Mathernus Thines: A Chronology

As the days go by, and the weeks, I begin to realize that I have too long been silent here, not even keeping up with my regular task of transcribing Aunt Elsie’s manuscript. My mood lately has not been for transcription, and my recent research hasn’t coalesced into any sort of complete form, but still I have not been idle.

My thoughts for the past month or so have returned to the Luxembourg branch of my family tree, and specifically to the THINES family of Hachiville. I don’t know why that particular limb fascinates me when I have so many others to choose from: the STROESSER family of Heispelt and Ettelbruck—with whom I ought to be entranced because they were blacksmiths, a profession I have dreamed of following—or the MERTZ family of Keispelt, for example. But whatever the reason, it is the THINES family that most interests me at the moment.

I have been researching the man who seems to have founded my Hachiville branch, Mathernus THINES. In the multilingual and phonetic nature of the era’s records, his first name is alternately Materne, Matherne, Maternus, etc. and his surname sees variations such as THINNES, THIENES, THÜNES, or most surprisingly HANSEN. I have chosen the spelling “Mathernus THINES” because that is the way he consistently signed his name on documents, regardless of what the clerk may have written. That he wrote his own name is significant in a time when most of his contemporaries signed with a cross. I hope someday to discover the source and reason for his education.

As yet, I have not been able to put together much in the way of a life story for him, being ignorant of many of the social forces that formed him, but I have been putting together a rough chronology, which follows, with comments.

He was born about the year 1737 in or near the tiny village of Stockem, which is only about two miles from Hachiville. The name Mathernus derives from St. Materne, who is credited with Christianizing Alsace, but he was more likely named after his godfather in the Luxembourgish manner, who was in turn named after his godfather and so on until we finally reach one back in the mists of time who really was named for the saint. I do not mean to imply that St. Materne was the godfather of one of my relations, only that naming practices have undergone change and that the practice of naming a child after its godparent must have had its start at some point, and children received names in a different manner before that point.

The only document I have run across naming Mathernus’ parents is his death certificate. It names them as Nicolas THINES and Hanna THINES. Family trees at Rootsfinder and Deltgen also identify them as Nicolas THINES and Anna or Hanna.

Mathernus probably married his wife Anne Marie SCHMITZ in about 1760, basing my guess on the approximate birthdates of their children. The pair had three known children, all daughters: Marguerite, Anna Maria, and Susanna. Once again deferring to the genealogist at Rootsfinder, their dates of birth were about 1761, 1762, and 1765 respectively.

The earliest document in which I have seen the name of Mathernus THINES is the 1771 baptism of Joannes Maternus TOLLER, a son of Philippi TOLLER and Maria PEDERCH. The relationship between the TOLLERs and Mathernus THINES is unknown, but Mathernus served as the child’s godfather. He is identified as “Joes Maternus Thines ex Stockem”; the “Joes” is an abbreviation for Joannes. This record is the one and only time I have seen Mathernus’ name prefaced by Joannes. It also appears that he was still residing in Stockem at this time.

The next time he appears in the records, serving again as a godfather, is in 1775. This time he is identified as living in Hachiville. Once again his godchild is of unknown relationship: Maternus KOIL, the son of Hubert KOIL and Maria VILMES. However, Mathernus often appears on documents also containing the WILMES (VILMES) name. No doubt they were closely allied, at least by 1780. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Once again he appears as the godfather of a child of unknown relationship in 1776. This time the child is a girl, Anna BOURG, the daughter of Friderici BOURG and Susanna ETSCHET. 

When we arrive at 23 Jan 1780, we see the alliance of the WILMES and THINES families. Although I have accessed this marriage certificate and have a fair amount of experience in reading these old documents, I am no expert. At best I am a persistent amateur. But the irregularities in the document’s form combined with the difficult handwriting and foreign language have me stumped in this case. I can tell that it is a marriage record for Joannis WILHMS and Anna Maria THÜNES and that the groom’s parents are Henrici WILHMS and Elisabetha WELTERS. The bride’s parents appear to be Nicolai COOS and Anna THÜNES, but the additional words before the introduction of their names make me question that. The witnesses to the ceremony are Mathernus THINES (in this case called Materni THÜNES) and Nicolai SCHMITZ. All indications regarding the closeness of the two families would suggest that the bride is Mathernus’ sister, however if that is so, there is a fairly considerable age difference. Mathernus would have been about 43 years old, and Anna Maria, although the record does not explicitly state it, was clearly of childbearing age, as subsequent records prove. She gave birth up until twelve years after this marriage. I would guess her to be at least ten years younger than her possible brother. The tree at Deltgen bears out this hypothesis. Incidentally, Nicolai SCHMITZ may be my 5great-grandfather through a nearby twig on the family tree.

