Day Ahnentafel......Site Info

8. Pearl Iva[4] Hackett (Herman Bennett, 17) (A9). Born, 15 Mar 1881, in North Freedom, Sauk Co., WI. Died, 5 Jun 1927, in Park Rapids, Hubbard Co., MN[2]. Census: 1910, in Straight River Twp., Hubbard Co., MN. Census: 1900, in North Freedom, Sauk Co., WI. Occupation: Teacher.

Hackett (1949): "Pearl showed rare qualities, studious in school, quiet and reserved, yet very friendly and highly esteemed by all. She had finished school and qualified as a teacher when in 191 her parents moved to Park Rapids, Minn., and there she taught until she was married in 1906. The Days acquired a farm near Park Rapids where their children were born and reared. [She had a]... keen interest in education and all matters of public welfare."

Pearl's Wedding Dress

Ruby Mueller (1973), comments by Lyle Day: "I was born on the Dr. Curtis farm, Mildred and Vera on the Dries farm on the Osage Road on past where Aunt Glad and Uncle Fred lived. I believe me lived next on what was later the Glantz Place. Just shortly before it was time for me to start school the folks built house picture 2 next to the fairgrounds. Later the porch was enlarged and also the kitchen. [Hand pump (well, cistern pump & drain, before that, pump on porch with large handle. Round washtub in front of oven door for bath.]

"two bedrooms and hall upstairs. We lived here until we went to Ohio. You were 2 yr. old when we went [Went to Ohio with Butlers and they sort of followed then. Too muddy. Weasel kept getting chickens-mother and father went out in night shirts trying to shoot weasel...] lived there 1 yr. Then we moved back and lived on the Heath Farm. Lived there between 3 & 4 yr. Marian born and then to the Michael Place where Ruth was born. [Butlers were good friends and so were the Campbells, the auto mechanic with the college degree. Porch l.r. down at least 1 br upstairs. BR for parents, K, DR down, cellar with lift up door and narrow stairs. As a child 3-4 years old, shared with Ruby. Mildred & Vera, 1 double bed.]

Lyle Day (1995): "My mother each year ripped worn out clothing or cloth into carpet rags. She would start the tears and I would finish this tear so that we had yards of carpet rag strips which needed to be sewed together. My mother sewed them together on the sewing machine one after the other without breaking the thread. I would cut them apart with scissors and start a rag ball. We would have a rag ball about 6-8 inches in diameter. About once a year we would take all the rag balls to a woman who had a loom and she would weave the rag balls into rag rugs. These we would use in our home.

"Another job that I did with my mother was churn butter. We had a barrel churn. As I turned the band, the cream was continuously mixed. It made a noise like Ker-plunk each time the barrel turned over. After awhile the cream turned to butter so that we had butter and butter milk. We would open the barrel churn and let the butter milk drain out into a separate container. Then we would add water and turn the churn to rinse the butter and get rid of the butter milk still in the butter. this caused the butter to become a compact chunk or ball, then we would take the butter out of the barrel churn and put it in a large wooden bowl. The rinse water was saved for the pigs. We would use a wooden paddle to mix the butter. This caused the remaining butter milk to come out. When the butter was completely mixed it was placed in crocks- the largest were about 5 lbs. The butter was kept in a cool place and ready for our daily use. Sometimes if we had more butter than we needed we would take it to the grocery store and get credit to buy groceries.

"Another job that we had was quilting. The quilt was put together- cloth, filling, cotton, or wool with the top pieced from blocks sewed together in a pattern, like a crazy quilt, with no pattern or a stylized pattern. This was stretched out and pinned to a quilting frame. Quilting involved stitching the quilt material with needle and thread. The finer the stitches the better, the stitching was according to a pattern. Each side was stitched as far out as we could reach. After quilting all four sides, we would roll the quilt on the frame to provide another area for quilting. This would continue until the whole thing was quilted. Then it was unrolled and taken off the frame. The quilt was then completed by adding a top and bottom. Quilting was usually done when Grandma Gulliford came to take part. She loved to quilt.

"Another job involved spring housecleaning. This involved taking furniture out of the room, picking up the rug and cleaning the room. The rug was placed on the clothes line and beaten with a carpet beater. I was always anxious to beat the dust out of the rug. We had no electric power. The only cleaning equipment was the carpet sweeper and broom. Often, the chairs were given a coat of varnish, curtains were washed and the carpet was put back down, curtains hung back up and furniture put back into place. Housecleaning was done one room at a time and continued for several days. The whole family was involved. My mother was in charge.

"Once a week a batch of bread needed to be baked. I was the 4th child so we were a family of six. The flour and other material was mixed together and placed in a large aluminum dish pan and allowed to rise overnight. In the morning it was mixed with added flour and put to rise again; next it was mixed down and formed into loaves and biscuits. Usually a large pan of biscuits and about six loaves of bread. At times I would get my hands in the dough. I cannot remember ever having boughten bread. We always used white flour.

A newspaper notice: "H.E. Day received a message Wednesday telling of the death of Mrs. Day at the hospital to which she was taken a little more than 2 weeks ago. Death came unexpectedly and was not anticipated, although the patient had been ailing for several months."

Vera Stephens: "M. d. in June of '27 at age 46. Ruth was a year old. Cause t.b. of the meninges caused by cracked vertebrae, infection from being run over by back wheels of spring wagon. No dr. could diagnose--tho't it was menopausal trouble."

Obituary: Pearl Iva Hackett was born in Sauk Co., Wisconsin, March 15, 1881. She lived there until grown to womanhood. At the age of 17 years, she was converted and united with the Methodist Church, of which she remained a member and constant worker so long as she was able to do so. For several months, she worked as president of the WCTU organization in Park Rapids.

"At the age of eighteen years, she began teaching school, spending two years at this work in Wisconsin. When twenty years of age, she moved with her parents to Hubbard Co., where she continued her work as a teacher for five years. She was then married to Herbert E. Day, of Hartford, Mich., and with the exception of one year, when the family lived at Windham, Ohio, she has been a resident of this county."

She married Herbert Edwin Day (7) (A8).