I knew better that to get my dad angry. Some folks learned that lessen the hard way. My brother-in-law Clifford Pease help me move Dad into Hyde County*. Dad told Clifford that he had to get Mother at the train station. Clifford said he'd help him hitch the horse team to the wagon. "Wagon nothing!" Dad shouted, "I'm taking your Buick! Whenever you need a car, I let you borrow mine, and you brought it back! That's just what I'm gonna do!" Clifford then said "They" could go. Dad said "Alright, but I'm drivin' and don't you make me move ya from the drivers seat, 'cause I could do it and you know I could!" Dad drove the car to the train station.

My cousin Vernon learned not to put old Dad to the test either. He snuck up from behind him to try to take him down in a freindly wrestle, but Dad wouldn't have it. He took Vernon and turned him every way but loose. Vernon asked my brother, Don,  for help, but Don knew better. After Dad let Vernon back up, he said, "Uncle Ed, Your not old enough for me to mess with yet." As far as I knew, Dad never was old enough for Vernon to mess with.

It seems a fellow was getting tired as he drove his horse and buggy down the road, so he stopped at this little farm house. He knocked on the door and this lady answered. When he explained his situation, she said, "Take your horse in the barn and tell my husband that I said to put him up for the night. Then come to the house for supper." so he went in the barn, and the only one around there was this black man. He thought it must be the hired man. He told him, "The lady of the house wanted me to take my horse in here to her husband to put up for the night". So he said "OK, I'll take care of it for ya". So he went back to the house and said to the lady, "I couldn't find your husband,but your hired man is putting up my horse". She laughed and said, "Well, that is my husband, we don't have a hired man". This guy was shocked. "You mean you married a black man", he said. "I'll bet your parents were mad at you". "Oh no", she said." They thought I did better than either of my two sisters, and they are both married to Norwegians".

Some years later, I met a Scotch-Irish Gal#. Although I heard a lot of stories about them. I never told her any of them.

Pearl Pease had a friend.* She was a Norwegian girl who thought a lot of me. She told me that she would have to sneak out of the house to meet me because her dad ran off fellows that tried to date her. I told her that I had two sisters that I thought a lot of and my folks and I always wanted to know where they were going when they'd leave home and I wasn't going to have her sreaking out of the house. If I was gonna take her out, I'd pick her up at the front door.

When I did that for the first time, I didn't know what to expect. I was wondering what her dad was like and all. When I got there, I saw that he was six foot one inch tall and pretty good sized at that. We talked for a while, but I can't remember what we talked about. I asked her, "Are yoiu ready?" and she said, "Yes", so we left. When I brought her back, I got the feeling she was thinking too much of meso I stopped coming around. Pearl told me that I had no idea how much she loved me.

Clifford Pease was married to my sister Lillie in 1917. He was born in 1895 and lived to be 105 years old. His brother Lester was around my age. We were palled around a lot.

One time, Lester and I kidded Dad into letting us drive his car to Arlington*. We were driving along when he shouted, "Stop the car! I just saw my wife!". He got to going with this gal he saw, Pearl, and sure enough he did marry her. How's that for faith?

One thing I couldn't abide by was being called a "son-of-a-bitch"*. I've never fought too many times, but there was twice I had to fight over being called a "son-of-a-bitch". That's beacause it's an insult to my mother. My mother was not a bitch.

The first time I fought, was when I was a small boy. I was 6 or 7 years old This one boy called me that and I knocked him down. Then his sister hit me with her lunch pail.

The second time, I was older and when the son of dad's favorite butcher called me that I hit him so hard that I broke his nose.. The butcher had a hard time facing dad after that. Dad asked me if I knew why, and I told him. I think he understood. I hope he did.

I'd like to think that Mother and Dad raised all four of us right. One thing I remember is Dad telling us not to get into any trouble at school'cause we'd be in bigger trouble at home. That had a lot to do with me keeping my nose clean.*

Cliff Lane was another one of my friends in Brookings. He was a few years younger than me. He and I lived together as bachelors for a couple of years+. We managed to keep our place in decent shape. We lived out on the old Becker place in Hyde County before the folks moved out here. He moved back to Brookings after that.

Cliff claimed I saved his life. You see, back in those days the politicians told us we couldn't drink, and, of course, some people would drink whatever they could get their hands on**

There was a dance that night in the town of White, and Cliff got sick on this stuff he was drinking. I carried him up three flight of stairs to the doctors office. The doctor told me that if I'd waited too long, it would've been too late.. Everyone else in our group had been drinking too, and was not aware of what was going on.

Albert was with us when we moved to Brookings. He slept on a bull calf. It was uneventful otherwise.It wasn't long before we settled there in our new 320 acre home in South Dakota.

Brookings was a lively little town. it was a growing town with a college. Not as big as Omaha. I don't think it ever will be. Dad got a real nice place there.

One of my pals, Orville Duff, lived clear on the other side of the township*. His family were as far northeast as we were southwest. We had plenty of neighbors who were closer. Orville was a bit older than me. we went to the same school He maude, and I were in the 8th grade together. He had too brothers, John and Harold. Of course, I named Harold after Harold Duff. Harold thought a lot of Lillie. I don't know if they ever went out or not. She got to going out with Clifford Pease.

Mother had bad pluracy pains on the trip, but she got over them in a coiple of days. They came back once in a while. It was nerves that caused a lot of it. Some women would have gone half mad living with their mother-in-law. But, you know, whenever grandma stayed with one of her daughters, they'd be mad when she'd tell them, "That's not the way Annie does it."