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Pioneer GrandparentsContinued from Page 9shoe and Bowling were played by the men.Great-grandmother Hrubetz always passed a plate of kolaches around to the crowd; ’though she could not speak English, she did make them undertsand to take as many as they wished. Kolache is a sweet dough biscuit filled with a prune mixture, and is a favorite among the Czechs.Great-grandfather Hrubetz wasa deeply religious man, and acted as a leader among the Czechs in building the first Catholic churchin .Manly. At the .time of hisdeath which occurred on January 30, 1895, he owned five hundred acres of land, and built two store buildings in Manly for his sons, Tony Hrubetz and John Hrubetz, These buildings still stand in Manly, and are known as the Metier Apartments and Hargrave Dry Cleaning. Tony Hrubetz owned and operated one of' the largest grocery and dry goods stores in Manly, John Hrubetz owned a butcher shop for many years. The original eighty acres is: now known as the . Martha Ryan farm, located two miles east of Manly, on Highway Number Nine.Bednar-Hrubetz WeddingOn January 7, 1882, Joseph F. Bednar was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hrubetz, daughter of Frank Hrubetz, Senior. Joseph F. Bednar was the son of John and Katharine Bednar, also -old pioneers of Manly. They took passage on a sailing vessel from Bohemia in 1854. This wasa hazardous trip, and the#- en-* *191countered many bad storms. On the way over Joseph F. Bednar was born,-.and a three year old daughter died. Upon reaching the American shores they went directly to Wisionsin, where Greatgrandfather Bednar worked in the northern timber. In 1871 they moved \to Plymouth, making this trip by oxen and a covered wagon. They built a small log house, and started the development of the wild prairie with oxen and a. large prairie-breaker, as this plough was called by the pioneers of that day.Great-grandfather Bednar was a skilled woodsman, and he worked much of the time, clearing off the. Plymouth timber. Because the rattelsnakes were so thick in the woods, he wore heavy leather boots so the snakes could not bite his flesh. Stockings were considered a luxury at that time, and few were to be had..: Great-grandfather Bednar wrapped his feet up in old rags before putting them into his heavy boots.There were no rabbits on the prairie such as we find today, and were found only in the timber land. The cranes which we read about, and see very few of, were thicker that the thousands' of wild geese and ducks which lived on the prairie. The rivers and creeks were not as wide as they are niw, and were filled with pickerel which weighed as much as forty and fifty pounds. Away from these streams you would find small ponds six to eight feet deep, and they too were filed with large fish. Shell Rock River was full of such game fish. How the Manly fishermen would enjoy fishing tris close to home! Prairie chickens came in flocks 'by the. thousands, but very few are left today because of the hunters.Prairie FireWhile living at Plymouth a prairie fire swept through the Bednars farm land, and ' Greatgrandmother Bednar had to save herself by crawling down into ahole, which Great-grandfatherBednar started to dig for their new' well. She was home alone at the time, and could find no place to go only here, where the flames would not burn her up alive. While she stood there holding her Bible, which she brought from Bohemia, and the only thing which was saved on the place, frightenedrabbits and other small creatures from the plazing prairie crowded around her for safety.The prairie was covered with beautiful wild flowers such as the pink shooting star with its five corolla divisions turned backward, leaving exposed the golden-yellow anthers; the bottle-shaped gentian with its tightly-closed blue petals; pinkish-purple andWhite phlox were found blooming everywhere, along with tall orange lilies spotted brown. A few of these flowers may still be found along the railroad tracks, but the prairie fire, which could be seen creeping along the wild grass for miles, /did destroy many of them. Terrified animals ran ahead of the fire, but were oftentimes caught by the flames before they could escape. The beauty of the prairie disappeared as time went on, for much of the wild life was destroyed entirely by these prairiefives.In 1875 Great-grandfather Bed-nar moved to the H. Weifel