The Seeman Pheasant Farm of Miller, South Dakota

Mary Yost (right) and her sister

Nothing says "South Dakota" to the Seeman/Yost family like the ring-necked pheasant.

It all began in the early 1960s when Jack Seeman and his brother Jerry Yost wondered if they could raise pheasants in captivity.  They decided to find out.  But Jack moved out of state and Jerry's day job as a plumber kept him too busy to tend to the pheasants alone.  Their mother, Mary Yost, helped out "for something to do" and "to keep busy."  Mary, Jerry, and the pheasant farm ended up on land on the northwest edge of Miller.

Mary started out knowing nothing at all about raising pheasants, but learned quickly and gained experience.  There was no shortage of things to do on the Seeman Pheasant Farm.

In the fall, breeding stock for the following year had to be selected.  Typically about 65 hens were chosen, and along with the roosters, they needed to be cared for through the frigid South Dakota winter.

In the spring, the birds were put in pens with a ratio of six to nine hens to one rooster.  Mary's pens had boards on the sides to prevent the roosters from seeing each other, keeping their minds on the task at hand rather than on fighting.  In nature, hens lay their eggs in nests, but in captivity, they lay them on the ground, so the eggs needed to be collected frequently to keep them from being broken or eaten by the flock.  Each hen lays 50-60 eggs during the spring and summer seasons, resulting in around 3500 eggs that needed to be collected; about half of these would end up hatching.  Mary collected eggs at least once a day, and used a spoon secured to the end of a stick to avoid having to enter the pens and potentially upsetting the birds, resulting in broken eggs.

The eggs were placed in an incubator and later candled to determine which eggs were viable and which were not.  The process of candling involves holding the egg in front of a bright light to see if there is an embryo forming inside.  Mary would do this at night.  Fertile eggs were put back in the incubator and the others discarded.  The eggs would hatch after 23-24 days and the young chicks would be placed in the brooder house for 6 weeks.

Mary's brooder setup consisted of an outbuilding with three rooms, separated by small doors only 4' tall, each room containing a heat lamp to keep the young chicks warm.  Each brood of chicks was kept separately, as they would kill each other if mixed.  After six weeks the chicks were moved to outdoor pens.

Pheasant pens, measuring about 72 x 125', housed the young chicks.  Again, each brood was kept separately.  She clipped their right wings to prevent them from flying out of the safety of their pens, and one by one clipped their upper beaks with fingernail clippers to keep them from pecking each other.  Their diets were changed from a commercial feed ration to a growing mash with wheat screenings added to the mixture, which were obtained from the local elevator.  Feed rations were adjusted during the summer months to bring the birds to their proper dressed weight of 3-4 pounds.  Just before the start of the pheasant hunting season, which was when business peaked, the feed was changed yet again to fine-tune this process.  Then, the dressing and freezing began.


So, while Mary initially got involved for "something to do," she ended up with plenty to do.

While the business was largely a success, not everything always went smoothly.  One year a windstorm wiped out the entire flock.  Neighborhood cats constantly preyed on the young chicks.  Hawks and owls were a frequent threat.  One particular owl kept killing Mary's birds, so she set a trap and when the perpetrator was caught, she called the Department of Game, Fish and Parks to come and get it.  The officer did, but promptly turned it loose again and it came right back and continued to kill her birds.  So she found a more permanent solution to the problem.

Ironically, pheasant hunters were Mary's best customers, even when they got their limit in the field.  Her dressed, frozen pheasants did not count against their limit and frequently the out-of-state hunters gave away the birds they'd shot to local friends who could clean and dress them easier than they could.

Mary's grandsons converge upon Hand County for some pheasant hunting.

They turned to captive-raised pheasants, which were much easier to transport back home for their own dinner tables.  Also these pheasants, Mary explained, tasted much better than their wild counterparts and there was no shot or broken bones to content with which made their wives happy while cooking them.

While most of her pheasants were sold "for the dinner table," Pheasants Unlimited, Inc. of Sioux Falls, also purchased birds to bolster the pheasant population in Hand County.

Six of Mary's pheasants ended up in the National Zoo at Washington, D.C. after South Dakota Senator Karl Mundt took a tour of the zoo and noticed their sad specimen of our state bird.  The one Ring-Necked pheasant they had was a disgrace to the species and to the state, he said.  "Scrawny," and "rag-tag" were how he described it.  Upon his return to the state, he contacted the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks department and asked what could be done to rectify the situation, citing "state pride" being on the line.

