Al Neely A Great Auctioneer

Dad and I went to quite a few auctions in the 40's and 50's and most of them were conducted by Al Neely. Al was the top auctioneer of his time.  He always said he was born down along the Trimbelle Creek. In the 1895 Pierce County Plat Book we find that G. Neely had a forty acre farm in Section 22 of Trimbelle township, a litte ways east of the creek. The only sibling I am aware of was a Mrs. Haster that lived near Ellsworth. He did have a family of his own, I know of two sons, Rosario and Hartzil. I have found in the records of Maple Grove Cemetery names of fourteen Neely's so it would seem Al had quite a few relatives.

Dan Campbell from town told me that Rosario used to deliver groceries around Ellsworth with a horse and buggy when he worked for C. A. Bateman who had a grocery store where the Ellsworth Library is now.  According to the Historical Album of Ellsworth 1862-1962 Al had one of the old livery stables in town. I have been told it was on the north side of Spruce Street close to Chestnut. Like most of them it burned long before my time.

You might wonder how I would know much of a man the age of my grandfather. Well, no matter where Al went whether he was conducting a sale or you met him on the street or in the barber shop he was always telling stories. He had a great mind for details and never left much out of his salty tales.

I remember one funny thing that happened at an auction in the 50's. A man by the name of Ted got the top bid on a small piece of belt. When Al said sold he called the man by his last name. As he handed the belt to the buyer he asked if his first name was Ed, the man answered "no Ted", Al said "oh Fred". It sure sounded funny at the time.

Al knew who I was and he always said I was Irish and German like he was, he knew how to make a young fellow feel good.  In October of 1949 I had the best experience of my life at one of Al's auction's. About a month before, our beautiful buckskin work horse named Diamond had been struck and killed by lightning one very stormy night.  Dad had been looking for another horse for a few weeks when he noticed in the paper that down on Co. Roads V. and C. Fred Von Bargen was having an auction in a few days. He also found that there was a team of mares on the bill and Al was conducting the sale.  Dad and I went to the Von Bargen farm a little early on the day of the auction and boy did that team of Belgian mares ever look nice. We were told they were full sisters and weighed 1,500 lbs. each and were suppose to be eight and nine years old. They were named Bird and Bess. Bird was a grey and Bess was bay in color.
Well the highlight of the day was when it came time to sell the team and dad said I could do the bidding. The bidding went back and forth for a little while and finally I got the top bid of $64 each. "Man Oh Man" I couldn't believe it, a nice team for $128, it was a great buy. They turned 
out to be the best team we ever had. When they got down to pull everything just shook.

Al kept on having sales into his eighties. Sometime in the 60's I went into Eric Johnson's barber shop and Al was there. He was telling about buying horses in North Dakota for the government during World War 1. He was also telling about an up coming sale, it was going to be in just a few days. Little did he know it would be his last, a few months later Al died at age 86.

There were many good auctioneers then as now, but Al had a chant and sound that was all his own. He was surely the best auctioneer of his time. 

Written by Richard Langer October 27, 1999

Country Roads

When I was just a little kid in the middle 30's our township road was just a path we traveled in our Model A Ford to get to town or church and over to see my mother's folks who lived on County Rd. E. County E, seemed like a Roman highway compared to our road. Gravel was a was added as needed and the motor patrol went by a few times a week. Our road always needed gravel and one of the local men went by with the small grader once a month if it needed it or not.

The road I lived on all my years on the farm was the Oak Grove - Trimbelle town line road. Until I was nine years old we lived on the south end of that road, that part was taken care of by Oak Grove.  The first time I remember any major improvement made on the road I was five years old. My folks were talking about it but I didn't understand just what it was all about. Later on when I could see some strange yellow machines coming slowly from the north I began to pay more attention. They still looked strange, crawling and clanking along and tearing up the sod, I sure hoped they knew more about what they were doing than I did.  Believe it or not though in a few weeks they left and the county trucks came and put a coat of gravel on the road and it was a lot better than when they started.

