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"Good Night, Annie Kate"

by Alice M. Schwager

182 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-0865; ISBN 1-55395-151-4; US$19.00, C$21.95, EUR15.50, £11.00

The author of the mysteryMurder on Wolf Road, now brings you "Good Night, Annie Kate", a memoir combining a young girl's diary written in 1921... at age 21... with the story of her family. The family consists of 12 children... Annie Kate being the eldest and the author of the book being the youngest. The story compares Annie Kate growing up in the 1920's flapper era and W W I to Alice growing up in the Great Depression and W W II.

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About the book      About the author      Preface      Catalogue info

About the Book This memoir, Good Night, Annie Kate combines a young girl's diary written in 1921 with the story of her family. The story compares Annie Kate growing up in the 1920's flapper era and WWI to Alice growing up in the Great Depression and WWII. Even though these two sisters were 24 years apart in age, family solidarity allowed them to be not only sisters, but also great friends as well. If you are interested in the early pioneers of farming in Central Illinois, this is a must-read. The book presents a couple that began their marriage in 1898 in a log house in the heart of the Midwest (Peoria, Illinois). The marriage produced twelve children. You learn how this industrious couple raised their offspring to be healthy productive people through two world wars and the great depression. Good Night, Annie Kate not only covers the history of times long ago but also contains biographies of each individual in the family and the interactions of the family members throughout the 20th Century. The book has touches of humor, pathos (will Annie Kate ever catch a beau?), a dab of psychology (the author's insight into how people react to various situations in their lives as a result of observing eleven older brothers and sisters.) The book also contains 16 photos.

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About the Author Alice M. Schwager holds a B. S. in Journalism from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. She is a published free-lance writer and has been listed in Marquis "Who's Who of American Women" several times. She is currently a member of the "Society of Professional Journalists" and "Sisters in Crime". Born in Peoria, Illinois, she enjoys oil painting in the semi-impressionist style. In younger years, she was involved in Sports Car Road Racing. Click here to read about MURDER ON WOLF ROAD also written by Alice Schwager.

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Preface

This memoir combines a young girl's diary written in 1921 with the story of her family. Anna Katherine Goetze, called "Annie Kate" by family members and the author of the diary, was born in l900. Her family consisted of second-generation immigrants father and mother, Philip Otto and Mary Rothlisberger Goetze, and their twelve children. Annie Kate was the eldest child and I, Alice Schwager, was the youngest.       The settlement of this family in the heart of the Midwest, Peoria, Illinois, evolved from luck and happenstance.       Our grandfather, Philip's father, Karl Frederick Goetze, was serving in the German Navy during the middle 1800s and upon docking in California, he jumped ship and deserted the navy. Shortly thereafter, he heard about the California gold rush and he decided, being single, to take a chance at mining himself. He was lucky. He mined gold until he had accumulated approximately $1100.00. Some of the miners would drink away their profits or lose them in various other ways, but not grandfather. He sewed his cache inside his clothes so it would not be stolen. When he either tired of mining gold or thought he had a good stake, he boarded another ship and sailed around Cape Horn and back to New York.       During his stay in California, he studied a United States map and drew an imaginary line across the country to the Midwest. Deciding that Illinois was on the same latitude as California, he assumed that the climate would be the same as California. He also added the "e" to the name of Goetz, making it Goetze, hoping that he would never be caught for deserting his ship and the German Navy in California. He was never apprehended.       While in New York, grandfather heard about the good farm land in central Illinois and made the decision to travel to the city of Peoria to buy land with his $1100.00.The land he eventually purchased was across the road from the farm where my father and mother would settle later and where Annie Kate and the other eleven children were born. The house and buildings grandfather built are now gone. However a new house and outbuildings, built by my father's brother Fred on the original homestead, can be viewed from the windows of our farmhouse. Unfortunately, my father and Fred had a misunderstanding over their parents' will and never spoke again... their stubborn German ancestry had reared its' ugly head.       Back in the 1800s, immigrant farmers were the "soul" of our country. Their word and honor stood the test of time. That still continued to be true beyond the first quarter of the 1900s, when I entered the world. In our community, if you gave your word, or even just a handshake, it was a trustworthy act. If a neighbor said he would be there to help with the threshing, he would be there. These were good honest people who were willing to help if others were in trouble. They exemplified good moral values and strength of character and passed those traits on to their new generations.

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Catalogue Information

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