The department contacted Mary and asked if she might be able to help.  Three hens and three roosters were donated from her flock.  It was initially announced by the GF&P that they had caught these birds in the wild, but local newspapers called it "propaganda" and made sure the true story of the pheasants' origins was known.  Regardless, Senator Mundt predicted, "It will probably pep up the old bird when it sees a real healthy, proud South Dakota pheasant," he said, "and it will start acting like one instead of like the pigeons with which it now apparently associates."

Various newspaper clippings about Mary's pheasant farm

Some of the items Mary made with feathers collected from her flock

Nothing went to waste on the Seeman Pheasant Farm.  Mary collected the beautiful iridescent feathers of all sizes, and created wearables from them - hat bands, ladies' hats, etc.  She worked carefully with small containers and tweezers, separating the feathers by size and color.  While working with some of the delicate, lighter-than-air feathers, one had to be careful of breathing too hard or moving too fast, or the feathers would become airborne.

During hunting season she had a window display in one of the shops in downtown Miller, and the items sold briskly with out-of-state hunters being anxious to return home with a gift for their wives or a remembrance for themselves.

Some of Mary's grandchildren were involved in the pheasant farm operations as well.  In the winter, if snow was deep and the birds could not make it to their attached sheds for shelter, they'd huddle together under the snow, and the grandkids would have to get inside the pens and poke around for them.  They could last awhile in these "snow caves," having both warmth and water in the form of snow but needed to have someone keep an eye out for this situation so they didn't starve.

Grandson Gary helped daily with whatever was needed - gathering eggs, hauling 5-gallon buckets of water, and helping catch birds and pluck feathers when it was time to dress the pheasants.

At processing time, he would help catch the birds with a wire and a hook on the end to get them by their legs, or they'd use gill nets.  In later years, his dog Cerb, who was part blue heeler, would help keep the pheasants rounded up.

Though the Seeman Pheasant Farm is long gone, pheasants are never far from the hearts of Mary's family - from her sons, to her grandsons, and now her great-grandsons.  Annually, they still gather for family hunting.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I love unique things – household décor items you won’t find anywhere else, unusual jewelry, one-of-a- kind picture frames, etc.  So it only makes sense that ancestors with a distinctive look particularly pique my interest.  On a recent expedition through my photo collection, I found a few of my kin that must have shared my penchant for distinction.

I love Albert Schultz’s big brush mustache…

And the hairdo on this unknown ancestor…

And Simon Ratcliff’s awesome sideburns…

And Marx Seemann’s big wave of hair…

Mabel Dickey’s little top-piece is particularly neat… and not easy to do, I'm guessing.

But my favorite of all of them, is Abial Adams.

This is the most distinctive beard I have ever seen.  Kudos to Abial for not looking like every other man with a beard!

My Second Favorite Thing to do with my Ancestors

I love to do research.  I've been known to work on other peoples' ancestors when I hit an impasse on my own.  But I also love to see the fruits of my labor in my home in the form of photos, and particularly photo displays.  I'm not sure if my family shares my enthusiasm for this sort of decorating, but no one has complained.  Then again, I'm not sure they realize that not everyone decorates in Early American Ancestor!

I like to find common themes in grouping photographs.  This simple grouping to the right is of three brothers - the three sons of Earl and Mary Seeman.  Earl died young, and two of his sons died in middle age.  Here, they are pictured "together."

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The next display is a "mother and child" theme.  The top photo is my great-great grandmother, Alfhilde Monsen with her oldest child, daughter Gabriella ("Ella.")   Alfhilde's husband, Gabriel, was a fisherman in Bergen, Norway.  One day he went off to sea, and a storm erupted.  He never returned, leaving Alfhilde to raise her three children alone, struggling to provide for them.

The middle photo is Ella and her oldest child, daughter Lillian.  Ella came to the United States at age 17 to find a better life, later sending for her mother.  She married a Danish immigrant who owned his own bakery, and they raised five children on the plains of South Dakota.

The bottom photo is Lillian with her oldest child, daughter Betty, my mother.  Lillian married a farmer, and they had four children.

If I only had another frame to match, I could have added my mother holding me, her oldest daughter.  But here, the pattern ends, regardless of how many frames I could come up with.

