USA > Iowa > Keokuk County > The English River congregation of the Church of the Brethren > Part 5
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The wages received by three of the four hired men with families, employed by the month, were $68 per month on an average. The wage of the fourth, a day laborer, was $3.50 per day. In addition to money wages, each of these four families received perquisites in the form of house, fuel, garden plot, and pasture and feed for horse, cow, pigs, and poultry for home use.
With one exception all of the tenants were renting on a "share-of-crop-and-stock" basis. In general, landlord and tenant each received half of the returns from crop and stock sales. One tenant paid cash rental on the larger part of crop land, including the farmstead. Four of the tenants were sons or sons-in-law of the landlords. Two of them were nephews of the landlords. The other tenants bore no kinship to their landlords.
The prevalence of certain items of farm equipment and machinery is shown from the following statistics. Of the 22 owner operators, 8 had silos, 2 had grain elevators, 16 had gas engines, and 20 had automobiles. Of the 9 tenant operators, 3 had silos, 3 grain elevators, 6 gas engines, and 8 automobiles. Three of the 31 farmers were hiring tractor- plowing done at from $3.00 to $3.50 per acre. The majority of them were driving 5-horse teams to double-bottom plows. "Two-horse" farming is no longer practised in the locality.
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Fourteen of the 31 farmers kept some purebred live stock - horses, cattle, or hogs. Three used registered pure- bred Percheron mares. One had registered Shorthorn cattle and another had registered Poland China hogs. "Pure- breds" seem to be growing in favor in the neighborhood. One farmer who dealt in registered horses and cattle con- ducted the business under a farm name, in partnership with his two sons.
The automobile was considered a means of furthering the farm business, as well as a necessity from the stand- point of church attendance and family visiting. Although it was adopted as a means of conveyance here at a later date than in the adjoining localities and in the nearby vil- lages, it is now looked upon as a necessary farm fixture.
Family Living Conditions. - The average number of rooms per house and the prevalence of certain kinds of modern improvements in the home are shown in the table below.
NUMBER OF HOMES HAVING
CLASSIFICATION AND NUMBER OF HOMES
AVERAGE NUMBER
OF ROOMS PER HOUSE
RUNNING
HOT AND
COLD WATER
BATHROOM
AND
TOILET
CENTRAL
HEATING
SYSTEM
CENTRAL
LIGHTING
SYSTEM
POWER
WASHING
MACHINE
All farm homes (39)
7.7
15
15
11
9
16
Owner homes (22)
8.2
8
8
6
4
10
Tenant homes (9)
8.0
4
4
2
2
3
Hired man homes (4)
5.5
1
1
1
0
1
Retired farmer homes (4)
7.5
2
2
2
3
2
Village homes (8)
5.6
1
1
0
6
0
In addition to those listed above, one farm home had water piped into the kitchen. Another had a sanitary in- door closet. Electric current in two of the homes included
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above was furnished from individual farm plants and stor- age batteries.
None of the homes were supplied with labor saving con- veniences such as a pressure cooker, fireless cooker, or vacuum cleaner. With access to a "high line" which will provide electric current for village and open country in parts of southeastern Iowa, many farm homes of the local- ity will doubtless resort to the use of electrical appliances. One family had already installed a motor-driven washer. Two of the homes occupied by owners had sleeping porches - not in use, at the time - and two had glassed-in sun porches or parlors.
In general, the farmsteads of the neighborhood were neat and well kept. Houses, barns, and outbuildings showed evidence of upkeep, from the standpoint of both repair and painting. The houses and barns were large. Eight of the 31 farmsteads operated by owners and tenants had two barns, one large and the other medium in size. Barns were well supplemented by other buildings including cribs, gran- aries, hog houses, machine sheds, garages, and occasion- ally a workshop. A number of the farmsteads showed a poor arrangement of buildings, with regard to convenience in choring and to protection from disagreeable weather. The four country homes occupied by retired farmers com- pared favorably with all others. Gardens and lawns in connection with these homes were especially well cared for. All of the 39 farmsteads had large lawns which gave evi- dence of care and attention.
