MEYER: This is Paul Meyer, speaking for the Sauk Prairie Historical Society,
and the Wisconsin Historical Society, and I'm at the home of Mrs. Annie Schnieder, here in Sauk City, Wisconsin. It's Wednesday morning of February 7, 1962.SCHNIEDER: [unintelligible]
MEYER: I'm now going to interview Mrs. Annie Schnieder, who was born on June--
SCHNIEDER: The thirteenth.
MEYER: The thirteenth, 1864.
SCHNIEDER: In Roxbury, Dane County.
MEYER: She was born in Roxbury, Dane County, Wisconsin. Now, Mrs. Schnieder,
could you tell us some of your early memories of your early childhood, going back to some of your first memories that you have?SCHNIEDER: I don't know just how to get it on though.
00:01:00MEYER: Well, can you remember some of your early childhood memories about when
the Indians came to visit your home? Where was your home and how was that?SCHNIEDER: In Roxbury, by Green Lake.
MEYER: Your home was in Roxbury by Green Lake?
SCHNIEDER: And we kids, we always was so scared when we saw the Indians come. Ma
never could leave us alone, because we had, we were so scared, you know. And generally she left the dog with us when she went out, because the dog, our dog was a good protector for us children.MEYER: Can you remember anything just when the Indians did come to visit you?
SCHNIEDER: They generally came and bought meat--pork, that was their meat. Pork
and milk. They always used to buy from us and then take it up in the, to upper 00:02:00Green Lake, and there was a cave, and in that cave they always used to house all winter long, the Indians. They slept there and just lived there all winter, and then they caught the marshrats.MEYER: I see, and can you tell me, where is Green Lake in relation to your farm?
SCHNIEDER: Well, it's about 2 miles above. Green Lake was just about two miles
above our farm.MEYER: North of your farm?
SCHNIEDER: Yeah. East, east, Paul. East of our farm.
MEYER: Oh, Green Lake was two miles east of your farm. Is there still a Green
Lake today, or has that dried up?SCHNIEDER: No, it's all dried up. It's all in marshland now. The last couple of
years, they even had corn planted there. It's all dried up. 00:03:00MEYER: Do you remember who lives on that farm today?
SCHNIEDER: A Ballweg.
MEYER: Do you remember what Ballweg that would be?
SCHNIEDER: I don't remember what, because I don't know those people. But it's a
Ballweg that lives on it now. It's changed a lot of hands since we left the place.MEYER: Can you tell me now, do you remember from what tribe the Indians came
from, or what the names of any of the Indians were?SCHNIEDER: Well, they used to come up from the river. They came down the river,
and then from there they came over towards us there in the winter at the house. In the summer, they never was there, but in the winter, they always housed up there, and then towards spring they caught the marshrats, and they done a lot of fishing up there too, but that's all gone now.MEYER: Do you remember what any of the Indian names were?
SCHNIEDER: No, no.
MEYER: Did the Indians speak Indian, or did they also speak English?
00:04:00SCHNIEDER: No, they could speak English pretty good.
MEYER: They could speak English? Do you remember what year this would have been
about? How old were you at that time?SCHNIEDER: Oh, I was just a little kid. It must have been all of ninety years
ago. See, I will be ninety-eight now, and I was just a small girl when the Indians used to house up there, so it must have been about ninety years ago.MEYER: Do you remember any instances when the Indians came into your home?
SCHNIEDER: Yes, I remember one Sunday. Ma and Pa had gone to church and left us
children. That was the first Sunday that we ever was left alone, and then when we--at noon they didn't come home. They went to a friend of theirs for dinner, and then we looked out of the window, and we were sitting at the table to eat, and then we saw a tribe of Indians come up to the field. Oh, and we were so 00:05:00scared! And we took the little ones and went upstairs and sat upstairs, and the dog didn't hear them. The dog was down in the barnyard in the straw sack, sleeping, and the dog didn't hear the Indians. Then they tried to come into the house. They rapped and you know, and we was so scared that we couldn't hardly breathe at all; we was afraid they might hear us. And then finally, they packed up, though, and left then again, and then we packed the children up, the little ones, and we carried them up to the neighbor, where Ma and Pa was. And then after that, they never left us alone then, though, for a long, long time.MEYER: Do you remember when the Indians ever did enter your home when your
mother or father were at home?SCHNIEDER: Oh ja, they used to come just regular and get their milk and meat at
our place. They always got the fat meat, side pork, and milk they used to get. 00:06:00MEYER: About how many came together when they came to your house?
