From Single Life to Benedict - Part 6 - New Job, New Bikes and a Garden

Alfred and Helen, along with children Bill, Abe, Jane, and  Tuney are now living in Linton. Alfred is working as bookkeeper for the Ford agency in town. It during the Depression and money is a little tight. His story continues:

"Then in 1931 I got what I thought was a break – an appointment to the Railway Mail Service in the month of July.  It was a hard decision to make – I went to Chicago and interviewed for the job.  Of course it was a substitute appointment and the highest wage a sub had made was a little over 1200⁰⁰ a year. I came back home and talked to several people about it and everybody advised me to take it but Paul Fry.  I didn’t take in consideration that he was Democratic Green County Chairman and in face of the depression everything pointed to a change in administration.  I feel that if I had stayed with Paul I would have realized something worthwhile for the change did come and Paul had a lucrative job under the new Governor Paul V. McNutt but I took the mail clerk job in August of 1931 and with our small bank balance we really had to skimp to make ends meet.  I liked the work, even though it was hard work and entailed a lot of study and I had to do a lot of dead heading – mostly out of Wheeling, W.Va. and Pittsburg, Pa.  I had to sub untill December of 1935.

  Several things happened during this time that made lasting memories for me.  One thing I remember was that all the boys in our neighborhood had bicycles.  Harold and Avery also wanted one but they didn’t nag us for one.  So one day Mom and I talked it over and decided that we could spare the money for we had a little on hand and I had a fairly good pay check due in another week so we called the boys in and told them we would buy them a bicycle that afternoon and the next week we would buy another one and they were to decide who would get the first one.  Harold being the oldest was to get the first one and out of the kitchen door they ran to tell the other boys, singing, “Happy Days are here again.”

 Another thing to mention was that Rev. Jaberg and I had the boys put out a garden on the Berns Farm on the banks of Buck Creek about a quarter of a mile from the road.  We all did a lot of hard work planting and tending and that creek bottom was a hot place.  Things didn’t do too good for it was a dry, arid summer.  Finally about mid summer we planted pole beans and they started off with a bang.  We cut poles and staked them and they soon covered the poles with foliage – looked like a good prospect.  I got home from a tour of duty on the road on a Saturday.  It rained that night but Mom and I decided to go out to the Bean Patch Sunday morning while the children went to Sunday School thinking we could be back in time for church services – two things to report, first we got stuck – hopelessly mired down and had to go to Uncle Karl’s and have him harness up a team of horses and pull us out; second, the Bean Beetles had eaten the beans up.  Then after dinner Rev. Jaberg and Garrett Kramer went out to see the beans.  He saw that a car had driven in the lane and he got stuck in the same mire hole and Uncle Karl had another car to pull out."

In 1931 the number of unemployed had reached 8 million with a 16.8% unemployment rate. Many car manufacturers were going out of business as a result of people not having enough money to buy them. 1931 was the year that the 102-story Empire State Building was completed, gambling became legal in Las Vegas, and drought and dust storms in the Midwest caused higher food prices. I'm sure that Alfred & Helen thought that a government job would ultimately lead to more stability. 

Mail service has moved from stagecoach and boat to the railway in the 1830's. In the 1860's they began sorting mail on the moving trains. They then developed a system for exchanging mail bags without the train stopping. Here is a video showing the procedure. The mid 1930's was the peak of the Railway Mail Service with over 10,000 trains having mail clerks aboard them. By 1975 a large percentage of the mail was carried by airlines but the creation of the interstate road system made transportation by truck the least expensive way to transport mail.

Railway Mail Car
from Smithsonian National Postal Museum website
http://postalmuseum.si.edu

“There is no position in the Government more exacting than that of a postal clerk, and no one that has so many requirements. He must not only be sound ‘in wind and limb,’ but possessed of more than ordinary intelligence, and a retentive memory. His work is constant, and his only recreation, study. He must not only be proficient in his own immediate work, but he must have a general knowledge of the entire country, so that the correspondence he handles shall reach its destination at the earliest possible moment. He must know no night and no day. He must be impervious to heat and cold. Rushing along at a rate of forty or fifty miles an hour, in charge of that which is sacred-the correspondence of the people...” —The American Railway   

Paul Fry Chairman of Beverage Commission

Alfred mentioned that Paul Fry had been the one person that though the Railway Mail Clerk position was not in Alfred best interest. In 1991, Rennis Wolfe wrote: " Mr. Fry made a substantial contribution to Paul McNut's campaign for governor and subsequently was appointed by the governor to organize and head the Indiana Alcoholic Division. He formulated the dictates and requisites of brewers, distributors and licensing of stores operating hours and literally all areas of the liquor business. He was appropriately dubbed the "Beer Baron of Indiana." 