 

Just over a year later, on 4 Feb 1781, Mathernus attended another wedding, but this time as the father of the bride. His daughter Anna Maria married Henricus Josephus HERMAN. Oddly, she is not named on the certificate except where she made her mark at the bottom. Evidently she did not have the benefit of her father’s education.

A few months after that, on 5 Apr 1781, Mathernus served as the godfather for what was possibly his niece, the daughter of “Joannis WILLEM” and “Annee Maria THINUS.” Her name was Elisabeta.

On 3 Jan 1785, his daughter Susanna married Henricus KILLEN. This is the record in which we learn of the HANSEN alias. Surnames were still in flux, and often people would take on the name of the house they occupied, so it was not unusual to find a person recorded in multiple ways. Fortunately, the documents sometimes identified them using both surnames, separated by “modo,” “sive,” or “alias.” In this case, the bride is identified as “Susanna HANSEN,” whereas her father is called “Materni THINES modo HANSEN.” Unfortunately, I did not make this discovery until after going through all the earlier records, and may have missed some in the process by not knowing that the HANSEN name was relevant. I have not yet reviewed them to see if there are any that I missed.

Later that year, on 17 Oct, Mathernus served as a witness at the wedding of Michael PATZ and Anna Maria KAISERS. This is another case of unknown connection. Since this is a wedding rather than a baptism, it seems more possible that they may have just been friends and not related. I may be wrong, but it seems that baptisms generally required a relative to act as sponsor. In marriages I have frequently seen a witness described as an acquaintance.

About two weeks after the wedding, on 29 Oct 1785, Mathernus became the godfather for what may very well have been his first grandson. The child, unsurprisingly named Maternus, was the son of Joseph HERMAN and Anna Maria THINES, or, as she is styled in the record, THIENES. The child was the second born to the couple, the first one being a girl named Margaritha, born two years previous. Her grandfather Mathernus was surely present at her baptism, but, not being a sponsor, he does not appear on the record.

10 Feb 1787 saw the baptism of Anna Maria WILMES, the daughter of Joannes WILMES and Anna Maria THINES (THIENES in this record), and therefore possibly Mathernus’ niece. The official godfather of the child was someone named Simon THIENES of “Stockheim,” that is, Stockem, but apparently he was unable to be there. Mathernus stood in for him. Working on the theory that Anna Maria THINES was Mathernus’ sister, Simon becomes another candidate for a sibling. The circumstantial evidence is consistent with probability; Simon is described as being born and still residing in Stockem.

The last of Mathernus’ known daughters from his marriage to Anna Maria SCHMITZ, Margareta, was married to Joannes RATHS on 30 Dec 1787.

By 1789, Mathernus’ son-in-law Henricus KILLEN has apparently begun to prefer his alternate surname of SCHMITZ. He appears in his son’s baptismal record using only that name, and it is not until the birth of his next child in 1791 that we see the telltale “modo” verifying that it is indeed the same man. Henricus’ and Susanna’s 1789 son is named Maternus SCHMITZ, and it is obvious just by glancing at his Christian name who his godfather was.

Mathernus sponsored another grandchild on 15 July 1790, this time the daughter of Joannis RATZ (RATHS) and Margaretha THINES. The child’s name was Anna Chatarina. I wonder if the birth was a difficult one, because the mother passed away only two months later, on 30 Sept.

Mathernus’ wife Anne Marie SCHMITZ passed away at some point after 1765, although I have seen no record to pinpoint just when. Mathernus was now about 53 years old, his daughters all married and one buried at the Hachiville Cemetery, so apparently the time was right to begin another family. Anne Catherine CREMER (or CREMERS, as she appears in the marriage record) was more than twenty years his junior—in fact not much older than his daughter Margaretha, had she lived—and the two of them founded the branch of the THINES family from which I am descended.

