596327

[phelps.FTW]

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 1, Ed. 1, Tree #4246, Date of Import: Oct 24, 1998]

Sam Drinnin was born August 11, 1899 in the house on the family farm northeast of Columbus, Nebraska. He lived in this same house his whole life, except a few years in the 1920's when he worked in western Nebraska. There were four children in the family, an older sister, Grace May; a younger brother, Joseph Harold; and a younger sister, Margaret.

In 1907, when Sam was eight years old, his mother, Katie Browner Drinnin, became sick and could no longer take care of the family. Life was hard on the farm, and with four small children, and no outside help, (her mother died when Katie was 20 years old) Katie found it hard to cope and suffered a breakdown. Today she would have attended some counseling sessions with a therapist, would have been told that she had too much stress in her life, and maybe would have been given some tranquilizers for a short while. In the early 1900's help as that was not available, and Sam's mother was put in the hospital at Norfolk, Nebraska where she remained for the rest of her life. After his mother left, Sam and his sisters and brother had to pretty much raise themselves, with a lot of the burden on his older sister.


The Drinnin children attended grade school at Platte County District 80 school, the same country school where his mother had taught during the blizzard of 1888. This was also the same school where his three children attended first grade through eighth grade.
Sam graduated from the eighth grade and then went to work full-time on the farm, he loved this work and had several friends from surrounding farms, the Luchsingers brothers, the Rodehorsts and the Sheetys. He remained friends with these men all of his life.

Sam loved the outdoors, and did a lot of hunting, fishing and trapping. He learned very young how to trap and skin small animals. In the early 1920's he lived in Kimball, Nebraska, where he worked on a farm. He and his friends went to the Snowy Range west of Laramie, Wyoming in the summers to camp and fish for trout. They rode horses into several lakes north of the range, camping out in tents and stayed at log cabins by Sand Lake. The cabins that they stayed in are still there, not in very good shape, but will possible be restored by the new owner.


After his father died in 1924, Sam moved back to Columbus and took over the farming operations.

During the 1920's the industrial and business markets had the greatest outburst of prosperity that the country had ever experienced. Many people predicted that this new era of prosperity would never end. This prosperity of the "golden twenties" passed the farmer by however. There were two chief reasons why farm prices stayed low after World War I:

(1) Between 1920 and 1925 new machinery, tractors, trucks, and scientific farming increased farm output by 30%. They also increased the output of the farm workers by 50%. As a result, the supply of farm products increased until there was a surplus - and a surplus meant lower prices.

(2) World conditions held down farm prices. In the world market America's food products had to compete with other countries. Farms in European countries ravaged by war began to produce again. The American tariff too, cut down the foreign demand for American farm products.

The industrial boom of the '20's ended in a panic. It was caused chiefly by overproduction and too much speculation. Late in October, 1929, the prices on the New York Stock Exchange went plunging downward from 20 to 40 points (dollars per share) in a single day. Within two weeks, the market value of stocks on the Exchange decreased by 25 billion dollars. This was only the beginning, the value of the stocks listed on September, 1929 was nearly 90 billion dollars. By July 1932, it had melted to 15.5 billion.

As the industrial depression deepened, conditions on the farm became increasingly desperate. In 1932 wheat sold for 38 cents a bushel, corn for 32 cents, which in each case was less than it cost to grow the product. On the other hand, the prices of goods which farmers bought were still above the prewar level, while taxes and interest on mortgages amounted to nearly twice the amount paid out in 1914. These conditions caused the farmers to be unable to buy machinery, automobiles, furniture and other manufactured articles. Therefore more factories had to shut down, and the general depression was deepened.

Adding to these poor conditions was the devastating drought, which began in the early 1930's. These were times when crop yields were down to next to nothing. "Dust storms" carried the loose soil for miles.