The boys, Bill and Abe, aged 9 and 8 in 1931 got bikes.  They probably looked something like the one in this 1930 ad for a Sears bike. I wonder if they bought new ones or used? I'm sure it didn't matter to the boys as they said - "Happy Days are here again."





I wonder if those "Happy Days" have returned for the family. Till next time.....

#52 Ancestors Week 21 - Military - Nelson Adkins

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #21 and the suggested theme is MILITARY. So today on Memorial Day, I am highlighting Nelson Adkins, my 2nd great grandfather.

Nelson was born in Whitley County, Kentucky in 1828, the second of five children of Abner and Malinda (Mahan) Adkins. Very little information is available about Nelson's early life. By 1850 he is married with a two year old daughter and living in Daviess County, Indiana. Several years later he moved his family to Texas. But they were there only two years. In 1860 they were in Martin County, Indiana. Nelson is a farmer with real estate valued at $700 and has five children. And then the Civil War began.

This is a copy of the four page letter that Nelson Adkins wrote to his wife from Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, Feb 7, 1864. The transcription is below it. The spelling and punctuation are as he wrote it. 

 

Cumberland Gap Tenn          Sunday February 7th 1864 

            Most dear and affectionate wife and children it is with grate pleasure that I take my pen in hand to drop you a few lines in order to let you know that my health is only tolerable  I left the hoespidle in a day or too after I rote you the other leter and has been with the Company ever since but I haven’t gained my strength sufficient to be able for duty yet but think that I will before long  I hopethat thee lines will reach you in due time and find you blest with the best of health  I havnt got any leters from you since about the twentyieth of of December last and the time passes by very slo on that account but I hope that you are all doing well and that I will hear from you before long.

Page 2    I understand that you have or had a heap of very cold weather in your country and I have some news that you have suffered on that account we are stationed on the south side of the Cumberland Gap but don’t know how long we will stay here.  Some of the boys thinks that we will stay here for sometime but I cannot say for my part how long we will stay here but there is one thing that I do know and that is this we have been seeing very hard times ever since we left Point isabell in the way of something to eat but we hope that we will have beter times before long they will be beter or worse one before long for the boys has had some little money all the time but they have spent nearly all they had  we did not get our pay for the last too month and they think we wont git our money till March [see note] then we will joke around pay difficulties but some of the boys would like to be

Page 3    the pay maybe to day but for me my part I can make out for a little while yet as I have got some paper and stamps and nearly one dolar in money but this thing called tobacco I recon I will have to do without   I don’t see anyother chance at the present any how and it will be a very hard task but a [man] don’t know what he can stand till he has a tried at least I have found it so at least and when you write I want you to tell me how you have got a long thrue the hard cold weather in the way of getting would and your miling and whether you have got corn enough to do you or not. Tell me all a bout your ups and downs in this hard world of trials and difficultys I have wrote to Mary a time or too buthavnt got any leter from them since she was at your house in the fall  whether they have got my leters or not I canot tell   you can tell Grason that I got a leter from John the other day and he

 Page 4  was well and they were on the Texas Cost and were talking of re enlisting for three years longer the most of the boys has tolerable good health as had a few days ago they were sent out about thirty five mules on a forage scrape and that is about all the way that we have to git any thing to eat at this time   we are looking for them every day  The general and the Colonel are trying to make some other arangements for something to eat and it is to mie hope that they sack seed and I think maby they will  My paper is a bout o fill and I will hve to close for this time in conclusion I will say if I canot hear from you it don’t keep me from thinking of you for I think of you both by day and knite and hope that the time will soon come when I can enjoy your pleasnt company once more in time.  

So no more but ever remains your loving husband until death   Nelson Adkins                                

Nelson had been serving in the Union Army for a year and four months, having mustered in at Evansville, Indiana on October 1, 1962 in Company G of the 91st Regiment of Indiana Volunteers. At the time he was 34 years old, 

Life certainly hasn't been easy for him of late. He has just gotten out of the hospital but still doesn't feel well.  Most like due to the fact that they are not getting much food or pay.

In October of 1862 the company had marched to Henderson, Kentucky. They did primarily guard duty in Henderson, Smithland and Madisonville, Kentucky until June of 1863. President Lincoln was determined to keep the Confederacy out of Kentucky.  In the meantime, on April 1, 1863, Nelson had been promoted to Corporal. 

