I arrived into this world on January 9, 1890 during a typical Minnesota snow storm, the doctor having to come out to Grandfather Hansen's farm from Litchfield on horseback. I have it from others that I weighed three pounds.
Sometime after I was born we moved to Litchfield and dad became a partner in a farm implement business and mother operated a millinery store. I can still remember the house, yard and barn that we lived in. The house was a large two-story square house and had two large pine trees in the front yard. We also had a large barn as we had four horses and a cow. Dad was always taking hay and grain from farmers that owed him money. Dad owned a very spirited team of bays. It was said that they were the best matched team in Minnesota. In addition we had a small pony and a large work horse.
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I have a dim memory of my sister Lily and me playing with matches and Lily's dress on fire, and a neighbor running over and beating the fire out with his coat. She was so badly burned that she did not recover.
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When the Klondike gold strike was at its peak my uncles Arnold and William Hansen decided to go to Alaska. They, however, had no intention of going after gold, but rather decided to open up several fur trading stations in the Cooke Inlet territory. They used all their money and credit in buying groceries and hardware supplies to be used in the fur trade.
Uncle Levi decided to get married and move to Ramsey, North Dakota where he opened a hardware store. Grandma Hansen and Aunt Tillie moved from the farm to a house in Litchfield just two blocks from where we lived. This must have been in 1898. In 1899 I was sent to Ramsey, North Dakota to stay with Uncle Levi and Aunt Sarah. Uncle was very good to me and would take me with him when he went hunting for prairie chickens and ducks. Uncle had one of the best pointers in the district. Uncle sometimes took him with him when he was out driving in the country. The dog would range while following the buggy and would sometimes come to a point on a covey of birds. Uncle would try to call him off and then he would get mad and drive off, only to have to come back and flush the birds before the pointer would unfreeze. It really was a wonderful experience to hunt where there were lots of birds and a well-trained dog.
One of my jobs while staying with Uncle was to take care of the team. I learned how to harness them up and drive Aunt Sarah to the larger towns around Ramsey. I remember one of those Dakota snow storms coming up during school and the men stringing a rope from the school to the stores. The children had to stay in the stores until the storm cleared enough to let the grown-ups get them home.
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Mother died April, 1914.