Memories Archives - Life in Fountain Prairie

Hard Work and Helping Neighbors

Lazy or not, my teenage work days were fourteen hours a day on a tractor, plowing or cultivating. As if that were not enough, Pa sent me to plow for the neighbors, such the Hoeks or De Boers when they had family tragedies. During harvest time, I had a team and a hay wagon and…

South Dakota State

Al and Elsie were of great help to me when I started college at South Dakota State. They supplied me with potatoes and eggs whenever I hitchhiked back from Brookings, South Dakota on weekends. I cooked for my American Indian roommate and myself on a one-burner hot plate. Neither of us had much money. Sometimes…

Brother Al

Throughout the drought and depression, Al stayed in school and graduated from the eighth grade. There was no work away from home and there was nothing to harvest. Al and Elmer Vander Burg went bumming on the railroads. They lived from day to day on handouts, garden thefts, or small odd jobs. They went as…

Jake in School

Jake was Henry (Pa) and Katie’s fourth child. Brother Jake was sent to Hull, Iowa Christian Academy for fifth grade when he was age fourteen. He worked on Piet Van Driel’s farm for his room and board. He did satisfactory work at the school but he did not want to go away from home again the…

Tough Guy John

Brother John was the third child of Henry (Pa) and his first wife, Katie. He was known for being a tough guy. I remember John sassing the teacher, Jerry Robinson. He was told he would get a whipping with a tire pump hose after school. During recess he was the center of attention, acting the…