Mada   was  force  to 
sell  her  home.  Bob  and  her  purchased  a  trailer  home  and  lived  in 
Village  Green  Trailer  Park  together  for  two  years.  It  was  Bob's 
job  to  help  vacuum  and  clean  the  house  while  grandma  continued 
working  at  the  hospital. 

There  are  many  stories  to  tell  about  grandma  at  the 
hospital,  but  an  employee  recalls  one  when  they  were  practicing  a 
drill  on  code  blue,  they  ask  her  to  announce  the  code.  Instead  of 
going  over  the  paging  system  she  ran  up  down  the  halls  yelling 
code  blue.   Grandma  always  seem  to  get  the  job  done  even  if  it 
was  not  in  her  hospital.  Kathy,  Billy's  wife  was  expecting  their 
first  child  while  living  in  Montana  and  grandma  went  to  stay  with 
them  thinking,  the  baby  would  be  born  soon.  A  week  had  gone  by 
and  still  no  baby  and  Mada  sensed  something  was  wrong.  She  made 
Kathy  call  the  doctor  and  have  a  nonstress  test  done  and  sure 
enough  the  baby  was  in  trouble.  She  told  the  doctor  that  a  C- 


section  was  needed  to  be  done  right  away.  There  she  was  giving 
everyone  orders  and  they  all  seem  to  listen. 

Gram  loved  all  her  grandchildren  with  all  her  heart. 
She  would  often  take  them  out  on  a  day  and  treat  them  to 
McDonald's,  then  go  to  the  store  and  buy  what  ever  candy  they 
wanted.  If  she  was  baby  sitting  the  grandkids  you  could  always  be 
sure  she  would  have  everything  in  tip  top  shape  and  they  loved 
every  minute  of  her  time. 

Mada  joined  the  LDS  church  in  July  26,1975.  S-he— fcfeon- 
-laLfcti  had  Bui  Lun  sealed  Lu  her  in  1979.  Ir<^vr  Yrt^a'u^^iCjycj 

Then  in  1988  grandma  had  a  stroke,  causing  her  to  have 
to  retire  from  the  Madison  Memorial  Hospital.  But  she  was  a 
strong  lady  and  continued  living  by  herself. 

With  the  good  sense  that  grandma  had  she  always  knew  if 
there  was  a  problem,  rather  it  be  helping  with  the  grandchildren, 
or  helping  when  someone  who  was  sick  or  coming  to  her  childrens 
home  with  a  big  bag  of  groceries,  or  making  sure  that  her 
daughter  and  daughters  in  law  also  had  a  Mothers  Day  gift.  She 
always  remembered  everyones  birthday  and  gave  a  small  gift  to 
each  one.  If  she  things  were  no  being  dealt  with  right,  she  would 
let  you  know,  but  she  always  put  in  a  way  that  never  seemed  to 
hurt  anyones  feelings. 

Up  until  the  last  year  grandma  was  not  able  to  take 
care  of  herself  and  moved  into  the  Rexburg  Nursing  Home.  We  were 
all  looking  forward  to  taking  her  out  to  Ralph  and  Konra ' s  for 
Thanksgiving.  She  loved  the  holidays  and  would  always  stand  right 
by  the  counter  while  Ralph  carved  the  turkey  to  get  the  tail.  If 


she  only  know  that  no  one  wanted  it  anyway  but  her.  But  she  fell 
and  broke  her  hip  a  week  before  and  ending  up  having  surgery 
followed  by  stroke  which  eventually  took  her  life. 

Gram  will  truly  be  missed  this  Christmas  holiday  for 
she  always  made  it  a  special  time.  All  the  years  she  would  give 
each  family  a  big  box  filled  with  everything  from  paper  towels, 
toilet  paper,  Avon  shampoo,  dish  towels,  and  etc.  and  with  some 
unknown  cologne  or  perfume  that  we  thought  we  would  never  wear, 
but  always  did. 

Mada    Madasha    Gram    or  what  ever  she  was  called  was 


the  best  mother  and  grandma  of  all. 


\Ajsucjbtcr 


>n_ 


WILLIAM  BURTON  SMEAD 

Written  by  Mary  Ann  Beck,  a  niece. 

William  Burton  Smead  was  born  May  26,  1891,  at  Dillon, 
Montana,  to  William  Henry  Smead  and  Antoinette  Carmichael .   He 
came  from  a  family  of  two.   He  had  one  older  sister.   William 
Burton  Smead  met  his  wife  Mada  when  she  was  working  as  a 
secretary  for  the  Montana/Idaho  Lumber  Company.   Not  knowing  for 
sure  about  this  gentleman  she  decided  to  move  to  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah,  to  work  in  1943.   She  obtained  a  job  at  Fort  Douglas  during 
World  War  II. 

Burton  Smead  decided  that  he  could  not  live  without  Mada  and 
would  go  down  to  Salt  Lake  every  weekend  to  see  her.   As  there 
love  and  relationship  grew,  they  were  soon  married  September  4, 
1943,  in  Salt  Lake  City.   They  moved  back  to  Rexburg  to  live  the 
rest  of  their  lives. 

Burton  had  served  in  World  War  I .   He  had  attended  the 
University  of  Montana  and  received  a  Engineering  degree  but 
decided  to  work  with  his  family's  business,  the  Montana/Idaho 
Lumber  Company.   Mada  once  again  did  secretarial  work  there  to 
help  along.   They  lived  in  an  apartment  above  what  is  now  Porters 
Book  Store  in  Rexburg. 

This  is  where  they  were  living  when  their  first  child, 
Konra,  was  born  on  July  20,  1944.   Burton  being  24  years  older 
than  Mada  didn't  know  what  to  expect  of  a  baby.   They  thought 
that  something  was  wrong  with  her  because  she  drooled  so  much  not 
knowing  that  some  babies  just  do.   However,  she  grew  up  to  be 
just  fine. 

They  decided  to  move  closer  to  the  saw  mill,  so  they  found  a 
place  in  which  to  settle.   Soon  come  along  their  second  child  a 
son,  William  Henry  Smead  born  June  28,  1946.   Since  the  family 
had  grown,  Burton  and  Mada  built  their  first  home  in  1948  on 
Center  Street  across  from  where  the  Library  is  now.   Burton  was  a 
engineer  and  had  designed  the  home  for  them.   Konra  and  William 
(or  better  known  as  Billy)  spent  most  of  their  childhood  there 
and  have  many  fond  memories  of  this  place. 

Burton  and  Mada  enjoyed  traveling  to  the  coast  on  business 
trips.   They  would  often  go  to  Tennessee  and  other  places.   They 
would  take  Konra  and  Billy  with  them,  but  hire  a  nanny  to  help 
watch  them,  so  they  could  enjoy  the  evenings  together.   Winter 
was  a  special  time  of  year  and  a  trip  was  always  made  to  Sun 
Valley  to  enjoy  the  winter  scenery. 

Much  to  their  surprise,  seven  years  later  Mada  got  pregnant 
with  their  third  child.   She  was  now  37  years  old  and  Burton  was 

Burton 
Page  1 


63,  they  were  not  quit  sure  about  this.   However,  Robert  Burton 
Smead  (also  know  as  Bobby)  was  born  on  July  22,  1953. 

As  the  years  went  on  they  had  moved  to  several  homes  around 
town.   Burton  and  Mada  were  very  good  to  their  three  children,  by 
giving  them  things  they  always  wanted. 

They  were  good  to  the  Rexburg  community.   They  helped  donate 
towards  the  Ricks  College  football  field  and  library. 

With  Konra  and  Billy  already  grown  up  and  moved  out,  Mada 
and  Burton  would  take  Bob  to  Salt  Lake  and  stay  at  the  Hotel 
Utah.  They  enjoyed  going  to  temple  square.   To  this  date  h^-^ 
temple  work  has  not  been  done .  ,       '  / 

Uncle  Burton  Smead  died  June  4,  1971;7\Salt  Lake  City  of  old 
age.   He  was  buried  in  the  Rexburg  Cemetery. 


The  first  memory  of  Uncle  Burton  was  him  tipping  his  hat 
whenever  he  greeted  anyone.   He  was  a  gentleman  and  very 
hospitable.   Uncle  Burton  became  a  father  at  the  age  of  53  years 
and  loved  every  minute  of  it . 

In  194  6  Rowena  got  married.   My  Aunt  Mada  gave  her  a  shower 
in  her  home.   They  told  a  teenage  cousin  to  get  lost.   So  Carl, 
Konra  and  I  went  with  him  for  a  walk  down  to  the  mill.   We  toured 
office  and  yard  area.   As  we  were  walking  out  of  one  room,  this 
cousin  let  everyone  out  but  me,  then  locked  the  door.   So  I  could 
not  go  with  them.   I  cried  and  Uncle  Burton  came  and  let  me  out. 
I  had  to  walk  to  my  Aunt  Madams  home  all  by  myself.   It  was  a 
block  away  and  I  was  about  §^^   years  old. 

Burton  was  good  to  my  Grandparents,  the  Gottlieb  Webers . 
They  looked  forward  every  Saturday  to  go  to  the  beautiful  white 
home  on  the  corner  of  North  First  Center  to  take  their  weekly 
bath.   Because  the  country  had  no  modern  water  works. 

In  the  late  40s  and  early  50s  Grandpa  built  a  home  next  to 
Aunt  Mada  and  Uncle  Burton.   At  Christmas  time  I  remember  we 
would  get  a  fruit  basket  with  candy  and  nuts  from  them.   It  came 
from  California  or  Arizona.   Konra,  Bill  and  I  would  play 
together  in  summer.   We  would  ride  our  bikes  over  to  Aunt  Amelia 
and  Uncle  Henry.   Aunt  Mada  and  Uncle  Burton  would  travel  to  Salt 
Lake  City  to  visit  his  parents  graves  on  Memorial  Day  each  year. 

Because  there  was  no  nursing  home  convenient,  Burton  and 
Mada  took  in  Grandpa  Weber.   Grandma  Weber  had  passed  away  in 
December  1954.  He  was  lonely  and  his  health  was  going  down  hill. 
He  passed  away  two  years  later  in  their  home  in  August  1957. 

Burton 
Page  2 


Alexander  and  Anna  Margaretha  Grassmick  Weber 

Alexander  Weber  and  Anna  Marie  Grassmick  were  born  in 
Balzer,  Russia.   Alexander  was  born  to  Johanes  Jacob  and 
Katherina  Speck  on  December  17,  1871.   Anna  Margaretha  was  born 
to  Bill  Grassmick  and  Elizabeth  Hymbuck  (or  Heimbuch)  on  January 
17,  1870. 

The  Webers,  Grassmick  and  other  ancestors  migrated  from 
Germany  into  this  section  of  Balzer  Saratov,  Russia  which  was 
newly  opened  to  these  people.   They  were  a  religious  group  of 
German  Lutherans . 

The  German  Colony  of  Balzer  (Goloi-Karamish  or  Balzer  German 
Republic  of  Volga,  Russia)  lies  in  the  valley  of  the  Volga  river 
about  eight  miles  from  the  river  bank.   The  valley  slopes  down 
from  the  north  and  Balzer  is  on  the  right  side  or  mountain  side 
and  about  60  miles  below  the  city  of  Saratov.   This  is  where 
Alexander  and  Margaretha  were  born. 

When  th<*se  people  first  settled  this  section  of  country, 
they  lived  in  dugouts  in  the  side  of  the  mountain,  until  they 
were  able  to  build  homes. 

The  village  wasn't  very  large,  each  family  owned  a  small 
section  of  land.   On  this  land  they  were  allowed  one  cow,  a  pig, 
some  chickens,  ducks  and  geese.   According  to  Margaretha  ducks 
and  geese  were  very  important  to  the  people  as  they  supplied  the 
families  with  enough  feathers  for  bedding.   The  down  quilts  were 
light  and  warm.   Each  member  of  the  family  slept  in  a  feather 
bed. 

All  families  were  required  by  the  local  authorities  to  raise 
a  vegetable  garden.   This  would  give  them  fresh  vegetables  in  the 
summer  time.   Potatoes,  cabbage  and  other  produce  would  be  stored 
in  a  ground  cellar,  for  winter  use.   Meat  was  never  plentiful. 
They  also  had  to  have  fruit  trees.   Apples  and  pears  were  the 
most  popular.   The  fruit  could  be  dried  and  would  not  turn  dark. 

The  village  in  which  they  lived  was  surrounded  by  forest. 
This  timber  was  later  cut  for  the  lumber  industry.   Each  family 
was  issued  a  permit  allowing  them  to  herd  their  cow,  ducks  and 
geese  at  the  edge  of  the  forest  to  graze.   This  permit  also 
allowed  them  to  carry  enough  wood  home  each  day  for  the 
fireplace.   Wood  was  the  only  fuel  they  knew  and  the  fireplace 
was  the  only  heating  unit  in  the  home. 


Weber 
Page  1 


Their  homes  were  all  built  on  the  same  order,  long  barrack- 
like structures  made  of  brick  and  mortar.   Each  house  had  a  large 
live-in  kitchen  with  a  brick  fireplace  covering  one  entire  wall 
of  the  kitchen.   A  brick  oven  was  built  into  the  fireplace. 
Meals  for  the  day  were  prepared  in  the  morning,  put  into  the  oven 
and  baked  all  day.   It  was  this  long  slow  baking  that  made 
everything  taste  so  good,  especially  the  whole  wheat  bread  and 
the  custard  pudding. 

There  was  a  bedroom  next  to  the  kitchen  which  was 
partitioned  into  smaller  sections  by  heavy  linen  curtains 
reaching  from  ceiling  to  floor. 

There  was  also  a  storeroom  where  grain,  flour,  cured  meat, 
butter,  eggs  were  kept.   Other  things  the  family  owned  were  also 
locked  up  in  there  so  they  would  not  be  stolen. 

These  people  took  great  pride  in  their  church.   Their  life 
in  Balzer  was  hard,  working  from  sunrise  to  sunset  for  a  very 
meager  wage . 

The  Webers  came  from  a  family  of  tall,  big-boned,  hard- 
working people.   Johanes  Jacob  Weber  had  blond  hair  and  blue 
eyes,  while  his  wife,  Katherina  Speck,  had  very  red  hair  and 
green  eyes.   Katherina  died  when  Alexander  was  about  twelve  years 
old.   Johanes,  never  did  remarry  this  left  the  oldest  girl  in  the 
family  the  household  chores  to  do.   There  was  one  girl  and  four 
boys  in  the  family. 

During  an  uprising  in  the  year  of  1914  a  revolution  took 
place  and  a  lot  of  this  group  starved  to  death.  This  is  when 
they  figure  Margaretha's  grandmother  died. 

The  Grassmicks  were  small  people,  not  much  over  five  feet 
tall.   They  had  dark  brown  hair  and  grey  eyes.   Margaretha,  never 
spoke  of  her  father,  Bill  Grassmick,  as  he  died  when  she  was  very 
young.   That  left  her  mother,  Elizabeth  Hymbuck,  with  two  boys 
and  two  girls  to  raise.   Margaretha  was  the  older  of  the  girls. 
Anna  Marie  was  the  younger  daughter.   The  older  brother,  David, 
died  when  he  was  a  young  man  of  Black  Fever.   He  left  three 
children  for  his  mother  to  raise.   The  other  brother  died  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  also  of  Black  Fever. 

Being  without  a  man  in  the  house  put  a  lot  of  responsibility 
on  the  widow  Grassmick  and  her  two  girls.   It  was  the  girls  who 
carried  the  water  home  from  the  well  that  supplied  the  village 
with  pure  drinking  water.   The  girls  each  carried  two  buckets. 
They  were  only  six  and  eight  years  old  and  the  well  was  located 
just  beyond  the  Weber  home.   The  Webers  had  a  big  dog  that  would 
run  after  and  bark  at  the  girls.   The  girls  would  walk  fast 
spilling  much  of  the  water  as  they  were  very  frightened  and  would 

Weber 
Page  2 


cry.   When  the  Weber  boys  noticed  this  they  called  the  dog  back 
and  tied  him  up.   These  sisters  must  have  been  very  grateful  for 
this  act  of  kindness,  because  years  later  the  two  girls  married 
the  two  brothers . 

Young  boys  and  girls  hired  out  at  the  age  of  twelve,  and  by 
the  time  they  were  fourteen  years  old  they  were  expected  to  do  a 
full  days  work  just  like  the  men- -from  sunrise  until  sundown. 

Alexander  went  to  work  in  a  dye  factory;  he  was  lucky,  as 
his  uncle  owned  the  factory.   Margaretha  went  to  work  for  a 
landowner  who  lived  at  the  edge  of  the  village.   The  landowner 
let  her  go  home  and  visit  her  mother  on  Sunday.   The  dye  factory 
also  closed  on  Sunday,  so  the  young  folks  would  go  to  church  with 
their  families.   This  is  where  they  would  meet  and  got  better 
acquainted  with  each  other. 

By  the  time  Alexander  was  twenty  years  old  he  was  a  sick 
man.   His  skin  and  the  whites  of  his  eyes  were  yellow  and  he 
couldn't  eat.   The  fumes  from  the  dye  with  which  he  worked,  were 
poisoning  his  body. 

In  1894  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  Alexander  was  drafted  into 
the  Russian  Army  to  serve  his  country  for  four  years.   This  was  a 
blessing  in  disguise  as  it  got  him  out  of  the  dye  factory. 
Russia  was  not  at  war  with  any  other  nation  at  the  time.   He  was 
released  in  1897.   Alexander  and  Margaretha  had  been  promised  to 
marry  each  other  upon  his  return. 

At  twenty  years  old  Margaretha  was  a  full  time  employee  for 
the  landowner.   She  could  not  go  home  and  visit  her  mother  on 
Sunday  any  more,  only  two  or  three  times  a  year  was  she  able  to 
return  home.   She  was  allowed  to  contribute  some  of  her  wages  to 
her  mother. 

The  rest  she  used  to  buy  herself  a  chest  and  make  herself  a 
wardrobe.   It  was  considered  rather  elaborate,  and  she  was  very 
proud  of  what  she  had  accomplished.   Then  she  decided  to  buy 
another  chest.   This  she  filled  with  yards  of  silk,  linen,  and 
cashmere  material  as  well  as  lace,  thread,  ribbon,  yarn,  and 
needles;  all  the  things  she  needed  to  sew  with.   Then  she  waited 
for  Alexander  Weber  to  come  home.   He  was  release  in  1987.   When 
he  called  on  her  she  saw  a  handsome  healthy  man  and  they  were 
married  in  October  1897. 

Alexander  went  back  to  the  cleaning  and  dying  factory- -dying 
yarn  from  which  overalls  were  made.   Margaretha  stayed  home  to 
take  care  of  the  home  and  family  she  would  have. 

Things  were  never  good  for  the  German  people  in  Russia.   The 
Russian  people  always  resented  the  Germans  that  settled  in  this 

Weber 
Page  3 


part  of  the  country.   Schools  were  few  and  far  between,  some  were 
even  burned  down.   There  were  many  adults  that  had  never  attended 
one  day  of  school.   They  could  neither  read  nor  write.   Very 
little  was  being  shipped  into  the  village,  and  nothing  was  being 
sent  out . 

It  wasn't  long  before  Alexander  was  sick  again  and  knew  that 
he  would  not  be  able  to  work  in  the  dye  factory  much  longer. 
These  people  were  a  sad  and  unhappy  people.   There  was  no  future 
for  them  and  even  less  for  their  children.   They  were  concerned 
about  their  children  the  most. 

Everyone  who  was  able,  was  moving  to  America.   America  was  a 
land  of  freedom  with  opportunities,  resources,  and  lots  of  land 
for  people  to  live  on.   It  was  inconceivable  to  the  mind. 

It  was  Margaretha  who  never  stopped  scheming  as  to  how  they 
could  get  to  America.   Alexander  was  too  sick  to  care;  and 
furthermore,  they  had  no  money. 

It  was  through  the  grapevine  that  they  hear  about  a  captain 
who  shipped  purebred  cattle  to  America.   He  also  had  room  for  a 
few  passengers,  for  considerably  less  money  than  it  would  cost 
them  to  go  as  first-class  passengers,  so  Margaretha  made  up  her 
mind  it  would  be  now  or  never.   She  had  to  raise  money  in  a 
hurry.   So  with  Alexander's  consent,  she  sold  her  beautiful 
chests  and  everything  in  them.   This  wasn't  hard  to  do  because 
things  were  so  scare  in  the  village  at  that  time.   The  people 
paid  her  a  handsome  price  for  the  material  and  all  the  contents 
of  the  chest.   This  made  the  trip  possible  without  having  to 
borrow  money.   So,  they  rolled  all  their  belongings  into  two 
bundles  and  started  their  journey  to  America- -Alexander, 
Margaretha,  and  three  children,  Mollie,  Anna  Katherina  and  Alex. 

In  November  1902,  they  left  Saratov  on  the  first  leg  of 
their  journey  to  America.   They  first  traveled  by  train  to  the 
coast  of  the  Baltic  Sea.   On  the  coast  of  Poland  at  a  Polish  Port 
they  boarded  a  boat  and  sailed  through  the  Keil  Canal .   During 
this  part  of  the  journey  they  experienced  something  that  really 
upset  Margaretha.   There  was  a  bridge  across  this  large  canal  and 
she  thought  that  the  boat  would  hit  the  bridge.   But  in  the  nick 
of  time,  through  a  series  of  signals  from  the  captain  of  the 
boat,  the  bridge  swung  away  and  the  boat  passed  safely  through. 
It  was  certainly  a  new  experience  for  them.   From  there  they 
sailed  across  to  the  English  Port  of  Hull.   They  then  traveled 
across  England  to  Liverpool  by  train.   They  were  taken  from  there 
by  a  motorboat  some  distance  out  to  sea  and  put  on  the  ship. 
From  there  they  sailed  out  between  what  is  now  Northern  Ireland 
and  England. 


Weber 
Page  4 


Everything  was  fine  for  a  while;  however,  there  was  a  few 
things  the  passengers  had  not  anticipated.   That  of  the  cattle 
having  priority  over  the  passengers.   Nor  were  they  prepared  for 
the  cold,  the  food  was  poor  and  there  was  not  enough  of  it.   They 
sailed  twenty-eight  days  before  landing  in  America.   When  the 
people  got  off  the  ship  they  were  dirty,  sick,  and  starving. 

They  landed  at  St.  John,  Canada,  stayed  there  three  days, 
traveled  by  train  to  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  then  to  Omaha,  and  then 
to  Lincoln,  Nebraska  with  some  money  they  still  had  left. 

There,  some  friends  met  them  and  took  them  into  their  home. 
Alexander  soon  found  a  few  day's  work  for  the  Burlington 
Railroad.   It  wasn't  a  steady  job,  but  he  was  able  to  rent  a 
house  and  buy  food.   He  built  a  table  and  benches  from  the  lumber 
he  carried  home  from  the  railroad.   They  slept  on  the  floor. 
This  didn't  bother  them  because  it  was  heaven  compared  to  the 
cattle  boat. 

One  of  the  children  passed  away  during  this  time  and 
Margaretha  became  discouraged,  lonely  and  homesick,  so  she  would 
walk  to  the  nearby  store,  something  she  enjoyed  doing,  to  get  her 
mind  off  things  and  forget .   There  at  the  store  were  boxes  and 
boxes  of  pretty  shoes,  ladies  shoes,  rows  and  rows  of  them. 
There  were  men  work  clothes,  ladies  dresses  already  made,  and  all 
kinds  of  ribbon,  lace,  and  buttons.   There  were  groceries  on  the 
shelves.   Things  she  had  never  seen  before  or  heard  of.   The 
butcher  shop  had  so  much  meat  that  they  never  ran  short,  and  they 
trimmed  the  meat  from  the  bones  and  threw  the  bones  out  for  the 
dogs . 

On  her  way  to  the  store  a  young  boy  run  after  her  and  called 
her  names.  This  was  embarrassing  and  humiliating,  so  one  day  she 
turned  and  slapped  the  boy's  face.  The  boy  ran  home  screaming  to 
his  mother. 

When  Margaretha  arrived  home  she  told  a  neighbor  what  she 
had  done.  The  neighbor  informed  her  that  this  was  against  the 
law  in  the  United  States.  One  could  not  strike  another  child. 
He  said  due  to  the  fact  that  she  had  been  in  the  United  States 
for  only  a  short  time  and  wasn't  even  a  citizen,  she  could  be 
arrested  and  even  deported. 

She  then  went  home,  pulled  down  the  blinds,  locked  both 
doors  and  waited  for  the  police  to  come.   She  also  made  up  her 
mind  that  she  would  leave  her  husband  and  children  behind  as  they 
had  done  nothing  wrong.   She  would  calmly  go  with  the  police,  go 
aboard  the  ship,  then  jump  overboard  and  drown  herself.   They 
would  not  take  her  back  to  Russia  alive. 


Weber 
Page  5 


When  she  heard  the  knock  on  the  door  and  opened  it  and  saw 
her  husband  instead  of  the  police  she  went  into  hysterics. 

It  was  during  these  hours  of  mental  anguish  that  she  almost 
lost  her  mind.   The  matter  was  looked  into  and  it  was  decided  the 
youngster  needed  a  spanking  long  before  Mother  slapped  him. 

The  lay-offs  at  the  railroad  became  more  frequent. 
Alexander  no  sooner  got  the  grocer  and  the  back  rent  paid  up  to 
date  than  he  would  be  laid  off  again.   He  worked  in  the  coal 
yard,  material  yard  and  even  as  a  baggage  man.   All  in  all,  he 
worked  for  this  company  about  fifteen  years. 

While   he  was  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska  he  applied  for  his  first 
citizenship  papers. 

Alexander  received  an  offer  from  a  farmer  in  Colorado  to 
sharecrop.   He  accepted  this  offer,  moved  to  Olathe,  Colorado, 
and  started  to  farm.   The  farm  was  good,  there  was  plenty  of  food 
and  plenty  of  work.   Margaretha  would  go  out  into  the  fields  to 
help  also.   Their  three  children:  Mollie,  Alex,  and  Katherine 
were  all  under  five  years  of  age.   Within  a  few  months  their 
twins  were  born.   They  named  them  John  and  Marie. 

It  was  then  that  Margaretha  took  ill.   Her  high  blood 
pressure  was  high,  the  altitude  was  too  high  for  her  and  the 
doctor  advised  her  to  move  to  a  lower  altitude  and  warmer 
climate.   Also  one  of  the  twins,  John,  needed  a  great  deal  of 
medical  attention.   It  would  take  them  one  day  just  to  drive  to 
the  nearest  doctor.   So,  they  decided  to  move  back  to  Lincoln, 


Nebraska 


With  the  money  they  had  saved  from  the  farm  they  invested  in 
some  real  estate  at  225  ' C  Street  in  Lincoln.   This  was  the 
first  home  they  had  ever  owned.   It  was  a  four  room  frame  house 
with  a  large  screened  back  porch  that  was  used  for  a  summer 
kitchen.   It  also  had  a  large  front  porch.   This  is  where  all  the 
friends  and  neighbors,  from  the  Old  Country,  would  come  and  visit 
about  their  friends  and  relatives  they  had  left  behind.   Many 
times  things  got  quite  emotional.   It  became  a  sobbing  social 
sometimes  all  because  of  the  love  they  had  for  their  loved  ones. 
They  missed  them  and  wished  that  they  could  be  here  with  them. 

