Esther and Ted Sauer

(This is how Ted and Esther were seen through the eyes and hazy, but loved, memories of all their younger sisters and brothers. - 50^th Wedding Anniversary, November 1967)

Ted Sauer and Esther Rosenquist were not the first to unite these two families. In fact, they had attended Walter Sauer and Luella Rosenquist at their wedding just two and one half years before; so when Elna Rosenquist was chosen to attend Esther and Gilbert Sauer was asked to be Ted's best man, all the younger sisters and brothers of both families immediately began to forecast a third union. This was so embarrassing to Elna and Gilbert that all they can remember about Ted and Esther's wedding was that they were scared to death the minister might marry the wrong couple.

In the year 1897, on April 14, a son was born to Mr. & Mrs. Jim Sauer at their Clay county homestead. They named him Theodore Oliver. That same year on July 17, a daughter was born to Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Rosenquist, in St. Charles, Illinois. They named her Esther Caroline and when she was only three years old, the young family moved to a Minnesota farm home about seven miles south of Glyndon.

Ted was a husky, strong boy who grew rapidly and was kept busy helping with farm work and managing his younger brothers (when they allowed it). Esther was a rather frail girl who was always getting her feelings trampled on because strangers mistook her for being much younger than she was. Nevertheless, as the years marched on, the Rosenquist family moved around and found their home at one time in the Spring Prairie territory. In the meantime the Jim Sauers had also moved to the farm south of the original homestead and there Ted was destined to spend the remainder of his young bachelor days.

He was quite a gay blade in those days. He was the first in his neighborhood to own a spanking new buggy. On the 4th of July that year he had plenty of help from younger sisters and brothers when he brought home some flags for the front and some red, white and blue crepe paper to wind through the spokes of the wheels. Oh, that buggy was a beautiful sight when it was completed! And when Ted and another young gentlemen friend drove out of the yard, they left behind them a whole yard full of beamingly proud, but very wistful younger sisters and brothers. Did they escort a couple of young ladies that day? Well, that's still Ted's secret, because what young gentlemen of 17 years gives such important information to the little kids at home?

Those were the adventurous years! The horseless carriages were getting to be quite the thing and so the next step in the line of progress, that Ted took, was to purchase a beautiful "Saxton Roadster", complete with " Prestone lights". The first time Ted backed it up to turn around, it suddenly caught fire. As the roadster was right by the kitchen door, they all rushed to the kitchen for water to put out the fire. Any liquid that happened to be sitting in the kitchen got thrown at the car, even a pail of milk. Later Ted's mother found a jar that had been standing completely empty on her pantry shelf out by the auto. In the excitement that, too, had been thrown at the burning car. But the important part was that the fire was put out and many a joy ride was taken in that beautiful machine. The young people from the neighborhood used to gather at the Sauers and pile in the front seat, in the back seat, on the fenders and even lined up on the running hoards.

In the meantime. Esther had been having some adventures too. There was the time, for instance, when Dr. Lowe came to the Rosenquist home to deliver a new baby. "There wasn't anything so unusual about that except this time he was driving a new car. Of course, he couldn't help but see the longing in the eyes of the young children there, so when he left, he offered to give them a ride part way down the road if they would be willing to walk back. Luella very sedately rode as a lady should but Esther bounced and giggled the whole time. Needless to say, on the walk home she was thoroughly reprimanded by her older sister for her very unlady like behavior.

When Esther was 13 years old, she went to Illinois to stay with relatives for about 10 months. While there, she attended a school taught by a 17-year-old high school graduate. Sometimes it was doubtful whether the teacher taught Esther of if Esther taught the teacher--or probably not much was taught at all! After coming back to Minnesota she and Luella worked in Fargo and Moorhead at various places such as a corset factory and Western Union Telegraph Company. It was while she was working at Western Union that Ted Sauer's 1914 Model T touring car found its way quite frequently over the rough roads that led to Fargo. In fact, one of his younger brothers recalls that Ted had trouble keeping this car all in one piece. It seems at any time midway between home and Western Union, the wheels had a habit of coming off!

