Grandma Hovel

It was on this date, 16 January 1890, 130 years ago that my paternal grandmother was born. Many of us have memories of our grandmothers. I think one could say that Grandma Hovel's mannerisms, ventures, activities and beliefs, in other words her way of life, was quite common of farm grandmothers of that era. Given that she was born 130 years ago I thought I would do a blog post about her life. 

1886 Plat Map, Section 20, Washington Twp, Winneshiek Co. Iowa
Farm on which Ida would have grown up
Source: Ancestry.com

Ida Pitzenberger, was born at the start of the last decade of the 19th century, in the middle of January on the cold plains of northeast Iowa.  Her parents both immigrated to the United States. She was the sixth of seven children born to Mathias Pitzenberger (born 1843) and Theresia Kamen  (Kamenova in Czech) Pitzenbergr (born 1848). Many of the census forms list the Pitzenbergers as having emigrated from Austria, but Austria, was the first part of the title of Austro-Hungarian Empire, and occupied parts of what we know today as other countries. (Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, to name some. The Austro-Hungarian Empire would be broken up after WWI.) Mathias' father, Andreas, was naturalized in about 1858, and it appears that the family likely moved to the US together, but I lack any record of their arrival, or their actual location from what part of Europe they descended. An 1891 biography of John Pitzenberger indicates that the family emigrated to the United States in 1846, first to Freeport, IL and then to Winneshiek County, IA.  Ida's mother, Theresia, however, arrived from Bohemia in June 1872, and, it appears, alone. One year and four months after Theresia arrived in the United States she married Mathias Pitzenberger (20 Oct 1873) in Spillville, IA, according to a summary on Family Search. 

Pitzenberger Farm 

Spillville, Iowa is a rather non-descript small crossroads, sharing many commonalities with other small towns dotting the Iowa prairie in the latter part of the 19th century. If Mathias and Theresia were married in Spillville, Iowa it was most certainly at St Wenceslaus Catholic Church. Spillville is best known as the 1893 summer home of the great Czech composer Antonin Dvorak walking along with a bucket of beer, and drinking as he liked (this apparently was common at that time).  He strolled along the shores of the Turkey River, and played the organ at St Wenceslaus Church. While in Spillville he wrote his string quartet, generally known as the American Quartet. Prior to coming to Spillville, he had directed some works in New York. He would travel to Spillville as the antidote for hectic New York City, finding commonality in a  community that was a cultural lifeline to his Bohemian roots.  He would put his final touches on his famous New World Symphony, before conducting the debut of this major work in New York in December of 1893. 

Rudy and Ida, Passport Photo

In 1880, thirteen years before Dvorak went to Spillville, Mathias and Theresia were farmers, farming adjacent to Mathias' brother Peter, near Festina, Iowa, (postal address of Fort Atkinson, IA).  Festina was formerly known as Twin Springs, but its name was changed to Festina in 1863. Showing the devout Catholic nature of the settlers, Festina is a variant of a Latin derivative of a vesper, and translated it means "Make haste slowly." Mathias, in the 1895 Iowa census, is identified as "merchant farmer". I therefore conclude that at some point between 1880 and 1895 Mathias opened his general store in or near Festina, IA. Unfortunately, I know little of Ida's early years. I do know that the 1905 Iowa census, at age 15, she is not listed as either being in school or having any occupation. I suspect she was assisting on the farm and at her father's store. An extra set of hands would not go idle. The 1915 census, indicates her having completed nine years of schooling, ending with her freshman year of high school. In 1910 at age 20 she is living at home with both her parents and two other siblings. My aunt Anita once told me a story that shows the pioneer nature of Iowa at that time. The story goes that Native Americans would often come by the store and that my grandma would provide some food and other essentials free of charge. Both grandma and grandpa would assist hobos and others who would come by the farm in Sun Prairie during the great depression. Charity began at home, and at work, for Ida and Rudy. The 1910 census lists her as having the occupation of "clerk" and I suspect she is working at her father's store (his occupation is listed as merchant) in or near Festina.  Her older sibling, Mathias Jr, then 23 is running the family farm, and the youngest sibling, Tillie, is doing housework.   

