Elsbernd, John

1897 - 1986  (89 years)

• Name	Elsbernd, John
  Birth	4 Mar 1897	Festina, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA
  Gender	Male
  Biography	From Nancy Brincks Elsbernd Family History 2002.Memories of John and Martha Elsbernd by Jerome Elsbernd and Colette KuhnJohn married Martha Kuennen on October 15, 1924. They had six childr en - four boys and two girls. After they were married they lived with Alo is on the Elsbernd home farm. His parents and sister, Frances, moved to F estina.John and Martha built a whole set of buildings on bare land. The first bu ilding was a barn followed by a milk house and a house to live in. Other b uildings were built after that - all with home sawed lumber. Martha cook ed noon and evening meals and took lunches to all the help. John hauled lo ts of sand for foundations with a steel wheel wagon and horses. They rais ed corn, oats, and hay. They had chickens, hogs and dairy cows for lives tock.They had a large wood shed near the house. It would be filled with wood e very fall to heat their home during the winter. In later years when so me coal was used in the basement furnace, the shed housed John's truck.There was a windmill and a pump jack in case there was no wind to pump wat er for a cooling tank in the milk house. A separator was cranked by han d, to get the cream from milk and it was cooled in the water tank. A ha nd pump for water was also under the windmill. Milking about15 - 20 cows was done by hand. Children that could milk did so in the mor nings before school and in the evenings.Kerosene lamps and lanterns were used for light. In the late thirties, Jo hn put up a six volt Windcharger system for lights. He had a six volt Zen ith radio and ran an aerial from the chimney on the house to the top of t he windmill. On one especially clear night he was dialing foreign statio ns when we heard Adolph Hitler from Germany. We were never able to recei ve that station again.John spent most of his spare time one winter and spring going from neighb or to neighbor to get them to sign up for REA (Rural Electric Association ). Electric came to pass in the early 1940's. This made quite an improve ment in farm life. It enabled us to have yard lights, a refrigerator a nd electric motors to pump water, etc.John sold seed corn and alfalfa for Pioneer Hi-Bred for twenty-five year s. John and Martha went from farm to farm to sell and enjoyed doing it.John owned and operated a threshing machine until the combines took ove r. He threshed oats, timothy seed and even some flax. John was not afra id to try new things. He had one of the first milking machines and the fi rst hydraulic tractor manure loader and rubber tired wagons in the area.John loved to hunt and play cards. In later years he and Martha went tro ut fishing. John was a very honest man who always said the truth as he kn ew it.Mother and Dad were very strong in their faith. All of their children we nt to eight grades of school in Festina and then to a Catholic high schoo l. They pooled rides to school in Festina with usually five neighbor s. At one time there were 12 children with the driver. They sat 3 de ep in the back seat and 3 in front besides the driver. If you were sma ll you were lucky to be near the top at first. Everyone was able to g et to school in time for the 8 o'clock Mass.
  Death	10 Dec 1986	Ossian, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA
  Person ID	I37766	1FamilyTree
  Last Modified	12 Oct 2015

  
  

  Father	Elsbernd, Joseph,   b. 26 Sep 1856, Legden, Isingort, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany d. 13 Oct 1936, Festina, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA (Age 80 years)
  Mother	Moellers, Mary,   b. 17 Feb 1861, Festina, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA d. 6 May 1938, Festina, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA (Age 77 years)
  Family ID	F1921	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Kuennen, Martha,   b. 4 May 1902, Festina, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA d. 11 Aug 1992, Decorah, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA (Age 90 years)
  Marriage	15 Oct 1924	Festina, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA
  Children	+ 1. Elsbernd, Jerome,   b. 20 Jul 1925, Festina, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA d. 12 Jan 2004, Spillville, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA (Age 78 years)   2. Elsbernd, Sister Ruth + 3. Elsbernd, Colette + 4. Elsbernd, Arnold,   b. 12 Jun 1931, Festina, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA d. 17 Nov 1997, Albuquerque, Bernalillo, New Mexico, USA (Age 66 years) + 5. Elsbernd, Roger Francis,   b. 8 Jul 1933, Festina, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA d. 18 Oct 2007, Decorah, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA (Age 74 years)   6. Elsbernd, Joseph,   b. 11 Mar 1937, Festina, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA d. 8 Aug 1938, Festina, Winneshiek, Iowa, USA (Age 1 year)
  Family ID	F14748	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	1 May 2010