Document text
FORL A
Circumstances of intr.rfvicw
South Sioux City
1;26:2 02 ,40E..EC.Ina B. Pearson 108 East 18th St
October 27, 1938
DATE.. PP.t.°.1?PY..q99 .4.0.1.1P375§3CT.:11DP.1AIIIPP.t. tp:./39X:v.i.Vw #8
:Jame anC address of inforllant Yrs. Anna Shull, Homer
October 27, 1938 1 P M
Dato cnd tire 0± interview0ctober 20, 1936, 1 P
3. Placo of intrvieu At her home in homer
1,Tame and adCross of pcfson, if any, viac) Nt You in i:,ouch with
inforrant NO one. I have known ivirs. Shull for years
Name and address of ocrsoi, if any, acco.:cLlyin you
No one
6. Doscr:-t:on of room, houso, sur”urnd-i,:ss,
Ad's. Shull and her daughter, Mrs. Art -Villiams, a
widow, live together, just a block south of the
main street in Homer, in e nice white cottage.
FORivi B
Personal His to ry o f informant
NAE OF 'g)RKER Edna B. Pearson ADDRESS u8 Eas
DATE Oo tot er .20 .27 SUBJEC T In te rview No 8
Yrs. Anna Shull Homer
N.L.E ADDRES OF INFORLANT
1. Ancestry Born in Germany and came to United States
when about 13 years of age.
2. ilace and date of birth Germany in 1856
3. Family One daughter
4. Place lived in, with dates. In Germany from 1656 to 1669
Homer from 1869 to present tl me
5. Education, -Aitn dates Attended country school in Dakota County
6. Occupations and accomplishments, with dates. Housewife
7. Special skills and interests None, unless managing a farm and
getting and keeping out of debt
and raising her daughter would
be classed as skills end interests
8. Community and religious activities Member of Lutheran church
but is not active in any church
societies
9. Description of informant; 1,rs. Shull is a small woman; blue
eyes, snow white hair; is rather
short spoken but at heart is a
good ladighbor and friend
10. Other points gained in interview
FORII C
Text of Interview (Unedited)
I OF WORTE,R
Edna B. Pearson
South Sioux City
DT )RESS 108 East 18th
P
SUBJECT...1938 ARt:e!VieW.17". 6
LI'S. Anna Shull, Homer
YAPT.2 LTDiLDDPESS T7F01-qt.7J2
Did-ILIICG (Continued)
God knows best. Le was somebody's love
Somebody's heart hath enshrined hiu there.
Somebody's wafted his name above
LNight and morn on the wines of prayer
Somebody's wept her. he marched away
Looking so :iandscthe, brave and eay
Somebody clung to his parting hand
Somebody's Kiss on his f,retead lay.
.i-omebody's it.atcLin,, and waiting for him
Yearning to clasp Lim again to her heart
nd there; be lies ;dth his blue eyes dim
Lhd anilin childlike lips apart.
Tenderly bury the fair young dead
Pausing to drop on his ,,-rave a tear.
Carve on the ,.,00den slab et his head
Somebody's darlin- slumbers here.
_0 0
FOE,' c
Te7,ct of Interview (Unedited)
South Sioux City
Edna B. Pearson 108 East 18th
NA7I OF 7i0PTEP ADDRESS
?T.7„ No
JT 'Liss. Anna Shull, Homer
AND LDDRESS 07 17720711fra
3
Came to Dakota County, loraska, with my parents, in July
18O, when I was thirteen years old.
Fred Blume (who was Lentioned in a former interview with
-1:_rs. Shull) was my cousin. He came from Germany; was the father
of Dr. Blume of South Sioux City.
Just out of Homer, on the peak of the hill, to the right
Elb9ut opposite the depot, is the burial sot of his. Henry Ream,
mother of John Ream who owned and operated the Dakota County
Herald (now deceased), and grandmother of Harold Ream who now
owns and operates the Dakota County Herald at Dakota City. A clump
lima& of lilac bushes marks her grave, which has never been
disturbed or moved. Hr. Henry Ream came to Dkkota County in 1555
and moved his family from Sergeant Bluffs, Iowa, to Omadi.
Ream died in about 1864 or 1865. She certainly was an awfully
good woman.
