* * * * *
Chris
Kain was born in 1881, the ninth child of Patrick and Anna (Wall) Kain. He grew up on their farm in Plum Creek
Township and graduated from Algona High School.
He began his higher education at Collegeville, Minnesota, but in 1899
transferred to Highland Park College in Des Moines from which he graduated with
a pharmacy degree. He had already been
working at Sheetz Pharmacy in Algona when he passed his exam and became a
registered pharmacist in late 1902.
By
1905 Chris was seeing an unknown young woman in the Minneapolis area. How long their romance lasted or how serious
it became could not be determined. Did
it end in heartbreak? It is likely we
will never know, but an article published on February 13, 1908 in The Algona
Advance may give us a clue. A humorous
expose entitled “List of Eligibles – A Survey of Those Who Have No Wives, But
Who Would Have Them if the Ladies Proposed,” gives a list of local eligible
bachelors and their availability. It
states, “Chris Kain was once on the
string, but the string broke. He is open
for sealed bids at the earliest possible date.”
 |
| Christopher Kain |
For
a time after that, Chris was somewhat footloose. News articles place him working in Guthrie
Center, Westgate and Sumner until March of 1915 when he returned to Algona and
became employed at the Rexall drug store.
* * * * *
Born
in Bancroft in 1884, Freda Sjogren was the daughter of Peter and Caroline
(Fehrm) Sjogren. The family moved to
Algona when she was a child and after completing her schooling, Freda began
working at the Chrischilles Store as a cashier.
She also served as an organist at the Swedish Lutheran Church.
At
the time Chris returned to Algona in 1915, Freda was working as a cashier at
the Quinby & Krause store in downtown Algona. Did she frequent the lunch counter at the
drug store? Did he shop at Quinby & Krause? Whether his good looks caught her attention
or her charming smile caught his, the two soon became an item.
* * * * *
When
the United States entered the war in 1917, Chris was 36 years old—too old to be
drafted. Nevertheless he knew that
medical personnel were sorely needed in the ranks. He was at the time working in the
Kraft-Misbach Store. He and four other
male employees of the firm heard the patriot’s call to serve. In early December Chris went to Camp Dodge
with a group of other local men to enlist.
Soon he was back home having sprained an ankle. Determined, he returned to Camp Dodge when
the ankle was healed and re-entered the service on December 24, 1917.
He
was originally assigned to the ordnance division and in the spring of 1918 he
was stationed at Camp Hancock which was near Augusta, Georgia. That camp which had been established in July
of 1917 was referred to as a “great city of tents.” Because of the warm weather, it was decided
that buildings to house the soldiers were not required. The camp was a major ordnance training ground
preparing its soldiers for the frontlines. The noise of gun and cannon fire filled
the air throughout the day.
Eventually,
Chris did request a transfer to the medical corps which was granted. The base hospital was housed in a succession
of wooden buildings, but the field hospital—where many of the patients were
housed—was a series of tents.
* * * * *
By
September of 1918 when Chris came home on leave, the momentum of the war
appeared to have shifted to the Allies who had pushed back the offensive of the
Germans in the second battle of Marne in July and launched their own
counteroffensive. If this progress
continued, there was strong hope that the war would soon end.
Was
this hope voiced between Freda and Chris as they said their farewells at the train
station? Did they speak of the plans
they had for the life they would share when the war ended? Or did they simply gaze at one another whispering
endearments knowing that these memories had to last until Chris came home to
stay? All too soon it was time to board. The two embraced each other one last
time. As Chris climbed on to the train,
he turned and waved. Freda raised her
hand in reply. She watched the train
pull out of the station continuing to wave until it could no longer be seen and
then she turned, her eyes filled with tears, and went home.
 |
| Private Christopher Kain |
* * * * *
Since
the spring of 1918, the H1N1 influenza (otherwise known as the Spanish flu) had
been spreading worldwide. While most
types of influenza were dangerous for those under the age of 5 or 65 and older,
this specific strain was particularly deadly for those between the ages of 20
and 40. Overcrowded hospitals, poor
hygiene and global troop movement caused the rapid expansion of the
disease. No vaccines or antibiotics
existed at the time so treatment consisted of isolation, quarantine, use of
disinfectants and limitation of public gatherings. Many large cities closed theaters, schools
and churches. Funerals were limited to
15 minutes.
Some
who died of the illness passed within hours of their first symptoms. For others it was a slow, agonizing passage
from pneumonia as their lungs filled with fluid, causing them to cough up blood
and struggle for air until they suffocated.
On
September 30, 1918, only two soldiers were in the Camp Hancock infirmary. By the end of the next day, 716 reported with
flu-like symptoms. In just four more
days—by October 5th—3,000 cases were reported and 52 soldiers had
died. Chris entered the hospital that
same day.
Word
of his illness was received by his wife late Thursday, October 10th.
Freda, along with his sister, Mary, who was a nurse, left the next day for his
bedside. Upon reaching Augusta, they
were informed that they were too late—Private Christopher Kain had died
Saturday, October 12th, of pneumonia resulting from influenza.
* * * * *
His
body arrived in Algona on Thursday, October 17th, and was
immediately interred in Calvary Cemetery.
Open air services were performed graveside by Father Coffey of St.
Cecelia’s parish. He was buried next to
his parents and two brothers, Patrick, Jr., and James.
 |
| The Kain family burial plot at Calvary Cemetery |
For
Freda, a widow after 32 days of marriage, the grief must have been almost
unbearable as she stood by his grave that day.
She was now saying a permanent goodbye to the husband she had watched
board a train exactly one month earlier.
She closed her eyes and pictured him so handsome in his uniform smiling
and waving to her as the train pulled away from the station. She would remember him that way always.
* * * * *
Epilogue: Freda Kain did go on to marry again. Three years later she married Sever Christensen
who was a rural mail clerk in Algona and a veteran of World War I. They were married a little over 15 years when
Sever died suddenly while they were on vacation in California. They had no children. Freda died in August of 1962 after a long
illness. She is buried next to Sever in
Riverview Cemetery.
My
thanks to Barbara Darling, a relative of Chris Kain, for sharing photos and
family history with me.
Until
next time,
Kossuth
County History Buff
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