SCHNIEDER: Oh, there was only four or five of them was together when they come
that way, to get stuff. They eat, you know.MEYER: Was this generally the Indian father and mother and the children?
SCHNIEDER: The older ones. Yeah, the older ones. No, they never had that--they
had little children that could walk around. There was some there with little babies in that case, but not the older children, you know, children that was old enough for school or anything, they never had with them. And then in the summer, when they used to come around, then the women, they would make baskets, willow baskets.MEYER: Would you ever trade any of your pork or milk for the baskets then?
SCHNIEDER: No, they always paid for that, and when we wanted a basket we bought
00:07:00it of them.MEYER: I see. And when was the last time that you remember an Indian visit to
your home?SCHNIEDER: Oh, that's a long, long time, but I just can't remember how long ago
that is, but that's a long, long time. There haven't been any Indians around of that place, I don't think now, for the last, for the last twenty years or so, I don't think.MEYER: Oh, I would imagine that it would have been longer than that from that
particular tribe.SCHNIEDER: Maybe longer than that.
MEYER: When the Indians hunted, did you notice, did they carry guns or did they
carry bows and arrows?SCHNIEDER: No, they had bows and arrows. I don't think that they carried
guns--never saw them that they carried--no, I don't think that they was allowed to carry guns, but they had bows and arrows, you know, that they shot with. 00:08:00MEYER: And now, could you describe something about your home. Was it a log home,
or was it a frame home, or a brick home, or what was it?SCHNIEDER; No, we had a real old-fashioned one log room first, and then after we
were some, the children was more children, then Pa builded a just one room frame on it. And, in that log house, log room and frame, oh, we lived long, long. And then afterwards, then Pa builded a frame, a three-room frame house on the place. The old man Dresen builded that yet for us.MEYER: And did you raise cows and hogs and chickens on your farm?
SCHNIEDER: Yeah, first, though, I can remember that only was one cow on the
place, and just a few chickens. Then afterwards, you know, it always increased a 00:09:00little bit more. But that was, and then afterwards, you know, then it was hogs and cattle, and then by that time they sold the milk then, too. The creamery got started, and they sold the milk then too.MEYER: Can you tell me now, you lived not too many miles away from the little
crossroads town of Roxbury in Dane County?SCHNIEDER: By the church, you mean?
MEYER: Yes, by St. Norbert's Church in Roxbury.
SCHNIEDER: Two and a half miles east from the Catholic Church.
MEYER: Just how did you travel when you travelled to church, or when you
travelled to town?SCHNIEDER: Walked most of the time.
MEYER: Did you have a wagon?
SCHNIEDER: Yeah, a lumber wagon. We had a lumber wagon, and we--but we walked
most of the time till later. After we got older and bigger, that Pa had a little 00:10:00more means, then he got a three-seated wagon, kind of a family wagon, you know, when we went to church and when we went to Sauk. But most of the time when we had something to sell, you know, butter and eggs--that was cheap. Then we carried it way over here to Sauk to sell it.MEYER: What was your father's name, and did he come from Germany or was he born
here in the United States?SCHNIEDER: No, Pa was born in Germany. His name was Reinhard Reible, Reinhard Reible.
MEYER: And where was his home in Germany, where did he originate from in Germany?
SCHNIEDER: Wittenberg.
MEYER: He came from Wittenberg, Germany.
SCHNIEDER: Ja.
MEYER: And do you know what year he came to the United States?
SCHNIEDER: No, that I don't know.
00:11:00MEYER: And did he settle immediately in Wisconsin, or did he--
SCHNIEDER: Ja, in Roxbury. He first was going to settle down in Milwaukee, and
then I don't know. They finally made their mind up and they went out of the city. That wasn't much of a city then, Milwaukee. And they finally moved out, though, and then they came to Roxbury and settle down on the old place that's called now Carl Reible's place in Roxbury.MEYER: I see. And I see here now we have the family bible from your family, and
maybe you can give us some history. If you just read some of the inscriptions here from the family bible. I believe this first one has to do with your father.SCHNIEDER: Ja, "Reinhard Reible, geboren den 3rd July, 1838," in--no--ja, F-E--F-E--
00:12:00MEYER: Feulinginen (?), it looks like.
SCHNIEDER: Ja, "Ober am...Königreich, Wittenberg. Königreich, Wittenberg."