In September they were ordered to Nashville, Tennessee and in January of 1964 they were in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee where they stayed until May. Cumberland Gap had been occupied by the South from mid 1861 to June 1862.  Then the Union took control until September of 1862. The Confederacy regained control and held it for a year. Then in September of 1863 advances by the Unoin from both the north and south forced the Confederates to surrender and the Union held the area until the end of the war.

After Cumberland Gap they moved to Knoxville and then joined Sherman's march to Atlanta. I don't really know the path that Nelson took, but the next information I have is from Nashville, Tennessee on July 9, 1864. 

Discharge of Nelson Adkins due to Death

Nelson Adkins was discharged on July 9, 1864 at Nashville, Tennessee due to death.  He died of disease - acute diarrhea at USA General Hospital in Nashville. Nelson is buried in the Nashville National Cemetery where there are 33,000 Union interments. Tennessee succeeded from the union but the Nashville area was held by the Union for most of the war. The cemetery did not open until 1866. Burials prior to that time were in temporary hospital sites. 

I visited this cemetery last year and took the following pictures.

Burial site of Nelson Adkins - Nashville National Cemetery
from Sargent Family Collection

In Nelson's regiment 20 men were killed in action while 116 died of disease. What a stunning fact. He left behind a wife who never remarried (I wrote about her in week 3 - Tough Women) and six children, ages 3 to 16. 

Today I remember and pay tribute to my 2nd great grandfather for his sacrifice in the name of his country and all the other men and women who have done the same.

Single Life to Benedict - Part 5 - Things Take a Turn

Picking up the story of Alfred Moehlmann in 1927 living in Jasonville, Indiana. In March child number four, Alfred William Moehlmann, Jr. "Tuney" was born.

"But alas, near tragedy befell us.  Mom didn’t get along very well after Tuney was born and finally got bed ridden in November.  She got serious and Dr. Osborn made arrangements to send her to the hospital in Terre Haute.  I had to make quick arrangements for this emergency.  First the children, Jane to Aunt Annie, Aunt Tress took Harold, Avery stayed with Grand-ma Bovenschen, my mother came and took charge of Tunney.  We already had Mildred Bledsoe hired to do the house work.  An instant change from the breast to bottle milk for Tunney who was 8 months old wasn’t easy.  Just befor Thanksgiving Day she had surgery, performed by Dr. Jett.  She didn’t respond as she should and about a week later Dr. Jett called me and wanted 2 persons to come to the clinic to have blood typed for Mom would have to have surgery again the following morning.  Mr. Bovenschen and I went up and were typed both at the clinic and the hospital.  My blood was the same type as Moms but Mr. Bovenschen was different.  Dr. Jett told me he thought we should have a special nurse for her, which was soon arranged for.  Mom didn’t need a blood transfusion.  It was a long hard siege and we didn’t get to bring her home until in January.  Moms folks were all so cooperative which sure was appreciated by me, but the hardest lump I ever swallowed was when Aunt Annie asked me if the worst should happen to Mom if she could have Jane.  A few days after Mom got back home we began getting our fold together.  My mother went back home but we kept Miss Bledsoe to do the housework. 

I changed jobs the summer of 1927 and took a position with the Thomas Sales Co., - local Ford Agency, in August.  It was the year that the last Model T was made.  We had a few on hand when I started working there but I had plenty to do for books and records were in bad shape.  Mr. Thomas also had ½ interest in the Duncan Motor Co. (Ford) at Clay City and he also had the sub-agency at Worthington.  I had a girl helper at Jasonville & Clay City and Cletus (Red) Herron was in charge at Worthington. 

Ad from the Jasonville Ledger 

A year or so befor I took this job I wrote on a Railway Mail Clerk examination and had a grade of 87.7 plus 5 for military preference.  The Depression was already started, mines worked very little and money was getting tight.  The new model A didn’t come out until late 1928.  We got very few cars and the summer of 1929 Mr.  Thomas sold the Jasonville Agency and also his interest in the Clay City franchise.  I worked for the Jasonville folks and also supervised the Bookkeeping Department for the new owners at Clay City.  The new set-ups did not click – a combination of bad management and the effects of the depression.

