Menno Baerg Jost

My name is Menno Baerg Jost. I was born on January 26, 1911, in Hooker, Oklahoma.

My parents homesteaded in the Oklahoma Panhandle in about 1905. My father drove there by covered wagon and lived in a dugout before bringing my mother there. They left Hooker in 1914 and moved back to Mother’s home place in Kansas, the Baerg farm. I was three years old. At that time we were five in the family – Alfred, John, Kathleen, me, and Margaret.

I started school at the age of six with H.D. Wiebe as teacher. We talked Low German, learned to read and write High German and knew no English. So the first years in school I also had to learn the language. I suppose I was about an average kid in school.

Kathleen was the oldest girl in the family and also the first to pick up any sickness in the family. She found the diphtheria germ somewhere and brought it home. Mother, with home remedies, got her back to health. Then Margaret took sick and she got the same treatment and recovered. Then I took sick in the morning and John at noon. This called for the health officer of Marion County to come out and look it over. He said, “Diphtheria”, and put up a big sign on the door. He came that afternoon and vaccinated us. John and I got a strong dose in the hip and we had a rough night. The doctor thought we two would not make it, but we did.

One of the things I enjoyed in my youth was horses. I love to ride, work with them and chore them. Dad pretty well turned them over to me when I was still in grade school. I would rather work with them than play. I was real young when Dad would say, “You drive and I’ll take a nap.” Dad got the first pony (Pet) when I finished grade school. She and I worked together well at home. My favorite team was Joe and Charlie. The best team was Colonel and Beaut, a well matching black team.

Dad also had a team of mules. They could be ornery and wild. I learned to work with the tractor when the Fordson came along in about 1925. Later when we got the Fordson Dad got rid of the mules. Even with tractors being improved and becoming more popular, I still loved to work with horses.

In 1929 we had a big change in our operation. A new John Deere tractor and new Case combine. This meant no binder or shocking (except oats). This was a lot less work. Dad and Alfred owned this outfit together, and we harvested together. This we did until about 1936 when Alfred got his own tractor and small combine. In about 1944 I got my own combine and tractor (Case).

The first car I learned to drive was a Model-T Ford, about 1921. This car had no battery, no starter, and no spare tire. When the motor would slow down the lights would grow dim so a full moon would sure help when you drove at night. There was no anti-freeze so in winter you drained the water and you had to keep the radiator partly covered to keep it from freezing. Average speed was 15 to 25 miles an hour. For winter we would put curtains on and chains under the seat in case of rain. All the roads turned to mud. There was no blacktop, no gravel and no pavement, only mud. I remember when all the streets in Hillsboro were mud when it was wet. I remember when Hillsboro was without waterworks, without sewer, and no paved streets. Our social life was the school across the road and the church one mile east. This was within walking distance.

In about 1925, I started high school. Kathleen and I drove into town (Hillsboro) with the buggy and in winter when it was cold I rode horseback. I left the horse at Grandma Jost’s in town. In spring I dropped out and helped Dad on the farm which I preferred. This was also the time I started to notice girls. A year later I’d had one semester at Tabor in bookkeeping and Bible history. It has been very helpful.

In 1930 Kathleen married Dan Hiebert and moved to California. In 1933 I met Henry Nickel from Buhler. He also was interested in trying California so Hank Regier, Henry Nickel and I agreed to drive to the West Coast in October. I spent the winter there and it was a good experience. I proved to myself that I could make it on my own. But just before I left Hillsboro I met a girl by the name of Adina Kornelsen. Even though she was out of sight she was still on my mind. I met nice girls in California but I could not forget Adina. So when Dad wrote and asked me should he buy the 160-acre Jost farm he said, “If you want to farm I’ll buy it. If you stay in California I’ll forget it.” So I bought a train ticket by the first of April and I was home and started farming – and got me a date with this Adina K.

So after dating her for about 1-1/2 years she made me the happiest by accepting my proposal. So six months later on April 5, 1936, we married and settled on Dad’s farm three miles west and 1-3/4 miles south on the Priebe place.

I guess my spiritual pilgrimage started at the age of eleven when we had revival meetings in church. My father encouraged me to give my heart to the Lord but I was not serious and made no progress. This happened again two years later, and again no progress. At the age of 17 the church called Rev. Schultz for services. He was a good evangelist. This time I meant business. I accepted the Lord and He became a part of my life. I gave my testimony to the church and they were glad to baptize me and receive me as a member into the church. This was a time when I had come to a fork in the road and I either receive the Lord in my heart and let Him direct my life, or follow the crowd and be eternally lost. This is the best decision I ever made in my life. Ervin Jost, Mrs. Emily Barkman, and I were baptized that November, 1/2 mile south in the Cottonwood River. There have been problems but the Lord has been good to me.

There have been many opportunities to serve in the church. C.E. secretary, chairman, Sunday school teacher, superintendent, education committee, deacon, elder, church council, usher, church custodian. I also served on the Parkside Home Board for 13 years and some years on the Salem Hospital Board. Now at my age I feel younger people should take on these responsibilities.