MEYER: That was her father, Reinhard Reible, who was born on the 3rd of July,
1838 in Königsberg, Wittenberg, Germany.SCHNIEDER: Ja. And "Maria Katarina Reible," that's my mother, "geboren den 4th
Mai, 1841," but that I don't know. But Ma wasn't born in the old country, I don't think. I think she was born in this country.MEYER: Her mother was born the fourth of May, 1841.
SCHNIEDER: Yeah.
MEYER: And how many brothers and how many sisters were in your family? Do you
remember how many brothers and how many sisters you had? 00:13:00SCHNIEDER: I only had two brothers, Louie and Andrew, and there was seven girls.
MEYER: Including yourself? Seven girls including yourself?
SCHNIEDER: Let me see once. "Saraphine, geboren den 6th August, 1895."
MEYER: Fünfundsechzig, that was 1865.
SCHNIEDER: 65, yeah. In Dane County. And then, "George Reible [unintelligible]
geboren den 11th"--MEYER: Juni.
SCHNIEDER: "Juni, 18"--
MEYER: --67.
SCHNEIDER: "67."
MEYER: Eleventh of June, 1867.
SCHNIEDER: And "Maria Veronica Reible, geboren den 12th Dezember, 1868."
MEYER: The twelfth of December, 1868.
SCHNIEDER: Ja. And "Maria Reible, geboren den 1st Dezember, 1770. --1870."
00:14:00MEYER: Born the 1st of December, 1870.
SCHNIEDER: Ja. And "Anna Helene Reible"--that's your grandmother--"geboren den
22nd Oktober, 1872."MEYER: That would be your moderator's grandmother. She was born the 22nd of
October, 1872.SCHNIEDER: Ja. And "Peter Ludwig Reible, geboren den 12th--14th Dezember, 1875."
MEYER: 14th of December, 1875.
SCHNIEDER: Ja, and--
MEYER: "Reinhard." "Reinhard," isn't that "Reinhard?"
SCHNIEDER: "Reinhard Andrew Reible, geboren den 19 November, 19--1877."
00:15:00MEYER: Born the 19th of November, 1877.
SCHNIEDER: In Roxbury, ja. Ja, that's all of them.
MEYER: And then you lived in this--your entire family of seven girls and two
boys, that was nine children in the family, is that right?SCHNIEDER: We were--no, let me see. That's myself and Saraphine, and
George--well, seven. And Veronica, three, and Mary, four, and Lena, five, and Kate, and Kate, six, haven't got her here on this list though, and that's [unintelligible]--six girls, and Georgie and Louis and Andrew, three boys. 00:16:00MEYER: Six daughters and three sons were born of this marriage?
SCHNIEDER: Yeah.
MEYER: And do you remember any of your other early school days? Where did you go
to school?SCHNIEDER: In Roxbury, a sister's school.
MEYER: That was a Dominican sister's school?
SCHNIEDER: Ja, Dominican sisters.
MEYER: And who was the priest at that time? Was Father Inama at that parish when
you went to school?SCHNIEDER: Ja, first I can remember him yet when he used to have the Mass in the
little log cabin down by the creek, down toward Sauk there.MEYER: That was on the Joseph Eckstein farm?
SCHNIEDER; Yeah, that's Eckstein farm now. And then--but we went up to school up
where the church is now. And I can remember when they builded the Roxbury church 00:17:00yet. I can remember that Father Inama, he was, oh, he was a very poor man, and always, he always took care of the poor too. When somebody would come and didn't have nothing to eat, he had an old priest's cook. Her name was Kristina. She came from the old country, too. And when somebody would come there to see him that was poor, then Kristina always had to make the people a cup of coffee before they could leave. And so--MEYER: And was Father Inama the parish priest when you were still a little girl
going to school?SCHNIEDER: I was baptized by him, too.
MEYER: And Father Inama was the first parish priest?
SCHNIEDER: Priest in Roxbury, ja.
MEYER: And now can you tell me, did you go--when you went to school, did you
00:18:00learn subjects in the English language, or in the German language?SCHNIEDER: Just in the German. We didn't have much schooling at that time yet,
but what we learned was all in German. Had the catechism, and we had what they called the Bible, and a third reader--I guess that was all the books. We didn't have no arithmetic at all at that time. And we didn't, we children didn't have much of any schooling at all.MEYER: Did you learn writing and spelling?
SCHNIEDER: Ja. I always went to spelling school too. In the winter, you know,
they had the district school there too. And then in the winter, you know, they generally had--the people would come together and have spelling schools in the district school. I was a pretty good speller at that time, but them days is all 00:19:00over with.MEYER: Now, was the district spelling school, was that run by the state of
Wisconsin, or was that also run by the nuns?SCHNIEDER: No, that was run by the state of Wisconsin.
