Felix and Louis Beer

The early Swiss who settled in St. Henry spoke Romanschamong themselves but it became necessary to learn English in order to communicatewith others.  They were veryisolated in the country, without roads and with no means of communication.  They suffered through winter blizzards,summer fires, grasshopper plagues and droughts.  The farmers grew wheat, barley, corn, oats, potatoes and allof the things they had been unable to grow in the Alps.  They canned vegetables, dried meat, madesauerkraut, made jelly from wild berries, churned butter and made cheese to helpthem through the winter.

When they could, they slaughtered a pig, cow or goat fromthe herds.  Winter months were spent in quiet and solitude.  They often had to rely on snow shoes andsleighs to get around.  Theygreatly missed being able to mountain ski.

Summer meant long days of hard work from sun-up until night. Furrows were dug with the horseand plow, and seeds were planted by hand.  Grain was cut with a binder pulled by horses.  Bundles were stacked by hand intoshocks.  Hay was mowed, turned todry and finally pitched by hand and hauled to the barn for winter feed.  In later years they would have threshingcrews come which was a highlight of the season.  The thresher would come steaming in with the whistle blowingand 16-18 men on the crew.  Housewives,who had prepared for several days before, were ready to feed the hungry crew, sometimefor several days, including lunches which had to be taken out into the field.

The housewife took great pride in keeping an immaculatehouse.  Among her duties were:  making soap from waste lard; caring forthe vegetable garden; preserving meat and vegetables; and making candles.  A small flock of sheep was kept toprovide wool.  After the sheep weresheared, she would wash the wool and either spin it into thread for knitting oruse it as batting for quilts.  Sheknitted all the socks, mittens and sweaters for her family.  She stitched all of their clothing byhand before she had a sewing machine.  In addition to this, she often went into the fields to helpher husband.  The St. Henry housewifewas never lonely.  She enjoyed aclose and friendly relationship with her neighbors and they often got togetherfor warm social gatherings where "woman talk" could be exchanged.  They were always ready to help eachother in times of sickness and childbirth.

The children enjoyed a happy and secure life.  The younger children played with handmadetoys and dolls, and were lovingly tended by their elder siblings.  The older children went to school wherethey enjoyed games that required nothing more than imagination.  They played Ante-Ante-Over, Crack theWhip, I Spy, and Hide and Seek.  Whennot doing their homework, the boys went into the field to help their father andthe girls worked in the house with their mother.  There was always plenty of work for them to do.

They found a good home in St. Henry and built a good lifefor themselves. There are numerous descendants of these early Swiss still livingin Le Sueur County, as well as all over Minnesota.