June 1916, Minnesota

On June 3, 1916, my great-grandmother Estella Lucinda Randall (Hower) passed away in Park Rapids, Minnesota.
She died at her home in Park Rapids on a Sunday, the cause of death being heart failure. She had been about the home as usual all day until evening, eating as usual and not complaining of feeling sick. Shortly after the supper hour she was taken suddenly ill and died within an hour. She was 49 years of age.
My great-grandfather, A. C. Johnson, had died in 1900, and Estella had married William Reuben Hower. He was left to care for their ten year-old daughter, Margaret M. Hower.
She was also survived by three children from her earlier marriage to Aaron. C. Johnson. A son, Crist Philip, and two daughters, Clarabelle and my grandmother, Rosella.
The funeral was held at the Baptist church in Park Rapids on Tuesday afternoon, Rev. H.
R. McKee preaching the sermon, and interment was made at Greenwood cemetery.

Candling Eggs

One of my early childhood memories... I am sitting on my Uncle Cecil's lap in the henhouse, candling eggs.
Before setting eggs under the hen to brood, we would candle the eggs to make certain they were fresh.
We would hold the eggs up to a lamp in the dark henhouse with the large end up.
Good eggs look clear and the white spot, or air cell, at the end of the egg is small, not larger than a dime. The yolk is at the center.
If the egg cell is large, and a dark yolk moves around, the egg is not fresh.
While the eggs are brooding, they can also be candled to check the progress of the embryos. The video above shows a live embryo moving around in an egg that is being candled