LATER TEEN AGE AND EARLY TWENTIES - Part 3 - Finding the Right One

As we move on with the "As I Was" story by Alfred Moehlmann, it appears that he has outgrown the pranks of the previous section. He continues:

"It was around this time that I made a trip to Indianapolis to see my father for a few days. Ind’pls was one of the biggest interurban centers in the world.  This was the time that the hobble skirt came into vogue with the fair sex.  Dad and I were at Shelby and Prospect street and many of the interurban cars stopped here.  There was a young lady that wanted to get on the car that went to Franklin.  With the tight fitting hobble skirt, try as she did, she couldn’t reach the high first step & finally the conductor had to lift her to the first step.  A lot of laughs & guffaws by the onlookers.  It was a rarity to see a womans “calf” in public."

At this point in the story I had to stop reading and look up "hobble skirt". For a fashion trend to have made such an imprint to be included in Alfred's memoir seemed out of character. But after seeing it, I understand. The fashion was created by a French couturier named Paul Poirter. The skirt of the dress was so narrow that it resulted in a "geisha" like walk, requiring the wearer to take tiny steps. Some employers prohibited the fashion in the work place and it even resulted in the invention of a special car for trams that was only eight inches off the ground to accommodate the fashion. The interesting thing is that at a time when women's suffrage was in the forefront, their fashion was going in the opposite direction.

 "It was around about this time that Ed Kramer and I was asked by Grace Bovenschen to play Santa Claus for her at her first school she taught – No. 6.  We went to her house several nights to get fitted up with the costumes.  The whole family got in on the project.  Will, Mrs. Bovenschen and the girls – I think Will was the most enthused of all.  Ed was heavy set and was ideal for Old Santa and I was Santa’s wife.  To make the Red Coat and other accessories, the cap, the britches and even the mask was quite a chore for the girls and their mother but they made a fine outfit.  It wasn’t hard to fit me up with a dress & mask.  One thing I can well remember was the big shawl of Mrs. Bovenschen.  No. 6 was about 2 miles and Will had old Fred (a contrary old horse) hitched to the buggy – we put on our costumes, loaded the “treat” in the buggy and started off.  Old Fred didn’t like our costumes to well and did quite a bit of snorting but the trip went on with out incident.  I guess we carried out our assignment in good fashion.  On one even knew who we were. The next year we played the same role for Grace at Plum Branch No. 7 school.  We also had the same roll at our church.  I can’t remember who the minister was at that time, but he didn’t approve of it and after the treats were distributed and we were in the basement changing our clothes he bent his fury on the congregation with a tongue lashing.

 Sometime after Esta Parker broke up, I started going with Edith Kauble.  I was introduced to her by Dola Stiner, who Ed Kramer was going with and later married.  There was something going on at the Park (now Humphreys Park) one Sunday afternoon and while at the old pump getting a drink of water, Ed, Dola & Edith came over and it was only a short while untill we got “chummy.”  Her parents were standing on the outside circle ready to go home for they wanted to go to Olive Branch Church that night.  Some how I asked her for a date and she had to consult Mama.  It was OK if we went to church.  It was a case again of going with a girl too long.  She had all her dreams made up that we would get married.  Along about his time Helen (who I will call Mom from now on) was going with Sheldon Goodman.   For some reason at that time I felt like she was the Gal for me.  Yet there was the social barrier.  It seemed to me though that if Sheldon was good enough surely I would have some small chance.  My folks at home didn’t like Edith and they made life unpleasant for me.  That wasn’t the real reason for us breaking up.  First I wasn’t ready to settle down – I didn’t have a steady job – I had very little money – but most of all I didn’t think we were meant for each other.  I saw my parents home broken up; I wanted to make sure it would not happen to mine.

 Shortly after Edith and I broke up, Sheldon and Mom broke up.  It was quite a surprise to me for they had been going together for a long time and from all outside appearances they seemed to be heading for the alter.  Sheldon was one of my best friends and I sort of hated to make my bid but I was sure if I hesitated too long some other young swain would step in.  I don’t know how I made my first date, if by letter, phone or just called but I do remember we went to a chatauqua that was in progress at Linton on the N.E. corner of B & North Main st. (Dr. Tomaks office site now).  I knew this was the girl for me so I started planning for the future.  I couldn’t see any future in Linton unless being a coal miner and didn’t want that.  

Once again I had to stop and find out what a Chautauqua was all about.. Wikipedia to the rescue. and then I found the two articles from 1921, several years after the chautauqua Alfred mentioned, showing how the trend continued in Linton.

Chautauqua (/ʃəˈtɔːkwə/ shə-taw-kwə) describes an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Named after Chautaugua Lake where the first was held, Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. A Chautauqua Assembly brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day Former US President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is "the most American thing in America"

 

Again, Alfred's ex-girlfriend got married shortly after their break up, Edith marrying Eskel Beasley in August of 1917.  But finally Alfred has found his girl. In thinking about his future, he knows he doesn't want the life of a coal miner, so what is he going to do?

#52 Ancestors Week 8 - Good Deeds - IDA MARIE LICHTSINN

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #8 and the suggested theme is GOOD DEEDS.  I have chosen to write about Ida Lichtsinn, my first cousin twice removed.  She had been in my database for a long time but I didn't have much more than birth and death dates.  Then I was doing a search in newspapers.com for my grandfathers surname - Moehlmann - and I found the following article.

Ida's sister Emma is giving her a farewell party.  Ida is taking off to San Francisco to get married. That really caught my attention.  She's not getting married in her hometown where all her brothers and sisters were married? I had to do a little more research.  How had she become engaged to someone living in San Francisco so far from Indnianapolis?