The marriage is one on which I wish I could shed some light. The great age difference makes me curious as to what kind of feelings they had for one another. Although one does occasionally see great age disparities in the marriage records, the vast majority of marriages took place between couples more nearly matched. What sort of pressures might there have been both for and against the marriage? I want, above all, to know if it was a love-match, but no amount of research is likely ever to yield that answer.

What I do know is that they were married on 18 Nov 1790 in Anna Catherine’s hometown of Basbellain. Basbellain, like Hachiville, was the seat of the commune of the same name. (Both communes have since been reorganized: Hachiville into Wincrange and Basbellain into Troisvierges.) It is about four and a half miles from Hachiville, and is one of those unusual towns whose names in the three local languages bear no resemblance to one another. In French it is called Basbellain, but in German it is known as Niederbesslingen, and in Luxembourgish it is Kiirchen. All three names appear in the records. The bride’s parents are identified as Joannis CREMERS and Barbara SCHLEIDGES, but the groom’s parents go unidentified, presumably because of his age.

Their first daughter, Anna Maria, was born shortly after their first anniversary, on 25 Nov 1791. Her godmother was “Anna Maria THINES ex Helzingen,” which could refer to her possible aunt, the wife of Joannes WILMES. The “ex Helzingen” means only that she was residing in Hachiville at the time, not that she was necessarily born there. If we could be sure that this is the same Anna Maria THINES, it would be another layer of circumstantial evidence to indicate that she and Mathernus were siblings. However, since only the name and place of residence are indicated, it could also refer to Mathernus’ daughter Anna Maria from his first marriage. The child’s godfather was Nicolas CREMERS of Kirchen (Basbellain), who I presume to be an uncle on her mother’s side. I will leave that research to another time.

On 13 Oct 1792 the WILMES household makes another appearance in Mathernus’ timeline. This time he is the godfather of their daughter Elisabetha.

Mathernus’ and Anne Catherine’s second child, Anna Chatarina, was baptized on 10 Aug 1793. This time both the sponsors were from the CREMERS side of the family, which will be of interest when I get around to researching that part of the tree, but says nothing about the THINES family.

The next four children appear in the trees at Rootsfinder and Deltgen, but I have not yet seen the original documents. According to those trees, Elisabeth or Elise came next, born on 14 Aug 1795, followed by Susanne on 20 Sept 1797, a stillbirth on 7 Aug 1798, and Jean on either 17 or 19 Feb 1800.

In 1795, Luxembourg came under the rule of the newly formed French Republic, and within the following years eventually became obliged to follow its decrees, including the establishment of a new calendar. The French Republican calendar was a metric calendar, believe it or not, with ten days in a week. Thus, the records from this time seem to have the most extraordinary dates. The next child for which I have a birth certificate—and now they really are birth certificates in the modern sense, not baptismal records—was Nicolas, born on 23 Messidor X. Years in the French Republican calendar are conventionally written in Roman numerals, and are dated from the proclamation of the French Republic. This particular date translates to 12 July 1802. The text regarding the parents and witnesses begins to be very informative to genealogists. On this certificate, the text regarding Mathernus translates to “Mathernus Thines born in Stockem and residing in Hachiville aged sixty-four years, farmer.” Henceforward we will seldom have any doubt as to just whom any record refers.

On 15 Prairial XI (4 June 1803), Mathernus witnessed for the birth of Margretha SCHMITZ, the daughter of Michel SCHMITZ and Anna Maria GLOT alias JEAN PIERRE. Given the name of the child, we can deduce that in addition to being his witness in civil records, our Mathernus was also his godfather. Just what relationship the two families bore one another is unknown, but I suspect that Michel was some sort of relative to Mathernus’ first wife. There is, of course, the added possibility that Michel was a relative of Mathernus’ son-in-law Henricus KILLEN alias SCHMITZ, but the first possibility appears to be much more likely in my opinion. Naturally, there is always the possibility of coincidence, given the commonness of the name, but standing as a sponsor for a child’s baptism does seem to imply some sort of familial relationship.

