Sister talk: What's your husband like?

It's raining hard and there will be no fall golf today. As we look out the window toward Belle Plaine and Jackson Township, the dreary afternoon provides a perfect excuse to light a fire and dip into recently acquired family archives.
Here's a letter written on Jan. 7, 1864 by our great-great grandmother, Nancy William Ives, married name, Mrs. Peter Jackson. An honest-to-goodness pioneer, she was married near Mankato. We told that story in an earlier post.
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In 1857, Peter Jackson married Nancy Ives near George Lake near what is now Mankato (Stan's brother, Steve, lives there today) The groom returned with his bride to St. Peter then they made the last leg of their journey to Belle Plaine on a steamboat. Nancy was a nurse, and became known throughout the community for her caregiving. They raised our great grandmother, Ella Belle (1858 - 1918). Nancy died in 1881 in Belle Plaine. Stan and Kathleen are still looking for her tombstone.
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A 34-year-old Nancy writes this letter from Belle Plaine to her family back East in Russell, New York. Her sister there was recently married. Nancy has never met her new brother-in-law. She writes a letter addressed as "Dear Brother and Sister." In it she laments the loss of a child "He has taken your darling to his mansions where she is singing the song of the redeemed." Nancy's daughter, Ella, [our great grandmother] "cried all the evening," upon hearing the news.
Nancy continues:
"Peter [our great great grandfather] is sick with a cold... A great many children have died with diphtheria, some have lost as many as four out of one family. Many homes have been made desolate by the war.
"I hope this unhappy war may soon end and peace again reign in our land. Jeff Davis is sending forth a doleful groan, may he see the error of his ways and run for France or Canada...
"... you have no idea how lonely it is to have no relatives besides my own family in this state."
But there is an addenda to the letter -- a private attachment apparently intended only for the eyes of her sister.
To Mrs. Sophia Scoughton
Dear Sister Sophia,
I must talk to you a little as well as the rest. I can hardly make it seem as if you were married. It seems as if you must be the same little curly-haired sis that you were when I saw you last. But I think it is better for you to have a home of your own than to be a slave to everybody as I have often been since I came to this territory. I've worked til my feet are blisters but that was nothing -- I was nobody but a hired girl. I find it very different now. Our family is small and the work very light. I have every convenience that I need to work with. I suppose your work must be harder than mine as you have a sick mother to take care of. I have done considerable sewing the past summer and fall. I have made up about 100 yard of cloth and pieced 4 and quilted 6 quilts. I enjoy life very much yet I often think of my childhood home and the happy days I have spent there. I sometimes think that you have all forgotten me because you do not write to me. I can excuse Ann. She has so many little ones to attend to but you and Eliza have either forgotten or don't care enough about me to write. Do not forget me but write and tell me how you are getting along. Was you married at Mother's or did you take a ride? And tell me what you a looking husband you have got. Mine is a little taller than Alvin, has black hair, blue eyes and light skin. By the way, I sent you and Eliza each a magazine. I directed yours to Sophia Ives, I did not know that was your name. Give my regards to your husband.
Nancy William Jackson
(This letter was transcribed from the original letters by our grandfather, Paul Brown. We have many other letters written by this strong, talented woman. We'll share them if there's interest.)

Stan's psychologist

Dave Chase has been golfing with Stan all summer.
But it wasn't until today that Dave started quoting from his new favorite book, Bob Rotella's "Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect." As Dave extolled the virtues of the book, and explained its theses, --- (Set realistic goals; negative thinking is 100 percent effective; it is more important to be decisive about a putt than correct; No matter what happens with a shot accept it. Acceptance is the last step in becoming a better player. etc. etc.) --- Stan's game began improving immediately. He carded three consecutive pars, then a tap-in bogey, then a par, before Dave even got to Chapter Three.
Dave had changed the subject by the time they got to No. 8 (below), and Stan subsequently missed his par putt by an inch -- apparently due to performance anxiety creeping back into his psyche and resulting in a loss of confidence.
It was chilly today, but beautiful. Leaves are starting to turn, light frost is possible tonight. That's enough to send Dave, his wife, and his book on the long drive to their winter home in Phoenix this week.
For his part, Stan will be driving to Barnes and Noble.

Par 4, No. 8 at Stonebrooke in Shakopee. 180 yard carry, dogleg right. You can make it, but you must believe you can.

Happy Birthday, Virg!

We're not sure where the newly-minted Florida resident is today, but he is probably not taking his ease in a Lazy Boy.
We hope he has time to relax just a bit and enjoy this transitional season as he prepares to rejoin the snowbirds.