Next article I found was from the Fort Wayne Sentinel from 10 years prior to the farewell party.  In 1918 she was awaiting her transfer to Europe as an Army nurse.

  Among the Fort Wayne girls who are serving as army nurses is Miss Ida Lichtsinn, who is now in New York anxiously waiting to go across in the interest of humanity and of the United States. Extracts from a letter received by one of her friends in the city follow
   "I am now in New York City and will sail for France in three or four weeks.  We arrived here August 25. There were twenty-nine of us in the party.
   My address now is Arlington Hotel, 25th St., New York City, Emergency Unit, Group E. I am feeling fine and no doubt will until I get across."
  Miss Lichtsinn has two brothers in the service. One is in camp in the United States and the other is in France.

I tried to find out about the Emergency Unit, Group E and found a short biography on Bertha Greeman, most likely one of Ida's fellow nurses, in the book Ripley County's Part in the World War which said:

"She was assigned to Base Hospital, Camp Lewis, American Lakes, Washington, for army training and served there until August 20, 1918. On this last date she was sent to the nurses' mobilization station at New York City to prepare for overseas work.

Her unit, Emergency Unit, Group E, left Hoboken on the British ship Melita on the eighth of September, reaching Liverpool, England on September 21st.  They proceeded to Le Harve, France on the 23d and were assigned to Evacuation Hospital 11 at Brizeaux-Forestierre in the Argonne for immediate service at the front."

The Evacuation Hospital 11 was used by the 1st Division for troops that had been gassed.  When the war broke out there were about 400 active duty nurses. By the end of the war 10,000 nurses had served overseas and in fact the nurses were sent before the troops to set up hospitals. 

I found a Journal of Nursing that verified Ida has been sent to Camp Lewis prior to her deployment overseas. As it turns out, this is where she met her future husband.  He was a part of the 91st Infantry stationed there.  I don't know how they met but there was a large flu outbreak and one whole barrack was set up to treat the soldiers.  Perhaps Ida met him there. I discovered where they met when I found a quote by her son, Harvey L. Morris, Jr.

When Harvey L. Morris of La Palma, California, opened the February/March issue [American Heritage Magazine 1981], he was astonished to find himself looking at his mother. She is the Red Cross nurse on page 87, bathing the eyes of a gassed soldier.

“Her name was then Ida Marie Lichtsinn of Indianapolis, Indiana. She took nurse’s training at Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital, graduating in the class of 1912.

“She enlisted as a nurse at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. Before going overseas she was assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington, where she met my father, a patient of hers and a private in the 91st Division. (Years later they met again, and one thing led to another, et cetera, and they were married in 1928.)

“The years 1917-18 found her serving in France and Belgium. Toward the end of the war she was wounded in action during a shelling, suffering a severe leg injury for which she received veterans compensation until her death in 1975. Many times during the Depression, it was all we had to go on.

“Incidentally, she never received the Purple Heart, as technically nurses were not in the armed forces. How about that for an injustice?”

I think being a nurse is certainly a good deed. To be a nurse in a war zone is really going the extra mile. I'm so glad I learned more about Ida. She did return to Indianapolis after the war and was living with her parents and enumerated there in the 1920 census.  She was still practicing nursing up until her move to San Francisco. 

LATER TEEN AGE AND EARLY TWENTIES - Part 2 -GIRLS, WILD HORSES AND PRANKS

Alfred is continuing with stories about dating, wild horses, and Halloween pranks:

"For awhile my attention was centered around Sommerville [Summerville] Church, where I dated and went with Esta Parker for about a year.  I can remember her mother especially for the tall, multi-colored cakes she would bring in to the parlor every Sunday night.  Esta was a fine girl but she and her parents gave strong hints on marriage and I wasn’t ready for that; neither financially or the mood and I felt that I still had wild oats to sow, so we quit going together.  I didn’t want to stand in the way of some eligible young man who might want to marry her.  One incident I well remember was an accident we had; we had been to a church service and her sister Stella was in the buggy with us.  This horse of mine was still a colt and had ideas of his own.  We came to a cross roads and all the traffic was going east but we had to turn south.  Going at a brisk trot I pulled so hard on the rein that the bit broke in the horses mouth.  I had the horse about half way going south when the bit broke and the horse jumped off a bridge which was at the cross roads taking buggy, girls and me along for about a 12 foot plunge.  The horse landed in a heap, the buggy on top of the horse.  No one was hurt not even the horse.  They began asking me what I was going to do and I said “I’ll hitch him up and try again.”  I always used two bits on a driving horse – one to fasten the reins to, the other a check rein to hold the horses head up; so I still had the check rein, fastened the guide reins to it and was ready to go.  The girls were a little reluctant to ride, but they climbed in and we took off, with Stella making the remark that we would all have been killed if we hadn’t been coming home from church.

 Evidently I had unknown competition for Esta, for one night I rode a horse to her home because of the deep snow.  When I was ready to go home the horse was gone; someone had cut the halter strap.  On another occasion I rode a horse because of bad roads.  When I left all seemed to be well but when I got to the Number 8 School House (1/2 mile north of Vicksburg road on State road now) a gang of boys evidently, started to beat on pans and shoot revelers scaring the horse and he took off on a dead run.  When I tried to pull him down, the bridle slipped down his neck; some one had cut the bridle straps nearly in two so that only a shred held it on.  Well I had no control of the horse, had to leave him run and try and stay on.  Soon we came to the Pete Stockram corner, I grabbed hold of the horses mane, got all my weight on the inside stirrup and hung on.  I doubt if anybody went around that corner faster than I did that night.

