The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group that began in the January 7, 1943, issue of the Rock County Star Herald. Members of this group consist of persons of age 75 and older.
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on July 1, 1943, and is continued from last week.
Helped Bind Grain
Before she was married, Mrs. Ellis W. Colby learned how to do both indoor and out of door work. She states that she has bound grain after a “self-rake”, the predecessor of the binder. “We’d bind all day,” she states, “and in the evening, we’d shock up what we bound during the day.”
Her mother had worked in a tailor shop in Norway, and from her, Mrs. Colby learned the art of sewing. She has sewn many men’s shirts, and other garments by hand, she declares. Her mother also could weave, and Mrs. Emmett Kennedy, daughter of Mrs. Colby, has a portion of Mrs. Colby’s cloth which she has then made into a petticoat for her own wedding.
Walked to Town
During the early days of Martin township, it was customary to walk to town, in her case about four miles each way, to buy groceries. Many times, she states, she walked to Beaver Creek carrying a pail full of eggs or butter. Butter would bring about 10 cents a pound, and eggs about six cents per dozen. However, prices of commodities purchased were correspondingly low. Shoes, the sturdy kind with copper toes, sold for about $2 per pair.
When she was a girl, nearly everyone drove oxen. Mrs. Colby said that she learned how to guide an ox-team by shouting “gee” and “haw” and by cracking a long whip over their backs. After her step-father obtained a team of horses, he’d hitch them to a wagon load of grain and drive to Luverne, and she’d follow him with another load, drawn by oxen.
Railroad Built
Mr. and Mrs. Colby were married in Martin township, Dec. 5, 1883, and they immediately began farming on the southwest quarter of section 16, Martin township. In 1889, the Great Northern railroad was built directly through their farm. “It was nice to have the railroad,” Mrs. Colby states, “but I certainly became tired of closing gates. It seemed as though every time a teamster would go through, he’d leave a gate open and our stock would get out.”
Mr. and Mrs. Colby lived on that farm for 19 years, and then moved to the farm Mr. Colby bought from his father, the north half of section 10 in Martin township. This, according to Mrs. Colby, was considered the largest tree claim in the county, 40 acres having been planted to trees on that place. The Colby grove, as it was known, was a community landmark, and a gathering place for the people of the community whenever a holiday called for a celebration. Mr. Colby helped to plant the trees, and later, sawed some of them into lumber. They lived on that place from 1904 until 1915, and then moved to Luverne.
Hospitality Compared
Comparing hospitality then to hospitality now, Mrs. Colby recalls how one night, 29 persons stayed at their place, and she made breakfast for all of them the following day. Included in the group were the members of her family, a threshing crew, a bridge building gang, and hired help.
She and her daughters would bake 12 to 14 loaves of bread every other day, and a cake every day. “No one needed a special invitation to come to visit on those days,” Mrs. Colby says. “They’d just walk right in, and no one thought of letting them go away without having something to eat.”
Because of the size of the family she had to care for, Mrs. Colby always had a big garden and raised lots of chickens. Sometimes, she’d raise as many as 500 chicks a year with setting hens alone.
Eight Children Living
Mr. and Mrs. Colby had 10 children, eight of whom are living. They are Mrs. Emil Hoyme, Hills; Mrs. R. Emmett Kennedy, Luverne, Mrs. C. J. Rierson, Hills; Mrs. Paul Pierce, Long Beach; Mrs. George Dawson, Sacramento; James Colby, Long Beach; Mrs. Blaine Christian, Portland, Ore., and Dr. Henry Colby, Minneapolis. She also has 15 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Mr. Colby died here in 1926, and at the present time, Mrs. Colby lives alone in her own apartment and does her own work here. As a hobby, she crochets and raises houseplants.
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.