|
a.
|
Note: RFN166 BIOGRAPHY CHRIS AND NONA KRUGER Christian Kruger and Nona Sarholt were born and raised in Ostfriesland, Germany, Hanover Province, where they were married. Chris was a sheepherder, and would whistle as he went down the street and all the goats and sheep would follow him as their owners turned them out. In the winter time he would cut peat from the peat bogs nearby for the fireplaces in the local homes. There was some money inherited from his father, and some land and other holdings had been inherited by his older brothers. Christian's aunt Lottie had held his share of the inheritance in trust until he
was ready to emigrate to America in 1855. She then got all the money due him in currency so that he would not have to pay tax and duty on it. To keep officials from learning that she had this money, she sewed it into a beautiful black, rustly taffeta petticoat. A real problem presented itself, though, when they wanted to bring a great deal of linens and woolen cloth to America. They had spent hours preparing wool for spinning and linen for cloth and thread. How would they ever be able to get through customs with so much more than they were allowed? Nona, the mother, proved herself to be a real smuggler, for what officer would ever think of going beneath a pile of dirty diapers. They would really close that pail in a big hurry! They left Germany in 1855 with their seven children, the youngest being only about 6 months old. The sailing ship on which they boarded for passage took three months to make the ocean voyage. The ship also had a store of peat in the hold to stoke a steam engine in case the weather became either too calm or stormy. When they reached America, they continued westward until they reached a German settlement at Freeport, Illinois. Their youngest child, Jessie, was born there in 1857. Her uncle John Sarholt, who came to America with them, called her his "Little American."
Chris Kruger hired out to work for a Mr. Didden, who built a one-room house for them with a lean-to on the south side for extra clothes and cookware and on the west was another lean-to that housed a cow, pig and some chickens which he had given them. They also had the use of three acres of land for garden and feed for their livestock. He worked there for a year and a half, then passed away in 1857, and was buried in Freeport, Illinois. Nona Kruger then moved into Freeport and in 1864 she married Henry Lindeman, a widower who had a married son named Folkert. He and his wife were very poor and lived over a creamery in Grundy Center. Henry Lindeman also hired out to work for Mr. Didden. After a year and a half he, too, died in 1865. Nona died about one year later, in 1866 and was buried in Freeport. The family recalls that they lived 10 miles northwest of Freeport and Nona always had to walk to town for groceries unless she could get a ride with someone going past. Her very first ride to town was with Mr. Oko Tjaden who had one horse and one cow hitched to a wagon and was taking some wheat to get it ground. They also had to walk that distance to church every week. One Sunday, on their way home, a big rain storm came up. Being all prairie, there was no place to go for shelter. Jessie, her youngest was with Nona and when it started to rain so very hard, she put the child on the ground in front of her for protection and wrapped her long gathered skirt around her and they stood there until the rain was over. By the time they got home, their clothes were nearly dry.
|