 A few more things come to mind that has a connection with Sommerville – One night I went to church with a good friend of mine, Sheldon Goodman  He had a very spirited horse that had a habit of tossing his head high in the air.  This particular night we too wanted to turn south where I had my freak accident.  While Sheldon was pulling on the “Gee” rein the horse made a wild toss of his head and jerked the reins from Sheldon’s hand and started on a dead run east.  About half a mile down the road was a square turn and we knew that we couldn’t make it without an impact.  Sheldon wasn’t as big as I was so I got one foot on the cross bar of the shaft, sort of braced the other leg against the dash board, had a good hold on Sheldon while he climbed out with one hand on the horses hips and reached for the loose rein in the loop of the “Turret Strap.”  He got the rein and we got back in the buggy and with both of us yanking with all we had we slowed the horse down and although we went around the corner on 2 wheels we didn’t get up set in this run-away.

 Another time was Halloween, Ed Kramer and I went out for pure devilment.  We got all the farm implements out and blocked the road at Woodford Neals.  Sommerville church patrons didn’t think much of the idea and we kept hid while the clearing of the road went on.  Among other pranks we got all the farming tools of Henry Bovenschen and stacked them in the road.  This was easy for Uncle Henry never put his tools in a shed, just let them out in the barn yard.  This prank backfired on me however, for the next day was Sunday, Grace McKee invited a bunch of young people from Sommerville for dinner.  Of course we had to go to church services first.  I hitched up my horse & buggy and for some reason I took the road that went by Uncle Henry Bovenschen and there was all the tools still piled in the road.  Only one thing to do, undo what I had helped do the night befor only by myself, with my  Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes on, celluloid collar and all.  Yes I was late for church. 

Another Halloween experience, when Ed, his brother Fred and I were out, we came to John Berns Sr. farm.  He had a barn close to the road, never had gates closed and we spied his buggy, we wheeled it out on the road, down the hill through Buck Creek Bottom up the hill form Uncle Jake Strietelmeiers farm.  It was a bright moon light night and we saw Uncle Jake in the front yard.  We put on extra speed and took the buggy to the cross roads north of him and left it.  At church the following Sunday Uncle Jake, who stuttered, was telling the devout “Et et et 3 mean boys got John Berns buggy and run like hell past my house.”  And talking about conversations at church I will always remember this one – Emmet Stevens a poor young boy was trying to get in the Bee business.  He found 2 Bee Trees on the W^m Brediweg farm the fore part of the summer.  He asked Bill for permission to cut them but Bill wanted to wait until Fall thinking there would be more honey in them.  Finally Bill consented to cut one of them.  There was very little honey in the tree.  Now this happened during the open season for squirrel hunting.  Bill wouldn’t allow hunting on his farm, not even the neighbors, but Uncle Dietz and Charlie Fritz slipped in the wood with maxim silencers on their rifles and Charlie found the other Bee tree that Emmet had found previously.  Well one night, Uncle Dietz, Uncle John Cesar and me planned on cutting the tree, so we got our cross-cut saw, ax and 3 milk pails and proceeded to cut the tree after midnight.  All went well, we felled the tree, cut out the portion where the bees were, split the log and I never saw so much honey in bee tree.  We soon had the pails full and a lot left.  We took the honey & tools home, cleaned out a wash tub and went back.  We got at least half a tub full of honey and a lot was running on the ground that we naturally didn’t get.  This was not all fun, for bees don’t fly at night they crawl and we got stung aplenty by bees crawling up our pants legs.  Bill discovered that the tree had been cut and on the following Sunday at Church he was telling all about it and was positive that Emmet Stevens had cut it.  Mr. Bredweg died not knowing his false accusation.

After the break-up with Esta I had just occasional dates, taking girls home from church or social gatherings but one I can’t forget was a double-date affair.  We were threshing on the Herman Schloot farm and Theodore Riley Jr. (now deceased) was going with some girl in the Nine Mile community and she had a friend visiting her.  Riley wanted me to take this girl and we would all go to the Old Hippodrome Theatre an outside show located about where Correll now are.  I told Riley I was broke, but he insisted and said he would do all the paying.  Well I went, striped shirt, celluloid collar, high enough to hold my ears up and a bright red tie.  We go to the show, Riley briskly walked up to the ticket booth, began to fidget and heard him repeat several times, “Dog gone, I thought I had twenty cents when I left home.”  Well I finally stepped up and paid for the ticket and after the show took them to Goldbergs Ice Cream Parlor for a five cent ice cream sundae.  I was out forty cents.  

Wow! 40 cents for a show and ice cream for four. Esta Parker did marry shortly after dating Alfred. In April 1916 she married Ernest Dady and they moved to Indianapolis and opened a grocery store. The other thing that struck me in this section was how dangerous riding or driving horses was. 

LATER TEEN AGE AND TWENTIES - Parties and Sledding

With this post, the next section of Alfred's writing begins covering his late teens and twenties. 

"When I was about 18 yrs. old I had saved enough money to buy a horse and buggy.  The horse was a colt and I had to break him to drive and also ride.  I soon had him broke though and had a nice set of harness with white celluloid beads & loops and a set of spreaders also decked out in white beads (we called these spreaders Martingales.)  Of course the buggy had rubber tires.  It was my proudest moment up to that time when I drove out of the barn lot for the first time and drove to Lebanon Church for my first time. 

