The Farm on Badger Creek: Memories of a Midwest Girlhood

by Peggy Prilaman Marxen

Peggy Prilaman Marxen grew up near the town of Meteor in northwestern Wisconsin’s Sawyer County, isolated by geography yet surrounded by close-knit extended family. Multiple generations of her family witnessed changes to rural Wisconsin that altered the fabric of their lives and the lives of all in their community, including the introduction of new farming techniques, school consolidation, and revolutions in transportation and technology. They supplemented their subsistence herd of dairy cows by hunting, fishing, and selling timber and maple syrup. For many years, her home, like those of her neighbors, lacked indoor plumbing, electricity, and a telephone. As a young child, Peggy attended a one-room schoolhouse and walked, biked, or sledded the three miles to school and back, no matter the weather. 
 

272 pages, Paperback

Published October 26, 2021

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book about being raised on a rural dairy farm in the 1950s and 60s. I was also raised on a dairy farm during that time period. We had electricity and indoor plumbing but there was a lot of the rest of the book I could relate to: the close knit community, neighbors helping neighbors, playing for hours in our favorite locations far, far away from Mom and Dad, the chores, etc, etc.

I'm glad Peggy Marxen was able to write down her experiences for the future generations of her family and for those who will now know what small farms were like so many years ago.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A northern Wisconsin farm girl's memoir brought back great memories of my own farm girl childhood. Though author Peggy Prilaman Marxen is only two years older than I am, many of her reminiscences like most of the neighbor women not driving, rural one-room school and their farm not having electricity or indoor pluming were things I never experirenced. But her descriptions of the multi-purpose kitchen table, visiting neighbors, and watching out for each other were right on.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the trip down the author's childhood memory lane in a rural Wisconsin small town in the 1950s. No detail was spared and a picture was truly painted of everyday life on the farm, visiting friends and relatives, holidays, weather, and much much more.

[Laura]

Author portrayed such vivid childhood memories! While a lot of the stories in the book were wholesome and sweet, there was also a fair representation of the challenges and heartache that happen to everyone.

[Carrie Abitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wholesome account of growing up in rural Wisconsin.

[Mara Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolute dream of insight into the simple little life of a Midwest childhood. It was very fun to go with this author on a jaunt down memory lane.