The type of architecture of the houses seemed out of balance. Often the house appeared to stand out too con- spicuously against an open skyline rather than to blend with natural surroundings. This was true especially where no windbreak or grove of trees was located at the rear of the farmstead. In all cases there was a lack of coziness
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
and attractiveness which could be provided from the plant- ing of additional trees and shrubbery, the former at irregu- lar distances in groups at the rear of the farmstead and the latter in properly arranged clumps on the lawn.
Farm orchards showed unmistakable evidence of lack of care. Twenty of the farmsteads had traces of old or- chards which had disappeared through neglect. Young orchards ten to fifteen years old on twelve of the farms appeared fairly thrifty. A young orchard was being set out on one farm. Three of the farms had no orchards. No home was without a vegetable garden. Several of the fam- ilies had access to small fruits, including strawberries, bush fruits, and grapes.
The prevalence of musical instruments in 47 homes is shown below.
CLASSIFICATION AND NUMBER OF FAMILIES
PIANO
ORGAN
PHONOGRAPH
All families (47)
11
15
11
Owner families (22)
8
8
8
Tenant families (9)
3
4
1
Hired man families (4)
0
0
0
Retired farmer families (4)
0
0
2
Village families (8)
0
3
0
Four of the homes had both a piano or organ and a phonograph. General music was reported played in twenty- three of the homes, which were provided with musical in- struments.
Reading matter in the homes consisted of books and church publications, including the Gospel Messenger, daily papers, local papers, farm journals, and general magazines. Home libraries, most of which consisted of books of a re- ligious nature for the most part, were not widely used, ex- cept by ministers or others interested in church work, Sun-
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
day school, or Christian Workers' Meeting. The average number of books in the home library and the number of families which subscribed to the Gospel Messenger and to local and daily newspapers are shown below.
CLASSIFICATION AND NUMBER OF FAMILIES
NUMBER
OF BOOKS
MESSENGER GOSPEL
LOCAL
NEWSPAPER
DAILY
NEWSPAPER
All families (47)
60
46
33
35
Owner families (22)
82
21
18
16
Tenant families (9)
52
9
9
9
Hired man families (4)
22
4
2
2
Retired farm families (4)
60
4
0
3
Village families (8)
33
8
4
5
Twenty-nine of the 47 families subscribed to the Mission- ary Visitor or the Brethren Year Book in addition to the Gospel Messenger. All of these publications are issued by the Brethren Publishing House at Elgin, Illinois.
The local papers taken included the Keokuk County News, the Sigourney Review - both published at Sigour- ney, the county seat - the North English Record and the Keota Eagle. No local paper is published in either South English or Kinross. Seven families took two local papers and seven took two daily papers.
The daily papers which were taken included the Des Moines Register and Leader, the Drover's Journal, the Davenport Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Herald and Examiner, the Cedar Rapids Republican, and the Kan- sas City Star, listed in order of the number of subscribers.
Among the 47 families there were 75 subscriptions to farm journals. The different journals with the number of families taking each were : Wallaces' Farmer, 28; Suc- cessful Farming, 13; Farm Journal, 11; Iowa Homestead,
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
9; Breeder's Gazette and Country Gentlemen, 3 each; Farm and Fireside, 2; and Power Farming, Farm and Home, Kimball's Dairy Farmer, Indiana Farmer, American Rab- bit Journal, and Spotted Poland China Booster, 1 each.
The general magazines which were taken with the num- ber of families taking each were : Ladies' Home Journal, 6; Pictorial Review and McCall's, 3 each; World Outlook, Saturday Evening Post, Today's Housewife, and Christian Herald, 2 each; and Youth's Companion, Mother's Maga- zine, American, Pathfinder, Woman's Home Companion, and Modern Priscilla, 1 each. Fifteen of the 47 families took no general magazines. One family took 4 general magazines, in addition to 3 farm journals and the Gospel. Messenger.
Participation in Recreational and Social Activities. - Participation in recreational and other social activities de- pends to some extent on the available leisure time, which in turn may depend on the length of the work day. The length of work day, based on the breakfast and supper hour inclusive, ranged from 5: 30 A. M. to 8: 00 P. M. The serv- ing time of breakfast averaged 6:00 o'clock for the 35 families engaged in active farm operations and 6: 15 o'clock for the 12 retired farmer and village families. The time of serving supper averaged 6: 45 and 6: 10 o'clock respect- ively. After a deduction of 45 minutes for breakfast and 1 hour for dinner was made, the actual work day was 11 hours long.
