Reasoner, Joseph C.

Reminiscences

1964-1975, undated

1.26 linear feet (3 document boxes)

MS 182

Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

Open for research

Consult Head, Special Collections Department

Joseph C. Reasoner Reminscences, MS 182, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

Box

Folder

Title

Dates

1

1

Newspaper clippings and photograph

1969-1975

1

2

"The Land-Seekers' Excursion" (Describes Winter 1918/1919 trip to Texas sponsored by the J. C. Inglemann Real Estate Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The purpose of the trip was to promote the sale of land along the Rio Grande River. Reasoner, his brother and his father each purchased ten acres, but it was an unprofitable venture.)

1964 circa

1

3

"4th of July" (Describes disaster averted when Mother found a firecracker smoldering in a rug on the porch and the trip to town (Humboldt) for 4th of July festivities of 1900.)

1964

1

4

"School" (Describes attendance at a one room school house in 1898 and events connected with school. Also covers farm life and the types of chores that children handled at the turn of the century.)

1964

1

5

"A Trip to Chicago" Part I (Describes a train trip to Chicago at the turn of the century to take cattle to market. Covers sales procedures at the Chicago Stockyards.)

1965

1

6

"A Trip to Chicago" Part II (Describes tour of meat packing plant in Chicago, purchase of Reasoner's first new suit and trip back home in passenger train.)

1965

1

7

Joseph C. Reasoner's interview with Clayton Foster (J. C. Reasoner's father, Fred W. Reasoner had worked as a hired hand on the Foster farm before his marriage. Discussion of Foster's memories of Fred Reasoner, what life was like in the area in the 1890s: people, events, forms of entertainment.)

1965

1

8

"Ice Harvest and Iowa Storms" (Describes ice harvesting on West Des Moines River at Humboldt and how it was stored. Also covers ice delivery in town in the 1920s. Discusses summer storms briefly, then describes in detail a blizzard's affect on farm life.)

1965

1

9

"Transportation" (Describes changes in transportation since the turn of the century. Includes incidents with horses, and moving of livestock. Mentions Reasoner's hog feeding business - he supplied hogs to the Fort Dodge Serum Company where their blood was used in the manufacture of hog cholera serum.)

1965

1

10

"Oats" (Part I covers oats from planting to harvest, including fanning, soil preparation, seeding, harrowing, binding, shocking and threshing. Part II includes a step by step description of shocking and stacking, more information on threshing and a brief explanation of rag doll seed testing.)

1965

1

11

Joseph C. Reasoner interviewing Grant Hoffman (Hoffman worked as a fireman for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad out of Boone, Iowa, from around 1906 to 1912. He describes a fireman's duties and recalls interesting moments from his years on the job. He also discusses Kate Shelley and her family.)

1965

1

12

"Old Red Cow" (Describes rescuing a cow from a dredge ditch and the long effort to nurse her back to health.)

1965

1

13

"School Days" (Detailed description of country school house interspersed with anecdotes about teachers. Explanation of the use of the school on Sunday afternoons for Sunday school and church.)

1965

1

14

"Corn" (Describes how seed was selected, rag doll corn test, soil preparation, fall plowing, discing, harrowing, planting, cultivating and harvesting in the early 1900s. Includes a detailed description of corn planter and how it worked.)

1965

1

15

"Food Preserves" (Describes food preparation and preservation techniques at the turn of the century. Includes keeping food cool winter and summer and storage of fruits and vegetables over winter.)

1965

1

16

"Stone Quarries" (Begins with description of limestone formations in Humboldt area and building use, followed by mostly speculative discussion of Indian life prior to white settlement.)

1965

1

17

"Closing-Out Sale" (Describes a farm sale as it would have been between 1910 and 1920: procedure, hiring auctioneer, food for the lunch offered, sale bills, order of items and livestock sold.)

1966

1

18

"My Dog and Lamb" (Part I is about Reasoner's dog, Dash, that he had as a boy. Part II begins with a story of saving a lamb born in a cornfield during a snowstorm, continues with the care of sheep and incidents from Reasoner's boyhood on the farm.)

1966 circa

2

1

"Hog Cholera Vaccine" (Interview by Dr. Stanley Yates on Reasoner's connection with the Fort Dodge Serum Company. From 1915 to 1920, Reasoner vaccinated and fed hogs for the Company. Blood from these hogs was then used for hog cholera serum.)

1971

2

2

"Rag Doll Corn Test" (Describes method used to choose and test seed corn in the early part of the century.)

1975

2

3

"Haying" (Describes harvest of hay, including operation of the hay stacker.)

1975

2

4

"Frank Gotch" (Frank Gotch, a Humboldt native, was a champion professional heavyweight wrestler. Describes Gotch as a person and also discusses a "Frank Gotch Day" in Humboldt, at which a section of bleachers collapsed, causing many injuries. See also folder 1/1 Newspaper Clippings, 1975.)

1975

2

5

"Threshing" (Describes threshing operation, how machine worked and the feeding of the crew.)

1975

2

6

"Cream Separator and Chicago Market" (Covers operation of cream separator and handling of milk and milk products. Also discusses trip to Chicago.)

1975

Artifact Collection

Farming artifacts: Spur (2011-R001.001), hand cornhusker (2011-R001.002), hand corn picker (2011-R001.003), elastrator pliers (2011-R001.004), horse tail bracelet (2011-R001.005), horseshoe interference ring (2011-R001.006)

undated