MEYER: And was there a travelling teacher who came around to teach you spelling?
SCHNIEDER: No.
MEYER: Was that a local teacher?
SCHNIEDER: It was just a local teacher, ja.
MEYER: And he was paid by the state?
SCHNIEDER: I suppose so, ja. Well, he was--he teached too. That was that--Gross
was his name. He was a teacher in the district school for a good many years, and that teacher, you know, he kept a spelling school for us children.MEYER: And when you learned spelling, did you learn German words or English
words, when you took that spelling from the state?SCHNIEDER: Both. We had German and had English.
MEYER: And then in--after your years in school, can you tell me how many years
00:20:00did you spend in school?SCHNIEDER: In school?
MEYER: Yes.
SCHNIEDER: Well, I guess only--in June, I went to communion, then I was twelve
years old, and then from there on I didn't go school no more.MEYER: And did you start school when you were six years old?
SCHNIEDER: No. I guess I was eight years old when I started school.
MEYER: And how far was the schoolhouse from your farm?
SCHNIEDER: Three and a half miles, as far as the church is now.
MEYER: And did you walk to school each day?
SCHNIEDER: We always walked, and with the winter sometimes, when the snow was
too deep that we couldn't get through, then Pa would take us with the horses and the sled. But the most of the time, we always walked.MEYER: Did you ever meet any Indians when you walked to school?
SCHNIEDER: Sometimes we did. Ja.
MEYER: And would the Indians talk to you, or--?
SCHNIEDER: Yes, they would smile at us and wave at us, and then they'd go on,
00:21:00though. They wouldn't stop to talk any to us though, more.MEYER: Did you ever see an Indian village where the Indians lived?
SCHNIEDER: No. Except up by the Green Lake there in that cave. There, they used
to live almost the whole year round, but in the summer it was, you know, when the marshrats was housing there, then it was--the most of them was there then. And then, you know, there was good hunting there and good fishing, but that's all away now.MEYER: And now tell me, did the Indians always live in caves, or did they
sometimes make little huts, or did they live in tents?SCHNIEDER: They lived in the cave there by us. I don't know where, how it was
from other places, but there by Green Lake they lived in a kind of a rock hole there, and so where they could keep warm. 00:22:00MEYER: Is that rock cave still there, or has that caved in?
SCHNIEDER: No, I guess it's, they've destroyed it though. It isn't much of a den
no more. Little things there yet, but not much though.MEYER: Do you remember ever finding any Indian arrowheads there, or tomahawks,
or any pieces?SCHNIEDER: Arrows, lot of them in my younger days, but here in the last years no
more. There wasn't none no more. They were all picked up.MEYER: And did you ever play with any Indian children?
SCHNIEDER: No, no.
MEYER: The Indian children always stayed by themselves?
SCHNIEDER: Ja. Ja.
MEYER: Do you ever remember seeing any Indian children?
SCHNIEDER: That I--no, I don't think that I ever saw any children with the
Indians that--you know, real little ones or bigger ones, but not real play children, you know. I don't know that I ever saw any with them that way. 00:23:00MEYER: Do you remember any instances when the Indians came into your home,
what--if they ever said anything to your father, or did they speak in sign language, or?SCHNIEDER: No, they talked to Pa, and to Ma. They didn't come in the house
though. They generally stayed outside when they come to get milk or meat. They just come to the door and rapped, and, but they wouldn't come in. I know the first Christmas tree we had, they came and stood by the window and admired the Christmas tree, and Pa wanted them to come in and look at it. No, they wouldn't do that because the papoose--they called us the papoose--the papoose, they were afraid of them, and they didn't want to scare us. They didn't come in the house, but they stood at the window when Ma had the Christmas tree lit so they could see it, and they thought it was so pretty, the Christmas tree. 00:24:00MEYER: It seems to me that I can remember that you told me one time you remember
when the Indians slept in your barn. Is that right?SCHNIEDER: That I don't remember no more, no.
MEYER: Perhaps I was mistaken about that.
SCHNIEDER: Yeah, I don't remember that.
MEYER: And do you remember how old you were when this first Christmas that you
had your Christmas tree?SCHNIEDER: Hm, I must have been all of twelve, fourteen years old, no, about
twelve years, I guess, old.MEYER: That was the first Christmas that you could remember?
