Born To Be a Newspaper Man

by Martin J. McGowan Jr.

Polio Strikes

With three children under two years of age it was quite hectic around our house. To get some help for child care we looked for a young girl who might give Betty some assistance. It was not uncommon in those days for young people from the rural area wanting to attend high school in Appleton to find a room in town and work part time to pay for the room. We found Marlys Delgehausen, a very pleasant young woman. She gave particular assistance at meal times when there were several mouths to be fed at the same time.

We tried to have a small birthday party for Mickey on his second birthday, Aug. 13, 1946. Mick was in a high chair being fed by Marlys while Dan was just past age one and Margaret was a newborn just six weeks old being fed by her mother. Without warning Mickey had an upset stomach. That wasn't too surprising because small children occasionally had upset stomachs.

However, we noticed Mick seemed to be favoring one leg and limping a bit. Our regular doctor, Dr. E. J. Kaufman, was out of town so we called his uncle, Dr. W. C. Kaufman, an older man.

He came to our hose and there was no outward sign of illness just looking at Mick. Dr. Kaufman asked that he walk down the sidewalk so he could observe his gait. There was no denying Mick limped noticeably on his left leg but Dr. Kaufman dismissed this as nothing out of the ordinary.

We were not satisfied with the diagnosis and as soon as Dr. Ed, as we called him, returned to town we asked him for an opinion. He quickly suspected polio and said we must take Mick to the special hospital being set up on the University of Minnesota Agricultural school, or the farm campus, as it was known, in St. Paul.

Again Gertrude came to our rescue. Betty couldn't leave home with the two small children. I have forgotten how we got to Benson but there, Uncle Joe McGowan also came to our rescue and loaned us his roadster Ford car. It was tough to leave Mick at the hospital and drive home. He was subsequently moved to a larger hospital created for the growing number of polio victims in the state. We were allowed occasional visits but they were so infrequent that Mick became more familiar with his nurses than with us. We were able to bring him home for Christmas but we had to return him for further treatment. This was administered at the Sister Kenny Institute in Minneapolis. This hospital was named after the famous Australian nurse who conceived the hot pack treatment applied to the limbs of polio patients and the treatment seemed to provide some relief.

Finally, in February we were allowed to bring Mick home for good. He had some lifelong effects of the ailment but it has never slowed him down. The epidemic was so serious that numerous county fairs were canceled as well as the Minnesota State Fair in 1947. This was done to eliminate large gatherings where it was thought the epidemic might spread.

My father could see that having five us living in Gertrude's one-bedroom apartment would not work for long. A house a half block from his house became available. It was known to us as the Arnold house owned by Ben Arnold. My father put $1,000 down and we bought the house for $10,000. I believe I took piano lessons in that house as a child. The lot adjoining that house was vacant and we went all out to put in a garden there with sweet corn and other vegetables. The following year we only put in half that much garden.

We lived in that house with the oldest three children, Mickey, Dan and Margaret, until 1949. One day in the summer of that year Willard Evans, who operated a farm implement business with his farther next to the Appleton Press, said to me, "Come on. Let's take a ride. I want to show you my house."

He had built a new home in about 1947 after the war on a corner lot across the street from the Kaufman hospital. We went there and he took me through the house. It was three bedrooms, a study, long kitchen with dining booth, a spacious breezeway adjoining the garage, but no dining area. There was another bedroom and fireplace in the basement and another bathroom.

I had not considered buying another house but this one looked interesting. I asked how much he wanted for the house and he said $16,000. I said I was interested. He said he had to talk to his wife first. She was at a lake cabin and Willard would get her approval over the weekend.

He returned to report his wife, Abigail, liked the house where they were and if Willard wanted to sell he would have to build another house just as good or better than the one he was trying to sell. Willard agreed and he built a bigger house a few blocks south of us. While the house Abigail wanted was being built she agreed to live at their lake home and we moved in after Vincent was born in July, 1950. Betty went to live with her mother and the three children were farmed out to Betty's sisters while our move was being made.

This was the last house we occupied in Appleton. It was a fortuitous location near the hospital because Kevin arrived in June, 1951, and Sean in August, 1952. Sean was born in the new community hospital located about three blocks away. We definitely needed a larger house.

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