Many  of  their  people  couldn't  to  read  or  write  so  it  was 
only  when  someone  came  to  the  United  State  that  they  would 
receive  word  from  their  families.   Their  yard  was  big,  with  room 
for  all  of  our  friends.   The  whole  family  loved  this  place  and 
took  great  pride  in  it . 

The  railroad  was  also  happy  to  have  Alexander  come  back  to 
work  because  they  needed  him  because  he  could  speak  five 

Weber 
Page  6 


different  languages:   German,  Polish,  Russian,  Italian,  Romanian, 

as  well  as  very  bad  English.  They  hired  him  as  a  foreman  over  a 

section  crew.   The  hours  were  long  and  the  work  was  hard,  but  he 
felt  quite  important . 

Alexander  applied  for  a  railroad  pass  of  which  he  had 
earned.   He  wanted  to  visit  his  brother,  Gottlieb  Weber,  who 
lived  somewhere  in  Idaho.   Idaho  was  someplace  out  West.   He  took 
his  oldest  son,  Alex,  with  him.   Everything  was  fine  until  when 
they  returned  and  calmly  announced  that  they  both  had  fallen  in 
love  with  the  farms,  mountains,  people  and  that  they  wanted  to 
live  there. 

Margaretha  wasn't  too  anxious  to  make  the  move,  but 
Alexander  succeeded  in  persuading  her.   They  sold  all  their 
belongings  and  moved  to  Rexburg,  Idaho. 

They  started  farming  in  the  Burton  area  near  Rexburg.   They 
stayed  there  a  number  of  years  then  moved  to  the  Thorton  area  and 
continued  to  farm  until  the  fall  of  1931.   They  then  bought  a 
three  room  home  in  the  town  site  of  Lorenzo  and  lived  there  with 
a  few  chickens  and  one  cow.   Their  children  lived  close  by.   They 
loved  this  little  home  too,  and  all  the  people  around  them. 
Alexander  continued  to  work  as  a  farm  laborer  until  Margaretha 
died  in  January  1933.    She  was  a  great  cook,  anyone  that  tasted 
her  bread  had  a  real  treat . 

Alexander  spent  some  of  the  happiest  years  of  his  life  as  a 
mail  carrier  for  the  Post  Office  department  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  in  Lorenzo,  Idaho.   Alexander  carried  the  mail  to  the 
train  everyday,  something  he  took  great  pride  in.   One  day  he 
threw  the  mail  sack  across  his  back  and  started  to  cross  US 
Highway  191  to  reach  the  train  but  was  nearly  hit  by  a  car. 
Everyone  was  concerned  about  him  nearly  being  hit  but  his  reply 
was  "Don't  you  know  the  mail  must  go  through."   He  carried  the 
mail  until  he  retired. 

Alexander  was  a  neat  in  his  appearance  and  took  pride  in  his 
home  and  yard.   He  was  especially  good  with  horses.   It  has  been 
told  of  one  time  when  the  Lorenzo  bridge  was  to  be  built.   The 
steel  and  parts  for  the  bridge  were  shipped  on  the  railroad. 
This  had  to  be  unloaded  During  the  night  and  as  it  turned  out 
there  was  a  blizzard  which  drifted  the  road  closed.   They  got  a 
sleigh  and  a  team  of  horses  to  pull  this  load  out.   The  horses 
could  not  get  the  load  started,  so  Alexander  went  over  and  took 
the  horses  by  the  bridles,  spoke  to  them  and  lead  them  through 
the  drifts  with  the  load;  he  just  seemed  to  know  what  to  do. 


Weber 
Page  7 


To  the  union  of  Alexander  and  Margaretha,  ten  children  were 
born.   The  first  was  a  boy,  who  was  born  and  died  in  Russia.   The 
second  and  third  were  twins,  Mollie  and  Anna  Katherina.   Number 
four  was  Alex;  five  was  Catherine;  six  and  sever  were  twins, 
Marie  and  John.   Number  eight  was  Helen.   She  died  when  she  was 
two  years  old.   Number  nine  was  a  little  girl  also  named  Helen. 
She  died  when  she  was  four  months  old.   And  number  ten  was 
Amelia . 

Margaretha  passed  away  before  Alexander.   She  died  January 
13,  1933,  in  Lorenzo,  Idaho.   She  was  sixty-two  years  old. 
Alexander  never  married  again  after  Margaretha  passed  away.   He 
died  June  28,  1948,  in  Idaho  Falls.   But  they  both  lived  to  see 
their  dream  come  true,  that  of  having  their  family  safe  in 
America . 


&>     rf  5  A-'  tj>-yJfcUju>^. 


Weber 
Page  8 


/\  bo     KiS"to  r;es      of      Gcrzcri    ho**     Dora       FeiVs 
.yv'^d^n     \n^'c^     are      fKl^cl        coosl/vs      to      |/vAcx^y    A)W 


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jve     kmple      y^rk.     i/^s      do^e     for      +hem       b^+^^e^ 


\ 


Minnie  Ann  Schmidt 

And  how  do  you  spell  that? 

The  last  name? 

Urn  huh 

Schmidt 

And  your  address 

Ity  address  is  2605  Lawrence  St.,  Eugene     97405 

And  when  is  your  birthday? 

My  birthday  is  January  30th 

What  year 

1910  if  you  are  talking  about  the  first  year. 

Okay,  explain  and  tell   of  Dora  Felt,  your  grandmother  and  John  Beck  and 
Wilhemina  Beck  your  aunt  and  uncle,  building  the  family  cabin  in  Rexburg. 

Well   I  will  tell  what  I  have  been  told..    Before  I  was  born  John  Beck  and 
his  wife  Wilhemina  Beck  came  from  Germany  with  Wilhelmina's  sister  also, 
Dora  Fell,  and  Dora  Fell  brought  her  mother  with  her  Dorthea  Fell.     At 
that  time  my  mother  was  3  years  old  and  she  had  a  brother,  Will  Schmidt, 
Willy,  oh  excuse  me,  Willy  Fell,  and  I  think  he  was  about  I'ld  say  he  was 
about  5  years  older  than  my  mother,  that's  a  guess.     There  was  also  a 
sister,  her  name  was,  Rosa  and  she  stayed  in  the  east  or  perhaps  went 
back  from  Ohio,  this  this  we  don't  know,  but  they  landed  of  course  in 
New  York  from  Germany 'and  from  there  they  went  to  Ohio  and  Rosie  didn't 
want  to  come,  leave  New  York  and  for  some  reason  or  another  she  might 
have  had  work  there  in  New  York  that  she  knew  about  and  any  way  she  went 
back  to  New  York,  or  perhaps  stayed  in  the  beginning.     This  we  do  not  know. 
But,  so  I  have  never  met  Rosie,  Willy  I  knew  as  I  grew  up. 

Now  the  log  cabin  was  built  by  John  Beck,  I'm  presuming  that  because  he 
was  the  only  man,  in  the,   in  the  people,  among  the  people  that  came     uh 
on  this  trip,  and  uh  what  I  have  heard,  what  I  have  been  told  by  my  Sister 
Dorothy  is  that  the  uh,  they  hauled  logs   for  a  log  cabin  on  a,   in  a,  well 
they  were  hauled  from  Moody  Creek  which  is  about  15  miles  from  Rexburg. 
And  ah  these  logs  were  notched,  they  were  not  nailed  together,  they  were 
simply  put  together  with  some  kind  of  ah  well,  there  was  some  kind  of 
plaster  in  between  the  logs  to  keep  the  cold  and  rain  out.     But  it  was 
built  without  nails;  it  was  a  large  two  room,  a  kitchen  and  living  room 
was  all  in  one,  then  a  very  large  bedroom  which  was  divided  when  we  lived 
there  in  two  and  ah  of  course,  ah,  well  by  the  time  I  was  born  it  was  1910, 
well  this  homestead,  now  the  only  date  I  have  is  perhaps  19  -  1980  but  I 
also  have  information  from  1983  perhaps  that  was  when  everything  was 
settled  and  they  moved  into  the  cabin.     Oh  excuse  me  1883,  yes  1883, 
we're  in  1900 's  now  and  of  course  they  lived  there,  ah  well,  the  rest 
of  my,  almost  the  rest  of  my  mothers  life  and  of  course,  four  children 
of  us  were  born  all  there  in  the  log  cabin  and  I  lived  there  for  9  years 
and  then  we  moved  in  town  where  Grandma  lived,  Dora  Fell  had  a  house,  had 
purchased  a  house  in  Rexburg  and  lived  in  the  house  and  at  that  time  that 
we  moved  to  town,  Willy  Fell,  now  he  was  my  uncle,  he  was  my  mother's 
brother.     And  he  was  a  stone  mason  and  he  did  beautiful  work  chipping  out 
stones  and  I  remember  watching  him  chip  those  stones,  he  would  take  a  lot 
of  time  in  making  a  perfect  design  and  making  them  alike,  all,  all  the 


and  he  built  the  stone  house  and  when  it  was  built  was  when  we  moved  in 
to  the  lower  floor  and  then  there  was  an  upper  floor  where  a  family  lived 
and  he  lived  with  Grandma  Dora  Fell   in  the  older  house,  which  was  on  the 
same  lot,  it  was  a  large  lot,  I'll   tell  you  more  about  that  later. 

Now  Willy  at  one  time  lived  at  the  log  house,  not  exactly  with  us  because 
he  built  on  another  wing  or  another  large  room  which  was   later  used  for  wood 
and  storage.     But  at  the  time  that,  after  he  built  it  he  lived  there  for 
quite  a  while  at  the  log  house  but  in  his  own  apartment.     So  to  say,   now 
Willy  helped  build  another  house  much  later  for  Otto  Beck  who  was  a  son  of 
John  Beck  and  Wilhelmina  Beck  and  this  house  was  built  in  about  1935,   1936 
and  the  first  occupants  of  that  house  was  uh,  An&llia  Weber  Beck  of  course 
and  Otto  Beck  and  they  had  a  daughter,  one  daughter  by  the  name  of  Rowena 
who  is^/iow  living  in  New  York.     But  Rowena  was  born  in  ah,  on  March  27,   1925, 
Now  AmSllia  Beck  lived  just  a  few  years,  she  died  in  1938  of  a  heart  attack. 
After  a  while  Otto  Beck  married  another  Weber  girl   and  her  name  was  Mary, 
oh,     Mary  Beck  or  Mary  Weber  and  she  is  the  mother  of  Maryann     Beck  and  by 
the  way  at  the  present  time  and  I   am  talking  now  in  1985  and  Mary  has   lived 
there  quire  a  while,  much  later  after  Otto  died  Maryann     has  lived  there 
ever  since  and  is   living  there  at  the  present  time. 

Well   now,   let's  go  back  to  the  log  cabin,  I  haven't  mentioned  yet  that 
this  homestead  was   probably  abouxllSO  acres.     Now-Dora  -Fe^R— strkhoff-some 
of  this,_lafld,  all   but  10  acres  as  a  matter  of  fact,  and  the  two-occupants 
af^4JTat^4va-s-t^WL^teiner  and  George  Steiner  who  was  a  eous-ing  of  John 
Stainers   and  they_  Tjved,  there ,  when  I   lived  in  the  log  cabin,   for  those 
9  years.     Of  course  we-  lived  in  the  log  cabin  and  moved  away  once  and 
lived  in  St.  Anthony  and  then  came  back  and  lived  in  the  log  cabin.     And 
then  we  went  another  time,  we  lived  in  ah,  on  Gary's  farm,  it  was  out  near 
the  rocky  mountains  and  we  lived  there  for  a  year  and  then  came  back  again. 

Well   let's  go  back  to  the  children  that  Lena  and  George  had  and  George 
Clink  was  Lena's  husband  and  I   think  I  mentioned  that  they  met  at  a  church 
and  were  married  and  ah,  when  my  mother  was   18.     Now  I  was   the  first  born, 
January  30,   1910  and  my  name  is  Minnie  Ann  Schmidt  now,  was  Minnie  Ann  Clink 
then,  when  I  went  to  get  a  license  by  the  way,  or  a  birth  certificate 
I  should  say,  to  go  to  Alaska,  this  is  much  later  here  in  Oregon.     I  sent 
for  a  birth  certificate  and  found  out  I  had  no  name  at  all,  so,  no  ah 
first  name  so  I  simply  adopted  Minnie,  but  my  real   name  is  Wilhelmina 
and  I  was   named  after  Wilhelmina  Beck.     I  was  born  in  1910,  my  sister  was 
the  first  born  -  did  I  mention  her,  my  sister  was  the  first  born  and  she 
was  born  in  19,  ah   19,  ah  06  and  she  was  born  on  July  the  29th  and  3% 
years  later  I  was  born  in  1910.     The  next  child  was  another  girl   -  3^ 
years  later  my  sister  and  she  was  named  Eva  Magdalene  Clink,  she  was 
born  on  July  29th,   1913.     That  made  3  girls.     I  might  say  that  all   this 
time,  or  a  good  part  of  this  time,  my  dad,  George  Clink  worked  for  the 
railroad,  worked  on  the  section.     When  he  moved  on  the  Gary  ranch  of  course, 
he  did  farming,  and  when  he,  when  he,  we  moved  to  St.  Anthony,   I   think  he 
worked  in  the  Sugar  Factory,  but  I'm  not  sure  of  that,  he  did  work  for  a 
while  in  Sugar  City.     Let's  go  back  to  the  children  now  after  Eva,  ah 
there  was  one  boy  born,  and  this  was  about  a  little,  a  year  and  3  months 
later,  in  September,  27th  of  September  1914,  George  Lewis  Clink,  my 
brother  was  born.     And  I  have  to  tell  you  this,   I  haven't  told  you  yet 
Maryanne,  uhm  my  grandmother  always  was   present  when  we  were  born  and 
in  those  days  we  were  all   actually  born  in  the  log  cabin  and  there  was 
a  midwife,  her  name  was  Mrs.   Robinson,  that's   all    I  know  of  her,  but  I 


have  just  a  faint  recollection  of  seeing  her  when  my  brother  was   born  so 
I'm  telling  this   now.     Well  my  sister  and  I  were  a  little  bit  older  and 
so  when  all   this  being  born  was  taking  place  why  Grandma  sent  my  sister, 
my  older  sister  and  I  out  to  the  Beck  ranch  for  the  excuse  of  borrowing 
a  couple  of  tools,  now  I  don't  think  these  tools  were  needed  at  all   but 
they  wanted  to  get  rid  of  us  while  the  baby  was  born  and  so  we  walked  out 
to  the  Beck  ranch  and  oh  how  many,  how  many  miles  is  it  out  to  the  ranch 
there,  to  the  Beck  ranch? 

Two  or  three. 

Two  or  three  at  least  two  or  three,  it  seemed  like  a  long  ways.  So  it  was 
a  long  ways  out  to  get  this,  I  believe  it  was  a  hammer  and  some  chisel 
or  something,  it  was  something  simple,  cause  we  carried  it  easily  and  that 
was  what  we  borrowed  for  not  really  borrowing  at  all  but  to  get  rid  of 
us  while  the  baby  was  born.  Well  then  we  had  to  walk  all  the  way  back 
again  so  you  know,  that  took  a  few  hours  and  then  some.  When  we  got  back, 
we  no  more  than  got  in  the  house,  and  Dad  came  out  and  he  says,  halleluhah, 
oh,  I  got  a  boy,  I've  got  a  boy,  I've  got  a  boy  and  he  was  so  happy  to  at 
last  have  one  boy  and  with  a  family  of  already  3  girls,  the  one,  the  thing 
he  wanted  most  of  all  was  one  more,  on  boy.  And  that  was  the  last  of  the 
Clink  children  that  were  born  of  Lena  and  George  Clink.  NOW. 

What  is  your  name? 

My  name  is  George,  my  nickname  is  Chuck,  was  Chuck  Clink  and  I  was  born 
in  Rexburg  in  19,  September  27,  1914,  in  the  log  house  right  next  to 
where  Maryann  lives  today.  And  ah,  I  remember  the  log  house  because, 
quite  well,  but  we  ah,  I  was  real  young  another  thing  I  remember  was  our 
root  cellar  out  beside  the  log  house.  And  we  used  to  keep  sauerkraut  in 
it  caust,  and  I  can  still  remember  how  it  smell ed  when  I  went  down  into 
this  root  cellar  and  we  had  eggs  put  up  in  the  water  glass,  we'd  kill 
all  the  chickens,  I  can  remember  in  the  fall  of  the  year  before  the 
hard  freezes  and  we  would  store  these  stone  crocks  full  of  eggs  with 
water,  ah  in  water  glass  so  they  would  keep  for  the  winter.  And  then 
we  had  oh  beets  and  turnips  and  some  dried  vegetables  that  we  kept  down 
in  this  root  cellar  with  lots  of  potatoes,  and  speaking  of  potatoes  we 
would,  we 'Id  eat  potatoes  three  times  a  day,  breakfast,  lunch  and  dinner, 
day  after  day.  Then  another  thing  I  remember  about  Rexburg,  is  how  cold 
it  was  in  the  winter  -  ah,  it'd  get  down  to  40  below  and  we  would,  when  we 
would  go  to  town  into  church,  to  church,  why  we' Id  ride  in  the  sleigh  and 
we  would  cover  up  with  a  great  big  bear  rug  going  into,  into  Rexburg. 
My  dad  helped  build  the  Mormon  church,  what  street  is  that  on,  Maryanne 
do  you  remember? 

Third  South,  Third  South. 

On  Third  South  street,  my  father  helped  build  that  church,  that  was  back 
in  1916,  17.  Then  another  one  of  my  memories  of  Rexburg  is  right  after 
World  War  I,  that  the  parade  they  had,  coming  on  the  main  street,  I  was 
in  front  of  Pexton's  and  Jensen's  grocery  store  when  the  parade  went  by. 
And  there's  where  I,  in  Rexburg  is  where  I  saw  my  first  airplane.  We 
were  shopping  in  some  store  and  somebody  yelled  airplane  and  everybody 
in  town  or  in  the  store  ran  out  in  the  streets  and  looked  up  at  this 
airplane.  That  was  the  first  one  I  had  ever  seen. 

See  my  sister,  ah,  ur  both  my  sisters  went  to  school  in  Rexburg,  what 
was  the  name  of  that  school  now. 


Washington. 

At  Washington  school.     I   didn't  go  to  school   there  cause  I   left  there 
when  I  was  five.     We  moved  from  there  to  ah  let's  see,  Eugene,  Oregon. 
Then  we  came  out  on  the  train,  my  father  left  from  Rexburg  with  a,  come 
out  from  there  to  ah  Sutherlin,  Oregon,  he  came  by  horse  and  buggy, 
he  had  a  regular  old  covered  wagon,  it  took  him  almost,  ah,  well,  between 
three  and  four  weeks  to  come  from  Rexburg  to  Sutherlin,  Oregon  where  he 
got  a  job  working  in  the  woods.     And  we  lived  down  in  Sutherlin  that 
summer,  we  all   lived  in  a  tent.     And  then  from  Sutherland,  we  moved  to 
ah  let's  see,  we  moved  to  Eugene  and  stayed  here  for  just  about  a  month 
and  then  from  Eugene  we  moved  to  Oregon  City  where  we  lived  in  little, 
well   it  was  a  place  called  Kanema,   up  on  the  hill   above  Oregon  City. 
And  that's  where  I  went  to  my  first  grade,  grade  of  school.     Let's  see 
then  from  Oregon  City  we  moved  to  Salem  where  I  went  to  school   for  3 
years  and  that's  where  I   got  my  first  job  selling  papers  on  the  corner 
of  the  Ladd  and  Bush  bank  on  that  Main  Street  and  Commercial   in  Salem, 
used  to  make  20<t  a  night,   thought  I  was   really  rich. 

What  do  you  do  now? 

And  now,  well    let's  see  that's  a  long,   a  long  gap  in  between  there 
you  want  me  to 

mention? 

Now  after  all   these  years   I   am  retired  to  making  salad  in  the  salad 
factory  we  had  down  to  Emerald  Fruit  and  we  put  up  salads   for  the 
University  of  Oregon  and  the  different  grade  schools  and  high  schools 
and  we  ship  salads  to'Corvallis  and  Roseburg  and  that  keeps  me  pretty  busy. 

What's  the  name  of  your  business? 

And  the  name  of  it  is  Maryellen's  Salad  Mix  which   is   named  after  my  wife. 
She  started  making  little  salads  with,  made  out  of  cabbage  and  carrots 
and  red  cabbage.     We  put  her  name  on  it  -  called  it  Maryellen's  Salad 
Mix.     But  now  we  do,  we  put  up  cole  slaw  and  make  carrot  sticks  and 
tossed  salads  and  brockets  called  flowerets  just  a  number  of  different 
fancy  articles  for  salad  bars. 

You  were  number  one  at  one  time? 

At  one  time  we  were  the  only  salad  kitchen  in  Eugene  and  now  there's  3 

located  here  and  there  are  2  more  that  come  into  town  out  of  port! and  so 

we  have  lots,   lots  and  lots  of  competition.     But  we  still   do  all   the 
business  we  want  to. 

Minnie  do  you  want  to  continue  on  from  last  night. 

Well   I  was  thinking  of  some  things  that  George  mentioned  about  the  root 
sellar  and  I  want  to  say  something  about  that.      I  remember  the  root  cellar 
too  and  the  sauerkraut  and  eggs  in  water  glass  and,  oh  many  things,  carrots 
for  I,  he  made  mention  the  carrots,   I   didn't  remember  the  turnips,  but  I 
remember  the  carrots  and  turnips  and  things  like  that.     Well   anyway,   I 
have  something  else  to  remember  to  think  about,  and  perhaps   I  think  more 
of  the  root  cellar  for  something  to  climb  over  and  it  was  right  back  of 
the  log  cabin  and  one  day,  well    I   knew  these  sheep  were  coming  in,  the 
sheep  herders  were  bringing  in  their  sheep.     This  was  beet  time,  beet 
harvesting  and  I  don't  think  I  mentioned  that  the  10  acres  that  is   there 
at  the  present  time,  well  that's  the  same  ten  acres  that  we  lived  on  too 
and  the  crop  was  sugar  beets  and  when  sugar  beet,  ah  harvesting  came  ah, 


time  came,  we  all  went  to  work.     Oh  I,  of  course  I  tried  to  help  but  I 
didn't  do  very  much,  but  I  remembered  throwing  some  sugar  beets  on  a  pile 
and  the  men  would  come  and  gather  the  piles  of  sugar  beets  and  take  them 
to  the,  Sugar  City,  well   anyway,  after  the  beets  were  harvested  they  left 
the  greens,  the  tops  in  the  field  and  as  soon  as  that  was  done  there  was 
all  those  sheep  herders  around  to  bring  their  sheep  in  to  eat  those  nice 
fresh  beet  tops.     Well,  so  this  particular  day  that  they,  the  first  time 
they  came  in  I  saw  them  bring  all  these  sheep  in,  hundreds  of  them,  just 
literally  hundreds  of  them,  plus  their  wagon,  their  covered  wagon  that 
these  men  slept  in  at  night.     So  what  I  did,  I  ran  up  on  the  fruit,  on 
the  root  cellar,  on  the  top  of  the  cellar  because  they  were  coming  in 
in  droves,  the  sheep.     Well,  they  just  simply  parted  and  went  around  me 
and  I  thought  it  was   lots  of  fun.     To  see  sheep  all   around  me  going  to 
the,  just  as  fast  as  they  could  go  to  the  beet  fields  to  get  those  nice 
beet  leaves  and  ah,  it  was  just  fun  that  was  all.     Then  the  sheep 
stayed  there  for  three  days  until  all  the  beets  tops  were  eaten.     An  oh, 
the  sheepherders  were  always  friendly  with  us  kids  and  they' Id  talk  with  us 
and  I  believe  they  had  a  couple  of  dogs  too,  to  round  up  those  sheep  and 
bring  them  back  out.     Well  any  way  after  three  days  the  sheep  had  been 
wandered  all   through  the  10  acres  and  ate  all  the  tops  of  the  beets  and 
then  it  was  time  for  them  to  go  home,  but  whenever  I  went  outside  I  was 
on  the  root  cellar  watching  the  sheep  and  then  I  knew  that  I  wouldn't 
be  run  over  by  sheep. 

Well  so  much  for  that.     I  want  to  say  something  more  about,  Aunt,  well 
really  my  great  Aunt  Wilhelmina  Beck,  she  was  such  a  kindly  person  and 
of  course  her  husband  John  Beck  was  too,  but  I  remember  so  many  times 
when  they  came  to  town',  or  perhaps  she  came  alone,  drove  the  horse  and 
buggy  and  always  stopped  because  she  went  by  our  house.     But  when  she 
stopped  she  always  had  something  to  bring  us.     Maybe  it  was  a  time  when 
our  cow  was  dry  and  she' Id  bring  us  some  milk.     And  then  other  times, 
oh  any  time  was  a  time  for  bringing  butter  because  they  had  a  butter  churn 
and  made  butter  and  we  didn't  have  those  things  and  it  was  so  good  to 
get  butter.     And  then  she  had  things  in  her  vegetable  garden  perhaps 
that  we  didn't  have.     We  had  mostly  potatoes  and  cauliflower.     Oh  we 
grew  raspberries  and  things   like  that  but  Aunt  Beck,  she  had  everything 
in  her  garden  and  she  was   forever  bringing  us  nice  things.     Another 
thing  that  I  enjoyed  about  Aunt  Beck,  whenever  we  kids  went  out  there  and 
we  were  there  every  now  and  then,  perhaps  it  was  a  Sunday  afternoon,  there 
were  always  goodies  on  the  table  for  us  to  eat  and  she  was  kindly  and 
thoughtful   and  very  generous,  always  doing  things. 

