REMEMBER WHEN STORIES FROM THE LOUP COUNTY CENTENNIAL BOOK

REMEMBERING A SOD HOUSE
BY: Helen Locker McFadden

I remember when I lived in a sod house. My father, Ed Locker, my mother, three brothers, two sisters and I moved to one in Loup County in 1932. The house doesn't stand anymore, but it was located northeast of Taylor, what at that time was the Bridges place. The farm is now owned by Stanley Peteresen, about one mile north of where Terrell Sanders lives now, or one mile east of where William Sitz lives.

The house had two rooms which were quite large. The house was approximately 28 feet long by 18 feet wide. One half of the house was the bedroom with the remaining half the kitchen, dining room, and living room all in one. The bedroom had four beds, three dressers, and a wardrobe in it. We hung curtains for partitions in there. The kitchen wood cookstove was used for both cooking and heating. This latter part was no problem as the house was warm in the winter and cool in summer.

The house was plastered on the outside with cement and the inside walls were also plastered. It had a wood shingled roof. Inside there was no ceiling...it opened right into the wood rafters.

We used kerosene lamps and lanterns for light and carried our water for house use from the stock well. This well was out by the barn..quite a distance away, about one town block!

We owned a car, but it was mostly used for necessary trips to Taylor for groceries and supplies. My oldest brother and sister and I would ride horseback to the neighbors for dances and other entertainment. At home entertainment consisted of playing cards, checkers, and reading. We also exchanged reading materials with friends and neighbors.

The family owned some milch cows. We separated the milk, and sold the cream to buy our groceries. We also had a few laying chickens, extra eggs were sold to help out.

1932 was a very dry year. Feed and hay for the cattle and horses were very scarce. Horses were used for the small patches of farming and haying that were done.

Compared to anyone's way of life now, it was quite a rugged existence. But then it was endured and accepted as standard of the times.

transcribed by: Melody Beery

CENTENNIAL STORY
by: Howard and Amy Helmkamp

Some of Howard and Amy Helmkamp's memories include:
Dust storms of the 1930's
Selling hogs for two cents a pound. Old hogs which only sold for 1 1/2 cents per pound were canned.
Cattle sold for 18 dollars a head.
They raised 40 turkeys, dressed them then sold them to Depend-On Store at Sargent. From there they were shipped to Chicago.
Howard played ball with the Almeria team every Saturday afternoon at Brewster; some Sunday games were held also. Some of the other men playing were Yocum, Drake and Nelson.
Howard and Amy remember trading at Strong's Store in Almeria.
Amy, as a child, went to town and had to help push the Model T up a hill near Garska's.
A chicken brooder made in the ground under the coop continually smoked up, making the chickens black.
They used an incubator to hatch about 200 chicks.
Howard received his first suit at age 16; until this time he wore knee pants.
Howard recalled his 31 years as custodian at Taylor Schools with wife Amy as helper.
His father, Bill, was custodian for 20 years at Taylor School.
Amy went trading or to programs at Almeria in a sled on occasion.
They remember bricks were used to keep feet warm while riding.

transcribed by: Melody Beery

The Winter of 48 and 49
by Hazel Dunbar Stapleman

It began snowing on November 18 and continued off and on for a period of over two months, with much wind and drifiting. All roads were drifted shut so each family was quite isolated. We were able to get some oat straw hauled in for the cows with a team and rig. It was impossible for our mail carrier to make the route from Milburn, but after three or four weeks he (Glen Freeman) hired an airplane to fly over and he threw the roll of mail out at each house. He became quite adept at making the roll of mail land right at the door of the porch. When it landed, the outside of the daily was split somewhat but we didn't mind that as we were so glad to get some reading material.

Our four year old son and his dog had fun sliding on the snow but his dad did not think it was fun scooping a path to the chicken house each time that more snow came. The path became deeper and deeper until it was like an open tunnel.

It was not until the last of January that the resuce operations began with bull dozers, graders and weasels that were sent out to pen roads and make roads to the hay stacks.

It was like music to our ears when we head the big caterpillar dozer roaring two or three miles away. As it opened the road, it stopped at each farm house to clear a road for the cattle and our case to also clear a road so we could get out of the yard.

Collier's Magazine edited a long story about the winter entitled "The Great White Death" written by Quentin Reynolds. It described the disasters of the storm in South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming as well as in Nebraska.

It was an experience that a lot of us will not forget and hope we won't see another storm like it.

transcribed by: Melody Beery

Modes of Travel
by Hazel Dunbar Stapleman

All farmers owned several teams of horses, the draft horses for work in the fields. Also, most of them owned a driving team. The best team of my memory that my dad, John Dunbar, owned was a black team named Nig and Coley. They traveled at a good speed when hitched into the top buggy. Strange but true they would trot fast going up a hill and walked going down.

Then there were some teams that were not so gentle. One day my sister and I were going to accompany our dad to town. We girls came to the buggy wearing new sunbonnets that our mother had made for us. But as soon as the horses saw us they began jumping and acting frightened. Dad told us we would have to discard the bonnets as they would cause a run away. So off came the pretty pink and blue bonnets as the sight of a run away team would be a frightful sight. Next came the Model T Touring cars. They could sail along at a good speed until they hit a sandy spot or a high hill. Then it was necessary for manpower to get into action to push and help it over the hill. These cars had a top that could be put up in case of rain, but they ran much better with the top down.

transcribed by: Melody Beery

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