Mary Came Home from Hillsboro

January 29, 1936  A cool day.  We took care of the wash.  I went to Meade.  We went to Mother to mangle.  Mary came home from Salem Home in Hillsboro.

Daughter Mary was 24 years old, so she occasionally worked out to earn some cash, as was the custom for Mennonite young women at the time.  And she surely wanted some independence too.  Before her father Cornelius remarried in 1930, she would have been the woman of the house.  But once they moved to Meade, she had to be subordinate to her new mother Margaret, and that did not always go smoothly. 

According to the diary, on October 12, she had left for Hillsboro, Kans., to work at what is now Salem Nursing Home.  In 1889, the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren had founded an Industrial School and Hygiene Home for the Friendless in Hillsboro.  They had a professional doctor on staff, but many young women worked there as nurses, cooks, cleaners, and so on.  It was common for single Mennonites to work for a Mennonite farmer or family or institution for several months and then to come back home for a while.  And so Mary returned with some cash in her purse, and her mother Margaret surely had a renewed appreciation for her help in the kitchen and around the house.

Salem Home and Hospital, Hillsboro, Kans.  Source:  http://salemhomeks.org/?page_id=118