Alfred W. Moehlmann's letter indicating the Railway Postal Clerk exam was taken 23 Apr 1927
from Moehlmann Family Coillection

Early in 1930 Paul Fry saw me in Linton and asked me if I would consider a position of bookkeeper for him at his Ford Agency.  I was interested and when I told Mom she was elated for she didn’t like living in Jasonville.  Salaries were low, I only received 35⁰⁰ per week and we were having a hard time breaking even and our bank balance was slowly swindling away.  We rented a house on F street N.E. and Mom was happy to be back in Linton.  I learned a lot from Paul Fry as a business man.  He had that something, business instinct that made him successful.  To him a dollar was worth one hundred cents and he saw to it that he didn’t loose a single cent of it on transactions or trades.  He was one man that knew every phase of his business and could spot a leak as soon as it happened.  Business was bad, but somehow Paul Fry could still operate in the black.  We had a small organization.  Rea Reed was Parts Department Manager; Hubert Heaton was Salesman; Claude Sipes, shop foreman; Lester (Red) Uland, mechanic; George, porter.  We worked long hours 7 am – 8 pm. But we all worked in harmony.  I would handle the Parts Dept. in the afternoon so Rea Reed could sell cars.  Later this cooperation paid off for me from Mr. Reed."

This is the ad that ran when Paul Fry took over the Linton Motor Sales:   

   Effective today, the Forld Motor Company has appointed Mr. Paul Fry, local business man, as dealer to succeed the Linton Motor Sales in this territory. Mr. Fry will operate his business under the name of PAUL FRY SALE AND SERVICE in the building until now occupied by the Linton Motor Sales.

   Mr. Fry regards his business of sellling and servicing Ford products as a very real service to the community and commits himself and his organization to a strenuous and willings effort to deal happily with all.

   We invite you to call upon us and to make our place of business your headaquarters for your convenience.

   We will, as soon as possible, have Ford products on our floor and invite you to see the new and improved models. 







So Alfred is out of the filling station business and back to bookkeeping, but still not far away from automobiles.  Although he has the Railway Clerk exam in his back pocket. 

There were several other mentions of the Moehlmann family in the newspapers during this time. This was a very interesting one for me.

William and Gesena Bovenschen had married on March 26, 1891 and were celebrating their 38th wedding anniversary.  Two of their children - Anna and Helen - were married on March 26th as well.  So Anna and Carl Kramer were celebrating their 18th anniversary while Alfred and Helen celebrated 8 years of marriage. Until I saw this announcement I never realized there was a significance to the date that Alfred and Helen chose. 

I love how small town newspapers print the gatherings of its citizens.  This dinner was given by Alfred's aunt, Gertrude (Tendick) Cerar.  Gertrude's sister Sophia Nolting and brother Diedrick also attended as well as John's brother, Jacob Cerar. I don't know if or how Matt Hagaman is related.

As Alfred mentioned, the Depression was already beginning. We will have to see if it has an impact on the Moehlmann household.

#52 Ancestors Week 20 - Black Sheep - The Counterfeiting Cousin

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #20 and the suggested theme is BLACK SHEEP. I am highlighting Columbus Houchin, not an ancestor but a cousin three times removed.

I have yet to find any direct ancestors that I would consider black sheep. But I do have cousins that fit the bill.  I'm highlighting Columbus Houchin, but there was a gang that actually included several of his brothers and cousins, that created havoc back in the late 1800's in Pike County, Indiana.

Our common ancestor is Jesse Houchin (1799-1860) and Elizabeth Clifford (1792-1865). Their son Clifford and my great grandfather Chesterfield were brothers. Columbus was the third child of Clifford and Sarah (Taylor) Houchin. He was born in 1852 on Clifford and Sarah's farm and was followed by six other siblings. At age 18, Columbus was still living at home and listed farmer as his occupation on the 1870 census. In 1874 he married Gabriella Woolsey. Gabriella was the 11th child of Temple and Maria (Johnson) Woolsey. Columbus' older brother had married Celia Woolsey, sister to Gabriella in 1862. 

photo taken in early 1875 -Columbus, Gabriella & son Joseph
from Woolsey Genealogy Website hosted by Rootsweb

This is about all the information I had on Columbus, except for one newspaper article about his sentence for counterfeiting being commuted by President Grover Cleveland.

Knowing there are substantially more digitized newspapers than when I originally researched this line, I went on the search for information on the arrest of Columbus Houchin. I certainly didn't know what I was getting into.  So here is what I found:

1877 - The first indication of any trouble was this article. Here Columbus and his younger brother Joseph are having their fines reduced on their conviction of assault and battery. It states that over a hundred citizens have signed the petition concerning the fines.

