Skip to main content

When Dad was a Hobo

Wow. Did I just write that title? When Dad was a Hobo? My Dad, Russell Mesenbrink, was anything but a hobo. When I think of a hobo, I think of a bum, somebody traveling around, living off the handouts of others, but that certainly wasn't Dad. He worked his whole life. He did everything he could to make a living, even in the Great Depression.

According to Wikipedia, the term hobo originated in the late 1800s. A hobo is a migratory worker and is different from a tramp or a bum. A tramp is a migratory non-worker, and a bum neither travels nor works. One thought on the origin of the word is that it derives from "hoe boy" or farm worker.

So when I think about that, it pretty well describes my Dad in the mid to late 1930s. He traveled west from Iowa, partially to see relatives who lived in Idaho and Montana, but also to work. He did this two or three times at least. But most significantly, he hopped trains to get there. A lot of people did it during the depression years, so he certainly wasn't alone.

In a 1935 card to his parents from Gillette, Wyoming, he wrote that he was on his way to his Uncle John's (Mesenbrink) and that he was waiting for a straight through train. In the late 1930, John lived in Moyie Springs, Idaho. Dad's route probably took him from Denison, Iowa, through Omaha, Nebraska, across Nebraska into Gillette, Wyoming, then northwest through Billings, Butte, Missoula, Montana, and then into northern Idaho.

Following are picture that Dad had of his trips. His captions are included.


Dad mentions the "jungles" in this photo. I didn't know what that meant until I found out it was a hobo encampment.

This photo and others mention Nielsen ranch. This may have been the Hans Nielsen ranch at Pendleton, Oregon.




These two pictures were taken in 1940, around Miles City, Montana.

It wasn't all work. The sign says Antlers Hotel, but I'm not sure where or when this was taken. I suspect the women and child in the picture are relatives.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Origins of the Squibb Family

By all accounts, the Squibbs came from England. According to Lawrence G. Blochman, in his book  Doctor Squibb , "The earliest known English Squibb is believed to have been made a yeoman by Edward IV in the fifteenth century. His grandson was Great John the Yeoman of Dorsetshire. Great John's grandson, Nathaniel Squibb, came to Pennsylvania early in the eighteenth century, settled in Chester County and founded a populous family...." Most Squibb families today would trace their ancestry to this Nathaniel or at least to Robert Squibb who is thought to be his son. There are few records of him, despite the generally thorough records kept by his Quaker faith. Nevertheless, later Squibbs were in fact Quakers. But exactly when they took on this faith isn't clear. One early Robert Squibb actually held title to a large part of New Jersey in the late 1600s. Whether he ever set foot on that soil is doubtful. Some of the Squibbs were important officials and served in various
3 comments
Read more

John Griest - A Pennsylvania Pioneer

On my mother's side, is an ancestor named John Griest. He lived in Pennsylvania from 1694 to 1751. John's daughter, Sarah, married William Squibb. While most of us will leave no evidence of our existence, John Griest did leave a few things to remember him by. Probably most significant is the office building at the Susquehanna Memorial Gardens near York, Pennsylvania. This building was originally larger, and at another location in York. This beautiful picture was taken by Diane Bowders and published on Yorkblog.com. John Griest built this building around 1740 at its original location on what is now the Lincoln Highway in York. In 1962 it was taken down to make way for a shopping mall and rebuilt at the cemetery. At that time the building looked something like this: The sturdy building was known as Ye Olde Valley Inn, Beard's Inn, etc. and was originally built to protect John's family from Indians, with whom he didn't always have the best relationship. Gries
Post a Comment
Read more

Where Did That Dark Complexion Come From?

When I got my DNA results back, the biggest surprise I had was in all the people from the southern states who I shared DNA with. I'm pretty sure that a lot of it is from Salucia Sophronia Squibb , but that certainly doesn't explain it all. The only other unknown line, is that of Martha Brennan Davis , mother of Lillian Davis Stephenson, who was mother of my grandfather, Fred Stephenson. I have thought she was Irish, probably an Irish immigrant, and probably related to other Brennans of Galesburg, Illinois, but there is evidence she was from Indiana. Besides the unexplained southern DNA matches, I have little Irish DNA on this line, not enough for Martha Brennan to be full blooded Irish. But more importantly, the Stephensons had dark complexions. I honestly don't know beyond that where the dark hair and eyes came from. Here is a picture of Lillian Davis Stephenson, my great grandmother. Notice the dark hair, deep set, dark eyes. She doesn't look Irish. Her featur
1 comment
Read more