MOVING BEYOND THE OLD LIMITS

There was a great deal of moving from place to place as people sought to better themselves. Before the railroad it was a difficult process. 

After the railroad arrived it became a bit easier but not a lot. After the railroad was in place, if a family was moving any great distance part of the move was accomplished by rail. Everything the family owned – furniture, clothes, livestock, (food for the livestock), machinery, tools, even the cats and dogs were loaded on freight cars. Of course it all had to be brought to the freight cars in wagons. 

Many people from our area left for the promise of cheap land in northwest Iowa shortly after the turn of the century. 

I had several relatives from all sides of the family that headed for Winnebago and Lyon counties beginning in 1901 when my great-great uncle John Folkerts departed for Buffalo Center, Iowa. 

Carl and Ferdinand Hass moved their families to Lyon county. They both accomplished much of the move on the train. 

The father or an older son would ride along, either in the caboose or in one of the cars, to look after the livestock. 

Neighbors and friends would help load. The difficult part came on the other end if the family did not know anyone. Often however neighbors or other family members had already moved to the destination community, and so someone would be there to help. 

Even moves within the community were a major undertaking for a family. A family move would begin in the fall. Since there might be snow on the ground on March 1, the traditional moving day, everyone would begin picking items up and getting them inside or standing up along a building so they could be found. 

In January or February, if a farmer had a good relationship with the family vacating the farm on which he was moving, he could store some items and equipment before the first of March. 

As the day neared things were packed up in the house, the rugs were rolled up, and curtains came down. The family and neighbors loaded everything on lumber wagons and shuttled everything to the “new place.” 

At the “new place”, the family was moving into a house where another family had just moved out. There was no time to clean, rugs and curtains often did not fit. 

There was no hot water or heat until the cook stove and heating stoves could be set up, and March in Iowa is not known for its warmth.