Now  I  want  to  say  something  else  about  my  Grandmother  Dora  Fell   that  I 
don't  believe  I  mentioned  earlier.     I  just  now  thought  of  it.     She's  a 
person  who  was  always  doing  things  for  us  too.     And  with  four  children 
there  was  always  something  to  be  done.     Well   now,  my  sister  Dorothy 
and  I  were  in  school,  the  other  two  children  in  the  family,  Eva  and  George 
were  younger  and  not  in  school  yet,  and  we  were  in  Rexburg.     But  when  I 
would  go  to  Grandma's  house  what  do  you  think  she  would  be  doing.     She'd 
be  sitting  in  her  rocker  with  a  bible  on  her  knee  opened  up,  or  a  book  of 
Martin  Luther,  she  had  volumns  of  Martin  Luther's  books  -  which  was  in 
German,  and  the  bible  she  had  was  also  in  German  script.     She  would  be 
reading,  no  matter  what,  she  would  be  reading  something  like  that, 
something  like  these  books,  and  at  the  same  time  she  would  be  knitting 
for  my  sister  and  for  me,   knitting  stockings  of  wool,  knitting  a  petti- 
coat of  wool.     Idaho  was  cold  as  George  said,  it  was  cold  country,  snow, 
we  had  snow  drifts  that  were  6  feet  night,  we  had  snow  that  would  reach 


the  top  of  the  fence  posts  and  freeze.  It  was  cold.  I  went  to  school 
many  times  at  30  below  zero  and  as  George  said  it  got  down  to  40  some- 
times too.  Well  she  always  knit  us  each,  every   winter  we  had  a  new 
petticoat  of  a  deep  red  wool  yarn  and  it  was  nice,  it  was  beautifully 
made.  Also  there  were  the  mittons  and  a  cap  for  our  head.  Now  that 
was  a  lot  of  knitting,  becuase  there  were  two  of  us  and  we  got  the  whole 
outfit  every   winter,  and  so,  and  they  added  up  after  awhile,  we  would  have 
two  of  three  petticoats  and  we' Id  have  several  pairs  of  long  stockings 
of  wool.  So  when  I  think  of  Grandma  I  think  of  her  doing  that  or  I 
would  think  of  her  raspberry  patch  when  I  would  help  her  pick  raspberries 
sometimes,  or  I  would  help  her  with  the  potatoes  when  we  lived  in  town. 

Well,  I  might  mention  again  about  the  Beck's  and  their  homestead.  It  was 
a  beautiful  green  field,  but  mostly  they  had  potatoes.  And  they  grew 
potatoes  and  when  potatoe  harvesting  came  all  the  boys  were  around  and 
the  girls  too,  to  help  stack  the  potatoes  and  get  them  ready  in  piles  to 
be  piled  in  the  wagons  and  oh,  from  there  I  guess  they  went  to  the  barn 
to  be  sacked  or  went  to  the  market,  I  am  not  sure  from  there,  I  only 
remember  the  potatoe  patch.  So  potatoe  harvesting  time  was  a  good 
time  when  all  the  kids  got  together.  Then  I  want  to  tell  you  about  some 
of  the  other  buildings  on  their  place.  They  had  a  large  barn  and  milk 
cows,  and  oh,  milk  cows,  and  milk  cows,  and  milk  cows,  and  when  milking 
time  came,  all  the  men,  all  the  boys  were  out  there  milking  and  sometimes 
the  girls  too.   I  could  never  manage  it,   I  could  never  get  the  milk, 
so  I  guess  I  just  wasn't  old  enough. 

Well,  but  at,  they  hact  horses  of  course,  too,  and  then  there  was  the 
smoke  house,  now  that  smoke  house  was  very   important  because  late  in  the 
fall  before  the  heavy  snow  was  on,  they  butchered  a  pig  or  two,  they 
always  let  us  know  when  they  had  them  butchered.  And  they  then  they  put 
the  hames  in  the,  well  the  smoke  house  was  what  creates  the  hams,  but  they 
became  veryt  very   good  at  smoking  hams,  and  there  was  always  some  ham 
for  everybody,  we  always  had  a  little  bit  of  some  of  that  good  smoked 
meat.  And  because  they  were  generous,  not  only  with  us  but  with  all 
their  family  and  all  their  relatives  and  their  friends.  Well  the  Beck 
farm  was  something  to  remember  and  I  might  mention  that  it  was  about 
160  acres  plus,  they  had  160  acres  on  the  dry  farm,  now  the  dry  farm 
was  up  on  the  hill,  the  hill  seemed  like  a  great  hill  when  I  was  young, 
when  I  was  small,  because  it  took  me  a  long  time  to  walk,  it  took  me 
a  long  time  to  walk  up  the  hill,  when  I  was  small,  when  I  was  young. 
But  of  course  the  dry  farm  was  a  lot  farther  out  on  the  hill,  and  it 
was  a  160  acres  and  it  was  managed,  incidently  by  Otto  Beck  and  Otto 
Beck  was  the  father  of  you  Maryann.   And  Otto  Beck  of  course  we  knew  him 
and  he  was,  he  was  always  farming  and  helping  his  dad  because  he  was 
one  of  the  older  boys  in  the  family,  but  thd  dry  farm,  oh  ah  I'll  mention 
another  thing  about  the  dry  farm,  I  remember  my  dad  going  up  there  too  and 
one  time  they  were  trying  to  find  ah,  well  water  and  if  there  was  one 
thing  dad  could  do  that  was  kind  of  different  from  what,  well  just  a  little 
bit  different  from  the  ordinary,  he  would  take  a  witching  stick  and  witch 
for  water,  and  my  Dad  was  so  good  at  it  the  one  time  they  had  him  come  up 
there  on  the  dry  farm  and  I  remember  that  because  I  was  there  and  Dad, 
Dad  witched  for  the  water  and  they  get  and  this  was  where  the  well  was 
dug  and  they  just  had  to  have  additional  water  and  this  was  why  they 
were  trying  to  get  another  well  on  the  dry  farm.  And  the  dry  farm  was 
called  the  dry  farm  because  there  was  no  other  irrigation  except  any  well 
water  that  they  might  have  and  then  the  well  water  was  usually  for  drinking 
really  it  wasn't  used  for  irrigation  was  it. 


Well  the  rain  of  course,  but  there  wasn't  too  much   rain  in  Rexburg,  see 
this  was  why  it  was  called  the  dry  farm.     It  wasn't  like  Oregon,  Maryann . 
we  have  rain  in  Oregon  but  the  dry  farm  was  dry.     And  so,  and  where  it 
wasn't  farmed  I  might  mention  that  on  the  lower  part  of  the  dry  farm  it 
was  sage  brush.     But  there  were  the  loveliest  violets,  do  you  happen 
to  remember  the  violets  that  grew.     Wild  violets  that  grew  in  the,  near 
the  sage  brush,  kind  of  in  the  shade  of  the  sage  brush.     And  oh  incidently 
I  have  another  story  to  tell  you.     And  then  I  think  I  will  quit  for 
tonight.     When  we  lived  in  town,  George  was  about  five,  well  he  was 
about  five  years  old  then  and  he  was  always  admiring  the  boy  scouts 
and  I  guess  there  was  some  near,  some  boy  scouts  living  near  us,  at 
least  I  remember  one  of  them  and  somehow  or  another  he  got  friendly  with 
some  of  these  boy  scouts  and  they  were  going  on  a  trip  and  they  were 
going  up  in  the  dry  farm  country  by  the  way  and  so  why  that  kid,  that 
George,  that  little  brother  of  mine,  he  connived  with  them  and  wanted 
to  know  if  they  could  come  along  and  just  for  fun  they  says,  oh  sure 
you  can  come  along,  and  so  he  followed  the  boy  scouts,  up  there  that 
day  and  stayed  all  day  and  worried  my  mother  half  to  death  because  she 
didn't  know  where  he  was  and  when  he  came  back  home  in  the  evening  he 
was  so  happy  because  he  had  quite  an  excursion  with  the  boy  scouts  and 
that  was  when  he  was  only  five  years  old.     But  that  was  George.     Well 
George  has  changed  much  from  that  time,  but  I  will  say  this,  he  is 
still   friendly,  everybody  loves  George  my  brother.     Good  Night. 


What  is  your  name? 

My  name  is  Dorothy  Barker,  my  maiden  name  was  Clink,  Dorothy  Clink. 

When    were  you  born. 

July  the  23rd,   1906. 

Could  you  tell   us  the  fun  times,  you  had  on  Easter,   and  Christmas  in 
Wilhelmina  and  John  Beck's  home. 

We  always   looked  forward  to  our  Easters  and  Christmases  at  the  John 
Beck  home.     Aunt  Minnie  was  a  wonderful   person  and  she  worked  for  days 
cooking  and  sewing  and  planning  for  the  big  celebration  she  would  have. 
Usually  all  her  children  and  sometimes  even  neighbor  children  were  in. 
She  was  ^/ery  generous  and  would  make  up  gifts  of  food  and  clothing  for 
all  of  us.     Usually  we  would  have  for  Christmas,  we  would  have  some  type 
of  clothing  and  always  a  basket  full  of  oranges  and  bananas  and  other 
fruits  which  we  didn't  usually  have.     We  were  always   looking  forward 
to  our  time  at  Christmas  because  they  were  such  wonderful  days.     Easter 
was  another  time  we  were  real   grateful   to  have.     She  would  make  nests 
in  the  hay  stacks  and  straw  stacks  and  in  these  nests  she  would  fill 
with  boiled  eggs,  of  colored  eggs  and  little  goodies  or  oranges,   perhaps 
a  banana  or  two  and  some  little  gift.     And  we  would  have  to  hunt  the 
nests  that  had  our  name.     And  we  would  have  a  great  scramble  hunting 
for  them,  and  often  she  had  them  hidden  so  well  that  she  would  have  to 
show  us  where  she  had  hid  them.     We  had  a  great  time  at  Easter  time, 
because  she  would  usually  have  the  dinner  with  all   the  food,  there  was 
always  fried  chicken,  she  was  great  on  making  cakes  and  pies,  all   the 
goodies  that  everybody  loved.     Aunt  Minnie  was  a  wonderful   cook. 


8 

Out  at  Aunt  Beck's  place  it  was  the  first  home  that  was  out  there,  it 
was  a  two  room,  two  story  house,  with  an  attic.     They  built  on  a  little 
addition,  a   little  addition  that  was   used  as   a  kitchen  and  bedroom. 
The  kitchen  was  a  long  kitchen  with  homemade,  a  homemade  table  with  two 
benches   in  back  and  one  in  front  and  the  children  always  had  to  sit 
on  the  back  benches.     These  was  always  pleasant  memories  because  there 
was  always  a  great  deal  more  food  at  this  setting  than  we  would  have 
at  home. 

One  of  the  things  that  Aunt'  Beck  did  that  always   amused  me,  in  the 
Springtime  when  the  jam  and  jellies  were  low,  she  would  make  sandwiches 
of  jello  and  give  to  us   kids.     We  always   remarked  that  it  was  so  stiff 
that  we  couldn't  seem  to  spread  it  on  our  bread.     But  we  liked  the 
flavor  and  we  liked  the  color  because  she  always  had  red  jello,  we  liked 
that.     One  of  the  things  that,  that  the  men  looked  forward  to,  Willy  Beck 
was  a  good  carpenter  and  he  built  a  bath  house  to  the  pattern  of  the 
oriental   bath  house.     And  it  was  made  all  of  wood,  a  wooden  tub,  of 
wooden  floors,   all    wery  waterproof  and  somehow  or  another  there  was 
fires  built  underneath  to  get  the  water  hot  and  to  keep  the  bath  house 
hot.     And  he  was  the  only  one  in  that  area  that  had  that  type  of  a 
bath  house,  it  was   patterned  to  the  Japanese  bath  houses  that  were  in  the 
neighborhood,  so  it  was  a  wery  important  thing. 

Another  think   I   failed  to  mention  was  our  Christmas   parties.     Aunt  Beck 
took  us  children  all   to  the  Christmas   parties  at  the  church.     This  was 
a  church  in  the  center  of  town.     I   don't  recall  just  where  it  was 
located,  but  it  was  always  a  tremendous  gathering  and  a  huge  Christmas 
tree,  a  real   Christmas  tree,   and  on  each  branch  there  was  gifts  and 
spangles  tied  on  each  branch.     There  would  be  an  auctioneer  that  would 
cut  off  each  branch  and  sell   it.     These  branches  were  given  to  the  children, 
And  I  remember  Aunt  Beck  would  always  buy  each  one  of  us  children  one  of 
those  branches,  with  a  gift  and  possibly  an  ornament  or  two  and  it  would 
be  a  long  branch  which  was  just  a  joy  to  all   of  us.     We  really  were 
delighted  to  go  to  these  Christmas   parties.     And  there  would  be,   Minnie 
Beck  always  attended  these  parties  with   us,  and  so  we  found  this  was 
something  we  always   looked  forward  to. 

I'ld  like  to  go  back  to  the  log  house  and  tell   a  little  bit  more  about 
the  log  house.     The  roof  was  constructed  of  heavy  timbers  and  soil   placed 
on  the  roof,   really  sod,  and  this  was   there  for  years,  we  used  this  roof 
for  many  things,  we  would  dry  apples,  peas,  berries  and  even  beans.     We 
would  dry  up  on  the  roof  because  the  sun  was   real  warm  up  there,  and 
my  mother  would  cover  it  with  cheese  cloth  holding  it  down  with  rocks, 
holding  the  cheese  cloth  down  with  rock,  but  it  would  only  take  two  or 
three  days  for  the  beans  and  the  peas  and  the  apples  to  dry  up  on  this 
roof.     The  house  itself  when  it  was  first  built  was  lined  with  a  material 
they  called  factory  in  those  days,  Now  I  don't  know,  it  was  a  material 
similar  to  a  very  thin  muslin  and  the  whole  interior  was  covered  with  this 
material  and  tacked  down  about  e^Qry  6  to  8  inches,  then  they  went  over 
it  with  a  brushing  of  what  they  called  a  lime  coating.     It  flaked  off 
but  it  was  yery ,  very  white  and  it  wouldn't  flake  off  until   it  would 
be  on  this  factory  material   for  about  a  year.     So  eyery  year  this  was 
a  job,  they  would  brush  off  this  loose  material  and  coat  it  again  with 
this  filling.     Now  this  wasn't  a  yery  healthful  thing  and  these  days 
they  would  condem  it  but  at  that  time  it  was  many  of  the  log  houses  had 
such  an  interior. 


Another  thing  that  was  amusing  there,  we  had  a  pump  out  at  the  back 
door  and  every   winter  this  pump  would  freeze  upt,  it  would  be  so  frozen 
that  there  would  be  ice  all  over  the  top  and  we  would  have  to  get  a  boiler 
full  of  hot  water  and  pour  over  the  pump  in  order  to  get  it  to  go  the 
next  morning.  Another  think  that  happened,  the  chickens,  we  would  have 
to  put  little  heaters  in  the  chicken  coops  to  keep  the  chickens  from 
freezing  in  the  winter  time.  Our  heating,  the  way  we  had  the  log  house 
was  of  course  with  coal  and  we  would  have  a  little  building  in  back,  a 
little  shed  that  would  hold  coal.  And  also  we  burned  willows,  these 
willows  were  brought  by  team  from  the  banks  of  the  snake  river.  My 
father  would  go  down  in  the  summer  time  and  get  these  willows  and  haul 
them  up  on  what  they  call  a  hay  rack  and  these  willows  were  stacked  out 
in  back  of  the  log  house.  And  this  is  what  we  used  for  heating  in  the 
winter  time.  Between  that  and  coal  we  kept  warm  in  these  40  below  zero 
winters  that  we  had.  We  also  had  a  smoke  house  in  back  just  on  the  other 
side  of  the  cellar,  and  in  the  fall  it  was  my  job  to  keep  that  smoke 
house  going.  We  would  use  chips  that  were  provided  by  the  wood  chopping 
of  the  willow  to  burn  in  the  smoke  house  and  this  was  something  that 
lasted  for  a  couple  of  months,  just  to  keep  it  a  smoking  and  I  always 
had  to  keep  the,  a  certain  amount  of  chips  in  this  smoke  house  to  keep 
it  asmoking.  This  was  a  very   important  thing. 

I  would  like  to  say  a  little  something  about  the  school,  we  went  to 
the  Washington  school.  We  children,  3  of  us .  It  was  a  rock  building 
and  there  was  also  a  wooden  building  nearby  which  was  the  first  school 
that  was  built  in  Rexburg.  This  first  school  that  was  built,  it  was  a 
two  story  builing,  my  mother  Lena  went  to  school  there  in  all  her  years 
of  8th  grade,  through  all  her  8  years.  I  attended  school  for  two  years 
in  that  building.  They  tell  me  that  now  that  building  is  taken  down, 
but  any  way  I  went  to.  school  in  the  same  building  for  two  years  that  my 
mother  went  to  school  in,  and  some  of  her  chums,  some  of  her  friends 
that  she  went  to  school  with  were  my  teachers,  which  was  always  interesting 
Uhm,  my  mother  was  sick  a  great  deal  when  I  was  young  and  I  had  to  stay 
out  of  school  many  days.  And  I  would  write  my  own  excuses  for  not  going 
to  school,  they  knew  that  on  the  days  my  mother  was  sick,  that  I  would 
have  to  stay  home  and  take  care  of  the  children,  three  of  them  that  were 
younger  than  myself.  So  I  was  able  to  write  my  own  excuses.  But  I  did 
my  studying  and  I  was  always  an  A  and  B  student  in  spite  of  all  that. 

During  the  summer  and  fall,  I  worked  around  in  the  neighborhood.  I 
picked  up  potatoes  in  the  fall,  I  hoed  sugar  beets  with  Willy  Beck  and 
I  even  shocked  hay  and  tried  to  shock  grain  but  that  was  a  little  too 
heavy  for  me.  I  found  that  shocking  hay  was  a  little  too  much,  but  I 
did  work  in  the  beet  patch  quite  a  little,  topped  beets.  I  was  the 
only  girl  that  topped  beets  for  many  days,  but  I  got  to  where,  that  I 
made  pretty  good  money  and  to  me  those  few  cents  were  great  for  school. 

My  delight  was  my  Uncle  Bill,  Billy  Fell.  At  one  time  he  owned  a  theatre, 
it  was  the  Star  Theatre  and  that  was  a  great  delight  to  us  children 
because  he  would  let  my  cousin  Minnie  Beck  and  our  neighborhood  children, 
which  was  Johnny  Heinz  and  Will  Heinz,  he  would  let  us  in  free,  anytime 
we  wanted  to  go  to  the  theatre,  so  we  thought  that  was  real  great  to  have 
an  Uncle  that  would  let  us  go  to  the  theatre.  And  at  that  time,  the 
theatre  fare  was  a  nickel  but  to  not  have  to  spend  a  nickel  to  go  to  the 
theatre  was  really  a  great  thing.  And  he  used  to  give  me  a  great  many 
little  books  and  literature  on  the  theatre  and  the  stars.  And  one  of  the 


10 

books  that  he  gave  me  that  was  the  fast  moving  little  contraption,  for 
Charlie  Chaplin  was  very  popular  at  that  time  and  he  was  always  getting 
all  the  Charlie  Chaplin  pictures  that  were  in  the  setting  at  that  parti- 
cular time.     But  to  say  that  my  Uncle  Billy  had  a     theatre  and  would 
allow  us  to  go  in  without  spending  any  money  was  a  great  thing  for  us 
to  look  forward  to.     This  theatre  was   located  on  Main  street,  I  couldn't 
say  exactly  just  where  but  approximately  just  off  College  Avenue  on 
Main  street  in  that  neighborhood.     At  that  time  they  had  a  piano  player 
and  a  piano  and  this  was  the  way  they  entertained  theatre  patrons  while 
they  were  waiting  and  also  during  particular  times   of  emotion.     This 
piano  was  a  great  thing  for  us  because  before  the  theatre  was  playing,  and 
after,   usually  before,  he  would  allow  me  to  go  in  and  play  on  the  piano 
and  would  give  me  music  so  that   I   could  continue  learning.     My  mother 
gave  me  organ  lessons  for  quite  a  few  years  by  furnishing  eggs  at  15<t 
a  dozen  and  each  lesson  would  cost  one  dozen  eggs.     So  he  encouraged 
me  to  practice  on  a  piano.     After  he  sold  the  theatre  this   piano  was  moved 
to  my  grandmothers  place  and  there  of  course  I   used  the  piano  a  lot 
and  we  children  always  had  a  good  time  in  playing  the  piano  and  marching 
and  singing.     He  had  the  piano  at  my  grandmothers  home  for  quite  a  few 
years . 

I  just  want  to  mention  that  after  we  moved  out  of  the  log  house,   the 
Clink  family,  Willy  Beck  married  a  girl    from  Salem,  which  was   a  community 
about  15  or  20  miles   from  Rexburg  and  he  married  a  girl,  Rosie  Rootweiler, 
and  they  moved  into  the  log  house  after  we  moved  out.     They  really  redid 
the  log  house,  they  lined  it  with  some  type  of  plywood,   now  it  wasn't 
plywood  in  those  days,  but  it  was  something  on  that  order  and  painted 
it  and  they  really  remodeled  it  beautifully  because  Rosie  Rootweiler 
was   real   artistic  and  she  made  a  beautiful   room  from  the  log  house. 
The  kitchen,  there  was. only  two  rooms,  one  real    large  room  and  one  smaller 
room  which  was  the  bedroom.     But  they  lived  in  that  for^quite  a  few    ^ 
years  and  after  they  moved  out,  Otto  Beck  married  Moll^r,  married  Molly 
Weber  and  he  lived  in  the  log  house.     And  he  was  the  last  one  that  lived 
in  this   log  house  and  as   I   learned  it  is  now  used  as  a 

grainery 

grainery,  at  this  particular  date  which  is  1985. 

In  conclusion  the  log  cabin  that  is,  it  is  an  art  attraction.  Area 
artists  paint  the  log  cabin  in  their  art  class.  And  then  we  have 
visitors  from  Sun  City,  Arizona  that  come  up  and  take  art  and  paint 
it  as  a  subject  in  their  art  class. 


OTTO  BECK  i£Z/ 

by  Mary  Ann  Beck  .  "^  *^2-c', 


My  father,  Otto  Beck,  was  born  October  19,  1893  at  Hall,  Wuettemberg,  Germany,  the  son  of  Johann  Beck 
Wilhelmine  Weber  Beck.  In  1902,  at  the  age  of  nine,  he  emigrated  with  his  family  to  the  United  States  afte: 
family  became  members  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  in  Germany.  They  arrived  at 
Island  in  New  York  and  then  traveled  directly  to  Rexburg,  where  they  could  be  with  some  of  their  family 
old  friends  from  Germany. 

Otto  attended  Marietta  School  in  Burton  and  the  Cedar  Point  Public  School,  finishing  seventh  grade  before  g 
into  the  family  business  of  herding  sheep  and  farming.  With  his  father,  Otto  homesteaded  160  acres  of  dry  : 
on  the  Rexburg  bench. 

Otto  married  Amalia  (Molla)  Weber,  Dec.  23,  1923.  They  had  one  daughter,  Rowena.  After  his  first  wife  pa 
away,  Otto  married  Mary  Weber  on  March  22,  1939.  They  had  two  daughters,  Mary  Ann  Beck  (myself), 
Amelia  who  passed  away  at  birth. 

My  cousin,  Ross,  remembered  Otto  Beck  as  "one  of  the  kindest  and  most  generous  of  men.  He  had  a  good  s 
of  humor  and  a  very  contagious  laugh.  He  had  a  gruff  voice  that  may  have  frightened  those  who  didn't  k 
him,  but  he  was  very  gentle.  He  was  like  a  second  dad."  He  treated  cousins  Ross,  Kay  and  Carl  like  sons. 

Otto  had  a  1935  black  Chevrolet.  Though  it  had  dented  fenders,  it  was  a  really  good  car.  He  would  put  a  tr 
on  behind  it  and  take  cousins  Ross  and  Kay  with  him  to  Island  Park  to  cut  and  load  firewood.  When  little  cc 
Carl  was  old  enough,  they  would  all  go  fishing  at  Warm  River  and  Island  Park.  They  had  a  favorite  fishing 
near  a  railroad  bridge  by  Last  Chance.  They  were  good  fishing  buddies  and  always  had  a  good  catch. 

The  fishing  trips  always  involved  a  treat  of  watermelon,  and,  since  Otto  loved  candy,  they  would  stop  at  Ja 
Store  near  Warm  River  and  get  a  supply  of  candy  and  pop.  At  one  time,  Otto  chewed  tobacco,  but  realizii 

> 

wasn't  a  good  thing  to  do,  he  substituted  bittersweet  licorice  for  the  tobacco.  He  would  keep  it  in  a  little  c 


box  in  the  garage.  One  day  he  offerd  Ross  some.  Ross  really  didn't  like  it,  but  politely  told  him  it  was  good.  Otto 
also  taught  the  boys  not  to  use  alcohol  by  giving  them  a  taste  of  wine  which  they  thought  was  really  terrible  stuff. 
It  burned  all  the  way  down  and  Otto  laughed  as  they  jumped  around  in  discomfort.  He  told  them  to  remember 
how  uncomfortable  it  was  if  they  were  ever  tempted  to  try  it  again. 

Otto  Beck  was  a  hard  worker  and  always  kept  busy.  He  raised  mink,  foxes,  cattle,  and  horses  and  always  had 
ducks  and  geese  around.  He  loved  animals  and  would  buy  animals  no  one  else  wanted  at  livestock  auctions.  He 
would  then  fatten  them  up  and  make  nice-looking  animals  out  of  them.  He  also  bought  old  horses  and  had  them 
slaughtered  for  meat  for  his  mink  and  foxes.  In  the  early  1950's  he  stopped  raising  mink  and  foxes  because  it 
wasn't  economically  worthwhile  and  he  concentrated  on  cattle. 

Otto  worked  and  farmed  with  horses  until  he  finally  got  a  nice  Ford  tractor  in  the  1950's.  One  time  he  drove  it 
into  a  ditch  and  he  laughingly  said  "Whoa,  whoa!"  but  it  didn't  stop.  During  the  haying  season,  cousins  Ross 
and  Kay  were  Otto's  hired  help.  Although  I  was  only  eight  or  nine,  I  would  drive  the  tractor  that  pulled  the  hay 
wagon.  The  boys  would  have  to  tell  me  to  slow  down  since  I  liked  to  drive  too  fast. 


My  dad  passed  away  from  a  stroke  on  December  24,  1955.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  held  the  office  of  high 

LOS 
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l-3-f  SE 


ftowena  A.  Beck  was  born  on  March  27,  1925  to  Otto  Beck  and  Amolla 
Weber  Beck  at  my  home  in  Rexburg,  Idaho.  We  lived  on  a  40  acre  farm.  We  were 
neighbors  to  my  maternal  grandparents,  Gottlieb  and  Mary  Weber.  I  was  their  first 
grandchild.  We  continued  living  on  that  farm  until  1933. 

Then  we  moved  about  a  mile  away  on  the  ten  acres  that  Grandfather  Beck  had 
given  to  my  father,  Otto.  These  ten  acres  had  been  homesteaded  by  father's  Aunt  Dora 
Foell.  We  lived  in  the  log  cabin  for  two  years  while  father  built  our  new  house. 

