CHARLES EBERSOLD, 88, CAST HIS FIRST VOTE FOR ABRAHAM LINCOLN Local Pioneer Prefers Horse and Buggy Period -------------------------------------------- On presidential election day in 1864, a 21-year -old Swiss farmer boy walked into the polls at Alma, Wis., and proudly cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, who was running for reelection. That boy was Charles Ebersold of this city, now 88 years of age. The beautiful little city of Interlaken, nestling in the Swiss Alps, was the birthplace of Charles Ebersold on June 15, 1843. In 1856, when Charles was a boy of 13, his family emigrated to America, and the Swiss mother and father and six children settled in Muscatine, Iowa, where they stayed for one year. Removing to Alma in 1857, the Ebersold family located on a farm there. But in 1858, they again moved, this time to Wabasha, then practically a wilderness with more Indians than white people. Wabasha's busy thoroughfare, highway No. 3, was then a dense woods, according to Mr. Ebersold. Friends and neighbors whom Mr. Ebersold knew as a boy of 15 were Jacob Tenney, Henry Balow, Frank Talbort and Harry Evans. Mr. Tenney was then in the milk business. A trading post with the Indians occupied Mr. Talbort's time. The occupations of Mr. Balow and Mr. Evans were closely allied, the former being a carpenter and the latter being a contractor. In 1861 this pioneer family returned to Alma, where Charles continued the education begun in the schools of Interlaken. Schools at that time was in session only three months out of the year. Children spent the remaining nine months in helping their parents with the farm work. Because children were so much in demand at home to help with the many duties of the rough farm life, many did not have the opportunity to get to school even during the three-months term. The curriculum of the school Charles attended at Mill Creek consisted solely of the three R's. Botany, hygiene, physical education or any other of our modern subjects were unheard of in the schools of those days. While going to this school, which was four miles from his home, he boarded with neighbors, doing chores to pay for his education of three years' duration. Then the schooling stopped - he was needed at home to help with the farm work. The name of Charles Ebersold was on the list of those from the Alma district to be drafted in the Civil war to fight for the Union. But the sectional war ended, and he was not called. Fifty-nine years ago, in 1872, Josephine Rocque, a native daughter of Wabasha, became the wife of this Wisconsin farmer. They settled on his farm in Alma. Life on a farm then was not the scientific business (Continued on page eight) that it now. Electric lights, even kerosene lamps, were an undreamed of luxury. Candles were used for illumination, and they were made by the farm women. Mr. Ebersold arose at 4 o'clock in the morning and often worked until dark. Threshing machines were then run by horses, five teams being needed to operate one threshing machine. Embarking from New York in 1898, Mr. Ebersold landed in France en route to his native Switzerland. He spent three months in Interlaken, the city of his birth, visiting relatives there. One of his treasured mementos of this sojourn is a souvenier pipe with a small hole which discloses a view of this Swiss city and reveals the Jungfrau, a giant iceberg 13,000 feet high, in the background. About 15 years ago, Mr. And Mrs. Ebersold came back to Wabasha and have resided here ever since. The Charles Ebersold that residents of Wabasha know is an old man in years, but not in spirit. He loves to work and often does odd jobs for his neighbors, such as mowing lawns, merely because he enjoys working. Rain or shine, he prefers to work out-of-doors rather than sit in his home with nothing to do. He is a benign looking old man, slight, white-haired and ruddy-cheeked. Mr. Ebersold is distinctly a member of the so-called old school. He does not approve of the younger generation saying, "They don't want to work." He prefers the horse and buggy to automobiles and until four years ago he had a horse and buggy which he used as his mode of transportation. One of his most prized possessions is a blanket with sleigh bells, made in Switzerland, for a horse's back. He regrets that there is "no use for them any more." He thoroughly disapproves of the cigarette-smoking flapper and explains that "ladies do not smoke." When asked if he approves of prohibition, he answered, "No. The country was better off before prohibition, because the government received revenue from the liquor industry." Six children were born to Mr. And Mrs. Ebersold, but one child, William died. There are 31 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren from this union. The sons, August and Rudolph, both married, are living in Alma. The former has eight children and the latter has four. The three daughters of Mr. And Mrs. Ebersold, Mrs. Godfrey Blatter, Mrs. Charles Wiegele and Mrs. Carl Loechler, reside in Wabasha. Mrs. Blatter has five children, Pearl, Madeline, Madora, Grace and Richard. Mrs. Wiegele has two sons, Ivan and Leo, and five daughters, Josephine, Louise, Hazel, Juanita and Malinda. Mrs. Loechler also has seven children, Charles, Evelyn, Herbert, Lester, Marie, Kenneth and Benson. Wabasha is justly proud of having a citizen like Charles Ebersold. There are few communities who can boast of having a resident who cast his first vote for the Great Emancipator - Abraham Lincoln.