GRANDMA PLUCKER’S DIARIES – 1925 – 1953

Searching for Grandma in her Diaries

 

It is truly a wonder how these diaries came into my possession. First, Grandma had to have kept them safe all the years of her life. Where? I don’t know. My sister and I both think that Grandma would have kept them in the big cupboard they had in their kitchen “on the west wall, next to the back door.”

 The other possibility is the desk they had on the west wall of the second room (in other homes, this would have been the dining room – in Grandma’s house, it was just “the other room,” not “the back room,” where the piano and other living room furniture was. (A whole other posting could be used to describe Grandma’s House.)

 From there, after Grandpa died, someone (possibly my father) could have gone through the house, found them and took them for safe-keeping. Or my Aunt Alma, who purchased the house at that time, could have given them to my dad, who kept his own diaries, and when, on my mother’s move from her home in Lennox to Hilda’s Heritage, my sister found them and has kept them safe all these years. I am grateful that she gave them to me, knowing as she must, that this time they may be given a decent burial – unless some other relative wants to accept them.

 Of course, Grandma used more than one diary to keep entries – sometimes going back and forth and getting all sorts of dates mixed up depending upon her memory and what she was doing at the time, I guess.

 So, I have gone through all the diaries, one by one, to glean some notable items to share and almost every page had some tidbit with meaning to me or to our family. However, it is fascinating to note that Grandma didn’t keep any important dates that most folks would. For instance, no birthdates of her children or her children’s children or their marriages.

How would Grandma have known all the dates of these marriages if not from the newspaper?

  It is obvious to me that these little booklets were very important to Grandma. She kept records of the dates people came to visit them and dates that they went to visit others. She kept lists of people’s birthdays, marriages, anniversaries, and deaths. She noted the weather on specific pages, when the farm work was done and who did it. She even had a list of what it cost for her to send laundry back and forth to Dubuque when her girls were there. But what is so very strange is that neither of the death dates of her two children was ever mentioned. (Esther Lydia died on July 29, 1907. Wilbur died on February 9, 1918.)

 Some early pages just contained lists of dates with no indication of the significance. But many entries showed the use of bartering between family members. For instance: “Henry Johnson got beef from us April 1 – 54 lbs 1913. Brought beef back last April. We owe Menno for meat, Oct 20, 1913 69 lbs. We brought Menno meat back Oct 28, 1914.”

 

There are lists of eggs sold and butter sold – by the pound, in 1894! She made $9.59 on eggs and $18.47 for the butter. Imagine selling 12 pounds and 10 ounces of eggs for $1.20! How about 12 pounds of butter for $1.84! In 1897: “For 5 hogs @ $3.40 for a total of $45.50” -- “For 4 hogs @ $3.00 for a total of $27.20”

In 1924: A list of what was purchased in January –

Jan 12	Butter – 1 lb	.55
Jan 17	Butter	.45
Jan 19	Butter 2 lb	1.10
Jan 24	Butter	.55
Jan 24	Peanut butter	.35
Jan 26	Sausage, butter & gro	3.92
Jan 29	Sioux Falls gro	.58
Jan 29	Beads, Fahtels hats	6.95

 In 1912: “We began sowing wheat April 3, 1912. Sowed first garden seeds April 24. Had lettuce to eat second week in May, 1912.” “We got first five lambs March 9, 1912. We got colt March 29, 1910.”

In 1920:
 “Feb 22 Wm & Flora’s baby born – Lila”

 “Jan 7 We had sale”
“Jan 12 Menne left for Dubuque”
“Jan 15 Pete & Anna left for Chicago”
“Jan 19 we moved to town”

[Nothing written about how things transpired, what they got for the sale, how they got the house they moved into, what the house was like, what they all thought.......... were they happy?]

Jan 3 1928:                          M & Dena’s boy was born. [No mention of my sister, born June 4, 1926]

Jan 8 1928                            Installation Rob Niebrugge George Iowa
March                                   Frank Miller buys hardware store in Parker
Nov 28 1928                        I was in bed again with cold
April 19 1929                       Pa & Babe got cold & horse [hoarse, I guess]
February 1928                   Rev. Agena gave up preaching
March 16 1928                   Menne came back to Lennox from Willow Lake
Oct 29 1929                         Dena’s birthday
April 1928                            Six treatments at Dr. Hong
July 3, 4 1928                      I went to Rochester
July 13 1028                        Came back [What happened in those 10 days?]
Aug 19 1928                        M & D for dinner
May 28, 29 1928                Planted sweet potatoes on land
Sept 7 1928                         Lydia went to Dubuque early morning
July 19 1929                        Girlie to S Falls evening  [Girlie is Lydia]
Sept 2   1928                       Mission Feast at Germantown
Sept 26 1928                       We went to Dempster & came back – Pa & I
Nov 29 1928                        I took sick in bed till Dec 1
Oct 5 1929                           To Dr. Hong with Menne  Bill from Dr. Hong $23.00
Nov 10 1929                        Saw Dr. Hong for weakness Got sm bottle med from drug store .50
Nov 10 1929                        Pa got cough med .75
Dec 24   1929                       Took first “Hipo” 10 oclock

How did 1928 and 1929 get mixed up with each other?

Dec 29 1929                        Took 2 hipo 11 oclock
Jan 7 1930                            Took 3 hipo 11 oclock
Jan 16 1930                         Took 4 hipo 10:30 oclock
Jan 28 1930                         Took 5 hipo 10 to eleven
Feb 8 1930                           Took 6 hipo 4:30 oclock

[No reason given for this hypodermic medication]

From March – October in 1930, Grandma paid $52.00 for 13 visits to Dr. Gregg.