Theresia Pitzenberger, Ida's mom,
 with grandson Roy Bernard

At some point two of Ida's brothers took up the family business of being a merchant. However, this store was located 84 miles west of  Festina in Manly, IA. My Grandfather, Rudy, was born on a farm just south of Manly, IA, and would eventually take over his father's farm. According to their wedding announcement, in a local paper, Ida "is well and favorably known in Manly, having been employed as a clerk in her brother's department store for the past year." What about Rudy?  The same article says that "The groom needs no introduction to the Manly people as he has grown to manhood on his father's farm about one mile south of town.  He is one of Worth county's most prosperous young farmers." 

Ida and Rudy Wedding Photo

How did Rudy and Ida meet? The couple may have met at the Pitzenberger Brothers Store, or at Sacred Hearts Church, or perhaps a shindig. My grandfather played guitar and we know he had a violin.  Perhaps they got together at a church social, Rudy playing his guitar and Ida becoming smitten with him.  Or Rudy became smitten with her. Or maybe it was love at first sight between the two of them. Ida, per the wedding announcement was in Manly for a year, making it a fairly quick courtship by today's standards, although that time frame was fairly common at that point in history. Of course, maybe they met in October of 1912, but I suspect it was probably earlier in 1912.

Manly Iowa, 1928
Source: Google images

Rudy and Ida entered into the sacramental bond of marriage on a winter day at a small, but "most beautiful wedding of the season" at ten in the morning, at St Mary's Catholic Church in Festina, IA on 4 February 1915.  Father Rubley, not to be confused with the Barone family priest, Fr Hubley, was the celebrant. While it does not show in the wedding photo, the news article of their marriage relates that "The bride wore a gown of red lace over a white messaline, and carried a bouquet of bridal roses, a gift of the groom." Wow, what a caring guy, able to procure roses for his bride in northeast Iowa in the dead of winter. The wedding itself was followed by a small family dinner at the home of the bride's mother, Theresia Kamen Pitzenberger. Out of town guests included Messrs and Madames Edward Hovel, Martin Hovel, John Pitzenberger, and Mrs Anthony Hrubetz (her oldest sister) and children.  Ida would not be able to have had her dad walk her down the aisle. He he died in 1912.  

Rudy and Ida

Ida was marrying a very eligible young man who shared similar values of the importance of hard work, faith and family. I am not sure when Rudy bought the farm from his parents, but a 1913 plat book shows him owning the 80 acre original home farm, but his dad retaining ownership of an additional acreage kitty corner, to the southeast, from the home farm. Ida and Rudy would establish themselves on the farm south of Manly, on land cleared and first tilled by his father, Martin. Our family's version of  "Little House on the Prairie." Ida, a clerk and farm girl, would be involved with her husband doing the never ending tasks involved in a small family farm.  As noted by agricultural historian John Shrover, the men did the field work and handled the large livestock, the farm wife did the work putting up the produce, making the butter, and taking care of the chickens, and of course the children.  Shrover would go on to say that often it was the income from sale of eggs or other produce grown nor gathered by the farm wife that assisted in keeping a farm afloat. The 1915 Iowa census gives a look into life of this early 20th century farm family. In 1914, there first full year of marriage, their earnings were $458, they owed $4,500 on the farm valued at $15,600.  Not a surprising amount of debt, but not a great deal of income, either.

Pitzenberger Bros Store, Manly, IA 1913
Ida Clerked in this Store

Income production from the farm was varied, although mostly in milk production as they had 11 milk cows, with some steers and five pigs. What strikes me, is if Shrover's statement held true to this farm family, that there were 160 fowl--of all types. According to Shrover, the fowl were the responsibility of the farm wife. That is a good number of fowl, at least in my opinion, for one person to care for. Unfortunately, the census does not break down income by type of earning, or information on field crops, but I think it is safe to say that egg production was important to the farm operation. The fowl had a total reported value of $64, which compares to the $50 value for the five swine.  