After  developing  a  testimony  my  mother  joined  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 
Latter  Day  Saints  and  the  family  became  active  members.  Father  became  an  Elder  in  the 
church  and  was  desirous  of  having  an  eternal  family.  Dad  took  the  family  to  the  Logan 
Temple  in  Logan,  Utah  on  June  5,  1929  to  be  sealed  for  all  time  and  eternity.  I  remember 
being  dressed  in  a  white  dress  and  stockings.  I  was  four  years  old  at  the  time.  This  was  a 
two  or  three  day  trip  by  car  back  then.  I  was  baptized  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints  in  April  of  1933  shortly  after  by  eighth  birthday. 

I  remember  one  winter  right  through  Christmas  time  my  father  had  pneumonia. 
That  was  when  pneumonia  was  a  serious  disease  and  lots  of  people  died  with  it.  Our 
neighbor,  Weldon  Steiner,  fed  and  milked  the  cows  for  us  until  my  father  was  able  to 
work  again.  It  was  a  very  cold  winter  and  the  water  pump  had  to  be  thawed  out  before 
water  could  be  pumped. 

Father  would  tell  of  his  experiences  when  he  and  his  brothers,  Bill  and  Fred  Beck 
and  Fred  Kauer  would  stay  up  on  the  dry  farm  during  the  summer  and  throughout  the 
harvest  of  both  the  wheat  and  hay.  They  would  also  do  the  plowing  and  planted  the 
winter  wheat  for  the  next  season.  They  seemed  to  enjoy  this  adventure  especially  riding 
the  horses,  hurting  deer  and  antelope  and  cutting  timber  for  our  winter  supply  of  wood. 
They  would  haul  the  wood  back  to  the  irrigated  farm  where  the  family  lived.  Nobody 
lived  on  the  dry  farm  in  the  winter  because  it  was  too  cold  and  desolate.  Father  also  told 
of  the  time  when  a  mountain  lion  walked  right  across  their  sleeping  bags  while  they  were 
sleeping.  They  woke  up  in  time  to  see  the  mountain  lion  walking  away. 

I  went  to  Washington  and  Adams  Elementary  Schools  in  the  fourth,  fifth  and  sixth 
grades.  I  could  memorize  and  enjoyed  reciting  poetry  and  acting  in  class  skits.  One 
February  the  teacher  had  a  skit  about  George  Washington  and  how  he  always  told  the 
truth  and  about  Betsy  Ross  and  how  she  made  the  first  American  Flag.  On  stage  I  was  to 
make  a  five  pointed  star  by  folding  paper  a  certain  way  but  I  made  a  mistake  and  it  turned 
out  to  be  a  six  pointed  star  instead.  Everyone  laughed  to  my  embarrassment. 

I  remember  begging  my  parents  to  give  me  a  bicycle  for  my  birthday.  Finally  for 
my  twelfth  birthday  I  received  a  bicycle.  I  was  the  happiest  girl  in  town.  I  was  in  my 
glory  as  I  rode  my  bike  taking  the  cows  down  to  the  pasture.  The  pasture  was  on  the 
sixty  acres  farm  which  was  two  miles  from  our  house.  I  did  this  each  morning  and  would 
bring  them  back  each  night  during  the  spring,  summer  and  fall.  Other  times  I  enjoyed 
riding  over  to  Grandmother  Weber's  house  and  all  around  on  the  country  roads.  I  was 
the  first  of  my  friends  to  have  a  bicycle  and  as  a  result  became  very  popular  until  they  got 
their  bicycles. 

My  mother's  health  started  failing  and  continued  to  do  so  until  she  died  in  1938 
from  a  heart  attack.  Shortly  thereafter  my  father  remarried,  this  time  to  my  mother's 
sister,  Mary.  They  were  married  on  March  22,  1939.  To  this  union  my  little  sister,  Mary 


Ann  was  born  on  October  14,  1940.  So  now  I  had  a  little  sister  --  a  half  sister  and  a 
cousin  all  at  the  same  time  -  strange  huh?  I  was  15  years  old  at  the  time. 

I  graduated  from  Madison  High  School  in  1943.  This  was  during  World  War  II 
and  many  of  the  boys  were  joining  the  armed  forces  and  some  of  the  girls  went  to  work  in 
Salt  Lake  City  so  I  did  too.  I  lived  with  Aunt  Mada  until  September  and  then  I  moved  to 
a  room  on  First  Avenue  and  lived  with  Iris  Jenson,  a  friend  from  Rexburg.  We  later 
moved  into  an  apartment  with  Rachael  Olsen.  I  worked  for  the  Security  Insurance 
Company  for  three  years. 

I  met  Eric  Bresee  in  Salt  Lake  City  at  a  United  State  Organization  (USO)  dance. 
He  was  stationed  at  Keams  Air  Force  Base.  He  had  been  to  India  and  was  waiting  to  be 
transferred  to  Tinnian.  When  Japan  surrendered  and  the  War  was  over  they  stationed  him 
in  Mississippi  instead.  Shortly  thereafter  he  was  released  from  the  Air  Force.  Eric  went 
back  to  New  York  and  started  at  Clarkson  College.  I  joined  with  Eric  in  Potsdam  while 
he  was  there  at  college.  We  were  married  at  his  parent's  home  in  October  1946.  We 
lived  in  a  converted  army  barracks  on  the  other  side  of  the  Racquets  River  along  with  all 
the  other  families  of  ex-servicemen.  2.5"^ 

Our  first  son  Charles  was  born  on  SeptembeBl947  in  Potsdam,  St.  Lawrence 
County,  New  York.  After  Eric  graduated  from  college  he  went  to  work  for  the  U.S. 
Geological  Survey  in  Ellenville,  Ulster  County,  New  York.  Our  second  son,  Gary,  was 
born  in  Ellenville,  on  October  5,  1950.  Eric  was  actually  away  with  the  Army  Reserve 
while  I  was  in  the  hospital  having  Gary.  The  Inactive  Reserve  Unit  was  called  to  go  to 
Korea  about  then;  however,  Eric  was  in  the  Active  Unit  he  didn't  have  to  go. 

When  Eric  was  transferred  to  Alaska  with  his  work  I  spent  a  month  or  so  with  my 
family  in  Rexburg  before  joining  him.  For  a  year  and  a  half  we  lived  in  Palmer,  Alaska, 
which  is  about  50  miles  north  of  Anchorage.  Eric  traveled  all  oyer  Alaska  either  by  car, 
plane  or  train.  His  job  was  to  measure  the  different  stream  flows.  We  did  travel  to  a 
couple  of  places  with  the  family  such  as  Chitna  and  Valdez.  While  fishing  at  Chitna  Eric 
was  caught  some  twelve  salmon  and  we  were  able  to  take  them  all  home. 

We  moved  back  to  the  states  and  lived  in  South  Charleston  and  then  to  St.  Albans, 
West  Virginia.  Charles  and  Gary  went  to  Hansford  Elementary  School,  Albans  Junior 
High  School  and  St.  Albans  High  School.  Charles  graduated  from  St.  Albans  High 
School  in  1967. 

The  family  moved  to  Albany,  New  York  in  1967.  Gary  attended  and  graduated 
from  Colonie  Central  High  School  1968.  He  went  on  to  attend  Paul  Smith's  College  until 
both  boys  joined  the  service.  Charles  joined  the  Marines  and  was  deployed  to  Vietnam 
while  Gary  joined  the  Air  Force.  He  was  assigned  to  Lowry  Air  Force  Base  in  Colorado 
for  armament  systems  training  on  completion  of  basic  training  at  Lackland  Air  Force 
Base  in  Texas.  He  managed  to  stay  state-side  the  entire  time.  After  Charles  return  from 
Vietnam  he  found  work  at  the  Rail  Road  and  Gary  went  on  to  college  and  became  an 
Engineer. 

Charles  E.  Bresee  married  Linda  Darlene  Mattice  on  October  9,  1971  or  72,  in 
Coxsackie,  New  York.  Their  children  are  Kelly  and  Amy.  Gary  was  married  to  Roxanne 
Elizabeth  LaPlante  on  October  12,  1974  in  Plattsburgh,  New  York.  Their  children  are 
Eric  Insoo,  Jamee  and  Katie. 

We  have  done  some  traveling  during  our  lives  including:  California,  Arroba, 
Antia,  Cancun,  Singapore,  Bali,  Korea,  Hawaii  and  Florida. 


It  was  while  living  in  Albany  that  I  discovered  that  I  really  enjoyed  and  had  a 
talent  for  arranging  flowers.  I  joined  the  Garden  Club  and  took  many  horticulture  classes 
to  help  develop  my  skills.  I  spent  many  hours  making  different  floral  arrangements  and 
won  lots  of  Blue  Ribbons  and  Trophies  for  my  outstanding  work.  I  have  made  dry  floral 
arrangements  which  are  enclosed  within  glass-covered  frames  for  the  wall  and  plastic 
covered  brooches  for  ladies  to  wear.  Mary  Ann  has  a  couple  of  these  in  her  possessions. 

During  the  winter  months  I  did  latch-hook  rugs,  pillows  or  whatever.  I  made 
pillows  and  Christmas  stockings  for  my  children  and  Mary  Ann  with  their  names  worked 
into  them.  I  also  gave  a  pillow  to  Mary  Ann  that  says,  "Be  It  Ever  So  Humble  There  Is 
No  Place  Like  Home." 

I  enjoyed  reading  and  learning  about  the  different  things  of  the  world  such  as 
birds  and  flowers.  I  love  the  beauties  of  the  earth  and  especially  the  beautiful  sunset  that 
are  seen  in  the  Rexburg  area. 

Rowena  suffered  a  stroke  on  March  9,  2004  shortly  before  her  birthday  in  her 
home  in  Albany,  New  York.  This  left  her  quite  dependant  and  moved  to  an  assisted 
living  home  in  Saratoga  Springs,  New  York  so  she  could  be  closer  to  her  son. 


Minnie  Anni  Schmidt 

And  how  do  you  spell   that? 

The  last  name? 

Um  huh 

Schmidt 

And  your  address 

My  address  is  2605  Lawrence  St.,  Eugene  97405 

And  when  is  your  birthday? 

My  birthday  is  January  30th 

What  year 

1910  if  you  are  talking  about  the  first  year. 

Okay,  explain  and  tell   of  Dora  Felt,  your  grandmother  and  John  Beck  and 
Wilhemina  Beck  your  aunt  and  uncle,  building  the  family  cabin  in  Rexburg. 

Well   I  will   tell  what  I  have  been  told.     Before  I  was  born  John  Beck  and 
his  wife  Wilhemina  Beck  came  from  Germany  with  Wilhelmina's  sister  also, 
Dora  Fell,  and  Dora  Fell   brought  her  mother  with  her  Dorthea  Fell.     At 
that  time  my  mother  was  3  years  old  and  she  had  a  brother,  Will  Schmidt, 
Willy,  oh  excuse  me,  Willy  Fell,  and  I  think  he  was  about  I'ld  say  he  was 
about  5  years  older  than  my  mother,  that's  a  guess.     There  was  also  a 
sister,  her  name  was,  Rosa  and  she  stayed  in  the  east  or  perhaps  went 
back  from  Ohio,  this  this  we  don't  know,  but  they  landed  of  course  in 
New  York  from  Germany  and  from  there  they  went  to  Ohio  and  Rosie  didn't 
want  to  come,   leave  New  York  and  for  some  reason  or  another  she  might 
have  had  work  there  in  New  York  that  she  knew  about  and  any  way  she  went 
back  to  New  York,  or  perhaps  stayed  in  the  beginning.     This  we  do  not  know. 
But,  so  I  have  never  met  Rosie,  Willy  I   knew  as   I  grew  up. 

Now  the  log  cabin  was  built  by  John  Beck,   I'm  presuming  that  because  he 
was  the  only  man,  in  the,  in  the  people,  among  the  people  that  came     uh 
on  this  trip,  and  uh  what  I  have  heard,  what  I  have  been  told  by  my  Sister 
Dorothy  is  that  the  uh,  they  hauled  logs  for  a  log  cabin  on  a,  in  a,  well 
they  were  hauled  from  Moody  Creek  which  is  about  15  miles  from  Rexburg. 
And  ah  these  logs  were  notched,  they  were  not  nailed  together,  they  were 
simply  put  together  with  some  kind  of  ah  well,  there  was  some  kind  of 
plaster  in  between  the  logs  to  keep  the  cold  and  rain  out.     But  it  was 
built  without  nails;  it  was  a  large  two  room,  a  kitchen  and  living  room 
was  all   in  one,  then  a  very  large  bedroom  which  was  divided  when  we  lived 
there  in  two  and  ah  of  course,  ah,  well   by  the  time  I  was  born  it  was   1910, 
well   this  homestead,  now  the  only  date  I  have  is  perhaps   19  -   1980  but  I 
also  have  information  from  1983  perhaps  that  was  when  everything  was 
settled  and  they  moved  into  the  cabin.     Oh  excuse  me  1883,  yes   1883, 
we're  in  1900's  now  and  of  course  they  lived  there,  ah  well,  the  rest 
of  my,  almost  the  rest  of  my  mothers  life  and  of  course,  four  children 
of  us  were  born  all   there  in  the  log  cabin  and  I   lived  there  for  9  years 
and  then  we  moved  in  town  where  Grandma  lived,  Dora  Fell  had  a  house,  had 
purchased  a  house  in  Rexburg  and  lived  in  the  house  and  at  that  time  that 
we  moved  to  town,  Willy  Fell,  now  he  was  my  uncle,  he  was  my  mother's 
brother.     And  he  was  a  stone  mason  and  he  did  beautiful  work  chipping  out 
stones  and  I  remember  watching  him  chip  those  stones,  he  would  take  a  lot 
of  time  in  making  a  perfect  design  and  making  them  alike,  all,  all   the 


And  he  built  the  stone  house  and  when  it  was  built  was  when  we  moved  in  to  the  lower 
floor  and  then  there  was  an  upper  floor  where  a  family  lived  and  he  lived  with  Grandma 
Dora  Foell  in  the  older  house,  which  was  on  the  same  lot,  it  was  a  large  lot,  I"ll  tell  you 
more  about  that  later. 

In  193 5, Willy  and  his  cousin  Otto  Beck  built  an  stucco  house  next  to  the  old  log  cabin 
where  Otto,  Molla  and  his  family  lived.  There  marriage  date  was,  December  23,  1923. 
Mary  Ann  Beck  is  presently  living  in  this  home.  Otto  Beck  married  Mary  Weber  after  the 
death  of  his  first  wife,  Molla  Weber.  Rowena  was  born  to  Otto  and  Molla  on  March  27, 
1925.  Molla  lived  just  a  few  years,  she  died  in  1938,  of  a  heart  attack.  Then  Otto  married 
another  Weber  girl  named  Mary  on  March  22,  1939.  Mary  and  Molla  were  sisters.  He  had 
two  more  daughters,  Mary  Ann  and  Amelia.  Mary  Ann  was  born  October  14,  1940  then 
Amelia  was  born  three  years  later  on  June  13,  1943.  In  the  Fremont  County  Clerks  Office, 
St.  Anthony,  Idaho,  where  they  keep  the  Land  Record.  Dora  Foell  bought  10  acres  from 
Thomas  E.  Ricks,  the  founder  of  Rexburg  and  who  Ricks  College  is  named  after.  This  is 
the  same  piece  of  land  that  original  old  log  cabin  was  built  on  and  the  same  that  Mary  Ann 
Beck  still  lives  on.  She  has  since  sold  off  five  acres.  The  address  there  is  1442  West  1000 
South,  Rexburg,  Idaho  83440.  Which  is  now  in  Madison  County.    (This  paragraph  was  up 
dated  by  Mary  Ann  Beck  after  researching  Land  Records.) 

Well,  let's  go  back  to  the  children  that  Lena  and  George  had  and  George  Clink  was  Lena's 
husband  and  I  think  I  mentioned  that  they  met  at  a  church  and  were  married  when  my 
mother  was  18.  Now  I  was  the  first  born,  January  20,  1910  and  my  name  is  Minnie  Ann 
Schmidt  now,  was  Minnie  Ann  Clink  then,  when  I  went  to  get  a  license  by  the  way,  or  a 
birth  certificate  I  should  say,  to  go  to  Alaska,  this  is  much  later  here  in  Oregon.  I  sent  for  a 
birth  certificate  and  found  out  I  had  no  name  at  all,  so,  no  ah  first  name  so  I  simply  adopted 
Minnie,  but  my  real  name  is  Wilhelmina  and  I  was  named  after  Wilhelmina  Beck.  I  was 
born  in  1910,  my  sister  was  the  first  born  -  did  I  mention  her,  my  sister  was  the  first  born 
and  she  was  born  in  1906,  on  July  29,  and  three  and  one-half  later  I  was  born  in  1910.  The 
next  child  was  another  girl,  who  they  name  Eva  Magdalene  Clink,  she  was  born  on  July  29, 
1913.  That  made  three  girls.  I  might  say  that  all  this  time,  or  a  good  part  of  this  time,  my 
Dad,  George  Clink  worked  for  the  railroad,  work  on  the  section.  When  he  moved  on  the 
Gary  ranch  of  course,  he  did  farming,  and  when  we  moved  to  St.  Anthony,  I  think  he 
worked  in  the  Sugar  Factory,  but  I'm  not  sure  of  that,  he  did  work  for  a  while  in  Sugar 
City.  Let's  go  back  to  the  children  now  after  Eva,  there  was  a  boy  born.  A  little  over  a 
year  later,  on  September  27,  1914,  George  Lewis  Clink,  was  born.  And  I  have  to  tell  you 
this,  I  haven't  told  you  yet,  my  Grandmother  always  was  present  when  we  were  born  and  a 
midwife,  her  name  was  Mrs.  Robinson,  that's  all  I  know  of  her,  but  I 


have  just  a  faint  recollection  of  seeing  her  when  my  brother  was  born  so 
I'm  telling  this  now.  Well  my  sister  and  I  were  a  little  bit  older  and 
so  when  all  this  being  born  was  taking  place  why  Grandma  sent  my  sister, 
my  older  sister  and  I  out  to  the  Beck  ranch  for  the  excuse  of  borrowing 
a  couple  of  tools,  now  I  don't  think  these  tools  were  needed  at  all  but 
they  wanted  to  get  rid  of  us  while  the  baby  was  born  and  so  we  walked  out 
to  the  Beck  ranch  and  oh  how  many,  how  many  miles  is  it  out  to  the  ranch 
there,  to  the  Beck  ranch? 

Two  or  three. 

Two  or  three  at  least  two  or  three,  it  seemed  like  a  long  ways.  So  it  was 
a  long  ways  out  to  get  this,  I  believe  it  was  a  hammer  and  some  chisel 
or  something,  it  was  something  simple,  cause  we  carried  it  easily  and  that 
was  what  we  borrowed  for  not  really  borrowing  at  all  but  to  get  rid  of 
us  while  the  baby  was  born.  Well  then  we  had  to  walk  all  the  way  back 
again  so  you  know,  that  took  a  few  hours  and  then  some.  When  we  got  back, 
we  no  more  than  got  in  the  house,  and  Dad  came  out  and  he  says,  halleluhah, 
oh,  I  got  a  boy,  I've  got  a  boy,  I've  got  a  boy  and  he  was  so  happy  to  at 
last  have  one  boy  and  with  a  family  of  already  3  girls,  the  one,  the  thing 
he  wanted  most  of  all  was  one  more,  on  boy.  And  that  was  the  last  of  the 
Clink,  children  that  were  born  of  Lena  and  George  Clink.  NOVi. 

What  is  your  name? 

My  name  is  George,  my  nickname  is  Chuck,  was  Chuck  Clink  and  I  was  born 
in  Rexburg  in  19,  September  27,  1914,  in  the  log  house  right  next  to 
where  Maryann  lives  today.  And  ah,  I  remember  the  log  house  because, 
quite  well,  but  we  ah,  I  was  real  young  another  thing  I  remember  was  our 
root  cellar  out  beside  the  log  house.  And  we  used  to  keep  sauerkraut  in 
it  caust,  and  I  can  still  remember  how  it  smell ed  when  I  went  down  into 
this  root  cellar  and  we  had  eggs  put  up  in  the  water  glass,  we'd  kill 
all  the  chickens,  I  can  remember  in  the  fall  of  the  year  before  the 
hard  freezes  and  we  would  store  these  stone  crocks  full  of  eggs  with 
water,  ah  in  water  glass  so  they  would  keep  for  the  winter.  And  then 
we  had  oh  beets  and  turnips  and  some  dried  vegetables  that  we  kept  down 
in  this  root  cellar  with  lots  of  potatoes,  and  speaking  of  potatoes  we 
would,  we' Id  eat  potatoes  three  times  a  day,  breakfast,  lunch  and  dinner, 
day  after  day.  Then  another  thing  I  remember  about  Rexburg,  is  how  cold 
it  was  in  the  winter  -  ah,  it'd  get  down  to  40  below  and  we  would,  when  we 
would  go  to  town  into  church,  to  church,  why  we'ld  ride  in  the  sleigh  and 
we  would  cover  up  with  a  great  big  bear  rug  going  into,  into  Rexburg. 
My  <Jad  helped  build  the  Mormon  church,  what  street  is  that  on,  Maryanne 
do  you  remember?      ;  

Third  South,  Third  South. 

On  Third  South  street,  my  father  helped  build  that  church,  that  was  back 
in  1916,  17.  Then  another  one  of  my  memories*  of  Rexburg  is  right  after 
World  War  I,  that  the  parade  they  had,  coming  on  the  main  street,  I  was 
in  front  of  Pexton's  and  Jensen's  grocery  store  when  the  parade  went  by. 
And  there's  where  I,  in  Rexburg  is  where  I  saw  my  first  airplane.  We 
were  shopping  in  some  store  and  somebody  yelled  airplane  and  everybody 
in  town  or  in  the  store  ran  out  in  the  streets  and  looked  up  at  this 
airplane.  That  was  the  first  one  I  had  ever  seen. 

See  my  sister,  ah,  ur  both  my  sisters  went  to  school  in  Rexburg,  what 
was  the  name  of  that  school  now. 


Washington. 

At  Washington  school.     I   didn't  go  to  school   there  cause  I   left  there 
when  I  was  five.     We  moved  from  there  to  ah  let's  see,  Eugene,  Oregon. 
Then  we  came  out  on  the  train,  my  father  left  from  Rexburg  with  a,  come 
out  from  there  to  ah  Sutherlin,  Oregon,  he  came  by  horse  and  buggy, 
he  had  a  regular  old  covered  wagon,  it  took  him  almost,  ah,  well,  between 
three  and  four  weeks  to  come  from  Rexburg  to  Sutherlin,  Oregon  where  he 
got  a  job  working  in  the  woods.     And  we  lived  down  in  Sutherlin  that 
summer,  we  all   lived  in  a  tent.     And  then  from  Sutherland,  we  moved  to 
ah  let's  see,  we  moved  to  Eugene  and  stayed  here  for  just  about  a  month 
and  then  from  Eugene  we  moved  to  Oregon  City  where  we  lived  in  little, 
well   it  was  a  place  called  Kanema,  up  on  the  hill   above  Oregon  City. 
And  that's  where  I  went  to  my  first  grade,  grade  of  school.     Let's  see 
then  from  Oregon  City  we  moved  to  Salem  where  I  went  to  school   for  3 
years  and  that's  where  I  got  my  first  job  selling  papers  on  the  corner 
of  the  Ladd  and  Bush  bank  on  that  Main  Street  and  Commercial   in  Salem, 
used  to  make  20<t  a  night,  thought  I  was  really  rich. 

What  do  you  do  now? 

And  now,  well    let's  see  that's  a  long,  a  long  gap  in  between  there 
you  want  me  to 

mention? 

Now  after  all   these  years  I  am  retired  to  making  salad  in  the  salad 
factory  we  had  down  to  Emerald  Fruit  and  we  put  up  salads   for  the 
University  of  Oregon  and  the  different  grade  schools  and  high  schools 
and  we  ship  salads  to  Corvallis  and  Roseburg  and  that  keeps  me  pretty  busy. 

What's  the  name  of  your  business? 

And  the  name  of  it  is  Maryellen's  Salad  Mix  which   is   named  after  my  wife. 
She  started  making  little  salads  with,  made  out  of  cabbage  and  carrots 
and  red  cabbage.     We  put  her  name  on  it  -  called  it  Maryellen's  Salad 
Mix.     But  now  we  do,  we  put  up  cole  slaw  and  make  carrot  sticks   and 
tossed  salads  and  brockets  called  flowerets  just  a  number  of  different 
fancy  articles   for  salad  bars. 

You  were  number  one  at  one  time? 

At  one  time  we  were  the  only  salad  kitchen  in  Eugene  and  now  there's  3 
located  here  and  there  are  2  more  that  come  into  town  out  of  portland  so 
we  have  lots,   lots  and  lots  of  competition.     But  we  still   do  all   the 
business  we  want  to. 

Minnie  do  you  want  to  continue  on  from  last  night. 

Well   I  was  thinking  of  some  things  that  George  mentioned  about  the  root 
sellar  and  I  want  to  say  something  about  that.      I  remember  the  root  cellar 
too  and  the  sauerkraut  and  eggs  in  water  glass  and,  oh  many  things,  carrots 
for  I,  he  made  mention  the  carrots,   I  didn't  remember  the  turnips,  but  I 
remember  the  carrots  and  turnips  and  things   like  that.     Well   anyway,   I 
have  something  else  to  remember  to  think  about,  and  perhaps   I  think  more 
of  the  root  cellar  for  something  to  climb  over  and  it  was  right  back  of 
the  log  cabin  and  one  day,  well   I  knew  these  sheep  were  coming  in,  the 
sheep  herders  were  bringing  in  their  sheep.     This  was  beet  time,  beet 
harvesting  and  I  don't  think  I  mentioned  that  the  10  acres  that  is  there 
at  the  present  time,  well   that's  the  same  ten  acres  that  we  lived  on  too 
and  the  crop  was  sugar  beets  and  when  sugar  beet,  ah  harvesting  came  ah, 


time  came,  we  all  went  to  work.     Oh  I,  of  course  I -tried  to  help  but  I 
didn't  do  very  much,  but  I   remembered  throwing  some  sugar  beets  on  a  pile 
and  the  men  would  come  and  gather  the  piles  of  sugar  beets  and  take  them 
to  the,  Sugar  City,  well   anyway,  after  the  beets  were  harvested  they  left 
the  greens,  the  tops  in  the  field  and  as  soon  as  that  was  done  there  was 
all   those  sheep  herders  around  to  bring  their  sheep  in  to  eat  those  nice 
fresh  beet  tops.     Well,  so  this  particular  day  that  they,  the  first  time 
they  came  in  I  saw  them  bring  all   these  sheep  in,  hundreds  of  them,  just 
literally  hundreds  of  them,  plus  their  wagon,  their  covered  wagon  that 
these  men  slept  in  at  night.     So  what  I  did,   I  ran  up  on  the  fruit,  on 
the  root  cellar,  on  the  top  of  the  cellar  because  they  were  coming  in 
in  droves,  the  sheep.     Well,  they  just  simply  parted  and  went  around  me 
and  I  thought  it  was   lots  of  fun.     To  see  sheep  all   around  me  going  to 
the,  just  as  fast  as  they  could  go  to  the  beet  fields  to  get  those  nice 
beet  leaves  and  ah,  it  was  just  fun  that  was  all.     Then  the  sheep 
stayed  there  for  three  days  until   all  the  beets  tops  were  eaten.     An  oh, 
the  sheepherders  were  always   friendly  with  us  kids  and  they' Id  talk  with  us 
and  I  believe  they  had  a  couple  of  dogs  too,  to  round  up  those  sheep  and 
bring  them  back  out.     Well  any  way  after  three  days  the  sheep  had  been 
wandered  all   through  the  10  acres  and  ate  all   the  tops  of  the  beets  and 
then  it  was  time  for  them  to  go  home,  but  whenever  I  went  outside  I  was 
on  the  root  cellar  watching  the  sheep  and  then  I  knew  that  I  wouldn't 
be  run  over  by  sheep. 

