HTML: 6E 1893-1894
Frieda Gerstenberg, Kum.
Jan 9, 1893
Dear Frieda! Your welcome letter, stamped Dec. 20, arrived here on Jan. 4, ‘93. You signed as my niece, but you are my granddaughter. [Born about 1871: see T210] I was happy that you took time to write a letter to your 88 year old grandfather. Didn’t you receive a letter from me in Dec.? You did not answer any of the questions that I asked in my letter.
We are having a hard, cold winter; lots of snow and sledding tracks. As we have good horses, the two boys, Carl and August (who are still at home) often have a nice sled drive with Dora.
On Christmas we got a letter from Emma and Schlomann; they were well and doing fine. Last summer I got a letter from Anna; she was well and doing fine. I also have a picture of her. And now I would also like very much to have one of you.
Thank you for Lina’s address. I will write to her soon. Why is it, though, that you do not mention a word about your paents? I believe that your brother Ernst is still alive—at any rate, we have not heard anything about his death.
Karol. Gerstenberg, Kum.
[Jan 9, 1893?].
Dear Daughter. I wrote a letter to you last Dec. Didn’t you get it? I had surely hoped that you would write to me for my birthday. I am now 88 years old and can still get around. It is strange: my father and mother both died so early, and I have to get in the way myself for such a long time. <T329> You must be quite an old lady, too [66 -- LPM]. How are you and your husband? Is he still active?
My two oldest sons, Ernest and Adolph, are in Oregon on the Pacific Coast, almost as far from here as Kummerfeld is, but the train takes [only] 6 days to get there. They are both married; Adolph has three children [Thalia, Albert, Adolph] and is expecting a fourth [Louis, b 13 Feb 1893]. Ernest has had five children but two of them died [still living 1893: Ernest, Frederick, George]. They each have a farm and are doing well. The climate in Oregon is a little warmer than in Wisconsis, and the best apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, and apricots grow there. We raise good wheat, but hardly any fruit. Over the past few years many people have switched to raising strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, and red currants, but they all have to be covered up during the winter.
Carl, August, and Dora are still at home. If it weren’t for my wife’s bad leg, I would say we are all healthy, except for little colds now and then.
Your daughter Lina, with whom I was once having a very friendly correspondence, has been neglecting me sadly. She did not even write to tell me that she is married, but now that Frieda has sent me her address, I will try writing her a letter.
Wishing you lots of good luck, I remain F.A.M.
Mr. August Gebhardt, Quedlinburg in the Harz.
[Jan., 1893].
I had some trouble at the NY custom house with your seeds that I ordered last year. Most of the seeds were good except a few that were probably old. ... The cauliflower was good and I hope you will send me more of the same seeds. Enclosed you will find $1 for the following seeds: ... . Address as usual: F.A.M. C. M.C. Wis. U.S.A.
Hague & Schmidt in Erfurt.
[Jan., 1893].
Enclosed you will find $1 for which I ask you to send me by mail the seeds listed below as samples without value. [Seeds: ...]
<T330> Mr. Karl Gottlieb Wünsche in Schönbach near Löbau in Saxony.
Jan. 13, 1893.
Dear Sir! When we move into a new year, our thoughts often seem to go back, not only over the year just past, but also over our whole life. So my mind has been wandering back to Schönbach, where I suppose nobody remembers would remember me if I could not call you friend in honor of your father. As leaves fall from the trees in the fall, my former friends and acquaintances have fallen left and right and have gone to their graves. Your father is in heaven now, enjoying all the happiness that was promised to him. I don’t expect to meet him there, as I don’t know the way to this place. Like a leafless tree, I stand alone in life. All of my relatives (except for my children and grandchildren) are dead too.
When I read the papers, everywhere there is snow and coldness, hunger and need, anarchy, socialism, religious persecution, dynamite, stupidity, and superstition. Professor Briggs, who teaches at a university in New York and who dared to teach his students that Love [Bible? -- LPM] is not God’s word (not dictated by God!) had to answer for his behavior to a Christian court; and instead of doing like Luther and defending his views, he lied his way out because he did not want to lose his fat salary. It seems to me that in the present times enlightenment is going backward.