1915 Iowa Census, Animals on Farm

In 1918 Ida gave birth to the couple's first child, my Dad. Dad was born in the same house as his father. The house still exists today, but is now located in Manly, IA, having been moved from the family farm a mile south of town. In the early part of the 1920's my grandparents moved to California for a short time. There is a legend, that my grandmother wanted to give birth to her second child in California, so the child could be an actor or actress. My aunt Anita was born in April 1924 in California, and quite frankly Anita, shared the traits of the other three family members of being level-headed, too hard a worker of the land, too down to earth, a person of faith and duty, and too good of a cook to be an actress. I am not sure what Rudy did while living in California.  My cousin noted that Ida had recommended that grandpa Rudy purchase some land in the area, but he did not take to the idea. The land she recommended that he buy would later become the site of a major motion picture studio. Rudy was a farmer not a tycoon. While in California, they still owned the farm south of Manly. The 1930 plat book shows Rudy still owning the farm just south of Manly, even though in 1929 Rudy and Ida purchased a farm just north of Sun Prairie, WI.  

Ida and son Roy Bernard

Rudy's mother, Amelia Duscheck, hailed from Sun Prairie, actually the town of Bristol, and the land her father farmed was then farmed by some her brothers and sisters. Rudy and Ida would purchase land from Alice and Robert Davison in the town of Bristol along County N. Amelia and Martin (Rudy's parents) were married at St Joseph's Church in East Bristol, WI some miles north and east of the property Rudy would purchase. Alice and Robert Davison, had a guardian making the decisions on the property. A court authorized the sale of the farm to my grandparents in March 1928.  The sale occurred a year later in March of 1929. The value owed on the purchase was $3,750.  They purchased 160 acres of land in the town of Bristol, just seven months before the onset of the great depression. The mortgage was satisfied in April 1936. The family, from what I recall, moved to Sun Prairie so their two children could attend a Catholic school. Yet there is the possibility of a new wrinkle in this story.  My brother Joe recalls hearing grandpa and his brother Ed talking about the prevalence of the KKK and its resurgence in the US in the 1920's, particularly in rural areas. They talked about how Catholic churches were burned, and other activities against Catholics. The Netflix show "Damnation" recounts the tale in Iowa of the KKK (this show triggered Joe's memory). During the early part of the 1920's the nation was in a recession which hit rural areas particularly hard, perhaps explaining part of the resurgence of the KKK. The migration to Sun Prairie may have involved the pull factor of a Catholic education for their children, but also the push factor of the KKK and its activities in northern Iowa.  Winneshiek County, probably due to its strong Catholic roots, would be the lone county in Iowa to condemn the KKK.

Ida with Children Anita and Roy Bernard

The Rudy Hovel family would engage in the Sun Prairie community. In 1930 they are farming on the property purchased from the Davisons.  A property value is not listed, but we do know they do not report owning a radio. (A May 1931 WI State Journal news article lists Amelia Hovel, Rudy's mom, as having taken a car trip, with Ed Duscheck and Mrs Early to Iowa to visit relatives, Ed and Mrs Early returned Tuesday, but Amelia stayed for a longer visit with relatives. Amelia lived in Iowa, but her husband, Martin died in 1928, so perhaps she lived in Wisconsin for a short while, before moving back to Iowa. Amelia was living in Manly at the time of the 1930 census.) In November 1933, Ida is in charge of the meal at the harvest festival, which was served on Sunday and Monday.  In 1939, both Ida and Rudy were involved with a Birthday ball for Sun Prairie. In 1939 Rudy was helping to organize peace marches, going against the common strain in the country at the time.