To Columbus Houchins and Joseph Houchins, the sum of one hundred and forty dollars each, being the residue of a fine of two hundred and eighty dollars assessed against them by the Pike Circuit Court, at the May term, 1876, upon his conviction of an assault and battery, he having paid one-half of the judgment. Remission granted June 1, 1877. Decision: By the Governor. Applicants were jointly indicted with George Bolan, for an assault and battery upon Christ Smitten, with intent to murder him, and were tried in the absence of Bolan, who had not been arrested. They ask relief from the judgment for the reasons: that they were not guilty of the offense charged; that each so testified before the jury; that the crime was alleged to have been committed in the night time at Smitten's residence, wherefore they were unable to establish their innocence; that they are young married men, farmers by occupation, and poor, striving to make an honest living for their families; that neither was ever before convicted of crime; and that the fines are excessive and constitute an unusual punishment upon young men of limited means. More than one hundred citizens of Pike County, including six jurors, concur in their petition and ask that it be granted. The clerk, sheriff, recorder and treasurer are of opinion that so much of each fine as may appear excessive should be remitted. I am informed that the unusual amount was occasioned by an obstinate twelfth juror. He held out for imprisonment in the marked "$5,000," which, when added to the sums fixed by the others and divided by twelve, resulted in a fine of $280. A statement of the evidence, certified by the judge and furnished to me, contains conflicting statements which show that the jury may not have imposed punishment upon the guilty party. "While I am not prepared to remit the entire fine, I think the amount excessive under the circumstances, and if each defendant will pay one-half his fine, I will remit the residue.

Indiana State Sentinel, November 7, 1883, page 5, Indianapolis, Indiana Volume 29, number 40, Column 1, from website Hoosier State Chronicles accessed on 16 May 2015 at https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=ISST18831107.1.5# 

 1880 - Columbus and Gabriella are raising their four year old son and six month old daughter and Columbus' occupation is farmer. They are living next door to Jesse Houchin and his family, the older brother of Columbus. So it seems everything is going fine at this point.

1880 Census - Lockhart Township, Pike County, Indiana on Ancestry.com

1883 -  Then in August of 1883 the following article was printed.  

THE COUNTERFEITING CASES

The Boy Woolsey Discharged and Houchins Held in $2000 Bail.

  The preliminary examination of Henry Woolsey and Columbus Houchins, arrested at Folsomville, Warrick County, On Monday last, for passing counterfeit money, and whose arrest was mentioned in the Journal recently, was begun before U.S. Commissioner Wartmann on Thursday, Aug 23, and concluded on Friday last.  The commissioner discharged the boy, Henry Woolsy, and held Columbus Houchins to bail in the sum of two thousand dollars for his appearance at the next U.S. Circuit court, to be held at Indianapolis in November next.
  The boy Henry Woolsey is an unsophisticated country lad of about 16 years of age, and but for his being in the company of "Lum" Houchins whose reputation is not of the best, no notice would have been taken, probably, of the passing by him of a bogus half-dollar on the saloon keeper at Folsomville.  Shortly after the boy passed the counterfeit half-dollar, "Lum" Houchins attempted to pass a bogus dollar coin, whereupon the citizens of Folsomville became aroused and determined to search Woolsey and Houchins and find out if they had any more counterfeit money on their persons.  The search resulted in finding upon Houchins three one-dollar and five half-dollar counterfeit coins.  The money was well executed and finely "milled," and calculated to deceive good judges of money.  The local authorities at Folsomville deserve great credit for their move in promptly arresting "Lum" Houchins and bringing him to trial.  Large quantities of the bogus dollar and half-dollar coins have been passed lately in Warrick, Pike and Dubois counties, and it is to be hoped that something will be done soon to put a stop to this rascally business. - [Evansville Journal]

from the  Petersburg Pike County Democrat , August 31, 1883, Petersburg, Indiana

The Houchin brothers must have gotten out on bail because just three months later in November this long article appeared about another highly orchestrated arrest that had been in the works for almost a year.

A LARGE HAUL

Of Counterfeiters Made by General Foster and Treasury Detective in Pike County.

