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She told stories of helping the dog kill a rattle- snake, and of chasing a coyote from the yard with a broom. I once heard her say that homesickness was a real sickness for her. I always felt closer to my Mother than I did to my Father. I could always talk to her when I had problems. I like to think that I inherited her ability as a peacemaker and a sympathetic listener. I will always remember a statement she made to me, when I was critical of some one. "Just remember that the faults you see in others, may be your own."
FRED AND BESSIE METZGER
Fred and Bessie were married in Johnson, County, Nebraska, Aug. 12, 1905. They came to Crawford in March of 1907. Fred had his homestead permit, but found a place to buy, that was about 5 miles north west of Crawford. A family by the name of Wolff had taken this property as a homestead, but relinquished his rights to the Metzgers.
The 640 acres had a log barn, a frame house, and three small sheds. There are pictures in the family, showing this property without a single tree. As a boy I remember that snow could sift thru the cracks, and windows, and cover my bed when ever there was a blizzard. There was no indoor plumbing; an outdoor toilet, 50 yards from the house served in all kinds of weather. Water had to be carried from the well which was close to the house, and the windmill kept the tanks filled with water for the livestock.
As a small boy I never felt that we were poor, or that there was anything unusual about our existence, but as I look back, I can see that this was a very difficult time for Fred and Bessie. Dad did not become a naturalized citizen until several years after World War I. He came to the United States with his family when he was 8 years old. He delayed in becoming a U.S.citizen [sic], and it caused him embarrassment with his neighbors, who considered him a "German".
He always did his work on the farm extremely well, it was his life. When he planted corn, it had to be in straight rows. He was an economist the world will never hear of; he never bought anything he could not pay for with cash. When his neighbors lost their farms during the depression, he would say, "They are trying to get big too fast."
My mother went by the name of "Mumsie" for years. We called her Mama, and I disliked that so much that I was the first to call her "Mumsie", and Dad went along with it, and from that time she was no longer "Mama".
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Metzger Memories
