Lennie's Diary - 1898

Lennie Eats Christmas Dinner at His Sister's Home and Celebrates at the Swede Church Several Nights In a Row

2011-12-28T19:16:00.000-08:00

Before we finish up Lennie's Diary for the year 1898, I cannot resist posting this photo, taken approximately 1910, of Lennie and his single cylinder Thor IV motor bike. Note the dandy bike clothing. Lennie was always interested in the new inventions coming into the world at that time. He had a curiosity about many things and must have been a most interesting man and well-liked.

Sunday, December 25, 1898
Fred (Poff) staid in town. Ate dinner at Ollie's.
(Christmas Dinner was at Lennie's sister's home. Flora Olive "Ollie" Davis married Charles Schulz in August 1895. Nine months from this Christmas, their first child will be born...Lucile M. Schulz. She will be the first of three children. The second child, Leonard will be born in 1903. The third, Charlotte Olive Schulz, will be born March 1908. Sadly, Ollie dies giving birth. But the joys of those births, and the sadness of Ollie dying, are still in the future. And Christmas Dinner is an enjoyable family event, with undoubtedly, the entire Davis family...those that reside in Wakefield...in attendance.)

Monday, December 26, 1898
No School. Went skating. Went to Sweed Xmas tree.
(Lennie is possibly speaking of the Swedish Mission Church. Throughout the year he mentions attending social gatherings at various churches in town. But I believe his family may have been members of the Presbyterian Church for this is where Lennie and his future bride, Alma Matilda Gazina Kuckku, will raise their three daughters, Imogene, Marjorie, and Frances.)

Tuesday, December 27, 1898
A nice day. Helped clean house. Went to Sweed Xmas.

Wednesday, December 28, 1898
Fine day. Had a headack all day. Went hunting. Went to Sweed Xmas.

Thursday, December 29, 1898
A cold day. Blizzard in afternoon. Staid and visited Clara.

Friday, December 30, 1898
A cold day. Went to party at Mrs. Nobells.

Saturday, December 31, 1898
A nice day but cold. Went skating in afternoon. Went to party at Nanballs (sp?).

END (Lennie's word, not mine. He adds the following addendum to his 1898 diary:

I owe
Star Clothing $1.15
Rawlings Bros. $1.00
A Quimby $1.75
Ben Davis $ .50
(Ben is Lennie's brother, 8 years older than Lennie. Ben is still single, but on Christmas Eve, 1907, he will marry Anna Laura Weaver. The will have two children, Ivan and Dorothy. Ivan never marries. Dorothy marries Howard Beckenhauer and the couple will have 8 sons and one daughter.)

From family records, we deduce that Lennie had 9 siblings. Five of those siblings moved to Wakefield with the parents Josiah and Martha Jane (Crawford) Davis in about 1883.

Lennie will die in May 1946. His wife, Alma, will die in 1974. They are buried side by side along with Lennie's parents and his and Alma's youngest daughter and son-in-law, Ellis Edward and Frances Arlene (Davis) Peterson. Lennie's grandson and a granddaughter regularly visit the cemetery, placing flowers on their graves. Sometimes Jim brings his own daughter and grandchildren to visit the family gravesites in remembrance. It is a good thing to remember where you came from.

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Lennie Ranks Second in His Class and Enjoys Christmas Break

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Lennie was persistent in writing his year's diary and completed in Dec 31, 1898. Today we read through December 24. Next week we will finish to the end of the year. Charles Leonard Davis will turn 18 in the spring of 1899.

Today's photo was taken about 1917. Lennie and Alma show off their three daughters as well as their wind-up Victrola. The youngest, Frances, sits on Alma's lap and is the only one of the three who will bear children.

Don't forget to come back next week to read the final entry in Lennie's Diary.

Sunday, December 11, 1898
Doctor cut Victor's middle finger off. (If you have been reading, you will remember that Victor hurt his hand December 5. The injury must have been severe.)

Monday, December 12, 1898
Received letter from Ada. Went to band practice.

Tuesday, December 13, 1898
Got up at 6 oclock. Frank Schultz came down. Art went to Omaha. I went out walking. (Frank is a brother to Ollie's husband, Charles. Frank and Charles immigrated with their mother and sisters to the United States as young teens after their father died in a work accident in Germany.)

Wednesday, December 14, 1898
Art went on to O. I went down home after supper. (Lennie has been boarding in town with Doctor Rowse. Often high schoolers did this so that during inclement weather they could get to school.)

Thursday, December 15, 1898
Stopped chemestry untill after holidays. Staid in office after supper. (Lennie's spelling is still a bit "off".)

Friday, December 16, 1898
Sent letters to Ada, Hoss, Thos. Went to Social at Rawlings.

Saturday, December 17, 1898
Staid at office all forenoon. Went to Methodist supper. 26 of us went skating in bandwagon. (Quite obviously the 26 did not skate IN the wagon...they went IN the wagon to go skating. *smile*)

Sunday, December 18, 1898
Cousin Mack and Flossie came. Went to Ollis in evening. (Went to sister Ollie's home)

Monday, December 19, 1898
Reviewed for examination. Sy Long and our folks played (music?)at home. Snowed a little.

Tuesday, December 20, 1898
Had examination in Geom., Gen. History.

Wednesday, December 21, 1898
Had examination in Civics and Literature. Went out walking with Sam & Ellis after prayer meeting.

Thursday, December 22, 1898
Had examination in Grammar, Chemistry & Latin. Went out with choir boys and girls, poped popcorn.

Friday, December 23, 1898
Got report books ranked 2. Jessie 1. Last day of school for two weeks. (In spite of Lennie's mis-spellings, he ranked second in his class. I'm sure he had an agile mind.)

Saturday, December 24, 1898
Stayed around office all day. Went to Xmas tree at Christian Church.

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Winter of 1898 - Lennie Goes Skating

2011-12-11T18:37:00.000-08:00

The year1898 is winding down. Charles Leonard (Lennie) Davis, age 17, of Wakefield, Nebraska is still faithfully writing each day in his pocket size diary.

Today's photos feature Lennie's sister, Olive and her husband, Charles Emil Schulz. As of December 1898 they are still a young wed couple with no children. Their first baby, Lucile M Schulz, will be born September 1899 in Wakefield, Nebraska.

While Ollie's family has been in this country for generations, her husband Charles emigrated from Germany in about 1883.

Sunday, November 27, 1898
Fred Poff came in (to town). Snowed in afternoon. Ellis (Paulson) and I took girls out walking.

Monday, November 28, 1898
Cecil is mad. Will, Ellis, Sam, Ella, Mable, Jennie, Edna and I went to lake.

Tuesday, November 29, 1898
Nice day. Went to lake at night. Fred Poff staid all night.

Wednesday, November 30, 1898
Another nice day. Had examination. Sam, Ellis & I ate ??? of peanuts.

Thursday, December 1, 1898
Went skating. Ada & Clara walked in.

Friday, December 2, 1898
Prof Culver visited school. Went out with girls. Myrt & Ollie went to Allen (nearby town of Allen).

Myrtle and Olive are Lennie's older sisters. Olive (Ollie) is married to Charles Schulz. Lennie may already be acquainted with Charles' niece, Alma Kuckku who at this writing is only 5 years old. When she turns 18, she and Lennie will wed.

Lennie and Alma's wedding will be Aug. 2, 1911 at Crystal Lake in Dakota County, Nebraska. Witnesses will be William H. Kuckku (Alma's older brother) and A. R. H. Miller, Minister. Guests will include Elizabeth von Bergen, Chas. E. Schulz and wife Ollie, Myrtle Davis, Earl Davis, Lucile Schulz, Leonard Schulz,and Vivian Schulz.

Saturday, December 3, 1898
Banked house. Went down to Art's. Boys went to show.
It is possible that when Lennie says he banked the house, he is talking about placing dirt against the foundation to keep out the cold. This may be an erroneous assumption on my part...surely they would have done that earlier in the fall and would not have waited until December.

Sunday, December 4, 1898
Ada Adair went home. Sam, Ellis, Fred and I had a time.

Monday, December 5, 1898
Ate dinner at home. Victor got his hand hurt. Snowed at night.
Victor's hand is injured badly. Next week Lennie notes that the Doc cut off his middle finger.

Tuesday, December 6, 1898
Ranked 3 in class. Prof. Culver gave metal (???) to school. Snowed at night.

Wednesday, December 7, 1898
A dull day. Wrote a letter to Ada. Bessie Allen ate at Drs.

Thursday, December 8, 1898
Boys went skating. Went to choire practice at Lecture room.

Friday, December 9, 1898
Entertainment at Presb Church. Went out walking. Went to Entertainment.

Saturday, December 10, 1898
Wrote letters to Boss and to F. T. (Flora Town) Went skating in bandwagon.

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Lennie Doesn't Say Much About Thanksgiving But the President Makes a Proclamation

2011-11-17T19:36:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is upon us. Er, I mean, upon Lennie and his family. He's been boarding with Dr. Rowse, presumably to be closer to school during inclement winter weather. On Thanksgiving he mentions only "No school, went home for dinner."

But in the nation's capital, President McKinley makes a Thanksgiving proclamation as follows:

The approaching November brings to mind the custom of our ancestors, hallowed by time and rooted in our most sacred traditions, of giving thanks to Almighty God for all the blessings He has vouchsafed to us during the year.

Few years in our history have afforded such cause for thanksgiving as this. We have been blessed by abundant harvests; our trade and commerce have wonderfully increased; our public credit has been improved and strengthened; all sections of our common country have been brought together and knitted into closer bonds of national purpose and unity.

The skies have been for a time darkened by the cloud of war, but as we were compelled to take up the sword in the cause of humanity we are permitted to rejoice that the conflict has been of brief duration and the losses we have had to mourn, though grievous and important, have been so few, considering the great results accomplished, as to inspire us with gratitude and praise to the Lord of Hosts. We may laud and magnify His holy name that the cessation of hostilities came so soon as to spare both sides the countless sorrows and disasters that attend protracted war.

I do therefore invite all my fellow-citizens, as well as those who may be at sea or sojourning in foreign lands as those at home, to set apart and observe Thursday, the 24th day of November, as a day of national thanksgiving, to come together in their several places of worship for a service of praise and thanks to almighty God for all the blessings of the year, for the mildness of the seasons and the fruitfulness of the soil, for the continued prosperity of the people, for the devotion and valor of our countrymen, for the glory of our victory and the hope of a righteous peace, and to pray that the divine guidance which has brought us heretofore to safety and honor may be graciously continued in the years to come.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 28^th day of October, A.D. 1898, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-third.

Signed William McKinley (President)

Sunday, November 13, 1898
Chas helped get ???s in forenoon. (can't read Lennie's writing)
Went walking with girls in afternoon & night.

Monday, November 14, 1898
Dr. brought in cot last night. Went out at night with girls.

Tuesday, November 15, 1898
Started to have experiments in Chem. Did not have band practice last night.

Wednesday, November 16, 1898
A dull day. Worked on ditch after school. Cecil & I went out again.

Thursday, November 17, 1898
Worked on composition at night. Got report of school ???

Friday, November 18, 1898
Read composition. Got 95. Had no band practice. Went to social at Neffs.

Saturday, November 19, 1898
Worked around house all day. May Rowse came.
Wrote to Hess, Lue, and F.T. (F.T. is Flora Town, living in Shell Rock, Iowa)

Sunday, November 20, 1898
Truman Pff staid all night. Went walking down by the Davis dam in the afternoon.

Monday, November 21, 1898
Snowed last night. Regular blizard outside. ?? & I ate dinner at school made coffee. No band practice.

Tuesday, November 22, 1898
Cold outside but stoped blowing & snowing. Truman Poff staid last night and tonight.

Wednesday, November 23, 1898
A nice day but cold. Went out walking. So did Ellis Paulson.

Thursday, November 24, 1898
No school. Went home for dinner. Went out at night but Cecil & Fred out.

Friday, November 25, 1898
No school. Went skating yesterday. Put on storm windows today. No band practice.

Saturday, November 26, 1898
Worked around house. Went skating at lake. Dr. went to Emerson. Got back Sunday PM.

May we also, in 2011, give praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessings that He bestows upon us moment to moment and year to year.

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Lennie Writes to His Friend Flora and Enjoys a Party At The Shumway Residence

2011-11-07T08:11:00.000-08:00

Lennie (Charles Leonard Davis) of Wakefield, Nebraska, continues with his 1898 diary. He is currently 17 years old.