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I love to find unusual frames, which means hunting flea markets, thrift shops, and garage sales.  Most of the time I have no idea what I'm going to do with my finds, until just the right idea presents itself.  This grouping is one of my favorites.  This standing frame holds only three photos.  I found it at a thrift shop several years ago.  The photos are of my grandmother - as a teenager, as a middle-ager, and finally, in her senior years.  I like the "snapshot" it gives of her life, and the frame itself looks like something she would have had in her own home.

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With the displays above and below, I wanted to give a "nod" to our ethnicities.  Above are pictured my husband's family's generations, starting top left with an aerial photo of the family farm in Schleswig-Holstein, and below that, immigrant Hans Seemann, and moving toward right each man's son.  At top is the current generation.  I made one of these for my husband, and one for each of our sons, and I made a similar display for my husband's brother.

Below, I pay tribute to my Norwegian ancestors.  I also learned how hard it is to frame a silk flag squarely!  At the top are my great-grandparents, Andreas and Anne Larsen, pictured in an oak frame made by my father (these were his grandparents.)  To the left is their son, my grandfather Adolph, with my grandmother Agnes.  They left Norway for South Dakota in 1923, with one child and another on the way.  Agnes died at age 48, and Adolph then married his childhood friend in Norway, Lisa, and she joined him in the United States in 1952.  The are pictured at right.  This display honors both of my "grandmothers."

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I had two wedding frames, and wanted to put the black and white wedding photo of my in-laws in one, but was at a loss about how to use the other one.  I decided to print a black and white copy of one of our wedding photos, in as similar a pose as I could to that of my in-laws.  This is the result. 

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This is a common type of frame - the Tree.  I wanted to do something different with two of the tree frames I have, and I printed pictures of all of the "Grandmas" for them.   I am using these "Grandma Trees" to teach my granddaughters about the women of their heritage.  The five year old knows most of their names, 13 in all, and a little snippet of something interesting about each one.  

I had another tree frame that was reversible, and I made a gift for my daughter-in-law.  Her photo was at the top of the tree, with her mother below, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother after that.  The reverse side held photos of each of her five children.

I hope you've enjoyed these ideas, and I would love to hear (and see) what you've done with your old family photos.  If you have blogged about this, please put the URL in a comment box below. 

Scrapbook Saturday–A Working Gal

Another page from the scrapbook of my mother-in-law, who was a fixture at the Hand County (South Dakota) Courthouse for 50 years, working for the Highway Department.

The National Youth Association’s representative recommended Louise for a job after her high school graduation in 1937.  Her first assignment was bookwork on easements for Highway 14 through Hand County.  Later, she did bookwork for the WPA Road projects in the county for 20 cents an hour.  Her bookkeeping methods became perfected over the years, and used as a model for other departments.  A copy of a letter from another Highway Department bookkeeper, written in 1963, was used on this page.  It reads in part as follows:

“I am the Hwy. Bkpr. for Potter County, and the State Auditing Department has criticized me to a crisp for being to [sic] slow in getting out my yearly report.
“They recommend your books and your system as the peak of perfection, and suggested that I ask you for an appointment and do it as you do it.
“I have worked a great deal and I understand that time is a precious commodity for the gal that works, if you are able to find time to take me on for a bookwork discussion, I will be most glad to reimburse you for your kindness.”



In 1977, South Dakota Governor Dick Kneip proclaimed “Louise Ulmer Day” in recognition of her numerous contributions over the years.  Hand County was always a very important part of her life.

Scrapbook Saturday - "House of Used-To-Be"

 A page from the scrapbook of my mother-in-law, describing the early farm home of her family, now gone.

Forebear Friday – Dr. Fred Seemann

Frederick August Seemann, son of Hans and Maria Seemann of Clinton county, Iowa, was born 01 Apr 1866.  He left the farm to pursue his dream of becoming a physician.  He spent a number of years practicing in Dubuque, Iowa, and later Sioux City.  He married Alta Shepherd, a Kansas native, in Wisconsin, and they were the parents of four children: Ember, Frederick, Howard and Helen.

During his years of professional practice, he worked with brothers Carl, Henry and Will as they also became physicians.

The following advertisement, from The Dubuque Herald issue of Saturday, September 22, 1900, refers to him as “The Renowned German Doctor.”  The advertisement also mentions that he “has had years of training in the great hospitals of the east.”