During our last presidential election the Democrats won, but the president who was nominated [Cleveland] was smuggled in by the financial big-wigs. He is a lawyer who makes nice speeches and wears his coat on both shoulders, but the Democrast have a majority in both houses and the Populist party has some good representatives [in the legislature]. So it won’t be too easy for Mr. Cleveland to fulfill his secret promises. But the Democrats have just won a big victory in Wis.—I just read in today’s paper that the [state] Supreme Court decided that the two Republican State Treasurers who collected interest on state money and put it into their own pockets have to give back one million dollars (four million Mk).
Since early Dec. we have had sledding tracks, and severe <T331> cold for the past four weeks. Last year was not too bad, but not too good either. Altoghether we had about 3/4 of our expected yield. Potatoes, onions, and fruits were entirely spoiled; wheat and cattle prices are very low, but the price for pigs is good. Thousands of bu. of potatoes have been imported from Hamburg, but we have to pay 25 cts. custom duty per bu.
I am sending you today a German newspaper, and it would please an old man very much if you would trouble yourself to tell me something about Schönbach and the old homeland.
Greeting your family, I remain your devoted ...
<Written in English.> To: Adolph at Merlin
Jan 1893 [excerpt].
… We have heard Will Haskins wife [Anna Larson] ran away with another man. …
<Written in English.> To: Ernest at Kerby
13 Feb 1893 [excerpt].
… Henry Crouse … got a divorce from his wife.
<Written in English.> To: Sam Firth [husband of granddaughter Lina Gerstenberg: see Jan 1893], Shipley, Yorkshire, England
13 Feb 1893
<T331>, cont. Karoline Gerstenberg.
Febr. 17 [1893].
Dear Daughter. Your leter, postmarked Jan. 28, arrived here on Febr. 15. It was not a birthday greeting, which Frieda took care of quite well, but it was a letter in your own hand, which I had missed very much. But I can see by your letters how hard it is for you to write, so I will be satisfied from now on with Frieda’s letters.
I don’t know anything, or only a little, that I could add since my last letter. Winter and cold weather are still going on. We are all pretty well and looking forward to a good summer. Greetings from all of us to all of you. Your father.
North Western Post, 84 Mason Str., Milwaukee, Wis.
Mar. 11, 1893.
Please be so kind as to answer the following questions in your paper:
What value does black rye have for the farmet? Is it also good for malt?
What is the reason that the German papers are more expensive than the English?
Is there an inexpensive edition of Schiller’s and Goethe’s works, and where are they sold?
Is there a book store in Milwaukee, preferably one that sells German books?
<T332> [March, 1893]
Dear Lina! Your letter and your husband’s pleased us all very much, especially since we see that you are well.
Emma, who visited us five years ago for three weeks with her husband and four children, is fat and heavy like your mother. Annie seems to be the same (or will be!), according to her picture. But you seem to be slim, and I always imagine that you look like your grandmother [Elise Henriette Sophie Von Mithofen]. She was a beautiful woman when she was young. I would like very much to have you visit us with your husband and child, but I have little hope for it. The distance is too great, unless you decide to emigrate to America.
My daughter Dora, who lives with us is a nice pretty girl, and our joy and her mother’s help. She is delicately built and she does not look like a farm girl. She will be 30 years old on the 21st of this month, but she still looks like she is 18. She could have been married long ago if she were not so particular. We would not like to lose her either, and could hardly manage without her, as my wife’s health is not good.
I think and hope that you won’t keep us waiting so long for your next letter. You must consider that my time will soon run out—in fact, it is a miracle that I still have any time left at all. Any moment could be my last. As long as I can make my wishes known, one of my first will be for your happiness. Your grandfather.
Caspar Bedenk, Sparta, Wisc.
April 20, 1893.
I was greatly surprised when I read your letter of April 12, as it is so much different from our agreement. I have agreed with you as follows: my old note has been replaced by a new one that is co-signed by my wife; thus the old note is paid. I will be coming to Sparta in about 2 weeks, and we will discuss it some more. With my friendly greetings ... F.A.M.