Well  so  much  for  that.     I  want  to  say  something  more  about,  Aunt,  well 
really  my  great  Aunt  Wilhelmina  Beck,  she  was  such  a  kindly  person  and 
of  course  her  husband  John  Beck  was  too,  but  I  remember  so  many  times 
when  they  came  to  town,  or  perhaps  she  came  alone,  drove  the  horse  and 
buggy  and  always  stopped  because  she  went  by  our  house.     But  when  she 
stopped  she  always  had  something  to  bring  us.     Maybe  it  was  a  time  when 
our  cow  was  dry  and  she 'Id  bring  us  some  milk.     And  then  other  times, 
oh  any  time  was  a  time  for  bringing  butter  because  they  had  a  butter  churn 
and  made  butter  and  we  didn't  have  those  things  and  it  was  so  good  to 
get  butter.     And  then  she  had  things  in  her  vegetable  garden  perhaps 
that  we  didn't  have.     We  had  mostly  potatoes  and  cauliflower.     Oh  we 
grew  raspberries  and  things  like  that  but  Aunt  Beck,  she  had  everything 
in  her  garden  and  she  was  forever  bringing  us  nice  things.     Another 
thing  that  I   enjoyed  about  Aunt  Beck,  whenever  we  kids  went  out  there  and 
we  were  there  every  now  and  then,  perhaps  it  was  a  Sunday  afternoon,  there 
were  always  goodies  on  the  table  for  us  to  eat  and  she  was  kindly  and 
thoughtful  and  very  generous,  always  doing  things. 

Now  I  want  to  say  something  else  about  my  Grandmother  Dora  Fell   that  I 
don't  believe  I  mentioned  earlier.     I  just  now  thought  of  it.     She's  a 
person  who  was  always  doing  things  for  us  too.     And  with  four  children 
there  was  always  something  to  be  done.     Well   now,  my  sister  Dorothy 
and  I  were  in  school,  the  other  two  children  in  the  family,  Eva  and  George 
were  younger  and  not  in  school  yet,  and  we  were  in  Rexburg.     But  when  I 
would  go  to  Grandma's  house  what  do  you  think  she  would  be  doing.     She'd 
be  sitting  in  her  rocker  with  a  bible  on  her  knee  opened  up,  or  a  book  of 
Martin  Luther,  she  had  volumns  of  Martin  Luther's  books  -  which  was  in 
German,  and  the  bible  she  had  was  also  in  German  script.     She  would  be 
reading,   no  matter  what,  she  would  be  reading  something  like  that, 
something  like  these  books,  andTat  the  same  time  she  would  be  knitting 
for  my  sister  and  for  me,   knitting  stockings  of  wool,  knitting  a  petti- 
coat of  wool.     Idaho  was  cold  as  George  said,  it  was  cold  country,  snow, 
we  had  snow  drifts  that  were  6  feet  night,  we  had  snow  that  would  reach 


the  top  of  the  fence  posts  and  freeze.  It  was  cold.  I  went  to  school 
many  times  at  30  below  zero  and  as  George  said  it  got  down  to  40  some- 
times too.  Well  she  always  knit  us  each,  every  winter  we  had  a  new 
petticoat  of  a  deep  red  wool  yarn  and  it  was  nice,  it  was  beautifully 
made.  Also  there  were  the  mittons  and  a  cap  for  our  head.  Now  that 
was  a  lot  of  knitting,  becuase  there  were  two  of  us  and  we  got  the  whole 
outfit  every  winter,  and  so,  and  they  added  up  after  awhile,  we  would  have 
two  of  three  petticoats  and  we 'Id  have  several  pairs  of  long  stockings 
of  wool.  So  when  I  think  of  Grandma  I  think  of  her  doing  that  or  I 
would  think  of  her  raspberry  patch  when  I  would  help  her  pick  raspberries 
sometimes,  or  I  would  help  her  with  the  potatoes  when  we  lived  in  town. 

Well,  I  might  mention  again  about  the  Beck's  and  their  homestead.  It  was 
a  beautiful  green  field,  but  mostly  they  had  potatoes.  And  they  grew 
potatoes  and  when  potatoe  harvesting  came  all  the  boys  were  around  and 
the  girls  too,  to  help  stack  the  potatoes  and  get  them  ready  in  piles  to 
be  piled  in  the  wagons  and  oh,  from  there  I  guess  they  went  to  the  barn 
to  be  sacked  or  went  to  the  market,  I  am  not  sure  from  there,  I  only 
remember  the  potatoe  patch.  So  potatoe  harvesting  time  was  a  good 
time  when  all  the  kids  got  together.  Then  I  want  to  tell  you  about  some 
of  the  other  buildings  on  their  place.  They  had  a  large  barn  and  milk 
cows,  and  oh,  milk  cows,  and  milk  cows,  and  milk  cows,  and  when  milking 
time  came,  all  the  men,  all  the  boys  were  out  there  milking  and  sometimes 
the  girls  too.  I  could  never  manage  it,  I  could  never  get  the  milk, 
so  I  guess  I  just  wasn't  old  enough. 

Well,  but  at,  they  had  horses  of  course,  too,  and  then  there  was  the 
smoke  house,  now  that  smoke  house  was  very  important  because  late  in  the 
fall  before  the  heavy  snow  was  on,  they  butchered  a  pig  or  two,  they 
always  let  us  know  when  they  had  them  butchered.  And  they  then  they  put 
the  hames  in  the,  well  the  smoke  house  was  what  creates  the  hams,  but  they 
became  very,  very   good  at  smoking  hams,  and  there  was  always  some  ham 
for  everybody,  we  always  had  a  little  bit  of  some  of  that  good  smoked 
meat.  And  because  they  were  generous,  not  only  with  us  but  with  all 
their  family  and  all  their  relatives  and  their  friends.  Well  the  Beck 
farm  was  something  to  remember  and  I  might  mention  that  it  was  about 
160  acres  plus,  they  had  160  acres  on  the  dry  farm,  now  the  dry  farm 
was  up  on  the  hill,  the  hill  seemed  like  a  great  hill  when  I  was  young, 
when  I  was  small,  because  it  took  me  a  long  time  to  walk,  it  took  me 
a  long  time  to  walk  up  the  hill,  when  I  was  small,  when  I  was  young. 
But  of  course  the  dry  farm  was  a  lot  farther  out  on  the  hill,  and  it 
was  a  160  acres  and  it  was  managed,  incidently  by  Otto  Beck  and  Otto 
Beck  was  the  father  of  you  Maryann'.^   And  Otto  Beck  of  course  we  knew  him 
and  he  was,  he  was  always  farming  and  helping  his  dad  because  he  was 
one  of  the  older  boys  in  the  family,  but  thd  dry  farm,  oh  ah  I'll  mention 
another  thing  about  the  dry  farm,  I  remember  my  dad  going  up  there  too  and 
one  time  they  were  trying  to  find  ah,  well  water  and  if  there  was  one 
thing  dad  could  do  that  was  kind  of  different  from  what,  well  just  a  little 
bit  different  from  the  ordinary,  he  would  take  a  witching  stick  and  witch 
for  water,  and  my  Dad  was  so  good  at  it  the  one  time  they  had  him  come  up 
there  on  the  dry  farm  and  I  remember  that  because  I  was  there  and  Dad, 
Dad  witched  for  the  water  and  they  get  and  this  was  where  the  well  was 
dug  and  they. just  had  to  have  additional  water  and  this  was  why  they 
were  trying  to  get  another  well  on  the  dry  farm.  And  the  dry  farm  was 
called  the  dry  farm  because  there  was  no  other  irrigation  except  any  well 
water  that  they  might  have  and  then  the  well  water  was  usually  for  drinking 
really  it  wasn't  used  for  irrigation  was  it. 


Well   the  rain  of  course,  but  there  wasn't  too  much   rain  in  Rexburg,  see 
this  was  why  it  was  called  the  dry  farm.     It  wasn't  like  Oregon,  Maryann  . 
we  have  rain  in  Oregon  but  the  dry  farm  was  dry.     And  so,  and  where  it 
wasn't  farmed  I  might  mention  that  on  the  lower  part  of  the  dry  farm  it 
was  sage  brush.     But  there  were  the  loveliest  violets,  do  you  happen 
to  remember  the  violets  that  grew.     Wild  violets  that  grew  in  the,  near 
the  sage  brush,  kind  of  in  the  shade  of  the  sage  brush.     And  oh  incidently 
I  have  another  story  to  tell  you.     And  then  I  think  I  will  quit  for 
tonight.     When  we  lived  in  town,  George  was  about  five,  well  he  was 
about  five  years  old  then  and  he  was  always  admiring  the  boy  scouts 
and  I   guess  there  was  some  near,  some  boy  scouts   living  near  us,   at 
least  I   remember  one  of  them  and  somehow  or  another  he  got  friendly  with 
some  of  these  boy  scouts  and  they  were  going  on  a  trip  and  they  were 
going  up  in  the  dry  farm  country  by  the  way  and  so  why  that  kid,  that 
George,  that  little  brother  of  mine,  he  connived  with  them  and  wanted 
to  know  if  they  could  come  along  and  just  for  fun  they  says,  oh  sure 
you  can  come  along,  and  so  he  followed  the  boy  scouts,   up  there  that 
day  and  stayed  all   day  and  worried  my  mother  half  to  death  because  she 
didn't  know  where  he  was  and  when  he  came  back  home  in  the  evening  he 
was  so  happy  because  he  had  quite  an  excursion  with  the  boy  scouts  and 
that  was  when  he  was  only  five  years  old.     But  that  was  George.     Well 
George  has  changed  much  from  that  time,  but  I  will   say  this,  he  is 
still   friendly,  everybody  loves  George  my  brother.     Good  Night. 


What  is  your  name? 

My  name  is  Dorothy  Barker,  my  maiden  name  was   Clink,  Dorothy  Clink. 

When    were  you  born. 

July  the  23rd,   1906. 

Could  you  tell   us  the  fun  times,  you  had  on  Easter,  and  Christmas  in 
Wilhelmina  and  John  Beck's  home. 

We  always   looked  forward  to  our  Easters  and  Christmases  at  the  John 
Beck  home.     Aunt  Minnie  was  a  wonderful   person  and  she  worked  for  days 
cooking  and  sewing  and  planning  for  the  big  celebration  she  would  have. 
Usually  all   her  children  and  sometimes  even  neighbor  children  were  in. 
She  was   wery  generous  and  would  make  up  gifts  of  food  and  clothing  for 
all   of  us.     Usually  we  would  have  for  Christmas,  we  would  have  some  type 
of  clothing  and  always  a  basket  full   of  oranges  and  bananas  and  other 
fruits  which  we  didn't  usually  have.     We  were  always   looking  forward 
to  our  time  at  Christmas  because  they  were  such  wonderful   days.     Easter 
was  another  time  we  were  real   grateful   to  have.     She  would  make  nests 
in  the  hay  stacks  and  straw  stacks  and  in  these  nests  she  would  fill 
with  boiled  eggs,  of  colored  eggs  and  little  goodies  or  oranges,   perhaps 
a  banana  or  two  and  some  little  gift.     And  we  would  have  to  hunt  the 
nests  that  had  our  name.     And  we  would  have  a  great  scramble  hunting 
for  them,  and  often  she  had  them  hidden  so  well  that  she  would  have  to 
show  us  where  she  had  hid  them.     We  had  a  great  time  at  Easter  time, 
because  she  would  usually  have  the  dinner  with  all   the  food,  there  was 
always  fried  chicken,  she  was  great  on  making  cakes  and  pies,  all   the 
goodies  that  everybody  loved.     Aunt  Minnie  was  a  wonderful   cook. 


8 

Out  at  Aunt  Beck's   place  it  was  the  first  home  that  was  out  there,  it 
was  a  two  room,  two  story  house,  with  an  attic.     They  built  on  a  little 
addition,  a  little  addition  that  was   used  as  a  kitchen  and  bedroom. 
The  kitchen  was  a  long  kitchen  with  homemade,   a  homemade  table  with  two 
benches  in  back  and  one  in  front  and  the  children  always  had  to  sit 
on  the  back  benches.     These  was  always  pleasant  memories  because  there 
was  always  a  great  deal  more  food  at  this  setting  than  we  would  have 
at  home. 

One  of  the  things  that  Aunt  Beck  did  that  always  amused  me,  in  the 
Springtime  when  the  jam  and  jellies  were  low,  she  would  make  sandwiches 
of  jello  and  give  to  us  kids.     We  always  remarked  that  it  was  so  stiff 
that  we  couldn't  seem  to  spread  it  on  our  bread.     But  we  liked  the 
flavor  and  we  liked  the  color  because  she  always  had  red  jello,  we  liked 
that.     One  of  the  things  that,  that  the  men  looked  forward  to,  Willy  Beck 
was  a  good  carpenter  and  he  built  a  bath  house  to  the  pattern  of  the 
oriental   bath  house.     And  it  was  made  all   of  wood,  a  wooden  tub,  of 
wooden  floors,  all   very  waterproof  and  somehow  or  another  there  was 
fires  built  underneath  to  get  the  water  hot  and  to  keep  the  bath  house 
hot.     And  he  was  the  only  one  in  that  area  that  had  that  type  of  a 
bath  house,  it  was   patterned  to  the  Japanese  bath  houses   that  were  in  the 
neighborhood,  so  it  was  a  very  important  thing. 

Another  think   I   failed  to  mention  was  our  Christmas   parties.     Aunt  Beck 
took  us  children  all   to  the  Christmas   parties  at  the  church.     This  was 
a  church  in  the  center  of  town.     I   don't  recall  just  where  it  was 
located,  but  it  was   always  a  tremendous   gathering  and  a  huge  Christmas 
tree,  a  real   Christmas  tree,  and  on  each  branch  there  was  gifts  and 
spangles  tied  on  each  branch.     There  would  be  an  auctioneer  that  would 
cut  off  each  branch  and  sell   it.     These  branches  were  given  to  the  children 
And  I   remember  Aunt  Beck  would  always  buy  each  one  of  us  children  one  of 
those  branches,  with  a  gift  and  possibly  an  ornament  or  two  and  it  would 
be  a  long  branch  which  was  just  a  joy  to  all   of  us.     We  really  were 
delighted  to  go  to  these  Christmas   parties.     And  there  would  be,  Minnie 
Beck  always  attended  these  parties  with   us,  and  so  we  found  this  was 
something  we  always   looked  forward  to. 

I'ld  like  to  go  back  to  the  log  house  and  tell   a  little  bit  more  about 
the  log  house.     The  roof  was   constructed  of  heavy  timbers  and  soil   placed 
on  the  roof,   really  sod,  and  this  was  there  for  years,  we  used  this   roof 
for  many  things,  we  would  dry  apples,   peas,   berries   and  even  beans.     We 
would  dry  up  on  the  roof  because  the  sun  was   real  warm  up  there,  and 
my  mother  would  cover  it  with  cheese  cloth  holding  it  down  with  rocks, 
holding  the  cheese  cloth  down  with  rock,  but  it  would  only  take  two  or 
three  days  for  the  beans  and  the  peas  and  the  apples  to  dry  up  on  this 
roof.     The  house  itself  when  it  was  first  built  was   lined  with  a  material 
they  called  factory  in  those  days,  Now  I  don't  know,   it  was  a  material 
similar  to  a  very  thin  muslin  and  the  whole  interior  was  covered  with  this 
material   and  tacked  down  about  every  6  to  8  inches,   then  they  went  over 
it  with  a  brushing  of  what  they  called  a  lime  coating.     It  flaked  off 
but  it  was  very,  very  white  and  it  wouldn't  flake  off  until   it  would 
be  on  this  factory  material   for  about  a  year.     So  every  year  this  was 
a  job,  they  would  brush  off  this  loose  material  and  coat  it  again  with 
this  filling.     Now  this  wasn't  a  very  healthful   thing  and  these  days 
they  would  condem  it  but  at  that  time  it  was  many  of  the  log  houses  had 
such  an  interior. 


Another  thing  that  was  amusing  there,  we  had  a  pump  out  at  the  back 
..door  and  every   winter  this  pump  would  freeze  jjpt,  it  would  be  so  frozen 
that  there  would  be  ice  all  over  the  top  and  we  would  have  to  get  a  boiler 
full  of  hot  water  and  pour  over  the  pump  in  order  to  get  it  to  go  the 
next  morning.  Another  think  that  happened,  the  chickens,  we  would  have 
to  put  little  heaters  in  the  chicken  coops  to  keep  the  chickens  from 
freezing  in  the  winter  time.  Our  heating,  the  way  we  had  the  log  house 
was  of  course  with  coal  and  we  would  have  a  little  building  in  back,  a 
little  shed  that  would  hold  coal.  And  also  we  burned  willows,  these 
willows  were  brought  by  team  from  the  banks  of  the  snake  river.  My 
father  would  go  down  in  the  summer  time  and  get  these  willows  and  haul 
them  up  on  what  they  call  a  hay  rack  and  these  willows  were  stacked  out 
in  b&cY,  of  trie  A 09  house.  hvA  this  is  Wnat  \«e  \3seo  for  neatino,  in  the 
winter  time.  Between  that  and  coal  we  kept  warm  in  these  40  below  zero 
winters  that  we  had.  We  also  had  a  smoke  house  in  back  just  on  the  other 
side  of  the  cellar,  and  in  the  fall  it  was  my  job  to  keep  that  smoke 
house  going.  We  would  use  chips  that  were  provided  by  the  wood  chopping 
of  the  willow  to  burn  in  the  smoke  house  and  this  was  something  that 
lasted  for  a  couple  of  months,  just  to  keep  it  a  smoking  and  I  always 
had  to  keep  the,  a  certain  amount  of  chips  in  this  smoke  house  to  keep 
it  asmoking.  This  was  a  very   important  thing. 

I  would  like  to  say  a  little  something  about  the  school,  we  went  to 
the  Washington  school.  We  children,  3  of  us.  It  was  a  rock  building 
and  there  was  also  a  wooden  building  nearby  which  was  the  first  school 
that  was  built  in  Rexburg.  This  first  school  that  was  built,  it  was  a 
two  story  bulling,  my  mother  Lena  went  to  school  there  in  all  her  years 
of  8th  grade,  through  all  her  8  years.  I  attended  school  for  two  years 
in  that  building.  They  tell  me  that  now  that  building  is  taken  down, 
but  any  way  I  went  to  school  in  the  same  building  for  two  years  that  my 
mother  went  to  school  in,  and  some  of  her  chums,  some  of  her  friends 
that  she  went  to  school  with  were  my  teachers,  which  was  always  interesting 
Uhm,  my  mother  was  sick  a  great  deal  when  I  was  young  and  I  had  to  stay 
out  of  school  many  days.  And  I  would  write  my  own  excuses  for  not  going 
to  school,  they  knew  that  on  the  days  my  mother  was  sick,  that  I  would 
have  to  stay  home  and  take  care  of  the  children,  three  of  them  that  were 
younger  than  myself.  So  I  was  able  to  write  my  own  excuses.  But  I  did 
my  studying  and  I  was  always  an  A  and  B  student  in  spite  of  all  that. 

During  the  summer  and  fall,  I  worked  around  in  the  neighborhood.  I 
picked  up  potatoes  in  the  fall,  I  hoed  sugar  beets  with  Willy  Beck  and 
I  even  shocked  hay  and  tried  to  shock  grain  but  that  was  a  little  too 
heavy  for  me.  I  found  that  shocking  hay  was  a  little  too  much,  but  I 
did  work  in  the  beet  patch  quite  a  little,  topped  beets.  I  was  the 
only  girl  that  topped  beets  for  many  days,  but  I  got  to  where,  that  I 
made  pretty  good  money  and  to  me  those  few  cents  were  great  for  school. 

My  delight  was  my  Uncle  Bill,  Billy  Fell.  At  one  time  he  owned  a  theatre, 
it  was  the  Star  Theatre  and  that  was  a  great  delight  to  us  children 
because  he  would  let  my  cousin  Minnie  Beck  and  our  neighborhood  children, 
which  was  Johnny  Heinz  and  Will  Heinz,  he  would  let  us  in  free,  anytime 
we  wanted  to  go  to  the  theatre,  so  we  thought  that  was  real  great  to  have 
an  Uncle  that  would  let  us  go  to  the  theatre.  And  at  that  time,  the 
theatre  fare  was  a  nickel  but  to  not  have  to  spend  a  nickel  to  go  to  the 
theatre  was  really  a  great  thing.  And  he  used  to  give  me  a  great  many 
little  books  and  literature  on  the  theatre  and  the  stars.  And  one  of  the 


10 

books  that  he  gave  me  that  was  the  fast  moving  little  contraption,  for 
Charlie  Chaplin  was  very   popular  at  that  time  and  he  was  always  getting 
all  the  Charlie  Chaplin  pictures  that  were  in  the  setting  at  that  parti- 
cular time.  But  to  say  that  my  Uncle  Billy  had  a  theatre  and  would 
allow  us  to  go  in  without  spending  any  money  was  a  great  thing  for  us 
to  look  forward  to.  This  theatre  was  located  on  Main  street,  I  couldn't 
say  exactly  just  where  but  approximately  just  off  College  Avenue  on 
Main  street  in  that  neighborhood.  At  that  time  they  had  a  piano  player 
and  a  piano  and  this  was  the  way  they  entertained  theatre  patrons  while 
they  were  waiting  and  also  during  particular  times  of  emotion.  This 
piano  was  a  great  thing  for  us  because  before  the  theatre  was  playing,  and 
after,  usually  before,  he  would  allow  me  to  go  in  and  play  on  the  piano 
and  would  give  me  music  so  that  I  could  continue  learning.  My  mother 
gave  me  organ  lessons  for  quite  a  few  years  by  furnishing  eggs  at  15<t 
a  dozen  and  each  lesson  would  cost  one  dozen  eggs.  So  he  encouraged 
me  to  practice  on  a  piano.  After  he  sold  the  theatre  this  piano  was  moved 
to  my  grandmothers  place  and  there  of  course  I  used  the  piano  a  lot 
and  we  children  always  had  a  good  time  in  playing  the  piano  and  marching 
and  singing.  He  had  the  piano  at  my  grandmothers  home  for  quite  a  few 
years. 

I  just  want  to  mention  that  after  we  moved  out  of  the  log  house,  the 
Clink  family,  Willy  Beck  married  a  girl  from  Salem,  which  was  a  community 
about  15  or  20  miles  from  Rexburg  and  he  married  a  girl,  Rosie  Rootweiler, 
and  they  moved  into  the  log  house  after  we  moved  out.  They  really  redid 
the  log  house,  they  lined  it  with  some  type  of  plywood,  now  it  wasn't 
plywood  in  those  days,  but  it  was  something  on  that  order  and  painted 
it  and  they  really  remodeled  it  beautifully  because  Rosie  Rootweiler 
was  real  artistic  and  she  made  a  beautiful  room  from  the  log  house. 
The  kitchen,  there  was  only  two  rooms,  one  real  large  room  and  one  smaller 
room  which  was  the  bedroom.  But  they  lived  in  that  for  quite  a  few 
years  and  after  they  moved  out,  Otto  Beck  married  Molly,  married  Molly 
Weber  and  he  lived  in  the  log  house.  And  he  was  the  last  one  that  lived 
in  this  log  house  and  as  I  learned  it  is  now  used  as  a 

grainery 

grainery,  at  this  particular  date  which  is  1985. 

In  conclusion  the  log  cabin  that  is,  it  is  an  art  attraction.  Area 
artists  paint  the  log  cabin  in  their  art  class.  And  then  we  have 
visitors  from  Sun  City,  Arizona  that  come  up  and  take  art  and  paint 
it  as  a  subject  in  their  art  class. 


hee.//       l^o^^^o^//     ct  ^  J     /?^r-   yy<t>L  ^ 


Q^sT^brL^i^ 


Lisf  duLX;<e- ;    <<_J 


Balzer 

Russian  village  where 
Alexander  and  Annie  Weber  were  born 


Some  history  and  personal  observation 

of  Balzer 
in  -July/ 2000 


Why  did  our  German  ancestors  decide 
to  leave  Germany  and  go  to  Russia? 


Holy  Roman  Empire  -  The  First  Reich 

Germany  prior  to  1871  -  Confederation  of  German  States 

The  widely  accepted  notion  during  the  20th  century  of  a  strong  German  national  tradition,  quite  ironically,  only  existed  as 
goal  or  vision  for  hundreds  of  years.  A  strong  national  cultural  tradition  did  exist  for  hundreds  of  years,  but  not  a  political 
one.  Germany  attained  unification  under  centralized  rule  much  later  than  most  other  European  countries.  The  powerful 
German  dynasties  of  the  middle  ages  never  succeeded  in  establishing  a  German  nation-state  because  they  were  bound  by 
the  legacy  of  the  traditions  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  Underneath  the  umbrella  tradition  of  the  empire,  a  multiplicity  of 
small  states  operated  under  the  autonomy  and  sovereignty  of  local  and  regional  nobles.  In  the  late  18th  century  it  has  been 
reported  that  as  many  as  314  states  and  1475  estates  comprised  Germany,  making  it  look  like  a  patchwork  quilt.  Centuries 
of  religious  struggle  contributed  to  this  fragmentation. 

Religious  strife  dominated  central  Europe  during  the  16th  and  17th  centuries.  The  Reformation  (1521)  resulted  in 
prolonged  and  bloody  warfare  that  was  largely  carried  out  on  German  soil.  The  Thirty  Years'  War  (1618-1648)  was  the 
culmination  of  this  devastating  period.  Large  portions  of  Germany  were  decimated  with  an  estimated  30%  of  the 
population  being  killed.  In  the  Palatinate,  one  source  estimated  only  50,000  people  surviving  out  of  a  population  of  one 
million.  The  horrors  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  lived  on  in  popular  memory  as  those  of  no  other  war  in  Europe  until  the  20th 
century. 