Mathernus and Anne Catherine had their next child, Anna Margretha, on 14 Thermidor XII (2 Aug 1804). At the end of the following year, much to the relief of confused genealogists, the government of the French Republic abandoned their experiment with a metric calendar and reverted to the familiar Gregorian calendar.

In 1806, Mathernus was a witness on several birth records. First, on 20 Apr 1806, for  Catharina GRAIMAN, the daughter of Jean GRAIMAN and Margretha BREŸER; second, on 6 May 1806, for Mathernus SCHMITZ, the son of Michel SCHMITZ and Marie JEAN PIERRE; and third, on 10 Oct 1806, for Jean Pierre STEMPELS, the son of Nicolas STEMPELS and Lisabetha MERTENS. The GRAIMAN, BREŸER, STEMPELS, and MERTENS surnames are unfamiliar in their relationship to the THINES family, but SCHMITZ has clearly been seen before.

Near the end of that year, on 16 Dec 1806 to be exact, Anne Catherine gave birth to the couple’s last child: Michel. This is the child from whom I am descended, and the father of Barbara THINES mentioned in a previouspost. Mathernus was, at the time of the birth of this final son, sixty-nine years old.

Here I have a ten-year gap in the chronology. It takes a great deal of time and effort to go page by page through the record books, and I have not completed the task. The next record I have that concerns Mathernus is the record of his death.

He died at 10 p.m. on 26 Mar 1816 in his house called Hansen. He was seventy-nine years old. His death was reported to the authorities the following day by Pierre ZEIMES and Jean Pierre WENER. Pierre ZEIMES was his son-in-law, having married his daughter, the second Anna Maria THINES, on 23 Dec 1811. Jean Pierre WENER is identified as a neighbor of the deceased.

Here, of course, ends the chronology. It does not give us much of a picture of Mathernus as a person, but it is something to build upon. I often make these chronologies for members of my family tree. They not only give a picture of a person’s migration (if any) and major life events, but they help to point out leads to other possible relationships and to highlight areas which require more research.

Sources:

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Baptismal record for Anna BOURG; 5 Oct 1776; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances, Mariages, Décès 1743-1782, Vol. 5> Image #140; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 28 Jan 2012.

Baptismal record for Anna Chatarina RATZ; 15 July 1790; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #450; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Anna Chatarina THINES; 10 Aug 1793; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #484; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Anna Maria THINES; 25 Nov 1791; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #461; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Anna Maria WILMES; 10 Feb 1787; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #417-8; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Elisabeta WILLEM; 5 Apr 1781; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #358; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Elisabetha WILMES; 13 Oct 1792; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #473; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Joannes Maternus TOLLER; Dec 1771; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances, Mariages, Décès 1743-1782, Vol. 5> Image #122; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 13 May 2011.

Baptismal record for Margaritha HERMAN; 21 May 1783; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #382; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Maternus HERMAN; 29 Oct 1785; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #395; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Baptismal record for Maternus KOIL; 21 Oct 1775; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances, Mariages, Décès 1743-1782, Vol. 5> Image #136; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 28 Jan 2012.

Baptismal record for Maternus SCHMITZ; 16 June 1789; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #439; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Birth record for Anna Margretha THINES; 14 Thermidor XII; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #23; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Birth record for Catharina GRAIMAN; 20 Apr 1806; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #38; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Birth record for Jean Pierre STEMPELS; 10 Oct 1806; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #38; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Birth record for Margretha SCHMITZ; 15 Prairial XI; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #16; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Birth record for Mathernus SCHMITZ; 6 May 1806; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #38; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Birth record for Michel THINES; 16 Dec 1806; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #40; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 19 Oct 2012.

Birth record for Nicolas THINES; 23 Messidor X; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1800-1827, Vol. 6> Image #10; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 31 Jan 2012.

Death record for Margaretha THINES; 30 Sept 1790; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #457; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Death record for Mathernus THINES; 26 Mar 1816; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #1251; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 28 Feb 2013.

Jost, Bertrand. "Saint Materne Et L'introduction Du Christianisme En Alsace." Saint Materne Et L'introduction Du Christianisme En Alsace. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. <http://bertrandjost.chez-alice.fr/Francais/Eveques_strasb/materne.htm>.