Now about this time there were several parties at various homes and for some reason a party at Bill Bovenschen was always a high light.  I don’t know if it was because of his six fine daughters or if it was him who always took a big part in making sure it was a good time for all.  The first girl I ever called for and went out on a date with was Grace Bovenschen.  Some how at a gathering or a party, Baker Letterman wanted to take Bertha Strietelmeier to a Childrens Night program at Howesville and she wouldn’t go unless another couple went along.  Some how the four of us got the dates arranged.  I still was plagued with the idea that I was not on a par with the rest of the crowd.  I was still a poor “waif” the victim of a circumstance I couldn’t help.  With this in mind I didn’t ask Grace for another date.  I felt she was a level above me, plus the daughter of one of the most prominent families in the neighborhood. 

William Bovenschen Family c. 1910 Grace is 2nd from left
From the Moehlmann Family  Collection

 So with this complex I started to mingle with young folks farther away from home.  Don’t get me wrong, I did not shun the young folks in the neighborhood nor was I shunned by them.  I still was invited to the parties and church social affairs, skating parties, chivories [shivaree], etc. and always had a good time. 

And when speaking of skating I must mention the parties held on the pond or reservoir on the Herman Schloot farm.  This body of water was the biggest and also the deepest for miles around.  We had to be sure that the ice was frozen thick enough to be safe.  One moonlight night a skating party was arranged and we had really had a ball.  But “Aunt” Tress had had one of the “hardest” falls I ever saw.  It seemed like both feet went out from under her at the same time and she lit on what you usually sit on.  It was a jarring fall, the hardest I ever seen any one have.  I imagine the ice cracked where she hit.  I do know the party broke up after the spill.

 Another thing that comes to mind that occurred in the winter had to do with a heavy snow fall probably about 1913 or 14.  Everything was tied up as far as work was concerned and I went over to my friend’s house, Ed Kramer.  We were in the barn just talking, when Ed’s father came in.  Now Old “Bill” Kramer just couldn’t stand to see anyone idle, so he said “Why don’t you boys make a bob sled.”  Of course we had never seen one of the type he explained but it sounded like fun and we got busy.  Saws, axes, augers and shaving blade was our main tools.  We cut the lower two Hickory saplings about 2 or 3 inches in diameter and about 16 feet long.  The idea was to make the runners and shafts all in one piece.  About the middle of these poles we shaved about half the wood off, built a fire, bent the poles so the shafts would stick up, held the shaved off part over the fire to bake and make it rigid.  Then we cut down another tree about 6 inches in diameter and about 4 feet long.  We bored 2 holes (1 inch) in each runner being careful not to bore through.   We made four stakes about 4 ft. long, whittled and shaved each end so they would fit the auger hole. We gauged the width so it would be the same as the wagon or buggy, then we bored holes in the 6 inch log at the proper angle, set it on the stakes and our sled stood up about 3 ½ feet high.  We put a bolt in each shaft to fasten the tug too.  Then with a lap robe and horse blanket draped over the log which was our seat, we were ready for a ride.  It was bitter cold but we tried it out that night.  I got my horse and believe me he was “raring” to go.  For a harness we only used a bridle & reins, a collar, harness & tugs.  (No hold-back straps.)  We took a wild ride, with snow from the horses hoofs so thick we couldn’t see – just turned him loose and hung on our seat.  After about a mile or so running I suppose the horse began to tire and he settled down to a trot.  We went to Sommerville Church where they were having a “revival meeting.”  After church we got our “rig” out and very few had ever seen such a contraption.  The horse was cold and wanted to run, so off we go again.  Even as cold as it was the horse was covered with foam from sweating.  We hovered with 2 horse blankets so he would not chill and catch a cold.  We went out every night with our sled, alternating my horse and Ed’s horse.  Uncle Dietz had a black stallion called Max and he said why don’t you hitch Max to the sled?  We did and Uncle Dietz went along.  This horse was big and strong and he gave us one of the wildest rides I ever took.  He ran at full speed for over 2 miles; I never went over the Henry Bovenschen hill any faster, even in an automobile.  We took one of the longest rides on this night.  First to Sommerville Church and then to Vicksburg; from there to Brownstown and back home.  This snow stayed on for about 2 weeks and it was a good thing we had 3 horses to alternate for we had them pretty well “gaffed out” befor the snow melted.  Most of the roads were clay and as a rule even the gravel roads would get bad during the winter.  We would either ride horse back or hitch a horse to a light cart that we had to break colts in to drive.  There was only room for 2 on the cart and that made a good load for a driving horse to pull."

Bill (William) Bovenschen is the son of an 1854 German immigrant, Diedrick Bovenschen. You may be sensing what Alfred's future holds as he talks about the  Bovenschen's. There will be many more stories about the Bovenschen family who lives just down the road from Alfred.  Right now Alfred is still suffering from the fact that his parents divorced and his "poor" circumstances.

The Kramer's are also German immigrants to Greene county. "Old Bill Kramer" as Alfred called him was the son of  the 1850 immigrant August Kramer.  William's land was just across the road from the Tendick's and Alfred and Ed Kramer grew up together.  I marvel at the ability of the two boys to make their horse drawn sled. And what fun they had afterwards.

Recap on Alfred Moehlmann's Extended Family

This blog has been sharing the story of Alfred William Moehlmann (1894-1974) as he wrote it in his 1961 memoir titled "AS I WAS".  So far we have heard about his early childhood in Indianapolis until the time of his parents divorce in 1907.  Then his mother sent him to the country farm of his maternal grandparents, Peter and Katrina in Linton, Indiana when he was a young teenager.  He completed eight years of school and then at age 16 he went back to Indianapolis to work. That lasted only a short time and he was back in Linton attending high school for one year before he went to work in the coal mines. So we are about to hear about his early adulthood.

