LYON COUNTY GENEALOGY

Jens Hinricksen

A LETTER FROM AN OLD FRIEND

My grandparents, Dora and Jens Hinricksen, lived in Lester and we did have occasion to visit them for we lived in Minnesota.

Although my memories of being in Lester are rather faint, I did attend high school my freshman year in 1929-30 in the old Lester school building.

Lester High School was housed in the same building with all the other students (grades 1-12) and perhaps there were but 20-25 students in the assembly room of the high school room upstairs. We, the freshman class, stayed right in the seats of the assembly room and held our classes right there most of the time.

Mr. Faust was the principal or superintendent. He did some teaching too. Edna Hanson (Mrs. Lee Moser) was the secondary teacher.

Some of my freshman classmates were: William Lauck, Leora Schacht, Eunice Bunte, Melva Jean Hanson, Donald Dell.

A small library was located in a small room adjacent to the assembly room and was our only library resource. The social life or school activities could hardly be compared to all the "business” that goes on today.

My grandparents lived in the first house north of main street going north from the railroad depot (This is the home of Miss LuBertha Boom at this writing.) For years my grandfather, Mr. Hinricksen was the school custodian. Illness caused him to be incapable of this work so it became Mrs. Hinrickson’s responsibility and I was her helper. Grandma's sister, Bertha Hass and her husband, Claudius, lived in the first house north of Main Street toward the east. This is now the home of the Earl Knobloch’s. Mr. Claudius Hass had an implement store down town on the south side of Main Street now owned by Mr. Jerry Baatz.

I remember the general store on the corner, the little telephone office run by Gertrude Cunningham, and a banker, Mr. Bert Hewlett.

Perhaps Saturday night was the busiest time of the week in the little town for then everyone shopped for groceries and then there was entertainment—the Lester dance hall.

Written by Dorothy Hinricksen Gandall, Peoria, Illinois.