Lennie often mentions "walking with the girls". However, he is quite gentlemanly and does not mention their names. Or perhaps he was afraid family members might read his diary and give him a bad time.

He did not label his 1-inch photos and while I have been able to identify those who were family members, I simply cannot identify the others. You can click on today's photos to see enlargements of these two pages from his album. (P.S. Lennie has photos of many male friends as well...today I am showing only some of the female.)

Tuesday, November 1, 1898
Dr. Rowse came home. Wrote a letter to F.T.
According to the 1900 census for Wakefield, Nebraska, the good doctor is Dr. Robert Q. Rowse. Dr. Rowse is 28 years old as of Lennie's writing. The doctor and his wife, Sarah, will have a baby girl in the year 1900 and will name her Francis E.

I suppose you are curious as to who Lennie is referring by the initials "F.T." In the front of his diary he had a short list of addresses/names. One of those is Flora Town, Shell Rock, Iowa.

Wednesday, November 2, 1898
John Watkins came home from Florada.
Art Shearing was mustered out.
(As you notice, Lennie was not the best speller in the world. But, Hey! They did not yet have two-letter abbreviations for the states in 1898! We'll cut him some slack on this one.)

Thursday, November 3, 1898
Went down to Cecil's after supper.

Friday, November 4, 1898
Got a picture of the ?? (can't read this) Went to band practice.

Saturday, November 5, 1898
Washed off buggy. Band played for Pep (?? political??) Rally. Went out with girls.

Sunday, November 6, 1898
A nice day. Wrote a letter to F.T. Went out with girls.

Monday, November 7, 1898
Girls in school had a big time laughing at C & me. Went uptown to band practice. Didn't have none.

Tuesday, November 8, 1898
Election day. Went uptown but did not stay.

Wednesday, November 9, 1898
Chas. & I started to dig on 75 ft of water works.
Thursday, November 10, 1898
Worked on ditch. Went to social at Shellingtons. Took girls home. IOGT.
(According to the 1900 census for Wakefield, the Shellingtons probably lived down the street from the Josiah Davis family. The Shellingtons in 1900 included J.W. and his wife, Mary, as well as children Ella, Floyd, Bessie and Elbert.)
The IOGT was (and is) an organization of men and women of all ages who promote the ideals of temperance, peace and brotherhood. You can find info here. Lennie mentions the IOGT meetings often in his diary.

Friday, November 11, 1898
A dull day in school. I went walking with girls. Went to band practice.

Saturday, November 12, 1898
Dug on ditch till it rained. Went to club at Shumways. Had a hot time with Ozoea Harman.
The Shumways are probably Herbert and Nellie. They have four children - Earl, Howard, Persey, Ruth. Herbert Paine Shumway was a prominent businessman in Wakefield and you can read more about him here.

As for Ozoea, she is the only child of Dr. B. T. Harman and his wife, Margaret. Ozoea turns 15 this month. Since Lennie is so circumspect so as to not name or even write the initials of the girls with whom he goes out walking, I'm assuming that his mention of a hot time with Ozoea is an indication of an evening of fun at the home of the Shumways.

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Lennie and Friends Celebrate Hallows Eve and Have a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight

2011-10-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

It is October and an early storm hits Wakefield, Nebraska the third week of the month. Still, Charles Leonard (Lennie) Davis and friends have nice weather for Hallow's Eve day. They will go "out on the town" and have a raucous evening doing the things teens did in those days for "fun".

Today's photo, circa 1914, shows Lennie standing in front of his home in Wakefield where he and his wife Alma raised their family of three daughters. The home, located near the swimming pool in Wakefield, still stands in good condition. It has been the home to several families since Lennie and Alma lived there.

Sunday, October 9, 1898
Shaved Cecil for the first time.
Took Gertie out to her school.

Monday, October 10, 1898
Wrote a letter to ??? Got my pictures last Saturday. Did not go to Band practice.

Tuesday, October 11, 1898
A dull day. Went to depot after supper.

Wednesday, October 12, 1898
A dull day. Started to do Smiths chores last night.

Thursday, October 13, 1898
A dull day. ??? went to Omaha. McKinley was in Omaha Tuesday & Wed.
In 1898 Omaha presented an exposition, "Westward the Empire: Omaha's World Fair of 1898". It culminated with the visit of Pres. McKinley on October 12. Nearly 100,000 people jammed the fairgrounds for a glimpse of the President. Admission to the Exposition was 50 cents.

Friday, October 14, 1898
Rally in hall last night Judge Robison. Went to band practice. Big storm 18 years ago today.
The storm Lennie mentions was of epic proportions. The winter of 1880 was a bad one and was the basis for Laura Ingalls Wilder's novel, "The Long Winter". You can read about it here.

Saturday, October 15, 1898
Helped to bury potatoes. Hauled 2 loads of cobs. Went over to Wats? to help with his alfalfa.
I'm thinking Lennie and his family buried potatoes for winter storage. When a root cellar was not available, vegetables would be buried in a shallow hole, covered with straw. This would protect them from freezing and the straw could be removed in order to retrieve the root crops.
I don't know about 1898, but in 1950, we were still burning corn cobs in our kitchen stove. It is possible they were used in this manner then as well.

Sunday, October 16, 1898
A windy day. Went to Methodist Church. Took Blanche home.

Monday, October 17, 1898
A cold wind. Started to snow at 10:30 and snowed hard all day. big wind.
(This is an early storm for this part of the country.)

Tuesday, October 18, 1898
Snowed in forenoon. Stopped in afternoon. Mr. Swartz came in town.

Wednesday, October 19, 1898
A nicer day. Mr. Swartz at our house for supper. Went over to Cecil's after supper.

Thursday, October 20, 1898
A nice day.

Friday, October 21, 1898
Had Social at Weavers. I went to band practice.

Saturday, October 22, 1898
Got a letter from L.W. Hauled cobs. Got job from Dr. Rows.
(L. W. is Lennie's friend, Lew Walden, who earlier this year moved to Arizona.)

Sunday, October 23, 1898
Cecil bummed around town. Went to Dr. to work for board.
It sounds as if Lennie is boarding in town for the winter while he attends school. I've been unable to determine where the family lived at that particular time, but many young people boarded in town with friends or family during the bad winter months in order to attend school.

Monday, October 24, 1898
Didn't sleep good last night. Mrs. Rows went to Omaha. So did Dr. Cecil staid all night with me.

Tuesday, October 25, 1898
Done up chores and went to Slingers (sp?) for dinner & breakfast. Went to show. Ellis Paulson came home.

Wednesday, October 26, 1898
Got my pups (??) from Dakota City. Went to Emerson after Dr.

Thursday, October 27, 1898
Had examination. Wrote a letter to Lew Walden. Staid at home and read.

Friday, October 28, 1898
Had examination. Went to band practice. John Cooper started to play drum.

Saturday, October 29, 1898
Band plaid for Nicklejohn (Nickelodeon?) in hall. Cecil and I went walking with two girls. (Note that Lennie does not write the names of the two girls in his notebook.)

Sunday, October 30, 1898
Nice day. Sam an boys came home at 11:30 PM. Went out with girls.

Monday, October 31, 1898
Hallows Eve day. Had a hot time in the old town. Girls and boys went out together.
The custom of trick or treating was not yet established in America in 1898. However, pranksters abounded and old-time stories tell us that young folk would take apart buggies and wagons, carry them to the top of some building (the school house for instance), and reassemble them. I'm sure 17-year-old Lennie and his friends had an evening full of prankstering.

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Lennie and His Band Play for a Magic Lantern Show

2011-10-05T06:02:00.000-07:00

Ah, it's October already. Lennie is busy this week. And the Wakefield Cornet Band is busy, too, playing for more than one event, including a "Magic Lantern show". Read on.

Sunday, October 2, 1898
A nice day. Went to Emerson after Prof
(Lennie was pretty sparse with his words so I'm reading between the lines, so to speak. Earlier in the year Lennie was not on very good terms with the Prof at school. In fact in one entry he says the Prof got mad at him but "nobody got hurt". Here it seems the Prof trusts him to pick him up in Emerson, Nebraska, for a 10-mile trip back home to Wakefield.)

Monday, October 3, 1898
Band played in Opera Hall.

Tuesday, October 4, 1898
Went to Cornwall. Played all day.
(It sounds as if Lennie and the Wakefield Cornet Band are playing in Cornwall, Nebraska. I'm assuming Cornwall was a small town in 1898 but I can't find anything on the internet. Many small settlements disappeared as populations moved to towns with railroad connections, etc. Cornwall may have been one of those towns.)

Wednesday, October 5, 1898
Got up at 7:30. Played all day. Went to bed at 11.
(And the band plays on!)

Thursday, October 6, 1898
Came home and went to school.

Friday, October 7, 1898
Started to do Smith's chores. Went to band practice.

Saturday, October 8, 1898
A nice day. Went to magic lantern show. Band played for it.
(Click here and here to read more about "magic lanterns". The "Magic Lantern" was an early kind of slide projector which was used to show pictures which had been printed on square glass plates. These shows were the closest thing to going to the movies in Lennie's teen years. Did you know that 3-D images were already being used in Lennie's time?)

As for the photo of Lennie and his friend? I haven't a clue. But I do believe it was taken several years after 1898. Lennie did participate now and then in a town theatrical production and I'm guessing this is from one of those events.

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Lennie Enjoys Watermelon. The Exposition at Omaha Continues

2011-09-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday, September 18, 1898
Went to Wayne with Fred. Went to Revival meeting.

Monday, September 19, 1898
Felt sleep. Went to band practice.

Tuesday, September 20, 1898
Went to social at Presb Church. (Presbyterian)
Social cost me 30 (?) cents.

Wednesday, September 21, 1898
Went out riding in morning with Ollie. (Lennie's sister who is married to Charles Schulz.)
Poffs to Omaha for 3 days.
(The Omaha Daily Bee continues with front page coverage of the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition...this week's visitors may possibly include the Poffs. It is a magnificent event and worthy of more than a single day's visit.)

Thursday, September 22, 1898
Felt ill all day.

Friday, September 23, 1898
Had a IOGT lecture in Presb. Ch.
Went to band practice.
The lecture would undoubtedly have been on abstaining from alcohol for that was the intent of the IOGT (International Organisation of Good Templars).

Saturday, September 24, 1898
Cecil & I went out after (wild) plums did not get any.

Sunday, September 25, 1898
A nice day. Went out after watermelons. Got all we could eat.

Monday, September 26, 1898
Bummed around the street with Cecil. Went to band practice in Opera Hall.

Tuesday, September 27, 1898
Lee ?? visited school. Band practiced on street.
(Josiah Davis, Lennie's father, is 61 years old today.)

Wednesday, September 28, 1898
Went out walking with two unknown friends.
(Lennie is not shy about naming his male acquaintances. I'm thinking his "unknown friends" may have been of the female persuasion.)

Thursday, September 29, 1898
Wrote a letter to Ellis P. (Ellis Paulson)
Band practiced on street.

Friday, September 30, 1898
Band played on street. Prof went to Omaha.

Saturday, October 1, 1898
Art came down and played in hall.

According to the Bee activities at the Exposition for September 30 include

Georgia Day.
Nebraska Pioneers' Day.
Children's Day.
Indians on Indian Congress Grounds.
Omaha Concert Band
Georgia Exercises at Auditorium.
Battleship Illinois Docked at Govt Building.
Fire Horses Hitched by Electricity.
Grand Japanese Day Fireworks on Plaza.
Innes' Band in Auditorium.
United States Life Saving Drill on Lagoon.
Organ Recital at Auditorium.
Santiago War Balloon Ascension.
Steriopticon War and Georgia Views, Fireworks and Cannon.

And in downtown Omaha today in conjunction with the Expo:

Sunday School Conference, First Methodist Church.
Bohemian Catholic Union, Metz Hall
Library Congress, Library Building
Art Congress, First Congregational Church

Page 5 of the Omaha Daily Bee reports sad news...as follows:
John Svestka, a Bohemian living at 2327 South Nineteenth street, was seized with a peculiar mental disorder last night which necessitated his removal to the police station. He received the impression that there was an evil spirit about his premises which he must overtake and destroy. He raced madly about the house, driving the family out of doors, and finally threw all the furniture out of a window over the brink of a high bank. The spirit still eluded him however, and seizing an ax Svetska attacked an apple tree in the front yard, felling it in the hope of finding his enemy concealed at the center. He was finally overpowered and placed under arrest.