<T333> (no page with this number) <T334> Mr. O Koslowsky, 51 W. Van Buren Str. Ch[icago], Ill.
April 23 [1893].
Dear Sir! A snow storm that lasting for several days has covered fields and gardens with a foot of snow, and this has kept me from all outdoor work, so I have had time to study the sample issue of your "Rundschau" that you were so kind as to send me.
I regret having to say that I consider the politics and religion expressed in the "Rundschau" hardly any different from, and no better than, what is in the N W Post, which is published in Milwaukee and instead of enlightening their countrymen tries to keep them in their state of German stupidity. As I cannot believe this happens due to lack of knowledge, I must believe that both papers are owned by financial big-wigs, to the shame of their German heritage. So far I have been unable to find a free thinking German paper in America. If you could recommend one to me, I would be very pleased.
Your devoted F.A.M.
Frieda Gerstenberg, Kummerfeld.
April 23, 1893
Dear Frieda! I received your little letter of May 17, and I was happy that you answered so soon. I can no longer remember old Mrs. Richter who died.
We were having very nice weather and had just started to plow and sow, when suddenly three days ago a violent snowstorm arrived. It snowed for three days, and now the ground is all covered with a foot of snow. This has thrown us far behind in our work.
As you know how to write such nice letters, please answer the following questions for me:
How much rye do you thresh in a year?
Have you built another barn?
Do you still thresh your rye with a flail, or by a machine—pulled by horses or steam?
How much buckwheat do you raise in a year?
How many cows do you have?
How much do you have to pay per year in taxes?
How much interest do you have to pay per year?
<T335> If you don’t know the answers yourself, you can find out from your mother or father. And I want them to send me a picture of you at your next opportunity. Give my regards to your father, mother, and brother. Your grandfather.
P.S. Is anyone from the Bruchmann family still living?
Caspar Bedenk, Sparta, Wisc.
July 3, 1893.
Friend Bedenk. In response to your request that I should be sure to pay up, through June 23, the note that I gave to your wife, I have the money here since that date and you can have it—the sooner the better. But your wife will have to sign the note, and you will have to return the old note to me.
You can take a morning [train?] car to Cashton. From there it is a short walk to my house, and in the evening you can return to Sparta by car.
Greetings to your wife. I remain, your devoted ... .
Caspar Bedenk, Sparta, Wisc.
July 8, 1893.
Friend Bedenk. I received your letter of the eighth of this month. In reply I must tell you: Since you wanted the money for my note up to June 23 so badly, i was forced to borrow it, and I will have to pay double interest if I keep your money longer. It is here, ready for you against your bill. If you will send me my note, receipted, I will get a Post Office or Express money order for your bill and mail it to you. With friendly wishes ... F.A.M.
Caspar Bedenk, Sparta, Wisc.
July 13, 1893.
Dear friend! I received your post card and the registered letter with my note—a few days late, as we cannot go to pick up our mail every day. I am sending you today a money order for $25.50 interest for three months, from which I spent 15 cts. for the moneyh order; that leaves $25.35.
<T336> The last rain pleased us very much, as it was starting to get very dry. We have our hay in the barn, and on Monday the wheat harvest will start. We have so much to do now that I probably won’t come to Sparta before fall. Greeting your wife and daughters, I remain, your devoted F.A.M.
Caspar Bedenk, Sparta, Wisc.
July 16 [1893].
Dear friend. I received your post card of the 13th of this month. Did you completely forget that there is a heavy fine for sending a request for payment openly on a post card by mail? Are you so terribly stingy that you don’t want to spend two cents for postage? Respectfully, F.A.M.
You have surely received the money by now, and you can now sleep in peace.
Lina Gerstenberg, Kummerfeld n. P. near Altona, Hamburg.
Aug 26, 1893.
