NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG3393.AM: Carl Roock, 1856-1928
Diaries: 1915-1928
Milford and Utica, Seward County, Neb.: Farmer
Size: 0.25 cu.ft.; 1 box
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Carl Roock, son of Christian and Elizabeth (Rethsclag) Roock, was born in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany on June 28, 1856. Elizabeth Roock died in 1866 and the family immigrated to the United States the following year. After a brief stop in Pennsylvania, the Roocks lived in Clay Center, Iowa. Around 1879 the family moved near Kramer, Lancaster County, Nebraska, where Christian homesteaded eighty acres of land.
Carl Roock worked on his father’s land as well as on the farms of neighbors. In 1883 he was married to Margareta Kistinger. Two years later he purchased a 160-acre farm south of Milford. Two children, Dorothy and Henry, were born to the Roocks there. Unable to run the farm because of ill health, Carl Roock moved to Seward in 1915. His son and daughter-in-law continued to run the farm until it was sold in 1917. Carl bought another farm north of Utica in February 1918, which his son operated. Carl lived in Utica for the last ten years of his life, passing away on November 20, 1928.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of one box of diary transcripts dating from 1915-1928. These typescript diaries relate to the farm, social, and church activities of Carl Roock of Milford and Utica, Nebraska. Consisting of two to three line daily entries, Roock records weather conditions, information on farm and garden crops grown, money earned on crops produced, cost of supplies and other purchases, farm tasks and improvements, news of his family and neighborhood friends, and church attendance. Although Roock’s entries lack depth of description for noteworthy events, such as the end of World War I and the influenza epidemic, a good indication of what farm life was like during this time period is provided.
DESCRIPTION
Box 1
Folder
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- 1915
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- 1916
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- 1917
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- 1918
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- 1919
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- 1920
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- 1921
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- 1922
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- 1923
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- 1924
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- 1925
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- 1926
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- 1927
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- 1928
ADDED ENTRIES:
Agricultural laborers — Nebraska
Farm life — Nebraska — Seward County
Farmers — Nebraska — Seward County
Milford (Neb.) — History
Roock, Carl, 1856-1928
Seward County (Neb.) — History
Utica (Neb.) — History
AIP/law 08-1989
Revised kfk 08-07-2003
Encoded TMM 08-19-2011