It is a concept expressed many times throughout history: rewards require dedication and hard work. Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, put it this way: “You must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing.” It is but one variant of a time-honored theme: no guts, no glory; no cross, no crown.
Our image for this installment of Treasured Wisdom shows a farmer riding a type of harvester, probably a hay mower. The photo, which likely dates to the 1910s or 1920s, was most likely taken in Washington, Wood or Portage counties in Wisconsin. This farmer understands the need for hard work, for he likely put in 14 hour days planting, tending and harvesting. We don’t know his name.
Forebears on both sides of my family were farmers, first in Pomerania and Ireland and later in various parts of Wisconsin. They knew hard work. It was their ticket out from servitude and poverty in their homeland. It was paid out in their successful farms in their new homes. At one time in the early 20th century, Hanneman farmers tended more than 1,000 acres in Wood and Portage counties in Wisconsin. Those farms are, for the most part, gone now. But the hard work done there echoes through time.
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