These are MP3 versions of audio tapes I received from Dan Kelly during our visit to Monica Spain in Des Moines, on the weekend of February 23rd, 2002. For posterity's sake, I'm archiving a full digital copy in a safe deposit box. Sizes are shown behind each clip, so you can get an idea how big each sound clip is. If you're on a slow connection like a modem, it will obviously take longer. I can provide smaller versions of the clips if you need them, but the quality won't be quite as good.

This is classic Minnie...so many things in here remind me of how I remembered her growing up. It is absolutely marvelous to be able to relive some of these memories. These clips are guaranteed to make you laugh, make you cry, and make you realize how amazingly difficult our ancestors' lives were!

The First Tape (click to listen, right click and select "Save As" to download)
Length: 46:30
Size: 10.8MB
Content:

• The old cookstove
• The TV repairman
• The hired men
• Teaching in Everly

The Second Tape (click to listen, right click and select "Save As" to download)
Length: 24:35
Size: 5.7MB
Content:

• Susan's birth in the blizzard of '75 (an excellent story!!)
• Salesmen who come to the door

The Third Tape (click to listen, right click and select "Save As" to download)
Length: 15:04
Size: 3.5MB
Content:

• The latticework on the porch
• Summer school on $150
• Talking to the cats
• Ralph re-marrying
• The old racoon eating corn (listen for the 6:00 whistle in Alvord at about 10m 30s into the clip!!)

The Fourth Tape (click to listen, right click and select "Save As" to download)
Length: 31:06
Size: 7.2MB
Content:

• Tillie's family in Colorado
• History of the Kelly family (through Cherokee, Benton County, and Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana)
• Cemetaries in Clay County (including where the Wiese boys are buried)
• Re-marrying after Carl died
• The Gross Family & teaching in Everly
• Joseph Grendler's family

The Fifth Tape (click to listen, right click and select "Save As" to download)
Length: 39:35
Size: 9.3MB
Content:

• Growing up Catholic in the Grendler family
• Anton & Matilda in Germany
• Matilda Grendler's relatives in the US
• The barn house
• Teaching during the depression
• Susan born in the blizzard (revisited)
• Matilda and her children
• Childbirth

The Sixth Tape (click to listen, right click and select "Save As" to download)
Length: 15:16
Size: 3.6MB
Content:

• Anton and the cookstove
• A visit from Madonna Hall
• Eloise the cat

Note: The first half of this audio is also available WITH VIDEO!! I have the video footage of this and will make it available here as time permits.

The Seventh Tape (click to listen, right click and select "Save As" to download)
Length: 45:59
Size: 10.8MB
Content:

• Jim talking about Farm Management
• Doctors and childbirth in the 1930's and 1940's
• Jim's knee burned when he was a baby
• Memories of Tillie Grendler
• Joe Grendler's Family

The Eighth Tape (click to listen, right click and select "Save As" to download)
Length: 13:22
Size: 3.1MB
Content: This tape may sound strange, as the audio speed was too fast. I normalized it as best I could, but some of the tone is still out of whack

• Finding aprons for the kids
• The pigs in the front yard
• Taking care of animals

Take me back...I've had enough fun listening to this.