Property Dispute

Two buyers from out of state showed interest in buying the homestead, but Josef decided to keep it in the family and sold to Joe Jr. and Pearl. The relationship between buyer and seller was not good to begin with and only became worse as time went on.  Two lawsuits were filed by Josef over the matter; the first when Joe Jr. was married to Pearl, the second lawsuit mentioned below when Joe Jr. was married to Wilma.

Josef’s letter to Ina, dated July 20, 1935: “. . .Our trouble with Joe is far from being settled.  When Joe would not give us the back pay we filed suit for foreclousre, and instead of an answer his lawyer filed a demurrer, and when the matter came before the judge, he said that no demurrer could be filed in a foreclosure suit and gave Joe another 10 days to file an answer, and that is where the matter stands now.  His lawyer made the proposition to pay all the mortgage off if we pay the costs, and this we refused to do as the mortgage should have been all paid last year.  Our attorney told us that we have nothing to fear, Joe will either have to pay all of it or get off, and under the circumstances either one will suit us. . .”

(The undated Rainier Review article below should have correctly stated “Joe Jr. and Wilma”, “Jos. Hackenberg Sr. and wife Carrie”)

 

Rainier Review, February 28, 1930

Joseph Hackenberg Sr. and wife (Carrie) have sold their home farm of 160 acreas to Joseph Hackenberg Jr. and wife (Pearl).  The elder Hackenbergs reserve two acres where the house and buildings stand to be occupied by them for their natural life.  Mr. Hackenberg is declining in health, which made the sale a matter of necessity.

Rainier Review, August 28, 1925 -Mail Order Wife Leaves

Wedded Bliss Soon Fades – Patronize Home Industry. Mail Order wives like mail order goods are apparently not durable and are likely to prove a “dud” or something similar.  If the reader is in doubt,  just let him ask Joe Hackenberg of Doraville – he knows. . .

Rainier Review, August 14, 1925 ~ HACKENBERG TAKES WIFE

Was Married to Mrs. Alice Smith Monday ~ Joseph Hackenberg and Mrs. Alice Smith of Indianapolis, Indiana, were married at St. Helens last Monday.  Mrs. Smith arrived Friday from Indianapolis and spent a few days at the Hackenberg home after which the nuptial knot was tied. . . (See Otto’s “Review of the Review” for details of the following weeks as the marriage was discussed in the local paper)

So Carrie won't be alone....

"...so Carrie won't have to be alone..." were some of Carol Ann McNeely, nee Hackenberg's last words in the early September 2010 days when she was "getting her affairs in order" at Valley Medical Center, Renton, Washington. Having dispensed with immediate family business, she turned the conversation to where she wanted to rest. Her husband, Mike, having pretty much supposed her choice would be either with her mom and dad or at the farm, was a bit surprised with what she said.

During Carol's research into her family's history she had been much impressed with Carrie. Carrie Tobiath Hackenberg, Josef Hackenberg's third wife, was a strong, intelligent activist woman who championed and participated in the enactment of much of the social legislation and reform we take for granted today. She had participated in a communal living experiment; she was acquainted with Eugene Debs and Norman Thomas; she wrote provocative letters to the editor of the Rainier Review. No doubt she was outspoken and assertive. One can understand that this was womanly behavior unfamiliar to a lot of folks in those days and many, including Carol's own mother, Wilma, didn't like Carrie very much. She was criticized and, probably, to some extent ostracized - left alone - from warm family relationships and interaction. Carol felt strongly that Carrie had been slighted and poorly judged in her own time; she wanted to do something about it. And so she directed Mike to put her urn at Carries grave.

Mike's promise to Carol to "get it done" was an easy one to keep. He chose the inscription in her stone, placed next to Carrie's at the Green Mountain Cemetery in Rainier, because these were her words; because they subtly reveal the warm caring person she was; and because they contain a hint of mystery that someday might inspire somebody to investigate - and that would please Carol very much.