Lennie Kills a Mouse in Chemistry

2011-09-07T17:44:00.000-07:00

Today's photo is a picture postcard of Main Street in Wakefield, Nebraska some years prior to Lennie's diary of 1898. But by the year of the diary, not much had changed. There were still no cars on the street. No airplanes in the sky.

Sunday, September 11, 1898
Applegate preached his last sermon.
Had a union meeting.
(I'm almost certain Applegate "preached his last sermon" because of some mundane reason, such as retirement. Lennie's succinct statement almost makes it sound as if the poor fellow died, thus "preached his last sermon". )

Monday, September 12, 1898
A rainy day.
Arthur Shumway came home from War.

Tuesday, September 13, 1898
Another rainy day.
Pa built our coal house.

Wednesday, September 14, 1898
A clear day.
George Knuth (sp?) came home.
Am going to a party at Davises.
(I suppose this is the home of one of Lennie's older brothers.)

Thursday, September 15, 1898
Guy and Caus (sp?) went to Lincoln to school.
Went to Wayne after school to the Barbecue on horseback.
(Please be advised that Lennie "traveled to Wayne" on horseback. I very much doubt he went to a "barbecue on horseback". Perhaps you did not need me to explain that. *smile*)

Friday, September 16, 1898
Killed a mouse in chemistry.
Medican (sp) man selling medicine on street.
Went to band practice.

Saturday, September 17, 1898
Did not do much.

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Lennie Reveals His Mischievous Nature

2011-08-31T05:24:00.000-07:00

If you scroll to the entry for Sept 10 you will read that Lennie confesses to going "ticktacking". You've probably already surmised that while Lennie is an industrious lad, he also has a mischievous side to his personality. An online dictionary defines "ticktacking" as "a prankster's device for tapping on a door or window from a distance". The prankster would toss a handful of corn kernels at someone's window and then run and hide. Do you suppose there was a pretty young Miss behind those windows?

Sunday, August 28, 1898
Excursion. Went to Sioux City. Guy & I went out walking.

Monday, August 29, 1898
Helped Charlie Smith thrash.
Went to band practice. Went to a party at Dearborns.

Tuesday, August 30, 1898
Did not work. This was a dead week for me.

Wednesday, August 31, 1898
Did not work. The same thing over again. Charlie is fixing his kitchen.

Thursday, September 1, 1898
Guy and I went in the country. Frank came home.

Friday, September 2, 1898
Took Georges dinner out to him. Band Practice.
George may be Lennie's brother...George Weldon Davis. George is thirteen years older than Lennie and is married with three children at this time.

Saturday, September 3, 1898
Rained last night. Cool this morning. Made a trunk. Fred Poff and me ate a basket of grapes.

Sunday, September 4, 1898
A hot day. Charlie printed pictures. Went to Poff's for watermelons.

Monday, September 5, 1898
Started to school. Had no band on account of Chas Herrington.
I don't know how Charles died but he was only 38 years old according to census data.

Tuesday, September 6, 1898
Buried Chas. Herrington.
Pres. CE had business meeting.
Stopped taking the corn.

Wednesday, September 7, 1898
Pa built Charlie a coal house. Cecil and I made a kite.

Thursday, September 8, 1898
Cool. Went out riding with Bennie.

Friday, September 9, 1898
Went to band practice.

Saturday, September 10, 1898
Finished trunk. Worked for Charlie.
Went out ticktacking.

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Wherein Lennie Works, Bums, Plays in the Band, and Bikes!

2011-08-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

Our hero, Lennie Davis, works on neighboring farms all week, thrashing oats, shelling corn, fixing fence. Finally, on Friday afternoon, he gets some time off and bums around town. And in his entry for August 27, he goes bicycle riding!

Sunday, August 14, 1898
Frank went to Chicago. Art & Charlie came down. Walked out to Petersons.

Monday, August 15, 1898
Thrashed for Dillon.

Tuesday, August 16, 1898
Thrashed for Dillon until 4 PM. Stacked oats rest of day.

Wednesday, August 17, 1898
Finished stacking oats. Fixed fence. Came home.

Thursday, August 18, 1898
Shelled corn for Anderson.
Went out to Porters (sp?) with Ida LeMay.

Friday, August 19, 1898
Shelled corn. Bummed around town in afternoon.

Saturday, August 20, 1898
Helped ?? (sp?) in shop. Hotest day in Neb for years. 104 degrees.

Another week has gone by. The weather has turned hot. This following week Lennie takes time off to play.

Sunday, August 21, 1898
Another hot day. Went to Presb Church. Took Ed and Ells (Ellis Paulson) home.

Monday, August 22, 1898
A hotter day than Saturday. Band practice. Went to lecture at Prest. Church.
(Hotter than Saturday? Hotter than 104 degrees!! Please be reminded that the Presbyterian Church did not get air conditioning yet for decades!)

Tuesday, August 23, 1898
A cool day.
Fixed pictures in this book.
(Lennie is speaking of his diary. In the front and back inside covers he had glued tiny photos. Unfortunately, they are faded beyond recognition. These tiny photos are not to be confused with the photos in his pocket-size photo album which contained dozens of well preserved photographs of friends, self, and yes, even his dog, "Sport". )

Wednesday, August 24, 1898
A nice day. Worked for Edmond & Bradford. Went down to tennis court.

Thursday, August 25, 1898
Did not work. Shellington's farm caught on fire. Woodman's pinick at ?? (sp?)

Friday, August 26, 1898
Helped George and Charlie put up hay.
Got a letter from Sioux City to play for Carnival.
(Lennie and the Wakefield Cornet Band have a gig!)

Saturday, August 27, 1898
Guy and I went out to the country on bikes.
Aha! Lennie is enjoying the weekend! We wish we had a photo of his bicycle, but we don't. However, as you can see from the prints included here, bicycles haven't changed an awful lot, but costumes have! Especially for the gals!
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Lennie Sweats While the Crowds Enjoy the Expo in Omaha

2011-08-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

This week we again feature Lennie's daily entries in his 1898 diary.

Charles Leonard (Lennie) Davis, age 17 , of Wakefield, Nebraska spends a busy week in the wheat and oat fields doing the sweaty work of harvesting.

Meanwhile, a world's fair, the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition is in full swing in Omaha. It will run from June 1 to November 1, 1898. While Lennie is sweating in the sun, thousands are enjoying themselves at the Expo. It is indeed a grandiose event as you can see by the photos.

You can read more about the 1898 Expo at this site and this and many links to photos here (photos by F. A. Rinehart). I'm including a few of Rinehart's photos in today's post to whet your appetite. Isn't that a cool photo of the John Deere & Company exhibit? (Remember that you can click for a closer view.)

Meanwhile...Lennie writes the following. His words are in bold black.

Sunday, August 7, 1898
Nice Day.
Ellis Paulson came down from Norfork (Norfolk, Nebraska, some 10 miles to the west of Wakefield.)

Monday, August 8, 1898
Stacked wheat.
Fred went to town after Joe's watch.
(Lennie had recently purchased a watch for himself. It appears he has influenced Joe to do the same.)

Tuesday, August 9, 1898
Stacked wheat.
Joe went to town twice after watch finally got it.

Wednesday, August 10, 1898
Stacked wheat.

Thursday, August 11, 1898
Thrashed at Will Moers (Moore's ??)

Friday, August 12, 1898
Thrashed in forenoon.
Stacked wheat.

Saturday, August 13, 1898
Stacked oats in forenoon.
Thrashed for Dillon.

The weather has been cooperating in this labor-intensive work of harvesting wheat and oats. The Omaha Daily Bee reports daily highs in the 70s and mid-80s. This is near perfect weather for the Expo as well as for Lennie and his fellow harvesters. Next week, however, it will get hot. HOT!

Take note of these last two photos. The last photo is labeled a "war balloon". And the photo just prior is the machinery used to fill the balloon with "gas"...whatever that gas is, I don't know. Perhaps simply heated air.

The Omaha Daily Bee continues to mention the Spanish American War (as well as the Expo) on a daily basis. The hostilities end this week according to the front page of the Bee.

Wherein We Look to Lennie's Future

2011-08-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

In Lennie's diary it is Aug. 2, 1898. Thirteen years from this day in the year 1911 Lennie will marry Alma, the niece of Lennie's brother-in-law, Frank.

Lennie will be 30 years old. His bride will be 18. Their marriage will last as long as they live and they will raise three daughters. One will die in her early 20s from a blood clot. One will marry but will remain childless. One will marry and raise five children.

Oddly, on this same date in 1918 Lennie will receive a letter from the Post Office Department appointing him a rural carrier for Wakefield, effective Aug 16. The letter notes that his annual salary will be $1488 and suggests "you provide yourself a vehicle of such capacity as will enable you to handle all mail that may be intrusted to you and protect it from adverse weather conditions."

Lennie's grandson remembers that Lennie often carried a shotgun with him on his rural mail route, grabbing it up occasionally to shoot a pheasant out the window of his vehicle. That's illegal these days (to shoot a gun from the road) but perhaps it was okay then.

During their marriage Alma's only sibling, her older brother William, will die on the battlefields of France during the Battle of Cantigny in May 1918. His body will first be buried on the field, then disinterred and placed in a cemetery dedicated to Americans. The U.S. Army will contact Alma, asking her if she wants his body brought home for burial. She makes that request and Lennie makes arrangements for William's body to be buried beside his parents at the Wisner, Nebraska cemetery. (photo is William Henry Kuckku)

When World War II comes along, the youngest daughter of Lennie and Alma will be living in New York with her husband and three children. During those years rationing will make it difficult to buy meat, eggs, sugar, tires, clothing, etc. Lennie and Alma will periodically fill a large wooden egg crate with eggs, ham, and other goodies and put it on a train to New York. The young family will return the empty crate to be re-filled and shipped again on a regular basis.

Many letters will be written between Alma and her young daughter...letters that detail the daily lives of the grandchildren. There will be many visits to Wakefield where Lennie, otherwise known as Grampa, will make his grandchildren feel welcome and loved.

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Lennie Takes On a Dirty, Smelly Job

2011-07-31T12:51:00.000-07:00

Weatherwise, it's still cool in Wakefield, Nebraska this first week of August, 1898 with temps on Monday hovering just under 70. By Friday the thermometer will soar to 88 or thereabouts.

Lennie is doing a man's job...working in the fields. In July he helped with the wheat and oat harvest.
This week the work shifts to a "dirtier" job. Lennie begins hauling manure. The manure from the barn and feed areas would be tossed onto a wagon via muscle power and a pitchfork. Then the wagon was pulled by a team of horses to the fields where Lennie would use a pitchfork to toss the stuff into the field. The winds would carry the "aroma" for miles. And probably so did Lennie's clothes.

With all this field work I'm thinking that 17-year-old Lennie was pretty buff by summer's end.

The photo? That's Lennie in his old age. By then he had gone through the Depression of the 1930s, had lived through World Wars I and II, buried an adult daughter, and lived life as an honorable man who took care of his family and was a good neighbor to all. I like this photo of Lennie for I can see how much his grandson (my hubby) resembles him.

Let us move on to Lennie's diary.

Sunday, July 31, 1898
Got a book and stayed home and read.
Went down and seen G. (I'm suspecting G is a girl. Lennie often used initials when referring to girls.)

Monday, August 1, 1898
A rainy day.
Petersons got new table.
Hauled manure.

Tuesday, August 2, 1898
Hauled manure.
Joe Peterson sent after watch.
Fred and me went to town.
(Remember that Lennie himself got a new watch July 23. Now his buddy is influenced to get one for himself.)

Wednesday, August 3, 1898
Fixed up shocks.
Hauled hay in forenoon.
Stacked hay afternoon.

Thursday, August 4, 1898
Hauled manure in forenoon.
Stacked wheat in afternoon.
?? (indecipherable) came home.

Friday, August 5, 1898
Stacked wheat all day.
Storm came up after noon.

Saturday, August 6, 1898
Rained.
Hauled manure.
Fred felt funny. Gave me a nice ride on hayrack.
(I'm thinking Lennie meant Fred felt he was in a joking mood...hence, the "nice" ride in the hayrack.)

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Upon Which Lennie Continues to Shock and Also Buys New Shoes

2011-07-25T18:52:00.000-07:00

Weatherwise, it's been a relatively nice week 1898 in Wakefield, Nebraska. The daily high temps have been just nudging above 80 degrees, making this ideal weather for shocking wheat and working long hours in the sun. Seventeen-year-old Charles Leonard (Lennie) Davis is undoubtedly working with a large crew of men on his friend's farm for it took many hands to do this kind of work.

