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Mountain Memories
Pages 76 - 77
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.The mother of the baby attributed the baby's immense weight to the fact that she like sweet corn so much!
One time she went to deliver a baby to Harry and Sadie Church. The house was not completed yet, the beams jutted out into the room. The bed with the mother was in one corner. Mother spotted a big pine snake laying on a beam right over the bed. She quietly told the mother-to-be that it would be better to move the bed to another corner where the light was better. All went well, and the mother never even suspected.
Ma not only brought babies, but she was called on for different sicknesses and ailments. Her large medicine book was a great help to her. It contained a wealth of information and she studied it most religiously.
The familiar dress of Mom's was one good black dress covered with a large white apron and her black bag. When you saw her dressed thus, you Knew she was on the job.
At times, when there were contagious diseases at different homes, before Ma came in contact with our family she would take precaution. She would strip, bathe and wash all her clothing with disinfectant.
One morning, June 18, 1911, my mother delivered a baby boy to a neighbor. That same day in the evening, she brought me into this world. I was her 17th child.
Mother was already in poor health and she went to her reward at the age of 64 in February 1936."
This was only part of Madge's story, the entire story is on record in the Archives Library at Madison. Other memories fondly recalled by Madge were of Herbert Baldwin's Store and being able to come into town, whether on horse, buggy, or sleigh! Her family grew cash crops on their farm and also picked the bounty of wild berries. Her family sold berries and butter to the train men at the Holt Depot, receiving orders from Green Bay.
One day they received an order for 100 quarts of ras-berries, the biggest order they had ever had! That took some hustling on the families part in order to catch the southbound train by 5 p.m.!
Saturday evening was always a big treat for Madge and the family. She recalled Mountain has seeming like a big metropolis to her, and when the day came that someone in the neighborhood was lucky enough to have a car, a whole
bunch of kids then piled in the car and headed into the
'big city'.
We thank Madge for taking us back to the 'Good Ole Days' with her memories, and especially sharing 'Babies Were Her Business1 with this generation of Mountain settlers.
Gladys Rasmussen and her sister Viola Rasmussen also recalled the bustling activities held in the town of Mountain years ago while they were growing up in the townsite- Mountain hosted many special community wide • occasions, the Fourth of July Picnic seeming to be at the top of the list in recalling grand holidays to be so celebrated. The community picnic grounds was just across the street from H.M. Baldwin's residence on Main Lane, a wooded and shady spot where a wooden platform was built for dancing, trimmed with red, white, and
blue bunting.
Eddie Anderson recalled having a quarter, which his father gave him to celebrate with at the picnic, and enjoyed the entire day with lemonade, an ice cream cone and all the fun and games, and returning home that evening with change in his pocket! The Fourth of July was truly a big occasion for the children in the area, Eddie walked five miles and back in order to attend!
He also recalled attending the dances that were held at the Town Hall during his teen years. He and his brother Harold once hitched up their horse and headed into town but when returning home that night, they must have fallen asleep, because when they woke up their wagon was parked in front of their Dad's barn, the horse waiting to be put inside!
During those years there was quite a large barn at the Blue Mountain House where horses were stabled. The barn was built by Henry Alien, who also built the Hotel that we fondly remember as the 'Bl-ue1 Mountain House. As Mr. Alien's stable filled with horses, Thomas Rasmussen worked overtime in his Barber Shop helping to spruce up the lumberjacks who came into town to attend the Saturday night dances. 25* for a hair cut, and 10* for a shave left them looking mighty fine!
The Chautaugua Show used to come to town, it being named after a series of festivals held yearly on Lake Chautaugua in New York. These shows were put together by agents in Chicago and brought to millions of Ameri-
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