I remember the blizzard of 1888; it was worse than the one
in 1E81. It began about 1 o'clock in the afternoon and was terrible.
ILy sister, Lizzie ':inkhouse, was teaching the Boetchke school be-
tween Homer and Emerson- She taught the very first school, which
was held first in the Boetchke home and afterward, when the school
house was built, she taught in the school .house. At first the
three Eoetchke chdldren were the only pupils in that school. My
sister kept the children in the sdaool house until the next morning
when the children's father finally got through and took them home.
During that blizzard the men had to lead tbemselves, by the fences,
from the house to the barn to feed the stock; so many children were
frozen to death. The forenoon of the blizzard was lovely. The men
were going to start out after wood; if they had they would surely
have been lost. That yetxx winter the snow started in October, before
we had the potatoes out, snow drifts as high as the house, and mercy:
mercy but it was cold.
FORM C
Text of Interview (Unedited)
South Sioux City
Edna Nj'iE OP "u7ORR. ADDRESS
B. Pearson 108 East 18th
TE
DATE October 20x 1pzE3 SUBJECT
MITTL2 AND ADDRES S OF LT? ORHA71 P:
Interview N91. A
Writing school was held in the Shull School house, an old
log school house three miles west of Homer, on Fidler Creek road,
flown known as District No. 17.
Singing school was held in the O'Connor School house, about
two or three miles east of Homer, east of where Spring Bank used
to be, on the old bluff road.
There have been three school houses in District No. 17.
The secona was built over in the hills a ways from the original
building, and the third was built back on the old location.
I went to the Baird school first; walked almost three miles
to school. The Baird school was the first school in the county.
:hen I was still a young girl, Mr. Fred Blume, my sister,
Lizzie Vinkhouse, and I started to Dakota City for groceries one
day in -larch, 1870, the first big thaw; we started out across the
bottoms to Dakota City; the water in Elk Creek was up to the
bridge. I was afraid to go on and wanted them to let me out and
I would walk back, but they made fun of me and made me go along.
Then we got back with our groceries the water was all, over the
bottom but Mr. Blume was going to try to cross the bridge. A
Jackson just ha_pened to see us pass and ran after us for about
half a mile to warn us about the bridge and to call us back to
his house; we unhitched the horses and my sister and I each rode
a horse back to Mr. Jackson's house. We stayed there from Saturday
until Monday night before we could get back home, and then we had
to take a round -about way home. Mrs. Jackson died just a short
time ago; was over a hundred years old.
During the winter of 1856-7 the snow never melted, even on
the south side of the house, for weeks; the snow was over two feet
deep on the level.
(Mrs. Shull gave me copies of songs that her husband had
copied off between sixty and seventy years ago, copies
of which I am enclosing.)
C
Text of interview (Unedited)
NATIE OF 7iORTEP
Edna .3. Pearson
South Sioux City
A)-lc:SS 108 Et 18 t.
DATE. .c go. I SUBJECT Iptervj..ew ri;),. 8
ATD LDDPESS 0 Tri.'01-1.11L'.,IT.Li4'Pe...441113...1.1;-.1.1..VPAie.T.. riaA14a.
SOT,TCE GIVE -1J '1I• BY LRS SHULL
(I copied these songs from songs
that Mr. Shull, now deceased, t.ad
copied off about sixty-five years
ago.
ThE 5UTCHERS BOY
In Jersey City where I did dwell,
A butchers boy I loved so well,
He courted me my heart away,
And with me now he will not stay
7-ere's is a mantle in this etre town,
There my love goes and sits hill down,
He took a strange girl on his knee,
And he tells to her what he won't tell me.
Oh cruel, Oh cruel, I'll tell you why,
Because she has more gold than I,
Her gold will .Lelt and silver fly,
C, then, 0, then she'll be as poor as I
I went u' stairs to wake my bed,
And not a word to my mother said.
Ly mot,er, she came u to e here
Csjing what's the matter, daughter dear.
mother, Ch you do not know,
Of all my sorrow, pain and woe,
its get a chair and sit me down,
A pen and ini for to write it down.
At every line she shed a tear,
In ceiling back her iliey dear,
.And every time she shed a tear,
In calling back her i lay dear.
