MOVING BEYOND THE OLD LIMITS

A few of our oldest citizens will remember the days of tramps, gypsies and horse traders. In the days after the turn of the century and especially during the depression years, it was not uncommon to have a tramp stop by for a meal and ask or 312 not ask to spend the night in the barn or granary. Folks never liked to have anyone in the barn for fear of fire, but most never refused need of shelter or food. These men would sometimes do small chores such as cutting wood, or clean out a stall for the little they asked in return. These tramps or bums as some were called were men mostly men without a job or home. Some didn’t want to have either one. They would wander from place to place usually on the railroad tracks, often they would hitch a ride in an empty boxcar, or ride on the steel cables under the cars, called riding the rods. If the trainmen caught them trying to hitch a free ride, they would kick them off the train. Going from one town to another they would stop at farm stead’s looking for a bit of work or begging for food or money. A tramp would work for a handout, a bum wouldn’t work. A real tramp (or bum or hobo) had a system of marks or codes he would carve on fence posts near a gate or on a mailbox post or telephone pole to let any of his kind that came after him what kind of reception they might receive at this particular home or farm. Most of them were generally easy going and people usually were not afraid of them. There was seldom a report of one stealing or harming anyone. 

Now Gypsies, they were another thing. They would pick pockets, or one would distract a victim while another stole them blind. They would take anything not nailed down. When they came into town the storekeepers would lock their doors until they left because they would come into the stores in such numbers that they could not all be watched. 

There were usually several families in a clan, and would travel from one town to another camping in clearings usually near the river or a farm stead. They had several head of horses, two or more wagons, and countless children. When camping they were often known to steal a chicken of two from a nearby chicken co-op. People distrusted and hated the Gypsies, and usually steered clear of them until they moved on. 

In the mid to late 1940’s there were Gypsies that camped on the town lot where the two original pump houses stood. Maxine Holmes wouldn’t allow Dennis out of the house until they left town. 

Then came the horse-traders. They often traveled from state to state, depending much on the weather conditions. Most horse-traders were considered pretty descent folks. They traveled with horses and covered wagons with most of their worldly possessions inside. They rarely stayed in one place long enough to have a home. They always had several head of horses with them called “trading stock.” They managed to eke out a living buying, selling and trading horses. Trading usually meant exchanging horses with a bit of money to boot for the trader.