The trouble with gravel was it seemed to melt with the snow, and in the spring and even sometimes in the summer after a good rain we had to stay off the road until it dried up a lot.
After we had moved up the road about two miles we were then living on the Trimbelle end. In 1946 Trimbelle township bought its own motor patrol and that helped a lot. The road was graded more often and the big grader was also used to plow the roads in the winter.  The main problem with the old roads in snow removal was when the roads were first built they cut through a hill to lower the hill but this left the banks on both sides very high and when the snow drifted it all stopped in the roads. How do you plow the snow off the road when there was no place for the snow to go?  Well in the early 50's someone discovered if you sloped the banks down on the road sides and raised the road bed a little when the snow drifted it kept right on going across the road and didn't stop until it found somewhere to get out of the wind. 

In 1953 the whole road by our place was graded up good and then a sand lift was put on and a thick layer of crush rock on top of that. Believe it or not we could go somewhere in the winter and even in the spring without getting stuck in the snow or mud.  The only problem with crushed rock it was very dusty and when a car went by and the wind was blowing towards your house you didn't have to powder your nose because it was already done for you.

In 1976 the road was graded again and the next year black top was put on. It was great but the cars sure went by a lot faster. We lived in a valley so the traffic was coming down the hill from both side, I'm sure some of the cars were going at least 80 mph.

It was kind of nice in the old days even when we were snowed in, everything was so peaceful. I can still hear the old Oshkosh diesel trucks the county used to plow all the roads. We could hear them coming for miles, it broke the silence but we did have to get back to school and the mail and milk men had to get through.

The funniest thing can remember about old roads happened one day in the spring after the road had all dried up. Our mailman came walking down the road in the forenoon and told us he was stuck. Dad and I walked up the hill with the mailman and there his Model A sat with all four wheels on the road but it couldn't move. He said he was moving very slowly and went over a big lump of dried mud and it came up under the differential housing and raised one back wheel enough so it would spin and of course the other wheel would not go around. Dad and I gave him a little push and away he went.  The country roads have sure changed but it was kind of nice in the old days even if we had to stay home once in a while.

Written by Richard November 2, 1999

The Company Threshing Run

My dad Richard Langer Sr. started farming in the spring of 1932. In the first eight years he threshed in three different runs. In 1940, he bought into a neighborhood company run.  In a company threshing outfit, each farmer owns an equal share of the machinery. My dad bought his share from Lee Kinneman. Lee lived just across the field from the old Langer homestead and had one of the first combines in the country, so he didn't have much use for his share anymore.

I think my dad paid $175 for his share. For his money, he got a share in a 30x52 Red River Special threshing machine, a 20-35 Rumley Oil Pull tractor and a grain elevator that was run with a one cylinder gas engine.  In a company outfit, the threshing order was rotated: the first farmer to thresh this year would be the last to thresh next year. Since there eight farmers in the run, it would be eight years before he got to thresh first again.

The grain was usually cut and shocked the last two weeks in July and threshing started two weeks later in August. Farmers exchanged labor so it didn't cost too much to have your threshing done. There was also a small charge for the elevator. There was a threshers meeting afterwards to settle up and the farmers who didn't too many acres made a little and the farmers 
who had quite a few acres had a bill to pay.  Some outside help had to be hired, mostly for pitching bundles onto the wagons in the field; many young fellows made quite a little spending money that way. Young fellows from town used to come out to and pitch, too. Some of them done pretty good, but some of them went home the first noon. If your hands weren't used to the pitchfork handle, it could be down right painful.

Much as been written about the meals served during threshing and it was all true. I remember one year my folks bought picnic hams for threshing. I kept pestering my mother to give me some when she was getting the meal ready but she wouldn't. She finally did give me the bone and I thought I really had something.

The company run lasted until the late 40's when most of the run bought combines. Some of the farmers joined other runs for a few more years.  Beside my dad, the farmers in the run were: Bill and Raymond Matzek, Bernie Kemmerer, Walter Kinneman, Hiney Huppert, George Pfluger, Mayme Kemmerer and Joe V. Buss.  These farmers all lived on what now is CTH OO or on adjoining roads to the east and to the west.