Sunday, July 24, 1898
Rained in afternoon.
Went to C (Lennie begins his week by going to church on Sunday.)
Emery came down to see ??? (can't decipher the name)
Went out to Petersons.

Monday, July 25, 1898
Started to cut wheat, shocked all day.
Went to town.

Tuesday, July 26, 1898
Shocked wheat.
Did not go to town to the show.
Rained at midnight.

Wednesday, July 27, 1898
Shocked wheat.
Went to town at night.
Got new shoes.

Thursday, July 28, 1898
Shocked wheat.
Binder broke at noon.
Boys out until 9 oclock.

Friday, July 29, 1898
Rained in morning didn't work in morning finished shocking wheat.

Saturday, July 30, 1898
Fixed up shocks in forenoon.
Hauled hay.
Cut weeds in afternoon.

This week President McKinley provided terms for peace to the Spanish through France. The Omaha Daily Bee is full of news on the Spanish-American War. Troops have landed at "Porto Rico" as it is spelled in the Omaha news.

The photo to the right was taken nearly a month previous on July 1 at San Juan Hill and depicts Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders.

Upon Which Lennie Has a Shocking Week

2011-07-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, I'm playing with you. Lennie indeed had a "shocking" week but the word refers to working in the oat fields.

The photos are vintage photos found online and are of this era or close to it. (Click for a closer view.)

The first photo is in an oat field. The second is in wheat, but I'm thinking both oats and wheat were harvested in similar manner. Lennie was undoubtedly working for a nearby farmer. While the men worked in the field the farmer's wife would be cooking up a storm, making sure each man had a good portion of vittles including pie for dessert. A farmer always fed his hired crew.

Sunday, July 17, 1898
A hot day.
Wind blew hard all day.
Union meeting.

Monday, July 18, 1898
Tried to fix Guy's wheel.
93 in the shade.
Took possession of Santiago yesterday.
(Lennie is writing in reference to Santiago, Cuba, and the surrender of the Spanish forces to General Shafter, U.S. Army. You can read about that in the Omaha Daily Bee for this date by clicking here. You may have to enlarge the page to read it. )

Tuesday, July 19, 1898
Came out Peterson's last night.
Rained this morning.
Shocked oats in the afternoon.

Wednesday, July 20, 1898
Shocked oats.

Thursday, July 21, 1898
Shocked oats.
IOGT had picknick in Dixon's Grove.

Friday, July 22, 1898
Shocked oats.
Cut weeds in afternoon.
Came in town to IOGT.
Out for 3 mo.

Saturday, July 23, 1898
Cut weeds in morning.
Shocked hay in afternoon.
Band in town at night.
Got a watch.
Next week Lennie's friend, Joe Peterson, will have been impressed by Lennie's new watch and will be ordering one for himself.

Lennie Goes to Work Even Though He Does Not Feel Well

2011-07-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

We continue reading the 1898 diary of 17-year-old Charles Leonard Davis, Wakefield, Nebraska.

Although our Lennie has a cold this week, we see that he is an industrious person. He continues to work at his job on the street (road) in spite of not feeling well.

Nobody ever said Lennie was lazy. No, all his life he was full of adventure and energy.

In spite of being under the weather, Lennie also goes swimming this week.

And on Saturday he goes for a walk with Lyda. We do not know who Lyda is. And we doubt any of these young ladies is Lyda. However, we show you these photos from Lennie's pocket-size photo album so that you can view their hair styles, their rather fancy hats, and the dresses of that time. How fun it would be to know their names, but Lennie did not pencil that information into his album. (Note: Many of the photos in Lennie's album were posed. Holding and reading a letter was a common pose.)

We read on.

Sunday, July 10, 1898
Nice day.
Did not feel well.
Sam, Ellis and me went to Wayne.

Monday, July 11, 1898
Did not work.
Sam and Ellis went over to Haskells and played cards.
No band.

Tuesday, July 12, 1898
Fixed Frank's wheel.
Worked Frank's Pole Tax.
Went swimming after supper.

Wednesday, July 13, 1898
Did not feel well all day.
Worked on streets all day.
Went swimming.

Thursday, July 14, 1898
Did not feel well today.
Have a bad cold.
Worked on roads.

Friday, July 15, 1898
Worked on roads in forenoon.
1-1/2 hours in afternoon.
Band played on street.

Saturday, July 16, 1898
Worked on streets in forenoon.
Walked with Lyda S.

(Remember that you can click on the photos for a better view.)

Upon Which Lennie Goes For a Buggy Ride With His Sister Ollie

2011-07-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 3, 1898
Nice day.
Went out buggy riding with Ollie.

Ollie is Lennie's sister, older than he, and married for three years to Charles (Carl) Emil Schulz. Lennie is back row, center. His two sisters are Myrtle, left, and Olive (Ollie), right. And look at Lennie's brothers. Did you ever see such handsome moustaches? Their parents are Josiah Davis and Mary Jane (Crawford) formerly of Ohio.

Monday, July 4, 1898
Went to Allen (Allen, Nebraska, a small town eleven miles north of Wakefield.)
Got news that Schley had captured Cervera's fleet.
(The associated press article about this event in Santiago harbor, Cuba, is in the Omaha Bee of July 5, page 1, lower right corner of the page. Commodore Schley, U.S. Navy had captured the Spanish fleet. Click here and enlarge the page to read.)
Played tennis at Allen.

Tuesday, July 5, 1898
Nice day.
Celebrated 4th with fireworks.
Had business meeting.

Wednesday, July 6, 1898
Bummed around town.
Went out to Swansons to work.

Thursday, July 7, 1898
Plowed corn all day.
Nice day.
(On this day in 1898 President William McKinley signed the Treaty that made Hawaii a U.S. Territory.)

Friday, July 8, 1898
Plowed corn.
Went to town.
Went to IOGT.
No band practice.

Saturday, July 9, 1898
Worked in forenoon.
Came to town.

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Upon Which Lennie Tries On His New Band Uniform

2011-06-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

The weather is pleasant in Wakefield, Nebraska, this fine week in June 1898. Our protagonist, Lennie Davis, age 17, continues to write in his pocket diary. He's sparse with his words but his few short sentences give us a picture of his daily activities. Lennie's words are in bold black.

Sunday, June 26, 1898
Nice Day.
Made ice cream.
Ellis P (Ellis Paulson) and I went to Emerson.
(Emerson is a small town about 10 miles east of Wakefield.)

Monday, June 27, 1898
Went to the country with Charlie.
Band plaid. (I hope Lennie "plaid" better than he spelled!)

Tuesday, June 28, 1898
Did not do much.
Dull times since soldiers gone.

Wednesday, June 29, 1898
A hot day.
Ran foot races in street.

Thursday, June 30, 1898
Nice Day.
Staid at livery stabel in evening.
Guy and me ran races.

Friday, July 1, 1898
Social at P. Church. (Presbyterian)
Band practice.

Saturday, July 2, 1898
Shined Carlsons and Kyles and my own horn.
Bad (band) suits came. (You can click the photo for a larger view of Lennie in his band uniform. He played in the Wakefield Cornet Band.)

On page 3 of the Omaha Bee of July 1 we read the following: Dateline June 30, Tecumseh, Nebraska. “Harvest is on in earnest in Johnson County and there never was a time when men were so scarce. There is a great demand for harvesters and any man who can shock wheat and desires work is in the field. The wages paid generally is $1.50 per day and board. The harvesting together with the building in the city and the railroad grading work on the Burlington south of here has been a boom to the laborers of Tecumseh (Nebraska) this summer."

Lennie lives in Dixon County which is well north of Johnson County. Oat and wheat harvest will not begin yet for another couple weeks. When it does, Lennie will be shocking oats and hay. He's an industrious fellow and will undoubtedly earn a man's wages. And he will not complain of the heat.

But Lennie does complain of dull times since the soldiers left Wakefield last week. Those men are on their way to fight in the Spanish-American war. This week page 1 of the Omaha Bee tells us that fighting will begin soon near Santiago, Cuba.

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Lennie Goes to Sunday School with the Girls

2011-06-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

Charles Leonard Davis is seventeen years old in 1898. The following are entries in his small pocket diary. The words in bold black are Lennie's. I'm blogging Lennie's diary day by day (or week by week). I'm a bit behind but I'll catch up later this week. Meanwhile...read more about the Wakefield Cornet Band.

Sunday, June 19, 1898
Got my picture taken.
Went to Presbyterien. S.S. girls & boys together.
(Boys and girls together! I hope they behaved themselves!)

Monday, June 20, 1898
Ollie and ma took me out to Fritz to plow corn.
(Ollie is Lennie's older sister. Married. Lennie is undoubtedly using horses to plow corn.)

Tuesday, June 21, 1898
Hot in afternoon.
Rained in forenoon.
Plowed corn.
Tired as the D_ _ _ _.
(That's right...this Presbyterian boy refrains from spelling out "devil". His mama is raising him right.)

Wednesday, June 22, 1898
Worked a half a day walked to town watched soldiers drill.

Thursday, June 23, 1898
A hot and windy day.
Soldiers got word they were agoing to leave.

Friday, June 24, 1898
Soldiers left on 7:30. (the morning train)
Big crowd, sad, town seems lonely.
Stormed hard.
IOGT. (Lennie attends another meeting of the IOGT lodge group.)

Saturday, June 25, 1898
Nice day.
Went in country with Charlie.
Band played in street.

Speaking of the band...remember when I mentioned Lennie playing in the Wakefield Cornet Band? (read here). Lennie is not in this photo but his brother-in-law Carl Schulz is. He's the guy just to the left of center with the blonde mustache. I do not know the date of this first photo but you can see there are men and teen boys in this photo.

We recently visited the small museum at the old train depot in Wakefield and I found another photo of the band. This second photo was taken in 1904 when Lennie would have been 23 years old. He is not in this photo either. As you can see the band members are school age. Perhaps there were two cornet bands...one for adults, one for teens.

This 1904 photo included the following names:
Ray Larson, ? Woodward, Guy Diltz, Carls Anderson, Ernest Longe, Carl Diltz, Ed Burnamn, Willie Hide, Bryon Busby, Walter Carlson, Tip Hiyl, Ed Larson, Howard Shumway
Earl Leonard, Vilas Hiyl, Lloyd Busby, Harry Johnson, ? Ebersole, ? Shumway, Clarence Johnson, Maarvin Leamer, D. L. Leamer, Walter Howard, D.C. Leamer. (The band director was the depot agent but I don't know which name is his.)

Lennie Sees No Flood But Watches Soldiers Drill and Walks Katie Home

2011-06-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

Today (year 2011) the Missouri River a number of miles east of Wakefield, Nebraska, is at flood stage. Many, many acres of Iowa and Nebraska cropland under water. The U.S. Corps of Engineers is releasing huge (record) amounts of water through the five dams above us. Those historic releases will continue into mid-August. We live across the river from Wakefield. We are apprehensive of the coming weeks.

But in 1898? Lennie is busy with ordinary every-day events. Following is his week in 1898 as written in a small pocket diary which he kept for the year.

Sunday, June 12, 1898
Nice day.
Had children's day at Prest (Presbyterian) & ME (Methodist-Episcopal) church.
(In his adult years Lennie and his wife, Alma, were members of the Presbyterian church. But so far I do not know which church Lennie attended as a child. It is evident from his diary that he visited nearly every local church whenever they had special events or dinners. Lennie was a highly sociable fellow.)

Monday, June 13, 1898
Hauled manure.
George Green loaded up all I had to do was to haul.
Went to band practice.
(I posted yesterday about Lennie hauling manure. Please be aware that this was a smelly operation and the odor of manure would waft from the fields for long distances. But spreading manure was the norm for farming in 1898.)

Tuesday, June 14, 1898
Hauled manure for Green.
Watched soldiers drill.

Wednesday, June 15, 1898
Hauled manure.
Band played for dress drill.
Went to social at Peat? Neffs? (Sorry, can't decipher Lennie's hand-writing.)

Thursday, June 16, 1898
Did not work.
Watched soldiers drill.
Took Katie? home.

Friday, June 17, 1898
Went to a picknick at Joe ???
Ladies had supper for soldiers.

Saturday, June 18, 1898
Loafed around town all day.
Edith Duncan and Miss Carter? came down.
are (Edith most likely was the daughter of Scott W. Duncan and his wife, Aminia (America??) of Dakota City, about 30 miles northeast of Wakefield. If this is the correct Edith, she married John E. Triggs and remained in this general area until her death in 1930 at the age of 57. The photo is of the 1880 census for Dakota City, Nebraska. You can click for a closer view.)