Luxroots, “THINES THIENES HANSEN échevin Materne,” igenealogy.lu (Online: Rootsfinder), <http://www.rootsfinder.eu/tng/getperson.php?personID=3259I&tree=Schloesser&PHPSESSID=a18919845f7119da1ca91f14a9c6d54c>, accessed 23 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Henricus Josephus HERMAN and Anna Maria THINIS; 4 Feb 1781; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #362; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Henricus KILLEN and Susanna HANSEN; 3 Jan 1785; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #398; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Joannes RATHS and Margareta THIENES; 30 Dec 1787; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #424; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Joannis WILHMS and Anna Maria THÜNES; 23 Jan 1780; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #351; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Maternus THINES and Anna Catharina CREMERS; 18 Nov 1790; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Troisvierges > Naissances 1805-1890 Mariages 1779-1805> Image #1381; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Michael PATZ and Anna Maria KAISERS; 17 Oct 1785; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #403; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 2 Feb 2013.

Marriage record for Pierre ZEIMES and Anna Maria THINES; 23 Dec 1811; Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923, Images. FamilySearch. <http://FamilySearch.org>. Hachiville> Naissances 1845-1890 Registres paroissiaux 1779-1793 Naissances, mariages, décès 1798-1800 Mariages 1800-1890 Décès 1801-1802, 1805-1856> Image #573-4; citing Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923. Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit Luxembourg. Accessed 28 Feb 2013.

Putnam, Ruth. Luxembourg And Her Neighbors. New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1918. Print.

“THINES, Materne,” Deltgen (Online: Deltgen), <http://www.deltgen.com/pubtng/getperson.php?personID=I248028&tree=Deltgen>, accessed 23 Feb 2013.

“Walking” in Their Footsteps

[This was supposed to have been posted two days ago, and I thought it had. I just discovered that there had been some sort of technical error and it didn't go up, so here's attempt #2.]

When I stepped into my living room this morning, the front window was shining white with just that quality of light that promised wonders on the other side of the blinds. Sure enough, when the blinds parted they revealed a world glistening with deep frost. Without a second thought, I threw on yesterday’s clothes, donned a hat for the double purpose of warmth and hiding my unbrushed hair, grabbed my camera, and was out the door. Apart from genealogy, one of my greatest loves is hiking—and its milder urban cousin “going for a walk”—and any sort of pedestrian travel is always made more pleasant by beautiful scenery, whether it be jagged peaks and sprawling valleys or the small, delicate wonder of a frosty cobweb.

As I walked, my thoughts wandered, as thoughts will, and I began to imagine myself walking along the seawall near the Creeksea Ferry or down the road from Hachiville to the Hermitage, as my ancestors might have done. I wondered how the January days my great-grandmother Cora encountered in Kansas compared to this one, and if she had the leisure to occasionally indulge in such solitary walks—or the desire to do so.

When a large squirrel, all fattened up for the winter, stood up on his hind legs and gazed at me, apparently thinking that I may have some crumbs of bread to share, I wondered about the appearance of squirrels in eastern Essex. Squirrels are, to me, a great indicator of place. Even just within Oregon, you see different kinds of squirrels in different areas. For instance, I know I’ve traveled south when I see one of those big, bristly gray squirrels, or that I’m near the mountains when I see a ground squirrel that looks like a big chipmunk. But I have never been to England, and the squirrels there are as yet a mystery to me.

Eventually it dawned on me that modern technology has given us the ability to walk, as it were, on the other side of the globe. Really, it was my cousin who started me on this train of thought. He emailed me last month, telling me where to look on Google maps to see what’s left of the ferry landing. Yes, I know that Google maps and its street view feature have been around for years, but I have used it very little, and have somehow never thought of using it for getting a sense of an area.  As the frost melted in the warming sun, my desire to attempt a different kind of “walk” grew.

Once my morning walk was over, and after I’d breakfasted, I hurried to the library (which has internet access much faster than my own) and began my stroll around the world.

Since I have lately put most of my thought into the Amos branch of the tree and their home at the Creeksea Ferry, I decided to begin elsewhere. A sense of place for the Thines family in Luxembourg has proven the most elusive, so I typed in “Hachiville.” I was disappointed to find no access to a street view feature there—plus that particular village had somehow accumulated the only cloud cover in all of Luxembourg on the day that the satellite photographed the country. However, I did accidentally discover a feature of satellite view that I had hitherto never seen. By playing around with those features in the top left corner of the screen, you can lay out the countryside as an expanse before you instead of looking straight down at it, and fly over it in any direction your heart desires.