Before I start that section, I want to fill you in a little on the Tendick family. Alfred's grandparents were born in Prussia and had 10 children. They arrived at the port of New York on April 3, 1889. Peter was 59 and Kathrina was 50 and traveling with them were daughter Mathilda age 17, daughter Gertrude age 13, son Dieterich age 9, and daughter Sophia age 7.  Three of Peter and Katrina's older children, Margaret, William and Tillman, had immigrated two years earlier while their two oldest children had remained in Germany.

Margaret Tendick married James Blanton in 1895 and had four children before she died of cancer in 1904. Alfred's Uncle William Tendick had learned the blacksmith trade in Germany and had been hit by the head of a hammer that flew off the handle causing a deformity in his back.  William worked in the coal mines in Linton and never married.  Tillman married Emily Holscher in 1892, they had two surviving children and divorced in 1906. He was married two more times but had no other children. Tillman was a successful baker but worked in the coal mines before having a long career with the railroad.  The story of Alfred's mother Mathilda going to Indianapolis to work and getting married has been told in earlier possts. Gertrude was married to John Cerar in 1905. John was born in Austria had immigrated the year before marrying. John and Gertrude never had children. Diedrich was a farmer and coal miner.  He lived most of his life on the Tendick farm and never married. Sophie, the youngest, was the last to marry in 1911. She married George Nolting and they had five children.

Alfred didn't mention much about his Grandfather Tendick in "As I Was"  but later on he wrote this about Peter Tendick:

My Grandparents on my mother's side were Peter and Katrina (Kukes) Tendick. They immigrated to this country in 1888 from Rhineland, Germany.  Grandfather was an average size man and was a sort of craftsman. He made many things out of wood - rakes with wood pegs, ax handles, etc.  He also had the knack of sharpening tools, all on the old fashioned grind stone.  I don't think he was a very good manager and was always in debt.  He wore a beard which covered his entire face.  He smoked a long flexible stemmed pipe that had either a ceramic or meerschaum bowl and would get an occasional replacement from Germany. He served as a sergeant in the Old Prussian Army and I think that old arrogance was one of the traits of his character.  Grandmother was more of a quiet and docile person.  She was very religious.  She knew the Heidelberg Catechism from memory and did a lot of Bible reading.  They lived to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Katrina and Peter Tendick
From the Moehlmann Family Collection

Peter died in 1911 at the age of 79 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Linton, IN.

Meanwhile, back in Indianapolis, Alfred's paternal grandfather, Frederick William Moehlmann, also died in 1911. You can read his obituary here. Frederick's wife Ida died the year before of pneumonia at the age of 69.  Fredierick and Ida had nine children and all of them were born and stayed in Indianapolis.

Daughter Anna married William Lichtsinn, an 1885 immigrant form Germany. This family had lived down the street from Alfred and his parents when they lived on Spann Ave. They had nine children. Peter and Ida's daughter Ida died at age ten. Daughter Mary married Henry Cruse in 1891 and had two children. Daughter Mathilda never married and always lived with other siblings. Son Lewis married Emma Koss in 1904 and they had five children. Son Gus married Marie Gehle in 1902 and they had one son. Daughter Catherine died as young child before 1900 as did their youngest child Ernest. 
 

Frederick and Ida Moehlmann
From the Moehlmann Family Collection

Alfred's father had moved back in with his parents after his divorce. By 1910 Frederick Jr.'s brother Gus had died and his widow and son were also living with in the family home.  Frederick Jr. continued to work for the railroad. He did not remarry.

So that brings us up to date on Alfred's extended family.  As you can see, Alfred had many Aunts, Uncles and Cousins in both Indianapolis and Linton. There are many good stories about that extended family, but that is for a much later date.

#52 Ancestors Week 7 - Love - AND THE WINNER IS

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #7  and the suggested theme is LOVE.  I'd been pondering this topic for the past week.  I didn't know of any great love stories, no Wallace and Simpson giving up the throne type stories.  No Burton and Taylor on again off again can't live with you or without you type loves.  I couldn't decide on just one ancestor I love to research, because I can get thoroughly involved and fall in love with each and every one.  Then I was watching the "Sunday Morning" TV show with its theme of love this week.  Their last story was about the longest married couple - 81 YEARS! They are each 99 years old and the wife says the key to a long marriage is "I always let him have it my way." Priceless.

Katrina and Peter Tendick
From the Moehlmann Family Collection 

So I started looking to see which of my ancestor had the longest marriage. My great-great grandparents, Peter and Katrina (Kukes) Tendick were married in 1858 in Neukirchen, Prussia at ages 28 and 20 respectively.  They had been married 31 years and had 10 children by the time they immigrated to America.  They farmed in  Indiana and helped raise their grandson Alfred Moehlmann. They had been married 51 years when Peter died in 1909 in Indiana. 

Helen and Alfred Moehlmann
From the Moehlmann Faimly Collection

My grandparents Alfred and Helen (Bovenschen) Moehlmann were married in 1921 at the ages of 27 and 25 respectively.  Alfred was an only child, his parents divorced in 1907. But his grandparents, Peter and Katrina had set a good example. In his later writings, Alfred relayed this story about his wedding day:

 "March 26, 1921 was a beautiful day - bright sunshine all day. I cranked up the Model T and went to Mom's [he always referred to his wife as Mom] house. The trip to Bloomfield was a sort of joy ride. I don't think we had been together in the morning before. Yes, we were a little embarrassed when we went to the county clerk's office to get the license. We ate dinner at Mom's home and then the long wait for 6 pm, the hour set for the ceremony. Cranked up the Model T - Mom was ready and dressed in a new suit and all, Aunt Grace and Uncle Russell were waiting too, they were out witnesses and we drove to the parsonage and were married there in a simple ceremony - not even a ring.  I had a feeling of my own, relative to a ring. I saw the wide, plain band wedding ring my mother wore and somehow I felt it took something more than a ring to make marriage a success and also a happy one."