Upon Which Lennie Maintains Sobriety and Spreads Manure

2011-06-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

Lennie has been attending what I thought were JOGT meetings on a regular basis. I googled and googled and could not find reference to JOGT. I knew it had something to do with a lodge or fraternal organization but was puzzled that I could not find any information online. Then I realized Lennie was writing IOGT and not JOGT. Lennie's IOGT could have been the International Organisation of Good Templars that was devoted to and encouraged sobriety.

In today's photo Lennie is wearing what I believe is indicative of his later membership in freemasonry. This is not an IOGT outfit...but I do not know what it would be. In this photo Lennie is probably in his mid twenties. We do not know if he remained active in the masons. Nor do we have this outfit handed down to us. Pretty cool outfit. (You can click for a sharper image.)

Sunday, June 5, 1898
Nice Day.
Children's day had exercises at church.

Monday, June 6, 1898
Started to haul manure for Green.
Did not play in band. Hauled loads.

Tuesday, June 7, 1898
Worked for Green.
Went down and watched the soldiers tonight.
Business meeting.

Wednesday, June 8, 1898
Nice day.
Hauled manure. (Read about manure below.)
Went down and watched Co. G drill.

Thursday, June 9, 1898
Rained all day.
Did not work.
Went to bed at 7:30.
Rev. Giffen came back with his wife.

Friday, June 10, 1898
Rained in forenoon.
Cloudy all day.
Didn't work.
JOGT.

Saturday, June 11, 1898
Nice day.
Did not work.
Watched soldiers drill.

Lennie's job of hauling manure could not have been a pleasant one. But it was a necessary farm activity.
Each spring the pens and barns would be cleaned of manure...usually by hand using a pitchfork. The smelly stuff would be tossed into a manure spreading wagon and hauled out to the fields. A mechanism on the back of the wagon spread the manure evenly over the field. You can read more about that process here. This photo is from the Illinois State Museum Collection.

Graduation in Wakefield, Nebraska 1898

2011-06-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

Today's photo shows Lennie probably in his early twenties. But don't forget, the diary was written in his seventeenth year. Be sure to come back next week for I will reveal the mystery of the JOGT meetings Lennie has been attending. You will laugh.

Wednesday, June 1, 1898
Frank went to a ? circus in Wayne.
Botany class went out picking flowers.
Lennie mentions picking flowers with classmates several times. I guess you could call that a 'field day'.

Thursday, June 2, 1898
Had no school.
Helped fix up the Opera Hall.
Had graduating exercises.
Lennie is not yet a member of the Wakefield, Nebraska high school graduating class. Probably next year.

Friday, June 3, 1898
Went to school and helped take things home.
Blanch Peters came down.

Saturday, June 4, 1898
Rained.
Boys went to Pender last night.
Bill got in at 6 oclock this morning. (Those boys must have had a wild time last night. I hope Lennie stayed home and out of trouble!)
Blanche spoke some pieces.

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War and Soldiers and Loved Ones

2011-05-27T07:51:00.001-07:00

Charles Leonard Davis mentions the Nebraska Guard recruits who are gathering in Wakefield and who will soon ship off to The Spanish American War. He is oblivious of the fact that War will strike again and again during his lifetime and bring much sorrow to him and his future family. (Please note that misspellings are Lennie's and not mine! As much as possible, I've typed as he spelled.) And please read to the bottom to see how future Wars affect Lennie's future family.

Sunday, May 22, 1898
Nice day.
Went to Sunday School.
Guy, Sam, Ellis & myself went out walking.

Monday, May 23, 1898
Planted potatoes in morning and afternoon.
Went to band practice.

Tuesday, May 24, 1898
Went over to see the soldiers drill.

Wednesday, May 25, 1898
Rained. Nothing much happend today.
I fixed Guy's wheel. (his bicycle wheel)

Thursday, May 26, 1898
Recruits are in town to enlist.
Had a social at J.E. Dates? (spelling?)
Band played.

Friday, May 27, 1898
Had examination.
Fixed flag pole on schoolhouse.
Went to band practice.
JOGT.

Saturday, May 28, 1898
Soldires camped down by the railroad.
They have a hot time.

Sunday, May 29, 1898
3 trains of soldiers went through.
Staid down to train after school.

Monday, May 30, 1898
Memorial day celebration. Click here for history of Memorial Day, formerly called Decoration Day.
Band plaid.
Went to Wayne (Nebraska) came home and went to band practice.

Tuesday, May 31, 1898
Went to school half a day.
Guy and I fixed his wheel.
Watched the soldiers drill.

When he wrote these words Lennie was seventeen years old. The presence of an encampment of recruits from the Nebraska Guard is big news in the small community of Wakefield, Nebraska. Lennie and his buddies will visit the encampment many times to watch the soldiers drill.

What Lennie does not know as a teenager is that war will affect his own family. His future brother-in-law, William (Billy) Kuckku, will die on the fields of Cantigny, France on May 28, 1918. You can read more about Billy here. He was 3 weeks past his 27th birthday when he died on the battlefield.

And his future wife's cousin, Dale M. Hansen, will be awarded the Medal of Honor after he dies in action on Okinawa in May 11, 1945 one year to the day after his induction into the Marines. Read more here. Dale was twenty-two when he died.

The bodies of William and Dale were both brought home for burial at the cemetery in Wisner, Nebraska.

Lennie, the Soldiers, and His In-Laws

2011-05-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

Today I'm bringing you two weeks from Lennie's diary. I got a little slack this past week and didn't post. Sorry about that! I've typed exactly as Lennie spelled and where I was unable to decipher his writing I included question marks. Charles Leonard Davis was 17 years old when he wrote about his daily life in Wakefield, Nebraska in the year 1898.

Sunday, May 8, 1898
A cloudy day. Frank Schulz was here.
I took Betty out to school.
Had a union meeting.
Frank Rinhold Schulz must have been visiting his brother, Carl whose wife, Ollie, is a sister to Lennie. Frank lives near Wisner, Nebraska, and may already be sweet on Dena Gazena Nuttleman of Wisner whom he will marry in February of next year (1899). Frank and Carl's niece, Alma Matilda Kuckku, will come to live with Frank and Dena in 1907 when she is orphaned at the age of thirteen. It is through this familial relationship that Lennie will meet Alma who will become Lennie's bride. But that is still a long way in the future.

Monday, May 9, 1898
Prof got hot at me but did not hurt anybody.
George Smith went to war.
Had no band practice.
Don't you love that line? "Prof got hot at me but did not hurt anybody."
The poor Prof has put up with Lennie for some time now. He must have admirable control of his temper to "not hurt anybody!"

Tuesday, May 10, 1898
Had a award meeting last night.
Choir met at our house to practice.
Lennie has twice mentioned the choir practicing at their house. I wonder if he himself sang in the choir? Perhaps if the Prof could see Lennie, singing his heart out in praise of the Lord, well, perhaps then the Prof might deal a little more kindly with rascally Lennie. Or maybe not.

Wednesday, May 11, 1898
Ida and Lew were married tonight.
Band plaid for them.

Thursday, May 12, 1898
A social at Schulz.
I went and had a hot time.
Got a letter from Lew Walden.
The social was probably at the home of Carl and Ollie Schulz.

Friday, May 13, 1898
Nice day.
JOGT. Had a nice time at Lodge. Installed officers.
Took Nettie ?? home.
Got a new suit of clothes.
I don't know if all the ladies of 1898 looked this elegant, but if so, it's no wonder Lennie enjoys walking with so many of them.

Saturday, May 14, 1898
Rained in the morning.
Blew in afternoon.
National Garde met and had our 1st drill.

Sunday, May 15, 1898
Nice day.
Mack, Sam, Guy and me sailed boats on river. A hot time.

Monday, May 16, 1898
A nice day.
The corn shellers are thick.
Studied the moter in school.
Went to band practice.

Tuesday, May 17, 1898
4 sections of shelders (soldiers) went through here today.
Dismissed school at 10 to see them.

Wednesday, May 18, 1898
Brown & F. Rawlings went to Lincone (Lincoln) to get us in as National Gards.
Ellis Paulson came home yesterday.
Nebraska is filling its guard quota in response to the Spanish American War.

Thursday, May 19, 1898
Nice day. Rained afternoon. We met and drilled.

Friday, May 20, 1898
Nice day. Went to band practice. Had a social at Mrs. Neffs?

Saturday, May 21, 1898
Rained hard. Went to school in forenoon.
Several times Lennie mentions school on Saturday.

Lennie Keeps Up On the War News

2011-05-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

I'm late in typing this week's entries by Charles Leonard "Lennie " Davis in his pocket diary for the Year 1898. But here I am. And here is Lennie, of Wakefield, Nebraska.....his words are in black bold.

Sunday, May 1, 1898
Disagreeable day.
Took Nettie R?? home.
Rained bad.

Monday, May 2, 1898
A cloudy day.
Our Captain Dewey captured a Spanish fleet in the ?? Sea at the Philippines.
Started to take the cow to pasture.

From May 1 to 3, 1898, Commodore George Dewey of the United States Navy fought the Spanish fleet, manned by Spanish and Filipino sailors, stationed at Cavite Puerto at Canacao Bay. The battle was of great significance to Philippine history because it marked the end of Spanish sovereignty and the beginning of the American regime. In world historical perspective, the battle siggnalled the entry of the United States in the community of world powers. You can read more by clicking here.

Tuesday, May 3, 1898 Lennie makes no entry in his diary this date.

Wednesday, May 4, 1898
A cloudy day.
Rained all day.
Social community met at Ollie's house. (Ollie is Lennie's married sister.)

Thursday, May 5, 1898
Jessie Dorf ? went out to pick flowers. No school. Art ?? came home.

Friday, May 6, 1898
Had an exhibition at school of the ?? work to be sent to Omaha.
Went to band practice.
On this day Theodore Roosevelt is named Lieutenant-Colonel of the Rough Riders who will charge up Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill on July 1. Actually only Roosevelt rode a horse. The rest of the fellas were afoot. You can read more here.

Saturday, May 7, 1898
Received word from Dewey.
He captured eleven vessels.
Killed 300, ?? 400 ??.
Lennie makes it sound as if he, personally, received word from Commodore George Dewey but I'm sure you won't mind if I say that surely is not the case. Why would Dewey be sending word to a rapscallion 17-year-old boy in Wakefield, Nebraska, who spends half his time walking girls home from church and the other half out riding his bicycle or going to band practice! Nope, I'm certain Dewey was not in direct correspondence with our Lennie. But at least Lennie is keeping up with the news....even if his handwriting is a bit illegible.
Meanwhile Omaha Bee reports that the Nebraska National Guard orders all commanders to recruit their respective commands to the maximum allowed by law, vis; eighty-one enlisted men. All recruits are directed to appear at Camp Alvin Saunders until May 2, 1898, after which they will report at the rendevouz at Old Fort Omaha near Omaha, Nebraska.
The paper is full of news on the war with nation after nation weighing in on how they view the situation.

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Lennie Misses Seeing the Tornado

2011-04-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Charles Leonard (Lennie) Davis, age 17, Wakefield, Nebraska continues to write short entries in his pocket-size diary. Lennie's words are in bold black.

Sunday, April 24, 1898
Went out riding in afternoon with Frankie Weaver.
Since Lennie often mentions his "wheel" (bicycle), I'm thinking they went bicycle riding. It's possible, of course, that he's speaking of a horse. But since he often mentions the bike, I'm betting on the bike. Lennie's friend, Frankie, is 15 years old.
According to the 1900 census for Wakefield, Dixon County, Nebraska, Frank's parents are Noah and Margaret Weaver. The Wakefield Journal a year previous mentioned Noah in a short one-liner...."Noah Weaver is now sending out notices to tax payers to "whack up". Don't be offended if you get one." According to the census, Noah is a wagonmaker. The 1896 History of Dixon County, Nebraska, also names Noah as a wagonmaker. He must have been on some county board if he were sending out tax notices. Noah Weaver's brother Issac (Frankie's uncle) lived next door.

Monday, April 25, 1898
America has captured 9 ships to Spain's one.
Ellise's moved.
Went to band practice.

Tuesday, April 26, 1898
Seeded down the yard at home.
Going to business meeting.
Nice day.

Wednesday, April 27, 1898
Do not feel well.
George S is to be baptised tonight.

