Bits By Betty

1942: Reka Zenker recalls home destroyed by tornado
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
August 19, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Aug. 20, 1942. People may find it difficult to accustom themselves to using less sugar and coffee in their daily lives, but even with stricter rationing than is now in effect, they will have more than the residents of this area had when Mrs. Reka Zenker, Steen, came here from Clayton county, Iowa. Coffee was a rare commodity this far west, and…
1942: M.W. Chunn recalls opening law office in Luverne
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
August 12, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on July 30, 1942. The story of M.W. Chunn is continued from last week. After leaving university he went to Wisconsin to spend the summer. It was while he was in Wisconsin that the president of an eastern college wrote him to the effect they were planning to establish a department of Hebrew in the college and suggesting that he become the head of…
1942: M.W. Chunn recalls religious study
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
August 05, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on July 30, 1942. Student, teacher, preacher, lawyer and “gentleman farmer” is M.W. Chunn of this city, who is this week’s member of the Diamond Club. Mr. Chunn was born about 80 years ago in St. Mary’s county, Maryland. St. Mary’s is the county in which the first permanent settlement was made in Maryland in 1634. As far back as he can trace…
1942: William Lemke recalls economics of farming
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
July 29, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 25, 1942. The story of William Lemke continues from last week. He told him about Taylor Kitterman at Ashcreek who needed a man to help plant trees. He said Ashcreek was eight miles south, so Lemka started out. When he saw nothing that looked like a town, he continued until he arrived in Rock Rapids. The fact that he had walked over twice…
1942: William Lemka recalls journey to Rock County
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
July 22, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 25, 1942. Having lived in Rock county since Luverne was just a “burg” and Ashcreek was so small that he walked right through it without knowing he had, William Lemka, of this city, can tell you a lot of good stories about Rock county’s prairie days. Lemka came to Rock county at the age of 21 after having circled his way here by way of…
Diamond Club features Martin Connell 1942
By Betty Mann
July 15, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 18, 1942. There’s a lot of difference between Luverne’s streets now as compared to when I was city street commissioner,” recalls Martin Connell, Luverne, this week’s Diamond Club member. Mr. Connell served as commissioner of streets here for 22 years, after he moved to Luverne from the farm. “In those days,” Connell states, “there was no…
1942: Catherine Gilfoy recalls bank robberies, life in Rock County
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
July 08, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 11, 1942. The story of Mrs. Catherine Gilfoy continues from last week. Mrs. Gilfoy stayed at home with the children and took care of the stock, living in constant dread of blizzards, and prairie fires which seemed to be so frequent during that period. Hay and flax straw, used as fuel, also added to the fire hazard. Mrs. Gilfoy recalls…
1942: Catherine Gilfoy recalls rationing during long winters
July 01, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 11, 1942. They could ration every article of food on the market today, and the public would have more to eat than did pioneer families on many occasions, according to Mrs. Catherine Gilfoy, former Luverne resident, who now resides in Lismore. Mrs. Gilfoy remembers when the main course of their meal was “stone soup,” made by boiling water…
1942: Civil War widow recalls life in Rock County
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
June 24, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 4, 1942. I saw my brother leave for the Civil War; my nephew was in the Spanish- American war, then came the World War, worse than ever,” declared Mrs. Lucy Howard Hunter, of this city, one of the last if not the only living Civil War widow living in Rock County. Mrs. Hunter was a girl of 15 when the Civil War broke out. Her oldest…
1942: Christ Carstens shares story of moving from Germany
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
June 17, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 28, 1942. “I’m glad I’m living in this country now and not in Germany,” declares Christ Carstens, of this city, who came to the United States because he could earn more in a day here than he could in a month in his home land. “If I hadn’t come to this country, I’d either have been a dead man or a poor man. I’m still not rich, but I’ve…
1942: William Schneekloth recalls threshing business
June 10, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 21, 1942. The story of William Schneekloth continues this week. At the age of 16, he began working with threshing crews, his first job being to feed one of the old type horsepower threshers. After that, the steam engine was introduced, and for two years, he served as “water monkey.” He then went back to feeding he said. All the grain was…
1942: Model T was William Schneekloth's first car
June 03, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 21, 1942. “Yes sir, we drove from Luverne to Hartley, Iowa, a distance of 72 miles, and made the entire trip between 12 o’clock noon and six o’clock in the evening. Mister that was driving back in 1912.” The above incident was recalled by William Schneekloth, Luverne, this week’s Diamond Club member, as he discussed his first car, an up-…
1942: John Wulf recalls life, childhood
May 27, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 14, 1942. John Wulf’s story continues from last week. Mr. Wulf was one of 11 children, of which five died while children. He grew to manhood on his father’s farm, and with the exception of three months, all of his life was spent on a farm until he retired to move to Luverne, 15 years ago. He recalls the first field work he did was…
1942: John Wulf recalls threshing business
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
May 20, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 14, 1942. “There’s nothing I’d like to do better right now than fire a steam threshing rig for four days,” declares John Wulf, this week’s Diamond Club member, Mr. Wulf had one of the first steam rigs in Davenport, Ia., vicinity before he moved to Rock county, and for 42 years operated his own threshing outfit. Although he has given up…
1942: Elizabeth Spitz has 100 living descendants
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
May 13, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 7, 1942. One of Lismore’s best known residents is Mrs. Elizabeth Spitz, 91, this week’s Diamond Club member. For over one-third of a century, she has lived in the village. Prior to that time, she lived on a farm near Wilmont. Mrs. Spitz was born in Alsace-Lorraine province on Nov. 2, 1850, the daughter of Ignatz and Mary Hahlar Metz. Her…
1942: Esther Hansen recalls life of nursing on the frontier
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
May 06, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April 30, 1942. Perhaps no other living person in the southeastern part of Rock county is better known for her services as a practical nurse than is Mrs. Ole Hansen, pioneer settler of the Ashcreek vicinity. Having learned some of the important fundamentals of home nursing from her mother, Mrs. Hansen found them very useful in this sparsely…