  Abbott, Treasury Detective, said that for several years parties in this section of Indiana were suspected of dealing in counterfeit money, and about ten months ago it was determined upon to capture them. In order to more effectually fasten up on the guilty parties proofs of the most positive k ind, Treasury Detective B.D. Hobbs was sent into the section of the country around Stendale, Holland, Huntingburg and Pikeville, where it was known that the manufacture and passing of counterfeit money was going on. Hobbs located in this neighborhood as a corn doctor, and went under the assumed name of Dr. Charley Henderson. The doctor, by leaving samples of his nostrums not only in the houses of those suspected, but in those of many others who were not, and having a smattering of the profession, soon won the confidence, not only of the gang, but the neighbors, and it was not long before he was check-by-jowl with everyone, especially the suspects. Among the latter was Zim Kinder, then a resident of Stendale, the acknowledged leader of the gang, which consisted of the Houchins, Lum, Jess and Joe, Barney Smitten, Henry Grossman, John Phillip Taylor, D. Wesley Woods, Joe Perkins (the man brought down last night) and others who were engaged in shoving the coin that Kinder manufactured. So far had Doc. gotten late their confidence that they let him into a scheme which they had formed for robbing the safe of a merchant named Poetiker, at Stendale, and the bank either at that place or Huntingburg. They also wanted to branch out in their business by going into the counterfeiting of paper money. Henderson was selected to procure the tools for the robberies as well as the paper on which they were to do their counterfeiting. This was about two weeks ago. Arrangement had been made by Henderson, now that he had all the proof necessary to convict the counterfeiters, to have as many of the gang together as possible on his return to that the difficulty of their capture would be lessened. To this end, he suggested that as many as could get there should be a Lum Houtchins' house on Thursday night last. Henderson then make his further arrangement for the necessary assistance in effecting the arrests. During all of his stay among the rascals, he has called to his assistance a Mr. J.M Killian, who kept a tinware store in Stendale, and who ably assisted him when the crisis came. Four detectives with deputy marshal Andy Hart went ahead for the purpose of surrounding Houchins' house, leaving the General to follow after. Henderson placed Abbott, Kennoch and Hart to the rear and side of the house, while he and Killian entered. Henderson, as soon as everything was ready, was to notify the detectives on the outside and they were to rush in and make the capture. Henderson was in the house about three quarters of an hour before he notified Abbott that everything was ripe. The signal for the rush to be a cough. The detectives closed up around the house and shortly after Henderson entered they heard high words, but not sufficiently distinct to tell what was said. The signal was given, but when they attempted to enter found the doors barred against them and immediately after heard pistol shots. Killlian, who was holding the lamp in the left hand was shot, in the hand, causing him to drop the lantern and pulling ?. Abbott and Kennoch then ran around to the front door after posting Hart at the side door, and tried to get a view of what was going on inside by peeping through a window next to the door. Their faces were within two feet of the window when a pistol sot was fired through it, followed by the body of a man. The ? were afraid to shoot, for fear that it might be either Henderson or Killian. The fellow stumbled, picked himself up and ran around behind the stable where he was afterward found shot through the lungs. This proved to be Joe Houchins. A second later another man came through the door running toward the rear of the house, followed by two or three balls from the detectives' pistols. This was the end of the firing. The officers then entered the home, and after getting a light, it was searched and ? Houchins found stowed away in it. After securing Joe and Lum, the officers commenced picking up others of the gang living in the neighborhood. The man that came through the door was caught afterward about two miles form the Houchins' home, found shot in the groin, in the arm and in the lower part of his back. This was Jesse Houchins. Lum had the marks of two pistol balls that had cut the skin on his arm. Hart had his hat and the lapel of his coat penetrated by pistol balls. After securing the Houchins, Smitten, Grossman, Taylor and Woods were easily found, and were all brought here yesterday morning en route to Indianapolis. Kinder, who was brought down by Deputy Meeks, is still in our jail, as is Perkins. They will be taken to Indianapolis this morning by Abbot and Kennock. The detectives now think they have pretty effectually broken up the gang that has been coming on the confines of Pike an Warrick.  Mr. Abbot related an instance of what these desperadoes were capable of doing and this fear they kept the neighborhood in. some time in August Houchins and Kinder went into the saloon kept by a man named Burnett and called for a couple of drinks, offering a five dollar gold piece in payment. Burnett knew the money was counterfeit, and told them so as he shoved it back to them. The words were scarcely out of his month before they both whipped out their revolvers, curling him, and told him that if he didn't give them $4.50 in change they would blow his brains out. He gave them the change.

 from the Jasper Weekly Courier, 9 Nov 1883, page 1, Jasper Indiana 

The trial in Indianapolis even appeared in the New York Times in December

 FIVE COUNTERFEITERS SENTENCED.

