1-Growing Up on a Farm

When my mom gave me a kitchen chore that I didn’t like, I ran out to the field to hang out with my dad and the men. I crawled into his lap while he drove the wagon. This is how I learned how to drive a four-horse hitch by the time I was 11 years…

I really liked growing up on the farm. It was a simple life, but my dad and grandpa were big teases. They stirred up trouble and kept me on my toes! Grandpa Clarence had a big roll-top desk where he locked up all his important papers. My brother, Clarence, and I knew that he also…

My mom, Esther Sprague, attained her teacher’s certification and started teaching when she was barely 18 years old. Some of the male students were older than her. She was pretty and soon attracted the attention of the single gentlemen in the area―including my dad, George Sprague. Dad boasted about how the young men spruced up…

I had a pony, named Betty. She was a beautiful pony but very stubborn. My dad taught me that you have to show a horse affection but also teach them who is boss. I brushed her coat and curried her mane. But when it was time to ride, I kept a firm grip on the…

I went to a one-room schoolhouse with 12-20 kids from 1st to 8th grade. I was a competitive scholar. My dad bragged that I was quick as a whip with numbers! No one could keep up with me … sometimes, not even the teacher. I won 1st Place in the Eau Claire County Achievement Contest.…

My Grandpa Clarence died suddenly when I was eleven, but Grandma Mimmi and Aunt Helen continued to live with us. Our house was “sort-of” divided, so they had a little kitchen and few rooms to themselves. When I wasn’t doing kitchen chores or helping in the field, I liked to visit with Mimmi and Helen.…

“Brother” (which became his nickname) was born when I was four. And I could count on him to play along with my games. Clarence wrote a funny story about me a few years ago. It pretty much sums up our childhood relationship: “Lois was impressed with the authority of her teacher at our one-room school.…

The youngest of eleven, my Grandma Mary (Mimmi) was born in Malselv, Norway, a mountainous, apline region about 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle. In 1879, when Mimmi was about a year old, her parents, Ole and Marit Olson made a big decision to relocate to Oslo in the hopes of securing a better…