Single Life to Benedict - Part 9 - Farm Life

"In the fall of 1939 we bought a farm on State Rd. 54 east of town from Sheldon Goodman.  It was the place that both Mom and I wanted and consisted of 42 acres.  I loved it out there – a good productive farm, well located on a good hard road, a lot of shade.  I really expected it to be our last move. 

Harold had 3 wrecks with the car the last one in the spring of 1940 and it was a bad one. 

I am a year ahead of my story for in the summer of 1938 I got my appointment on the Ohio & Evans R.P.O. 

Now in the spring of 1940 Mom came to Sullivan to meet me after a tour of road duty and when I noticed she had a Ford I asked her, how come – she said “ask him.”  It was then I saw Harold, a pretty dejected looking boy so I asked him what happened and he told me he wrecked the car the night befor.  I asked if anybody was hurt and he said no, then I inquired about the car and he said it was damaged badly.  We drove home and I think Mom for once was aggravated at me for she said, “Is that all you are going to say to him.”  I merely said what else is there to say, nobody was hurt, for which I was thankful and you can always fix a car or buy another one.  But the insurance company wanted to cancel me out and I pleaded I couldn’t do without insurance on account of getting to and from trains so they said if I would keep Harold from driving one year they would carry my insurance.  To this we had to agree.

There are a few instances that took place while we lived on the Bill Pope place that are noteworthy.  The first cow we ever owned, a Jersey, was bought when we first moved there.  The boys were big enough to do some work and the best potato crop we ever had was raised there by their efforts.  It was a hang-out for boys who came from town and from the Olive Branch community to play basketball.  I think it was here that not only our boys but all the boys welded an everlasting friendship and devotion for Randy Beasley, Coach, who was later killed in World War ll. 

We had a little incident with Jane while living here.  As normal for girls, she liked pretty clothes.  She asked Mom if she could wear silk hose to school (Black Creek).  We talked it over and Mom said she wasn’t hard on them so we consented.  On my first day off after school started that fall, Mom said the patrons did not like the idea because their girls wanted to do the same.  It must be remembered that the depression still hadn’t been licked.  We decided the chips would have to fall where they would – It would break her heart to deny her the privilege we had given her and we wouldn’t take it away from her.

I take a little pride in getting electric power in that neighborhood south of “Tuffy” Beasley.  I got a list of subscribers and took it to Bloomfield to the Public Service Power Co. and put my petition in the hands of an old Vandalia Coal Co. employee with whom I had worked and a very good friend of mine, Joe Jarvis.  About this time the petition was granted and the R.E.A was constructing lines in the Olive Branch area and the neighbors decided they wanted it.  Thinking it would be cheaper, so I had Joe to delay P.S.  Well we didn’t get R.E.A.  He informed me that I would have to get the P.S. to give up their franchise on the proposed line and get twelve petitions to file for service.  I got this done and although the money for the line had to be taken from what had been apportioned for an extension in Clay County we got on line. 

Before we moved I was sure that I detected something was wrong with Mom.  I asked her what she was keeping from me and she said she was afraid she had a rupture and was keeping it from me because we had spent so much on surgery and hospitals.  We had our examination and her fears were confirmed.

One of the reasons too that we bought the farm was that the boys would soon be out of High School and jobs were not too easy to get and we planned on turning what profits we made on the farm over to them if they would do the work.  We had it figured out that they could at least make their spending money.  Naturally we didn’t have the money to pay for the new house and I had to go in debt with a loan from the bank.  We had to do two things when we moved – put a partition in to make another bed room and install a furnace.  Well things worked out pretty good.  I bought a sow that farrowed 8 pigs; we had corn to feed them, for I got the corn crop in the purchase deal and Harold did a good job tending them and realized a little over $80⁰⁰ for them.  Shortly after this, befor going out on a tour Harold told me he didn’t like farming and wanted to get a job in Public works.  I consented and he went to Indianapolis and applied at Allisons.  He was up there a week and in the mean time I got home on Saturday and while in the barber shop I saw Gordon Miller and he said he would hire him on a job they were doing at Charlestown.  Harold got in at midnight and made arrangement to go Sunday, I think with Sammy Stockram.  High school days seemed to go by fast.  Harold was on the football, basketball and track teams, Avery went in for basketball and Tunney went in for basketball too.  I didn’t get to see very many games for I was on the road most of the time, having a 4 on and 3 off run.  Avery graduated in 1941, went to some kind of government training school teaching various trades."

Alfred Moehlmann Real Estate Transaction - 1939

Alfred and Helen's home farm is no longer standing. In it's place is a retail business - Shoe Show.

Location of Alfred Moehlmann farm on Hwy. 54 in Linton, IN.
Taken in 2012, now a shoe store.

Alfred refers to the R.E.A. in getting electricity, which stands for Rural Electrification Administration.

Bill Moehlmann Trying Out for Football - 1939

Bill Moehlmann Winner Free-throw Contest 1940

Alfred's son  Bill has been in the news during this time, mostly for his sports activities as tge as the above articles show. But the article to the left is about his having pneumonia in March of 1940. Surprisingly I found nothing in the newspapers about the numerous car accidents that Bill had.

Helen Moehlmann Hospital Release May 1940

Allison's is a company that started in 1915 as the Speedway Team Co. by James Allison to support his Indianapolis 500 racing activities. One day after the beginning of World War I James Allison's suspended all activities related to car racing and focused on supporting the war efforts. The company name was changed to Allison Engineering Co. After the war they began working on aircraft engines. In 1928 James Allison died and the company was put up for sale with the stipulation that it remain in Indianapolis. Today it is still headquartered there. By 1939 when Bill wanted to apply for a job at Allison's, the company was heavily involved in producing aircraft engines for the military.

So the boys are growing up. Two have now graduated from high school.