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  • Tags: Margaret Landon's Childhood 1903-1921

By February 1905 the Mortensons had moved to 1642 Washington Ave., Racine. Margaret and Kenneth visited the area and discovered that Washington Avenue was largely commercial. but 1642 was still there. That house is where Evangeline was born.

A.D. took a job in Chicago for additional income to support his family. He later found a house in Evanston and the family was able to move to the city. In 1969 Margaret and Kenneth visited the house and photographed it.

Margaret's earliest memory is of no significance but quite vivid. She recalls that at eighteen months old she was standing at a door looking in, with a window to her left, and before the window was a table with a red-check cloth on it. She was…

At age three Margaret had an ear infection and went through an operation safely. Grandfather Laurids learned about it and sent a note to greet the family. It was nicely written but not so comforting. Other letters from other relatives were warmer.

An incident with Mrs. Rosing that Margaret's mother never forgot. Shortly after Margaret and Evangeline recovered from their sickness Mrs. Rosing saw them coming down the street wih their mother. Thinking that they were contaminated, she hurried to…

Margaret's scarlet fever a second time, one year after the first one, and this time it was worse. She was treated just in time, but she became completely deaf in her right ear. Her hearing in the left ear, though, was so acute throughout her…

The Mortensons moved and took over a boarding house on Dempster St. That was when Margaret started kindergarten, and she remembers walking across a railroad track to school. Her sister Evangeline was adorable and everyone liked her, including the…

Within six months Margaret's family moved to Evanston and she continued Kindergarten there. There she had her first "disgrace" in school: she couldn't say the days of the week, unlike everybody else in her class

Margaret recalls a scene in which her father clearly showed his preference for Evangeline by giving her the pink apron that Margaret wanted. This childhood perception was confirmed as the kids grew up, but Margaret never felt jealous of her sister or…

Margaret tells how when Betty was born she supplanted Evangeline as favorite and remained mother's favorite most of her life. Betty didn't bother with the rules and mother would overlook it, which she didn't do with the other girls.

Margaret always loved desserts, so when she was convalescing her mother made her a batch of cream puffs. She was down to the last one when the doctor came in to see her, and mother suggested that she gave it to the doctor. "And to this day I can…

Margaret's grandmother died before she was born, but she has one memory of her grandfather Estberg. He came one day while she was playing with other kids and he stood behind her, a very tall man dressed in black. His image is mixed up with that of…

Margaret's grandfather died in June 1907, at the age of seventy-one. Adelle and the two girls attended the funeral. The total expense of internment was $ 144.25

Margaret's mother kept a lot of memorabilia. On a small program for children's day at church, which her mother kept Margaret found written the date of her baptism: June 12, 1904, a short time before her first birthday.

Margaret recalls her first kindergarten project, a turkey cut out of paper and colored, and a sailboat cut out and put on a piece of paper. She also gives the names of her school teachers from kindergarten to eighth grade, and remembers one who was…

Margaret loved reading from the beginning of her schooling. She would complete and turn in her assignment before it was due in order to get to read one of the books that Miss Morse kept at the back of the classroom. She remembers her mom reading to…

Margaret acquired two kittens and one day they disappeared. Adelle didn't want to tell her about what had happened to the kittens, but she overheard her mom telling her dad that the tom had killed them both. That was her first experience of the death…

Every Saturday afternoon, A.D., Margaret's father, would bring home a bag of candies after work. The girls were expected to be polite and nice to each other in their using of the candies.

Evangeline was punished by her mom for running after and catching the streetcar. On another Margaret also was punished for running in front of the streetcar. Mom would usually punish the kids verbally.

One day Margaret saw Elisabeth hold sand in a cup. Mother was baking in the kitchen and as she turned to the sink Elizabeth dashed in an threw the sand into the flour bin

Margaret was born in the house at 8412 Highway, Somers, WI, on Sept. 7, 1903. It was in a tiny room , perhaps ten feet by ten. She stayed there with her parents, Adelle and A.D. through the winter.

At the end of the winter the Mortensons found it difficult to continue to stay in Somers, especially for A.D. to be going back and forth in the cold weather, so before the fall they moved to Racine, Wisconsin, and they stayed at 1741 Villa St. In…

Margaret's youngest uncle, Lawrence, was on the football team of Northwestern University. Her dad, A.D., began taking her to Lawrence's football games. That was when Margaret acquired her taste for football.

When Margaret was seven or eight years old she became very sick. The family doctor could not figure out what the disease was, so there was very little that could be done to help her. Suddently she had a terrible convulsion and the sickness was all…

Margaret has always been popular, a "top dog." She always had friends, always was team leader, class president, etc. It was natural to her and everybody took it for granted. In seventh grade she had her reverses: her parents wouldn't let her go to…
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