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1870
ANOTHER SPRING! Jan rejoiced. Lord, this is our year!
Karl and Jan had worked their land four years now and had added a few cattle, some goats, and several milk cows to their livestock. They had grown their herd of Landrace pigs and made good money from them. They had enlarged and improved the barn they built their second spring to include a milking shed and additional pens for pigs and goats.
And Elli and Amalie had picked apples from the two trees Jan had planted on the slope to the south of where Jan and Elli would build their house.
After four years, the Thoresens were still living in the soddy even though it was an inconvenient distance from the barn. As their livestock grew, it had made more sense to shelter the hay and grass to feed the animals each winter than to make room for the two Thoresen families; it had made no sense to spend precious money making over part of the barn for them to live in temporarily.
Instead, both families had agreed to stay in the cramped soddy—even though Karl and Amalie had added another baby boy, Arnie, to their family. They were determined to save the money needed to build the first house.
The Thoresens and Henrik had built a bridge across the creek. Jan and Karl had plowed more fields on both of their properties to grow corn, wheat, hay, and oats.
In another month, their fields would again be planted. Afterward Karl and Jan and the rest of the community would have a few weeks to spare for other tasks.
“We have but a year more to prove up our claims, Karl,” Jan said, his excitement barely in check.
Karl answered slowly, “Ja, we have the soddy, but it is on my property.”
Karl alluded to the government’s requirement: For every 160 acres claimed under the Homestead Act, the claimant must build a dwelling, make improvements on the property, live on and farm the land—and prove they are doing so—by the end of five years.
“Just so, Karl. Now we must be building a house on my property. Thank you, God in heaven, we have money from our hogs to pay for the lumber!” Karl and Jan would soon be taking their wagons to pick up the lumber Robert Bailey would have off-loaded from the train for them.
A tiny town had grown up northwest of the railroad’s water tower prompting the railroad to move its water tower and build a small siding at the town. The people had attached the name RiverBend to their village, because the town was near the river as it turned toward the Platte.
RiverBend—and the railroad—were closer to the Thoresens’ homestead than where they had first arrived and left the train. Even better, the railroad had hired Mr. Bailey to manage RiverBend’s little station.
For a minute Karl didn’t say anything more and then, “We spoke of building a house close to the barn first. That makes sense, eh? Later we will build a second house and maybe even a second barn, but first we must prove up our claims.”
“This is so,” Jan replied. “We have talked about this many times. I have paid for the lumber. This month we will lay the foundation. It is time to build the house. We should set a date and, when we build the Gustav’s barn in two weeks, ask our neighbors to come to the raising, ja?”
Karl dithered for another minute. “I have been thinking.”
Jan turned toward Karl, something setting him on his guard. “Thinking of what?”
Karl looked away, a little uneasy in his manner. “I was thinking maybe you wouldn’t mind if we . . . switched claims. Traded?”
Jan stared at his brother. “Trade land? Why do you say this?” For a moment he was puzzled. “Oh, I see. If we switch claims, then the first house we build will be yours, ja? Is that it?”
“It is only because Amalie . . . we already have three children and . . . she is pregnant again.”
Jan said nothing. He did not trust himself to speak. Of course, he was happy about another baby coming, but . . .
“No, Karl. This is my land.” The words came out before Jan even had a chance to think of forming them. Of course, he would not trade. This was his land! Hadn’t he stood on it that first day and thanked God for it?
Jan added slowly, “If we could build on your land first, I would gladly agree to that, but we don’t have a choice, ja? We must build on mine to prove up. This is what we agreed on when we decided to build out the soddy and live there, is it not?”
He was leery of Karl’s suggestion. The conversation that Elli had suggested Jan have with his brother, now several years past, came back to him. The discussion had been tense and uncomfortable.
It had not been easy for Jan to talk of his feelings and do so calmly. It also hadn’t been easy for Karl to listen. He had struggled to see Jan’s perspective.
It had taken patient explanation on Jan’s part for Karl to realize their relationship was being damaged. Jan had to point out where Karl unconsciously treated Jan not just as a younger brother but as a brother under Karl’s authority—when in fact they were both grown and the heads of their own families.
In the end, Karl had responded well and changed toward him in many ways. In turn, Jan had let the anger go. Jan had worked hard to keep his heart free of offense and had learned to assert himself—calmly—when he felt it was necessary.
Jan swallowed. “You know, Elli and I wish to have more children, too. Who knows? We could have another barn by next spring!” Jan thought of Elli and the disappointment each month brought. If I trade, Elli will believe I have given up hope for us to have another child.