Eastern Essex, on the other hand, is well covered in street view. After a pointless but charming little jaunt down the Champs Élysées, I spent a fair amount of time wandering the streets of Southend-on-Sea, Canewdon, and Maldon. Roaming the streets via Google has its drawbacks, I admit. For one, you are limited to just that—streets—and cannot take off down this pathway or down that beach. Were I really able to be there, I would be doing just that; this morning my walk along the river ended with a slippery scramble up the side of a hill, as is typical for me. But despite its not catering to my sense of adventure, Google street view really is the next best thing to being there.

No doubt to many of you the idea of using Google maps to acquaint yourself with an area is old news. However, there must be others of you who, like me, had not yet discovered its possibilities. For me, genealogy is about understanding my roots, and a huge part of that is achieving what I call a sense of place, a feeling for the environment of my ancestors. Naturally, Google maps cannot take you back to the time when your family inhabited a place, but you can walk the streets and see the layout of an area. With the aid of a few historical pictures and some imagination, you can create your own time machine.

Amanuensis Monday--Elsie Crocker’s Manuscript, Part 13: Of fruit and Olive

To read this project from the beginning, click here.

On this orchard we had all kinds of fruit trees, apples, six or seven variaties, petite plums, peaches, and pears.

Grandma Aileen in peach orchard, age 3 (1918)

We had all kinds of berries, especially strawberries The ever bearing kind and raspberries also some gooseberries. Dad liked gooseberry pie, but was sour without sugar.

We would pick them right off the vines for breakfast with sugar and thick cream they were sure good!

We had lots of melons watermellons, cantaloupe, musk melons These were pink inside. When these melons were ripe them would fall off the vine. We were taught that any kind of fruit had to be ripe before you ate it or you would have a stomachacke.

This proved, when my sister was small got into the gooseberry patch. She ate them when they were green and was she sick. They had the doctor for her, she had convulsions We were real scared. This was my sister Aileen. No more green fruit.

Dad had a big melon patch in between his rows of corn. One day when the Dorr’s were there. I tried to find a ripe watermelon for their son. So I proceeded to plug most of the large melons. Not one of them were ripe.

To plug a melon, you cut a small triangle in the melon. The cut has to be fairly deep and then pull the plug out If it is real red on the tip, it would be ripe.

Dad was upset for me to cut so many melons, he was afraid they would spoil, I don’t think they did, that was the last I heard about the watermelons. However I never plugged watermelons again.

My sister Olive was very quite, she staied around the house a lot. She had some curl in her hair and Mother would put her hair up in strips of news paper. Her hair was short and easy to curl.

Mine was different It was longer and put up in braids. I had pigtails with ribbons on the back of my head or one on each side. My mom braided my hair every morning, when I went to school. We walked a long way home, and on the way I would unbraid my hair and let it hang doun my back. It would be wavy after it was undone. After being braided all day. My friends liked. Mother would always wonder why it would come undone, she never knew and my brothers never told her.

Olive loved the water, she would get in the irrgation ditch close to the house, with all her clothes on. Aunt Sadie said she could stop this, she made Olive a pretty crocheted bead necklace. She instructed Olive to never go in the water and get them wet, or wear them in the water. Olive went in the water again but this time she wasn’t wearing them but had them in her hand trying to keep them dry.

Olive vowed she never had worn these beads in the water. Sadie was furious, that her plan hadn’t worked.

To continue with the next installment of Elsie's manuscript, click here. 

Amanuensis Monday--Elsie Crocker’s Manuscript, Part 11: Leisure Time

To read this project from the beginning, click here.

Sorry about the delay in publishing this installment of Elsie’s manuscript. For some reason it slipped completely off my radar last Monday. I suspect that may happen a few times this season as we all prepare for Christmas.

On one side of our property for a ways ran a canal. It was short distance from the house. The canal furnished some of the water Dad used for his irrigation. We had a good well for our drinking water. Our neighbor, Mr. Church got their household water from our well. Mr. Church would come with a wagon drawn by two horses and in the wagon was four big barrels. He would fill them up and then drive one half mile home.