Between 1903 and 1906, he moved his family and his practice from Dubuque to Sioux City, Iowa, specializing in diseases of the eyes, ears, nose and throat.  His wife, Alta, died in 1908, at the age of 37, probably from consumption; he married Ruth Trumhauer, a nurse, about 1910.  By 1930, they had moved to National City, California, where Ruth died in 1937.  She was buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in San Diego.  Dr. Fred died in California in 1939 from cancer of the esophagus.  His body was returned to Sioux City for burial at Logan Park Cemetery, with his first wife, Alta.

Forebear Friday – Hans Seemann

Hans Seemann, along with his brother Detleff, were the first of their family to leave Germany bound for the United States.  Hans was the son of John Henry and Maria Seemann, and born 23 Jan 1825 in Schleswig-Holstein. 
The brothers settled in Clinton county, Iowa, sending for their parents, siblings, and fiancées, who were sisters, the following year.  They all lived together for several years, until each of the brothers obtained his own farm and set out on their own. 

Hans and Maria raised a family of nine, seven of whom lived to adulthood: John, Anna Maria, Andrew, Henry, Fred, Carl, and Will.  Four of their sons became physicians, and practiced medicine throughout the upper midwest.


In 1884, Hans and Maria sold their farm in Clinton county, and purchased another in Union county, South Dakota.  On 05 Sep 1893, while visiting his son Fred in Dubuque, Iowa, Hans became ill, and died at Finley Hospital of pleurisy, complicated by lung cancer.  After his death, Maria made her home among her children, passing away while at the home of her son Carl in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  Both Hans and Maria are buried at Riverside Cemetery, rural Akron, Plymouth co., Iowa, which was just across the state line from their South Dakota farm.

Above: The family of Hans and Maria Seemann, taken at the farm in South Dakota, when all of the kids came home for their father’s funeral. 

Forebear Friday – Detlef Seemann

Detlef Seemann and his brother Hans left their native Germany in 1853, looking for a place to relocate their family.  The brothers settled in Clinton county, Iowa, and the following year, their parents and siblings followed, as well as Detlef and Hans’ fiancees, sisters Maria and Elizabeth Petersen.  The extended family lived together for a few years, with Detlef and Elizabeth eventually buying land in Jackson county, just to the north, in Washington township.

Detlef died of “heart trouble” in 1899, and Elizabeth lived another 9 years, passing away in 1908 in Haileyville, Oklahoma.   She was initially buried there, but was moved to Reeseville cemetery in Jackson county, Iowa to be buried with her husband and other family members.  I do not know, at this time, why she was in Oklahoma.  Thomas B. Schultz, a descendant, wrote an excellent history of this family in 1990, entitled, “The American Descendants of Gottfried and Maria Schultz of Schleswig-Holstein Germany”.
Detlef and Elizabeth were the parents of nine children: John Henry, Anna Maria, Mary “Lena”, Peter, Louisa, Marx, Carl G. “Charlie”, Sarah Elizabeth, and Roseltha.

On a trip to Jackson and Clinton counties of Iowa, we located Reeseville cemetery, which sits on top of a hill, with a beautiful view of the surrounding country.  Except for the occasional sound of a passing vehicle on the road below, it’s an exceptionally peaceful and serene location.  Detlef and Elizabeth’s son Marx is also buried here, as well as other Seemanns whose connection is not yet certain.

Forebear Friday - John Henry Seemann

John Henry Seemann was born in 1800 in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, the son of Hans Seemann and Christina Petersen Moldt.  He married Maria, and they were the parents of 8 children. 
In 1853, sons Hans and Detlef left Germany for the United States, in particular, eastern Iowa.  The following year, John and Mary boarded with Germania, traveling from Bremen to New York, with sons Johan and Henry.  Most, if not all, of their children ended up coming to Iowa.  John and Maria purchased land in Jackson county, Iowa later that year, but by 1856 had moved in with their son Hans in Clinton county, just to the south.  By 1870, they were back in Jackson county, this time with their son Henry and his family. 
John died on 09 April 1873, and Maria went back to Clinton county to son Hans’ home; however, in 1884, Hans’ family sold the farm and moved to South Dakota, and Maria apparently went back to Jackson County, where she died on 26 Sep 1889.
On a trip to this area a few years back, we decided to visit Evergreen cemetery in Jackson County.  It’s a beautiful cemetery located next to the backwaters of the Mississippi River, and true to its name, lots of fragrant evergreens dot the landscape.  We located the graves of John and Maria, in a family section which included the graves of their son Henry, Henry’s wife Catharina; their daughter Mary Blossfeld and her husband William and daughter Lotta.  In another part of the cemetery, John and Maria’s son Peter is buried.

