Joost De Bruin

Migrated from the Netherlands to Pella, IA with his parents in 1857. [STOU1922, p.105] [HIST1987, Vol. II, p.346]
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"Joost De Bruin and Willempje Gosselink were united in marriage by Rev. Rederus on February 14, 1878 at the Third Reformed Church of Pella, IA. I think they bought a small farm about six miles east of Pella on the east side of the road across from the De Bruin homestead and also rented a large tract of land in the Skunk River bottom, near the Warren bridge.

So they started a very busy life, as machinery was very primitive yet at that time, and they had to put in long hours to get the crops planted and harvested. They also had quite a few dairy cows and my mother did the milking. Milk was set out in large pans in the cave or cellar till the cream all rose to the top and then was skimmed very carefully with a large skimming dipper. Once a week the cream was taken to the creamery in Pella. Slightly soured cream was churned in a stone crock churn for home use.

A lot of the buttermilk was used to make "pap". This was made with rice, pearled barley or flour, sweetened with sugar or molasses and was a very healthful food. With a small cheese press they made a lot of cheese...also cottage cheese.

They raised chickens and hogs, had a large garden, did lots of sewing, etc. At first the laundry was done with a large tub and a washboard. Later on they had a hand machine, a very primitive affair which was not much better than the washboard. By this time spring wagons replaced farm wagons for going to town. These were smaller and lighter than the regular wagons and had a large spring under the low box on each end and two low-backed seats...the back seat was removable. One was really exposed to the weather and they used umbrellas when it was rainy. They needed heavy warm clothing when it was cold.

About the only social life was visiting neighbors. Young people would walk several miles to neighborhood parties. Young men would either walk or ride horseback to go courting. Neighbors meant a lot to each other and helped one another in many ways. In case of illness or the birth of babies, neighbors would drive to Pella for a doctor.

I think my parents lived on this farm until the spring of 1892. During these years six children were born to them. Wilhelmina, Gerrit John (John), Dirkje (Dora), Adriana (Jen), Jacob Martin, Maartje (Martha). In those days everyone named their children after their grandparents or aunts and uncles.

In the winter of 1892 they bought a 280 acre farm four miles northeast of Leighton. I think they paid thirty dollars an acre. This is on the edge of a large tract of Skunk River bottom land about two miles southwest of the Crookham bridge. Some of this farm is second river bottom land which doesn't overflow and is rich level farm ground. Some of it on the west side is hilly and was still native timberland.

There were two sets of buildings a short distance apart. One house was usually occupied by a married hired man. Since a great deal of this farm was tillable, it took a lot of hard work to plant and care for the crops and during the summer months they usually had two hired men. My Dad raised a lot of purebred black Angus cattle. Once a year he would ship a carload of fat cattle to Chicago. He would go along on the train and ride in the caboose. He also raised a lot of purebred Poland China hogs and purebred horses and a lot of purebred Barred Rock chickens which were rather unusual at that time. He liked to try new things and was always trying to improve on the seed corn, oats, clover, potatoes, etc. He kept a bee colony and I think he sold some honey. A lot of honey was used by the family. There was a sugar cane mill and two large brick ovens with cooking pans on them on the farm when they bought it. Many gallons of molasses were also used by the family.

During the next nine or ten years, four more children were born. Elizabeth (Lizzie), Hendreaka (Hattie), Gradus Henry (Harry) and Cornelius Jan (Cornie).

It took a lot of food to feed such a large family, but much of it was raised on the farm. Potatoes were produced well at that time and were used daily. I remember Mother would peel a big dishpan full every day. Forty or fifty bushels were stored in the large cellar every winter. Also a large amount of root vegetables, carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkin, etc. There were two large orchards with many kinds of apples, both early and late ones and many bushels were stored in the cellar and pits on the orchard. A lot of apples were dried and canned.

There were many peach, plum, pear, and cherry trees so there always seemed to be plenty of one kind or another. Much fruit was canned in one-half gallon fruit jars as a quart wasn't enough for one meal. Gallons of sauerkraut, beans, endive, and spinach were salted down in five gallon crocks. Beef and pork were butchered on the farm. Some of it was made into steaks, sausage, ground beef, etc., which was dried and packed in two or three gallon crocks and covered with lard, and stored in the cellar. This kept very well. Some was cured and smoked. Every farm had a small smokehouse where delicious hams, bacon, and dried beef were smoked with hickory chips. They raised peanuts and popcorn by the sack full. Of course there were still a lot of things they had to buy in town.

In November of 1904 my father became very ill with internal hemorrhaging. The doctors didn't seem to know what was wrong and in a little more than a weeks time he died on Thanksgiving Day. This was a terrible shock to the family. I was only eight years old and it was a terrifying experience for me to go to his bedside to shake hands with him, to see the grief of the whole family and especially to see the coffin lowered into the grave. It was almost more than I could bear.

It was never quite the same as before. Mother had a strong faith in God and bore up quite well. It surely must have been very hard to be left alone with ten children, the youngest only two years old. John was old enough to manage the farm so life went on much as usual...the work had to go on. We all missed our father terribly but time heals. Mother's greatest concern, I think, was our Christian training and she was very strict about Sunday School and catechism lessons...also Bible reading and prayer. She was lenient with us in most other things.

With few conveniences, things were done the hard way so there was plenty of work for everyone. But we had lots of fun together and with neighbor children. Mother must have done an enormous lot of cooking and baking in her lifetime. Often our cousins or the ministers girls would visit for several days. There were many Jewish peddlers, agents, beggars, etc. Mother never turned anyone away. Anyone could get a nights lodging and meals free, so there were usually more than a dozen people around the dining room table. Bridge builders and road builders often stayed a week or more at a time.

I was about nine years old when rural mail delivery was started. This was great! The next year rural telephone lines were put up. Service was poor compared to nowadays. A couple of years later our mail carrier bought a car, the only one in the neighborhood. The farmers still used top buggies and carriages. A few had surreys with a fringe on top and with a team of high stepping horses these looked quite spiffy.

Down through the years the family all were married. The two youngest were married during the winter of 1923 and Mother moved to Pella where she still lived a busy useful life for many years. On August 6, 1949 she died at the age of 90 years and six months. Most of the children lived to be more than 80 years old. John lived 93 years.

(Written by their daughter - Hattie (De Bruin) Den Hartog in 1975)" [GOSS1988]