EXCERPTS FROM MEMORIES

BY ETHEL HELLE WALTON

CHAPTER 6

(Ethel describes the years of the depression and how the George Helle family got through these years without accepting any welfare.)

In 1929 Dad hadn't made any money at farming.  All the farmers were hit hard with the depression.  Dad had located some timber close to Kewanee.  He and Delbert bought a mill to cut it.  Walter and Sheldon continued to farm the 220 acres near Genesso, where the family lived.  They were sixteen and seventeen years old at the time and worked under the direction of Dad.  

A standing joke in our family is that we all have sawdust in our blood.   Sawmill work was hard, with all of the work done by hand and out in the open.  There was no protection from the cold and the rains.  Dad's mill was operated with steam engine power since he was an expert with the steam engines.  Often Dad would get a big order and we would all work together to get it sawed.  One order was for walnut flitches and took all 7 mills in the family to get the order out in time.  This amounted to several train car loads.  A flitch is a piece of wood, rough sawed, 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches thick.  We learned later that these went to Japan to be made into gun stocks.  These guns came back to us after Pearl Harbor to kill the boys of America. 

Another big order for 2" x 2" hardwood took all the mills to get it out.  This was used to make furniture.  Hardwood is more expensive to cut, and a lot more work.  The order was shipped to New York City.  We never did get paid for it after all of that work and expense, and during the depression when we all needed money so badly.  Dad asked Joe Smith, the boy I went to school with, to investigate the company.  He was living in New York City at that time.  The address led to an empty lot.  It was another con game.  After that, we only sold to to local buyers.

That fall, Don (Walton) and Delbert went on a job north of Peoria.  We were able to find an empty house at Pattensburg, a small community near Peoria.  We had to move into a second house at Pattensburg before we were able to get one in Washburn, close to Don's work.  Delbert got married and he and his wife, Nellie, took part of the house at Washburn.  It was 1932 and in the midst of the depression.  We were paying about $15 to $25 a month for rent.  Nellie and I found a house in Cazenovia that we could fix up for the summer which we felt we could afford.  We were both expecting babies.  In the summer, Delbert took a job on his own and he and Nellie moved.  Don and Walter took a job closer to Peoria and on August 25, 1932, we moved to a house north of Peoria, along the Illinois river which we shared with Walter and Alice, who were newly married. 

I have no idea what we would have done during the depression years if Dad had not given Don the opportunity in the sawmills.  He had no practical experience in any type of work, except the factory.  While we didn't have much cash, we did have a product that could be traded to farmers.

They were happy years.  We were young, and had our boys.  We had as much as anyone else did.  We learned to cope with problems.  Altogether they are happy memories.

Ethel tells of the death of the youngest of the family,  June

My baby sister died from diphtheria on the same day we moved.  June had just turned eight years old and was the youngest of our family of thirteen children.  Charlotte had been sick at the same time as June, but she recovered.  The local doctor had not diagnosed the illness until it was too late to save June.  As soon as I heard that my little sister had died, I began false labor pains, and wasn't able to go to the funeral.  It was very close to the time for my baby to be born.  After the funeral, Verle took sick.  The folks got a different doctor, who said Verle had diphtheria.  It was then that the state doctors were called in, and we knew for sure what had caused June's death.  We all had to be vaccinated. I had a reaction and broke out in hives, but fortunately it didn't affect the baby.

Don and Walter had been at my folk's the day before Ray was born and had brought Mom and Charlotte home with them.  They were very worried because Mom was blaming herself for June's death and was in a very depressed condition.  When Ray decided to be born the next day, Walter and Alice took Charlotte and Bob back to Wyoming where the folks were living.  Mom in her condition, Don, and the doctor were left to deliver the baby.

After the doctor had left, Mom found Ray was untied and bleeding.  Don and Mom took him to a doctor in Chillicothe who had been recommended by our doctor.  Our doctor had come all the way from Cazenovia, which was 30 miles away. The doctor just couldn't believe Don when he told him he had a new baby in the car.  He took care of Ray, then told Don that in another half hour Ray would have bled to death.  There were no blood transfusions.  Ray had to be kept warm and given liquids all night long.  Mom sat up with him, giving him warm water, keeping warm clothes on him. 

Sometime during the night, Don went to sleep.  Mom couldn't wake him, or maybe she didn't want to.  She then had to keep the fire going too.  Sometime during that long night she realized she was still needed and overcame her depression.

That winter Charlotte became seriously ill with Bright's Disease.  She was still weak from the diphtheria.  We were at the folks and Don told Mom if she wanted to take her to our trusted Dr. Welch he would take her, as we had the best car.  In the morning she called him and Don took them back to Fulton County.  Dr. Welch put her in the hospital at Canton.  He once again saved another life of our family.  We all knew if he had been taking care of June, she would not have died.

Charlotte recovered from the disease, but not without damage she would carry with her.  When she was in her 30's she had many surgeries on her kidney before they finally removed it.  The Brights Disease had  left it damaged.