WMWWWWWWWWWWWWWyi 


German  Unification  1871  -  The  Second  Reich 

Under  the  auspices  of  Prussia,  its  largest  state,  Germany  was  united  into  a  federal  system  in  1871.  The  resulting 
combination  consisted  of  22  states  and  the  3  former  city-states  or  urban  republics  of  Hamburg,  Bremen  and  Lubeck. 
Kaiser  Wilhelm  served  as  the  first  emperor  of  the  unified  Germany  which  was  referred  to  as  the  Second  Reich.  This 
structure  lasted  until  1918  when  Germany  lost  extensive  portions  of  territories  to  France,  Poland,  Belgium,  Denmark  and 
Czechoslovakia.  Hitler's  period  of  rule  beginning  in  the  1930's  marked  the  Third  Reich.  The  devastation  of  WWII  resulted 
in  the  further  loss  of  territory  including  the  provinces  of  Silesia,  Pomerania,  East  Prussia  and  part  of  Brandenburg  to 
Poland  and  the  Soviet  Union.  Germany  was  also  split  into  Eastern  and  Western  republics  following  the  close  of  the  war. 


German  Emigration  to  the  United  States 

The  religious  strife  that  dominated  central  Europe  during  the  16th  and  17th  centuries  provided  a  backdrop  for  the  first 
wave  of  German  emigration  to  the  United  States.  It  came  largely  from  the  states  of  Baden,  Wurttemburg,  Bavaria,  Hesse, 
and  from  the  Munster  and  Mainz  regions.  In  the  early  1 8th  century,  they  were  joined  by  inhabitants  of  S  wabia  and  the 
Palatinate.  The  mass  emigration  by  the  Palatines  in  1709  was  especially  significant.  The  flow  of  Germans  to  the  United 
States  slowed  in  the  mid  1700's  and  was  virtually  suspended  during  the  French  &  Indian  War  (Seven  Year's  War)  from 
1756  to  1763. 

The  bulk  of  German  emigration  in  the  latter  half  of  the  1 8th  century  turned  toward  European  countries,  especially  Russia 
from  1763  to  1767.  As  a  result  of  Catherine  the  Great's  Manifesto,  nearly  30,000  Germans  emigrated  to  the  Volga  Region 
of  Russia  before  the  German  princes  could  stop  the  exodus.  Budineen  Castle  was  a  gathering  point  for  many  of  the 
emigrant  families,  as  well  as  a  place  where  many  couples  were  married  before  departing.  Many  of  the  descendants  of  these 
immigrants  in  turn  began  emigrating  to  the  United  States  110  years  later  and  continued  until  about  1920.  They  came  to  be 
known  as  "Germans  From  Russia". 

The  second  wave  of  emigration  to  America  was  much  larger.  After  a  25  year  lull  that  occurred  during  1789-1815  due 
largely  to  revolution  and  wars,  emigration  started  to  accelerate  again  in  the  1820s  and  1830s.  The  wave  crested  in  the  late 
1840s  and  early  1850s  with  1854  being  the  peak  year.  Many  of  the  emigrants  were  now  coming  out  of  the  Northern 
German  States  as  well  during  this  time  period.  The  Grand  Duchy  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin  had  a  particularly  large 

http://www.teleport.eom/-herbf/ggr.htm#German 
Genealogical  Resources 


k  outflow  during  this  period.  During  the  1860s  the  exodus  contracted  dramatically  due  to  Dotn  the  American  Civil  War  and 
^the  Wars  of  German  Unification. 

The  third  and  final  wave  began  in  the  1870s  and  crested  in  the  1880s.  The  newly  industrialized  Germany  had  become  a 
prosperous  nation  by  the  mid  1 890s  and  emigration  slowed  to  a  trickle  again.  Emigration  levels  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
1890s  returned  to  levels  seen  in  the  1830s.  Emigration  in  the  first  two  decades  of  the  20th  century  included  many  Germans 
displaced  from  eastern  European  countries,  especially  Volga  Germans  from  Russia. 

mwWWWWIIIWWWIWI«BWWWWWW"WW"»WIIIM»»»IIW^^ 


Volga  Germans 

Germans  From  Russia 


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Thousands  of  German  nationals  emigrated  to  Russia  between  1763  and  1767  during  the  rule  of  Catherine  the  Great.  There 
they  pursued  the  oprxirtunity  of  freedom,  local  self  government  and  better  economic  conditions  as  promised  in  her 
Manifesto.  They  were  settled  in  villages  on  the  Russian  Steppe  along  the  Volga  river  and  thus  came  to  be  known  as  Volga 
Germans.  One  of  the  largest  settlements  along  the  Volga  River  was  the  Village  of  Baker. 

The  causes  of  this  emigration  can  be  traced  back  more  than  200  years.  The  Reformation  (152 1)  had  divided  the  German 
people  and  resulted  in  prolonged  and  bloody  warfare  that  was  largely  carried  out  on  German  soil.  The  Thirty  Years'  War 
(1618-1648)  was  the  culmination  of  this  devastating  period  which  left  the  population  in  a  state  of  great  poverty.  Many 
conflicts  continued  in  the  early  1700's,  especially  in  Southwestern  Germany. 

The  most  disastrous  war  of  the  18th  century  was  the  Seven  Years  War  (1756-1763),  which  served  to  be  the  final  trigger  of 
the  Volga  German  Migration.  This  war  occurred  at  the  same  time  as  the  French  and  Indian  War  in  the  United  States. 
French  troops  again  decimated  Southwestern  Germany  and  left  the  population  ravaged.  Despite  the  war  induced  poverty, 
the  princes  continued  to  extract  heavily  from  their  peasants.  Enforced  labor  service  and  required  military  duty  were  also 
major  factors.  Particularly  in  Hesse,  where  subjects  were  frequently  hired  out  as  mercenary  soldiers.  Hessian  troops  were 
again  hired  out  just  a  few  years  after  the  Volga  migration,  this  time  to  England  to  fight  against  the  colonists  during  the 
American  Revolution. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  prerequisite  for  a  massive  movement  of  this  size  is  also  dependent  on  the  opportunities  afforded 
in  the  destination  country.  Russia  offered  nearly  unrestricted  opportunities  to  the  emigrants  as  a  result  of  readily  available 
land  for  purchase,  exemption  from  military  service,  freedom  from  most  taxation,  self  administration,  religious  freedom  and 
loans  to  aid  their  initial  settlements  . 

The  migration  to  the  Volga  Region  started  as  a  trickle  in  1763-1765  in  response  to  Catherine  The  Great's  invitation.  As 
their  subjects  began  to  exit  in  a  flood  by  1767,  the  German  princes  acted  decisively  to  put  a  stop  to  the  emigration.  This 
sudden  cessation  left  thousands  of  hopeful  German  emigrants  stranded,  with  some  not  even  able  to  return  to  their  home 
villages.  Many  believe  there  would  have  been  several  thousand  more  Germans  in  the  original  Volga  colonies  had  it  not 
been  for  the  rulers  decisive  move  to  prohibit  the  out  migration.  As  it  was,  it  is  estimated  that  25,000  to  30,000  Germans 
were  able  to  emigrate  to  Russia. 

The  emigrants  were  of  all  ages,  but  were  predominantly  comprised  of  young  families.  Many  couples  were  married  just 
prior  to  leaving  for  Russia.  They  came  from  many  different  areas  or  states  in  Germany.  One  state  with  particularly  large 
representation  was  Hesse-Darmstadt.  The  count  of  Isenburg  was  more  tolerant  of  the  recruiters  than  many  other  rulers  and 
consequently  many  of  his  subjects  emigrated.  Budingen  Castle,  where  he  resided,  was  the  place  where  several  hundred 
young  couples  were  married  before  departing.  The  Budingen  marriage  records  often  list  the  home  villages  and  the  parents 
of  the  emigrants. 

The  trip  for  the  emigres  was  a  long  and  arduous  one.  First  they  had  to  travel  overland  to  the  port  city  of  Lubeck  on  the 
northeastern  coast  of  Germany.  There  they  would  gather  until  sufficient  numbers  could  be  grouped  together  for  the  long 
trip  by  sailing  ship  to  the  Russian  port  city  of  St.  Petersburg.  Then  the  route  was  another  long  stretch  overland  to  the 
southeast,  through  the  Russian  interior,  to  the  city  of  Saratov.  From  this  point  they  were  dispersed  out  to  their  villages  of 
destination  This  was  the  primary  route  for  early  emigres,  however  some  Germans  made  the  complete  trip  by  land. 

The  Volga  colonies  became  quite  prosperous  after  suffering  through  the  difficulties  of  the  first  few  years.  From  the 
original  104  settlements,  a  thriving  community  of  192  towns  and  villages  eventually  developed  on  both  sides  of  the  Volga 
river  in  the  Russian  provinces  of  Saratov  and  Samara.  Settlements  located  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  were  referred  to  as 
being  on  the  Bergseite  or  hilly  side.  Settlements  located  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  were  referred  to  as  being  on  the 
Wiesenseite  or  meadow  side. 


Village  of  Balzer 

Volga  (Russian)  Germans 


G= 


Village  History 

Germans  from  Baden,  Hesse,  Rhineland,  Palatinate,  Wtirttemburg  and  Switzerland  emigrated  to  Russia  between 
1765  and  1767.  They  settled  along  the  west  side  (Bergseite)  of  the  Volga  River,  forming  the  Village  of  Balzer. 
The  village  grew  to  be  one  of  the  largest  of  the  Volga  German  settlements  and  became  the  commercial  center  for 
the  colonies  on  the  west  side.  Balzer  was  also  the  Kanton  for  several  other  adjacent  villages. 

In  his  book  The  Emigration  from  Germany  to  Russia  in  the  Years  1763-1862,  Dr.  Karl  Stumpp  indicates  that  in 
1768  there  were  90  original  families  comprised  of  approximately  377  individuals.  From  this  small  beginning  the 
village  grew  dramatically  over  the  next  150  years.  It  is  estimated  that  there  were  still  over  1 1,000  residents  of 
Balzer  in  the  early  1900's,  even  after  the  heavy  emigration  to  the  United  States  and  other  countries  which  had 
been  in  process  since  1875. 

A  large  percentage  of  original  Balzer  residents  came  from  Hesse-Darmstadt.  Many  came  from  the  Budingen 
area  and  were  subjects  of  the  count  of  Isenburg.  Other  villages  in  Hesse  were  Alt  Wiedermus,  Diebach, 
Dudelsheim,  Lorbach,  Offenbach,  and  Rohrbach.  Although  few  Balzer  residents  were  married  at  Budingen 
Castle,  several  hundred  Volga  Germans  were  married  there  before  leaving  for  Russia.  Transcripts  of  the 
Budingen  marriage  records  in  German  have  been  obtained.  A  translated  copy  of  these  records  may  be  printed  in 
a  future  special  edition  of  the  Balzer  Village  Newsletter. 

The  summer  1 997  issue  of  the  Balzer  Village  Newsletter  contained  a  reprint  of  a  several  page  history  of  Balzer  and  emigrating  families.  A  brief 
synopsis  of  this  article  on  Balzer  History  is  included  here,  but  see  the  details  on  newsletter  back  issues  below.  The  picture  at  the  top  right  is  the 
Balzer  Church,  built  1 849- 1 85 1 .  To  view  a  larger  image  of  the  Church  (155K). 


*«£■■'■>•** 


^^tlfliiPJ 


Outer  wall  approaching  Budingen  Castle 


Castle  Tower  inside  the  inner  wall. 


Balzer  History 

"Goloi-Karamisch"  in  Russian  - 

&HiHJliliilJHjljl^^ 

The  Village  of  Balzer  was  named  after  its  first  Burgermeister  (mayor),  Balzer  Barthuly  from  Essen,  Germany.  He  was 
among  the  first  nine  Balzer  families  to  arrive  on  28  August  1765.  These  initial  settlers  survived  the  first  winter  by  living  in 
dugouts  in  the  hillside.  Successive  groups  of  colonists  arrived  over  the  next  two  years,  with  the  last  group  arriving  on  1 8 
August  1767.  By  this  time,  the  colony  was  composed  of  377  persons,  198  men  and  179  women. 

The  colony  was  located  in  the  Volga  River  valley  about  eight  miles  from  the  river  bank  and  about  sixty  miles  south  of  the 
Russian  provincial  city  of  Saratov.  The  tract  of  land  allotted  to  the  village  by  the  Russian  government  was  comprised  of 
18,000  acres,  excluding  the  forest,  town  lots,  gardens  and  threshing  floors.  This  amount  of  land  was  not  sufficient  to 
sustain  Balzer  completely  as  a  farming  community,  which  led  it  to  become  an  industrial  city  developing  much  business  and 
commerce,  especially  with  other  Volga  German  colonies. 

The  initial  group  of  settlers  developed  a  prosperous  colony.  It  soon  grew  to  include  238  horses,  150  cows  and  2  swine. 
Approximately  670  acres  of  prairie  were  put  under  cultivation  near  the  southern  end  of  the  village. 

The  dominant  church  in  the  colony  was  Evangelical  Reformed,  with  Lutheran  being  the  other  major  denomination.  The 
church  in  the  image  on  the  home  page  was  built  in  1849-1851  and  was  actually  the  third  church  built.  It  was  constructed 
from  hand  formed  bricks,  while  the  first  two  were  constructed  of  logs  in  1777  and  1 821 .  Of  the  original  90  families,  60 
belonged  to  the  Reformed  Church  and  30  to  the  Lutheran  Church. 


■■©* 


The  village  was  laid  out  with  the  main  street  running  North  and  South,  eventually  extending  to  two  miles  as  the  village 
grew.  The  church,  schoolhouse  and  market  were  on  this  main  street.  All  the  other  streets  ran  east  and  west,  forming 
squares  with  the  alleys  that  ran  north  and  south. 

Balzer  was  the  commercial  center  for  colonies  on  the  west  side.  Numerous  flour  and  grist  mills  were  built,  with  some  of 
the  early  ones  powered  by  wind.  Other  important  industries  were  dye  and  tanning.  Altogether  there  were  about  30 
tanneries  that  handled  about  10,000  hides  per  year.  The  textile  industry  was  probably  the  most  prominent,  with  thousands 
of  hand  looms  in  the  homes.  It  has  been  estimated  that  over  5  million  meters  of  textiles  (Sarpinka)  were  shipped  to  both 
domestic  and  foreign  markets. 

When  the  "Russianizing"  process  began  in  1 874  the  colonists  sent  an  exploration  party  to  America  to  explore  emigration 
possibilities.  Emigration  started  in  earnest  in  1875  as  young  men  objecting  to  the  compulsory  military  duty  began  to 
depart.  Another  contingent  left  in  1876.  Many  of  these  early  departing  colonists  settled  in  the  towns  of  Friend  and  Sutton, 
Nebraska.  As  emigration  picked  up,  many  settled  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States  and  also  in  Winnipeg,  Canada.  But 
Lincoln,  Nebraska  ended  up  being  the  most  prominent  destination  by  far,  with  more  than  200  Balzer  families  documented 
living  there  by  the  early  1900's. 

Summer  1997  Back  Issue 

Historical  Review  of  Balzerer  from  1938.  The  following  chapters  of  this  article  are  included  in  the  newsletter:  1)  The 
Migration  from  Germany  to  Russia  2)  The  Location  of  Balzer  3)  The  Church  and  the  Schools  4)  Ministers  of  the  Gospel 
in  Balzer  5)  Commercial  Standing  of  Balzer  6)  The  Emigration  to  America. 

Ordering  Information: 

To  order  the  full  text  version  of  this  article  from  the  newsletter  contact: 

Wayne  Bonner 
15619  Ogram  Ave. 
Gardena,  CA  90249-4445 


Why  did  our  Grandparents, 
Gottlieb  and  Anna  Marie  Weber 
and  Great  Uncle  and  Aunt, 
Alexander  and  Anna  Margaretha  Weber 

decide  to  leave  Russia 
and  come  to  the  US? 


By  the  late  1800's,  the  population  of  German  colonists  had  multiplied  to  many  hundred  thousand  people.  When  the 
"Russianizing"  process  began  in  1874  the  colonists  began  to  explore  emigration  possibilities.  Emigration  started  in  earnest 
in  1875  as  young  men  objecting  to  the  compulsory  military  duty  began  to  depart.  Emigration  accelerated  in  the  following 
years  with  many  Volga  Germans  settling  in  Nebraska,  the  Dakotas  and  other  parts  of  the  United  States  and  also  in 
Winnipeg,  Canada.  But  Lincoln,  Nebraska  ended  up  being  the  most  prominent  destination  by  far,  with  hundreds  of  Volga 

German  families  documented  living  there  by  the  early  1900's. 

Emigration  to  the  United  States,  and  other  countries,  was  effectively  ended  by  the  Russian  Revolution  in  1917.  In  the 
ensuing  years  the  Volga  Germans  endured  increasing  privations  and  suffered  persecution  from  the  Russian  government 
and  citizens.  This  period  reached  a  climax  during  World  War  II  when  many  Volga  Germans  were  rounded  up  and  forcibly 
transported  from  their  villages  to  Siberia  and  other  desolate  locations  following  Hitler's  invasion  of  Russian  territory. 


Germans  From  Russia  Societies 

American  Historical  Society  of  Germans  From  Russia 

Germans  From  Russia  Historical  Society 

Federation  of  East  European  Family  History  Societies 


hitp:/Afvww.teleport.com/-herb(M5lgahim#Volga 
Germans 


http://www.teleport.eom/-herbl/balzhisl.hIm#Hislory   ol 
the  Balzer  Colony 


Photograph  of  Alexander  Weber  in  the  Russian  army.  Alexander  is  the  man  standing 
on  the  right.   There  is  some  indication  that  the  man  in  the  middle  may  be  his 
commanding  officer  who  was  a  German  serving  professionally  in  the  Russian  army. 


Why  did  Alexander  and  Annie  Weber 
decide  to  leave  Russia  and  come  to 
the  US? 


^By  the  late  1800's,  the  population  of  German  colonists  had  multiplied  to  many  hundred  thousand  people.  When  the 

''Russianizing"  process  began  in  1874  the  colonists  began  to  explore  emigration  possibilities.  Emigration  started  in  earnest 
Fin  1875  as  young  men  objecting  to  the  compulsory  military  duty  began  to  depart.  Emigration  accelerated  in  the  following 
^years  with  many  Volga  Germans  settling  in  Nebraska,  the  Dakotas  and  other  parts  of  the  United  States  and  also  in 
Winnipeg,  Canada.  But  Lincoln,  Nebraska  ended  up  being  the  most  prominent  destination  by  far,  with  hundreds  of  Volga 

German  families  documented  living  there  by  the  early  1900's. 

^Emigration  to  the  United  States,  and  other  countries,  was  effectively  ended  by  the  Russian  Revolution  in  1917.  In  the 
ensuing  years  the  Volga  Germans  endured  increasing  privations  and  suffered  persecution  from  the  Russian  government 
*and  citizens.  This  period  reached  a  climax  during  World  War  II  when  many  Volga  Germans  were  rounded  up  and  forcibly 
'transported  from  their  villages  to  Siberia  and  other  desolate  locations  following  Hitler's  invasion  of  ) 


Russian  territory. 


i«tittitiiiiMintiiiititniriiniiii-ii-ntT-iinn-i-nninnnnninn--*T----itnntnnm T-*T*i~itirTMP~~iri"ir  nnnrniir r n Minniiniiniiiiiiiiiiinniinn 


mi  mm  "Hi  t~  "■*■'***"  ~ifliwnnnnwnM******rwMMHwa  -------  MMMMMMaaflfla 


l&ermans  From  Russia  Societies 

American  Historical  Society  of  Germans  From  Russia 
^Germans  From  Russia  Historical  Society 
federation  of  East  European  Family  History  Societies 


http://www.leleport.eom/-herbf/volga.hlm#Volga 
Germans 


http://www.teleport.eom/-herbf/balzhist.htm#History   of 
the  Balzer  Colony 


Jack  Weber  was  a  German  by  heritage,  but  his  German  ancestory  came  by  way 
of  Balzer,  Russia.   In  the  1760's,  his  ancestors  left  the  small  village  of 
Rohrbach  in  Germany  which  is  near  the  present  town  of  Budingin   ^^ 
town  is  not  too  far  from  Frankfurt,  a  well  known  city  in  Germany,   Because 
oHhe  economic  and  political  siuation  in  Germany,  Anna  Margaret  Weber  the 
widow  of  Casper  Weber,  took  her  two  sons  and  a  daughter  and  accepted  the 
invitation  or  the  Czarina  of  Russia  to  Immigrate  ■*  ■£t£f£r^0£n 
Russia  along  the  Volga  River.  The  promises  were  made  by  the  Czarina 
Russia  who  was  born  in  Germany  and  had  been  married  to  the  Russian  Czar. 
Due  to  political  instability,  the  Russian  Czar  was  removed  and  she  became 
the  Russian  Czarina.   She  understood  Germans  and  knew  that  they  were  hard 
workers,  good  farmers,  and  very  productive.   However,  she  did  not  under- 
stand how  hard  the  area  would  be  to  settle  and  what  a  hardship  she  was 
actually  expecting  from  these  German  settlers.   She  made  promises  that 
they  would  not  have  to  serve  in  the  Russian  army  forever  and  that  they 
would  receive  free  land  (about  160  acres  per  person).   For  the  first 
thirty  years  they  would  not  have  to  pay  taxes.  They  would  receive  free 
transportation  to  the  area  and  loans  if  they  wanted  to  begin  their  work. 
They  put  into  each  colony  only  people  of  the  same  religion.   For  the  Weber 
widow,  to  remain  in  Germany  meant  that  her  sons  would  be  forced  by  the 
prince  of  Germany  to  serve  as  mercenaries  in  a  war  in  which  they  had  no 
concern.  Most  of  the  money  would  go  to  the  prince  and  almost  nothing  to 
the  boys.  Anna  and  her  boys  made  the  decision  to  leave. 

lc  took  them  a  full  year  to  travel  to  the  Volga  region.  They  crossed 
by  boat  to  Lennigrad  (St.  Petersburg).  Next  they  traveled  across  land  and 
eventually  down  the  Volga  River  to  Saratov  in  the  Volga  region.   The  land 
was  arid,  having  an  annual  rainfall  of  about  fourteen  inches.   This  was 
a  great  contrast  to  the  area  in  Germany  from  which  they  had  come  which  had 
an  annual  rainfall  of  about  forty  inches  and  was  green  with  plenty  of 


water.   In  Russia,  they  had  to  learn  to  plant  their  wheat  in  the  fall  so  the 
moisture  would  accumulate  with  the  snows.   They  were  actually  at  about  the 
latitude  of  Canada.   It  was  a  harsh,  tough  experience  for  these  Germans. 
Tfie  Weber  widow  was  assigned  to  settle  in  Balzer,  about  forty  miles  south 
of  Saratov  and  eight  to  ten  miles  from  the  Volga  River. 

For  the  next  one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  the  ancestors  of  Jack  Weber 
struggled  and  became  successful.   They  learned  to  grow  the  Turkish  winter 
wheat  which  made  excellent  bread.   It  proved  to  be  a  good  quality  wheat  and 
eventually  was  brought  to  America  and  provided  the  basis  of  most  of  the 
wheat  that  was  grown  here  in  the  United  States.   They  prospered  and  built 
a  neat  village.   The  Reformed  Lutheran  Church  was  the  focus  of  their  reli- 
gious life.   Each  person  had  so  much  space  for  orchards  and  livestock.   They 
maintained  a  storage  program  for  their  wheat  by  storing  about  one-third  of 
their  grain  each  year.   When  the  drought  years  came,  no  one  starved. 

After  about  one  hundred  years,  the  Russians  changed  their  minds  and 
demanded  that  the  young  men  serve  in  the  army.   Jack's  father,  Alexander, 
served  four  years  in  the  Russian  army  to  fulfill  this  military  obligation. 
His  mother  did  not  have  to  serve  in  the  army,  but  she  worked  very  hard 
during  the  time  that  her  husband  was  in  the  army.   In  fact,  it  was  she 
who  saved  the  money  that  made  it  possible  for  them  to  immigrate  to  the 
United  States. 

While  Alexander  served  in  the  Russian  army,  he  traveled  in  the  Polish 
area  and  obtained  an  idea  of  the  railroad  system  which  permitted  him  to 
understand  how  they  could  leave.   When  they  heard  that  a  ship  from  England 
was  leaving  with  pure-bred  cattle  and  that  a  few  passengers  could  go  at  a 

lower  fare,  they  jumped  at  the  chance.  They  sold  their  belongings  and  left 
for  America  with  their  children.  It  was  a  trip  of  some  8,000  miles  and  one 
of  sadness  as  one  of  the  twins  died  on  the  way  across  the  ocean. 

The  family  arrived  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska  where  many  of  the  Volga  Germans 
had  immigrated.   It  was  a  tough  life  in  the  beginning  because  they  could  not 
speak  English.   At  the  same  time,  they  were  not  financially  well  off.   They 
worked  as  laborers  and  eventually  the  railroad  provided  most  of  the  support 
for-these  German  immigrants  which  helped  them  establish  themselves  in  this 
new  land.   In  Russia,  they  had  isolated  themselves  into  German  colonies  and 
had  not  learned  the  Russian  language  or  interacted  with  the  Russians  any  more 
than  they  needed.   In  America,  however,  they  embraced  this  new  land  with  much 
more  enthusiasm.   They  saw  the  great  freedom  that  was  present  and  the  oppor- 
tunity to  educate  their  children.   They  loved  this  new  land. 

Alexander  and  Anna  had  other  children  while  they  lived  in  Lincoln, 
Nebraska,  but  they  also  wanted  to  be  farmers  and  have  their  own  land.   There 
came  an  opportunity  to  work  in  the  sugarbeet  industry  in  Colorado.   The. 
Germans  had  had  experience  with  sugarbeets  in  Russia  and  were  very  hard  work- 
ers.  They  moved  to  the  western  slopes  of  Colorado  to  a  town  of  Olathe 
where  they  worked  on  a  farm  raising  sugarbeets.   They  had  hoped  to  obtain 

some  land. 

It  was  here  in  Olathe,  Colorado  that  Jack  and  his  twin  sister,  Marie, 
were  born  on  October  13,  1905.   His  official  name  was  John  Weber  in  memory 
of  his  ancestors.   For  Alexander  and  Anna,  the  birth  of  the  twins  was  both 
a  joy  and  a  sadness.   John  was  born  with  a  cleft  palate.   In  1905,  the 
knowledge  of  a  cleft  palate  was  not  too  well  known  and  it  was  frightening  to 
realize  the  disfiguration  that  had  occurred  at  this  birth.   The  medical 
doctor  or  midwife  that  delivered  the  child  was  not  very  skilled.   He  did 
not  even  record  this  birth.   In  later  years,  Jack  had  some  trouble  establish- 
ing that  he  was  even  born  in  America,  but  with  the  help  of  his  sister,  Molly, 
he~was  able  to  obtain  that  verification. 


