AUGUST AND ANTONIA [FARNIK] WIRTH
August Wirth was born June 9, 1906, near Pischelville, Nebraska. His
parents were Anna (Dobrichovsky) and August Wirth, Sr. His father
died three days after a hunting accident, and six months before
August was born, leaving his mother, two sisters Bertha and Mary,
and one brother Edward. When August was one year old, his mother
married Joseph Farnik and they had six children: Stazie, Joe, Frank,
Rosie, Arthur, and Henry. August grew up and attended school in the
Verdigre area. After graduation he took the civil service exam and
was qualified for railway mail clerk. That being too much travel, he
gave it up and went to Colorado in the fall of 1925, at the age of
19, to pick corn for Jacob Farnik, Sr. He stayed on to help with
farming. He bought two teams of horses, rented part of the land and
with his share of crop, he purchased the Jesse Beson homestead (320
acres), making a down payment, and made minor repairs to the house
which had been built in 1909.
September 29, 1928, August married Antonia Farnik, daughter of Jacob
and Mary Farnik. After honeymooning in Nebraska, they settled in
their Colorado home, bringing his few possessions - enough to get by
- from his bachelor home. His 29 chickens were moved and half were
stolen that first night. They spent the first winter picking corn.
The root cellar was full of potatoes. Every Saturday eleven sacks
were sorted, sewed and taken to a store in Fort Morgan for $1.25 a
sack. That was the only income. Antonia’s parents gave them a cow
and calf. The depression years were here: drought, grasshoppers ate
crops, chewed fence posts and wood on buildings. Fork handles had to
be stuck in the stacks when not in use lest the hungry hoppers eat
them. One harvest hand wore a blue and white polka dot bandana. The
hoppers ate out all the white spots and left the blue with the dye
in it. The dust bowl in the 30s covered roads, fences, buildings,
and blew out crops. When the crops and prices were better, horses
were replaced with a tractor, F-12 Farmall, and machinery to use
with it. August worked with threshing and corn shelling crews to
supplement their income. Pinching pennies was the order of the day.
Twelve dozen eggs brought $1.50. Only $1.50 worth of groceries was
purchased; that had to last all week.
During World War II rationing was mandatory. Among the items
rationed were: shoes (one pair a year per person), gasoline (32
gallons every two months), meat, sugar, coffee, tires, cigarettes,
butter, and lard. Coffee came in glass jars because tin was needed
for the war effort. For canning fruits, honey or syrup was used.
Crank telephones were installed on barb wire fences in the community
but never went into any town. Electricity came to the area in 1949.
The 1949 blizzard came on the heels of New Year’s Day, January 2,
and lasted a week. Some snow drifts were up to 66 feet high. The
community was marooned and livestock was lost. Cattle walked out of
corrals over huge drifts to free range. Country schools were at a
halt for six weeks.
As income improved for the Wirths, they made additional land
purchases, including the land of nine homesteaders who moved on.
They got newer tractors and machinery and increased the cattle herd.
On living, the Wirths were proud parents of their first
daughter, Betty. The second daughter, Marilou, was born living, and son Eugene was born
living.
Betty married Harold Summers in 1951. They are living in La Habra,
California. Their children: Scott, Randy, Susan and Lee are all
married and live nearby. Marilou married Montie Pevler in 1957.
Their children: Montie, Jr., is living in Sterling, Colorado, Monica
is in college at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling and Mark is
working for a banking firm in La Habra, California. Eugene attended
college at Colorado State University and graduated I 1964. While he
was still in college, he married Marcella Bringelson. She graduated
from N. J. C. in Sterling and also took some classes at C. S. U.
They came home to help with farming and ranching. August passed way
suddenly on January 11, 1977. Then the whole responsibility to carry
on where his father left off fell upon Eugene which was pretty much
of a load for a young man just out of college. But with the help of
his family, he is doing very well. He has a fairly large cattle herd
and has up-dated his tractors and machinery. Eugene and his mother,
Antonia, joined Civil Air Patrol in 1954 and have been active since.
Marcella is also a member. Their daughter Adrianne is working in a
Denver bank. Daughter Luella completed two years at Northeastern
Junior College in Sterling and is now attending Western State
College in Gunnison, Colorado. Son Curtis, his father’s right-hand
man, is a sophomore at Fort Morgan High School (Colorado) and the
foreman on the farm.
Antonia is still living on the home place, raising a garden that she
shares with family and friends. The family looks after her needs.
Pages 465, 466