Sam stayed with the farm, working hard and living very frugality. It was in these conditions that Sam met his future wife, Irene, they married, and began their life together.
[phelps.FTW]

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 1, Ed. 1, Tree #4246, Date of Import: Oct 25, 1998]

Sam Drinnin was born August 11, 1899 in the house on the family farm northeast of Columbus, Nebraska. He lived in this same house his whole life, except a few years in the 1920's when he worked in western Nebraska. There were four children in the family, an older sister, Grace May; a younger brother, Joseph Harold; and a younger sister, Margaret.

In 1907, when Sam was eight years old, his mother, Katie Browner Drinnin, became sick and could no longer take care of the family. Life was hard on the farm, and with four small children, and no outside help, (her mother died when Katie was 20 years old) Katie found it hard to cope and suffered a breakdown. Today she would have attended some counseling sessions with a therapist, would have been told that she had too much stress in her life, and maybe would have been given some tranquilizers for a short while. In the early 1900's help as that was not available, and Sam's mother was put in the hospital at Norfolk, Nebraska where she remained for the rest of her life. After his mother left, Sam and his sisters and brother had to pretty much raise themselves, with a lot of the burden on his older sister.


The Drinnin children attended grade school at Platte County District 80 school, the same country school where his mother had taught during the blizzard of 1888. This was also the same school where his three children attended first grade through eighth grade.
Sam graduated from the eighth grade and then went to work full-time on the farm, he loved this work and had several friends from surrounding farms, the Luchsingers brothers, the Rodehorsts and the Sheetys. He remained friends with these men all of his life.

Sam loved the outdoors, and did a lot of hunting, fishing and trapping. He learned very young how to trap and skin small animals. In the early 1920's he lived in Kimball, Nebraska, where he worked on a farm. He and his friends went to the Snowy Range west of Laramie, Wyoming in the summers to camp and fish for trout. They rode horses into several lakes north of the range, camping out in tents and stayed at log cabins by Sand Lake. The cabins that they stayed in are still there, not in very good shape, but will possible be restored by the new owner.


After his father died in 1924, Sam moved back to Columbus and took over the farming operations.

During the 1920's the industrial and business markets had the greatest outburst of prosperity that the country had ever experienced. Many people predicted that this new era of prosperity would never end. This prosperity of the "golden twenties" passed the farmer by however. There were two chief reasons why farm prices stayed low after World War I:

(1) Between 1920 and 1925 new machinery, tractors, trucks, and scientific farming increased farm output by 30%. They also increased the output of the farm workers by 50%. As a result, the supply of farm products increased until there was a surplus - and a surplus meant lower prices.

(2) World conditions held down farm prices. In the world market America's food products had to compete with other countries. Farms in European countries ravaged by war began to produce again. The American tariff too, cut down the foreign demand for American farm products.

The industrial boom of the '20's ended in a panic. It was caused chiefly by overproduction and too much speculation. Late in October, 1929, the prices on the New York Stock Exchange went plunging downward from 20 to 40 points (dollars per share) in a single day. Within two weeks, the market value of stocks on the Exchange decreased by 25 billion dollars. This was only the beginning, the value of the stocks listed on September, 1929 was nearly 90 billion dollars. By July 1932, it had melted to 15.5 billion.

As the industrial depression deepened, conditions on the farm became increasingly desperate. In 1932 wheat sold for 38 cents a bushel, corn for 32 cents, which in each case was less than it cost to grow the product. On the other hand, the prices of goods which farmers bought were still above the prewar level, while taxes and interest on mortgages amounted to nearly twice the amount paid out in 1914. These conditions caused the farmers to be unable to buy machinery, automobiles, furniture and other manufactured articles. Therefore more factories had to shut down, and the general depression was deepened.

Adding to these poor conditions was the devastating drought, which began in the early 1930's. These were times when crop yields were down to next to nothing. "Dust storms" carried the loose soil for miles.