 Indianapolis, Dec. 1. - The Southern Indiana counterfeiters were sentenced in the United States court to-day.  They all entered pleas of guilty.  Jesse and Columbus Houchin were each given seven years; Zimri Kender, five years; David W. Wood, three years and Richard T. Comer, eight years in the prison North.  Mrs. Comer was not sentenced.

Published Dec. 2, 1883, New York Times

1884 - Joseph Houchin was tried and sentenced in January.

1885 -  In January, Columbus' wife, Gabriella Woolsey Houchin died, while her husband was serving his sentence.  Son Joseph is ten years old and daughter Ommie is six. 

1887 -  Columbus is pardoned in November after serving four of his seven year sentence. Columbus' brother, Joseph dies in December.  

1890 - Columbus, his brother Jesse and a Mrs. Richardson, mentioned as mistress to Columbus in other articles, are back at counterfeiting. As before they are also arrested..

1894 - Columbus is out of prison and getting married.

1895 - Columbus' son Jesse is born.

1900 - Columbus and his son are listed in Mount Carmel, Wabash, Illinois in the census.  A couple of  interesting things to note.  Columbus is indicating he is divorced and he has his five year old son with him.  His occupation is listed as fisherman. Three rivers, Wabash, Patoka and White, all meet at Mount Carmel.

1900 Census for Columbus Houchin in Mount Carmel, Illinois from Ancestry.com

1901 - Oh no! He is once again arrested. His home is a "shanty boat."

Another account of the incident indicated that his small son went with him to jail and did not mention a wife.

1910 - Columbus and Jesse are in Jackson County, Arkansas and are lodgers in the home of Susan Teeter in the 1910 census.  Both list their occupation as farmer.  Jessie cannot read or write and has not attended school.

In 1917 Jesse completes a draft registration in Arkansas County, Arkansas.  He is single and lists his occupation as farmer but no employer listed.

This is where the trail ends for both Columbus and Jesse.  I cannot find either of them in the 1920 census.  Family stories say that Joseph Downey Houchin, Columbus' son from his first marriage, last heard from his father in February 1922 when he got a letter from him postmarked in  Arnot, Mississippi. In that letter Columbus indicates he is in bad health and that he cannot be around Jesse.  After that no one hears from Columbus again.

From Single Life to Benedict - Part 4 - While in Jasonville

Alfred Moehlmann's story "AS I WAS" continues.  His story is up to 1924 and the family is living in Jasonville, Indiana where he owns a filling station.  

"A lot happened while we lived in Jasonville – Jane and Tuney were born there. 

The picture left:  Harold "Bill", Esther "Jane", Avery "Abe" Moehlmann outside Jasonville home. Bill was born 1922, Abe in 1923, and Jane in 1924.

Picture below: Avery, Bill, Alfred Jr. "Tuney" born 1927.

 We sold the station at a good profit the fall of 1925 to the Indian Refining Co. (now Texaco) – I bought a new Model T Ford (California top) in 1924 and traded it on a new 4 door Chevrolet Sedan.  I went with Gene Sinders to Flint, Mich. to drive it back – We stopped in Detroit, took a ferry to Windom, Ont. and had some good beer over there.  I continued working at the station until the fall of 1927.  “Canary” Hostettler was working at the station and he & I learned how to make Home Brew, a pretty good substitute for beer.  We didn’t make it to sell – just for ourselves – However, Chars. Sinders, Willard Humphreys, Garret Schloot, Bill Froderman, Frank Freeman, Sam Bates (chief of police) and a few others had us make a case every week and on Saturday night we would go to the Jasonville Hardware and they would furnish a big supper in the basement and Canary & I would furnish the Home Brew. 

Some time or other, on a hot summer day I was in the kitchen having a cold bottle of brew and heard quite a bit of commotion outside, but since that was frequently the case, neighbor women gadding and children playing I didn’t pay any attention to it – Then I heard someone come in and I thought it was Mom, when I heard someone say, “I caught you this time.”  I turned around, saw a man I had never seen befor and said, “Yes you have, how about drinking a glass with me?”  He introduced himself as Rev. Jaberg and not to belittle him we drank 2 bottles, had a nice visit and he commented that he saw no wrong in a friendly drink like this with friends.  I found a lasting friendship with this man that lasted until his death.  After the sale of the service station I got back on my feet financially again.  Paid for our home and the balance we owed the Bank on the note for the station and had some money left over."  

Once again it appears that life is pretty good for Alfred. He has sold the filling station for a good profit, the house is paid for, and he has a new car. He also has a growing family that now includes four children. 