Civilian Conservation Corps Records

The Civilian Conservation Corps, one of the most popular New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, offered jobs to unemployed young men.  Most of them, aged 18-24, were from families on public relief during the Great Depression, and had few other prospects for employment.  Some three million of them applied, passed a physical, and made their promise of a minimum 6 months’ service, before they were sent to work constructing parks, planting trees, working on public roadways, and constructing buildings on public lands.  In return, they were given room and board, plus a small wage.  They were required to send money to their families back home.
I had heard that my father-in-law, Bob, had taken a job with the C.C.C. when a young man, but had no details.  While we know a fair amount about his life, the years from 1930 to 1950 were somewhat fuzzy.  I contacted the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis several times inquiring about records before finally receiving an answer informing me that his records were available.  I filled out the paperwork required, sent in $60, and waited.  Within two weeks, I had a packet of about a dozen pages of information. I was hoping what I found was worth the cost and the persistence.
Through the information found in these records, in addition to information I already had, I was able to put together a fairly good timeline.  The family moved from Hand County, South Dakota to Spearfish sometime in 1937.  Bob attended his first year of high school in Spearfish, but went to work at the Red Owl Grocery store in January of 1938 as a “helper”.  He worked there three months, and was unable to find another job until his enrollment in the C. C. C. in July.
He was AWOL for 3 days after Christmas in 1938, and “AWOP” for five days after that, all for unknown reasons.  He was “Absent With Out Pay” from 6/19/1939 (the day his step-father passed away) to 6/26/1939 (when he was discharged) for “Emergency Leave”.  Before the year was out, Bob, his mother, and his siblings had relocated back to their home in Hand County.
I learned a few personal details about Bob that I had not known.  He was barely 17 when he quit high school to go to work, but during his first three months with the Corps, he expressed interest in completing some high school coursework.  Had he put aside his own education to help his family financially?  Or had he quit school for other reasons?  The interest in completing high school was apparently still there.
I learned that Bob considered himself best suited for work as a mechanic, but was hoping to work as a traveling salesman after completion of his C. C. C. enrollment.  While he did work at implement and hardware stores, he never did sell his wares on the road.
I didn’t know he was small kid - 5’5” and 124 pounds – when entering the C. C. C. camp.  Upon his discharge a year later, he had grown an inch, and gained 11 pounds.  Later photos of him depict a slightly stocky build.
He was called “honest and reliable” by his camp adviser, and described as an “able and dependable workman.” He enjoyed reading while at the camp.
While the C. C. C. file did not reveal any surprising news, it did present a snapshot in time of Bob’s youth, his interests and abilities, and his character.  Since he died young, learning these little bits of information from whatever sources we can find is especially important, as there aren’t many people left who knew him directly, particularly at this stage in his life.
Some of the more interesting pieces of information in the file, besides the basic birth date, birth place, and address, included an educational and work history. Results of the physical exam were also in the file.  Work preferences, as well as the kind of work actually done, was also noted.
To find if your Great Depression era ancestor has C. C. C. records available, write to the National Personnel Records Center, Civilian Personnel Records, 111 Winnebago Street, St. Louis, Missouri, 63118-4126.  Be sure to include as much information as you can about your ancestor: name, birth date and place, home address, parents’ names, specific dates of C. C. C. employment, if known, and any other applicable information.
Sources:
Bailey, Thomas A., "The American Pageant: A History of the Republic", D. C. Heath and Company, Boston.
Wikipedia
Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy (www.ccclegacy.org)

Four Generations

From upper left, clockwise: Hans Seemann, our immigrant ancestor, 1825 – 1893.  He initially settled on a farm in Clinton co., Iowa, and later in Union County, South Dakota.  He was the husband of Maria Petersen, and father of nine children, including  -

Henry Seeman,  1864 – 1929.  Henry met and married Eva Adams of Stephenson co., Illinois, and put himself through medical school, beginning his practice about 1900 in Iowa, and southeastern South Dakota, before settling in Rockham, South Dakota, where he would spend the remainder of his life.  He was father of five children, the youngest of whom was -

Earl Seeman, 1897 – 1927.  He married Mary Joyce, and farmed in Hand co., South Dakota.  He died just short of his 30th birthday.  They had three sons, the middle one being -

Robert Seeman, 1922 – 1966.  He spent his life in Hand co., South Dakota, and worked at a variety of occupations.  He married Louise Kluthe in 1951.