Dear Daughter. Yesterday I received your letter of Aug. 4th, and I see that you are still alive but unfortunately very ill. This worries me greatly. I hope that you will be feeling better when this letter reaches you. Frieda still owes me an answer to my other letter of April 23. It seems that the drought that I have been reading about in the papers has caused damage to you too.
We certainly had quite a dry summer, but every two or three weeks, when everything seemed to be burning up, a god rain came. Over all, we have not had better crops for many years, but that has not been true everywhere. There are regions where everything dried out, but there are now railroads running through the whole country, so the good regions can easily provide for the bad ones.
People say I am not getting any older and I still look the same as I did 10 or 20 years ago, but my strength is lacking andif one is unable to work any more, life is no longer interesting. Work makes life sweet. The older one gets, the more troubles arise until finally death releases us from all evils.
<T337> Dora got a letter a few days ago from Schlomann’s children. They were all well. Since last March I have heard nothing from Anna in N.Y. nor from Lina in England.
We now have a great shortage of money; many banks have gone bankrupt and many big factories and mines have shut down. This caused thousands of workers to lose their jobs while the rich people are counting their money by the millions.
We are quite well; we have enough to eat and drink, but times are hard and business has almost completely stopped. A bu. of wheat (60 lb.) costs only 50 cts. or 2 Mk in your currency.
With gretings from us all, and hoping soon to hear of an improvement in your health, I remain your father and grandfather F.A.M.
Aug. Schlomann, W.H., Corner of Oakland West Str.
[Aug. or Sep., 1893]
Dear Emma. A few days ago I received a letter from your mother, which I enclose. She writes that she is very sick, and that she wrote you a letter but you did not answer. Please write to her right away. We have not heard from Anna for a long time. Is she married? Last spring I got a letter from Lina in England, which I answered right away, but I have not heard any more from her.
==
Dear August. You are now getting so rich that you won’t recognize your poor relations any more. But we are not so poor either—we have enough to eat and drink.
The summer was a little dry, but we always had rain at the right time. The garden and field crops are better than they have been for many years. August is working as a carpenter, and Carl manages the farm. Naturally, he feels a little bit lonely. He is a great friend of children, and I wish you could let him have your Hans for company, or do you want to make a doctor or a [?] out of him? How is your business? Hard times are everywhere. Let us hear from you again soon.
<T338> Cashton, Oct 31, 1893.
Dear Son-in-Law Gerstenberg. Yesterday I received you letter of Oct. 18, with the announcement that death has rid my daughter, your wife, of all worry and pain. [She would have been 67 years old in Nov.—LPM] I had already observed from my daughter’s last letter how much difficulty she was having with writing it. I am still not sure when death will take me, as I am still enjoying pretty good health except that my strength is gone. Greeting you all, Your old Father and Grandfather F.A.M.
Aug. Schlomann, Corner of Oakland, W. Str., Hoboken, N.J.
Oct 31 [1893]
Dear August. Last evening I received your letter of Oct 25, as well as a letter from [Georg] Gerstenberg from Kum., both with the news that death has rid my dear daughter Karoline from all worry and pain, while I—an old man—am still puttering around here in this world.
Mother is having a lot of trouble with her leg, Dora is still with us but sick right now, Carl is now very healthy and he takes care of all the chores. August worked as a carpenter this summer and has earned well but also spent well. Now he has gone to the woods with three boys to cut 500 cords of wood. We would be very happy if Hans could spend next summer with us. We now have four beautiful horses, and we can spare two.
Your letters are very welcome to us, but they come so rarely.
==
Dear Emma. I can well imagine how much you would have liked to see your mother again. I also thought of it often, but it was impossible for me. You can be consoled by the fact that death rid her of all trouble and worry.
Anna has not written for a long time either. Is she married? I hope you can get Frieda come over. Dora is sick a lot nowadays, but Carl and August are well. I am feeling my age and Mother’s leg pains her so much that she often cannot sleep.
Don’t make us wait so long for a letter from you. We have not heard from Ernst.
<T339> Aug. Schlomann, W.H., N.J.
Dec. 5, 1893.