One thing about all machinery: it would break down. One time when they were at Hiney Huppert's, the cylinder shaft broke. They hauled the machine to Ellsworth and Harry Gipford welded it and they went back to work.  Gipford had his shop on the corner of Main and Broadway in East Ellsworth, the building is now owned by Steve Hinck.  Another time, I remember Bill Matzek brought the shaker from under the feeder on the machine up to my dad to fix. He took some windmill tin, added to it to the end that was worn off, and chiseled out some new teeth and attached them inside the shaker with rivets. He done such a good job I 
couldn't believe it. He was a pretty good blacksmith.

Some of the things weren't too good in the old days, but those were some of the ones that were.

Written by Richard Langer April 1, 1999

A Family of Model A's

Henry Ford and his Model T might have put the country on wheels but his Model A kept it going. The Model T was built for its time. With its low price people could afford to buy it, and with high wheels they could manage to get over the rough roads of those days too.  When the Model A came along the roads were getting better so the wheels could be a lot lower and hopefully with a little more income people could afford its higher price.

The first Model A in our family was in 1928 when my dad Richard Langer Sr. bought his new 1928 blue Tudor which he drove until 1940.  My uncle Albert Langer had a 1930 Model A black Tudor that he drove until 1951 when he traded it in on a new Plymouth.  My grandfather Emil J. Langer bought a very nice 1931 Tudor in 1932. When Grandpa went to get his Model A home from River Falls he dropped grandma off at my uncle's place.

Grandpa bought his newer car from A. W. Lund Co. and I'm sure Leo Murphy was the salesman. Leo was a good salesman for many years for Lunds and he was also my grandfather's nephew so I suppose he got a pretty good deal.  When grandpa got back to my uncle's place grandma was more than a little upset. The new car was a Tudor but that was the only ordinary thing about it. With its red wheels, black fenders and brown sides, a carrier in back and the spare tire in a well in the front fender on the drivers side and a parking light on each side of the hood it looked like a hotrod to her.  She said in no uncertain terms she would not put a foot in that thing and started to walk home. Well grandpa let her walk for a while and when she was close to a quarter of a mile down the road he started out. When he got up even with grandma he stopped and she got in, nothing like a little walk to change her attitude.

In spite of its cool reception the Model A was in the family for almost 40 years. My uncle then sold it to a car collector, it is still here in Ellsworth and sounds as good as ever.  My brother and I often rode to church in this car with my uncle and family. One Sunday morning in April even after he had the new Plymouth my uncle drove the Model A because a few inches of wet snow had fallen over night.  We went on Hwy. 10 instead of Co. E this morning and when we just started going down the last hill just before we turned to go toward church we heard a thump. It sounded like some mud might have fallen off the car. When my uncle tried to turn toward church the old car turned off at a right angle and stopped.  We all looked back and there hooked on the right back bumper of the Model A was the left front fender of what looked like a 42 Mercury.  The driver got out and said he was sorry and since there was no damage 
most of us got out and when my uncle backed up we all pushed and the old Ford just slid away from the other car.  When we went home we could see that the thump we heard on the way to church was when the other car got hooked to our car. We never knew what was 
happening but if my uncle would have looked in the mirror he would have stepped on everything and we all would have ended up in the ditch. The other guy was just driving too fast on the wet snow.

Our mailman drove Model A's for many years when the roads were bad. One day in the spring after the roads had dried up the mailman came walking down the road and told us he was stuck. Dad and I went up to the car with him and there was the car sitting with all four wheels on dry ground but it couldn't move. The mailman explained he was coming slowly along and a hump of dry mud came up under the differential housing which raised one wheel just enough so it would spin and the other wheel wouldn't go around. Dad and I gave him a push and away he went.  Later on the mailman got a jeep, it worked better on bad roads but not many funny things happened after that.

Written by Richard November 8, 1999

Boog Campbell

Ray (Boog) Campbell is one of older business men I still remember from my younger days. Boog used to be at a lot of auctions and I remember seeing him at Jack Lowe's feed mill. Boog always came into the feed mill with his Model A Ford coupe pulling a small trailer. The box of the trailer was made from a small old pickup with regular car wheels underneath.  Since Boog had a bad foot he said he could only drive Model A's because they were the only cars that had a hand throttle.

