52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 20
Prompt – Travel
Last week I had an error in the birth
of Patrick and Mary's second child. He (named George Windsworth
Sullivan) was actually born September 28, 1924. If Patrick served
his full 2 year sentence he would not have been out of prison until
April 1924. Their second child was born 5 months after that presumed
date of release. Did they release prisoners early in the 1920's?
Probably.
Many years ago I scanned to our
computer many of Bill's parents photos. There was bins and boxes
full. One of the keepsakes that I found in this treasure trove was
little pocket sized notebooks that Bill's grandfather, Arthur Jahnke
had kept. They were the notes of his trips away from their home in
Killaly, Saskatchewan. There are 9 notebooks dated between 1936 and
1967. Arthur who had taken a bookkeeping course in his youth
recorded all of his expenses of their travel trips.
The notebook of 1936 is their return
trip home to Killaly, Saskatchewan from Selah, Washington. Arthur,
Ida and their 3 children moved to Washington in 1933 to join his
brother Leonhard Jahnke in fruit farming. Arthur had decided to rent
out his farm in Saskatchewan to give it a go. As it turned out, Arthur Jahnke
was homesick for Saskatchewan and after 3 years decided to return to
his farm in Killaly, Saskatchewan.
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| 1936 Notebook Page 1 |
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| 1936 Notebook Page 2 |
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| 1936 Notebook Page 3 |
If you read down the right side of the
pages, you can follow their journey like a road map. I love how
Arthur Jahnke put it; “Started for Home June 11”. I guess he
never felt at home in Selah, Washington.
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| 1936 Roadside Picnic. Herb, Ida & Clara |
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| 1936 Car and Trailer Loaded Up For Home. Herb & Clara |
Gas was cheap - 4 gallons of gas for 94
cents. I love how he subtotals each page.
Their first fill up was at Quincy,
Washington which was about 80 miles down the road. Besides buying
gas, Arthur Jahnke also noted on the left side of page 1 that he bought a
tire and tube for $5.30 and the bolts were .45 cents. They also
bought groceries such as bacon for .48 cents and bread and milk for
.27 cents. The first night stay was at Cour'd'alene and only cost
$1,75.
This trip had to be murder on their
tires as noted by the number of times, tires, tubes, bolts were
added.
At their next stop in Cranbrook they paid
.85 cents for bolts, $1.05 for a tire tube. The tire plus tire tube plus
work came to $7.14. Meanwhile their cabin in Cranbrook was only
$2.00.
Their next stop was in Lethbridge where
they bought 2 new tires for $29.30 and the two tire changes cost .50
cents each. Again their cabin was only $1.50. The next day by the
time they got to Swift Current, Arthur Jahnke had to buy another tire for
$5.50. Their last night's cabin was at Morse and was only $1.50.
Their groceries was $1.45 for milk, cereal, meat & potatoes, can
milk and coffee. The total cost for gas on this trip is $20.78.
I discussed with Clara Hoffart what the following two pages in this notebook were all about.
Clara said that these were the summaries of the farm animals and the wheat and rye from the Killaly Farm. Since they returned in June, they helped the people who rented the farm until harvest was over. Then they divided it up according to their prearranged agreement. I am not surprised that Arthur Jahnke had drawn up an agreement. His notebooks show how meticulous he was keeping track of their money.
Had I decided not to scan these notebooks of their travel costs, I would have missed out on Arthur Jahnke's trait of meticulous bookkeeping. The notebook paints a vivid picture of the prices of food, gas and tires. I surmise the road home must have been rough, judging by the number of tires he replaced. The summary of his farm animals, wheat and rye gives me a glimpse into his financial state in the midst of the 1930's depression.
Wendy
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