Their marriage was a success and they had a big celebration for their 50th anniversary. Alfred died in 1974 after 53 years of marriage.

Arnold and Jane Sargent's Wedding
From Sargent Family Collection

Alfred and Helen had set the example and three of their children celebrated their 50th anniversary as well.  One of them was Jane Moehlmann, my mother, who married Arnold Sargent in 1946. They had two children and in 1959 moved from Indiana, where all their relatives lived, to Florida. Their rule was that they never went to sleep without a "goodnight kiss."  They too had a big celebration for their 50th anniversary.  In fact they had several: one at the church, one in their community recreation center, and one with the family at their home.  They also win the prize among my direct ancestors of being married the longest - 61 YEARS.

  

Arnold and Jane Sargent - 50th Anniversary
From the Sargent Family Collection

TEENAGE YEARS - Part 7 - It's Not All Work

Alfred has quit high school and is working in the mines. But its not all work; the weekends are time for social activities.

"Now during this period I too went through the change or transition in habits.  I got interested in wanting to go places at night or on holidays.  Naturally girls became interesting.  It was about this time that Ed Kramer and myself became great buddies.  Our only way to go places was to walk or ride a bicycle.  Our Saturday nights we usually went to town (Linton.)  That was always a big night.  Throngs of people on the side walks, seemingly just strolling along.  Of course the stores were open until late, the saloons were full of men and the ice cream parlors did a big business.  Linton was booming with many big coal mines.  We usually rode our bicycles to town and would park them at Saron Church.  On Sunday nights it was Church Services.  Olive Branch was attended more than any other.  It was about a 4 mile walk  A crowd would start forming at the cross roads at the bottom of the Henry Bovenschen hill, one mile north of Fairview cemetery.  There would be a gang of the Taylors, Kendalls & Smiths.  The crowd would grow at Henry B. and then Tom Pope had several to add to the crowd, on to Pete Stockran's corner, he had I think 7 girls and here a gang from Vicksburg would swell the crowd; by the time we got to the Bolten corner and met the Black Creek bunch we really had a crowd.  At the Ramsey Beasley corner we would meet the crowd from the west and a full house was assured for the “Meeting.”  Henry B Bovenschen and Pete Stockran always took a wagon but the young folks usually walked.  There were several other churches we would go to: Nine Mile, Miller, Sommerville, Lincoln, Providence, Lebanon and Mt. Olive.  All seems to have a lot of young people in their early teens.
 In the Fall there was box or pie supper at the school.  The young swains would bid for the box or pie furnished by the girls and the successful bidder would get to eat with the damsel.  It was a sort of sneaky procedure for the girl would get a number to correspond with what she brought.  At times of course the boys would try to find out their number & bid accordingly.  At times several would bid for a certain number and run the price up on some zealous fellow.  They also would run some girl for the prettiest @ 1¢ a vote.  This could run into a lot of money if two or three factions got to competing.  The money that was made was spent for school equipment.  Then some of the local talent would give a play sometime during the school term and they called this “Literary Night.”  It usually was free but some good acting came out of this venture.  Another big event was a dinner on the last day of school.  Of course the kids had a program but the dinner was something.  All the school patrons were there.  It was something.  I will always remember the Big Cakes Mrs. Ira Adams would bring.
 I think one of the most appreciated dinners I ever has was while riding on a wagon.  Uncle Dietz and me took a load of fat hogs to Worthington Stock Pens.  We were on the road by 5:30 that morning, we so must have had breakfast around 4 o’clock.  We had 8 fat hogs, well over 200 pounds apiece. They brought 80⁰⁰ and I marveled at all that money but Uncle Dietz said he owed the bank 50⁰⁰ on a note.  It was after 12 o’clock when we got started back for home.  There was a small store at the edge of town and we stopped and got 15 cents worth of crackers right out of the cracker barrel and 20 cents worth of cream cheese.  You got a lot for your money in those days.  We had a big sack of crackers and a big hunk of cheese.  What a dinner, bouncing on a rough road and a hot sun to boil down on you."

Looks like a lot of the social activity revolved around the local churches and schools.  Many of the churches did not have services every Sunday. It seems that the four mile walk to church was a social event in itself. 

Alfred's Four Mile
 Walk to Church

1- Alfred's home
2 - Bottom of Bovenschen hill
3 - Tom Pope's
4 - Peter Strockrahm
5 - Vicksburg
6 - Bolton Corner
7 - Olive Branch Church

Olive Branch Church

Alfred's early teenage years are coming to a close.  He is about 18 years old and becoming an adult. He has some money in his pocket from working in the mines and has started noticing the girls. So what comes next? 

TEENAGE YEARS - Part 6 - Mine work

Alfred is back in Linton after working in Indianapolis for a short time. Now he is back living with his mom and grandmother and uncles on the farm.

