Vegter-Tschetter Heritage

Violet & Hank, with both of their parents
Katherine & Jacob, Fannie & John
Children, left to right: Florence, Dianna, Jerry, Ron, Frank

Front: Dianna, Florence
Standing back: Jerry, Linda

We had only an outhouse. My cousins wouldn't stay at our house, only the houses of other cousins with bathrooms. How embarrassing. I swore I'd never marry a farmer. In the winter, we'd boil water on the stove, throw it on the pump, and pump like crazy to get water before the pump refroze. Eventually, we had an indoor pump, but never had hot water. I went to work at Boutelle's Bakery in Delavan when I was 15. I kept every penny, and saved up $500. I gave it to Dad for a bathroom, he wouldn't take the money and said, "No, I like to sit in the outhouse with the door open and watch the crops grow." So I bought my first car instead. When we moved into town, we had a bathroom. When friends or cousins came to visit, the first room I'd show them was the bathroom. (recollections of Florence Vegter Gerharz)

Ron, Frank, Florence, Dianna
(Possibly taken at Grandpa Vegter's farm,
County M, north of Delavan)

Grandpa & Grandma Vegter

(Fannie's recollection, continued) "When I was 6 years old, my folks made up their mind to go to America. Pa had an uncle in Breton, Iowa who sponsored them. Grandma wanted to keep me. I still [remember] when they left. Grandparents and I brought them to the train. It didn't bother me at all that they left because my grandma was a mother to me. They had an understanding that they would come 2 years later. On Santa Claus day (before Christmas, December 3, I think), someone came by the door acting like he was Santa. I was scared. I sat on Grandmother's lap and that "somebody" would throw handfuls of little, round crackers in the house; they were good to eat. Next day I got a little set of dishes like Delft blue pattern. I was playing with it the next day and was going to show our neighbor lady, dropped it, and some of it broke. Well I cried, but could not help it. Grandma worked out in the field a lot, as Grandpa rented a piece of land. When she was shocking the grain, I would sit inside the shocks. So the time came to go to America. I wasn't quite 8 years old. We left in the spring. I still remember when the boat left. We went through the English Channel, and when it got to open sea, I felt kind of sick, but it soon left me. My grandparents were not sick either. We had 3 cots; I slept in the top bunk. I was very bashful; I would not say a word if anyone would talk to me. One night it was foggy, and the fog horn blew all night. The food was good and a lot to eat. We were second class and would get fruit. A lot of times we would go on deck and throw [food] down to the Polish people. They would sit and lay by each other on deck; they didn't have it so good like we did. After 10 days or so, we came to New York. They would not let us off the boat, as we all had our birth names. They thought that my grandparents had stolen me. Dad had a paper made out by a lawyer that they were bringing me to my parents in America. All at once, Grandpa remember that paper in his pocket, showed it, and they let us go. We went on a train to Orange City, Iowa, where the folks lived. When we got close, grandpa wanted to change his clothes, and to top it off, he did that right where we were sitting. People laughed as you can imagine. My folks met us in Alton; they took the train to Orange City. It was only 3 miles. It was quite a reunion. We did not know they were going to meet us. Ma had a doll for me."