Visit  to  Saratov  and  Balzer  by  Darrell,  Carolyn  and  Trent  Weber 

The  following  is  a  journal  record  that  I  kept  during  our  visit  to  the  Volga  region 
during  July,  2000. 

Arriving  in  Saratov 

In  Moscow,  there  are  five  airports  and  one  of  the  challenges  is  to  get  to  the  right 
airport.  With  a  little  luck  we  found  the  right  airport  and  we  got  on  the  airplane. 

It  was  about  eight-thirty  pm  when  we  arrived  in  Saratov.  It  was  very  dark. 
White  nights  are  not  in  existence  in  this  part  of  Russia.  It  is  much  lower,  so  we  had  to 
deal  with  the  darkness.  It  was  a  little  more  difficult.  They  took  us  through  an  opening, 
and  then  we  walked  over  to  the  side.  Then  they  turned  on  the  lights,  and  we  went  back 
in  and  got  our  suitcases.  It  was  little  confusing,  but  we  found  ours.  While  we  waited,  a 
man  began  to  talk  to  us  about  taxi.  Eventually,  I  was  able  to  get  a  message  across.  I 
told  him  Hotel  Volga,  and  he  recognized  the  hotel.  For  seventy  rubles,  which  is  about 
three  dollars,  he  said  that  he  would  take  us  there.  He  was  an  older  fellow  and  a  really 
nice  taxi  driver.  He  took  us  to  the  Hotel  Volga;  and  brought  us  in  the  back  side  of  the 
hotel.  We  entered  in  the  back  door  of  the  hotel.  The  Hotel  Volga  is  a  big  hotel.  I 
shouldn't  say  monstrous,  but  it  is  large.  There  are  four  or  five  floors.  It  is  old,  and  not 
very  modern.  Still,  it  was  a  nice  place  and  the  price  was  right.  It  was  about  twenty-five 
dollars  a  night,  which  is  unbelievable  in  many  ways.  We  are  going  to  be  paying  a 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  Moscow  when  we  get  there.  The  hotel  is  on  a  street  that  is 
no  longer  travelled  by  cars.    As  it  turned  out,  it  took  a  long  time  to  get  checked  in. 
There  were  some  people  ahead  of  us.  It  seemed  like  it  took  forever.  We  had  to  show 
them  passports  and  communicate  with  them.  Eventually,  we  got  in  and  settled  down. 
Originally,  we  had  wanted  a  room  where  three  people  could  sleep.  She  said  that  they 
have  a  double,  double  which  logically  sounded  like  two  bedrooms,  but  it  wasn't.  So, 
Trent  was  in  a  single  room,  and  we  were  in  double,  double  room.  It  amounts  to  having 
a  living  room  with  a  bedroom.  We  managed  to  spend  the  night.  It  is  the  fourteenth  of 
July.    We  settled  in,  relaxed  and  fell  asleep.  We  knew  that  breakfast  was  served  about 
eight  o'clock.  It  was  about  seven  when  I  woke  up  and  I  went  in  to  take  a  bath.  I  turned 
on  the  hot  water;  and  instead  of  hot  water  coming  out,  the  air  was  sucking  in.  This 
happens  obviously  when  the  water  below  you  is  pulling  down,  and  all  you  are  getting 
is  air.  That  was  a  little  bit  different,  so  no  bath  this  morning.  Eventually,  later  in  the 
day,  the  pressure  built  back  up.  In  the  evening,  there  was  pressure,  and  the  next  day,  it 
was  okay  to  take  a  bath  in  the  morning.  We  thought  that  we  were  going  to  have  a 
double  room  with  a  bed  for  Trent  to  sleep  with  us,  so  that  all  three  of  us  could  be 
together.  However,  a  double  double  as  they  would  call  it  is  a  room  with  two  single 
beds  and  then  a  large  room  like  a  living  room.  We  got  another  room  for  Trent  which 
was  a  single  with  a  bed  and  a  bathroom.  It  was  not  quite  what  we  had  planned,  but 
when  you  can't  talk  Russian,  and  your  communication  is  not  clear.  You  end  up  with 
something  different.  Still,  like  I  say  the  cost  was  very  minimum.  So,  we  were  not 
complaining.  We  got  up  and  with  the  hotel  comes  breakfast.  We  went  down  and  sat 
down  at  this  table.  As  we  went  down,  we  noticed  that  there  was  a  gambling  area. 
Gambling  is  an  important  business  in  town,  I  guess.  At  least  in  the  hotel  there  is  a 
gambling  place.  We  went  in  and  sat  down.  The  waitress  came  with  a  plate  that  had 
sausage,  some  cheese,  some  butter,  and  some  sliced  cucumbers.  They  also  brought 
some  bread.    We  thought,  "Well,  that  is  about  what  we  have  been  having."  It  was  not 
exactly  what  we  consider  breakfast.  Then  he  brought  in  some  rice  and  a  hamburger 


/<#■■  ■ 


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vunimtsus       CYCUo'es  ,      *;•-,  t^-_ 


Balzer,  Russia,  July,  2000 


pign  saying  come  again  to  Balzer 


Balzer  skyline  from  a  distance 


- 


lelds  near  Balzer 


Old  Volga  German  houses  in  Balzer 


Old  German  shed  in  Balzer 


patty.    It  was  almost  like  meatloaf,  so  we  thought  okay.  We  ate  that,  and  that  was  our 
breakfast.  With  a  little  luck,  we  will  find  a  driver  that  can  take  us  to  Balzer  and  we  will 
see  the  village  where  my  Grandfather  was  born. 
Visiting  Balzer 

Next  we  had  the  problem  of  trying  to  find  a  taxi  to  take  us  to  Balzer  to  see  the 
village  that  my  family  came  from.  We  went  out  to  try  to  find  taxis.  At  first,  we  didn't 
have  very  much  luck.  The  taxi  man  didn't  know  any  English  at  all.  He  thought  that  I 
was  German,  and  he  called  over  a  German  fellow  who  apparently  knew  some  German. 
He  soon  realized  that  I  didn't  know  German  either,  so  that  didn't  work.  Eventually,we 
were  able  to  talk  about  the  town.  I  did  have  the  Russian  spelling  of  the  town  called 
Balzer  (  Golgi  Karamsysch  or  Krasnoarmeysk).  He  figured  out  where  the  town  was 
and  said  that  was  okay.  Then  we  tried  to  determine  what  the  cost  would  be  for  the 
whole  day.  I  tried  to  tell  them  from  ten  o'clock  till  five  o'clock  would  be  seven  hours. 
Of  course,  they  had  to  pay  for  their  gas.  He  said  fifteen  hundred  rubles.  That  sounds 
like  a  huge  amount  of  money  but  it  was  about  fifty  dollars.  It  wasn't  too  bad.  Anyway, 
we  agreed  to  it.  We  got  in  and  off  we  went.  Turns  out  this  fellow  was  a  little  bit  of  a 
joker.  His  wife,  I  don't  know  why  she  was  there,  but  she  happened  to  be  there  with 
her  son.  They  joked  about  their  son  and  asked  us  if  we  had  a  son.  We  told  them  we 
had  five  sons  and  one  daughter,  and  they  were  just  amazed.  Most  Russian  families 
have  one  child.  At  the  most,  two  children.  It  is  a  much  different  world.  As  we  began  to 
drive  through  Saratov,  it  was  obvious  that  it  is  a  commercial  area.  There  is  quite  a 
number  of  businesses.  Saratov  has  a  million  people.  Historically,  it  has  some 
interesting  aspects.  In  World  War  II,  the  German  army  that  tried  to  take  over  Russia 
did  come  to  Saratov  and  fight.  He  said  that  a  hundred  seventy-seven  thousand  men 
were  killed  in  this  battle  around  Saratov.  In  America,  there  was  only  three  hundred 
thousand  men  killed  in  the  whole  war.  In  just  the  Saratov  area,  there  was  a  hundred 
seventy-seven  thousand  Russian  men  killed.  So,  you  have  to  realize  that  this  was  a 
bloody  battle  ground.    Because  of  the  concern  of  the  German  army  coming  in,  the 
Russians  shipped  all  the  Volga  Germans  out.  They  shipped  them  to  Siberia  or  Tashkent 
or  some  of  these  areas  that  were  a  long  distance  from  the  Volga  area.  They  were  never 
really  officially  allowed  to  come  back  even  though  they  owned  houses  and  lands.  They 
were  never  given  back  their  own  property.  They  were  forgiven  for  something  they 
never  did  about  fifteen  years  later  by  Khustchev  but  we  were  never  given  their 
property  back.  A  lot  of  them  immigrated  to  Germany.  About  a  million  of  them,  in  fact. 
It  is  estimated  that  there  is  still  apparently  about  a  million  of  them  scattered  about 
Russia.  Some  of  them  are  trying  to  get  to  Germany.  This  is  a  historical  part  of  war. 

As  we  left  Saratov,  the  country  itself  was  full  of  trees.  Very  green  trees  lined  all 
of  the  streets  and  it  added  coolness  to  the  area.  Actually,  it  was  quite  a  pleasant  town 
even  though  there  is  a  million  people.  It  didn't  look  like  it  was  that  big  of  a  city.  It 
looked  more  like  they  had  a  huge  main  street  that  was  a  mile  or  so  long.  They  had  lots 
of  stores  otherwise,  but  it  never  gave  you  the  impression  that  it  would  be  bigger  than 
Salt  Lake  City.  It  certainly  is  nothing  like  that.  There  is  no  skyscrapers.  There  were 
small  buildings.  Maybe  six  or  seven  stories  high  would  be  the  highest  ones.  Any  rate, 
it  was  a  pleasant  city  as  we  left.  One  had  the  feeling  that  it  was  fairly  peaceful.  Around 
Saratov,  they  have  what  they  call  the  steppes.  I  don't  quite  why  they  call  them  the 
steppes.  It  isn't  flat  land.  It  is  rolling  land.  You  look  on  the  horizon  in  all  directions  and 
you  see  no  mountains.  It  is  a  great  contrast  to  our  Rocky  Mountain  area.  It  is  an  area 
that  is  very  flat,  endless.  They  used  to  talk  about  the  endless  steppes.  It  is  a  large  area 
and  has  aa  lot  of  space.  As  we  began  to  pull  out  of  the  city,  we  began  to  see  the 


tiduje\  Qr?K^au\  Cell  Owe.? 


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Balzer,  Russia,  July,  2000 


German  back  yard  garden 


Shutters  common  to  Volga  German  houses 


Close  up  of  the  shutters 


Downtown  Balzer.   Main  buildings 


Downtown  Balzer  main  buildings 


Volga  German  museum  and  head  of  taxi  man 


agriculture  that  was  present.  They  have  huge  fields  of  wheat.  Five  or  six  hundred 
acres,  I  would  imagine  in  a  single  field.  There  were  fields  of  sunflowers.  Obviously, 
they  were  growing  sunflower  seeds  to  extract  the  oil.  I  didn't  see  a  lot  of  hay.  There 
was  a  grass  material  that  I  didn't  see  very  commonly.  There  were  oats,  and  sometimes 
we  would  see  potatoes,  but  not  a  huge  number  of  potatoes.  It  was  mainly  wheat.  It 
was  a  large  wheat  producing  area.  I  had  this  feeling  that  this  was  a  rich  area.  The  soil 
looked  really  good.  It  was  a  dark  and  black  soil.  One  could  realize  that  good 
agriculture  production  could  occur  from  this  area.  Even  so,  they  tended  to  plant  winter 
wheat.  They  would  plant  the  wheat  in  the  fall.  Then  the  snows  would  come  and 
provide  the  moisture.  They  would  harvest  the  wheat  by  July,  maybe  even  June. 
Several  of  the  fields  had  grain  that  was  almost  ready  to  be  harvested.  They  have  also 
planted  a  lot  of  trees.  Along  the  roadside,  they  had  planted  trees  on  both  sides,  almost 
like  a  wind  break.  I  don't  know  if  that  helps  in  the  winter  time  with  the  snow 
movement  across  the  highways.  Next  to  the  highway  they  would  plant  say  a  swath  of 
wheat,  fifty  or  hundred  feet  wide.  Then  they  would  have  three  rows  of  trees  and  then 
large  fields  behind  the  trees.  Anyway,  as  I  rode  along  in  this  taxi  with  this  fellow,  my 
mind  went  back  to  my  grandfather  and  grandmother  who  lived  in  this  area.  I  realized 
they  came  from  a  good  agricultural  area.  They  came  from  an  area  that  was  much  more 
moist  then  I  expected.  I  expected  it  to  be  very  dry,  maybe  like  we  are  in  Utah.  By  this 
time  in  July,  things  are  all  brown,  but  everything  was  still  very  green  here.  In  some 
places,  there  was  some  food  industry,  apples  particularly,  but  wheat  was  the  main  crop. 
Wheat,  oats,  barley,  I  guess,  and  corn  and  also  sunflowers.  It  took  us  almost  an  hour  to 
reach  the  town  of  Balzer.  The  driver  was  a  little  scary.  He  pushed  his  taxi  faster  than  I 
think  it  should  have  been  pushed  and  he  would  crowd  up  behind  a  car.  He  would  try 
to  get  around  trucks.  It  is  not  what  I  would  call  safe  driving,  but  on  the  other  hand,  he 
seemed  to  handle  it  alright.  We  didn't  have  any  disasters.  When  we  got  to  Balzer,  we 
drove  around  a  little  bit.  He  went  to  some  city  building.  I  didn't  know  what  the 
building  was,  but  inside  the  building,  he  began  to  talk  to  these  people.  I  showed  him 
the  map  of  old  Balzer,  and  I  had  marked  my  ancestors  home  lots.  This  must  have  been 
like  a  historical  place  where  they  kept  city  records.  Any  rate,  as  they  began  to  talk  to 
these  people,  a  woman  went  over  to  a  drawer  and  pulled  out  some  little  sheets  there. 
There  was  probably  about  a  hundred  fifty  names. 

She  said,  "These  are  Webers."  I  was  appalled  that  there  would  be  that  many 
names  of  Webers.  I  think  this  was  a  historical  aspect.  They  would  say  some  of  them 
have  gone  to  Brazil.  Some  have  gone  to  America,  and  some  back  to  Germany.  Then  I 
had  them  look  up  Grasmicks.  There  wasn't  so  many  of  those.  Another  of  our  names  is 
Spath.  There  were  just  a  couple  of  Spath  families.  There  was  some  record  of  this  area. 
I  got  down  four  or  five  names  of  people  who  apparently  were  still  living  and  could  be 
contacted  if  I  can. 

We  wanted  to  visit  the  house  lots.    I  was  trying  to  tell  them  we  could  visit  the 
lots  if  we  could  just  find  out  the  streets,  then  we  could  find  out  if  these  lots  still  exist  and 
if  there  is  a  house  on  it.  The  problem  is  that  the  streets  are  all  in  russian  and  no  german 
street  names  exit.  The  next  place  we  went  to  was  the  police  station.  The  police  station 
were  not  too  helpful.  We  had  trouble  trying  to  get  more  information  from  them.  The 
police  woman  was  not  too  helpful.  As  it  turns  out,  the  next  place  we  went  to  was  the 
museum.  It  was  a  museum  for  the  city.  That  woman  was  real  anxious  to  make  money 
for  the  museum  She  said  it  would  takes  ten  rubles  to  open  up  the  museum  which  I 
gave  her.  She  did  have  a  section  there  on  the  Volga  Germans.  She  had  the  map  of 
Balzer  just  like  the  map  I  had.  In  fact,  my  map  was  better  than  her's.  But  it  did  was 


Balzer,  Russia,  July,  2000 


Nice  brick  building  in  Balzer. 


Brick  house  in  Balzer 


Funeral  procession  in  Balzer 


Casket  on  the  bed  of  a  truck  in  Balzer 


>.'.f>V.'i&.. 


Friends  walking  in  the  funeral  procession 


Museum  about  Volga  Germans  in  Balzer 


Map 


£f\ 


Balzer,  Russia,  July,  2000 


Balzer  was  an  important  weaving  center 


Interesting  shutters 


Old  German  house  with  shutters 


■ 


Interesting  building  and  shutters 


...   .... 


The  village  of  Anton  from  a  distance 


Anton  lying  in  the  little  valley. 


give  us  orientation.  It  helped  us  out  quite  a  bit  to  know  we  were  in  the  right  area. 
Then  I  asked  if  I  could  take  pictures.  She  said  that  I  could  take  pictures.  I  took  some 
pictures.  Balzer  was  quite  a  weaving  city.  They  made  very  fine  scarfs  or  head 
coverings  as  they  call  it.  Very  fine  weaving.  Two  of  my  relatives  had  dye  factories 
where  they  would  dye  cloth  for  the  weaving.  It  was  interesting.  She  then  wanted 
money  from  me  for  taking  pictures.  I  gave  her  another  ten  rubles.  It  was  not  the  end 
of  the  world  but  she  was  anxious  to  keep  the  museum  supported. 

Then  my  driver  friend  with  great  vigor  said,  "No,  no.  Let's  keep  going."  Next 
we  went  to  another  police  station.  These  people  worked  really  hard  trying  to  figure 
out  the  names  of  the  street.  Then  we  went  to  another  building.  Eventually,  we  went  to 
a  county  building.  There  we  had  success.  They  was  able  to  give  some  of  the  German 
main  streets  the  Russian  names  so  we  could  know  what  we  were  doing.  Then  about 
this  time  we  went  around  and  started  photographing  some  of  these  houses  which  were 
my  ancestors.  Most  of  the  time  You  could  identify  the  German  houses  because  they 
quite  often  tended  to  be  wooden  and  they  had  wooden  shutters.  Usually  above  the 
shutters,  they  had  some  decorativeness  to  them.  You  could  almost  always  peg  a 
German  house  with  the  shutters  and  the  trim  that  was  a  round  the  windows.  Again, 
these  are  hundred  year  old  houses,  but  a  wooden  house  can  last  a  hundred  years  with 
out  too  much  trouble.  We  drove  quite  a  number  of  places  and  photographed  these. 
Then  we  went  to  this  one  place,  and  while  we  were  waiting,  we  looked  down  the  road. 
Here  came  a  truck  with  a  bunch  of  people  walking  behind  it.  Trent  said  it  was  a  funeral. 
I  don't  know  it  was  funeral.  Apparently,  in  Brazil,  they  did  funerals  like  this  too.  As  it 
came  by,  here  was  the  casket  on  the  back  end  of  the  truck.  Here  were  all  the  relatives 
walking.  They  were  not  crying  or  sobbing  particularly.  They  were  just  sober  faced. 
They  even  had  a  bus  behind  that  with  the  older  women  in  it.  I  think  that  bus  would 
also  carry  the  people  that  couldn't  walk.  They  were  walking  through  the  cemetery. 
One  time  we  thought  of  going  through  the  cemetery,  but  we  realized  that  it  may  be 
difficult.  A  hundred  to  hundred  fifty  year  old  cemetery  would  be  very  difficult  to 
recognize,  and  a  lot  of  the  headstones  now  are  in  Russian  names.  That  was  the 
problem.  The  street  names  we  had  were  in  German,  but  now  they  are  all  Russian 
names.  That  was  a  major  challenge  to  convert  these  German  names  into  Russian 
names  so  you  could  find  where  you  where  going.  Then  we  went  to  get  something  to 
eat.  Our  taxi  guy  again  found  a  place.  We  went  in  and  sat  down.  We  ordered  potatoes, 
beef,  and  cucumbers.  We  had  a  juice  to  go  with  it,  some  apple  juice  and  also  some  fanta 
orange.  The  meat  was  breaded  and  was  really  quite  good.  We  had  bread  too,  to  eat 
with  it.  It  was  a  nice  meal  and  not  too  expensive.  After  the  dinner,  we  went  around 
and  took  some  more  pictures  of  where  we  were  at,  a  number  of  areas.  Again  my 
thoughts  went  back  to  my  Grandfather  and  Grandmother,  and  how  they  had  lived  in 
these  houses.  He  had  worked  in  the  dye  factories.  He  had  gone  to  the  Russian  army 
for  four  years.  During  that  time,  my  grandmother  had  made  things  for  her  hope  chest, 
Money  wise  it  was  a  very  nice  hope  chest.  She  accumulated  quite  a  number  of  things 
over  the  four  years  while  he  was  in  the  army.  He,  of  course,  accumulated  money  too. 
Then  when  he  came  back,  he  worked  in  this  dye  factory.  However,the  dye  was 
obviously  damaging  to  his  liver.  He  started  to  get  yellow  in  color.  She  was  afraid  he 
was  going  to  die  which  could  have  been  true.  She  said  lets  go  to  America.  About  this 
time,  the  Russian  politics  were  becoming  oppressive.  They  wanted  them  to  pay  more 
taxes.  Of  course,  the  men  had  to  go  in  the  army  like  my  Grandfather  did.  They 
i     couldn't  have  their  own  German  schools  any  more.  They  had  to  learn  Russian.  They 
were  regulated  more  and  more  by  the  Russian  people.  They  were  expected  to  learn 


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Volga  river  about  10  miles  from  Balzer 


Villages  on  both  sides  of  the  Volga  river 


Trent,  a  4th  generation  Volga  German 


Darrell,  a  3rd  generation  Volga  German 


Carolyn  and  Darrell  at  the  Volga  river 


Volga  river  from  a  distance 


Russian.  Previous  to  this  time,  they  had  only  maintained  their  German  language. 
Many  of  the  Germans  were  leaving.  In  fact,  I  think  that  a  million  of  them  left  to  Brazil, 
Argentina,  or  the  United  States.  Any  rate  she  heard  about  a  ship  that  was  going  to  ship 
pure  bred  cattle  to  America.  They  had  room  for  a  few  humans  to  go  along.  It  was 
cheap,  so  she  sold  her  hope  chest.  They  got  on  this  boat  and  went  to  America.  It  turns 
out  that  the  cattle  were  treated  better  than  the  humans.  One  of  their  kids  got  sick  and 
died  on  the  way  over.  It  was  a  tough  experience,  but  she  wanted  so  much  to  come  to 
America.  She  was  so  happy  when  she  got  here.  He  got  a  job  on  the  railroad  in 
Nebraska.   From  there,  they  eventually  moved  to  Idaho  from  Nebraska.  They  worked 
the  beet  fields  for  a  while.  My  father  was  born  in  Olathe,  Colorado  where  they  were 
living  on  a  beet  farm  while  working  the  sugar  beets.  One  can't  help  but  think  of  your 
relatives  when  you  see  where  they  were  raised.  You  have  to  admit  that  the  community 
they  were  in  was  probably  very  tight,  and  a  likable  community.  One  where  people 
interacted  well,  and  it  was  probably  a  pleasant  environment. 
Seeing  the  Volga 

After  Balzer,  I  asked  if  we  could  go  and  see  the  Volga.  We  headed  to  see  the 
Volga.  On  the  way,  we  passed  through  a  village  called  Anton.  As  it  turns  out,  it's  a 
pretty  little  village  kind  of  nestled  in  the  bottom  of  valley  with  hills  on  both  sides. 

