Trachoma

February 1, 1933  Jacob and I went to Cimarron and Dodge City to Dr. Janne because of Jacob’s eyes, went along with K. H. Reimers.  Mama, Mary, and Corney went to Mother.

Jake and Mary both had trachoma, which is a bacterial infection of the eyelids.  If left untreated, it can become extremely painful and damage the cornea, resulting in blindness.  It seems that Jake was treated successfully, but Mary had it so badly that it did affect her vision permanently.  (At one point she was in the hospital for trachoma, and her vision was so poor that she did not recognize her father, which was very painful for him.  But her vision did improve after that.)  The Siemens went to the doctor in Dodge City and other places seeking help for Mary and Jake. 

Trachoma was wiped out in the United States about this time, and now it can easily be treated with antibiotics.  It is a disease caused by poverty and poor sanitation.  It spreads by contact with infected individuals, especially by sharing towels and wash clothes used by infected people or using water contaminated by sewage.  Sadly this trachoma was one of the consequences of the poverty that the Siemens family endured while Cornelius was a widower in the 1920s in Manitoba.  When Cornelius married Margaret in 1930, she had enough money so that they could go to the doctor and treat their illnesses.

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

The Plett Inheritance

January 28, 1933  Strong northeast wind without frost.  Jacob went with C. Dalkes to Dodge City.  John helped with chores at Dalkes.  Corney, Mary, and I went to Meade in order to prepare papers for the land at Satanta.  In the afternoon Mama and Mary mended.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and get ready for some history – otherwise you’ll never understand why they were going to town to prepare papers about land.  Cornelius and his older brother David had married Plett sisters back in Manitoba.  In 1905, David married Sarah J. K. Plett, and in 1911 Cornelius married her younger sister Katharina.  By this time, land was running out in the Mennonite settlements in southeastern Manitoba because the families were large and all sons tried to continue farming.  So the Kleine Gemeinde (KG) Mennonite church in Manitoba, of which both Siemens families were members, organized a group to settle near Satanta, Kans., which was about sixty miles northwest of another large KG settlement at Meade.  Cornelius and brother David and their wives were both part of this group.  By this time Cornelius and Katharina had three children, Mary, Jacob, and Corney.  So in April 1916, a couple dozen families set out for Kansas.

Location of Siemens farms north of Satanta, Kans., with Anna (Siemens) Fast

The wives’ father, Jacob L. Plett, bought two adjacent quarters of land for his daughters and their families, although he kept the land in his name.  In March 1917, a fourth son John was born.  But by early 1918, a terrible flu was breaking out in Haskell County, Kans., where Satanta was located, and killing many otherwise healthy people.  Soldiers from Haskell County reporting for training at what is now Fort Riley spread it to there and throughout the US Army and then throughout the armies fighting in Europe.  It is estimated that 50-100 million people died in the 1918-1919 flu pandemic.

Cornelius and Katharina (Plett) Siemens with children (l-r) Corney, Jake, Mary, and John.   Near Satanta, Kans., 1917.

Cornelius and his brother David were British subjects since they had been born in Canada.  In World War I, the United States was fighting on the British side, but Brits living in the US were not subject to the US or British draft.  So in January 1918, the US, Britain, and Canada signed an agreement that British subjects up to forty-one years of age could be drafted into the US army.  The US did not recognize conscientious objectors in World War I, but Canada did, so it was better for them to go back. 

Thus in September 1918, Cornelius and David Siemens and their families went back to Manitoba to avoid the flu and the draft.  Soon thereafter, it must have been obvious that his wife Katharina was not in good health because she died of breast cancer on 31 May 1920.  And so the grieving widower and four small children never went back to Satanta.  But father-in-law Jacob Plett continued to own the two quarters of land and rent them to other church members until he died in November 1931.

When their grandfather Jacob Plett’s estate was settled, the four older siblings, Mary, Jake, Corney, and John, were heirs to 1/48 share each.  The heirs decided to sell to a member of the KG church at Satanta, Bernhard Doerksen.  Mary was over 18 and an adult, so she signed for herself.  But Cornelius had to sign as guardian for his three sons since they were under 21.  Settling an international estate such as this one necessitated several trips to Meade to draw up papers with a lawyer, sign them, and then have the probate judge, Florilla DeCow, approve them.  Thus on 28 January, 1933, Cornelius, Mary, and Corney were in Meade working on these papers. 

Each of the four grandchildren received 187.50 USD from the sale of the land, plus more money from the sale of Jacob Plett’s other assets in Canada.  That may not seem like much money, but it would be equivalent to 3400 USD today.  Moreover, the Siemens family, along with most farmers in the US and Canada, were suffering from the terrible drought and Dust Bowl that started in 1932.  This money would have given the four older siblings some resources of their own during a very difficult time financially.  My mom told me that Mary bought a new purse and material for a dress with some inheritance money that she received.  And Jake and Corney each bought a car soon after this – it is difficult to see where they would have gotten the money for such an extravagance other than from the inheritance.  That is the story of the Plett inheritance as briefly as I could tell it.