SCHNIEDER: Yeah, that we had a tree. We always had a little Christmas; Ma always
had little Christmas presents and something, some cookies or candy or something like that, on each plate; each one had it, or had a plate that way at the table that way. That I can remember.MEYER: But you never had any Christmas tree those early first Christmases?
00:25:00SCHNIEDER: Oh no, no, then we was all, I don't think--then we was all kinda
growing up already a little bit, when we had the first Christmas tree.MEYER: And can you tell us some of your family traditions, or some of the
seasonal traditions? What you had, for example, like at Christmastime or at Easter time, just what you did?SCHNIEDER: Always, you know, them days, people went to church more than what
they do now. When there was a holiday, then, everybody was ready to go to church. And then the shoes and everything had to--you know, at that time, you didn't have two pairs of shoes that you could wear, a good pair of shoes when you would go to church or something. That was always one pair of shoes you had, and that had to do for, for all. The day before the holiday, then the shoes all 00:26:00had to be shined and cleaned so they were ready to put on the next morning. Ma had quite a time with the family, to get everything ready then for--and I remember once, too, then I was quite small yet. Pa was to town, and when he come home, he brought a couple of yards of goods along for dresses for--there was three of us girls, I guess--because the next day, they were invited to a place, and Pa wanted to go so bad, but we didn't have no clothes to put on. And then he bought some goods along, and in the evening after Ma had us put all to bed, then she cut those little dresses out and sewed them all by hand. By the next morning, when it was time to go to the party, she had the dresses all done and dressed us all up and took us along. I can remember that yet too.MEYER: Do you remember what party that was?
00:27:00SCHNIEDER: No, that I don't know. That I don't know. I don't know where it was either.
MEYER: Do you remember the first time you went into Sauk City from your farm?
SCHNIEDER: That I can't remember either, but I know that--I guess the first time
that I went to Sauk City, I walked from our place with Ma up to--over to Sauk. Back and forward.MEYER: Was there a bridge at that time, or did you have to go across the
Wisconsin River by boat?SCHNIEDER: Well, first we had to go by boat. That I remember yet. But then
afterwards, you know, there was a toll bridge. We had to pay a nickel when we walked over the bridge, and a quarter, I guess it was, when you went with a team. A toll bridge.MEYER: Was that one way, or back and forth?
SCHNIEDER: That was back and forth. If you would pay your way when you went
over, then you didn't have to--you got a ticket then. And then you didn't have 00:28:00to pay when you went back. The nickel, too, that went for both ways.MEYER: Can you remember the time when there, before there had been a bridge
across the Wisconsin River?SCHNIEDER: Yeah, I can remember that yet too. They used to go with the boat back
and forward.MEYER: Was it a type of ferry where they would load the wagon right onto the boat?
SCHNIEDER: Ja, and people that went just to town that way that walked, they went
by a boat, you know, just across, back and forward. But with the team, that was kind of a ferry, like where they would go with the horses and the wagon and everything on, you know, to go across.MEYER: Do you remember what town life was like at that time, were there--?
SCHNIEDER: Oh, there was only just a few houses, and Schoenfeld, she had kind of
00:29:00a confectionery store, that Mrs.--Miss Schoenfeld. And then I don't--the first dry goods store that I remembered that was put up, the Kuni and--MEYER: Reichsmiller?
SCHNIEDER: Ja, I guess they was the first ones that had a dry goods store here
in town.MEYER: That was Kuni and Reichsmiller?
SCHNIEDER: Ja.
MEYER: And did you have an uncle in the tavern business at the time?
SCHNIEDER: No, I don't think so.
MEYER: Later on, wasn't there a Louis Reible in the tavern?
SCHNIEDER: That was my brother. Louis Reible, that was my brother. He had the
saloon on the corner where Beckers used to be, and now that--MEYER: [unintelligible]
SCHNIEDER: No, on the corner--who's the one that has got the saloon there now?
00:30:00MEYER: Oh, is that Otto Lehman?