Katie's Love Affair

Stan and Kathleen toured the Mississippi on board the Jonathan Padelford last night to celebrate their 29th Anniversary. Here's an on board interview with St. Paul Katie, explaining her affair with St. Paul.

Happy Birthday, Amy!

Mr. Wonderful (Amy's husband, Dave) took the birthday girl out last night while Dave's parents did an overnight with sons Blake and Hunter at Dave's sister's house. Today Amy's sister-in-law (Kim) and her mother (Becky) are taking Amy out for lunch and a review of the new sculpture park that's opening in downtown Des Moines. She'll be back home by 3 p.m. for a surprise ice cream and cake party hosted by the boys: Dave, Hunter, Blake, (brother) Adam and (father) Al.
Amy is Stan and Kathleen's niece. Oops. Hope we didn't spill the beans about the surprise party. Don't worry. She's going to be too busy to read her aunt and uncle's blog.
Sounds like a perfect day!

Old Man River hosts No. 29

A couple of weeks ago, while looking at Parade housing in Kathleen's beloved St. Paul, the Jonathan Padelford churned past on the nearby Mississippi River. How romantic, Stan thought.

Today was Stan and Kathleen's 29th Wedding Anniversary. The couple enjoyed the Sunset Cruise on the Padelford. With a 7 p.m. departure, the sunset came early, but the celebrants enjoyed each other's company on the two spacious decks, ate a fine buffet dinner, met some interesting people and managed a couple of snapshots along the way.

When the leaves turn in a week or so, a day trip of the Mississippi will no doubt be quite spectacular. Not many of these perfect fall days left. Enjoy what's left.

Stan and Kathleen were married in a park and remember exactly how the foilage looked on that day. They use the memory each year to gauge the relative progress of the new season, comparing it to their special day.

Tugboats lined up at the Port as St. Paul Katie made a little movie. Her cozy wool wrap was carefully selected in Edinburgh this spring by her husband of 29 years.

Now is this romantic or what? Looks like Murray's Butter Knife Steak Dinner for Two will just have to wait for another year.

Found in the car wash

We lost one of our little cigarette-pack-sized flip video cameras shortly after we attended our grandson Maxwell's graduation from Lake Country School last spring. Couldn't find it anywhere until Kathleen had her little bug cleaned. There it was. The graduation proceedings intact.
Max's eighth-grade ceremony lasted more than an hour. Don't worry, we've cut it to a minute and a half, keeping the best parts, of course.

Lorlee's postcard blog noted

(Editor's note: Here's the article we've been promising about our grade school classmate Lorlee Bartos and her postcard project. The article appeared in the Alexandria Echo Press this week. Lorlee's blog is linked below.)