In the older days Boog had a livery stable on North Grant Street right where Hill-McLaughlin Funeral Home is now located. My partners and I who are working on Ellsworth history have been given a very interesting picture by Dorothy Baarley showing Boog with a pair of twin colts. The picture was taken by his livery stable.  
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n the Pierce county plat published in 1930 we find that R. C. Campbell had a forty acre farm in section 20 along Co. Rd. C, and another smaller piece along the north edge of section 20 and still another larger piece close to Maple Grove cemetery.  It seems Boog had quite a bit of property because in the 1930 plat book we also find R. C. Campbell's name on an eighty acre piece right by the Lantz school in Section 23 of Ellsworth Township.

Dorothy Baarley told me when she was young her family lived just north of Boog's livery stable. Boog would let her ride his horses and even let her ride them to his land by the cemetery and out to his farm by the Lantz school which was five miles from town. Dorothy also said Boog had cows at his stable and her family would get milk from him every day and at that time there was pasture right by his stable. Unfortunately some of the cows perished when the stable burned.

Boog also had the bar on the corner of Main and South Grant Streets now called Scotties. I have been told that Boog's son Frank had the same bar before he did and at that time it was called "Hank's Place." I remember when Boog had the bar but since my dad never went into bars I never was in it at that time.

My dad did go to plenty of auctions and he was at Boog's auction and bought the little old trailer that we all used to see Boog around town with. My dad used the old trailer for fixing fence and for just about everything you could possibly haul in a trailer. When my nephew bought the farm in 1993 the trailer went with deal and he still uses it to fix his fences.  Doug Stockwell from the Ellsworth area told me he was at Boog's auction too. Even though he was still in high school he bought one of Boog's Model A's. It wasn't in the best of shape but he drove it home and still has along with all his other memorabilia.

Along with our research on Ellsworth history we now have Boog's obituary from the Pierce County Herald, November 18, 1954. It tells about his livery stable days and when Old Dobbin gave away to the automobile he turned stock buyer. Always ambitious he made a success of it.  He had always lived around Ellsworth and was 70 years old at the time of his death. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank D. Campbell and was born in Ellsworth on March 15, 1884. He grew up in Ellsworth and attended local schools.  On August 5, 1909 he was married to Mathilda Hines. To this union was born two children; Frank and Maxine, now Mrs. James Seifert of St. Paul.  Burial was in Maple Grove cemetery.
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 always thought Boog was an interesting guy and like all former residents of this fair town who go off to a better land I'm sure they do not forget where they spent their entire lives.  I like to think they still return here in spirit to travel the streets and roads and walk the sidewalks and alleys. The next time you go around a corner and are met by a little gust of wind just smile and say "Hello", you have just been greeted by someone we all used to know who has come back 
just to see how we are doing here today. 

Written by Richard Langer Nov. 18, 1999

The Spring Grove School

In September of 1939 I started walking one and a half miles each way to the Spring Grove School. It was located about nine miles southwest of Ellsworth on what is now County Road OO. Like all country schools it had all eight grades in one room. I don't remember how many students were but I know there were only three boys in the first grade.  Besides my self there was Ray Matzek who is still going strong and Allen Kinneman who unfortunately died about ten years of age from appendicitis.

The teacher was a nice young lady by the name of Mildred Russ. I have been told she grew up in the Beldenville area and she later married Bill Pflueger who lived just down the road from the school.I'm quite sure Mildred boarded at Bill's aunt Mary Pflueger who lived just across the road from Bill's home place. Sure must have saved on gas.

My good friend Earl Kinneman lived just about a quarter of a mile from the old Langer homestead and we usually walked to school together. One morning just as Earl and I got to the school Avis Kinneman came out and rang the bell and said to us, "You two little eggs just about got late." Earl still tells me he tried to teach me a lot on the way to school but it seems he didn't have too much luck.  One night Earl and I were walking home from school in the winter. This night he stopped and stayed with his grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kinneman.
I started out to walk across the field to my home alone.  I took a short cut and went down a little ravine just west of the grandparents home. The weather had been warm and the top of the snow was a little soft.  One of my overshoes went through the soft top and my foot got stuck in 
the frozen crust below. No matter how I tried I couldn't get out so I done the only thing I could think of and used the cover of my dinner pail to dig myself out. It was a slow process but it finally worked.  The only thing I was really worried about was I wanted to get out before 
the Prescott bus went by and just as it went by I pulled my foot out of my icy trap.  I was only across a forty from home so I was hollering my head off for help. My mother and grandfather heard me but they thought those darn kids were playing instead of coming home. I had a little talk with Mom that night, I kind of thought she let me down but it all turned out okay.