farm near Manly, now occupied byVance Reindl. Here his familylived in a small frame house, and had little to do with, because all their belongings were destroyed in the big prairie fire while they lived at Plymouth.Undergo HardshipsThey lived on dumplings and cabbage, the dumplings were dark and very hard, and were made from the wheat Great-grandfather Bednar had ground at the Mitchell county mill. He would haul his grain for several miles and have it ground, returning late at night or the next day, because the slow trip was made by oxen and wagon. He drove as far as McGregor for supplies, and told: of the Cedar River drowning a team of horses hitched to a wagon, and their driver, on one of the trips he made. This was during the flood season, and because fhere were no bridges it was not unusual to drive into the water with a team and wagon in order to get across the river. If a man was alone and a good swimmer, he would swim across the streams, for many times there were no planks across the rivers and creeks on which to walk.Great-grandmother Bednar was very careful with the cabbage seed. This 'She made by saving a head of cabbage, roots and all, and planting it in the ground around the spring of the year. She would cultivate the plant carefully after it came up, and when it went to seed she gathered the pods and stored them away for the next year’s crop.' '•Great-grandmother. Bednar was a very religious woman, and was interested in the establishing. of an. Evangelical church in Manly.James Hungerford, mentioned* . .earlier in this articles, visited her often, and with an interpreter, explained to her just how he was going to get an Evangelical church organized, for it wasJames Hungerford who founded the first Evangelical Association in Manly.* 0Great-grandfather Bednar died on March 31, 1901, and Greatgrandmother Bednar died on November 3, 1903. They left two sons, both of whom continued to follow the occupation of farming, John Bednar lived on the old homestead for many years, then his son, ,Dell Bednar, took it over and farmed here until a few yearsago.Joseph F. Bednar, their oldest son. purchased an- eighty acre farm located northeast of Manly, in 1884. Here he built a small frame house, and a few hay sheds. His home was furnished entirely with furniture, which he made himself. The inside of the house went unpainted for many years, until a lime whitewash could be purchased. Grandmother Bednar took great pride, in keeping her home neat, and after the walls had all been gone over, she placed hand braided rugs on the floors, which she scrubbed chalkwhite with,sand carried from the creek nearby.Clothing Made at HomeBoughten clothing in those days was unheard of, and Grandmother Bednar made men’s shirts by the dozens for the Hrubetz family, as well as for Grandfather Bednar. She did her sewing all by hand, and it did take a long time to finish a garment.Washing machines were not used by pioneer women as yet, and the family washing was done by rubbing the clothes out by hand. Grandmother Bednar made her own soap, which she continued to do for many, many years.Butter was churned by hand, and traded for groceries . . . much of it Grandmother - Bednar sold to people living in Manly for twenty cents a pound.' Fresh eggs brought eight cents a dozen and Grandmother Bednar carried them two miles to town in a willow basket.There were no fences and cattle had to be herded. This w^s a big task, and it was a common thing to see Grandmother Bednar wading barefoot across the prairie after the cows, when Grandfather Bednar • was busy with the field work. Pioneer women did much of the out door work also.Grandfather Bednar planted corn by hand, when he first began farming. Corn crops in the earlier days did not amount to very much, the yield was poor and the ears were small. It was much like Indian maize.Wheat Was Main CropWheat was the main crop, and was sown broadcast by hand at the rate of a bushel and a quarter to the acre. It was cut with a cradle. This was a scythe fastened to a frame of wood with long bending teeth, for cutting and laying the grain in swaths. Three acres a day was considered a good day’s • work' for Grandfather Bednar. Following close behind him came Grandmother Bednar, binding the grain into sheaves and placing it in shocks, where it stood until it was sufficiently cured and then stacked. The wheat was threshed with a flail; this consisted of a wooden