The pressure of farm work was given by several of those who were interviewed as the cause of too little family visit- ing in the neighborhood. In 36 of the 47 families, visiting was limited to Sundays. The other families visited during week days also, four of them on week day afternoons and three of them on week day evenings. The visiting of 29
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
families was chiefly among relatives and church people. That of the 18 other families was less limited to families of the Brethren denomination. The Sunday visits usually followed the morning church service, until chore time in the evening. As many as three or four families often par- ticipated in these gatherings, where all enjoyed the sociabil- ity which accompanies a well-prepared Sunday dinner.
Eighteen replies to the question, "Do people visit as much as formerly?", were in the negative. The principal reasons given for this were lack of time and failure to be sociable. Chief among the suggestions for bettering this situation was "Open the homes more than we do", which was given by 9 of the 18 interviewed who thought people visited less than formerly. Seven of these 9 suggestions were further emphasized with, "encourage our young folks to be together", "have well planned entertainments", "plan with them and not for them", "have well directed programs and games", "have parties like we used to have", "provide wholesome entertainment", and "have more so- ciability". Other suggestions for bettering the situation in regard to visiting included : "encourage young folks to meet to play games", "provide books and magazines of general interest", "learn to be more sociable", "be more neighborly", "take time to go during the week", and "have more social gatherings".
Recreations in the home included reading, music, games, Bible study, and church work. In eighteen instances, read- ing and music constituted the principal recreational activ- ities. In three instances, music alone was regarded as affording enough pastime. Seven families which had no musical instruments found sufficient diversion in reading. Four families played games and two enjoyed trips to the woods, in addition to music and reading. Four families gave reading and work and two families gave Bible study
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
and church work as pastimes. The seven other families specified no definite pastime or recreational activity.
Thirty-six answers to the question, "Do you favor games in the home?", were in the affirmative and seven were in the negative. Four replies were to the effect that games of the right kind, only, were approved. Forty-five of the parties questioned were opposed to card playing. Two saw no "harm in cards if played properly", that is, if played without cheating or gambling. Flinch, checkers, and chess were played in two homes where cards were disapproved. With one exception, all parties interviewed were opposed to dancing.
For the most part, regular social gatherings within the neighborhood of the local congregation are limited to the Christian Workers' Meeting which is conducted by adults and young people at the church each Sunday evening. The program rendered at this meeting is more religious in nature than is the average program of the Epworth League, the Christian Endeavor, or the Baptist Young People's Union. The primary aim of the local Christian Workers' group is in accord with that of the parent organization "to do definite practical Christian work. It is not an aid society or social club but it is the church organized for work - the service department of the church."56 Locally the meetings are regarded as "social" in nature, however. The local group regarded itself as constituting a part of the per- sonnel of the "Society". Through careful planning of the program all members of the church, young people es- pecially, served as leaders or other participants of the Sun- day evening meetings.
A larger local gathering regarded as social in nature takes place annually on the Fourth of July. This centers at the church. The greater part of the day is given over
56 See Brethren Year Book:, 1920, p. 25.
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
to a sermon of a patriotic nature and to a basket dinner which follows it. The program is continued at one of the homes during the evening where the program consists of games and "visiting". Formerly adults and young people met separately. The plan adopted the last two years where- by all meet together is proving more satisfactory. Prac- tically all families attend these meetings. Only three fam- ilies reported attendance at outside Fourth of July cele- brations.
The need for more social gathering - group activities of a social nature - is felt by many persons of the con- gregation. Seventeen of the 47 parties interviewed, chief- ly leaders in the church, expressed a desire for games or other recreational activities in which adults and young people might participate. Some suggestions as to just what these games or activities should be were given. Three were in favor of baseball, and seven were in favor of games in which all could take part.
