It was on January 10, 1910, when the William Winter family held a sale in 
  Sweet Springs, Missouri, and together with two children and some friends, 
  moved to northwest of Nashville, Kansas. They shipped what they wanted on the
  train; a dog, two head of cattle, and some horses. They were not entirely
  among strangers as there were the Flentjes, Kramers, Westermans, and Klauster-
  meyers. Mr Winter soon learned that farming in Kansas with the wind and dry
  weather was not the same as farming in Missouri, but there was no thought of
  going back. They had 160 acres and a 5 room house.
     They quickly made friends and became active in St. John Lutheran Church.
  At first the sermons were all in German with the men sitting on the right
  side and women and children on the left. Many of the older people were German
  and couldn't speak English. During WWI this German speaking group were some-
  times in trouble, not bacause of their loyalties, but bacause of the language.
     How the children dreaded their first school here. Selma Winter Kernohan 
  was the eldest, then Herman, Walter, Bill, and Esther. Herman could not speak
  much English, and never did learn to spell. At first they went to Cream Valley
  School with Clarence Wiggins as teacher. The family moved four miles south on
  the Klaustermeyer farm. The children often drove a horse and buggy to Nashville
  to school, then later to Mumford. Herman was afraid of some big boys, so he
  would get sick so he could leave early.
     The family increased with Henry, Hulda, Margaret, and Alvin. Times were 
  hard and everything was done on the farm even after I first knew them. I came
  from a small family. My parents were Ernest and Mary Pfaff Smart. I had two
  brothers, Eldon and Everett. Herman and I were married in 1932. I couldn't
  get used to so many helping. They would butcher 6 or 7 hogs at one time, 
  render their own lard, make and stuff their sausage, and cure meat in different
  ways, mostly it was salted, smoked, or canned.
     Mrs. Winter would get up early and have fresh bread several times a week.
  She made the best cinnamon rolls I ever ate. Of course there was a large
  garden and lots of canning. It was not unusual to ahve 14-17 for dinner on
  Sunday. In the afternoon they would play ball or cards, or go riding. At first
  Herman had a Model T Ford and was the most popular person around. They would
  go miles to picnic or dance.
     Besides the dust storms with sheets hanging over the windows and the day
  we were given 7 cents a dozen for eggs, ten cents for cream, and the banks
  closed their doors, we had lots of homemade fun. There were box suppers at the
  school, where boys spent their hard earned money. No rain, sleet, or hail
  stopped a square dance at Unity School. Every holiday was an excuse to get
  together, neighbors were really neighbors, and while those days are gone,
  they are not forgotten.
     Herman and I have a daughter, Barbara, born November 26, 1934. She attended
  rural school, then graduated from Medicine Lodge High School in 1952. She
  received her degree from KSU, Manhattan, in Commercial Demostration, Home
  Economics. She married Gary Smith of Jetmore, Kansas, in 1960. They with their
  children Greg, Nikki, Angie and Jeri, live in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
     I taught in Barber County schools over a period of 32 years, 27 of them in
  the Sharon School. It is wonderful when a former student stops by to reminisce
  about days of the past.
                
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 493 
     Submitted by: Lois Smart Winter