Dear Aug., Emma, and Anna. Last evening I received your letters of Dec. 1. I also received your letters of Oct 25 and answered them on Oct. 31, enclosing a letter to Frieda. You don’t seem to have received my answer. In August Dora received a letter from Louise [Schlomann], which she also answered right away.
I cannot regret [Georg] Gerstenberg’s death very much. I feel that it is best for him and for you as well.
I would be happy if Kummerfeld could stay in the family. The beautiful house cost some hard sweat, but Otto could not exist unless all the others give up any inheritance claim. For example, suppose that the place is worth 900 Mk. There are 9 children, so they would each get 100 Mk. Otto’s share would also be only 100 Mk, so he would have to pay 800 Mk [in order to own the property]. This is impossible for him.
If Emma and Anna want to take a trip there, I can’t understand what good it would do. Not only is the voyage very dangerous in winter, but also this would entail unnecessary expense. It might be better for you to use the trip money to support Otto and Frieda, who have had a lot of expense with the illness and the funerals.
It seems that Anna is with you now. I am enclosing a copy of my last letter, along with the letter from Frieda to you.
We have been having very cold weather and good sledding tracks, but we are all quite well.
== Frieda’s letter:
Dear sister and brother-in-law. Although Father and Mother made their whole lives so bitter for each other, Mother by so many worries and sorrows, and Father by many troubles, but being so much accustomed to their life together, Father cannot get over it. He complains that he cannot breathe, and says that he will soon follow Mother. And then the Lord took our Father from us on Friday morning, Nov 17 [1893]. <T340> The funeral will be on Tuesday. We greet you in sorrow and despair. Your brother Otto and your sister Frieda.
Frieda and Otto Gerstenberg, Kum. near P. near Altona, Germ.
Dec. 5, 1893.
Dear Frieda and Otto! I learned from Schlomanns of the death of my dear daughter, your mother, and yesterday of your father’s death as well. I hope that your sorrow over the death of your parents will be softened when these lines reach you. Death is sad for those who remain behind. It rids us of all the sorrow and worry of earthly life.
I hope and wish that you lose neither your health nor your courage. You probably have to expect a lot of trouble. I am still quite well and will be 89 years old this Christmas [season].
Aug. Schlomann
Sunday, Dec. 17, 1893.
Dear children. Yesterday I received your card. I now know that you received my letter. I cannot understand what happened to my previous letter—I thought perhaps the address was wrong. Now I also want to give you a Christmas gift—you will never guess what it is.
I wrote you in my earlier letter that August went to the woods to chop cord wood. A few days ago, Dora received a letter from him, saying:
"Last week, somebody knocked at the door of my cabin. I opened the door and said, ‘Come in.’ A man came in, and I thought I should know him. I looked at him and he looked at me. Then he said, ‘August, don’t you know me?’ "
Who was it? Ernst Gerstenberg, all alive and well. He is working near here on the railroad. That’s all I know so far. I think perhaps the boys will be coming home for Christmas and will bring Ernst along. I am only sorry that your mother could not have known about it. This would have made it easier for her to die.
I don’t know how much longer I will last. It can happen very quickly. Life has nothing more to <T341> offer.
That’s all for now. We are having rain one day and sharp frost the next, but still good sledding tracks.
Frieda and Otto Gerstenberg
Dec. 18, 1893.
Dear children. I want to give you a beautiful Christmas surprise—sorrow can be followed by joy. Your brother Ernst is alive and well. I am only sorry that your mother couldn’t have known about it; it would have made dying easier for her. Your grandfather.
Otto Gerstenberg, Kum. near P. near Altona, Germ.
Dec. 29, 1893.
Dear Grandson. I received your letter of Dec. 1, and you will have received my letter of Dec. 5 at about the same time. You will also have received my letter of Dec. 18 by now, with the good news that your brother Ernst is alive and well and has been found again.
Now, dear Otto, I would like to know what you are planning to do. Do you think that you could manage the business with the help of your sister Frieda, or do you perhaps want to get married? Can’t you get a rich wife? How much is the mortgage on the place, and what is the interest rate?
What do your brothers and sisters say? Are they also claiming a share of the inheritance?
