My father, Ervin Walter Kleinschmidt, saw his father killed when he was 11 years old by his 16 year old brother Lee. He was thrown out of his home at the age of 12 because he knew the truth of why his father died and wouldn’t lie for his mother. He nearly froze to death in the bitter cold of Minnesota, but was plucked from the jaws of death by three brothers, Milt, John, and Erv Eberle.
My mother May was thrown out of her father’s home when she was fifteen years old by her stepmother. Thanks to an elderly woman who took her in she survived and found work as a maid. In time she was taken back into her father’s home as a servant. She worked as a virtual slave for two full years before she and my father eloped and began a new life together.
During the early 20th century before laws were put in place to protect minor children and the elderly, life could be a living hell for the unprotected.
My mother May was thrown out of her father’s home when she was fifteen years old by her stepmother. Thanks to an elderly woman who took her in she survived and found work as a maid. In time she was taken back into her father’s home as a servant. She worked as a virtual slave for two full years before she and my father eloped and began a new life together.
During the early 20th century before laws were put in place to protect minor children and the elderly, life could be a living hell for the unprotected.
