April 9, 1937
Daddy helped me by drying the dishes this morning. He said he came to this country in 1881 going from Denmark to Germany and taking the boat from there (Utrecht) to Glasgow. They stayed 2 days in Glasgow, then started across, making the trip in, as he remembered, 9 days. The boat was a former cattle boat and very poor. They went third class and the food was terrible. It was brought to them in a big rusty iron kettle. 19 went from his district. They were hired in Denmark to get to Stillwater, Wisconsin. Daddy worked that winter at a saw mill. They didn't get paid till the following August, just getting board and enough money for a few clothes. Prices for clothing were very high. The next winter he worked for a Catholic lawyer in West St. Paul driving and taking care of the horses. There was a large family of children going to school. Daddy said the lawyer's wife was a very nice lady. He got $8 a month and board. The next winter he went to Winnipeg also working for the railroad. He said he could have had homestead land but the snow was so terrible that first winter he was homesick and didn't care for the country. Then he went to Minnesota.