SCHNIEDER: Yeah, that's Louie's old place. He had, I don't know how many years
he had a tavern in that building, and they lived upstairs and in the basement.MEYER: Do you ever remember any river traffic on the river, when any riverboats
came up the river, or when any loggers came down the river? Do you remember anything like that?SCHNIEDER: Ja, when they went down with the boats, you know, with the logs. They
have the river all full of logs, and then, you know, they go from one log another. They had big sticks, you know, where they would push the logs. That's the way they took the logs down the river. The men had to walk from one log to another and get them always a-going, you know. They would get caught and then they wouldn't swim no more. Then they loosen them, you know, and they got them going again. 00:31:00MEYER: Do you ever remember any fights between
the loggers and the townspeople?SCHNIEDER: No, not that I know of. Years ago people wasn't so, you know, what
you might call jealous now. If anybody had a little something that was a little bit ahead, well, then, they all kind of helped them. But now this--that's different now. If somebody gets ahead a little bit, then the next fella is jealous already.MEYER: That's a good lesson to remember. Now, can you tell us anything else
about early river traffic that you can remember? Where the loggers came from, or where the loggers stayed?SCHNIEDER: No, I just, I don't remember that, but they come from up north, down
with the logs. Sometimes the river would just be all loaded full of logs, all 00:32:00that you--what could get in there. And then you see the men, you know, walk over them logs, and always give them kind of a push so they get--and when they got them going, you know, they went sometimes a whole long stretch right through, you know. But when they got caught, you know, they always had to loose them, and that was the dangerous part. When they would get loose, you know, they would slip and fall into the water. I guess there was very few that got drowned, though. They generally always was so many together that they got him out again.MEYER: And this was before the Sauk City bridge was in, the old toll bridge, or
was that after the old toll bridge was in?SCHNIEDER: That I don't remember, no. I don't remember. I remember, though, when
the Sauk bridge was built, but I don't know was it before or afterwards, that I 00:33:00don't know.MEYER: Now, I'd like to change the subject just a little bit. I notice we are
right on 350 feet right now, right in the middle of our reel number two, and I'd like to change the subject a little bit. You're almost ninety-eight years old, and you were born at the time when the Indians were still native to Wisconsin and made their living off of the ground here rather than being a tourist attraction, they actually lived and made their home here as best they could. Now, since that time, you had to walk to school and finally the wagons came and so on, but have you thought about what has all happened since that time? Now, if a child had to walk to school, that would be dreadful. Now they have a warm, comfortable, heated school bus to ride to school in, we have automobiles, we 00:34:00have airplanes, we even have rockets that they are now planning on sending to other planets. Just last month, the United States sent a rocket attempt to the moon, and we've already orbited several astronauts, and we are now attempting to send another astronaut into an orbital flight around our globe. So many, many new advances have been made in science which--previous to this time, nothing had been done equal to that all the way back to ancient times. But what do you think about some of these advances that have been made?SCHNIEDER: I don't think that makes the people any better. It seems so the more
advances there is, and the more that they go up, the wicked the people are 00:35:00getting. Don't you think so?MEYER: Well, you never know. Perhaps you have a theory there. Do you still keep
up with the newspaper, and do you enjoy reading and hearing the news of the day?SCHNIEDER: Ja. Ja.
MEYER: Do you remember any early politics in the state of Wisconsin?
SCHNIEDER: Oh ja, I remember. The Republicans and the Democrats, they was always
on the fighting side. The Democrats, you know, they stuck up for their rights, and the Republicans stuck up for their rights. But there was so very few Republicans in my young days; it was only in the town of Roxbury, two men that voted the Republican ticket. And that was Herman Greiber and Gregor Fischer.MEYER: I take it then that your father was a Democrat?
00:36:00SCHNIEDER: Yeah, my Pa was a Democrat.
MEYER: And do you remember any fellas, or any men that were sent to Wisconsin to
represent your part of the county?SCHNIEDER: No, that I don't remember.
MEYER: Where did you go when it was time to vote? Where did the men go to vote
at that time?SCHNIEDER: At down at the Reiter's saloon, or in the store. They voted in the
store at Roxbury. His name was Bart Lamayous Reiter. He was the grandfather of Oscar Reiter.MEYER: And is that saloon still standing?
SCHNIEDER: Yeah, it's still standing on the corner. It's a big stone building. I
don't know who's in there now that Briney--but he's lives in town now. He was the last one was in that I remember.MEYER: I believe Norbert Kalscheuer, who was a contractor and who now resides in
00:37:00Roxbury, now owns that building.SCHNIEDER: Oh.