handle at the end of which a shorter stick was soh ung as to swing freely.]IWalking in those days was common, and Grandfather . Bednar thought nothing of making a trip on foot to . Mitchell county, Osage, or Plymouth. Twenty-five miles a day was considered good exercise for a young farmersuch as he was.Grandfather Bednar farmed the home place until he. moved to Manly in 1925, when their son, Joe M. Bednar, took over the operation of the farm. Grandfather Bednar died on December 6, 1933, and Grandmother Bednar died on February 11, 1946. Like Grandmother Rossiter, she too lived to a ripe old oge, which gave her the opportunity to see Manly grow from a wild prairie into a modern town with paved streets, electric lights, a town water system, a disposal plant, and natural gas./v’-Operate a RestaurantMy parents, Harry C. .Rossiter and Anna Bednar Rossitef, ran a restaurant in. Manly from 1908 until 1912, in a frame building which stood where the Peoples’ Gas Electric shop now stands. Many of the earlier residents of Manly will remember eating a big meal for twenty-five cents at Rossiters’ Restaurant. Manly had no town water system at this time, and water had to be carried from the Manly Depot, which was located near the tower house. It took many pails a day to supply a restaurant, and this was a big task for my father as well as for my mother to carry.cettc£cc\rC3tlIc\\\jBoard sidewalks and planks were used to walk on. The streets were very muddy during the rainy weather,' and piled high with snow in the winter. Kerosene lamps were used to light the streets and the business places, and then came the acetylene gas lamps' to take their place. These were lit with a torch dipped into wood alcohol.I am the only direct descendant of the George Rossiter family living today, and do enjoy especially this Seventy-fifth Anniversary of Manly. Because I have become the granddaughter of many Pioneer Grandparents these are silver words to me . . . like silver bells they ring into my ears, and awaken memories more silvery than the words themselves.*DEMOCRATIC COUNTY CONVENTIONAug. 25, 1888 As per call in the Worth County Democrats met in convention in Manly. Chairman R. G. Mitchell called the meeting to order and on motion, Frank * Heiny was called to the chair and J. H. Murphy was chosen secretary. The call was then read by the chairman, and on motion a committee of three -was chosen to suggest names of delegates to the State Convention. Committee, C. H. Remore, T. Hundeby and R. G. Mitchell chose as delegates, J. B. Adams Charles Beckett, H. H. Wefel, Jr and N. E. Knud-son, and as alternates Albert Towne, H. H. Weffel, Sr., Charles Remore'and D. A. Mitchell.Famed U. S. A. F. Drum Bugle Corps At Minn. State FairThe official U. S. Air Force Drum and Bugle Corps, Washington, D. C., will be the top muisc attraction of the Minnesota State9Fair, August 23 through September 1. It will play all the days.A mammoth official Atomic Energy show from Oak Ridge, Tenn., will be a main educational feature in the Swine Barn, left vacant by the Minnesota Livestock Sanitary Board’s ban on hog shows in the state effective August 1.Other highlights in the Swine Bam will be U. S. Department of Agriculture and Defense exhibits, featuring a huge special navy display now beinw shown at the Seattle,, Washington Centennial Sea Fair.Record entries of saddle horses, light and heavy horses, hunters and jumpers, and ponies from the leading stables of America insure the biggest horse show ever held in the upper midwest. It will be presented in the Hippodrome, six nights, August 24 through 29, with Sunday and Friday matinees.Entry of a galaxy of A. A. A. auto race stars, headed by Troy Ruttman and other top 1952 Indianapolis 510-milers, in the three days’ race meet, Saturday through Monday, will give the fair its most spectacular auto racing in history.]If your fuses blow out when thi current comes on again after \ power failure, disconnect som appliances. When several appli ance motors on the same circui start at once, the sudden, nee( for extra “start-off” curren overloads the wires. Househoh motors often need 3 of 4 times a much current in starting as i: running.Signal advertising pays!
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Manly Singal
Manly, Iowa, US
Thu, Aug 21, 1952
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USA 15 Oct 2018
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