Currier (center) and Inez (2nd from left) Fridley and children |
1940 Census: C. E. Fridley, age 62, farmer
Inez Fridley, age 60
Melvin Keller, age 65, brother of Inez
Location: 697063 4282103
Acreage: 58.16
Contract price: $15,000
Property sold on January 17, 1941
Cemetery: Hamburg Evangelical Church (visible in left rear of photo below)
Today: open stone-lined cistern
In the summer of 1940, lightning struck the church and it burned to the ground.
For a view of Hamburg which includes the Fridley home, click here.
In Piano Man, James D. Shacter's 1975 biography of Ralph Sutton, the jazz pianist says (p.13): "We used to play country dances . . . In addition to Dad and me, we had a cello, a guitar, and a bass fiddle. Shortly before Dad organized the band, I played in an outfit that won second prize in an old fiddler's contest in the Woodman Hall above the IGA store in Hamburg. That group included a fiddler named Currier Fridley and my great-uncle Pete [Zeyen] on cello. I can't remember who the others were, but there was probably a banjo and a guitar. Each of us got $1.75 in the contest, and that was the first money I ever made in the music business."
A festive gathering in the backyard |
Inez Fridley (this cistern still exists) |