50th Wedding Anniversary Part in Florida

We also know from the 1940 census that Rudy reported working over 80 hours per week on the farm in 1939. In 1939 their oldest son would graduate from Marquette University and would enter law school at UW-Madison, commuting from the home farm to the law school. His career would be disrupted when he was drafted into military service. Dad would be assigned to the Counter Intelligence Corps, first working in Detroit to investigate the potential foreign involvement in the 1943 race riots, and later would serve overseas. Letters home indicate that his mom would regularly send treats and some personal items. They also sent some garments for his Belgian girlfriend. Ida wondered why he was not being promoted, not realizing as we know today, that Congress set a limit on officers in the CIC, since most of its members were officer material. His rank of Technical Sargent was actually quite good since the CIC came to be known as the Corps of Indignant Corporals. Ida also fretted when she did not regularly receive a letter from him, most notably in December 1944 when during the battle of the bulge a bullet went right in front of his eyes, causing him and his interpreter to jump out of the Jeep, only to have the vehicle blown up by a mortar.  His Jeep may well have been the first piece of American equipment knocked out by what would become the Battle of the Bulge  Dad would make his way on foot to Bastogne, which he exited right before the community was surrounded by the German army.  He was delayed in writing home for several days. Ida would be happy to know that her cookies, which flew out of the Jeep broken but still edible, helped give him and his companion some sustenance as they first sat in a culvert for some time to avoid detection and then made their way to Batogne. He would refer to that experience, in a letter home as one of the most harrowing time of his life. He would later comment that his guardian angel was looking out for him.

Ida and Rudy

After the war, Ida would see her son, Roy, married in January 1947, to Mary Jeanne Sweeney, a classmate of Anita's at St Mary's Academy in Prairie du Chien, WI. Anita would marry Dr Walter Thiede in September 1949. Ida would become a grandmother on January 5, 1948 with the birth of Stephen B Hovel. In all, Ida would become a grandmother to eleven, unfortunately outliving one grandchild. Grandma Hovel was the quintessential grandmother.  One trait she had was to pinch the cheeks of her grandchildren. She especially liked to pinch the cheeks of my twin brother. For much of my childhood grandma and grandpa were snowbirds, moving to Florida in October and returning in May. In the summer we would visit them on the farm, and after grandma greeted us, and gave Greg his check pinch, the next thing offered was ice cream.  She would pull a big bucket from the freezer in the summer kitchen, and we would eat to our hearts content. I recall a time or two being with my grandpa on the farm, not sure if I was helping or hindering at that fairly young age, but I marveled at the large lunch grandma always made. It was a lunch made like a supper. I was in heaven.  Having supper for lunch and get home to have supper again. I am sure my siblings, and my cousin, have many more memories of life on the farm and about grandma.

50th Anniversary photo with 
Anita and Roy Bernard

Ida and Rudy celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Florida, their now winter home. My Aunt hosted a luncheon for 25 persons at the Clipper Room of the ocean front Yankee Clipper Hotel. The event was attended by 25 persons. This amount likely surpassed the number of persons at their wedding on that Tuesday morning on the plains of Iowa and was certainly more than those who attended a luncheon at her Mom's house for some family members. I am not sure when they first started going to Florida, but their Hollywood, FL home was purchased in 1965. 

1955 Air Photo of Sun Prairie Farm
Source:  DCI Map

Grandma was active at church being involved with St Anne's society, St. Elizabeth aid, and also assisted with the harvest festival. My grandparents, with at least my brother John, would visit the varied parish festivals in the region to support other local churches. Grandma wore what would now be retro chic eyeglasses, the envy of many a gen Xer or millennial. Back then, they looked like a pair of glasses a grandmother would wear. My grandparents often attended mass on weekdays, and were scheduled to attend the morning mass at Sacred Hearts on Friday, July 3. I was an altar server that day. Grandma and grandpa never showed. Grandma was ready for church and sat down while grandpa finished getting ready. He found her dead in the chair. Greg and I served at her funeral on 7 July 1970, our youngest sisters eighth birthday. 

Grave site Sacred Hearts Cemetery
Sun Prairie, WI

Grandma Ida had the grandmother duties down pat. She looked the role of the matronly grandma.  More importantly, she played the role of the matronly grandmother never missing a beat, particularly when food was required. To a twelve year old boy, the world revolved around being busy and food. The farm provided a large barn and a grainery both with a number of trap doors to a variety of levels, just ripe for exploration. Following exploration came a big meal. The meal of course was topped off with a big dish of ice cream. Fifty years after her death, and this the 130th recognition of her birthday, I cannot help but think of ice cream, and of course her cheek pinches.                                                                             

Unless otherwise noted, all images from author or family archives.