"I started to High School and completed one year.  It began to dawn on me that not only the handicap of being poor but the fact that my mother and father were divorced did not rate me very high among the more well to do families in the community.  I couldn’t boast of the horses, cattle, hogs, land, etc. that Dad had.  But I imagine the idea of wearing patched clothing to High School was more than I could take.  About this time, hard times had the effect that we didn’t have any cows.  So Mother bought a cow from the alimony money I had received.  It was to the point that we were merely existing.  I worked occasionally when a farmer could use me.  I would earn a few dollars during the thrashing season, hay harvesting & corn cutting time.  Then a streak of good fortune came my way when I got a job in a coal mine. It was mainly a fall & winter job in what they called a wagon mine which supplied the local domestic trade.  This was hard work – The coal seam was from 32 to 34 inches high and we had a lot of water to contend with.  The cars held about a ton of coal and we had to push them quite a distance from the face of the coal to the place where they hoisted it out.  Two of us worked a room together and we got a dollar a car.  Seldom did we get over eight cars a day and there was blasting powder & fuse to buy.  Boots didn’t last long nor did working clothes but I did learn how to mine coal by the hand method known as pick-work – We had no cutting machines or loaders.  For a light we used a lamp on our cap, filled with hard like grease called Lard Oil.  A wick gave a dingy, yellow smoky light.  But the carbide lamp was introduced about that time and we used them as soon as they were available.  They made a much better light and were not nearly so heavy.  There was a lot of safety measures to learn.  Luckily, this vein of coal did not have gas in it, but in a small mine the ventilation was very poor.  The first thing was to be sure the roof or top was solid.  We would tap the roof with the flat side of a pick and if a ringing sound was made the top was safe but if a hollow or drum like sound, it indicated loose slate.  Then you had to make soundings until you found a solid place. You had to determine how much slate was loose and if you could support it with timbers or props or cross bars or if it would have to be wedged down and make sure that you were always under solid top.  While you were testing the roof you also usually had your lamp in your hand testing for “Damps”  Now damps was caused by a lax of oxygen in the air – There was Black Damps which you would find on top or near the roof.  To detect this you find the flame of your lamp extending far out in long and flickering flame that seemed to be reaching for something.  White damps were heavy and they would be next to the bottom or floor.  They were far more dangerous since they had no oxygen and would soon suffocate a person.  If you happened to be working and accidentally got in Black Damps you would soon get a terrific headache that would last for quite a while.  Fresh air was no immediate cure for it and you would suffer several hours.  You usually went to an entry when this happened for there always was more air there and you would not run the hazard of sitting down in White Damps.  That would be fatal unless someone found you quickly.  I also learned how to set timbers or props to support the roof, learned how to cut coal by hand, how to gauge a block of coal to be shot or blasted, set up drilling machine, make water proof cartridges for blasting powder, make “dummies” for tamping purposes and insert fuse in cartridge.  I also learned how to lay track and switches.  There is even an art to using a jack to put a wrecked or derailed car back on the tracks."  

Inside page of Alfred Moehlmann's 9th grade Botany Book

Page from Alfred Moehlmann's Botany Workbook c. 1911

I have a couple of Alfred's school books. This is his high school botany book. It includes page after page of plant descriptions that Alfred wrote and each has an sample of the plant taped on the opposite page. Considering they are over 100 years old, it amazing what great shape the pages are in.

Much as Alfred did with farming, he has again provided a detailed explanation of the procedures involved mining. The first coal mine in Linton was in operation in 1859.  But it was the railroad that allowed the mining industry to grow.  In 1900 Linton had a population of just over 3000, but that quadrupled by 1910 with 16 mines within a three mile radius of Linton employing 2500 men.  So Alfred has entered the mining industry at a time of great growth.

Example of early coal mining in Greene County
From http://www.mononmines.com/mines1.html

52 Ancestors - Week 6 - Heinrich Ramacher - So Far Away

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #6  and the suggested theme is SO FAR AWAY. My ancestor this week is HEINRICH RAMACHER (1800-1862).

My interest in genealogy began at a young age when I discovered a three-ring binder at my grandmother’s house full of family information that had been put together by a relative.  My grandmother had received letters full of updates for that book which had just been stuffed in the front pocket. My grandmother was not inclined to keep it up to date. So I took that duty on, even though I only visited my grandmother once a year on summer vacation.  But I was hooked.  That book was made in the 60’s and it had been typed and then photocopied, and it had photos, newspaper clippings, and great stories.  That book was put together by my second cousin twice removed, Esther (Ramacher) Hand.  I was only 12, but I spent hours looking through those pages and marveled that someone I had never met and who lived SO FAR AWAY in California, had collected so much information on my relatives in Indiana.

 

I want to share the story that started Esther on her journey of finding and documenting her family. Because the story starts SO FAR AWAY in Germany.

   “Heinrich Ramacher was a tall man of erect stature and careful of details.  For many months his family had been preparing for their voyage to America.  The family consisted of himself, his wife Maria, and six children from ages 10 to 26.  The two boys were the eldest and the youngest with the four girls between.  Most of their belonging were sent ahead and, at last, the day came for them to board the river packet for their trip down the Rhine River to Rotterdam, the first stop on their long journey.  It must have been sometime during February in 1854.

   The home they were leaving in Repelen in the Rhine Provinces of Prussia was about five miles west of the Rhine River and slightly north of their probably point of departure at Duisburg.  The river packet was not a large boat, but was wide and flat and though the weather was cold and rainy, they had a nice pleasant ride to the ocean at Rotterdam in Holland.  I believe the older boy, John, had gone earlier with the belongings, which included a cow and some sheep, maybe some chickens, things which needed care all along the way.

