Page 90 - Poat_to_Poot_Engels

high intellect of the Poot's. Initially, they were placed in the second
grade. Will was soon put through the quickest promotions of his life.
Within a months time he passed into the third grade and then into the
fourth grade. His teacher was Miss Young. Will and Abe also attended a
temperance school on Sunday afternoon. Miss Young also taught at the
temperance school. Although Will and Abe proudly wore their white
temperance ribbons, the meaning was quickly forgotten one Monday
when they got their hands on a jug of hard cider. The results were quite
intemperate!

The state law required that the schoolchildren undergo an annual
inspection for disease and vermin. The inspection was well intentioned,
but young Will thought the idea was degrading and disgusting. An
upper class child would find the thought of lice and fleas most repulsive.
The Dutch were world renowned for their fastidiously clean homes and
streets, and vermin were probably scarce among them. When the time
came for inspection, the children were taken one at a time to the
wardroom. There a nurse would perform the inspection. When Will was
led into the wardroom, he made a flying exit to the main hallway. Then
he ran to the stairs and slid down a bannister and almost into the arms
of the caretaker. Will managed to elude him and ran for home!

Although there were many Dutch immigrants in Kalamazoo, they were
only about 20% of the overall population in town. This made Will and
Abe the odd "little Dutchmen" subject to considerable teasing and
insults. They were not street fighters, but were knowledgeable in the
"manly art of self defense." Although they "never started a fight", all too
often they had to defend themselves. Will stated, "(we) were never
beaten."

Michigan was a land of forests, and Kalamazoo had a number of lumber
mills, paper mills, and furniture factories. With a good supply of cheap
lumber, most of the sidewalks and even some streets in town were paved
with wood, although they were making improvements downtown. The
wooden streets were sometimes called corduroy roads because of their
ribbed appearance. When the new two-story parsonage was built, the old
plank sidewalk was taken up and a new cinder walk was laid. Will and
Abe were given the laborious task of sawing and splitting the wood so it
could be used as fuel in the kitchen cooking stove.

His mother Fredericke found that the move to America and the loss of
social status required considerable adjustment. In Holland, they were
accustomed to having servants for every task, but in America, the
servants kept leaving to seek their own fortune or to get married.
Although more servants were sent from Holland, it was a losing battle.
Their favorite nurse-maid from Oude Leije did not stay with the Poots for
very long before she found a husband and quit their employment.

- Kalamazoo - page 3 -