One time when Esther was home for a weekend, she was all dressed up expecting Ted to call. He must have had some wheel trouble that night, too, because he was a little slow in coming. Esther's mother had been housecleaning and had painted the woodwork. Every 2-3 minutes Esther would go to look for Ted and would place her hand on the window casing. Elna had to follow her around with some kerosene on a cloth and keep mopping the paint off her hands.

The year was 1917. America was plunged into the World War. Everywhere you heard the songs "The Yanks are Coming" and "Over There". It was a time of seeing young men enlist and go off to camps and then overseas. The younger members in the Sauer family could see the unrest in Ted's manner. One morning they could especially notice he was fretful. When he went to the barn, instead of harnessing his team of horses, he turned them out into the pasture, dressed up, got in his Ford Touring car and drove off. However, he didn't go to the recruiting station, but to Western Union and waited for Esther to come out for noon and then took her to dinner. She, too, noticed that something was bothering him and wondered if he had gotten into some difficulty. So she coaxed him into telling her the trouble. Finally, he blurted it out--that either she agree, right now, to marry him or he'd join the army. The answer must have been favorable because she went back to work singing and he went home, hitched up his team and worked the rest of the day!

They decided to have the wedding on Nov. 21, 1917. Only by this time Ted was only 20 years old, so he had to have his parents sign for him. The morning he went for his license, his dad went with him. Later, when they came back, Jim Sauer told his wife, "Well. I've given my boy away, now you'll have to go in and give yours away!" At first she thought he was kidding but Ted told her that she would have to go in and sign also. So they started off again with Ted and his Dad in the front seat and his mother in the back seat of Ted's Ford. They had just got to the willow row outside the yard when they saw Gilbert come tearing after them. By the time he caught them, he was gasping for breath. He told Ted to be very sure not go make a mistake and get a dog's license!.

They were married at the home of Walter & Luella Sauer, known as the Halterman place, just east of Everett Reas. They were to live with Walter and Luella after the wedding. Rev. Wickre married them and as before mentioned, Elna Rosenquist and Gilbert Sauer attended them. The bride wore a dark blue pussy-willow taffeta dress with a white colonial collar of the same taffeta. She carried a bouquet of white roses. The bridesmaid wore a wine colored worsted dress and had a corsage of one white rose. The men had dark suits with boutonnieres of a single white rose. The groom also wore shiny, black. very tight, new shoes. He suffered immensely during the ceremony standing first on one aching foot and then the other. As soon as he possibly could, he slipped away and changed into his old pair of shoes. Only the two families were present for the wedding and supper following. Then in the evening all the friends and neighbors gathered for a reception.

The Ted and Walter Sauers lived together on the Halterman place that winter, but in the spring the Walter Sauers moved to Spring Prairie while the Ted Sauers stayed on until after the birth of their son, Clifford Theodore on September 16, 1918. Now most young fathers are supposed to be very proud of their baby sons, especially the first one. But Ted could only shake his head and say, "Oh. Esther, he's so homely!" Esther answered, "Oh well, Ted, they say all babies looks change a lot," and then looking down at Clifford, added, "and if he is going to change any at all, it'll have to be for the better."

It was a bitter cold day when the young couple planned to move to their farm they had newly purchased from Ole Torkilson, the farm which has been their home ever since. Grandma Sauer felt it was too cold for Esther and the new baby to be exposed to all this moving. So she had them come over as soon as things got somewhat packed up at the Halterman home. This was the day the Jim Sauer had chimney trouble and as a result their house was cold and smoky, much to the dismay of Grandma Sauer. Meanwhile Ted took one Wagon load of household equipment and Elna Rosenquist drove another wagon load to their new home. They set up the stoves immediately.

Ted and Esther had a daughter, Lois, born in 1920.  She only lived about a year.  Ted died of a heart attack on May 31, 1974. He and Esther were living in Moorhead at the time. Later, Esther lived with Clifford's family in California for some time and eventually moved to Eventide Lutheran Home in Moorhead. She died there on October 11, 1991 and was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Glyndon. She was 94 years old.