Opinions as to where these activities should be held dif- fered. Two of the persons who expressed a desire for them favored the church as a meeting place. Ten of the inform- ants opposed the church as a recreation center, and five were undecided on this question. Those who opposed the church as a meeting place gave no definite reasons, while those who favored it held that people might as well meet at the church as elsewhere for all properly supervised activities.
The local congregation, as well as the community, has lacked literary society work for the twenty years preced- ing the survey. The last "literaries" conducted by the young folks were held at the Locust Grove schoolhouse, one and one-half miles south of the church, during the winter of 1899-1900. The programs consisted of songs, recitations, and debates. These meetings were recalled with pleasant
72
THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
recollections by a majority of the persons who were inter- viewed.
A revival of interest in the "old time spelling school" occurred during the winter of 1903-1904 in connection with a "thousand word" contest which was conducted through- out the county by the county superintendent of schools, but no attempt was made locally at continuing these spelling programs during winters following.
The majority of the persons visited regarded the Chautau- qua and the lyceum course as beneficial "community" activ- ities. It is during the last decade only, however, that they have had the privilege of attending the Chautauqua. A few of them have attended the five-day Chautauqua held regularly at South English the past several seasons. Most of those who have not attended, attributed their lack of at- tendance to the stress of farm work or to the fact that cer- tain numbers of the program were not up to standard in quality. The number of families represented by the at- tendance of at least one member at one Chautauqua pro- gram during the past year is shown below.
CLASSIFICATION AND NUMBER OF FAMILIES
CHAUTAUQUA
LYCEUM
STATE FAIR
COUNTY FAIR
All farm families (39)
34
24
25
Owner families (22)
21
14
13
Tenant families (9)
9
6
8
4
Hired man families (4)
3
3
3
1
Retired farm families (4)
1
1
1
0
Village families (8)
5
5
2
2
Lyceum or other entertainment courses have been pro- moted irregularly by the high school pupils of South Eng-
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
lish and Kinross. Attendance at these programs, which have consisted of lectures and musical numbers, was limited to one or more persons from 29 of the 47 families during the past year.
In five of the families which contributed to Chautauqua and lecture course attendance the children only attended. Four families not represented in the attendance at Chautau- quas and lecture courses as specified above attended one or more special lectures given in the church during the year preceding the survey.
Attendance at State and county fairs was limited usually to one or two persons per family. "The husband or the boys go occasionally or were there once" is characteristic of the majority of the replies to the question concerning attendance at the fairs.
Lack of greater attendance at the State fair is due in part to inconvenience in making the trip. The State fair is held at Des Moines, a day's journey from South English by railroad. The trip may be made direct from Harper, nine miles south, in three or four hours. It may be made by auto, also, provided the roads are favorable. The county fair is held at What Cheer, some twenty miles west. It is easily accessible by train. Until recently this fair has given very little attention to the exhibition of farm produce, stock, and poultry or to other aspects of farming and rural living.
Four of the farmers who had never attended the State or county fairs held that a fair "is a good thing" and that "it makes for better farming". Two others expressed the idea that some sort of a local agricultural fair might be found worth while.
Membership in Farm Organizations and Cooperation. - Only 8 of the 39 farmers were Farm Bureau members. One of these was president of the township unit and another
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
was a director of the county organization. The president of the county organization, not a member of the Brethren group and not included in the survey, lives in the neighbor- hood of the congregation, within a half mile of the church building.
Ten of the 39 farmers believed they got definite aid from the Farm Bureau, 19 expressed themselves as getting no aid from this organization, and 10 were undecided on this point. Six of the 13 replies to the question, "Can the Farm Bureau be made a definite means of helping the farmer?", were in the affirmative. These were qualified with "if they get a practical man for county agent", "if farmers will take an interest in it", "if farmers get thoroughly organized", "it gives help indirectly now", and "it will prove its value in time". The remainder of the 13 replies were in the form of, "don't know since I don't attend the meetings", "can't tell, yet", and "it's too new to tell much about it".
Several farmers held memberships in the Farmers' Union, an organization centered in the community west of South English, although the advisability of maintaining two farm organizations was questioned by some of the mem- bers, who were eager to know what the Farmers' Union of the State planned to do for the farmers.
