klecknerstories

I don't have much oral or written history of the Kleckners. Michael is said to have been from Germany, although no details are known. Same for his wife, Anna Maria Wolwer. They probably had several children, but I only have information on one--Ernest, who was born in 1810 and died in 1865 in Germany. His wife, Anna Reik, also presumably lived and died in Germany. Their name in Germany was spelled 'Kloeckner.'

Ernest and Anna had eight children, born from around 1840 to 1861. Some of the children lived and died in Germany, but some emigrated to this country. Three or four children ended up in the Johnsburg or Adams, Minnestota area, one child ended up in Meyer, Iowa, and two ended up in New Haven, Iowa, including my great-grandfather, Mathias (Matt) Kleckner.

Mathias was born in 1854 and died in 1909, at the age of 56. He was married in 1886 to Mary Ann Gilles when he was 32 and she was 17.

Mathias is said to have left Germany at the age of 18 or 21 to avoid the draft; this may have been true for him and/or his brothers, but was probably not true for his sisters who also emigrated. He paid $200 for land in Spink County, Dakota Territory in December, 1882, when he was 28. The money was for 160 acres at the rate of $1.25 per acre, located in the NE1/4 of Sec. 9, T. 118 N., R. 61 W. There was a U.S. patent certificate issued for the land to Matt on Feb. 23, 1887. What he did between the ages of 21 and 28 is unknown to me, but he probably was a farm hand, saving money to homestead.

The law in effect at the time of Mathias' immigration was the 'Homestead Act', of May 20, 1862. This act authorized unrestricted settlement on public lands to all settlers, requiring only residence, cultivation, and some improvement to a tract of 160 acres. Any person was eligible who was head of a family or had reached the age of 21, who was a citizen or intended to become one, and who did not own as much as 160 acres. After living on the land and farming it for 6 months, he could buy the homestead at $1.25 an acre. But after 5 continuous years, he could apply for and receive a patent or title to the 160 acres for a filing fee of $15.

It appears that Matt made a good choice in selecting his land in Dakota. An 1882 railroad map shows the Chicago Northwestern line running about 10 miles south of his property, heading to Redfield. Then, an 1886 railroad map shows a spur line extending north from Doland, running a few miles east of the Kleckner property. Finally, an 1892 railroad map shows that this spur line connected with the Chicago and Milwaukee line to the north. The area was thus well-connected to transportation and markets.

I suspect that there was a New Haven connection before he homesteaded land in Dakota, since one of his younger sisters also lived in New Haven. [The younger sister was Anna, who married Mease Gilles; they owned the store that later was owned by Meyer and Weber.] Whatever the connection, he and Mary Ann were married and then moved to Dakota, where Alfred, Ernest, and Gertrude were born, from 1887 to 1889. Then, they must have sold out and moved back to Iowa, because the rest of the children were born in the New Haven area, starting with Pauline in 1891 and ending with Isabelle in 1902.

The weather in 1888 was particularly bad on the Great Plains--a very hot and dry summer, followed by a cold and snowy winter that killed much livestock. This weather may have been damaging enough to drive Matt and Mary Ann off their farm.

Back in Iowa, he may have worked for someone else or rented some land, because the Mitchell County Courthouse records show that he bought the land southeast of New Haven from Lillie B. Ayers in 1901. He farmed that land until his death in 1909; three years later Mary Ann moved to New Haven and lived there until her death in 1947 at the age of 79.

The timespan from 1912 to 1920 must have been quite exciting for the Kleckner family. Consider this--Pauline was married Oct. 1, 1912, followed by Gertrude, married on Oct. 12, 1912, and Alfred, married Nov. 26, 1912. Then Ernest was married in June, 1913, followed by Evelyn--1915, Tillie--1918, Ida--1919, and Isabell--1920. I don't have the marriage date for Bill, but his marriage was probably in the teens also. All the marriages, except Evelyn's (and perhaps Bill's) were at St. Peter's in New Haven.

Thanks to Connie Fox Lievrouw, who provided the following story of Tillie Kleckner Dunlay's life. It gives some insight into what it was like growing up in New Haven in the early 1900's.

This is an article written by Shirley Penney on March 22, 1992 about Tillie. Shirley is from Osage.

"Tillie Dunlay is a 91 year old, very independent, frail woman of about 100 pounds. She is the grandmother of a nursing classmate of mine.

Her granddaughter (Kathy Dunlay Klemm Mortenson) and I shared an apartment in Waterloo, Iowa after graduating from nursing school. We have remained close over the years, often visiting at her grandmother's house when she came to visit. She has also been a patient of the doctor that I have worked for over the last eight years. Tillie has been a widow since 1973. She has been living at Faith Lutheran Nursing Home in Osage, Iowa for the last seven months. She is hoping to be able to return home when she is strong enough to get around without a wheelchair. Dates are difficult for her to remember, but she was very happy to visit with me about her life history.

Tillie's father was born in Germany. He came to the United States when he was 18 years old. He was a quiet man and never spoke much about his life before he moved to Iowa. His family assumes he landed at Ellis Island and often wonders if he signed his name on the wall after arriving in the USA. Her mother was born in Wisconsin, moving to Mitchell county sometime as a child. Her mother's parent's were from Germany. No one is sure of how her father ended up in Mitchell County. Her parents lived across the road from each other, met, and were married. Her father was quite a bit older than her mother, who was only 16 years old at the time that they were married.