Thursday, April 28, 1898
Captured three more ships.
There will be a social at Weavers tonight.

Friday, April 29, 1898
Nice day.
Went to JOGT. Elected officers.

Saturday, April 30, 1898
Received word that Mrs. Swartz was dead.
Went to school today.

Lennie fails to mention a tornado that struck Dixon County Saturday afternoon. The Newcastle Times
reports: "Dixon County was visited with two young tornados between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

The western vein struck the county at Charley Johnson's on the Cedar county line, destroying his barn and blowing the house off the foundation. It then destroyed O. B. Severson's house and moved his barn, shook up W. D. Blatchford's barns and house, granaries and machinery. It then demolished the two Norwegian Lutheran churches at Lime Grove and N. C. Jacobson's barn. N. Johnson's house was unroofed. Ole Severson had everything swept away. Ole Halvorson lost his barn as did Ben Benson. Ole Severson and his wife were quite severely injured, though not fatally.

The southwest vein was hardly as severe as the western. It demolished two schoolhouses southwest of here, then dropped down at Thomas O'Toole's, completely destroying all out buildings, farm machinery, grain, etc., and almost wrecked his dwelling. It then struck Peter Nelson's and lifted the house, dropping it a number of steps away onto a cave into which the family had gathered. It then gave Andy Spellacy a call, destroying a house and all outbuildings including barns and granaries. Near here it drove a 2 x 4 studding through a basswood tree about 8 inches in diameter. The studding can now be seen in the tree.

The two twisters traveled in a northeastern direction, doing damage in South Dakota and Iowa."

The Ponca Newspaper reported the same storm with the following story.

"Last Saturday afternoon was the scene of numerous cyclones in this section and northern Iowa. About 3 o'clock a black could was seen in the south but nothing further than a rumble as of thunder attracted some of the citizens to it. It seems the one visible from Ponca that struck the O'Toole farm just east of Newcastle touched the ground first about five miles south west of that place. It is believed to have divided after a few miles journey, the larger portion taking a direction of north and striking in and near Limegrove utterly demolishing the Peterson residence, completely tearing two churches in pieces and making it's way across the river at a point due east of Limegrove.....

Later reports than the above gives definitely the names of the parties and the damage they suffered....Ed Luther a mail carrier between Newcastle and Limegrove, was caught by the storm and lifted from his cart over a fence and the mail sack was carried nearly a mile away.

At Elk Point, SD, three houses were destroyed, three cows killed and John I. Johnson was carried about 200 yards from a building by the wind and picked up dead with his head nearly severed from his body. It is next heard of at Canton, SD, but no damage was reported done. Two children were killed at Sheldon, Ia., and a large number of buildings were laid waste."

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Lennie Goes to Church With His Girl

2011-04-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 17, 1898
Cloudy & rainy.
Sam, Ella, Gertie & I went to Wayne (Nebraska) to church.
Wayne is a little over 10 miles from Wakefield. A nice buggy ride with the girls.

Monday, April 18, 1898
Raining all day.
Went to band practice.

Tuesday, April 19, 1898
Big day. Worked hard in physics.

Wednesday, April 20, 1898
Nice day.
Gertie is mad at (name crossed out by Lennie).
Got examined in Physics. (He studied yesterday. Wonder how he fared on his test?)

Thursday, April 21, 1898
Nice day.
Went to ?? Bluffs.
Band played in the school.

Friday, April 22, 1898
Arbor Day.

Saturday, April 23, 1898
Worked around the house.
Went fishing.
Choir practice at our house.

Do you remember Lennie mentioning the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor (Cuba)? Today, April 23, 1898, President McKinley asked for 125,000 volunteers to fight in what was to become known as the Spanish American War.

Lennie Plants Potatoes and Buys New Shoes

2011-04-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

This week Lennie celebrates Easter, enjoys a walk with his "girlfriend" Gertie, and comments on the senior class. Lennie is a junior this year. It was a busy week but Lennie is brief with his words. The guy is not very verbal. At least not in writing. But I'm thinking he was a talker...just like his grandson (my hubby). And I bet he laughed a lot, just like my hubby. And interested in many things. Here are his writings for the week of April 10-16.

Sunday, April 10, 1898
Easter Sunday.
Fine day.
Saw Ella.
Gertie and me took a walk.

Monday, April 11, 1898
Windy.
Had examination. Stood to an average of 81 percent. (Good job, Lennie! Study pays off!)
Went to band practice.

Tuesday, April 12, 1898
Rained all day but not hard.
Senior class had a social in JOGT hall. (The JOGT was somehow connected to Odd Fellows. But I'm not an Odd Fellows expert, so can't explain further.)

Wednesday, April 13, 1898
Graduates had their picture taken.

Thursday, April 14, 1898
John Madden came home.

Friday, April 15, 1898
Went to band practice.

Saturday, April 16, 1898
Hot all day.
Plowed and planted potatoes. He would have plowed and planted the potatoes using horses. No tractors yet in Lennie's teen years.
Got new shoes on credit. Cost $1.25.
I like the idea of Lennie getting a new pair of shoes. His feet were probably still growing at age seventeen and a new pair of spring shoes was probably necessary. The shoes cost only $1.25 which was probably a lot of money in those days. As you can see from this ad in the Omaha Bee he could have purchased an entire suit for $6.75. And a hat for 99 cents.

By the way! Wilbur Wright (of Wright brothers fame) will celebrate his 31st birthday this week. He will not make his famous flight (the first ever heavier than air, manned, powered flight) for another five years in 1903. Airplanes were still a thing of the future and the skies were clear of contrails in those days.
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Lennie And His Friends In The Band

2011-04-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading along, you know that Lennie (Charles Leonard Davis) played the cornet in the Wakefield Cornet Band. So did his brother-in-law Carl Schulz. And so did several of Lennie's friends.

The group photo must have been taken before Lennie began playing, because Lennie is not in it. However, a couple of his friends are already in the band. How do I know they are his friends? Because their individual photos appear in his pocket-size photo album in the form of what we would call thumbnail photos. (Click for a closer view.)

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This, of course, is Lennie. And the next photo shows his "Friend A" who also plays cornet. We do not know his name but you can find him in the group photo, back row, first on the left.

Friend "B" appears in the back row, second from the left. He, too, played the cornet. He was a dapper young fellow.

. . . .

"Friend C" played the bass drum. At least I'm pretty sure this is the same fellow. Take a look yourself.
. .

Photos of "Friend D" also appear several times in Lennie's album. In one photo he is jauntily wearing a top hat and posing with a buddy. His buddy must not have a top hat and wears his regular hat for the photo. This fellow is not in the group photo so we do not know what instrument he played.
. . . .

Now that I've (namelessly) introduced you to several of Lennie's friends you can go back to my previous post wherein I told you how the Wakefield Cornet Band became "art" (thanks to artist Artist Charlotta Janssen).
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Upon Which Lennie Sells Horseradish

2011-04-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

Lennie has a pretty busy week. Mine was busy, too. That's why this post is a "catch-up" post with a full week's entries.

Saturday, April 2, 1898
Went to Allen.
Morse Fogg went home.

Sunday, April 3, 1898
Cloudy & rained a little.
Came back home from Allen.

Monday, April 4, 1898
This week is vacation.
Went to band practice.
(Tomorrow I will try to post photos of several of Lennie's fellow band members.)

Tuesday, April 5, 1898
Worked on Ella Shelvington's wheel (her bicycle)
& went riding with Myrtle & Georgie.

Wednesday, April 6, 1898
Went out to Gertie Fitz with Georgia Smith.

Thursday, April 7, 1898
The Presb Church had a convention for the Ladies Aid Society.

Friday, April 8, 1898
Sold horse reddish made $1.
Went to the convention and to the JOGT.
You can read about how to make horseradish sauce from the roots of the horseradish plant here.

Saturday, April 9, 1898
Wind blew hard all day.
Went to a party at Moors.

Lennie Has a Busy Week and An Old Friend Comes Back to Town

2011-04-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

Charles Leonard Davis spends a quiet week in the Year 1898 at Wakefield, Nebraska. The following entries are as he wrote them in a small pocket diary that he kept that year.

Sunday, March 27, 1898
Had a blizzard.
Snowed and blew.
Cleared off at night.

Monday, March 28, 1898
Fixed up batteries at School.
Went and took a big ride with John Boothes (spelling?)

Tuesday, March 29, 1898
C.E. of Presbertain C had an entertainment.
I went to ?? to a C. E. business meeting.
(C.E. refers to Christian Education)

Wednesday, March 30, 1898
Lillie Weaver went to Omaha.
Rode wheel (bicycle) around town after supper.

Thursday, March 31, 1898
Nice day.
Had a Swedish entertainment at Sweed church.

Friday, April 1, 1898
April Fool.
Morse Fogg was in town.
Went to band practice. (check back later this week for photos from Lennie's album of individual band members)
I believe Lennie means "Morris Fogg" who appears as a resident in the 1885 Nebraska Census of Wakefield, Nebraska. His father is listed as a physician. Morris was about a year older than our Lennie.

Saturday, April 2, 1898
Went to Allen (Allen, Nebraska)
Morse Fogg went home.

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The Blonde Fellow in Lennie's Photo Album Is a Good-Looking Dude

2011-03-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today I will not type any of Lennie's words. Instead I'm showing you a series of photos of one of his friends. I'm intrigued by these photos and wish Lennie had put names beside each thumbnail print.

Who is this young blonde fellow? I haven't a clue but he appears to be a nice young man. (You can click for a closer view.)

These four photos were scattered throughout Lennie's little pocket-size photo album. I didn't realize there were four until I began scanning and sorting them into folders.

I hope that someone who is familiar with the photography of 1898 will tell me whether it was a common thing to print thumb-size photos. Lennie was a photographer. Perhaps he photographed his friend? Or are these professional photos?
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Many of Lennie's friends posed in similar fashion. Reading a letter. Leaning back with arms behind the head. Seated in a relaxed manner looking straight into the camera.

When I look around me today, and see the kind of clothing we wear, the sweats and pajamas, I'm thinking Lennie and his friends had a fine sense of style in those days. Perhaps their closet contained only a single suit and a couple pair of trousers and shirts, but they surely knew how to dress up spiffy.

If there are readers from Wakefield, Nebraska, who can identify this man, please do leave a comment.

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Lennie Loses His Girlfriend. Life Becomes Dull.

2011-03-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Charles Leonard Davis (Lennie to his family and friends) of Wakefield, Nebraska, continues his sparse words in his 1898 Diary. We follow along and muse at his short notes, trying to decipher a bit into his life.

Thursday, March 24, 1898
Nice day.
Rode with ??? at Rawlings *. (rode his bicycle...no cars yet in those days)

Friday, March 25, 1898
Nice day.
Went riding with ??? (Lennie rides his bicycle with a friend, but I can't read his writing. So I haven't a clue as to who? Fellow? Female? Definitely wasn't his girlfriend G, cause as you can see, he and G had a falling out today.)
Went to JOGT (Meeting at Odd Fellows)
Fell out with G.
(Uh-oh! I'm wondering if Lennie tried to convince G of his philosophy in regards to women...a philosophy imprinted on the first page of his diary. Here are his words written in his own hand-writing..."Be plain in dress, and sober in your diet. In short, my deary, kiss me and be quiet." Lennie, Lennie, that kind of attitude will not endear you to the ladies.)

Saturday, March 26, 1898
Dull day.
Wind blew all day.
Helped Prof at school.

On Friday, Lennie has had a falling-out with his girlfriend G. On Saturday he's bummed to the max. Serves you right, Lennie! Consequently, Saturday is a mighty dull day. So dull that he resorts to helping the Professor at school.

*Rawlings Brothers is the local lumber yard. Lennie mentions on the first page of his diary that "IN CASE OF ACCIDENT OR SERIOUS ILLNESS PLEASE NOTIFY...Rawlings Bros. Wakefield, Nebraska." I'm sure the Davis household did not have a telephone...perhaps Lennie thought the Rawlings Brothers would know where he lived and run to tell his parents of any accident or serious illness.
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Lennie Notes a "Hot Time in Cuba"

2011-03-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

Charles Leonard Davis (Lennie), who has just turned seventeen, continues his year-long diary as follows. (Lennie's writing is in black bold. My words are in blue italic.)

Sunday March 20, 1898
A hot time in Cuba.
Went to Sunday School.
A pack of boys went up the (railroad) track for a walk.

Monday, March 21, 1898
I was getting up a party when the wind began to blow.
Went to band practice.

