Herman and Amanda Born
My grandfather Herman was born on the farm near Hensel, North Dakota on May 24, 1885. In 1913, two days before Christmas, he married Amanda Peters of Kewaunee, Wisconsin. He brought her back to North Dakota, built a farm house for her near Crystal, North Dakota, about two miles away from his father's farm, and there they spent the rest of their lives, farming the plains and raising a family of four boys and two girls. Their youngest boy grew up to become my father.
From the time I was five until the time I was seventeen, we went on vacation from Kansas every summer up to that farm. My grandfather died in 1965; I remember him only as an old man with a thick German accent, but I now like to think of him as he appears in this picture with my grandmother, which was probably taken about the time of their marriage.
The photo to the right was taken in 1914, the year after my grandparents were married. That is probably my grandmother Amanda standing in the front yard. The picture was taken from the southwest corner of the farm, most likely by my grandfather. The photo below is of the west side of the house in 2003.