We did have fun at school and I remember one Friday afternoon we were playing games. The first grade boys played a game where they rolled a peanut across the floor with their noses. I won and got a roll of Life Savers. I saved some for my mother and brother, I remember eating one more on the way home, I thought one more wouldn't hurt.

One of the highlights I remember was when two of the older girls put me in one of their coats and swung my like I was in a hammock. Another time they picked me up when I fell off the merry-go-round.  Some of the kids brought their sleds to school in the winter. One day the 
boys were sliding but they wouldn't let me slide with them. Well who cares because one of the second grade girls let me slide with her. Many years later I told her husband about our little sleigh ride when I was six and she was seven, he just laughed. "What a guy."

I only went to school at Spring Grove six months because in March of 1940 I started to ride the Prescott bus to Big River where I finished my grade school education.  The Spring Grove school district kept on educating the local kids until 1958.  I remember the night the meeting was held that it was decided to close the school. Some of the school board from Ellsworth were there and also Mr. Malone the principle from Prescott.  They both said they wanted the Spring Grove district to join their larger districts but after the votes were counted it was decided to join Ellsworth.  I know Mr. Malone was disappointed because the Prescott district had 
transported the pupils since 1939, but it was closer to Ellsworth so suppose it was the better thing to do.

I guess I never had too much formal education, but no matter what, my first exposure to the three R's took place at Spring Grove. Nothing can ever change that.

Dad Was a Two Cylinder Man 

When my dad started farming in the spring of 1932, his only source of power was two teams of horses.  In 1936, he bought his first tractor, a Fordson of undetermined vintage. It was better than a team, but it took longer to get started when it wasn't in the mood. I remember one time when dad bought a nice-looking team of grey horses, they started like nothing, but when they ran away, he couldn't get them stopped at all.

In 1938, dad bought his first John Deere tractor, it was a 1928 Model D. It was a standard tread, which I think only had two speeds ahead, but it had power to spare. It started pretty good because dad said it had priming cups where he put a little gas in and when he gave the fly wheel a good turn, the gas would ignite and the old tractor would come to life.  Also in 1938, he bought a new three bottomed John Deere plow. I'm sure he bought it from Midway Implement right here in town. The old tractor and the new plow made a real good team, dad could turn a lot of ground in a day.  In 1940, dad bought a new model A John Deere from Midway Implement. He didn't trade to old D in, but sold to another farmer by the name of 
Meacham. 

The new A was a fuel burner and started on gas like the old D, but it had rubber tires and a narrow front end and four speeds ahead. It didn't have as much power as the D, but since we lived on a farm with level land, it could still pull the three bottomed plow quite well. Later, when we moved to a hilly farm, the third bottom had to be removed. 

In 1950, dad made another tractor change and bought a new Model A, this one again from Midway Implement. The 1940 Model A cost $1,000; when he bought the new 1950 it cost $2,200. Julius Huppert, who owned the Midway Implement, gave dad $1,200 credit for the old A on the new one, so in other words dad used the old A for 10 years and got more than he paid for it. At dad's auction in May of 1990, the 1950 A brought $1,095, dad thought that 
was a pretty good deal.

Dad went on to buy quite a few more two cylinders, but the 1950 Model A was the last new tractor he ever bought. He bought a 1942 Model B John Deere in the fall of 1950 from Tesdall's in Red Wing and in 1957 he bought a 1951 Model B at an auction near Hager City. This tractor is still on our old farm, now owned by my nephew, who bought the farm in 1993.  Dad went on to buy two Model A's and a 1955 Model 50, all at auctions. Of all the tractors dad had, the Model 50 was his favorite, for a two cylinder it really ran smooth.  In all, dad had eight John Deere tractors in his farming career, he was truly a two-cylinder man.
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 also remember what happened to the team of grey horses that ran away.  One was traded to Bill Brickner for a Guernsey cow here in Ellsworth and the other was traded in on a 1940, 10-inch John Deere hammer mill from Midway Implement that was used until 1993. Later, my nephew sold it to a collector of old machinery. The 1938 plow is still on the farm, waiting 
patiently for someone to use it again. I used it in the spring 1993 to plow the garden one last time.