MEYER: Can you tell us anything about what the saloon was like in those days,
when did they open up in the morning and when did they close in the evening?SCHNIEDER: They didn't have no regular time at that time. The saloons, they
wasn't open all night like they are now. In the evening, when it was evening, then it was locked up, and in the morning they wouldn't be so early either. But they had open on Sundays, though, that I remember.MEYER: Do you ever remember hearing any tales of burglars, or of stories about
Jesse James, the robber? Do you ever remember any stories like that?SCHNIEDER: I can remember it from hearing it, but what it was, that I don't know
no more. But I used to be scared to death too, you know, when Pa would read it 00:38:00for us, you know, in the paper where they would--Jesse James, where he robbed, and--but where that was, that I don't know.MEYER: I believe the closest he came was Northfield, Minnesota. Do you remember
anything, or any time anybody speaking anything about the Civil War?SCHNIEDER: Yeah, I remember that yet. Pa, you know, he was drafted to go in the
war. And in the morning when he left, of course, we all cried and Ma cried, and she said she couldn't see how she could get along with us children alone when Pa was gone. Then Pa went off; he said goodbye and he went off. And then he said, well, he would see if he could hire somebody in his place, to take his place, then he would come back; but if he couldn't get nobody that would take his place 00:39:00to go, then he would have to go. But when it got evening, Pa came back again. He got somebody that volunteered and took his place, you know, to go in the army.MEYER: And do you remember any tales spoken in later years about any soldiers
that actually had been in the Civil War?SCHNIEDER: Ja, I had a couple of uncles that was in the war--came back again.
MEYER: Had they been shot or wounded?
SCHNIEDER: That I don't remember. That I don't remember, if any of them was
shot, or--there was none killed, though, that I know.MEYER: And do you remember what these uncles' names were that had served in the
Civil War?SCHNIEDER: One was Joe Lamberty, that was Ma's brother, and Hupert, Hupert--what
was his other name, now?--that was a brother-in-law to Ma, but I've forgot his 00:40:00last name, though, now. But that Joe Lamberty, he was a brother to Ma. He came back and--I don't know--those that came back, it seems so they were all regular drunkards. Afterwards, after they got back from the Army, they didn't amount to very much no more. It just seems so they just run a shiftless life.MEYER: Do you suppose it was because they saw so much killing that they--
SCHNIEDER: I think that had something to do with it. They, you know, just lost
all the confidence in people.MEYER: All confidence and all respect, no doubt.
SCHNIEDER: Ja.
MEYER: Do you remember any battles or campaigns that your uncles had been in?
SCHNIEDER: No, I was too small yet at that time, you know, to remember that.
00:41:00MEYER: How old were you when you were married, and who did you marry?
SCHNIEDER: I married John Schnieder in 18--
[tape ends]
MEYER: We are referring to the family bible right now in the home of Mrs. Annie
Schnieder, who was born Miss Annie Reible. The bible, by the way, is, by the way, is printed in the German language, and written in the old German script. Just a minute, perhaps I can help you find the page here. We are on the page that says "Geburten," meaning birthday pages. [pages shuffling] "Heiraten" page--this is the marriage page right here. 00:42:00SCHNIEDER: "John Schnieder and Anna Reible haben den Ehebund geschlossen, den--"
MEYER: 20th Juli.
SCHNIEDER: "20th Juli, 1908 in Madison, Wisconsin."
MEYER: You were married in Madison, Wisconsin on the twentieth of July, 1908.
SCHNIEDER: By Vater Sitter.
MEYER: And did you go on a honeymoon?
SCHNIEDER: No, no.
MEYER: Something that does interest me, and if you can remember any more about
it--can you tell us any more tales about Father Inama that you remembered? Do you remember going to his home?SCHNIEDER: Yeah, very often. In the summer when school went out, and the sisters
always gave us a picnic, then we walked down the creek by Father Inama. Then we 00:43:00would sing on the way down, all the way down, and then we'd go down along the creek. There was a man with the name of Krienewald. He always set there by the creek there, and was fishing. He was a cripple, but they helped him always in the morning to get by the creek, and in the evening they would help him home again. There were a lot of nice fishing at that time. And then we kids would--the sisters, they would stay by Father Inama and Kristin, the cook. And the cook would always make the sisters a cup of coffee, and they have a little lunch, and us children, she gave each one a lump of sugar. Each one of us children got a lump of sugar. And then we went down the creek singing yet, and then when we got to that old man Krienewald, then he always used to tell us 00:44:00fishing stories, you know.MEYER: That sounds like fun. I bet you enjoyed that.
SCHNIEDER: Ja, we surely did. In fact, we was always glad when that day came,
that we could go down and we would sing in German. [reciting German lyrics]MEYER: Can you sing a little bit of that song? Do you remember how the melody went?
