GROWING UP IN MINNESOTA

When I graduated from high school in 1938 I decided that I didn't want to remain on my parents' farm. This was a pretty serious decision for someone of my background. I was born in 1920 in Courtland, Minnesota, in a rented log house with no running water or electricity. The house was heated by a wood burning cooking stove. When I was eighteen months old we moved to my grandfather's farm, which my parents purchased from my mother's father, Otto Radke.  My great grandparents had come to Minnesota in the 1850's in a covered wagon.  They had been born in Schaumburg Lippe in Germany, and when I was born in 1920 everyone at home still spoke German.  Although my parents understood English, we children didn't. All of our neighbors were German-speaking, and the Lutheran church services were in German. I was not exposed to English until I entered public school in the town of Essig, which was a two mile walk from home.

Back To Index | Home