Please answere these questions clearly for me.
We have had good sledding tracks for the past several weeks, but for several days there has been a thaw so that we have to use the wagon again.
Answer soon. Your grandfather.
Aug. Schlomann. W.H. N.J. Corner of Oak and West Str.
Jan 1, 1894.
Dear Emma. I will address my letter to you because I hope to receive an answer from you first. I got your letter of Dec. 20 which I think you wrote in reply to my registered letter of Dec. 6. But I still don’t know whether you have received my letter of Dec. 17. Please write and tell me how it happens that <T342> don’t get letters or answer them regularly. In her last letter, your mother complained about this as well. I sent you this last letter of hers in my August letter. I would like very much to have it back, to save it in memory of your mother. I don’t even know whether you received my letter with your mother’s letter enclosed, because you never answered it. All of you need to be more diligent about writing letters. Ernst G. [Emma’s brother—LPM] is living here in this state, just a couple hundred miles from here, but he never writes a letter to me or to you, nor to his mother who worried about him so much.
It seems that Anna is with you now. She still owes me a reply to my last letter. What is she doing with you? Is she sick? Is she married? Or is she a clerk in your store?
You ask me how things are in Kummersfeld. I asked Otto and Frieda the same question in several letters before their parents’ death, but I have not found out anything. Why don’t you send an inquiry to Kum. yourself?
I don’t even know whether you are rich or poor. I hope that little Fritz feels better again, and that Anna will write to me soon and tell me how she is doing, and that you will soon send me a complete answer to this letter. I excuse Schlomann; he surely has enough to do in his store. These wishes and requests from your Grandfather.
Hague & Schmidt in Erfurt.
Jan. 12, 1894.
Dear Sirs. Here is my usual request that you send me, for the enclosed dollar, the following seeds as samples without value. Respectfully F.A.M.
Around here we had a dry but very good summer, and had a good crop of clover seed that was sold in the fall for $5 per bu. Wheet costs 50 cts. per bu.
<T343> S.T. [?] To the Superior Vormundschaftliche [Guardianship] Office in Pinneberg near Altona in Holstein.
Jan. 12, 1894.
The undersigned F.A.M. formerly lived in Kummerfeld where he owned a small farm. When he emigrated to America, he signed over his property to his daughter Karoline Meissner, charging her with the care of her mother. Karoline later married one Gerstenberg. Then her mother died, and the farm was freed from that obligation.
On the night of Oct. 11-12, 1893, my daughter Karol. Meissner (m. Gerstenberg) died, and soon afterward on Nov. 17 of the same year Gerstenberg followed her.
This is the situation. Now I want to know: Does the property revert to me, her father? Or are Gerstenberg’s children the heirs? There are eight or nine of them.
Please send me this information soon. Signed, F.A.M.
Aug. Schlomann. W.H. N.J. Corner of Oak and West Str.
Jan 15 [1894].
Now I have to answer two letters for the long one of Dec. 30.
Neither August nor Ernst G. visited us at Christmas nor at New Year’s. What I said in my letter before last is all that I know so far.
The Democrats surely cannot be held responsible for the bad times, which have resulted from the laws that have been made to the advantage of the big-wigs.
We here in the country cannot complain much. The summer was very dry, but the crop was quite good. Wheat, to be sure, is very cheap, but many thousand bu. of clover seed was threshed in Wis. and sold for $5 per bu. Pigs, butter, eggs, and potatoes brought good prices. Here on the Ridge, almost every farmer has an Artesian well, which costs $300 to $500, and a new house or a big new barn. Nobody goes anywhere by foot any more—the farmers all ride in buggies or road carts.
<T344> Cashton is booming; the Milling Co. has built a big roller mill and has good business. The Creamery Co. has a creamery in which the machinery alone cost $1500. There is a saw mill and wood factory, three blacksmiths, two harness shops, two holds [?], two tooters [?], two watchmakers, two picture galleries, seven saloons, two hardware stores, four groceries and drug stores, one barber. The streets there are paved now and new houses have been built, five Artesian wells, a water system for all of the streets, and good sidewalks. [Everything’s Up to Date in Cashton City ?? -LPM]
There is nobody without work or bread—it is even hard to find a helper if you ever need one.