A House Abuzz

January 27, 1934  It is Saturday.  I took care of my beloved.  Mary and the boys did Saturday’s work.  C. Dalkes were here this morning.  Mrs. Dalke took care of the baby.  In the afternoon Mother and sisters came over, also Mrs. John H. Reimer.

Cornelius’ emotions made another rare appearance in the diary in the day after their seventh child was born as he mentions caring for his beloved wife, Margaret.  Women were expected to stay in bed for a week or more after giving birth to rest and to regain their strength.  It would have been a very busy time in the family.  Cornelius was busy helping his wife Margaret.  The three boys, Jake, Corney, and John, had to help Mary with cleaning and baking.  Mrs. Dalke was busy taking care of baby Anna.  And of course, relatives came over to see the new baby – Margaret’s mother Katharina (Barkman) Reimer, Margaret’s sisters, and sister-in-law.  It would have been a houseful of joy and excitement.

Laundry Day

January 24, 1933  The children did laundry.  Mama helped.  I helped make meals and helped take care of the little boys.  In the afternoon Jacob and Corney plowed.  Very nice day.

Doing laundry.  It sounds so simple today, but less than a century ago it was a task that was involved the whole family and took all day.  (Although this day was a Tuesday, usually the Siemens did laundry on Monday.)  The Siemens had a small wash house next to the main house where they had some shelter from the cold and wind while they did laundry.  There was a lot of heavy work involved, so the men and boys participated too. 

First, a fire had to be built to heat water in the huge kettle, the Miagrope, and water carried from the well.  [CORRECTION:  The Siemens had their laundry in the basement, so it was a warm place to wash in winter once the fire under the Miagrope got going.  They had a cistern that collected rainwater and a faucet in the basement from which they got the water for laundry.  Rainwater was softer, so it required less soap.  Cornelius was good at fixing up conveniences such as this.  They only got the summer kitchen/wash house in the 1940s.]  If blocks of homemade soap had not been shredded earlier, that had to be done as well.  Then the hot water, soap, and dirty clothes were put into a hand agitator which was rocked back and forth to clean the clothes.  Agitating was hard work, so everyone took turns.  Then the clean clothes had to be rinsed of the dirty, soapy water, run through rollers to press the water out, and hung on the line to dry.

On this day “the children” did laundry – Mary, Jake, Corney, and John.  They were teenagers, so they took the main responsibility and wife Margaret only had to help.  Cornelius helped his wife make meals so that there would be food ready for the hungry laundry crew and took care of “the little boys” – Henry (21 months old) and Elmer (9 months).  Cornelius had been a widower with four children from 1920 to 1930, so he had had to make meals and keep house before, unlike most men of that era, and he could even bake bread.  As a result, more than most husbands, he appreciated housework and was willing able to help in the kitchen and with the little children.

Then after dinner, Jake and Corney escaped the laundry and went to the field to spend a very nice day plowing in the field, leaving Mary and John to finish the laundry.

Saturday's Work

January 23, 1937  13° cold [3° F.] with south wind.  Mama and Mary did Saturday’s work.  In the afternoon Mama and I went to Meade.

The Siemens lived by a weekly routine.  Sunday they went to worship service, visited, and rested.  Monday was laundry day.  Tuesday they ironed and put the wash away.  And Saturday was the preparation day for Sunday.  In his diary Cornelius frequently notes that the women “did Saturday’s work.” 

What was Saturday’s work?  First, the house was cleaned so that it would be ready for Sunday and for another week.  Everything had to be dusted, the floors were mopped or washed, and the bed linens changed.  Then there was baking and cooking that had to be done.  His wife Margaret and their daughter Mary always baked tweeback on Saturday, enough to last the whole week, and loaves of white and rye bread.  And often they would bake cake and cookies.  Tweeback (the Low German word) or zwieback (the High German word) are a traditional Low German Mennonite yeast roll consisting of a larger bottom and a smaller top and rich in lard or butter.  And they get food ready for Sunday dinner because they always expected company.  They would cook a huge pot of potatoes with peeling - for Saturday supper they would eat them with gravy and then on Sunday for dinner they would shred them and fry them.  Also they would soak beans and cook a big pot of pluma or rosina moos.  (Moos is a cold Mennonite fruit soup made made with plums, raisins, cherries, other fruit, and even sorrel.)  As the family finished its week of work and gathered for Saturday supper, everything would be sparkling clean, and the smell of fresh baking would fill the house.  And the Siemens family was ready for a Sunday of worship, fellowship, and rest.