Anton  was  fairly  close  to  Balzer.  I  am  sure  they  interacted  with  Balzer.  When 
the  boys  would  need  a  wife,  they  would  go  to  these  neighbor  villages  to  try  and  find  a 
good  woman  to  marry.  Any  way,  the  road  was  dirt  and  muddy.    Obviously  things 
have  not  changed  much.  My  Grandmother  and  Grandfather  left  in  1900.  That  is  over  a 
hundred  years  ago,  but  I  would  guess  this  village  of  Anton  hasn't  changed  much  in  the 
last  hundred  years.  Any  rate,  there  were  a  lot  of  people  along  the  road.  The  road  was 
the  place  that  they  would  walk.  It  was  quite  picturesque.  I  took  a  few  picture  of  Anton. 
Then  we  went  up  over  the  hills  far  enough  that  would  could  see  the  Volga.  The  Volga 
is  quite  a  long  river.  I  can't  remember  but  I  think  it  is  the  second  longest  river  in 
Europe.    There  are  many  stories  about  the  Volga.  There  are  indications  that  even 
Saratov  was  a  viking  outpost  years  ago.  The  vikings  would  leave  Norway  and  come 
across  a  couple  of  rivers  and  lakes.  Then  they  would  come  down  the  Volga  to  get 
coffee  and  other  material  from  the  Turkey  and  other  areas.  They  have  a  long  history. 
There  is  the  song  about  the  Volga  boat  men  that  would  be  pulling  the  barges  up  the 
river  by  manual  labor.  A  very  tough  task.  When  we  were  in  the  art  museum  in  the 
Hermitage  in  St.  Petersburg,  I  saw  a  picture  of  the  Volga  boat  men  pulling  a  barge.  It 
required  maybe  twenty  of  them  pulling  this  barge  against  the  current.  It  was  obviously 
very  hard  work.  Anyway,  the  Volga  now  is  dammed  somewhat,  so  it  maybe  bigger  in 
size  than  when  my  ancestors  came  to  the  Volga  region,  but  many  of  them  did  come  on 
boats.  I  don't  know  if  my  ancestors  came  by  boat  or  by  wagon.  They  apparently  came 
by  boat  always,  but  the  easier  way  would  be  to  come  by  the  boat,  come  down  the 
Volga  river  rather  than  wagons.  They  were  further  from  the  Volga  than  I  realized.  I 
would  say  that  they  were  ten  miles  from  the  Volga  river.  I  thought  they  were  close 
enough  to  see  the  Volga  all  the  time,  but  apparently  that  was  a  misconception.  Even  so, 
the  Volga  was  impressive.  We  could  see  on  our  side  (West  side)  there  was  just  one  little 
village  area,  but  across  it  there  were  many  little  villages.  The  East  side  tended  to  be 
more  of  the  Catholic  villages  side  from  the  Volga  Germans.  They  have  a  lot  of  villages 
on  that  side.  Even  now  it  looked  quite  heavily  populated.  We  could  see  lots  of  houses 
across  the  river.  Later  on  our  guide  said  there  was  a  railroad  bridge  that  crosses  the 
Volga.  There  is  another  way  that  people  could  cross  the  river  now.  I  don't  know  if 
there  is  a  ferry  or  if  there  is  a  boat  bridge  that  people  can  drive  across.  Certainly  in  the 


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Moor,  Russia,  July,  2000 


the  village  of  Moor  from  a  distance 


Closer  view  of  Moor 


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View  showing  the  size  of  Moor 


A  home  in  Moor 


A  home  in  Moor 


A  house  in  Moor 


their  time,  there  would  have  to  be  a  boat  crossing,  a  ferry  type  of  crossing 

Near  Anton,  there  was  a  huge  apple  orchard.  It  looked  like  they  had  quite  a 
crop.  We  then  came  back  to  Anton,  went  back  to  Balzer.  We  took  some  pictures  of 
Balzer  from  a  distance.  It  was  interesting  to  see  the  plants  around  Balzer.  Many  of  the 
plants  that  we  have  in  our  country  are  also  there.  There  was  the  globe  mallow  which  is 
a  common  weed.  Red  root  was  another  weed  that  was  present.  There  are  wild  daisies 
just  like  we  have.  I  thought  I  saw  larkspur,  but  I  wasn't  sure.  Many  of  the  plants  were 
the  same.  In  fact,  it  could  be  that  the  Volga  Germans  brought  plants  like  the 
tumbleweed  and  some  of  these  other  weeds  with  the  wheat  they  brought  with  them    It 
was  the  Turkish  hard  wheat  which  turns  out  to  be  a  very  good  bread  wheat    They 
brought  the  wheat  over  and  began  to  be  grow  it  m  North  and  South  Dakota  and 
Nebraska.  Just  before  we  left  that  area,  the  taxi  guy  turned  and  said,  "Take  a  picture  " 
The  sign  was  like  saying  "come  again.  We  are  happy  you  visited  at  Balzer  (actually  the 
russian  name  not  Balzer).  Any  way,  we  went  passed  Balzer  down  to  the  village  of 
Moor.  A  fellow  that  I  am  associated  with  keeping  the  records  for  Balzer,  some  of  his 
families  came  from  Moor.  So,  I  went  down  there  to  take  some  pictures  for  him    One  of 
things  that  were  obvious  was  that  Moor  hasn't  changed  all  that  much.  It  is  still  a  small 
village.  The  roads  where  not  paved.  In  fact,  there  were  quite  a  few  mud  holes  that  you 
had  to  be  very  careful  that  you  didn't  get  stuck.  We  did  stop  and  there  were  some  kids 
on  a  motorcycle  and  some  kids  in  a  car.  Out  taxi  driver  joked  with  them  about 
something,  I  don't  know  what  he  was  joking  about.  Again,  it  was  a  nice  little  area,  and 
we  took  some  photographs  there.   From  Moor,  we  turned  and  headed  back  to  Saratov. 
On  the  way,  there  was  one  more  village  we  stopped  at.  It  was  Beideck.  It  was  a  larger 
village  and  I  don't  have  relatives  or  anything  from  there  but  it  was  on  the  way  to 
Saratov.  J 

We  came  back  to  Saratov.  The  cost  was  about  fifteen  hundred  rubles  or  about 
fifty  dollars.  This  guy  worked  his  heart  out  for  us  trying  to  make  contacts  and  it  was 
well  worth  the  money.  It  was  kind  of  a  melancholy  day  for  me  to  see  my  ancestors  and 
to  reflect  on  a  little  bit  the  regions  that  they  came  from.  Back  in  Saratov,  we  went  out 
see  the  city.  The  street  that  we  live  on  is  the  main  shopping  street  for  the  town.  It  is  a 
big  area.  We  did  some  shopping  up  and  down  the  street.  We  didn't  buy  much,  but  we 
shopped  around.  Then  we  went  and  got  a  burger  at  Burger  Royal.  It  is  kind  of  a 
Russian  version  of  something  like  Burger  King.  The  burgers  didn't  taste  like 
hamburgers  but  they  were  still  pretty  good.  We  did  get  a  milkshake  and  that  was 
pretty  good  stuff.  After  that,  we  returned  back,  spent  the  evening,  and  rested  again  for 
the  night.  b 

The  next  morning,  which  was  Wednesday  the  fifteenth  of  July,  we  got  up.  We 
had  a  good  nights  sleep.  This  time  we  had  a  bath  okay.  We  went  down  and  had 
breakfast.  This  time  they  had  noodles,  like  the  stroganoff  dish,  for  breakfast.  Again, 
we  had  our  sausage,  cucumbers,  bread,  and  butter.  First  I  tried  to  get  him  to  give  us 
water,  but  I  had  no  luck  on  that.  He  wanted  to  give  us  carbonated  water,  and  its  really 
hard  to  explain  to  them  in  a  language  which  you  don't  speak  that  you  don't  want 
carbonation  in  your  water.  Any  rate,  we  then  went  out  shopping.  It  turns  out  that  this 
was  quite  fun.  We  had  a  good  time  shopping.  I  actually  bought  twenty-one  of  the  dolls 
where  they  are  one  inside  the  other,  the  wooden  dolls.  It  was  unbelievable  that  some 
of  them  would  cost  two  dollar  and  seventy-five  cents.  I  wonder  how  they  can  ever 
make  them  for  that  price  and  still  make  money,  but  they  must  do.  We  then  bought 
some  things,  a  blanket  for  one  of  our  children.  We  also  bought  some  nice  white  shirts 
for  other  uses.  It  was  pleasant.  Wt  bought  a  cracker  box  and  a  little  music  box.  Trent 


Saratov,  Russia,  July,  2000 


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The  fields  near  Balzer 


Fish  market  in  Saratov,  Russia 


Fruit  market  in  Saratov,  Russia 


Cheese  display  in  Saratov,  Russia 


Main  street  in  Saratov,  Russia 


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almost  found  some  shoes  that  were  good  quality  shoes,  but  they  weren't  big  enough  so 
we  were  unlucky  on  that.  Carolyn  was  looking  for  shoes  but  she  was  unlucky  too. 
Anyway,  we  did  quite  a  bit  of  shopping. 
Headed  for  Moscow 

Before  you  know  it,  it  was  almost  two  o'clock.  We  came  back  and  packed  up 
and  got  ready  to  come  to  the  airport.  As  we  left,  I  paid  my  bill.  We  came  out  and 
waited  for  the  taxi,  and  no  taxi  there.  I  went  back  in  and  the  man  called  the  taxi.  A  few 
minutes  later  she  came  to  us,  and  asked  us  something.  I  couldn't  communicate  with 
her.  I  thought  maybe  she  wanted  me  to  pay  more  money,  but  later  she  came  back 
again.  Eventually,  it  came  through  that  we  explained  to  her  that  we  were  going  to 
Moscow,  and  we  wanted  to  go  to  the  airport,  and  we  needed  a  taxi.  She  was  helping  us 
and  when  the  taxi  came,  she  talked  to  him  a  bit.  That  was  nice  of  her.  It's  amazing  that 
in  this  time  that  we  have  been  here  we  probably  haven't  talked  to  anyone  that  can 
speak  English.  It  has  always  been  by  sign  language,  by  writing  something  down,  by 
trying  to  pantamine  what  you  want  done.  Still,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  amazing  how 
much  we  have  accomplished,  and  certainly,  hasn't  been  too  big  of  a  handicap.  Again, 
we  got  a  taxi  that  brought  us  here  for  about  seventy  rubles  which  was  about  three 
dollars  to  go  to  airport.  The  airport  is  pretty  isolated.  We  were  a  little  nervous.  There 
was  only  the  three  of  us  and  two  other  people  waiting  for  this  airplane.  I  hope  that  it 
does  come.  It  is  suppose  to  come  at  four-twenty,  and  it  is  almost  a  quarter  to  four.  You 
think  there  would  be  more  of  crowd  here  if  people  were  going  to  Moscow.  Any  rate, 
we  will  fly  back  to  Moscow.  We  are  down  to  just  two  or  three  days  left  before  we 
return.  Sunday,  Monday,  and  then  we  return  on  Tuesday.  We  waited  for  the  air 
meeting  to  be  checked  in,  and  finally,  they  made  a  lot  of  people  check  in.  We  went  over 
to  the  bags  and  took  our  bags.  We  had  picked  up  our  bags  in  the  middle  of  night 
before.  It  finally  got  up  to  our  turn  and  they  put  all  of  our  bags  on  a  big  scale.  Then 
she  wrote  on  there  nineteen  kilograms  overweight.  They  told  me  that  I  had  to  go  pay 
a  fee.  She  didn't  tell  me.  She  just  pointed  to  another  place,  so  we  had  to  guess  that  was 
what  she  was  doing.  I  had  to  stop  and  think.  It  is  probably  dollars  for  that  extra 
weight.  Flying  from  Moscow  to  Saratov,  we  had  to  pay  one  fee,  and  now  all  of  a 
sudden  we  were  paying  the  penalty.  We  went  back  with  the  little  sign,  and  then  we 
went  through  the  gate  checks.  Then  we  went  into  a  room  and  waited.  Some  guy  came 
and  talked  to  us  in  English.  The  plane  had  been  sitting  there  when  we  arrived.  It  was 
an  American  plane.  They  took  us  to  this  airplane.  It  is  an  older  model  with  three 
engines  in  the  rear,  one  in  the  tail,  and  one  on  each  side.  We  got  on  the  airplane  and 
there  was  no  boarding  passes.  There  were  no  seat  assignments,  so  we  just  picked  out  a 
seat  and  sat  down.  As  we  got  in  the  air,  one  of  the  things  that  impressed  me  as  I  looked 
out  the  window  was  the  vastness  of  this  region.  Often  when  you  go  to  the  midwest, 
you  look  out  the  window  and  see  this  agricultural  land  stretching  endlessly.  That  is  the 
feeling  that  I  had  here.  These  steppes  were  like  the  center  part  of  the  United  States. 
Endless  agricultural  fields.  In  this  case,  the  rain  provided  the  water.  Although,  some  of 
the  Volga  has  been  devoted  for  irrigation  further  down  as  it  gets  close  to  the  Caspian 
Sea.  Any  rate,  this  was  an  impressive  site.  One  has  to  reflect  that  this  is  probably  the 
bread  basket  of  Russia.  Soon  they  gave  us  a  meal.  It  is  a  pre-made  meal.  They  have 
some  liverwurst  in  little  cans  that  you  open  up  and  smear  that  onto  a  roll.  There  is  also 
a  roll  that  you  can  put  jam  on.  There  was  some  juice.  It  was  not  the  best  meal,  but  it 
was  food.  We  arrived  in  good  shape  to  Moscow. 


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DECLARATION   OF   INTENTION 


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'Madleon  County, 


.Court 


& 


Gottlieb  17atifr, 


of 


Ninth  Judioial  DiBtriot 


occupation    °&rpe"ter  and  fanner 

description  is:  Color    white- complexion  llght 


-aged. 


•38- 


.  years, 


weight 


175- 


.  do  declare  on  oath  that  my  personal 
IIL  height  _L  feet  _L  inches, 


:  pounds,  color  of  hair  jg own' 


1,  color  of  eyes 


hlue — 


other  visible  ^distinctive  marks      a°»all    mole  on  ohin- 


I  was  born  in Saratoff,   goaala.— §_.--_«_^ 

on  the      13th 


day  of 


Maroh- 


_  anno  Domini 


at geacbnrg.   Madison  Jouiity.   Idaho , - 


I  876    ,V 

I . . 


1\  <n   C 


0      $    O  *  $ 

I  now  fes^dej 


I  emigrated  to  the  United  States  of  America  from  Saratoff .   Russia. 

on  the  vessel,     ^reslau.- 

foreign  residence  was  . Saratoff,   Russia,- 


■A i_i ... .. 


ffim%o)m%mnptdmmt    i    .i — to '. -■- -tu  i  r  i  ii 

:        Saratoff.    Rui 


uNMW^auf, 


q>iiMlk|i< 


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It  is  my  bona  fide  intention  to  renounce  forever  all  allegiance  and  fidelity  to  any  foreign 

prince,  potentate,  state,  or  sovereignty,  and  particularly  to   "iohoia8.II,  anperor  of  *" 

all  the  Pusoias, 


IZZZ-,  of  whom  I  am  now  a  subject : 
------  ^  ^  ^ 

,  on  or  about  the    lat ^y 


I  arrived  at  the  port  of Baltimore 

State  of   Maryland, . 

of  .J^l°hi"7."-""---"ZZ.-anr\o  Domini  i_2£°_;  I  am  not  an  anarchist :  I  am  not  a 
polygamist  nor  a  believer  in  the  practice  of  polygamy;  and  it  is  my  intention  in  good  faith 
to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  of  America  and  to  permanently  reside  therein: 
So"  help  mb  God. 


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Stmtk.  I  mm  not  m  dUlxUmr  in  or  oppa 
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intention  U  Umm*  .  t^^STCn*  U*£}tm 
partioHlarlm  f  -Orfgf^/  <—?5f~£^i 
to  mid*  pmrwmmtfy  in  IV.  PMferf  aiam. 

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JWMfc.     //^»«    r«yW    ((.tuuuullj    a    LI 

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thit  P4tUUn,    Mllltt. 

r««lh.    /  k*»*  N4>(  Ktrotoftro  maA*  pctitiot 


Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  '' 


\ 


[SEAL] 


,  anno  Domirh- 191*1 , 


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cinincni  %t  unnraL-rea  enTiuuujxjiTioa  mimsis 


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IMMIGRATION  SERVICE 

saioner. 


1.  cu 


^><F«r  M»  «f  allMi  trrivlnc  1*  U*IU4  httii  after  Jm  M,  1906,  T«  b*  bntd  ImibwIIbMt  prior  to  pitW»»rtfa»»>wiltntln«J 

;  M;  i  : Serial  No,72Q/P-l  ... 

.    f  ;>.  i. ,  a  a  &  DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR 

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>,     Baltlnm-.T   Ud..     gabrn&ry  6.  1919. 


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Tent  is  to  certify  tint  the  foflowing-nained  alien  anired  at  the  port  indicated,  on.  tba  data  and  in  the 

:^^3iKLUor^aaorib*d  balow,  rix:  i "-. 


Name  of  alien:      Oottlla*  Wabaar. 
Mu^'X^Ul  Portofentnr:       Baltiaora,  Ud. 

^Bl^-     ;.^'Data;6f  arriVal:    isprirlfl,  1907. 


i^^^S^^^ilfe^^u'  Horth 


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Jttoohod  W«o  «ul  Hud,  a  sort  o^  tAI>  p«o  > 
m«  •jPooaft  aiU  <k«  «)7Wa»£*  <V  tKo  tun  Borift/tnt  > 


fl«Urotim  tflnUntlon  and  CmrUAoato  of  Jr 
Vara  nCuu  »r  Own.— 11  BMmmm  a 


r*<  mfmi  mmti  pttUUnmr  tUnf  duly  i 
tentonu  lint/;  <«va<  tko  oeUd  petition  U  tignt 
information  mnd  UUof,  and  that  mm  to  tk—  max. 


1: 


/;,;.       ,[     Immmdiamlfm^omUn/UuaaXotfiUUgnispatU 
'.,'/     ;. :  ■;    tntUUd  notUian  U  mad*  arnHniieuilw-mn—  tn*  - 

'i'i ; ' -'1J  ■  i ■  •** *^4  yw ■■»»«■•  <*  »Tiwwyjf»wi^»V»itiui 

.fry  ■■■:'■'.■:,  ■<■<:?■:.■: 

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caaaJ>emiMil3f-J- 


11/21/1997  LDS  FAMILY  HISTORY  LIBRARY 


on  oath  that  my  personal 

,  heighu£feet  JL  inches. 

^cotorqfeyes  -d^^e^v  ;, 


i"ui 


SI 


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jSpSBj: .  n^rnpsjlsaflSiSs? 


1,  anno  Domini  i  ?/((?'.  I  now  reside 


I  emigrated1  to  the 
on  thejvessel 


h  States  of  America  from . 


foreign  residence  was 


;  ray  test 


:y  to  any  foreign 


itiiaoinyihona  fide  intention  to  renounce  forever  ail  allegiance  and 
prince,  potentate,,  state,  or  sovereignty,  and  particularly  to 

£l£/s  ififii O^J^-*^^^^.,  of  whom  I  am  now  a  subject; 

.  in  the 


ta2=^=C-r 


_,  on  or  about 


the^/ 


^^~ 


~*ar 


i arrived  atJhe.port  of 

Stated 

of 


•   ;   ,^nnn  Domini  V3&JL  I  am  not  an  anarchist:  I  am  not  a 
?»tygamtet^a^leyerinithe-pfac^  and  it  is  my  intention  in  good  iaith 


toDb^n^atcitizenrofy.thetUnlted  Slates  of  America  and  to  permaneotly  reside 
SO  HELP  MB  GOD. 

"*"r.'{Y  «•"►'* 


.    .      ..«.,.k».-4. 


^ 


n 


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>.M,t   if  Subscribed 


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Be 


11/21/1997  12:36  LDS  FAMILY  HISTORY  LIBRARY 


LIFE  OF  ERIC  D.  BRESEE 


On  18  June  1922  I  arrived  at  the  home  of  my  parents,  Benjamin  Willard  and  Isabella 
Allison  Hampton,  approximately  1  mile  south  of  Gouverneur,  New  York,  on  a  39  acre 
farm.  Both  my  parents  were  former  school  teachers.  Dad  had  attended  Syracuse 
University  for  a  period  and  Mother  had  her  Teacher's  Certificate.  At  the  time  I  arrived, 
Dad  worked  at  my  Grandfather  Hampton's  marble  quarry  during  the  day  and  with 
mother's  help  ran  the  farm  with  500  plus  hens,  always  a  milk  cow,  a  pig  at  times  and  the 
usual  number  of  cats  and  dogs.  My  brother  Willard  Edward,  named  after  Grandfather 
Bresee,  was  born  18  August  1915  and  died  in  1988.  George,  the  tiny  premature  baby, 
was  born  in  1916,  and  died  shortly  after  birth.  My  brother  William  Hampton,  named  as 
many  Hampton's  were,  was  born  27  February  and  (as  of  April  1997)  is  living  in 
Birmington,  New  York.  My  coming  in  1922  completed  the  family. 

In  193 1  William  had  a  double  mastoid  operation,  making  it  highly  desirable  that  he  be  in 
a  warm  climate  for  the  next  winter  or  so.  Consequently,  in  the  fall  of  1932  we  obtained  a 
1925  Cadillac  from  Uncle  William  Hately  Hampton  in  Utica  and  proceeded  to  St. 
Petersburg,  Florida,  returning  in  the  spring  of  1933. 

The  time  from  1933  to  1940  was  spent  growing  up,  school,  caddying  at  the  Gouverneur 
Country  Club  ($0.25  for  9  holes),  working  at  home,  and  helping  next  door  on  a  farm. 

In  1935  or  1936  both  Garfield  and  Pearl  Weatherup  died  within  six  months.  My  parents, 
being  good  friends,  became  legal  guardians  of  the  daughter,  Norma  (about  1  year  older 
than  me)  and  son,  Robert,  who  was  slightly  younger  than  my  brother,  Willard.  Norma 
lived  with  us  until  she  graduated  from  high  school  and  married.  Robert  stayed  with  us 
and  other  relatives  until  he  graduated  from  Gouverneur  High  and  went  on  to  the  Naval 
Academy.  Norma  lived  until  70+  and,  as  of  1997,  Bob  lived  in  California. 

The  fall  of  1936  I  entered  high  school,  played  football,  had  small  parts  in  a  couple  plays, 
competed  in  a  math  contest,  and  spoke  at  a  competitive  oratorical  contest.  A  couple  of 
months  prior  to  graduation,  in  1940, 1  got  sick  with  rheumatic  fever  which  postponed  my 
graduation  plans.  I  went  back  to  high  school  in  the  fall  and  also  took  a  Machine  Shop 
Defense  Course  in  the  evening.  In  the  spring  I  got  a  job  in  Utica  at  Savage  Arms  as  a 
profile  operator,  making  50  caliber  machine  guns.  Most  of  the  machine  guns  went  to 
Russia  as  part  of  the  lend/lease. 

I  quit  Savage  the  fall  of  942  and  entered  Clarkson  College  and  enrolled  in  Engineering. 
At  the  same  time  I  enlisted  in  the  Army  Reserve.  As  planned,  I  left  college  after  the  first 
term  and  waited  for  the  Army  to  call.  I  was  inducted  at  Niagara  Falls  and,  since  I  had 
enlisted,  I  was  given  a  second  interview  and  assigned  to  Miami  Beach  for  Basic  Training 
in  the  Army  Air  Corps.  Aircraft  Engine  school  in  Coral  Gables,  Florida  came  next  and 
then  on  to  Tinker  Field,  Oklahoma  (outside  of  Oklahoma  City)  where  the  97th  Repair 
Squadron  was  formed.  From  there  it  was  port  of  embarkation  at  Newport  News,  Virginia 


and  the  ocean  liner  for  the  trip  around  the  Cape  to  Bombay,  India.  We  crossed  India  by 
train  to  set  up  a  base  about  70  miles  north  of  Calcutta. 

A  construction  unit  built  the  concrete  runways  and  the  usual  support  buildings.  The  B29s 
arrived  with  x  (for  experimental)  still  on  the  nose.  Not  one  plane  made  the  trip  from 
Oklahoma  to  India  without  stopping  for  repairs.  Engines  lasted  from  20  to  80  hours  in 
operation  and,  since  most  missions  averaged  15  to  20  hours  in  length,  the  safety  factor 
was  near  zero.  A  change  in  the  engine  rocker  arms  a  couple  of  months  later  corrected,  or 
a  least  extended,  the  engine's  life.  All  missions  were  to  South  East  Asia  and  Japan,  via 
China. 

At  the  time  the  29    Bomber  Command  was  to  move  to  Timian,  a  few  who  had  good 
reason  were  permitted  state-side  leave  for  45  days  (I  talked  fast).  Going  home  we  flew 
from  our  base  to  Accra,  Africa  in  a  DC3,  then  to  Belm,  Brazil  and  up  the  coast  to  Miami 
in  a  B24;  then  home  by  train  for  45  days. 

I  reported  for  duty  at  Kearns  (outside  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah)  after  the  45  days  at  home,  to 
wait  my  transfer  back  to  my  unit  in  Timian.  Three  major  events  took  place  during  my 
stay  at  Kearns,  Utah.   1.  I  met  the  love  of  my  life,  Rowena,  later  my  wife.  2.  The  bomb 
was  dropped.  3.  The  war  ended.  After  Kearns  I  spent  a  short  stay  in  Gulfport, 
Mississippi  at  a  P.T.  Boat  base  and  was  discharged  at  Rome  Air  Corps  based. 

After  a  couple  of  months  I  reentered  Clarkson  College  and  four  major  incidents  took 
place  during  my  stay.   1 .  Rowena  and  I  were  married  between  semesters  in  1946.  2. 
Charles  was  born  in  1947.  3.  One  summer  I  attended  R.O.T.C.  Summer  camp  and 
worked  for  the  Burton  Smead  Lumber  Company  in  Rexburg,  Idaho,  and  4.  I  received  my 
degree  in  Mechanical  Engineering  and  a  Reserve  Commission  as  a  Second  Lieutenant  in 
the  Corp  of  Engineers. 

After  graduation  in  1949  I  began  working  for  the  U.S.G.S.  in  Ellenville,  New  York, 
where  Gary  was  born  in  1950.  I  received  orders  for  active  duty.  However,  since  I  was  in 
an  active  reserve  unit,  the  orders  were  cancelled.  In  1951  we  transferred  to  Palmer, 
Alaska,  via  Rexburg,  Idaho,  where  Rowena  stayed.  I  went  on  to  Seattle,  booked  the  car's 
boat  passage  to  Valdez  and  I  continued  on  by  plane  to  Palmer.  Rowena  and  the  boys 
came  after  I  rented  a  new  house,  with  option  to  buy.  Before  our  car  arrived,  I  spent 
approximately  75  percent  of  my  time  in  Alaska  in  the  field.  A  few  of  my  experiences 
noted  here  may  be  of  interest. 

The  Palmer  sub  office  covered  the  area  of  Northern  Alaska,  including  Kodiac.  We 
traveled  by  truck,  chartered  small  planes,  chartered  small  boats  or  took  the  scenic  train 
between  Anchorage  and  Fairbanks,  plus  hiking  to  each  measuring  site  -  sometime  by 
snowshoes.  There  was  considerable  wild  life,  including  Alaska  brown  bear,  beaver, 
salmon  and  trappers  living  in  the  bush.  To  get  to  the  station  on  Kodiac  it  necessitated  a 
small  float-plane  and  an  hour  hike  (more  or  less)  to  the  site.  Years  ago  a  volcano 
destroyed  all  the  trees  on  the  Island,  leaving  grass  to  grow  three  to  four  foot  high  which 
concealed  any  brown  bear  traveling  to  and  from  their  fishing  spots.  My  loud,  but  off-key 


singing  gave  the  bears  a  warning  and,  unless  they  had  cubs,  they  would  usually  retreat. 
Also  at  that  site  I  was  never  without  my  Remington  30-06.  In  another  area,  near  Valdez, 
I  chased  a  brown  bear  with  a  truck  at  35  miles  an  hour  for  a  short  distance,  so  I  would  not 
like  to  try  to  outrun  a  bear. 

On  one  trip  to  Valdez,  while  waiting  for  a  storm  to  subside,  the  hotel  burned,  a  tire  blew 
out  (20  degrees)  and,  when  we  got  in  the  mountains,  the  truck  quit  (the  temperature  was 
55  degrees  below  zero).  Since  several  cars  had  been  held  up  by  the  storm,  we  all  left 
Valdez  about  the  same  time  so  we  had  no  problem  catching  a  ride  to  a  road  commission 
work  station.  They  found  the  problem  the  next  day  and  I  got  home  without  further 
problems. 

The  transfer  to  Charleston,  West  Virginia,  happened  in  the  fall  of  1952.  Indications  of  a 
medical  problem  occurred  in  Alaska,  but  the  M.S.  surfaced  big  time  in  West  Virginia. 
After  taking  all  my  leave  built  up  in  Alaska,  and  some  borrowed  leave  from  the 
Government,  I  got  back  to  work  on  a  part  time  basis  until  I  could  handle  an  eight  hour 
day.  Rowena  put  up  with  a  miserable,  hard-to-get-along-with  individual.  While  working 
for  the  state  of  West  Virginia,  in  1961  I  was  "Acting  District  Engineer"  for  several 
months  after  the  District  Engineer,  W.L.  Doll,  died.  So  when  the  U.S.G.S.  changed  from 
a  District  Engineer,  covering  only  surface  water,  to  a  District  Chief,  covering  surface 
water,  ground  water,  and  quality  water,  my  job  as  Assistant  District  Engineer  could  not 
be  converted  to  Assistant  Chief  since  the  appointed  Chief  was  also  a  surface  water  man. 
Consequently,  I  transferred  to  Albany,  New  York  in  1967  where  I  stayed  until  I  retired  in 
Jan  1980. 

After  retirement,  I  continued  work  at  the  office  on  a  part  time  basis  for  a  year  or  so.  I 
built  a  sun  room  on  the  house,  did  a  little  traveling-including  Florida,  California,  Arroba, 
Antia,  Cancun.  Singapore,  Bali,  Korea,  and  Hawaii. 

In  1986  the  idea  of  buying  and  selling  houses  surfaced,  which  I  actively  pursued  for 
several  years.  The  first  house  was  purchased  at  an  auction  in  Canajoharie,  New  York 
(midway  between  Utica  and  Schenectady).  Within  a  year,  seven  other  houses  were 
purchased  and  six  have  been  sold  as  of  25  September  1995. 


PROPERTY  OF: 
DAVlD  0,  MCKAY  LIBRARY 

BYU-IDAHO 
REXBURG  ID  83460-0405 


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