Tuesday, March 22, 1898
Wind blew hard all day.
Had a party at Ellis Paulson.

Wednesday, March 23, 1898
I fixed my (bicycle) wheel and took a ride.
Staid home and worked books.

In world news, the Omaha Bee continues with multiple front-page stories about the USS Maine which, as you remember, sank in Havana Harbor due to an explosion on February 15, 1898. There is considerable discussion as to the cause of the explosion, whether something internal or external to the ship. This event will lead to the United States soon declaring war against Spain.

You can go to this site to read a portion of Samuel Willard Crompton's book, The Sinking of the USS Maine: Declaring War Against Spain.

In local news (page 2 of the Bee) we read that in Dakota City, Nebraska, "A stranger was today lodged in jail by Sheriff Borowsky, charged with burglarizing the hardware store of Brustkers, Krietle & Bahl of Emerson (Nebraska) on the night of the 19th. The stolen goods were found in a haystack near Emerson and the man was in the act last night of getting them out when arrested. He resisted arrest and was given a fight before being subdued."

In its editorial section, the Omaha Bee comments on the potential new police station in Omaha with the following statement: "When we get a new police station the next thing in order will be to get a few police officers worthy of the name to direct the force." A sly commentary, that one.

And in regards to settlement of the western states, the Bee opines, "Not all of the persons who travel westward over the transcontinental railroads are bound for the Klondike (the gold rush). Many of them are seeking new homes in the western states, where land is cheap and good crops the rule. Between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean there are millions of acres awaiting the magic touch of the farmer to bring forth riches."

(Photo credit goes to this website.)
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Lennie Takes An Exam

2011-03-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

Thursday, March 17, 1898
Fixed up my wheel.
It broke down again.
Did not go to show.

Friday, March 18, 1898
Reviewed up for examination.
Went to band practice.
Rained at evening.

Saturday, March 19, 1898
Had examination by Prof. Culver.
Went to show at night.

Lennie's "wheel" that he fixed up on Thursday was undoubtedly his bicycle wheel.
And unless he noted the wrong date, his examination by Prof. Culver was on a Saturday. Hope the Prof was happy with Lennie's test scores. Especially since Lennie worked hard on Friday to prepare.
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A Football Great is Born and Lennie is Oblivious

2011-03-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday, March 13, 1898
Went to Sunday School.
Also to C.E. and to church with G.

I believe "C.E." stands for "Christian Education" but I'm not certain. And I'm still puzzling as to whether Lennie is attending the Methodist Episcopal Church or whether he is attending the Presbyterian.

By now you can see that Lennie has stopped referring to his female friend as "you know" and feels comfortable to note her by her first initial "G".

Lennie is more fortunate than we. He does not need to set the clock ahead for Daylight Savings Time.

Monday, March 14, 1898
Windy.
Rained at night.
Took G home after show.

Tuesday, March 15, 1898
Frank's birthday was agoing to have big dinner at Ollies.
Then got fooled.
I went to show.

"Frank" is Frank Albert Davis, Lennie's brother. Frank, born in Illinois, is older than Lennie by ten years. According to the 1900 Census, Frank is a barber and resides at home with Lennie's family.

"Ollie" is Flora Olive Davis Schulz, Lennie's sister. She and her hubby, Charles Schulz, own a home nearby in Wakefield. The 1900 census shows Charles as being a grocery salesman.

Lennie has missed the big event in Wakefield today. Future football player Clarence Swanson is born this day in Wakefield, Nebraska. Swanson will someday be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. You can read more about Swanson here.

Wednesday, March 16, 1898
Ellis Paulson came home.
Got a letter from Lew yesterday.
I went to show.

I don't know much about Ellis Paulson except that the 1900 census says he was born December 1878. That means he is currently 19, going on 20. He is one of Lennie's "older" friends.

Lew Walden is also a friend from Wakefield, recently moved to Phoenix after finishing high school. He and Lennie have been corresponding by letter.

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Upon Which Lennie Has His Seventeenth Birthday

2011-03-09T18:02:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, March 8, 1898
My birthday.
Prof joined the M.W.A.
(Sorry! I didn't get this posted until the day AFTER Lennie's birthday! Lennie is seventeen years old! Unless you're figuring from the Year 2011 in which case Lennie would be 130 years old this year!)

Wednesday, March 9, 1898
Show in town tonight.
I went to church with you know.
(Lennie is still sweet on "you know" but we haven't a clue as to her name. It is noteworthy that he is walking his girl to Wednesday night church.)

Thursday, March 10, 1898
Snowed in afternoon about 2 inches.
Went to free show.
It was all right.

Friday, March 11, 1898
Nice day.
Went to show.
Then to J.O.G.T.

Saturday, March 12, 1898
Big snow in town.
Went to show.
Cost 10 cents.

Lennie Photographs His Dog and the Band Plays On

2011-03-05T17:23:00.000-08:00

Lennie's diary entries continue.

Friday, March 4, 1898
Band plaid for senior class.
Went to show.

Saturday, March 5 1898
Got dog house for Sport.
Went to show.
Rained a little bit in the morning.

Sunday, March 6, 1898
Took Sport's picture.
Went to Sunday School with the girls. (Lennie and his friend have gone to Sunday School with their girls.)

Monday, March 7, 1898
Developed Sport's picture.
It was fine.
Went to band practice.

Aha! Here we have proof that Lennie not only took many of his own photographs but developed them as well. Now I'm curious as to what kind of a dark room setup he had. Intriguing.

There are at least five photos of Sport in Lennie's little pocket size photo album. I'm sorry about the quality...it's pretty poor, even with photo enhancement software.

I like that Sport. He looks like a patient sort of dog! Eager to please! You can click here to see him in shirt collar, tie, and top hat.

By the way, President William McKinley has been in office one year. In his inaugural address a year ago March 4, he noted, "Our faith teaches that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our fathers, who has so singularly favored the American people in every national trial, and who will not forsake us so long as we obey His commandments and walk humbly in His footsteps."

Three and a half years later, McKinley will be shot by an assassin and will die eight days after.

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Lennie is Sick as a Dog

2011-03-03T14:03:00.000-08:00

Today, Thursday, March 3, 1898 Lennie writes simply:
Got up sick as a dog.
Ole was sick also.

Today Lennie's brother, Benjamin Davis, celebrates his 25th birthday. He is still single and lives at home with Lennie, siblings Frank and Myrtle, and their parents Josiah and Martha Jane. Benjamin will marry in 1907 and he and his wife will raise nine children.

I want to go back to my previous post. Remember yesterday's letter in the Omaha Bee written by Lucius C. Pease? Today I learned that Pease won a Pulitzer in 1949 for editorial cartooning. He was an artist, political cartoonist, and writer. He spent a couple years in the Yukon during the gold rush years.

Mr. Pease writes in regards to his trip to the Yukon:

"We brought four big oxen and three months' feed for them. I decided upon oxen for two reasons. The man upon whom we had depended for dogs raised the price to double that agreed upon, but fortunately I had learned something by a trip I made to Skagway and Talya some two months ago for the purpose of acquainting myself with the needs of the trip. I found that oxen were about the most satisfactory animals of all the varieties of quadrupeds that have been used on this trail since the rush began. I met Willis Thorpe, the oldtimer, who has made money during the last two seasons taking stock to the Yukon over the Dalton trail. He said oxen would go where horses could not be made to go and that they would haul twice as much on the same feed and could stand more cold. A dog will not haul much more than to last himself in the journey to Dawson and you have got to take a lot of dogs to haul a man's outfit. When I returned from Skagway my partner agreed with me, and when the dog man wired us that he could not give us the dogs for less than $50 each we telegraphed back: "No dogs' thanks. We shall put our trust in God and oxen."

"The four (oxen) average 1,800 pounds each. They are young, lively and exceedingly gentle, and work singly in harness, each drawing a large toboggan fourteen feet long with three shoes bolted on the bottom to protect it from the wear of the ice and rough ground and to keep it from sliding sideways down a slope. Each toboggan will take as a nice shaped load 600 pounds of pressed hay, 600 pounds of corn and barley and 800 pounds of outfit for ourselves. This is forty days' provisions for the ox, and four toboggans take our entire outfit, which weighs 3,000 pounds, and includes tools and one year's provisions for the men. The oxen travel in single file, stringing out into quite a respectable caravan."

I won't include the entire letter for I'm not certain it is in public domain (in regards to copyright) but I think it will be fine to include these excerpts to illustrate to you the difficulty of traveling to the Klondike in those days.

"We are camped down in a very wild gorge, the rocks towering far above us on all sides. Our tent is pitched in the snow, which is about ten feet deep under us. I am seated Turkish fashion on my sleeping bag, which I spread on a few armsful of evergreen boughs hastily gathered in the neighborhood. A good fire is roaring in our Yukon stove and the north wind is howling and drifting the snow outside. Our cattle (the four oxen) are still fat and in good condition and are snugly housed in a snow shed which we dug out of the side of a huge snow drift against the wall of the canyon ....

...we are now hauling our stuff from the cache to the summit, two miles and a half above. When all our goods are at the summit we shall.............make a rush for the first timber on the other side, which is about twenty miles. That done, we shall consider half our journey to the Yukon accomplished.....we may be delayed for some time should a period of very stormy weather set in, but we have cattle feed to last fifty days and we are contented in the knowledge that the hardest part of our journey over the pass is done. We are well and my appetite is enormous."

Mr. Pease and his outfit are well stocked with food. He mentions the following "grub" which is to last them a year in the Yukon.

Condensed coffee and milk, cereals, pilot bread, corn meal, pea meal, wheat flour, canned baked beans, rice, barley, small beans, rolled oats, meats, butter, bacon, salt pork, cheese, smoked herring, ham, saccharine tablets, sugar, molasses; dried soup vegetables, potatoes, onions, squash, dried eggs, raisins, apricots, dried plums and peaches, currants; pepper, salt, eight pounds baking powder, mustard, soda, celery salt, horseradish, ten bars soap, coal oil, candles, matches galore. Total weight 2,250 pounds, with boxes. Total cost, $300.

Betcha didn't know that saccharine was first produced in 1878 at Johns Hopkins University.

See the interesting things you learn while following Lennie's Diary?

P.S. While googling for Lucius Pease I found that one of his paintings is up for sale on eBay this week. I am in no way connected to this sale, yada, yada, but thought you might like to see the listing here.

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Upon Which Lennie Looks Into Church Windows

2011-02-28T08:27:00.000-08:00

Lennie writes in his diary....

Tuesday, March 1, 1898
Graduate started to ware ribbons. (The senior class members are wearing ribbons denoting their approach to graduation.)
Went to M.E. revival meetings. (Methodist Episcopal Church)

Wednesday, March 2, 1898
Had a lecture in Sweed church. (Either the Swedish Christian or the Swedish Mission Church)
Gim & I looked through the windows. (But evidently did not attend!)
Went to church. (Hmmm, where? Methodist Episcopal?)

The churches seem to be busy this late winter. Lennie's attending one or another. The high school seniors are looking forward to graduation. Meanwhile, the world goes on.

In regards to the situation in Havana, Cuba, after the explosion and destruction of the Battleship Maine, the Omaha Bee reports today that "Clara Barton is very active in the work of relief of Cubans....today she sent supplies to... all twenty-five districts. The receipts of food for the distressed in Cuba continue."

There's plenty of other news about Cuba with much speculation as to what will happen there in regards to independence from Spain. Heads of State of many nations are weighing in with their national opinions.

In news elsewhere, the Omaha Bee has been reporting all winter on the gold rush in Alaska. A newspaperman by the name of Lucius C. Pease makes a trip to the Yukon by oxen and writes a goodly long letter about the hazards of traveling in the winter. The letter is printed in full and is sub-titled "Not a Pleasure Trip By Any Means." You can read his letter on page 3 by clicking here.

On page 4 we read this odd little note:
"Jesse James, the 20-year-old son of the great bandit , has bought the cigar stand in the corridor of the court hcuse In St. Louis. For several years he has worked as a clerk in the Armour packing house , has cared for his mother, educated his sister , paid off the mortgage on their home and is said to be a shrewd and most estimable young man."

Meanwhile, the Treasurer of the State of Nebraska is on trial for embezzlement.

Change a few names and international events, and it would seem the world hasn't changed much since Lennie's sixteenth year in Wakefield, Nebraska in 1898.

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Brace Yourself For the Next Picture!

2011-02-26T09:25:00.000-08:00

Brace yourself!
For a good laugh!

