210 N. Belleville Street, Freeburg, Illinois
I was 12 years old when I started running a steam engine on a
sawmill which belonged to my Dad. He had two Belleville Outfits,
the old style engines with two 36 x 52 inch separators. I stayed
with that kind of livelihood until 1912 when I started to work on
the ICRR as a freight agent and telegraph operator and stayed with
I threshed in North Dakota four years. First year, 1911, I spike
pitched bundles and drove bundle wagon. in 1914 I ran a Case, 25
HP, northwest of Devils Lake. In 1916 I ran a Minneapolis 28 HP
southwest of Fargo. I also ran a 20 HP Sheppard in Illinois for
three years west of New Athens, Illinois and in 1936 and 1937 I ran
a 18 HP Keck four miles south of Freeburg, Illinois.