The John and Gertrude Milder Story continued...

The Missouri Years

John and Gertrude, buoyed by their strong faith, had taken off with the thought of moving to Missouri or back to Iowa. They came to a place called Brinktown, Missouri. It was a very small hamlet but there were lovely people there and a parochial school.

It was always John and Gertrude's desire to have their children in a parochial school, so the family settled near Brinktown, at the edge of the Ozarks. Before John made up his mind to rent a farm, the kind people let them use a building which was formerly used for a mill.

The house they moved to was an old log house. There were lots of lizards in the area. The children would watch them run in the basement and on the rail fences.

The water supply was from a cistern, which was water piped from the runoff from the house. This was used for washing. Water also came from an open spring located one half mile from the house. This good, cold water was used for drinking and cooking. A bucket with a rope was used to get the water but there was always a plentiful supply.

The people there were friendly and always invited the family to their homes. Their popular saying "come over and stay, all night." They were very helpful and were always very generous, giving the family clothing and other, surplus items. These people seemed to be years behind the times compared to the people in North Dakota.

The younger children attended the parochial elementary school. Edward and Mary hired out if they could find work, and also helped on the farm. During this period, John couldn't find extra carpentry work, so he and Edward went back to North Dakota to do carpentry and harvest work.

They put the money they earned in a bank in North Dakota, but before they were ready to come home, the bank went broke. All they came home to Missouri with was a check Edward had yet to cash for $47.

The family tried to raise onions from seed but were not successful. There were large groves of timber and two of the children wandered off and were lost. After lots of hunting and praying, they were found, bewildered and crying.

Since this part of Missouri was mostly pasture and timber, John found another farm that was suitable for dairy cattle. This place was just a few miles away from their previous farm. John ordered Holstein calves, but more than half were lost when they developed "shipping fever" during shipment.

Water for drinking and cooking was taken from a well with a long tube like bucket. It was attached to a rope and pulley. One time one of the children dropped a rock into the tube and caused a real problem until the rock could be removed.

Louise and Wilma graduated from the 8th grade at Guardian Angel in Brinktown. Things continued to go poorly and the family was constantly scrimping just to have enough to eat. John was ill for awhile and then all of the family came down with the flu. Gertrude gave birth to another son, John, in 1928.

This was a difficult time for the family but neighbors came to help and brought food. The family liked Missouri, with its easy going life. Financially, though, the family kept losing more and more and it became very difficult to clothe and feed everyone. Finally, around 1930, John had a sale and sold everything but the furniture.

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