FORM C
Text of Interview (Unedited)
So. Sioux City
ITA'rE OF -,70PTLP ADDRESS. ica..z 16
'DATE.. Op. -4,414 .2Q ...1A 36, ...SUBJECT..-TatP.r.ViW..No.. a.
7'.:ridr. AND LDDRESS 07 117-1.'0.7=71' MrS'J1fl.P.U.41.9..1191W
a -7.E ifl.;,'ITNEE
1Lyself I dressed -11 in my best
And with some surolus cash,
I started for the matinee,
And thought to cut a dash.
The hall was filled with beaux bells
As happy as could be,
And at my cost my heart I lost
Thile at the matinee
14 love has curls teeth like pearls,
And wears a jaunty hat,
And when she peeps from under it
:;:y heart it goes pit, pat
Among the crows
That would compare with her
Mile at the matinee
-Along with other pretty boys
Just as the play was o'er,
I took a good position,
Close by the exit door.
And when my charmer came,
Along I made so bold and free,
As to offer her my company
Home from the matinee.
She took my arm and with a
Smile as sweet as morning dew
Say's she my name is Angeline,
Now pray sir who are you.
I said my name was Clarence Chattes
And that she was to me,
By far the gayest girl I'de
while at the matinee.
FOR1,1 C
Text of Interview Unedited)
So Sioux City
:TAT' OF ;70.7.EP,FANa. .PP.4P,P.. ADDRESS. 1-gP
DATE... D.Qtel)P.Z 0 ..SUBJECT...
12TD ADDPESS .49 411,PX
TLE 1..A.TINEE (Continued)
Stroled along for an hour or two,
As happy as two birds,
In telling her my fervent love
There was no lack of words.
I asked her if she was free to wed,
And if she would be mine,
She answered with a saucy laugh
I'll tell some other time
Of course we had to ice cream
Fruit cake and lemonade,
Five dollars I was minus
By the time the bill was paid.
And then I saw her safely home
And there she promised me,
Without a doubt next Wednesday
We'd meet at the Latinee.
flirtations
after that
Until one night I sew her home
Oh, didn't I feel flat.
Then at the door we met a man
lv:y husband dear said she
This is the nice young man I met
";hile at the —atinee
Of course I tried to laugh
Though through the joke I could not see
And after that I shun the girls
That I meet at the Matinee
FORM C
Text of Interview (Unedited)
1;z:3 OF ToRTEr Edna B. Pearson
South Sioux City
ADPTCESS... ?-PA
Mrs. Anna Shull, Homer
AlTD A.DDRESS Irrr'07M712
MAKING LOVE SCIENTIFICALLY
Then awake till rise of sun my dear
But the sage's glass we'll shun my dear,
Lest in watching the flight
Of bodies of light
He might happen to take thee from one, my dear:
A monstrough spectacle upon the earth,
Beneath the pleasant sun among the trees,
A being knowing not what love is:
A man that dares affect
To spend his life in service to his kind
For no reward of theirs, nor bound to them by eny tie,
There are punishments for such.
FORM C
Text of Interview (Unedited)
So. Sioux City
Edna B. Pearson 108 East 18
LE OF WORKER ADDRESS
LATE...0.0QP.e.V.19Za.....SUBJEcT Interview No. 8
NAME AND ADDRE S 07 :1717 OFT T.t.:1T .10111M•1111r.4% Mr. $11.1-14 AQJI.PS,
ECHO AND SILENCE
In eddying courses when leays began to fly,
And autum in her lap the stores to strew;
As mid wild scenes I chanced the must to wov,
Through glen untrod, and woods that found no high,
Two sleeping nymps with wonder must I spy:-
Andsol! she's gone.- In robe of dark green hue,
'Was Echo from her sister Silence flew;
For quick the hunter's horn resounded to the sky.
In haste affrighted Silence melts away.
ivot so her sister. Hark! for onward still,
With far heard step, she takes her listening say,
Bounding from rock to rock and hill to hill;
Oh! make the merry maid, in mockful play,
With thousand mimic tones the laughin forest fill.
30INET
How sweet to rove, from summer sunbeams veiled,
In gloomy dingles; or to trace the tide
Of wandering imix brooks, their pebly beds that chide;
To feel the west wind cool refreshment yield,
That comes soft creeping o'er the flowery fields
And shadow'd waters; in whose busy side
The mountain bees their fragrant treasure hide
iv:urmuring; and sins the lonely thrush conceal'd!