Written by Richard Langer Oct. 25, 1999

Cale Dickie A Local Legend 

Cabel "Cale" Dickie was another very interesting man I remember from my younger days. Cale and his wife Emma who was always referred to as "Em"  came out to our farm quite often with our cousins Bud and Thress Shannon from Ellsworth. Their visits were always looked forward before hand and fondly remembered afterwards.

Cale had a home-spun sense of humor and a very good story teller.  He once told about an older neighbor who had only one pig that was about eight or nine years old. Someone asked him "Why do you keep this old pig?" " Well" he replied "I figure every farm should have at least one pig and I think this pig is as good as any other so that's why I keep him."  Another time he told about when he was on his way threshing one morning, this same older fellow was milking his cow out in the barnyard. Cale hollered "Come and go along threshing." The old fellow said "Wait." he then threw the stool, chased the cow and drank the milk for his breakfast and ran over and jumped on the bundle wagon and went along threshing.

Cale and Em were such a good pair, so much alike. One time when they were out to our place around Christmas time, mom served them some fruit cake. Em finished her piece and then said "I'll have another piece of tobaccy." If you look at fruit cake the right way it does look a little like plug tobacco.

In the plat book of Pierce county 1930 it shows that Cale and Em had an 80 acre farm in Section 20 of Ellsworth township on what is now Campbell Street. In the middle 40's they sold their farm to Ed Murphy from Big River, who's family still owns the place. Cale and Em then moved up to the Thurston Hill area near where their son Albert had a farm.  In his obituary that was in the Pierce County Herald July 8, 1947 the head line reads "Cale Dickie, Friend of Every Man." It goes on to tell that Cale was born February 5, 1876 to Margaret and William Dickie at Fremont, WI. He was the youngest of six brothers and sisters.  He was married to Emma Denuler Dec. 13, 1899. She had emigrated from Switzerland at the age of seven. One son Albert was born to this union. It goes on to tell that in May, 1934 Mr. Dickie entered a "Will Rogers" contest upon the urging of his friends. A Milwaukee paper sponsored the contest to find the man who looked like Will Rogers and Mr. Dickie won. Friends say that he not only looked like Rogers, but that he also had the same home-spun philosophy. The obituary continues, Mr. Dickie was a man of great personality, and we doubt if he had an enemy in the world. He was progressive as a citizen and always among the first to help a neighbor or a friend. 

That sounds just like the Cale I remember, he was truly a legend in his own time.

Written Jan. 1, 2000 by Richard Langer

Warmth From The Woodshed

When my folks Richard and Anna Langer were first married in the spring of 1932, their only source of fuel for heating or cooking was stored high and dry in the woodshed.  The house on the old Langer homestead, where I spent my first nine years had a large wood burning furnace in the basement and two cook stoves on the first floor. One was in our part of the house and other was in the kitchen where my grandparents lived.

My dad always said it took forty cords of wood a year to heat the large old house. I don't know about that for sure but I do remember dad and grandpa spent a lot of time cutting, buzzing and splitting wood.  My grandparents and parents each had their own woodshed and there was a 
couple of woodpiles beside, so no matter how you slice it that was a lot of wood.

When my folks started housekeeping they bought a used Monarch wood range. It was black on the sides with quite a bit of nickel trim of the front and on the trademark it said it was manufactured in Beaver Dam, WI. It had warming ovens and a copper lined reservoir on the right side of the range where warm water was always available to wash up when we came in for our meals. It also had a strong oven door that we could sit and really warm up with heat from the oven. I remember one time I sat on the oven door just after it had been opened up, it was good thing I could jump better in my younger days than I can now.

Grandma had a very large black range, a much older type than the one my folks had. The one thing remember about grandma's stove, was the large aluminum teakettle that was always steaming away on it's black cooking surface.

In 1942 we moved two miles up the road and my folks took the Monarch along. There wasn't a furnace in this house so for the first winter we had to use my uncle Albert's Round Oak wood heater. It kept us warm if we only lived in two rooms so before next winter the Round Oak had to be replaced with something better.

