John Ferdinand #3

John Ferdinand lived close to Minnie Van Hierden who became his wife. The family says they courted in the corn fields between their families' homes. On their marriage day (November 21, 1888) they drove across the marsh and sent the dust flying and the next morning the same ground was covered in snow. They were 22 and 17, respectively, when they were married by a Justice of the Peace in Waupun. Minnie's father John served as one of the two witnesses that signed their marriage certificate. I have a photocopy of their decorative marriage certificate which was treasured by family members.

John was a very early riser (4:00 a.m.) and it became the habit of the entire family. He would tease about how tough he was by saying that he chewed poison ivy. John use to water-witch with cherry tree branches. On my first visit to Waupun, family members drove me to a home (then empty) that had long been in the family. John water-witched for a well at this home. The men dug the well and then went in to eat dinner. After dinner they found the well half full of water. This was the home where the oval portrait of John's sisters Augusta hung in an upstairs hallway. I was given that portrait and it now hangs in my home.

John Ferdinand died on a hot day as he was feeding the pigs. He apparently collapsed and lay on the ground for a long time before the family discovered him. The family dog was with him and kept the pigs from bothering his body. He died one month shy of his eighty-eighth birthday, on May 26, 1954. He was buried May 29, 1954 in Waupun.