Franklin County, Nebraska

For Another Day

Mary & Ted Hill's life together

The first home of Ted and Mary Hill was on the old Carlson Place, south of Bloomington, NE. on Lost Creek( Oak Grove twp, section 27, the SW * ). A person might think all I do is go to old farms. Well, it's my favorite thing to do, and I really have a lot of them to see. Any way, I have also been to the Old Carlson place with Henry Carney, Henry also lived on the very same farm when he was a little boy. We walked around the farm and he explained where all the buildings were by the foundation. Henry told me about the big upright piece of concrete over on the hill to the southwest of the house. He said this was part of the big barn. He emphasized the barn was enormous, so immediately when I laid eyes on the picture of the Carlson place, I recognized the piece of upright foundation still standing today and knew it was the barn. " A picture is worth a thousand words" is so true a saying. When I go see only broken concrete, it's so hard to imagine what the buildings looked like. Nothing makes me happier than to find a picture of an old farm, especially if I have been there. The Andersons and Hills have kept such wonderful records and the pictures wonderfully top off the stories. Mary Hill's stories about the old Carlson and Carney place are a story for another day. Ted and Mary Hill lived on the Carlson Place during 1932.

Henry and I also went to his grandfather's place, and then to surrounding farms. He described each and every farm to me.

I intended to write a small book about what he told me. A Small book will be written about what the following people have told me: John Dorn, Herman Schnuerle, Don Versaw, John Berger, Fay Bashford, Stanley Copley, Ernest Haussermann, Hager cousins, Mariyln Wentworth, Bob Potter, James File, Keith Melton, Dale Moore, Les Potter, Mamie Richter, Franklin Reynolds, Lyndia Shaffer, Mamie Way, Gerald Larson, and Ken Shaffer. These friends have helped me so much. I have good intentions, but I admit I am a procrastinator that waits until the last minute to start my column. The wonderful information from these people would take days to write about and months for you to read about. If you like my stories, please tell me and I will write from one of my files.

Chapter 19

Ted and Mary move and start a family

From the Carlson place, Ted and Mary moved nine miles north of Bloomington to the Austin Carroll Farm (Ash Grove Twp. Section 24, the SE *. Currently this farm is where Gary Frerichs lives. It is also where the late Roy Moore used to live. The buildings on the Carroll farm were to the extreme northwest part of this * section. I have a picture of the sod house that was located on this farm when Austin's dad, Tommy Carroll, owned it (a story for another day). All the buildings are gone, but we can see a little bit of the house in the above picture. Ted and Mary Hill lived here in 1932 and 1933. The Hills became parents while living on this farm. Two baby girls, Gerry and Dot, were born on this Carroll farm, " I had Dot at home on Austin Carroll's place north of Bloomington. We had a nurse named Dorothy Thompson present. After Dot was born, her kidneys wouldn't work. When we called Annie (Mary's mother), she said to boil watermelon seeds and give that to her. I did and it worked."

These watermelon seeds must have had medicinal purposes. I am sure there are lots of powerful herbal drugs to learn about it we just had stories like this one passed on more often.

A.C. and Annie Anderson came to visit after Dot was born. A. C. took one look at her and said, " That's my little Dot." That name stuck with her. Mary's children loved to spend time with their grandparents.

The Most Useless day of all is that in which we have not laughed. Se'bastien Chamfort.

Rena Donovan, For Another Day.

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