In July and August 1932, Lydia and Grandma both “took treatments”

Feb 26 1929                        M & D moved                    [“M & D” are short for Menne & Dena]

Nov 1929                             Alma got eyes tested in Dbq and new glasses exam: $10.00 Glasses: $5.00
Mar 15 1932                        Pete & Anna moved to farm house
Dec 10 1930                        Dotty & Bobby M & D to S Falls
Dec 24-Jan 1 1932             Alma & Lydia were home [they took the train many, many times]
Nov 30 1931                        Thadens brot Dena & children back

[There were many trips to Sioux Falls – every two weeks or so]

Oct 1 1931                           Babe went to hospital

Nov 29 1931                        Alma was home by train [During this time, about $48.50 was given or sent to Alma while she was at the hospital – This may have been when she went to nurse’s training in Sioux Falls.]

April 21 1932                       Lydia sent a check for $15, $5 of it for house cleaning.

 I could find no mention of my birth on November 25, 1938, but surprisingly, on June 4, 1939, she noted that it was “Dotty’s birthday.”

There are so many entries regarding the comings and goings of my Grandparents and their friends, acquaintances, family, minister friends, church news etc. But reading through these booklets, I can’t see any real reason to keep this information. Perhaps the information about the farming, animals, crops, etc., but what use was it to know that on such and such a day, “Lucille Siepkes went to Sioux Falls?”

I was surprised to find the following entries:

             Dec 7 Sunday 1941: Invasion in Hawaiian Islands by Japan

            Dec 9 we declared war on Japan, China declared war on Germany Oct 9 1941

            Dec 11 1941 United States declares war on Italy & Germany

But on the very next line, May 12, 1942 “heavy rain.”

LENNOX NEWSPAPER HEADLINES:

April 22 1942       Ban on manufacture of radios

Mar                        New tire regulations
July                        Presbyterian church put in oil heating
Dec                        Jack Ludwig bought Gerkins building
Dec 25 42             Jerry & Dick Plucker to Wyoming to see Elmer
Dec 31 42             Mr & Mrs Cammach to Arizona
Feb 10, 1943       Deadline on farm machinery
11 – 2 – 40           Census enumerators begin work
July 28 – 46         Rev Eekhoff & DeVries quartette, Dan, Eddie, Merlin, Arthur gave religious program over KELO in S Falls

1938 – Oct 6:     
Lennox observes Golden Jubilee. Seven young members of the church have become ministers and missionaries. Rev. H  C Sinning – Rolfe Iowa, Rev. H I Sinning, Kamrar Iowa, Alfred Nelson, Shalles Iowa, Rev. Paul Mallary, Rockford, Mich, Rev. Louis Bultina, Muscoda, Wis, Rev. Geo Van Bockern, Poplar, Montana and Mrs. Alma Plucker Wadleigh, Albuquerque, New Mexico. [Alma is my aunt]

 

1943 May 6         Germantown choir present cantata in Lennox church and Lennox to give cantata in Germantown in forenoon

 

Church Work.    J. P. Plucker – Elder of church 1919 – 1927 and again 1932 – 1945.

April 29, 1934     Mr & Mrs M.E.J. Plucker joined Germantown church

1946                       M.E.J. Elder of Germantown church

Early History       J. P. Plucker came to s. Dak 1878 from Iowa

                                Mrs. J. P. Plucker came to S Dak 1886 from Illinois

April 10, 1947     Robert E. Plucker – June 1945 Entered services

[My brother got a lot of space in one of Grandma’s diaries:]

Nov 15 – 1951    Bobby called from Washington

Nov 20 – 1951    Bobby called he would be in Worthington Minn. 22 Nov
Oct 24 – 1951     Robert still in Korea
Robert E. Plucker arrived in Japan Nov 30 1950
Sent to Drake field near Tokyo – assigned to traveling service show – might be sent to Korea.
Pfc. Robert E Plucker, ER171 49628 HD, Japan Log Comd APO343 % PM San Francisco, Calif.
Dec 1950              Bobby working in ??? in Japan just now.

 Grandma Plucker was 81 years old when she died on December 29, 1953. By 1952 her diary referring to newspaper articles became more difficult to read but she still kept up the running account of Lennox happenings, friends, family and church activities. Instead of two or three comments per day, she had only two or three comments per month ending on October 24, 1953, “Open house at Independent” [the local newspaper].

 In 1953, the diary entries were filled with who came to visit her/them. I’m not sure when she moved from her bed in their bedroom to a hospital bed in the back room, but even though she was bedridden at least some of the time, she had something to write almost every day! She wrote about M. & D. coming for tea, Jeanie coming for a little while at 4:20pm, Dena coming to make jelly, Dad to Dots & Eddie afternoon. On June 26, 1953: “They all went to Bobbie’s wedding.”

On July 26, 1953 “Truse[sic] was signed about Korea.”

In October, November and even up to and including December 20^th there were entries.

Nov. 26 1953      Lydia came 12 oclock pm.

  “     27                  Alma & Ruth midnight 12 pm.
Dec  17                  M & D stayed all night
         17                  I didn’t sleep all night cought
         18                  Rev Hoffer p.m.
         18                  M & Dena stayed
         18                  Eddie’s family
         19                  M & Jean & Dena
         19                  Mrs Smith stayed all night
         21                  Lydia came am stayed
[date unclear]   Aunt Minnie

This is a copy of the final pages of her “personal” diary – the pages on which she wrote those things she might have to remember one day. Or those things she could go back to if someone asked her about a day back three months ago.   What really made our Grandmother tic? What was in her heart, her mind?   It is up to us to speculate...