[When my mother, Dena, was about 65 years old and my father was 67, they both wrote their "life stories." Here, now, is how Dena described her life up to that time:]
"I was born on a farm just seven miles away from where we live now. [Eight miles northwest of Lennox, SD.] Four boys in my family are older than I am, four more boys were born after that, then a sister, and finally, one more boy. These are the names of all the Thaden children starting with the oldest: Gerhard Ludwig, Jerry Herman and Harm Daniel (twins), William Leroy, Hendina Margaretta (shortened to Dena), Arthur Floyd, Benjamin Harry, Clifford Adelbert, Clarence Henry, Johannah Christina Amelia and Robert Lawrence.
"Although my parents lived in the same community as the Plucker family, it is doubtful if they even knew each other, since those were horse and buggy days and the only trips that were made regularly were to church and to the town for necessary supplies. My mother's family name was Buus, and they lived for the most part south of the town of Lennox, while the Pluckers settled north and west of Lennox. My great grandfather Buus came to this community at about the same time that great grandfather Plucker did, some time during the 1870's or 80's. [Pictured on the left are my Great Grandma & Grandpa Buus. On the right: my grandparents Louie & Minnie Thaden's wedding picture.]
"This is some of the history of the Thaden family as told by my aunt, who lived in Tacoma, Washington in 1966. She is the only one left of the generation of my father. In fact, she was married to my father's brother. She told me my great grandfather, whose name was Wilkens, was the organist in a large cathederal in Germany. The Wilkens family belonged to the nobility. Evidently the Thadens were not of the nobility, because when my grandmother Wilkens married grandfather Thaden, she was disinherited because she married beneath her station in life. This could very well be the reason why grandfather Thaden decided to migrate to America. They settled first near Peoria, Illinois. Later they moved to Pipestone, Minnesota, and finally settled in Washington state in a small town near Tacoma."
[I believe my mother didn't know the exact location of the homestead in Minnesota - and there is still a lot of mystery about the story of "grandmother Wilkens" being disinherited for marrying into the Thaden family.]
"My father did not make the move to Washington at that time, but stayed in the Pipestone area for a while longer. He finished eight grades in the public school, which made him eligible to teach in a common school in those days. Teaching must not have been too much to his liking because he soon went to the Lennox vicinity to work on a farm. This is where he became acquainted with Minnie Buus, my mother. They were married in 1897, started farming in the Lennox vicinity, and in 1903 moved to a farm near Bryant, South Dakota. I was only one year old at the time, so I don't remember anything of that trip. My father rented this farm, but in 1908 he decided to buy a farm nearer Willow Lake. This farm is still known as the home place, occupied at present by my brother, Art. I did most of my growing up there."I was not sent to school until I was seven years old. My name was recorded first as Dina, but the teacher did not like that name, so she changed it to Dena.
"As you can imagine, growing up in a family with four boys older than I was, I got a lot of teasing and tormenting. One of the favorite ways of making me nervous was telling some real wierd ghost stories just before bed time. It was necessary for me to look under the bed before retiring, and after everything was quiet I imagined hearing the stairs creaking. Surely something or somebody was coming![On the left is Dena with her mother, Minnie. On the right is Minnie as a young woman.]
"Our school was located a mile and a half away, and when the weather was at all bearable, we walked to school. If it was too cold or stormy to walk we could always catch a ride with our neighbor, Mr. Edelman. I remember the names of his horses. They were called Morg and Gyp.
"Since my grandmother on my father's side was a musician, my father bought a reed organ that operated with air pressure, and had to be pumped continually with the feet while it was being played. It was on this instrument that I took my first music lessons. when I was about 10 or 12 years old, Dad went to town one wintry day and came back with a piano in the sled. Happy day! Dad being the kind of operator that he was, made it a part of the bargain that the dealer who sold him the piano had to promise that his wife would give me piano lessons. The transportation I used for these lessons was a two wheeled cart pulled by a Shetland pony. In the winter time, my hands would be so cold that I had to soak them in some warm water before I could take my lesson."
[Stay tuned for the second installment - coming soon!]
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