[byrne.ftw]
!add. 135 Texas Ave. Herford, Tx. 79045 Ph. 806-364-0363 Emma Hartman
was born January 25, 1900 in Pesotum Illinois and Carl Luke was born
September 20, 1898 in Leopold, Missouri. They both moved to Muenster,
Texas as small children. They were married August 22, 1922 at the
Sacred Heart Church in Muenster with Father Frowin Koerd O.S.B.,
officiating. Alphonse Luke, Carl's brother, and Frances Hartman,
Emma's sister, were their attendants. They farmed at Muenster for
three years, but found the small rocky fields of their farm
unsuitable. They heard of the good land available at Hereford, Texas
from a land agent for Borden-McDonald Land Company. They went to look
and thought it to be a land of opportunity. They bought 160 acres
thirteen miles northeast of Hereford. They never regretted making the
decision to make the move to that part of the world. They left
Muenster on December 15, 1925 with their two small daughters in a 1920
Saxon automobile. They stayed in a hotel in Childress, Texas
overnight and arrived in Hereford the next day. Their household
furnishings, two mules, four head of cattle, five pigs, one hundred
chickens, a wagon, a ten gallon can of wheat, a sack of corn, a few
bales of hay and a small amount of farming equipment had been shipped
by rail. They hauled their belongings by wagon to their new home which
had been built for one thousand dollars. There were no roads or
fences and all the land was sod. They hauled water from a windmill
several miles distant until they drilled a well. They farmed with
mules until 1928 when they bought a Case Tractor. Two additional
daughters were born to the family and they weathered the years of
drought and low prices, 1931-1936, by raising a large garden, an
orchard, chickens, hogs, turkeys, and milking cows. Emma sewed all
the family's clothing and they rendered lard And made soap when they
butchered. In 1937 they drilled an irrigation well. Crops and prices
improved. They moved to Hereford in 1947 and traveled over the United
States, Mexico, and Canada for about twenty years. They celebrated
their Golden Wedding Anniversary in 1972 with both of their wedding
attendants attending. They have been active members of St. Anthony's
Catholic Church for almost sixty years.