“I am sorry, but I won’t trade with you,” he repeated quietly.
Karl just nodded. “Ja, all right. I thought I would ask.”
Jan hastened to add, “We will build the house as we planned, Karl. The house will have enough bedrooms for you and Amalie and the children to live with us while we build your house next spring. Isn’t that what we planned?”
He rushed on. “It is but a year. Next spring our neighbors will testify that we are building a new house for your family on your property to replace the soddy, eh?”
“Sure, sure. You are right, Jan.” Karl wandered off to work in the barn, but for some reason Jan was still uneasy.
—
ELLI STARED AT THE incontrovertible evidence. Once again, she was not pregnant. Oh, Lord! she moaned. I am not too old! I still have regular cycles! Please!
Only last evening Amalie had announced that yet another baby was on the way. Karl and Amalie already had Sigrün, Little Karl, and Arnie—and now another was coming?
Lord, I am only thirty-one, Elli begged. She had become pregnant the first time right after she and Jan had married. Søren was born when she was nineteen years old. She hadn’t had any difficulties with her pregnancy or the birth.
After that, it had taken only a year before she became pregnant with Kristen. But then . . . nothing. Søren was now twelve, Kristen was almost ten, and Elli’s arms ached to hold another baby.
Elli wanted to ask, Lord, do you hear me? Do you not care? But in her heart, she knew that God heard her prayers, even her very thoughts. Nothing was hidden from him!
She cried herself to sleep in Jan’s arms when each month ended in disappointment. He comforted her by talking of the home they would build, and they dreamed together of the day they would finally have their own roof over their heads.
With more children, please, Lord! Elli cried out to God.
—
JAN AND KARL BEGAN work on the house’s foundation as soon as their last field was planted. The two men and Søren again took both wagons to the river to gather rocks.
As he and Søren drove toward the river, Jan was sober, thinking of Elli’s most recent disappointment. They still had no child on the way, and Elli was increasingly despondent.
Why, Lord? he asked. Søren and Kristen are healthy! Elli is healthy! Certainly our love life is healthy, ja? He chuckled under his breath, drawing a curious look from Søren, seated beside him.
Lord, we would like more children. We are still young, so would you please bless us with a house full of them before I am too old to be a new pappa?
The Andersons, Bruntrüllsens, Kappels, and many other families from the German church came to help them raise the house. Jan could scarcely sleep the night before. By noon the full frame of the two-story home, raised upon the foundation he, Søren, and Karl had laid, was standing.
Elli, Amalie, and their neighbors’ wives fed the men and their families a hearty midday meal. Jan could not eat—he was giddy with the realization of this dream, the happiest he’d been since the day he had first seen his claim. He spent much of his time during the meal thanking and shaking the hands of the men who came to help, often making small, encouraging comments.
The only irritation in the day was the appearance of Adolphe Veicht and his wife Rakel. “Tomas is not well, Herr Thoresen. He has sent us in his stead,” Adolphe announced in his cool, aloof way.
The Thoresens had been attending the German church, usually twice a month, for the past four years. Although language was still a barrier, Jan and Elli had picked up enough German to understand the hymns and to make simple conversations.
The sermons were more difficult to follow, but Jan loved Tomas Veicht, as did the congregation. And in Heidi Veicht Elli felt that her children had been gifted with a bestemor—a grandmother of the heart.
“It is hard for children to grow up without their grandparents, Jan,” Elli mused. “We are so blessed to have Tomas and Heidi in our lives.”
The Thoresens knew that Tomas and Heidi had lived and farmed in this area for more than twenty years—far longer than most in the church. However, it was also clear that Tomas was not as strong a man on the outside as he had been at one time. Tomas still farmed some of his land, but his grandsons and others in the church did much of the work for him.
Yet as much as Jan and Elli loved Tomas and Heidi, their son Adolphe was another story. Adolphe knew the Bible well and sometimes taught the Sunday message, but he and his wife espoused a more severe approach to Christian living than did Tomas and Heidi. Adolphe, Rakel, and their two sons dressed plainly, with little color. They believed frivolity or much humor to be inappropriate.
Despite Jan and Elli’s efforts to break the ice with the younger Veichts, the couple remained aloof, almost disapproving of them. To his puzzlement, Jan felt Adolphe’s eyes continually watching him as though probing for faults.
Jan and Elli thought it strange that Karl and Adolphe Veicht got on well. In fact, Adolphe was probably Karl’s closest friend, next to Jan. Amalie, on the other hand, was closemouthed about the Veichts.
