The Moen Family Tree
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The Moen Family Tree |
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James Moen - 1889 - 1959 I know it was a while back, but I promised I would include some stories and memories that many of us have about Grandma and Grandpa Moen to celebrate their 100th wedding anniversary. I have some replies and will add more as I get them from you throughout the year. I hope that you enjoy them as well as encouraging your children and grandchildren to read them too. From Helen Briehl, youngest child of James and Mabel: I'll start with the story about Mom and Dad, each in their own beds, one in the east room and one in the west room. I was in the middle bedroom trying so hard to sleep but Mom and Dad kept on talking and talking so of course there was no sleeping for me! I kept complaining to them to please be quiet and finally Dad said " Okay, we'll just talk in Norwegian - you can't understand that so you'll be able to sleep." I remember how dad always complained when Beulah came to visit and have coffee with them. "Never in my life have I ever seen one woman who needed matches and never had any with her". I remember as a youngster how hot it was upstairs - no air conditioning. Dad went to bed so early and of course was up early to go to work. He always kept an old mattress in the garage and when it started to get dark, he would put on his P.J. bottoms, go out to the garage and pull the mattress out in the yard and plop down on it and started his night's sleep. Mother always made her own house dresses and aprons. Whenever you saw her she would always have one on. She was really a good seamstress and made prom dresses and skirts and lots of clothes for me. I thought she was so good - I'd show her a picture of what I wanted, she would look at it and then make it. One of my very favorites was a pretty blue plaid taffeta one. "The Jim Moen Candy Tree" - Whenever the Tofsrud family family came out from Madison to visit, Mother did her usual thing - home made bread, pies, and roast beef. Oh, Bob and Wilford really loved it. Dad did his usual thing and decorated the candy tree. It was a white lilac tree by the den window. Years ago Dad told Gene it was a live candy tree that grew real candy. So in the early morning before they got to Fennimore, Dad took lots of strings and hung suckers, gum, bars, etc., all over the tree. It was great, but ray and I were so upset ad dad giving all of that candy to little Gene Tofsrud!! Mom and Dad had quite a system going - Dad worked for the railroad and took care of the tracks between Fennimore and Madison. Mother took care of the seven kids - washed clothes, baked, cooked, sewed clothes, etc.. I always remembered how she fumigated the house before we could moved in. Mother always did the Christmas shopping although I remember one year when I was in grade school, Dad went down to McKickan's Hardware and bought me a pair of ice skates - the shoe ones. I was really excited - I never did find out what the other kids thought of it!!! I could really fill a book with everything that happened in the Moen house. With those seven kids there was always something. I really learned a lot being the youngest - Beulah always said she really broke the path in for us. Dad always said with those high heels of hers, she really did a good job. I always remember Mother saying in the Fall how lonesome it was with all of the kids in school. I looked at her and thought she really mist love her kids and really missed them when they were in school. Now days all I hear are mother's saying they can hardly wait till kids get back to school. Let's not forget Dad's famous saying "Never eat a meal without a napkin". - Helen From Eric Briehl - grandson of James and Mabel: Three things I remember: 1 – whenever the Moen reunion’s took place, whether at Grandpa and Grandma’s house or at the park all of those uncle’s and my father sure drank an awful lot of beer. Seems like mostly Holiday and PBR. Don’t know if the younger generation would remember those brands! 2 – usually when I visited grandpa and grandma’s house we always were having lefse (sp) which was great and that darn smelly fish, lutefisk, (horrible). 3 – going with grandpa Moen down to the railroad garage where we would sit on the railroad repair car and I would listen to all of his stories. - Eric From Bruce McKnight - grandson of James and Mabel: I was only three when Grandpa died in 1959 and five when Grandma died in 1962 but I have a few faint memories of them. I remember all of us being a a park somewhere (Mom said it was probably in Blue Mounds, WI.). I wandered off a little and before I knew it I was standing around a bunch of people I didn't know. I could see Grandpa off in the distance walking towards a car and I thought they were going to leave me and I started to cry. Someone brought me back over to our group and I was OK then. I can remember Grandma giving us a coffee can full of crayons and some coloring books and letting us lay on the floor of the front porch to color. Grandpa would sit in a chair and just watch us. I seem to remember him wearing a hat that wasn't like the ones that other men wore in those days and it wasn't a baseball cap either. When I got older I realized it was one of the caps that men who worked on the railroad wore. I can also remember that when we came to visit, Grandpa had his own room on the main floor of the house that had a a screen or something that separated it from the rest of the room. I believe he had his own toilet there too. Something I always found strange was that sometimes Grandma and Grandpa would talk to each other and I couldn't understand what they were saying. I was too little to know they were talking in Norwegian. When I was small, my mom was sick so Grandma came to help out and stayed with us for a while. I remember she put me down on the "davenport" and told me to take a nap. Well, I wasn't sleepy so I decided it would be OK to occupy myself by taking apart a small picture frame that was sitting on the end table. When Grandma came in the room I knew right away that I probably had done something wrong. She started fussing at me and said "Don't you think I have enough to do without you breaking things?" She put it back together and told me to go to sleep. Then she gently ran her hand across the top of my head and told me I could help her by going to sleep. My last memory of Grandma was when we drove to Fennimore and got there late at night. When we pulled up in front I wanted to get out of the car but Dad told me to stay inside and let Mom go in first. We waited in the car and a short time later the door opened and Mom waved for us to come in. I ran in and saw Grandma standing there. I asked "Where's Grandpa?" and she told me he had died. When I was in kindergarten and we lived in Ohio, we were having breakfast one morning when the phone rang. I remember Mom answering and she was very quiet but I remember her saying "Where is she now?" Then she hung up the phone and just walked into our living room and stared out of the window. A couple of minutes later she told us that Grandma had passed away. These are all of my memories of them. There aren't very many of them but I think I am lucky to a least have these. - Bruce
Below is a copy of a letter that Rose Mabel Moen wrote to my mother just after Christmas in 1961. Rose Mabel passed away just a few weeks later on February 19, 1962. Just in case it is hard for you to read, I typed the contents of the letter also.
Tues. PM Dear Folks, Wed. AM Love, Thanks again!
I made the recipe to see how it was and I really liked it. It was some work, but it tastes like a dense date Christmas bread or cake. Suet Pudding Dip or Sauce
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