    While in the port at Rotterdam they could not locate their belongings, but were told all would be in Havre-de-Grass [now Le Havre] by the time they were.  I believe it was in this place where their permits to travel, etc. were issued.  They had hoped to find John before leaving Rotterdam to learn if he had his clearances for travel, but they missed him.  Their trip in an ocean-going vessel from Rotterdam to the French port was rough and quite uncomfortable.  The channel is always rough, but as our ancestors traveled it that wintery day in 1854 there was a storm brewing.  It had not, as yet, amounted to much of a storm, but had made the already choppy trip one of uneasiness and wonder about how much worse it would be before they would land in France. After they reached the port of Havre-de-Grass they had quite a wait before their belongings arrived.  It was only a day or two but seemed an eternity.  The cargo ship had run into the heart of the storm and had trouble.  All their belongings were finally recovered except one box.  It was either lost or the storm and seawater had ruined the contents.  I don't recall that detail of their stories.  John had been on that boat and gave a very vivid description of the ordeals of the animals and the shifting of the boxed cargo from the onslaught of wind and ocean waves.  I believe one man was washed overboard into the angry turmoil and could not be rescued.  Heinrich had made special stalls for their cow and other animals and John said that these stalls were the only reason their animals came safely through the channel storm.   Several other animals had fallen and broken bones and had to be killed, or else were washed overboard.  I have no idea of the construction of the stalls, but it points up the fact of Heinrich's attention to details and practicality.

   There was a long wait at the French port of Havre-de-Gras, now known as Le Havre, before their ship "Ocean Home" could be on her way across the Atlantic Ocean,.  Dad repeated to me stories told him about the impatience of his father (aged 10 years) to have to wait around while others boarded the ship and "settled in".   It seems there was some question about something, but grandpa's father had purchased first class passage for his family as they were given preference.  Their ship must have been quite a large one to store each family's supply of food, clothing, water to drink for themselves and their animals. Grandpa told of their quarters as being a box-like apartment section on one of the decks above the water-line.  Their animals were housed in the hold of the ship and they had to feed and care for them.  My uncle told of his father's wish that they had goats like some of the other families.  Goats didn't require so much cleaning-up-after as a cow.  Their cow supplied milk, butter, and cheese.  Their chickens and sheep gave them eggs and meat.  I remember something about potatoes being stored in the hold.  I can remember no stories of any bad storms while crossing the ocean.  The crossing took seven weeks - almost two months - and was not as hazardous as some reports of other ships.  In fact, I remember grandpa saying that he enjoyed the Atlantic crossing, except it took a long time. Their ship docked at the United States southern port of New Orleans on May 17, 1854.

   I remember no stories connected with New Orleans so I believe they quickly boarded a river boat for the next leg of their long journey, which was up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to the river port of Evansville, Indiana.  From Evansville they rode the train to the town of Vincennes.  Since no train went to Linton in those days I have no idea how they covered their last thirty miles, nor how fast they covered it.  The way grandpa related the venture, I believe his father investigated several possibilities before deciding to settle in Linton.

   One report had their trip to America as taking three months.  By the time they broke-up housekeeping and boarded the river packet, changed boats and secured their travel permits at Rotterdam, changed boats again at Havre-de-Grass with a two week or longer lay-over, sailed the Atlantic Ocean for seven weeks, debarked at New Orleans, boarded another boat for the trip up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to Evansville in Indiana and took a train to Vincennes, then somehow arrived in Linton, I suppose that would take all of three months.  .   I do not know why Heinrich decided to settle in Linton, whether it was agricultural prospects or friendships is hard to guess.  Perhaps it was most of the former and little of the latter.  Cornelius Gossen, whom Elizabeth married, came from Prussia and his step-father died in Linton in 1850, so they were in Linton before the Ramachers. I do not know if they were from the same part of Prussia or not, or if they were acquainted before coming here, but I believe they were.”

 So Heinrich Ramacher was Esther’s great grandfather and my third great grandfather. The Ramacher family made a seven thousand mile journey to a new land. My direct ancestors stayed in the Linton, Indiana area, but the story continues for Esther side of the family with another long journey for another one of Heinrich’s sons.

  "Heinrich's daughters remained near Linton with the exception of Agnes whose husband took her to the western edge of Iowa at Council Bluffs where she died of typhoid fever in 1880 at the age of 43.
  Henry Ramacher and his brother-in-law, John Palmer, had planned to move to California together, but as time passed their goals became divergent, so in 1881 John Palmer and his wife Catherine Fainot Palmer, and family of seven children left for Oregon.  They went by train to San Francisco where they boarded another train that took them to west central Oregon, to a town named Hubbard.  About three years later, Henry Ramacher and his wife Mary Ann Fainot Ramacher and their three children boarded the overland train for the central valley of California, landing in Fresno May 10, 1884. 

  At the time Heinrich came he said he was the only Ramacher to come to this country.  Since Heinrich had only two sons, and the older of the two had no children, our family was the only Ramachers in the USA.  For many years we never heard of any others with similar spellings, but since World War I and especially after World War II we have found others.  In checking where we can, they were not here as early as our Heinrich.

This article was written because several members of our "greater family" had never heard any of the stories associated with our ancestor's trip from Germany to America and were eager to learn.  I decided to put on paper all the incidents I can remember having been told and do welcome any further contributions from anyone.  Maybe someday we will have a better "Ramacher story".  When I have been told conflicting stories I have hunted clues for the correct situation."               

                          Most sincerely

                                  Esther Ramacher Hand

Heinrich Ramacher and His Four Daughters
From the Moehlmann Family Collection

This is the family history that Heinrich Ramacher wrote in German script.  It gives information back to his grandfather who was born in 1753. It was one of the items that started Esther on her search.

From the "Ramacher Story" by Olive Esther (Ramacher) Hand

In 1978 Esther made the trip so far away, to Germany to see the homeland of her ancestors.