Tillie was born on the last day of the year in 1900, December 31st, at five minutes to midnight at her parent's home. She was the second youngest in a family of nine, having three brothers and five sisters. Only one sister is still living. Ida lives in Chicago. She has not seen her in many years, but still writes. Years ago, Tillie used to visit Ida. Coming from a small rural community, she never cared much for Chicago. There was too much traffic and the houses were too close to each other. Her younger sister lived in New Haven in a home close to Tillie's until she died almost two years ago. (Note:That would be Isabell)

At five years of age, Tillie had meningitis, then called "brain fever". She isn't sure of how Dr. Lee treated her, but he told her parents that he was not the one who saved her, it was the guy up above. She does remember seeing her younger sister, Isabell, when she "woke up". Isabelle asked her if she was afraid that she was going to die. Tillie said she hadn't thought much about it.

One of her favorite pictures is of her in her first communion dress. Many years ago, you had to be twelve years old to receive your first communion. At the time it was changed to 7 years old, there were three girls in Tillie's family who would be able to received first communion. Her older sister who was a dressmaker, made the dresses and veils for the three sisters. Her mother insisted that they have their picture taken, and now it is one of Tillie's favorite pictures. [This may be that picture; it came from Isabelle.]

Her parents farmed near Riceville, Iowa. Her father died when he was only 56 years old when Tillie was still a young girl. Her mother had a family to raise and was not able to farm the land. When asked how her mother was able to support the family, Tillie was not sure. Her parents owned two farms. Tillie does remember that they had a good sale, and that her mother was quite well off. The farm work had been done with horses. She remembers all 26 of their horses being sold on the day of the sale. The family moved into a house in New Haven. Tillie remembers playing cards with her brothers and sisters while growing up and helping with chores around the house.

Tillie attended Catholic school in New Haven. At age 17, she decided to quit school. Tillie said she had a crabby nun for a teacher and she didn't like being told what to do. Her mother was not one to push an issue, so when Tillie said she wanted to quite school, it was alright with her mother.

Tillie met her husband, Vincent [Ben] at a dance. They went together for a year before they were married. Tillie was 18 years old and is not sure why her mother let her get married so young. Jokingly, she says maybe her mother wanted her out of the house. Her mother had hoped she would marry a German, but her mother liked Vincent even though he was of Irish descent. One of the things that attracted Tillie to Vincent was that he owned a car. They went to dances every weekend, either in one of the nearby towns, or to a barn dance. Two of her favorite bands were Kelley's Band and Casey's Band. No one in their group of friends drank alcohol. They would not dance with anyone who had been drinking alcohol.

Tillie and Vincent were married at St. Peter's Catholic Church in New Haven on September 26, 1918. This was during the time when everything was expensive, right before WWI. Her mother took her to Gopelrud's, a clothing and dry goods store in Osage, Iowa, which was 12 miles from New Haven. She couldn't believe that her mother let her buy the outfit that she wanted. She picked out a dark blue suit for $49. She purchased a beautiful beaded blouse for $9 and her shoes were also $9. She wishes she would have gotten a corsage, but instead she had a bouquet of carnations. Her next older sister, Ida, was her maid of honor. Tillie's cousin Vincent Gilles stood up as Vincent's best man.

Tillie and Vincent farmed near Riceville with many cows and hogs. They used horses for many years before getting a tractor. Tillie always had a big garden. Until last summer, she has grown most of her own vegetables. She has always enjoyed a large flower garden. She remembers making huge meals for the silo fillers and thrashers. There was always plenty of help for field work, but the women had to work hard to feed the men. She remembers making huge batches of homemade bread, several pies, and peeling gallons of potatoes. The worst part was that the men didn't go home for supper, so she ended up making two big meals in one day.

Tillie and Vincent were blessed with five boys and two girls. At that time, she thought seven children were more than she could handle, but now she realizes a large family can bring much happiness. All of the children were quite healthy, except Rusty, who was diabetic. Both of her daughters still live close and she sees them quite regularly. The sons live farther away, but she still sees them quite often. She has forty grandchildren and about eighty great-grandchildren --she lost count of them -- they multiply fater than she can count!

Vincent died in 1973 from lung cancer. He had been a smoker, but had quit several years before. After selling the farm, Tillie moved to New Haven. Two of her sons were diabetic, like her father. Rusty died four years ago from complications of his diabetes. Rex remained single. He lived with his mother until about a year ago. Tillie took care of him until just a year ago. He is now at the VA Home in Marshaltown, Iowa. While losing her husband and son were difficult, the hardest was having a grandson drown just three years ago. Eric was only 18 years old. He was with a group of boys who decided to swim across a lake near Minneapolis. Eric was not able to make it to the other side.

Tillie has traveled out West several times, but never East. Her oldest son, Jim and his wife Luella took her along on their vacations. She says she never would have been able to travel if they wouldn't have taken her along. She has been to Washington, New Mexico and who knows where in between! She always wished she had kept a diary. It is hard to remember just where she has been! She always wished she could have gone to Boston -- just because.

Tillie has never thought too much of doctors. She was never in a hospital until at the age of 82, she had a hysterectomy at St. Mary's in Rochester, Minnesota. She was not very happy about the surgery, partly because she does not like hospitals and partly because they did not remove her appendix at the same time. Last summer, at the age of 90, she was hospitalized for a ruptured appendix. She almost didn't pull through. It was after this surgery, that her family felt she was not strong enough to live alone. She consented to go to the nursing home until she was able to care for herself. She uses the wheelchair the majority of the time, except for short walks in the hall. But she is quick to add that as soon as she is strong enough to walk on her own, she is going home! Tillie apologized numerous times for not remembering dates of events, but assured me that she has everything written down at home and as soon as she gets back there, I may stop by and update my story of her. Most of her belongings are still at home, she didn't want to have to move them twice. I wouldn't be surprised if Tillie does get to go home. She usually gets what she wants when she sets her mind to it!"

[Tillie died May 12, 1995]

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