Christina's diaries

GRANDMA PLUCKER’S DIARIES – 1889 - 1925

 Edited by Jean E. Straatmeyer

January, 2013

 My Grandmother, Christina Plucker, kept her diaries in various small books. She kept them (one by one) beside her chair at the table. She rarely left that chair in her later years, but I believe from the time my grandparents moved into Lennox, from the farm, she staked out her place beside the big kitchen table. Her chair faced the back door of the house – the door absolutely everyone used to enter the house. On the table beside her was the supply of medicines, papers and other things. She must have kept several small booklets at her elbow so she could add things as they happened or as she remembered them.

I fell captive by these diaries in January, 2013. My sister, Dorothy June, had bequeathed them to me a year and a half ago and I finally began to mine them for information on my grandmother’s life.

 Christina began her married life on Nov. 29, 1893. She was twenty-one years old.  The first writing I found in this collection of 15 tiny books seems to be a copy of part of scripture:

                “Adam was 130 when his son Seth was born. After that he lived 800 years yet and died. Seth was 100 years old when his son Enos was born. When he died he was 912 years old. Enos was 90 years old when he son Kennan was born. He was 910 years old when he died. Mahalaleel was 55 years old when his son Eared was born . . [and on through Methuselah all the way to] Noah, who was 500 years old when Shem, Ham and Japheth was (sic) born,”

 And that is where it stops. There were three loose sheet written in a calendar book dated 1886, but she wrote in a “9” above the 6, leading me to believe it was 1889 when these words were written. For some reason, Grandma kept these three pages – or someone found them in a different book, tore them out and saved them inside the 1889 book.

These sheets were found – loose - inside a book titled Eleventh Census(which would have been   - Compliments of T. J. Fosdick, the Biggest Clothing House in the State – Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 120-122 Phillips Ave. (A full description of this book’s contents appear in another paper, titled: “Grandma’s Early Diaries and Notebooks.”

 Grandma kept lists of birthdays, marriages, deaths along with lists of folks they visited and folks who visited them. It looks like they had a very busy social life.

 Grandma & Grandpa were married on November 29, 1893. Eleven months later, Engel Anna (my Aunt Annie) was born and about 18 months after that, Wilbur was born. She must have been pretty busy then, but by 1897 notes began appearing in the books. Of course, those early notes may have been written by my Grandfather. I don’t have a sample of his hand writing, but it is obvious that the penmanship in the very first book looks somewhat different from the later notes. Then again, the first messages were written in pencil and the later ones with pen and ink.

 “Started sowing wheat April 10, through April 24” (no year).

“Started planting corn 12 May. It was very cold and a small snow storm” (no year).

“Got through sowing wheat April 14, 1899. Began sowing wheat April 10, 1899.”

“Through planting corn May 18, 1899.”

“Got through cutting grain 24^th of July, 1901, Began sowing wheat March 26, 1902. Got through sowing April 12^th.”

“Sowed seed in garden April 17, planted potatoes April 16, 1899.”

“March 1, 1906 chilly and real windy from northeast. Real cold – started fire in kitchen stove Sept. 14, 1906. Got new wagon in Aug. 1906. Was to Parker Dec. 28, 1906. Real warm Dec 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 1906. Real warm first May 1910.”

“Rev. & Mrs. Left – May 7, 1918.” (Not sure who this minister was.)

A few pages later in May of 1918: “Girly weighs 74, Alma weighs 60.” (In the family, Lydia was known as “Girly” and Alma was known as “Babe.”)

“I was operated on Tuesday, May 12, 1914.” (I have no idea of the reason!)

 Below shows what was kept for records on the farm in those early years:

 

YEAR	EGGS & CHICKENS	EXPENSES	CREAM
1906	99.87	270.80	264.51
1908	241.56	264.37	119.50
1909	133.18	267.27	187.64
1910	147.35	184.00	224.18
1911	178.57	249.63	184.45
1912	210.13	279.40	211.38
1913	250.63	410.76	251.66

 

After several pages of just months and dates [no other information included] the following family information came up:

“Nov. 19, 1912 We owe Enno’s for 55 lbs beef – returned meat April 1, 1913”

“Henry Johnsons got beef from us April 1, 1913 – 54 lbs. Brought beef back last “April. We owe Menno for meat, Oct 20, 1913 – 69 lbs. We brought Enno’s meat back 28 Oct. 1914.”