A number of farmers included in the study were members of the Farmers' Shipping Association, an organization started recently as a means of securing a more direct mar- ket for the sale of live stock and for the purchase of farm supplies. Several who had been members had withdrawn from this organization, on the charge of mismanagement. Those who had withdrawn were "satisfied with the old way of selling and buying". Their feeling that the profits taken by local stock buyers and by the Farmers' Grain and Lum- ber Company of South English were exorbitant apparently became less pronounced after a trial at actual cooperation
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
in the Shipping Association. Seven farmers included in the study held stock in the Farmers' Grain and Lumber Company and six held stock in the Farmers' Savings Bank, both of South English.
The spirit of cooperation so characteristic of earlier times in the neighborhood of the Brethren congregation was re- garded by several of the farmers with whom it was dis- cussed as being noticeably "on the wane". Among the probable reasons given for this were that the farmers were too busy to cooperate and the "change of the times" dur- ing the preceding 20 or 30 years.
Fifteen of the 39 farmers included in the study responded to the question, "What is the biggest problem confronting farmers of your neighborhood or community?" These re- sponses included "better roads", "cooperation", "learn- ing to cooperate", "price fluctuation; market drops when cattle and hogs are ready", "lack of leadership", "securing labor", "control of packing house profiteers and land speculators", "prevention of strikes working against in- terest of farmers", "unsteady market; price is usually off when hogs are ready", "being forced to sell stock at prices below cost of production", "low prices of produce and high cost of farm necessities", "improvement of farm life", "high cost of tankage and other feeds which the farmers have found necessary", and "hard to tell which problem is biggest".
Hard surfaced roads were favored by 18 of the 47 parties who were interviewed and opposed by 16. Six of the re- sponses which favored surfaced roads were qualified with "surfaced roads must come in Iowa", "we need all the improvements we can get on roads", "I'm working hard to get them", "they are coming in Iowa", "if secured in a conservative way", and "if for nothing more than the com- ing generation". Five of the responses opposing surfaced
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
roads were emphasized with the expressions, "we're not ready for them", "dirt roads are good enough", or "dirt roads are satisfactory".
At the time the survey was conducted roads of the local- ity were almost impassable. Owing to heavy rains, poorly- drained places were rutted until cars could scarcely be driven over them. Owing to this situation the percentage of answers favoring surfaced roads may have been higher than it would have been during a period when roads were good.
According to the study, members of the Brethren con- gregation are sharing an interest in and giving passive support to governmental activities. Three-fourths of the eligible male voters voted at the general election in Novem- ber, 1918. "Voting was heavy" at a recent election on the question of the consolidation of local public schools. Some of the women reported voting on this occasion. The per- centage of eligibles in the congregation who vote at the elections for local, State, and national offices appears to be increasing.
The congregation carried its part in the financial support of general activities during the World War. The rumor of one or two attempts to evade selective service exists but there is no substantial evidence in proof of the fact. Three of the young men included in the survey entered the service under the last selective draft. Two of these were in train- ing less than two months when the Armistice was signed and the other served a year in motor corps work overseas.
Morality and Civil Life. - The determination of the moral tone or standard of any neighborhood or community is exceedingly difficult. Moral codes embody more than a registration of proceedings on the record books of county, township, village, or church organization. Many immoral
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
acts escape the attention of courts and church groups, while others appear to lie outside of the reach of either of these.
The settlement of difficulties through the church rather than by law credits the local congregation with few records of court proceedings. This, however, does not mean that the church method of procedure continues to be as efficient as formerly or that it is now held by all parties interested as being entirely satisfactory. The opinion that courts would settle quarrels of neighborhood significance more quickly, more quietly, and more justly appears to be gain- ing ground in the community.
During the past twenty years the local church dealt with not less than ten cases each of which has assumed commu- nity-wide publicity. That these might have been handled as satisfactorily and with less publicity through civil courts is probable. Two families of the congregation were dis- solved through divorce within the past decade. Three illegitimate births, in connection with each of which families of the church were implicated, occurred during this same decade. The larger community surrounding the congrega- tion and including the villages of South English and Kin- ross is recorded as having ten divorces and twenty-five illegitimate births within the two decades preceding the survey in 1920.
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