Elli wondered how Amalie fared in a one-on-one conversation with Rakel. The woman invariably had an opinion about everyone and everything—generally a critical one. With Karl so friendly with Adolphe, Amalie could not help but spend time with Rakel; nevertheless, she never spoke to Elli of Adolphe and Rakel.
Why is Adolphe Veicht always cool to me, Lord? Jan thought as the house raising began. While Jan encouraged and cheered the workers, Adolphe watched him closely—as if he wanted to catch him doing something wrong! When Jan told a good story, one that made his listeners laugh, Adolphe frowned.
And today Rakel stands apart from the other women as though offended that she is not supervising the meals. Why is that, Lord?
Jan saw Elli and Amalie make attempts to include Rakel and heard her sniff and reply, “I am sure I would do things differently if I were in charge, but I’ll leave you to manage it your way.”
As if Elli and Amalie should not manage it their way? Why are Adolphe and Rakel so sour? Jan asked himself again. And how is it that Tomas and Heidi, so full of God’s graciousness, can have a son like this?
Jan shook his head, frustrated. He noticed Karl and Adolphe in deep conversation. Adolphe seems to have no problem with Karl! Adolphe and Karl’s friendship—more than anything—confused and, Jan admitted, concerned him.
He looked over the workers and saw Adolphe’s sons, Ernst and Frank, working hard—but apart from the other men.
I feel bad for these young men, Lord, Jan prayed. They always look whipped and discouraged.
Jan went out of his way to compliment Ernst and Frank. Although they were in their late teens or early twenties, Adolphe treated the two boys like youngsters rather than as men who were now doing men’s work.
Jan knew exactly how they felt; he made sure to encourage the young men by bringing them into the circle of other men and their conversations. Ernst and Frank exchanged stolen glances with Jan, their eyes brimming with mute gratitude.
When the shadows began to fall that evening and the many friends and neighbors took their leave, each one looked with pride on the results of the community’s labor: No rooms within the house were yet finished and no windows were set within their frames, but the house itself, tall and narrow, was sided and roofed. It had been a good day.
So much of what Jan and Elli had dreamed—built in just one day! That evening they wandered happily through the large living room, the kitchen, and the pantry. They stood in the doorway of the room just off the living room, the room that would be their bedroom.
They walked up the unfinished staircase and stared at the open space. On the second floor Jan would frame four bedrooms, one for Karl, Amalie, and the new baby; one for Søren; one for the “little boys;” and one Sigrün and Kristen would share.
Through the spring and into summer, Jan and Karl spent what time they could spare on the house. Jan focused first on making and installing sturdy doors and shutters. Most of the windows did not have glass; this year they could afford glass only in the kitchen, but someday all the windows would have glass. For now, they would make do with shutters and screens.
In July, Jan and Elli moved into the still incomplete house. It was easier for Jan to do the finish work while living there. Jan, Elli, and the children set up housekeeping in the living room while Jan framed in the upstairs rooms and then lathed and plastered the walls.
Karl and Amalie would stay in the soddy until the upstairs bedrooms were finished and winter closed in. For the few months until then, Jan and Elli would taste life as it would be when they and their children lived in their own home by themselves.
—
WHEN THE FAMILY AWAKENED their first morning in the house, they ate breakfast in the living room. Jan had knocked together a small table for temporary use. After the meal Søren and Kristen waited expectantly for their father to read to them from the Bible.
Jan blinked in surprise. He had never led his family in daily Scripture reading and prayer. Always it has been either my father or Karl, he realized. Now, for the first time, Jan was to realize his role as head of their family.
“Elli,” he whispered, “Karl has the Thoresen family Bible, and I do not have one of my own.”
Elli ran to her trunk and brought back a bundle tied up in a scarf. “My pappa and mamma gave this to us when we married, remember? I have been saving it for this day.”
Jan untied the scarf and held the book reverently. The print on the front cover read, Our Family Bible. Jan was overcome at the import of those words. Our Bible. Our family.
He shook his head in wonderment. Inside, on the family page, Elli’s father had lovingly written Jan and Elli’s names and the date of their marriage.
Elli and the children still waited. Jan looked at each of them in turn, giving silent thanks for this day. “Matthew, Chapter 1,” he choked.
It was a moment before he could continue.
—
EVERY PART OF THE HOUSE was special to Jan, and he worked many more hours than Karl did on it. He did not mind. Because it is our house, mine and Elli’s, he sang to himself.