SCHNIEDER: No, I never was no singer. I never could carry, never could carry a
tune. The only best singer in our--Pa, he was a good singer. He always sang on the choir. But Ma didn't have no voice at all. And for most children, there was only Barbara, and she was the best, best singer in our family. And I never had no tune for singing, but I just loved it though.MEYER: Now, can you tell us something about the type of home Father Inama had?
00:45:00SCHNIEDER: He had a little bit of a log shack, everything in one room--a little
bit of a altar, where he read his Mass on. That was made out of logs, and then just a white cloth over it, and a few candles on it. That was the altar at that time. And--I don't know if they even--I don't think there was any seats in that little room. Of course, there couldn't very many people go in at all. It was just one room. There, he had Mass, and there he lived and slept and ate in that same room.MEYER: Did the Indians ever come to his Mass that you know of?
SCHNIEDER: Oh ja. See, they had to always have to go through there, through
there by Father Inama going up, going up the creek to get up at our place. Father Inama was a great friend of the Indians. 00:46:00MEYER: Then, in other words, the Indians pretty well followed the creek as their
path or highway?SCHNIEDER: Ja.
MEYER: So there we have had a description of Father Inama's little home, and
chapel on Madison Creek. About all that remains there today--I've been there about ten years ago--was some caved-in ruins of his little root cellar that was built into the side of the hill. Do you remember anything of that little root cellar?SCHNIEDER: No, I never was in there. No, I never was in there, but I remember
hearing of it though, that he fixed himself all up.MEYER: Now, how about your home, your little log cabin near Roxbury there. What
was that like, how was it furnished?SCHNIEDER: Well, there wasn't much furniture in it. We lived till, I guess, we
oldest children must have been all of, the oldest one, ten years, or twelve 00:47:00years old already when Pa builded another room to it. The first was just a log room, one room downstairs and one room upstairs, and afterwards then he builded another room, a frame, to it for a bedroom. But first, we had bedroom and kitchen and everything in one room. And we lived all through it, too.MEYER: Did your mother do any spinning? Did she have a spinning wheel?
SCHNIEDER: But I had. I had to do the spinning and the knitting for the whole family.
MEYER: So you knew how to spin yarn then?
SCHNIEDER: Ja, and very nice too, and I just loved it. And when we went away
from the farm, I was so foolish and left my spinning wheel behind, and the [unintelligible] took it afterwards and took the axe, and chopped it up and 00:48:00burned it up.MEYER: Well, that was a shame.
SCHNIEDER: Ja, it surely was a shame.
MEYER: There, just now I hear that it's eleven o'clock, and just about time to
sign off. I was wondering, do you have any other childhood recollections that might be interesting as you now look back? [pause] Is there anything in the way of your childhood memories, games that you played or trips that you took?SCHNIEDER: I never was on no trip, no. When I was twelve years old, that year I
went out to earn my own bread and butter. I went to Lodi and worked in Lodi in the hotel. And I was so homesick. I never will forget how homesick I was. I used 00:49:00to cry all day and all night almost, and still I had to fight it out. And from that time on, I always was among strangers till I got married.MEYER: Do you remember anything about early trains coming into town or any
happenings around the railroad yard?SCHNIEDER: Yeah, I remember when the first--and I remember, too, when the first
airplane flew over town. That was on a afternoon. There was a wedding here, out here. I guess it was one of Ted Herd's girls that got married, a Herd girl anyway, got married to a--what was their name now? They moved to Madison, and then afterwards they came back to Sauk again. And that day, the first airplane 00:50:00flew over town, and they had it advertised, and the whole town was crowded with people watching for the airplane, and that was Martha Hahn, she was there too, and she says, "Well, Sauk City is all right yet, it isn't stricken off from the map."MEYER: Wouldn't that have been something, if she would see the rockets taking
off from Cape Canaveral, Florida today?SCHNIEDER: Yeah, I should say so.
MEYER: Well, thank you very much for this interview.
SCHNIEDER: As I say, it isn't so good no more, the memory, as it used to be.
MEYER: Well, I think it's pretty fine, considering that you're almost
ninety-eight years old. You'll be ninety-eight on what day in June?SCHNIEDER: Thirteenth.
MEYER: On the thirteenth of June, you'll be ninety-eight years old. The
thirteenth of June, 1962, Mrs. Annie Schnieder will be ninety-eight years old. Thank you much for this interview.SCHNIEDER: Thank you.
MEYER: This is Paul Meyer, signing off for the Sauk Prairie Historical Society,
00:51:00and the Wisconsin State Historical Society, signing off side two on the Annie Schnieder interview.