Then forced and frivolous the themes arise.
PORI,' C
Tet of interview (Unedited
LIA-77 OF -,,,,-opTcp Edna 3. Pearson
South Sioux City
IDTRIESS. 18.....
DATE.. .Qc .1 SUBJECT... LtMrY:i.qiii. NQ...
Mrs. Anna Shulls Homer
1,21D ALDPESs 771.'01111T
BLUE TUNIETTA
Wiled roved the Indian girl, The bright Alfretta;
Where sweeps the river on The blue Junietta.
Swift as an antelppe, Through the forest going;
Loose were her jetty locks, In wavy tresses flowing.
Gay was the mountain song, Of the bright Alferetta;
Where rolls the river on The blue Junietta.
Strong and sure, my arrows are, In my painted quiver;
Swift goes my light canoe, Down the rapid river.
Bold is licy warrior true, The love of Alferetta;
Fraud waves his snowy plume, Along the Junietta.
Soft and low, he s2eaks to me, And then his war cry sounding;
Brings his voice in thunder loud, From hight tQ hight
regounding.
So sang the Indian girl, the bright Alferetta;
-:,here rolls the waters of, The blue Junietta.
Fleeting years have borne away, The voice of Alferetta;
Still rolls the river on, The blue Junietta
FORM C
Text of Interview (Unedited)
South Sioux City
OF WORXER
Edna 3. ADDRESS
Pearson 108 East 18th
NA1:E
DATE.. P.9,t91)P.r..P.t.4% ...SUBJECT 41.tAU,1-ANY.YP -Qu“0006
7T_A117, ATM ADDRESS 07 77077as. Anne Shull, Homer
THE OLD ELL TREE
There is a path b. the lone deserted mill
And the stream bj the old bridge broken stfll
The golden willows bow bending low
To the green mossy bank where the violets
And the wild birds were singing
Their same sweet lay,
That reminds me in dreams of the dear old day
When Laura my beautiful set by me
On the green sunny bank neath the old elm tree (rer,eat)
Chorus
Oh, Laura, dear Laura, by heart's first love
'All we meet in the angle's home above?
Earth holds not a treasure so dear to me
As the green mossy grave neath the old elm tree. (repeat'
It was there with the bright blue sky above
She told me the tale of her heart's first love.
It was there e're the blossoms of summer had died.
She whispered the promise to be my bride.
Then fell a tear from the parting source
And little thought I we should meet no more,
That ere I should come from the dark blue sea
They would make her a grave heath the old elm tree. repeat
Cho rus
How cruel and false were the tales they told
That my vows were false and my first love cold;
That my cruel heart held another dear
and had broken the -cromise whispered here.
Then her cheek grew pale with a crushed heart pain
And her beautiful lips neter smiled again
She died, and they parted her sunny hair
From the pale cold brow left so fair.
Text of interview (Unedited)
:\TZTE OF WORT= Edna 3'
Pearson
South Sioux City
ADDRESS 108 East 18th
DATw., October 20,,x 1938 SUBJECT Interview No. 8
221D LDDTESS 02 Tri.'017111L7112...i4g4...4.11.44.S.b.41.1....F.441Ag
SOE3ODY'S DARLING
Into a ward of the whitewashed walls
There the dead and dying, lay
7bunded by bayonets, shells and balls
Somebody's darling was borne one day
Somebody's darling so young and so fair
Hearing yet on his pale set face
So soon to be hid by the dust of the grave
A lingering light of his boyhood grace.
....atttd and damp are the curls of gold
Kissing the snow of that fair young brow
Pale are the lips of delicate molde
Somebody's darling is dying now
Deck from the beautiful blue reined brow
3rusn all the wandering waves of gold
Fold is hands on his bosom now
So_uebody's darling is still and cols.
Kiss his once for somebody's sake
DIrmur a prayer soft and low
One bright curl from its fair mates take
They were somebody's friend, you know.
Comebody's hand hath rested there.
it a mother's soft aad white
Or heth the lits of a sister fair
Been baptised in those waves of light?
continued on next page