Wednesday, March 23, 1938

Cooler today. Pap hauled 4 loads wheat to Waterloo, got 77 [cents] 76 [cents] 75 [cents] top – 80 [cents]; wheat is getting hot; & dirty. Bert [Bertille] finished cleaning upstairs, except for washing curtains. Uncle Fred & A. [Aunt] Mary came this eve; her & Bert went to lent service. Fr. Joe. Orlet had sermon. Wuller the Ex pres. of Belleville bank is to go to jail latter part of week for 15 yrs. & at 5 yrs. paroled.

Thursday, Feb. 11, 1937

Got load oats over. Steve Rennecker came over while a fellow here from Shiloh selling seed corn, one from Columbia looked at horses; a man begging for something to eat, etc. Eggs 20¢. Sure beautiful day, but muddy & sloppey [sic]. Louis Birkner is very low. Sheriff got Clif Stahelber & Buss, Weirsheim boy, put them in jail for stealing wrenches, dynamite from Wolfs Rock Quarry near Foster Pond, the way we heard it is also in the paper, stole in on Dec. 16; was going to put them in reform School but it is filled, so Buss & Stahelber got 30 day in jail at Waterloo, & Weirsheim got 10 da. in Waterloo paper that way.

Sunday, June 14, 1936

Beautiful day. Uncle Fred & Aunt Mary came, awhile before mass. Mrs. Emma Eckert brought the veil back, had it borrowed for Emmie Solemn Coummioun [sic – Communion]. We went to Red Bud for 7:30 mass, but it is changed now to 6:30 & 8:30 masses, so we came to late, so stayed for high mass & benediction. The Evangical [sic] Church Ladies Aid got cold supper & pinic [sic] today, at church grounds. The Hecker Baseball Club has a dance at Kammler’s Hall musci [sic] by Schmidts. We went to pinic [sic] awhile. Pap went for supper, also Uncle Fred & Aunt Mary. Birkner’s Orch. played musci [sic]. Mrs. Milton Wagner won the free game of bluey, & also the quilt in lotto, & Mrs. Frieda Koreber won 1 quilt in bluey & 1 that was raffled out; sure luck. Edgar Wittenauer was stabbed with a knife last nite by Maniers, isn’t so bad; fellow from Athens; sheriff came out & took him to Waterloo Jail.

Sunday, Oct. 2, 1932

Perry May has shooting match today. Uncle Fred & Aunt Mary came here awhile after church. Louis Armstutz & Elmer Rettinghouse came here to look at our cow. This afternoon we & Uncle Fred & Aunt Mary left about 1 o clock went to Red Bud, Ruma, Evansville, Ellis Grove, Springdale Park, Chester, drove to the Southern Illinois Penitrary [sic], but couldn’t go through it, only the restroom, see ferns & furs & such like, everything is so nice there. Papa was talking to Snitz Nollau. Then we went to what they call a Menard, where there are about 400 criminals there, walked up 165 steps & down again, to see them, they where out taking exercise & sun baths, seen there laundry, & there yards where the prisoners work; all the rocks got ready to crush; it sure is a beautiful scene. The Miss. River so close, especially went [sic-when] you are so high up you can see the river such a far distance, then we drove up around the river up the big hill,  then back into Chester again, then back home, it was sure a nice drive we covered about 70 miles was home again 5 o clock. We had supper at Uncle Freds. Henry & family came up we all went over by Aunt Marys, across the street. There is rosary devotion at Red Bud, but we couldn’t go, Henry was up they took a 3 gal. crock of bacon along home 38 lb. with crock. There was a bunch 19 from Hecker went over to Walter Deffabaugh in St. Louis on a visit in Clarence Wittenauers truck.