This land on the other side of the canal, Mother called “wild” It was mostly sagebrush, where rabbits, a few harmless snakes, and a lot of wild flowers, lots of pretty mosses, I loved that pretty moss. The moss was soft like velvet. We had a lot of fun exploring this land. We would pick flowers for our mother. My brother Bill would find a wild rose for me, he knew I loved them, they were scarce.

In the winter time we loved to tracking their little foot prints in the snow. The foot prints usually lead to a hole in the middle of a sagebrush bush. Some times we would find a snake skin. Do you know they shed their skins every year. Some of them were whole length of the snake and some were torn and in pieces. These were our treasures.

At bedtime, after a day of exploring, Mother would check us for wood sticks. Sticks are dangerous left unnoticed. They work themselves into your body, to get out you have to be careful not to pull their heads off. The heads keep in digging. The ticks live in the sagebrush, will stick to who or what comes near them. They caught onto sheep and dogs and can be carried elsewhere. They can course scarlet fever.

Once in a while my brother would catch me a little cotton tail rabbit. He made a little pen for it. The pen had a mesh bottom, which we could move, every day to a new place on the back lawn. This kept him clean and gave him all the green grass he needed. His name from the white tip on his tail. It looked like a small ball of cotton. We’d have him for a few days then Mother would let it out. She said she never let him out but, “that the ol cat must have gotten him.” This happened several times, so Bill and I gave up getting them.

On Sunday, afternoons, Mom and Dad, in their bib and tucker would sit in their rockers and enjoy, a afternoon o relaxing. Dad would smoke his weekly cigar and finish reading his newspaper.

He always read the newspaper to her while she was busy getting breakfast. All of us kids liked to have them outside together, taking it easy for a change. My brothers and sisters would play on the lawn, close by. If it was very hot afternoon Mom would make us a drink from soda, vinegar, water and a little sugar. It sizzled and sputtered and tickled our noses when we drank it. Different from the cold drinks of today, we enjoyed it very much, we didn’t know any better. I think everyone did the same those days.

At night we would sit on the top steps and watch the pretty dragon flies dancing in the light, showing off their beautiful colorful wings.

We would play games on the lawn. Ring Around the Posy, Hide an Seek and Pump Pump Pullaway. Also Kick the Can which my mother didn’t like as she was afraid it would wear out ou shoes to fast.

One of these times I stepped on a wasp. The sting was so hot I thought, I had stepped on one of Dad’s cigarette butts, that was still a light. This was the first wasp I had ever been stung by. No fun. Wasps are larger then yellow jackets and mostly black, on their bodies. A wasp can sting many times but a honey bee but once. On a sting by a honey bee you had to pull out the stinger, the bee would die soon after. If we got stung we would run for some soft mud or for the soda box. They would help ease the pain. We had a lot of bees so we got stung many times, we also ran barefooted, we also had a clover lawn that had blossoms the bees loved.

Dad had many flowers, he was very proud of them. We weren’t allowed to pick them only for special occasions. He said they would last longer and look prettier outside, so everyone could see them. He always had violets, Mom loved the fragrance of the violets.

I am very curious about the game Elsie calls Pump Pump Pullaway. It is not one I have ever heard of from another source. I would be curious to learn how to play it.

To continue with the next installment of Elsie's manuscript, click here. 

Amanuensis Monday--Elsie Crocker’s Manuscript, Part 10: Refrigeration to Pronunciation (And My Grandma in Between)

To read this project from the beginning, click here. 

This entry, by serendipitous coincidence, arrives with perfect timing. Last Thursday, as you probably know, we Americans celebrated Thanksgiving Day. This excerpt from Elsie’s manuscript includes a brief description of the birth of my grandmother, Aileen Underwood, who happened to be born on Thanksgiving Day in 1914. I wish that Elsie had written more in her manuscript about the event. She once described it to me in fuller detail, but I seem to have misplaced the notes I took on that visit. However, I do retain a vague impression of the Underwood family carrying on their Thanksgiving dinner the best they could, with Aunt Sadie acting as hostess, while Flora labored in her bedroom. Naturally, Flora would not have been left alone, but I can’t recall the details.