Sam stayed with the farm, working hard and living very frugality. It was in these conditions that Sam met his future wife, Irene, they married, and began their life together.
[4246.ftw]

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 1, Ed. 1, Tree #4246, Date of Import: Dec 4, 1998]

Sam Drinnin was born August 11, 1899 in the house on the family farm northeast of Columbus, Nebraska. He lived in this same house his whole life, except a few years in the 1920's when he worked in western Nebraska. There were four children in the family, an older sister, Grace May; a younger brother, Joseph Harold; and a younger sister, Margaret.

In 1907, when Sam was eight years old, his mother, Katie Browner Drinnin, became sick and could no longer take care of the family. Life was hard on the farm, and with four small children, and no outside help, (her mother died when Katie was 20 years old) Katie found it hard to cope and suffered a breakdown. Today she would have attended some counseling sessions with a therapist, would have been told that she had too much stress in her life, and maybe would have been given some tranquilizers for a short while. In the early 1900's help as that was not available, and Sam's mother was put in the hospital at Norfolk, Nebraska where she remained for the rest of her life. After his mother left, Sam and his sisters and brother had to pretty much raise themselves, with a lot of the burden on his older sister.


The Drinnin children attended grade school at Platte County District 80 school, the same country school where his mother had taught during the blizzard of 1888. This was also the same school where his three children attended first grade through eighth grade.
Sam graduated from the eighth grade and then went to work full-time on the farm, he loved this work and had several friends from surrounding farms, the Luchsingers brothers, the Rodehorsts and the Sheetys. He remained friends with these men all of his life.

Sam loved the outdoors, and did a lot of hunting, fishing and trapping. He learned very young how to trap and skin small animals. In the early 1920's he lived in Kimball, Nebraska, where he worked on a farm. He and his friends went to the Snowy Range west of Laramie, Wyoming in the summers to camp and fish for trout. They rode horses into several lakes north of the range, camping out in tents and stayed at log cabins by Sand Lake. The cabins that they stayed in are still there, not in very good shape, but will possible be restored by the new owner.


After his father died in 1924, Sam moved back to Columbus and took over the farming operations.

During the 1920's the industrial and business markets had the greatest outburst of prosperity that the country had ever experienced. Many people predicted that this new era of prosperity would never end. This prosperity of the "golden twenties" passed the farmer by however. There were two chief reasons why farm prices stayed low after World War I:

(1) Between 1920 and 1925 new machinery, tractors, trucks, and scientific farming increased farm output by 30%. They also increased the output of the farm workers by 50%. As a result, the supply of farm products increased until there was a surplus - and a surplus meant lower prices.

(2) World conditions held down farm prices. In the world market America's food products had to compete with other countries. Farms in European countries ravaged by war began to produce again. The American tariff too, cut down the foreign demand for American farm products.

The industrial boom of the '20's ended in a panic. It was caused chiefly by overproduction and too much speculation. Late in October, 1929, the prices on the New York Stock Exchange went plunging downward from 20 to 40 points (dollars per share) in a single day. Within two weeks, the market value of stocks on the Exchange decreased by 25 billion dollars. This was only the beginning, the value of the stocks listed on September, 1929 was nearly 90 billion dollars. By July 1932, it had melted to 15.5 billion.

As the industrial depression deepened, conditions on the farm became increasingly desperate. In 1932 wheat sold for 38 cents a bushel, corn for 32 cents, which in each case was less than it cost to grow the product. On the other hand, the prices of goods which farmers bought were still above the prewar level, while taxes and interest on mortgages amounted to nearly twice the amount paid out in 1914. These conditions caused the farmers to be unable to buy machinery, automobiles, furniture and other manufactured articles. Therefore more factories had to shut down, and the general depression was deepened.

Adding to these poor conditions was the devastating drought, which began in the early 1930's. These were times when crop yields were down to next to nothing. "Dust storms" carried the loose soil for miles.

Sam stayed with the farm, working hard and living very frugality. It was in these conditions that Sam met his future wife, Irene, they married, and began their life together.