Jan cleared a corner in the barn just for carpentry. He put all his wood craft to work, often toiling far into the night to shape pretty wainscotings, doors, and trim he knew would please Elli.
The kitchen was of particular importance to Jan. The ceiling was high, and the room was open and airy. He and Elli designed the cupboards, drawers, and nooks together. Across an entire wall he built shelves for Elli to display the dishes she had packed in sawdust for their journey from home.
The highlight of the kitchen would be her stove with its beautiful tiled doors and enameled handles. Someday we will order tiles with pretty designs to mount on the walls, Jan planned.
But Elli’s stove would not come over to the house until Karl and his family joined them, for they needed a cookstove, too. Until then, Elli made do, cooking in the living room on the large heating stove they had brought with them from Omaha. The stove did not have ovens as her cookstove did, but Elli managed somehow.
Jan lined the cupboard and pantry shelves with cured red cedar. He sought out the native trees himself, up and down the river, for their wood’s aromatic and insect-repelling qualities.
He and Elli painted the kitchen walls and the shelves white. After the shelves dried, Elli—with slow, painstaking strokes—covered the shelf edges, sides, and backs with the intricate and colorful designs of Norwegian rosemaaling.
One day soon I must make a wedding chest for Kristen, Jan thought. I will make one even grander than Elli’s and line it with cedar. Elli will paint it with Kristen and teach her the art of rosemaaling. He found that he did not like to think of Kristen growing into a woman who would eventually marry and move away.
Jan watched his wife work late one evening when they both should have been in bed sleeping. He thought he had never seen a sight so beautiful: His Elli, intent but peaceful in her labor, her wheat-colored braids pinned around her head in a glowing crown, tendrils of hair escaping from her braids to curl about the nape of her neck . . . Jan’s favorite place to kiss.
He came up behind her and did kiss her . . . right there, on the back of her neck, pressing his lips against her skin and then breathing softly over it. She sighed and giggled. Jan placed kisses on the sides of her neck. He gently rubbed his chin along her jaw.
“Shall we make a new baby in our new house?” Jan whispered, nuzzling her ear.
Elli sighed again and leaned back into his arms. Jan slowly took the brush from her hand and put it in the jar with the others.
—
SUMMER PASSED IN A blur of unrelenting work for them all. Jan, even as exhausted as he was, had never been happier. Elli and the children thrived, but Amalie struggled and was always weary.
Midway through her fourth pregnancy, Amalie had her husband and three children to cook for, constant laundry to wash—particularly with a toddler—the soddy to keep clean, and her part of the garden to maintain.
Now that the garden was producing, she and Elli were canning every day, putting up the food they would need for the winter. They had goat and cow milk to strain and butter and cheeses to make.
The work never abated.
The men worked from daylight to nightfall bringing in the harvest. The farmers of the area again made arrangements to cooperatively send their crops to Omaha.
This year four box cars sat waiting on RiverBend’s little siding. This year Jan and Karl’s three wagons were filled with their own bagged grain and corn and with crates of hogs for the feedlots. And this year their third wagon was pulled by a new team of fine bay Morgans bartered in the spring for a boar and several female hogs.
Their crops—and especially their fine hogs—would bring in the money to buy the lumber to build Karl and Amalie’s house in the spring.
As soon as the crops were sent to market, the men would plow under all the fields in preparation for winter. Then butchering would commence. The Thoresens would kill three hogs and lay up hams, bacon, sausages, and lard.
Then, as the cold weather set in, Karl and his family would give up the soddy and move to Jan and Elli’s house. The winter would pass more easily for them in the house, and Elli would be able to help Amalie. Until the ground froze, Jan and Karl would work on the foundation for Karl and Amalie’s house.
In the spring after the planting was over, just as they had done this past spring, the Thoresens would host another house raising: Friends and neighbors for miles around would come to raise the walls and roof of Karl and Amalie’s new house. It would be as important for Karl to live close to his house while he worked on it as it had been for Jan to live close to his.
It will only be seven or eight months, just until Karl and his family have their own home, Jan told himself when he thought about Karl and his family moving in with them. We have plenty of room; it will not be crowded like in the soddy.
Of course, they would pass the most important landmark in June: Jan and Karl would complete and submit the proof paperwork for their claims. Henrik Anderson and Norvald Bruntrüllsen had already said they would testify to their proof.
Then this land will truly be mine—at last! Jan lifted his head in happy thanksgiving.
~~**~~
