The District #45 schoolhouse, situated on a corner section in Polk County, Nebraska had four mailboxes at the intersection. The rural mail carrier of the Polk route was my brother, Clyde. I was a first-year teacher at this school. There wasn’t such a thing as a telephone at the schoolhouse. A person would have to go a half-mile to the nearest farmhouse to get help in an emergency.
However, this teacher had it made! I got very ill one school day morning at about 10 o’clock. I knew the mailman would be at the mail box at about 10:30 a.m. because he was always punctual. I hurriedly wrote him a note about my illness to be delivered to my mother, and put it in a sealed envelope that I happened to have in my desk drawer.
Before too long, I heard the hoof of our dependable white mare outside. My mother was in the buggy as was my older sister, Blanche. Blanche was the teacher for my understanding pupils the rest of the day. I returned home with mother and I recall how wonderful that dear feather bed felt when I got to lay down.
Hazel Hill
Polk, Nebraska
Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.