Ad for the 1924 Chevrolet Sedan

Rev. Elmer C. Jaberg assumed the position at the Saron Reformed Church in 1925 and served there until 1936. This article from the Linton Daily Citizen in 1945 is remembering Rev. Jaberg accepting the position 20 years previously.

Alfred wrote these memoirs in the early 1960's. He mentioned that Rev. Jaberg was a lifelong friend.  Here is his obituary in 

1953.

                          

The 18th amendment effective January 17, 1920, brought about Prohibition which lasted until 1933.We have already seen how Alfred got alcohol from the Murray Drug store when his first child was born, but now he is making his own "home brew." It seems that the local men have come up with a solution.  It appears that as long as the home brew wasn't being sold, law enforcement turned the other way.  

From Single Life to Benedict - Part 3 - More Big Events in 1923

There are additional big events in store for Alfred during his second year of marriage. He continues his story:

"The year 1923 was a year of many important events in my life.  First I put my application in for acceptance in the Masonic Order.  I was elected to be received in this order and had some six months of diligent study to be raised to a Master Degree. 

Linton Daily Citizen, March 1923

 Then in February the mine folded up and I was out of a job.  When I turned the books into the office, Harry McGrew was there and asked me what I was doing.  I knew Harry from the time we worked at the Vandalia Coal Co., in fact he was still working for them as Chief electrician, and when I told him I was out of a job, he said, “You are the man I want – Tomorrow we go to the Pump Station at the Ogle Land Co. and convert it from steam to electric power.”  I told Harry I didn’t know anything about electricity but he insisted I go with him the next morning and he would pay me 7⁵⁰ per day.  We worked for a week or so and Harry got a sliver of steel in his eye which almost cost him the sight of it. 

Linton Daily Citizen, March 8, 1923

In the meantime my old friend Jake Fritz and I decided to find a good spot and go in partnership and build and operate a gasoline service station.  We looked over sites at Spencer and Madison.  Then we spotted a good site at Jasonville and bought it.  Since Harry was unable to finish the job at the pump station they got a Mr. Greenwood from G.E. Co. out of Schenectady, N.Y. to oversee the work.  He called me that night and asked me to pick him up in the morning.  Since Jake and I had a couple of weeks to get a deed and to get blue prints for our new venture, I decided to work at the Pump Station  Mr. Greenwood wasn’t impressed with me I know but on our way home he asked me where he could get something to drink.  I didn’t know but happened to think that I had a quart of what I thought was white mule that I had seen some boot-leggers hide under a culvert in front of my garage and I told him he could have it.  So he came about 7 o’clock that night and the next morning he said, “Boy that wasn’t mule you gave me, that was Kentucky moonshine.”  I was ace high with him after that until we finished the job.  

Linton Daily Citizen June 1923

Now the big daring job with the service station.  Daring because first we had to borrow $5000⁰⁰ to finance the job and second the risk - if it would be profitable.  We got the station in operation in the month of May. 

Avery Wayne was born in June.  I couldn’t find a house to rent and had to drive back and forth to Linton.  The station did good from the very start.  I went to Ed Berns, who was cashier at the First National Bank in Jasonville and he said, “Why don’t you buy – I’ll let you have the money,”  So I bought a new house and went in debt another $2000.  We moved to Jasonville in October.  Our station was doing so good we bought a Ford Truck and 300 gal. tank & hauled our own gas.  Every 3 months we were paying $500 on the bank note which soon brought it down."

Ad run in the Linton Daily Citizen June 1923

  

Gas Station on Main St. taken in Jasonville, Indiana
taken in 2009

The home that Alfred bought was on 517 E. Ohio St.  Jasonville is a small town and the home was less than half a mile from the filling station.

There was another mention of the Moehlmann family in the local newspapers during that year.

So a little history on who "Mr. and Mrs. John Funk" are:

Helen (Bovenschen) Moehlmann (Alfred's wife) daughter of
   Gesena (Heitman) Bovenschen who is the daughter of 
      Gesena Rosanna Katherine (Memering) Heitman

Gesena Rosanna's first husband William Heitman died in about 1852 at the age of 45. Gesena then married John Funk.  There were three children born to this couple, the oldest was named John.  It is this John who is hosting the dinner. Nancy Funk, John's twin sister, married a Gilbreath and she is at the gathering along with her children and their families.So John Funk is a half uncle to Helen Bovenschen Moehlmann.