Now to answer your last letter, I addressed my last letter to Emma, and in that letter I excused you because I thought you might not have time to write. I am glad to hear that Fritz is well again, and the rest of you are too. Greetings to all. Your Grandfather.
== Anna Gerstenberg:
I was glad to hear that you are well. Please ask Emma whether she still has the last letter that your mother wrote to me and I forwarded to her. I would like to keep it to remember your mother.
Ernst Gerstenberg, Barron Wis.
Febr. 9, 1894.
Dear Ernst. Yesterday we received your letter of the 4th. We had already heard from August that you are still alive. Your mother died during the night of 11-12 Oct. 1893. It was very unkind of you never to write to her. She was so worried about you. On Nov. 17 your father died. Otto and Frieda arranged their burial, and are still living in Kummerfeld. Otto wrote to me that your parents had made a will, but it has not yet been unsealed. Your brother from Berlin and your sister Lina from England went to Kummerfeld before your mother’s death, and Emma and Anna were considering going there when they <T345> heard that their mother had died. Anna left her job at that time, and has been living with Schlomanns since then. They were still well according to their latest letter. Some time when you have nothing else to do, come down and visit us.
My wife, Carl, and Dora send their regards. Your Grandfather.
Frieda and Otto Gerstenberg, Kum. near P.
Feb. 12, ‘94.
Dear Frieda and Otto. I received your letter of Jan 17 and was glad that you replied so soon and that you answered my questions carefully.
I think and hope that the two of you will be named as heirs in the will; you are the ones who stood by your parents. However, you will also have to assume the debts along with the inheritance, and that is a hard nut. But both of you are young and strong—maybe you can work hard and pay them off.
I will let you know as soon as I hear from Ernst again.
Please let me know the terms of the will.
We have been having very unsettled weather, a long stretch of mild weather is followed by snow and severe cold.
Wishing you lots of luck. Your Grandfather.
Aug. Breitenfeld, Bruce, Brocking Co., Da.
April 22, 1894.
Dear friend. I see from your letter that arrived yesterday that you lost your best friend, your wife. Although it is sad for you, death has released your dear wife from all her pain. I am certainly still quite healthy, but as one lives longer one has nothing but worries. My wife still has her bad leg. She limps around during the day, but often at night she has so much pain that she cannot sleep. Dora is still at home, but always ailing. Carl does most of the work, as I can only work a little. August is working elsewhere. Your cousin Wilhelm Breitenfeld worked here last year, and this year on another farm, but he is always ailing.
<T346> W. Henka is Assessor and Albert Jones our Chairman; Cashton is constantly growing. Today is the first sunny we have had, following a long rainy spell. Tomorrow I want to sow barley. Give my regards to Wilhelmine, and write to me again soon.
Your friend, F.A.M.
Portland Center, M.C. Wis.
May 21, 1894.
Dear friend. I have to pay a note next week, so I would like for you to pay me by this week the $3 for the plow. You must have heard from August [Breitenfeld] by now that his wife died.
Greeting you I remain your friend F.A.M.
Aug. Breitenfeld.
June 7, 1894.
Dear friend. I received your letter of May 22, and read with great interest about your experience while looking for land. Early in May we had very nice warm weather here, and enough rain, but now it is dry and cold and frost continues at night. My corn is entirely frozen, but I hope it will grow out again. We are just starting to make hay, and we hope that the rain will come soon and bring better times. Nobody has any money. Everything we have for sale is cheap, and we can only exchange it for store goods.
We will be glad to hear from you again. It seems that you are staying with your daughter Julie, who I hope you will greet for me. Your friend, F.A.M.
August Breitenfeld, Care of Mrs. John Woodard, Brookings C. Dakota
<Written in English.> To: ?
Jul 1894 [excerpt].
… Henry Crouse got married again.
HTML: 6E 1893-1894
WELCOME page