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Slotemaker Cousins: Are you in the mood to answer some questions? Agnes: Sure. What do you want to know?
Agnes: I think I am the only one still living who is in this picture. Slotemaker Cousins: What would you think of the idea of getting a new photo taken, with the descendants of the people in this photo? Agnes: That's a neat idea...there's probably a lot of them right here in Lynden, and they don't even know each other.
Slotemaker Cousins: Tell us about your grandpa and grandma. Agnes: When I started school I lived in town with grandma and grandpa for just a couple years, until Dick started school. Slotemaker Cousins: What was your grandpa, Cornelis, like? Agnes: I was scared of him. He was very strict. Slotemaker Cousins: How about your grandma Aagje? Agnes: Grandma was very sweet and gentle.
Slotemaker Cousins: What do you remember about the threshing machine incident? Agnes: That it made us late for school. Slotemaker Cousins: Why would that be what you remember? Agnes: Because I remember that the teachers at school were mean and if you were late you had to knock on the door to the classroom and be let in by the teacher and had to explain why you were late. Sometimes the chores on the farm made us late for school. I dreaded being late. Slotemaker Cousins: Did you get in more trouble than usual this time? Agnes: No. I just remember it so clearly. We were late because of the horse getting scared and when we finally got to school Neil went to his class, and I just stood outside my door, scared to knock. Henry saw me standing there and I told him I was scared to knock. I was very shy. So, Henry knocked on the door, real loud, and I started to cry when the teacher opened the door and the teacher said a few words to Henry. The teacher grabbed me and took me to my seat. Slotemaker Cousins: How traumatic for you. Agnes: It was terrible for teachers to treat kids that way. I was already embarrassed at being late. It just made it worse making you knock on the door and then treating you like that. Slotemaker Cousins: We get the idea you remember your brother Henry quite fondly. Agnes: Henry was nice and gentle. Slotemaker Cousins: What was Cornelius like? Agnes: Neil had a temper and was always getting in trouble. He was expelled from school a number of times. My dad (John Slotemaker) would have to talk to the school administration so they would let him come back to school. Slotemaker Cousins: What did he do to get kicked out of school? Agnes: I don't know. But it happened more than just a couple times. Neil was very naughty.
Slotemaker Cousins: What became of Ida Muller? Agnes: Ida Muller? Oh, yes, she became a DeVries. Slotemaker Cousins: Okay, Ida Muller DeVries. In the Slotemaker Story Henry tells us that Ida was the daughter of a cousin who passed away who Cornelis and Aagje agreed to take care of until Ida's mother was once more able to take care of her. But that never happened and Ida came to America with the family. Agnes: There's a DeVries that lives here, but I don't know if she's from that family. They aren't relation, so I don't know. I've never talked to her...
Slotemaker Cousins: What can you tell us about your Aunt Anna, the sister of your dad, John Slotemaker? Agnes: We didn't socialize much with our aunts and uncles and cousins when we were growing up even though we all lived here in the Lynden area, we just didn't do much with the relatives, except when it was something to do with grandpa and grandma, like the 50th Anniversary because we lived way out of town on the farm. I don't even know if Anna's family were farmers, or what they did. |
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