INSTALLMENT FIVE - MEJ's BIO (The 1920's)

The 1920’s

Alma, Menne, Christina, Wilbur, Lydia, Anna, & John Plucker in 1916.



MEJ in his football uniform at Dubuque.

In 1916 my brother decided to enter the ministry, and went to start his education at what was then known as “The “Dubuque German College and Seminary.” It also had a department known as the Academy, which was only for those who had not gone to high school. After he had been there for a year or so, he was drafted into the army. World War I had been going on since 1914, and the United States had also become involved. He had to be inducted in his home state, so he came home a few days before he was to leave. It was during those few days that he was accidently killed by a fall from a horse. 
(We will never know what part Wilbur's death played in my father's life from then on, but suffice it to say: it was significant since he gave it such importance in his story.)

 

MEJ's big baritone saxophone.

                 In 1917, my parents (mostly my mother) decided that I should go into the ministry, so I went to Dubuque. Then I too, was drafted to go into the army and was to leave on November 15, 1918. But since the war stopped on November 11, 1918, I received a telegram not to appear for induction. I kept on going to school in Dubuque until 1920, when I became (what is now known as) a dropout. I came back to South Dakota and went to work for one of the neighbors, since my parents had moved to town and therefore had no work for me.

John & Christina Plucker, Menne & Dena, Minnie & Eilert Thaden.

The girl I married, I met in Dubuque in 1920. The very first time I ever saw her I was in a friend’s room on the third floor and she on the street below, walking from her room to the school dining room. This friend, in whose room I was, knew her since they were both from the same community. He did not believe me when I told him, “There goes the girl I’m going to marry some day.” I never had any doubt about her being the right one for me, and I’m glad I was able to remove any doubts she may have had, because four years later we were married.***

                In the fall of 1921 my father bought a grain elevator in Lennox, and I was to be the operator of this grain-buying station. We kept this business venture going until some time early in 1926 when he sold out. This adventure into the business world should not be classed as a huge success.

                After the grain elevator was sold, we decided to move to Princeton, Illinois where I was to work for my sister’s husband who was a medical doctor, but owned considerable farm land, too. This job did not last very long because the rest of the help resented me. It would probably have been better if I had not been the brother-in-law of the boss. Then I sold life insurance for a while in and around Princeton, but with my low-pressure salesmanship to hold me back, it didn’t pay off very well. So one day I went back to Dubuque to look for a different job. Since this was just before Christmas, I got temporary work in the Kresge 5 and 10 cent store, at least until after the holidays. But it ended up with my staying at the same job for a little over a year. However, I was just not enough of a “city feller” to stay there any longer, so we went back to South Dakota where we rented a farm northeast of Lennox. We would no doubt have moved on one of my father’s two farms then, but they were both rented for another year.

Note: I could make many comments about this section of his autobiography, but I prefer to let it stand on its own.

*** Go to previous postings dated 3/26/11, 3/28/11, 3/30/11 and 4/1/11 for Dena's story and the clipping of their marriage.