 And then – “Dr. Gotletz was at Rev. Neibreugge’s July 12, 1918. Mr. has cancer of lung & liver.”

“Went to Dr. Neikish Dec. 21, 1900. Paid $4.00. John went 1 Jan, 1901. Paid $8.45.”

 At the top of one page: “Got my new shoes Aug. 28^th, 1895.” [Entries were not necessarily concurrent...]

 “Wilbur went to Benson’s Dec. 30 morning 1912 – started to school same day.”

Wilbur & Ernie left school Feb. 18, 1913. Wilbur got measles March 9, E. got headache March 9, 1913. The other three got sick a week later.”

 “Grandma is sick in bed August 26, 1915. Died Sept. 4, 1915.” [Engle Anna Poppen Plucker died 9/4/1915]

 Christina Rebecca was always sickly, or so it seemed to me (and others of us grandchildren). My cousin, Lydia, said of her, “she went to bed at 40 and died at 84 and was grumpy most of the time.” Be that as it may, she gave birth to six children between 1894 and 1910. She was 38 years old when her last child, Alma, was born. Perhaps she was always a rather frail person and had to rely heavily upon Grandpa, a hired girl and also her first born, Annie, for day to day work. Annie would have been 14 when Lydia was born and 16 at the time of Alma’s birth.

 Grandma lost a child in 1907, when she was 35. Esther Lydia died from some childhood disease in 1907 and just a year later, Lydia Martha [she later took the name Verna as well) was born. Grandma still must have been in mourning. It is interesting to note that the new baby was given the first name of the child who died.

 All of the above is written to say that perhaps Grandma was a “died in the wool” hypochondriac, but she may have had a bit of reason for that. She was a very strong-willed woman, but that perhaps was part of why she behaved as she did. At any rate, she did have her fair share of dealings with doctors and medicine. The following details may demonstrate:

 1911:     Dr. Rawleighs left healing powder and gall remedy. Both 50 cents. I bought salve for 50 cents and paid it. I gave healing Powder & Gall remedy back to Rawleigh man. Dr. Wards left healing Powder. Dr. Wards let healing powder stand this time again: Nov. 21, 1911. Let stand again in June. Dr. Rawleigh’s left Colic & Bloat remedy. Paid. Bought gall remedy Feb 29, 1912.

1913:     Dr. Baker left cough med. In time of measles - $1.00 due on slip.

 The lives of the John P. Plucker family seemed to be moving along without problems other than the recurring illnesses of Grandma. But, eight years after the birth of her last child, Alma, Grandma and Grandpa suffered a severe loss: the death of their oldest son, Wilbur. On February 9, 1918 he fell off a horse and died. I have searched through the first three books carefully, to find any mention of Wilbur’s death, but I found nothing.
 

[There was a girl friend that Wilbur left behind: Elsie Frailey (according to information received from Eleanor Skoog who received a letter from her dated November 6, 1917.) I believe that Elsie married another man in the “larger” family and remained friendly with John, Christina and their children throughout their lives.]

In 1918, Grandma wrote a few things:

 

Feb 24                    John was operated on – eve (no further information)

Apr 7                      Jake Mueller got headache

Apr 9                      We brot him home

Apr 18                    We were to Muellers

May 9                     First real thunder shower

June 23                  Fair well sermon to boys

                                Ben Straatmeier and others

Oct 19                    Pete got sick with the flu

Oct 24                    Anna got sick with the flu

Nov. 23                  I got my teeth pulled (she was 46 years old)

 

Grandma kept a record of how much family members weighted in 1914, 1915 and 1925.

 June 11, 1925                       Dad                         175                         Age:        65

                                                Mrs                         132                                         53

                                                Menne                    180                                         25

                                                Dena                       118                                         23

                                                Lydia                      108                                         17

                                                Alma                       132-1/2                                 15

                                                Pete                        200                                         ?              Anna’s husband

                                                Anna                      157                                         31

                                                Esther                     52                                           ?              Anna’s first child

                                                Raymond               27-1/2                                    ?              Anna’s second child

 

Little things meant a lot to Grandma: “Menne weighed 21-1/2 lbs when 5 months old.

                Lydia weighed 21 lbs when 6-1/2 months old, and 32 lbs when 18 months old.

 

On the same page:          1910 Dec 27 Menne got chicken pox

                                                1911 Jan 12 Lydia & Alma got chicken pox

 

 

(Stay tuned for more highlights from Grandma’s Diaries)

 

Jean E. Straatmeyer

1/19/13