Decendants of Adam Frantz - Clark County Pioneers Home Page

told me he was named Nicholas because he was born on December 6th), when we hung up our mittens
and were told if we were GOOD we'd find a piece of candy in our mitten, which we did. From then on
everything revolved around being GOOD.
One day between St. Nicholas and Christmas, Dad and Mother drove seven miles with horse and sleigh
to Greenwood to do the Christmas shopping. Money was scarce, so they had to plan carefully to buy a
gift for each of us (all thirteen). When they came home only the groceries were unloaded before dark.
After we had gone to bed they secretly hid the gifts until Christmas eve. During that time Dad also went
to the woods and brought home a beautiful Evergreen - sometimes dragging it several miles. Mother
was busy after we had gone to bed baking cut out cookies which she frosted and decorated with colored
sugar - some to be used to decorate the Christmas tree. We, the kids, strung popcorn, which was later
used by Khris Kingle to trim the tree.
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Emma's narration for the tape, written by Cilla:
The day before Christmas we got up early and several of the older girls were assigned to bake loaves
and loaves of stolen. After a good hearty meal at noon, came bath time in a large galvanized wash tub
placed on the kitchen floor. The reservoir of the old kitchen stove was filled with mater and many
kettles on top of the stove were also filled to assure that there was enough hot water for all of the baths.
The little ones had their bath first, and then up the line until everybody had their bath. Emma's Note:
There wasn't much time to soak and not much water to soak in. (Jean's Note: This is amusing, as after
we had an inside bathroom on our Spencer Road farm near Appleton, my Mother soaked and soaked, to
relax. Or she sat in front of the cook stove on a chair or in front of the furnace register on the living
room floor. She always was cold and ached a lot, with arthritis. It may have been a thyroid deficiency
too, as I have the same problem, so identified.)
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Lyd's narrative, written by Cilla:
Carl August Franz Decendants
Later we had a hurried lunch, using some of the stolen, and then everybody scrambled into their Sunday
best to attend the Christmas eve program at church. Dad and the boys had prepared the sleigh box with
hay, hot bricks, and blankets, with two lanterns at the back. When we were ready to go, the horses with
their sleigh bells, were hitched to the sleigh and away we went. It was three miles to church. When we
arrived it was all lit up for the festivities and program in which we all had a part. There was a 20 foot
tree with decorations and candles, and packages piled under the tree for the children. Before the
program, four men with long poles came to the front and lit the candles. They also had four long poles
with wet clothes wrapped around the top to care for the candles and prevent a fire.
The children's program was interspersed with the children and the congregation singing Christmas
Carols. The church was packed to the hilt with parents and with children too young to take part in the
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