Twitter of the 1910s
Postcard collection offers colorful glimpse into the past.
By Tara Bitzan, Alexandria Echo Press
Annie Bartos saved nearly 700 postcards during her lifetime. She died in 1983.
When Annie Bartos carefully tucked away every postcard she received from friends and family through the years, she probably thought that no one else would ever appreciate them as much as she did.
It’s almost certain that she never thought that one day those postcards would be posted on something called the Internet and read and enjoyed by people around the world.
According to her great-niece, Lorlee Bartos, Annie was a “collector.”
“One walked between boxes in her house,” she said.
Annie and her twin brother, Wencil, lived together on the Lowry farm homesteaded by their grandfather in the 1860s. After Wencil’s death, Annie lived alone on the farm until her death in 1983.
Annie never married or had children, but she did have several nieces and nephews, including Lorlee’s father, John Bartos, who lived in Forada.
After her death, family members gathered to go through her belongings and prepare for an estate sale.
Among her things was a small wooden box that contacted approximately 700 postcards Annie had received, mostly between the years 1910 and 1924.
“Aside from being real pretty, they are a beautiful sign of the times,” Lorlee said of the cards. “Ever since I first saw them, they captivated me.”
Lorlee’s mother, Clara, felt the cards should not be sold, and tucked them away in her own home, where they remained until she moved to Windmill Ponds in Alexandria about six years ago. The heirlooms were then up for grabs for the next generation.
“Both my older sister and I were interested,” Lorlee noted. “We had a friendly bidding war, with the money going to the Reno Cemetery where Aunt Annie is buried.”
Lorlee outbid her sister and took ownership of the postcards.
“Once I had this treasure, it struck me about what a treasure it was since it was such a large collection from a single source. Not necessarily monetarily, but historically,” she explained. “With each card, I gain new insight into these ancestors, some of whom I never knew. It is my way of touching the past.”
Lorlee took the cards to an antiques appraisal show where she learned they were worth about $1 to $3 each, but the box they were in – a wooden seed box – was probably worth more than the cards.
“Obviously, there was never any intent on my part to sell them since they are a family treasure,” she stressed.
Lorlee not only appreciated the historical value and the family sentiments tied to the cards, but also their beauty.
“I found them to be so beautiful and such sweet reflection of and insight into the time,” she said. “A sweeter, simpler time.”
She noted that often the cards were signed with such sentiments as “your loving brother” or “your loving son,” etc.
Lorlee decided the postcards should be available for others to enjoy as well, so she explored the idea of setting up a website to which she could post all the cards.
Discouraged by the design cost, she opted to start a blog instead, and began the tedious process of scanning the postcards, both front and back.
She tries to scan and upload five to 10 cards each week and currently has about 140 done.
“My sister is the genealogy buff and has done the genealogy, so this is my contribution to family history and my tribute to the memory of Aunt Annie,” Lorlee explained. “Perhaps, also, as one gets older, you have a greater appreciation for family and what has come before. It is a way to display and document our family history.”
Her main purpose in uploading the cards to the Internet was to share them with family.
“While Annie only had 11 nieces and nephews, in the second generation there are more than 50 and I feel a little guilty being the one who has the cards,” she said. “In addition to direct descendents, there are descendents of Annie’s many cousins who number in the hundreds.
“The descendents of those who wrote the cards also number in the hundreds,” she added. “This way everyone can ‘own’ them and review them at their leisure.”
“I think, though, that even if one has absolutely no connection to Aunt Annie, they are so charming and a window into the past.”
Others agree.
A couple of weeks ago someone from Argentina posted on Lorlee’s blog in Spanish the words “Very good blog.”
Another reader posted that though he didn’t know any of the people, he enjoyed reading about them.
“It may be as one of my friends commented, we love to read other people's mail!” Lorlee said.
Once the postcards are all scanned into the computer, Lorlee plans to will them to the Pope County Historical Society so they are “saved for posterity.”
Lorlee Bartos is posting Annie Bartos’ postcard collection to a blog, which can be found at: http://anniebartos.blogspot.com/
Following are a few excerpts from some of the postcards in Bartos’ collection.
• Hello Anna, just a line from me to let you know that I didn’t for-get you yet, am far from home today and tomorrow. I intend to go to a show so will write again after I get back. Your friend Anna Dynda
• Dear Sis Anna. Just a few lines to le you know I’m sill alive and that I received your letter and card a week or so ago. I did not write because I did not know where I would go or be. Am in Longmont a town of about 5,000 people. am working in a Sugar Beet Factory you can see a little of it on the other side. I board in town. The factory is about a mile walk from where I stay a good walk in the morning and evening. Working pretty hard some days but feel fine just the same. I would like have my overcoat sent up as soon as you can. I will stay here a while so please send it and all my mail this address Longmont Colorado. With Best Regards For All. I am your brother John J. Bartos Longmont Colorado. PS Will send you a letter in a couple of days. PS. When you answer let me know when is Bessie Chan’s Birthday.
• Dearest Bird your card all o.k. was to the dance Sat and had a pretty good time. Why didn’t you folks go? Heard there is no dance at W. Benesh this Sat. but I think there is one there next Sat so we’ll make up for lost then won’t we? Love Friend Antonia. How’s John? Heard he had a runaway.

Briggs in East Hall of Fame

From The Mankato Free Press:
Mankato -- Mankato East High School will induct six new members into its Hall of Fame on Friday at a 3:30 p.m. ceremony in the East auditorium.
This year's honorees include:
Briggs Rolfsrud
A 2001 graduate, Briggs Rolfsrud was the No. 1 singles varsity tennis player from her ninth grade year through her senior year. She was a three-time All-Conference pick and a Big Nine Champion in 1999. [She was Section runner-up in 1999 and Section Champion in 2000. She is the only Mankato girls tennis player to ever win the Big Nine and was the first Mankato East girls player to win the Section.]
In the winter she participated in basketball, starting all four years, and was captain and honorable mention All-Big Nine her junior and senior year.

She was part of a Section Championship and Big Nine Championship in 1998.
In softball during the spring, Briggs again started all four years of high school, was All-Section all four years, and was All-Big Nine three straight seasons. She was part of Section Championships and Big Nine Championships all four years. She is the school's leader in hits (143), runs (101), and is second in stolen bases (65).

Briggs is the niece of Stan and Kathleen Rolfsrud, Shakopee. (We can't help adding that to the story. Congratulation to Briggs. Once again, we are very proud of her. Look closely at the top photo. That's Ford in red, proudly supporting his sister.)