Lennie's little photo album has at least forty-one pages of photos with up to six photos per page. Each photo is thumbnail size. Lennie mentions several times that he took photos of Sport or of a friend. So I'm thinking he took many of these photos himself.

However, today's photos were obviously clipped from some publication and Lennie found them hilarious.

On the page prior to this page he writes "Brace yourself for the next picture."

I can hear Lennie laughing heartily everytime he showed this page to friends.

The words accompanying the photos say this...

"Are there any more at home like you?"

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Sport, In Top Hat, Collar and Tie, is a Good Sport

2011-02-25T11:09:00.000-08:00

Charles Leonard Davis, age 16, continues his diary entries.

Thursday, February 24, 1898
Pound Party at C.C. (Christian Church)
Social at Haskels.
I went to Haskels.
A "pound party" was a welcoming event held for a new preacher. Church members brought a pound of this or a pound of that to stock the preacher's cupboards.

It looks as if Lennie wasn't all that interested in stocking cupboards. Instead he went to the social at the Haskells. There were at least two households by the name of Haskell in Wakefield according to the 1900 census. One of those homes was about three houses from Lennie's house.

Friday, February 25, 1898
Took in $48 at Sea?? (Again Lennie's handwriting is difficult to decipher.)
Ruth Drshell? went home.
I went to the JOGT. (JOGT was part of the Odd Fellows Lodge)

Saturday, February 26, 1898
Took Earle's & Sport's picture.
Fixed my wheel. (bicycle wheel)
Did not go riding.
Sport is Lennie's dog. Click photo for a closer view. You will see that Sport is wearing a top hat, a collar and tie, and also has a pair of wire-rim glasses perched atop his nose. He was, after all, a "good sport". The original photo is smaller than my thumbnail and this is the best enhancement I could get on my photo software.

Sunday, February 27, 1898
Guy took our picture at the elevator.
Gim & I.
I took G. home.

Monday, February 28, 1898
Prof. got hot at me.
Wrote to Lew and Zella W.
Went to band practice.
Went home and studied.
It looks as if the Prof's temper tantrum has caused Lennie to go home and study. It's about time, Lennie!
Lew is Lewis M. Walden who used to live down the street from Lennie but who moved to Phoenix some time recently, leaving his parents and rest of the family still in their Wakefield home. Lew is currently 18 years old and works for the railroad as a telegraph operator. He will die young in 1927 at his home in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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Lennie Celebrates George's Birthday

2011-02-21T15:28:00.000-08:00

A new week begins and Lennie continues to write in his diary. Lennie's words are in bold black. Oops! And sometimes bold red!

Monday, February 21, 1898
Wilse Lungren had a trile in Emerson.
I'm not certain about the spelling of the name...I could barely make it out. And, yes, Lennie spelled "trial" incorrectly. Emerson, Nebraska is a little town less than ten miles to the east of Wakefield. Lennie was aware of the trial. It must have been local news, but he doesn't give us the details.
Practiced in the hall for tomorrow night.

Tuesday, February 22, 1898
Had no school in afternoon.
Had entertainment at night.
George Washington birthday.
This entry was written in the red ink that Lennie made last week. I suppose he thought George's birthday was a red-letter day! I'm sad to say that my grandchildren may not know that we used to get two school holidays...one on Feb 12 and another on Feb 22. The kids got short-changed when our Fed Gummint changed it to a single "Presidents' Holiday". And so did George and Abe in my humble opinion.

Wednesday, February 23, 1898
Cold wind all day.
Jim B and I played horns at the elevator at nite.
Lennie is serious about his music and he often mentions practicing as well as playing at various events. I'm reading between the lines when I say that undoubtedly the band performed at George's birthday celebration on Tuesday.

Rest easy, George and Abe. You did great things for this nation and moved it forward through difficult times. I'm not certain where the nation is headed these days. Things seem in a bit of a constant upheaval. And these days we should surely be writing everything in red ink! Sigh!

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Sam and Lennie Walk the Girls Home While War Looms on the Horizon

2011-02-17T00:05:00.000-08:00

Thurs., February 17, 1898
Sam and Gertie began to get like syrup.
That means Sam and Gertie are getting a little sweet on each other.

Friday, February 18, 1898
Went skating after school.
Sam & I distrubed bills around town for Prof.
(Lennie's spelling may not be perfect, but he must be making points with the professor by "distributing" said bills.)

Saturday, February 19, 1898
Sam & I went skating.
Girls went down after dinner.
Had a hot time.
Snowed last night.
(Hmmm, sounds like Lennie and his friends had a great time of fun.)

Sunday, February 20, 1898
Cold in forenoon.
Bummed all day.
Sam took Gertie home.
I took you know.
(Sam and Gertie are still sweet on each other. And Lennie is keeping mum about the name of the gal he took home.)

While Sam and Lennie are walking Gertie and "you know" home in the early evening, the disastrous explosion of the USS Maine continues to make headline news. The front page of the Feb. 19 Omaha Bee has extensive news on the Maine. We read short excerpts as follows:

HAVANA, Feb 18 -- "Captain Sigsbee (who survived the explosion) and the local board of investigation rowed today round and round the sunken, twisted masses, all that is left of the splendid battleship Maine. They could not get on board because of the orders of the authorities, at least the guards said so, and Captain Sigsbee obeyed, although his pennant was still flying from the masthead and the parts of the Maine above water (or below it either) were "just as much United States soil" as ever they were. The officers examined the position of the wreck closely. It was noted primarily that the whole force of the explosion was from port to starboard."

The article goes on to say..."the ship is practically broken in two by the explosion"...

HAVANA, Feb. 18 - "Consul General Lee has received many dispatches from newspapers in the United States with reference to the Maine disaster, to which the consular regulations prevent him from replying."

HAVANA, Feb. 18 - ............"The bodies of the sailors who went down with the Maine are getting into such a condition that they float, and the currents carry them about the harbor. More than fourteen...were found at Casa Blanca, under the walls of Cabanas fortress." The article gives much detailed information regarding the dead.

LONDON, Feb. 19.--"The Daily Chronicle has secured from Mr. Gladstone the following message for America: "I am deeply grieved at the sad loss the American people have suffered.""

MADRID, Feb. 18 -- "Today the Spanish press shows indignation because doubts are expressed in America as to the origin of the catastrophe to the Maine."

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18. -- "A debate, decided in its sensations, was unexpectedly precipitated in the senate today over the consideration of the resolution of Mr. Allen of Nebraska, directing the committee on naval affairs to investigate the disaster to the Maine."

The article goes on to state that the Illinois senator "delivered a speech in which he said that the people demanded the truth concerning the explosion, and declared that they would not be satisfied with the investigation to be conducted by the officers of the navy, who would virtually try their own case, and would cover up any blame that the officers might show attached to them."

And again, later, the article states, "The sinking of the Maine will be made the subject of immediate and exhaustive inquiry and congress will be fully advised of the result of such investigation."
Much debate followed. America will soon be at war with Spain.

Today's photo (found online) was obviously taken before the explosion. It seems strange to view this small moment in their lives while they were posing for a photographer and know that some if not all of these very men perished the night of February 15, 1898 when the Maine exploded in Havana Harbor.

If you want to see the front page of the Omaha Bee click here. In a strange sort of way the news seems so "current" in its intensity and uproar.

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Lennie Writes About History and War and Makes Red Ink

2011-02-14T10:24:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 14, 1898
US war ship blowed up this evening.
Went to band practice.

Tuesday, February 15, 1898
Cloudy all day.
Fred Poff went to the country to stay.

Wednesday, February 16, 1898
Nothing happened. (In regards to Lennie's day, not in regards to the battleship Maine. Written in red ink)
Made some red ink.

Lennie is a poor historian. He records an explosion that sinks the USS Maine on the wrong date! The event happened on the evening of February 15 and not February 14! The explosion sank the ship with 260 lives immediately lost and six who died later. The photo shows the Maine passing Morro Castle as she entered Havana harbor, Cuba, on 25 January 1898. She was destroyed by explosion there some three weeks later, on 15 February.

You can read more about the USS Maine here.

You can read more about the Spanish-American war here.

The events following this explosion bring a bit of life to the city of Wakefield, Nebraska. A Nebraska guard unit will be camping (and drilling) in Wakefield for a short while before being deployed. Soldiers coming to town must have been a big event and we will read Lennie's occasional comments in regards to those fellows in uniform.

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Lennie Takes in the Town and Then Goes Home to Dinner

2011-02-11T23:05:00.000-08:00

Sunday February 13, 1898
Lennie writes:
Gim and me took in the town.
Frank Schulz is gone.
Home for dinner.

Frank Schulz will play an important part in Lennie's life. Frank is a younger brother to Charles Schulz who married Lennie's sister Flora Olive (Ollie). You will remember that it is Charles whose face appears in the photo of the Wakefield Cornet Band.

As of this writing Frank Rinhold Schulz is 22 years old. Frank was 8 years old when he left Germany with his mother and siblings for the wild prairies of Nebraska. By this time in his life Frank undoubtedly spoke the language of his new country, but his accent would be heard as clearly German by his friends and neighbors. Yah?

Soon Frank is going to marry (1899). Perhaps that is where he has gone...to visit his future bride. Lennie doesn't say. He just says Frank "is gone".

Frank and his soon-to-be bride Dena will eventually have (at least) eight children.

Frank's niece, Alma Matilda Gazena Kuckku, will be orphaned in 1907 and will come to live with Frank and Dena. And she will meet Lennie. And she and Lennie will become the grandparents to my Hubby. And I'm getting wayyyy ahead of myself here.

Lennie will announce important happenings in the coming week. Big news!

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In Which Lennie Takes His Medicine And Sees a Dentist. Sortta!

2011-02-09T12:41:00.000-08:00

Thursday February 10, 1898
Snowed and blowed.
Had a band concert.
Doggone! The snow had just melted! One snow "went off" as Lennie puts it. Another appears on the horizon. That's sorta true in our everyday lives, too. One stormy problem gets taken care of and there is always another one approaching.

Friday, February 11, 1898
Prof is cross.
C. Church had a supper.
had a big time.
Lennie's problems with the professor continue. I'm betting Lennie somehow was at the center of whatever situation had caused the prof to be 'cross'. But I can't say that for sure as I wasn't there.
This week Lennie attends an evening meal at the Christian Church. A supper means "people" and Lennie was a people person. It is possible that many in that small town of Wakefield, Nebraska enjoyed the social gatherings at several churches. This is where they could visit with friends and neighbors. A sixteen-year-old boy of 1898 would not have had a lot social outlets. Family. School. Church. Community gatherings. No video games, no television, not even movies, although they did have "lantern" shows.

Today I'm sharing some more photos with you. I'm wondering if Lennie himself were the photographer. He did take photos and mentions that in his diary from time to time. These were taken some years after he wrote his teen diary but before he married.

You can see that Lennie had a great sense of humor. In the first series he appears to be "taking his medicine". (Remember that you can click for a close-up.)

In the second series Lennie pretends to be seated in a dental chair. I think. Surely they had dental chairs in 1898!

Today the composite photo hangs on the wall in the office of Lennie's grandson.

I hope you are enjoying this year-long adventure with Leonard Charles Davis (Lennie C Davis) of Wakefield, Nebraska in the year 1898.

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A Bushy Beard And a Marshall's Badge

2011-02-06T18:32:00.000-08:00

(Lennie's diary entries are in bold black. My comments are in italic blue.)

Monday, February 7, 1898
Started Bookkeeping.
Went to band practice.
Went to Kimbles. (I'm thinking this should be spelled Kimball...a prominent family in Wakefield at the time.)

Tuesday, February 8, 1898
Yesterday and today very near all the snow went off.

Wednesday, February 9, 1898
Cloudy all day.
Rather cool. Went to band practice.

Here's the promised photo of Lennie's father, Josiah Davis. Family history has it that Josiah was town marshall at Wakefield. If there are Wakefield historians reading this and who have more information about Josiah and his badge, please leave a comment as we would love to hear more.

Josiah Davis (1836-1912) and his wife, Martha Jane Crawford Davis (1838-1917) were born in Ohio. The 1880 census shows the family living in Illinois (where Lennie was born in 1881). Sometime before the 1990 census the family moved to Wakefield, Nebraska.

Charles Leonard (our "Lennie") was the youngest.
In a future entry we will show a photo of Lennie as a young adult with his parents and siblings.
And we will soon begin reading about an important event that has the town abuzz.

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