- "Business Partners to Note 48th Wedding Anniversary"
by Ruth Martin
- FOOTVILLE--A partnership that began with their marriage almost
48 years ago and continued in
- their working together on the farm and later in business
will be celebrated this fall by Mr. and Mrs. Alfred
BERN. The BERNs have the distinction of being deans among the
Footville business folks from the standpoint of their age and
from years of service in the same business, operation of a meat
market.
- Their first introduction to the meat business here in 1921,
almost 35 years ago, came about as a
- result of a bad loan they made to a friend who started a
meat market in Footville and failed. The BERNs, who had been
farmers, were faced with a loss to make up when they were forced
to take over the business. But they tackled the new job with
determination, courage and a desire to practice the Golden Rule,
learning over the years that this made up for the lake of experience
with which they started.
- Mr. and Mrs. BERN took over the building north of the post
office in November 1921, renting the
- structure that is now Smoke's Tavern from the late William
CANARY, Sr. Ten years later they bought the building a half block
north of the post office which they now occupy.
- Even in those days a quarter of a century ago the lot had
a long history. It was purchased from the
- government by James WATSON in 1836 and sold for taxes in
1861. In 1885 it was sold at auction to John R. RYAN for $240.
The late John
FOX and his wife, parents of John and Sylvester FOX, Janesville,
bought it in 1895 and operated a restaurant there for 19 years
before selling it to Mrs. LACEY in 1914.
- Mr. BERN was born in Sweden Nov. 27, 1877, and came to the
United States at the age of 21.
- He worked on farms here for nine years and in the fall of
1907, returned to Sweden for a visit.
- His romance with Mrs. BERN, whom he had known during their
childhood, began on this visit to
- his native land and before he returned to the United States
in the spring of 1908, the couple made plans for her to come
to the United States where they could be married.
- Mrs. BERN arrived here Oct. 10, 1908, and they planned to
be married on his 31st birthday but
- a superstition on the part of his mother resulted in a one-day
delay. She feared that Friday would spell bad luck and prevailed
upon them to wait until the next day, Saturday, Nov. 28, 1908.
- Four children born to Mr. and Mrs. BERN died in infancy and
in 1915 they adopted 7-year-old
- Lillian Marie MYHRVOLD whose father had died leaving her
mother with six small children. Lillian's mother, who died at
Christmastime in 1955, knew her daughter would have a good home
with the BERNs. Lillian was married to Lester JONES, a former
Footville boy, and they now reside in Janesville. They have three
children.
- Mr. BERN built his own large icebox for his meat market,
cooling it in the early days with blocks
- of ice and a refrigeration system. Later a completely automatic
cooling system was installed.
- He added groceries to his stock a few years ago when grocery
stores began to sell meat over the
- counter.
- Mrs. BERN, who was born in Sweden, Sept. 29, 1886, has never
lost her accent in the 48 years
- she has been in this country and she has also retained her
pleasing personality. Friedcakes are a specialty of hers for
she has made them for Ann KJELLAND's Dairy Lunch for the past
six years; before that for Harold WALKER's Cafe.
- In the past eight years Mrs. BERN claims to have made more
than 60,000 of the delicacies sport-
- ing the hole in the center. "More than most women do
in a lifetime," she says.
- A hobby she developed when a young girl in Sweden, that of
weaving rugs, still interests her and
- she works on an old iron frame loom when making the rugs
for herself or her friends.
- The BERNs have some beautiful old things in their home. There
is the copper kettle his parents
- used when making coffee on the boat on their trip to America
58 years ago; a tiny copper luster pitcher that belonged to Mrs.
BERN's great-grandmother; a copper coffee server with its small
alcohol burning lamp; and a tiny covered copper cream pail similar
in design to the early quart milk bucket used in this country.
Mrs. BERN says she used to get a quart bucket full of cream in
Sweden for five cents.
- There is a covered snuff box, Mr. BERN's father made from
a cow horn; a small wooden vase
- bearing the words in Swedish for "East and west but
home is best."
- The most unusual article they brought to this country is
an egg whip made of several small birch
- branches bound together. In the early days of Sweden, the
sugar came in large chunks so they also have a wrought iron sugar
cutter they brought with them.
-
- [Transcriber's note: The photographs linked to above were
not part of the original article. Ebba's maiden name was Johannsen.]
-
- Taken from unknown newspaper (probably the Janesville
Gazette), October 1956.
-
|