In the fall of 1943 dad bought an Estate Heatarola wood and coal heater from Richard Crownhart. The stove was on the Mallon place just south of Ellsworth and dad contacted John Brickner to haul it to our place.  That old Estate heater was really heavy but John was a pretty husky guy in those days and it didn't seem to bother him a bit to roll it in to our house with his moving dolly.  After the Estate was fired up in the living room it was never cold in our house again. When ever you came in the kitchen door it was warm no matter how cold the weather was outside. 

The old Monarch range kept on doing our cooking until the 1960's, when it had to be replaced. This time dad bought a much smaller more modern looking Majestic wood range from Oscar Clausen who lived on a farm between Prescott and River Falls.

In 1970 mom and dad bought an electric range which was very nice. They still kept the little Majestic range to heat the kitchen. It stayed on the farm until after 1993 when my nephew sold it to a lady from Ellsworth.  The big old Estate heater was replaced with an oil burner sometime in the 1960's. It kept the house warm enough but it never felt quite as good as 
the old wood heater. There is something about wood heat that so very hard to replace, it is an experience I really like to remember.


Written Jan. 5, 2000 by Richard Langer

A Country Quilting Party

My folks Richard and Anna Langer made quilts for longer than I can remember. Most of the time they just made one quilt at a time, but I remember one day it was almost mass production.  Mom had been getting ready for quite a while, she had the tops for three quilts all pieced and sewed together on the old White treadle sewing machine.

One morning even before he went to work at the Farmers Union in Ellsworth, Bud Shannon brought his wife, our good cousin Thress out to our farm. In the forenoon Mom and Thress tied one of the quilts.  After dinner my aunt Bertha Langer, who lived just down the road came up 
and together with Mom and Thress tied two more quilts in the afternoon.

Just about all the quilts my folks made were the crazy quilt pattern. Mom save a lot of pieces of material that were remains of clothes she made for the family and also good pieces of worn out clothing for the quilt tops. You could stand by the bed and look at a quilt and see pieces of a dress your sister had or parts of shirt you had your self. Nothing went to waste that was any good at all.

Just about all of the quilts I remember my folks making had wool right from the sheep in between the pieced top and the flannel bottom that was the part that was next to the bed. Woolen quilts were very light and very warm. The only problem with woolen quilts they couldn't be washed when they became dirty.  Every spring the quilts were hung on the clothes line to be aired out.  When they became too dirty or worn the top and bottom would have to be 
replaced.  Mom would put the old quilt into the washing machine to give it a good cleaning. After the quilt had dried Mom would take it apart. The wool of course would get clean in the washing, but it also became very lumpy, but Mom had the answer for that too.  She had what she called wool cards, they were like little wooden paddles with stiff wire teeth. Mom would put a lump of wool between the teeth of the cards and pull one way with one card and the other way with the other card and after a few pulls the harden wool became as fluffy as a cloud. She 
would continue doing this until all the wool was fluffed up, after this the wool would be ready to be put back into a quilt.

Tying a quilt was in interesting procedure. First of all you had to have quilting frames. My dad made his own, he took four 4 inch boards and drilled a half inch hole every four inches, the boards were about ten feet long. Dad also made wooden pegs to hold the frames together at the corners.  The day of the quilting party the table would be moved out of the kitchen. The frames were placed on the top of the backs of four chairs and held in place at the corners by the pegs. A large piece of flannel was sown to the frames through the holes in the frames for the bottom of the quilt with carpet warp. The fluffed wool was then spread over the flannel bottom and the top was then tied to the bottom.

When tying a quilt it was started from the sides. Yarn was stitched through the top and down through the bottom with a darning needle. The next stitch would be about five inches farther in on the top of the quilt. After they had stitched as far as they could reach they would then cut the yarn in the middle between the stitches and tie the yarn in knots. They then could pull the pegs and cut the warp and roll the frames towards the middle and tie some more until they were done. If there was enough help they could work from both sides at the same time.  I know it sounds like a lot of work, but when you were sleeping up stairs on a cold winters night under a quilt or maybe two and you stayed warm until morning that sure felt good to me.

Written March 29, 2000 by Richard Langer

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