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MEMORIES

By Phyllis Leona Felber Michaud

Samuel Jakob, Daniel, F.P., Leo Felber

Daniel Felber was born in Switzerland, he moved to America at 21 years of age and became a U.S. citizen on November 18th, 1878. His wife, Anna Becker was born in Germany and came to the U.S. with her parents. They were married in May of 1878. They homesteaded and built a log cabin in the Pearl Creek community of Cedar County, NE. It was located 4 miles west and 1 mile north of Coleridge, but was on the Hartington mail route. It was later replaced with a large country style home with five bedrooms. The one over the kitchen was so spacious that it accommodated four double beds. Daniel and Anna's son Frank inherited this farm and lived there with his wife Elizabeth Dendinger. All of their children were born and raised there.

Over the years the homestead grew in size to eleven buildings. They consisted of a machine shed, cow barn, corn crib, milk house, hog house, chicken coop, garage, wood and cob shed, brooder house and the family house. Also, a windmill, farm scale and of course the outhouse!!! There was a natural spring just south of the large cherry orchard where the family used to gather with ladders to pick cherries to make delicious pies.

Fondest recollections of our Sunday family gatherings was the aroma of the roast beef in Grandma Elizabeth's kitchen. It was the best cut of meat from the Farmer's Union Store and Locker Plant in Coleridge. The men loved to play cards (usually poker) or pitch horseshoe's. The women supervised the children making homemade ice cream. They took turns at the crank and sometimes opened the lid to taste. If salt water spilled into the container it would ruin the whole gallon and they would have to start over.

Frank (F.P. as his friends called him) was a leader and prominent in the community. He was president of the Farmer's Union Co-op, and on the Pearl Creek school board. He was also active in many other organizations.

All eight of Frank and Elizabeth's children and several of their grandchildren went to Pearl Creek school. First through tenth grade were attended at Pearl Creek. A sliding partition divided it into two rooms, with two teachers. On one side of the room was an elevated stage, used for Christmas programs and box lunch socials. There was a coal stoker furnace and restrooms in the full basement. In the corner was a cement tornado shelter, with a manhole covered exit. Some students rode horses to school, in the winter they would hitch a toboggan to their horse. There was a horse barn on the school premises. Some if the teachers boarded and roomed at F.P.'s and had to walk in deep snow the same as their students to get to school.

For the box lunch socials, the girls would beautifully decorate a box containing a lunch. These were kept secret from the boys until they bid and received the privilege of eating with the owner of the box. It was an exciting and fun time. Other forms of entertainment were marbles, leap frog, ante-I-over the house, jumping rope, sleigh riding, and hide & seek. Family entertainment was monopoly, rummy, cribbage, and other card games. We had Little League baseball games and an occasional movie. A toy for Christmas was a very treasured item.

F.P. and Elizabeth (Lizzie) moved to Coleridge in 1953. Their son Norbert and his wife Genevive farmed the homestead until they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. After Norbert and Genevive left for Oklahoma, F.P.'s oldest son Leo and his wife Lula farmed the homestead. It was sold in 1968 to settle the estate. The person that purchased it preferred only farmland and demolished the buildings. We can only visualize in our minds what the homestead was.