Perhaps Grandma’s birth—and mine as well—were symbolic of what would become important to us. I can imagine Grandma Aileen as a baby in her mother’s womb, realizing that the family was gathering and thinking to herself, “I want to be there, too!” Grandma was the one who first introduced me to my family tree. I remember visiting her and being fascinated with a piece of paper she had spread out on the dining room table. It was the first time I had ever seen one of those classic family tree diagrams, the kind with a picture of an actual tree, and names written on the branches. She explained to me how each branch was a part of the family, and the twigs growing off the branches were the children of the person listed on the branch, while the branches themselves were the children of the people listed on the trunk. I have been fascinated ever since.

Like Grandma, my birth interrupted a family gathering, though in a less dramatic fashion. My parents were able to go to a hospital rather than being in the next room. But I can imagine myself, in the same way as Grandma, sensing a gathering of the family and thinking, “I want to be there, too!” It is almost as though Grandma and I were destined from our births to be the genealogists for our branch of the family.

Incidentally, Elsie misspelled Grandma’s married name, forgetting an s. It should be “Brosius.”

We had two horses, Dick was a prett rome color with a perfect white star on his forhead. He had a lot of spirit. The other horse’s name was Nig, a coal black, but much slower nature than Dick. He was a good work horse.

One day my mom wanted someone to get the mail, our mail box was on apost, about a half mile doun the road. No one was around to ask to get the mail. So I said I would go and get it. She really didn’t want me to go alone on a horse, I had never been on one alone but I wasn’t afraid. I went and got Dick and put his halter on. He was in his stall in the barn. I climbed up the side of his stall. I climbed on his back, bare back and off I went. Everything was fine until I couldn’t reach the mail boxes. I slid off the horses back, got the mail. To get back on the horse again was another story. I was short, I was hardly up to the horse stomack, about six years old. How was I to get back on this horse. I didn’t have a saddle or a blanket, just the reins. Not a thing to pull up with.

All of a sudden I thought of our fence just across the road, it was the corner of our farm land. I pull the horse as as possible to the fence. The fence had barbed wire on the top of a heavy mesh like fence. I had to be careful no to get hurt on the stickery fence, so I stepped really careful on the fence top and pulled myself up on the horse. Horses are slippery without a saddle. I was so calm and not afraid. We arrived home safe and sound. Mother had been watching from her kitchen window. She said I thought you’d have to walk home. It’s a wonder he would stand still for you. I really think the horse knew we had to get home safely.

Mom was always looking for letters from her family, she never wrote home very much but always looked for news from home.

Aileen was born here on November 26th. It was Thanksgiving Day. She was named after Aunt Sadie’s daughter and my dad’s mother Maryann. Her name was Aileen Maryann Underwood. Her married name was Aileen Mary Ann Broius.

We finally got our root cellar which we needed badly. To keep the milk and cream, eggs, fruit and vegetables cool.

The root cellar was dug deep in the ground with a peaked roof. The walls were cement also the steps going doun in it. Also the floor, it was easy to keep clean. It was cool in the summer and hot in the winter, atleast warm enough to keep things from freezing.

Before we had this root cellar, we had no refrigeration Our milk was put into milk pans. The pans were round, about fourteen inches around and about four inches high. They were stacked one atop of the other, with two narrow slats of wood between each pan. We usually had two stacks with four pans high. The fresh milk was always put on the bottom to keep it rotated for freshness. The cream would form on the top, it would take about two days to collect. The cream was so thick you scrape it off with a large spoon. It was so thick. And oh so good.

One evening Mother and Dad went to see “Alexander the Great” Alexander the Great was to be in Meridan, just six miles away. Dad really wanted to so he persuaded Mom to go with him. They left early to be sure they would get there in time for the start.

The boys had the milking to do, I knew the milk had to be taken care of right away, went to the place she kept the milk. I pour the fresh milk into clean pans. I knew I had to put the old new milk on the bottom, there fore I had to lift off the old milk and put this new milk on the bottom. The pans of milk were layered withthese thin slates between layers. I was young and short, to short to reach the pans well. Especially on my tiptoes. This pan was a lot heavier than I wxpected, it slipped and spilt all over me and the floor. My brothers thought it funny, they did help me get cleaned up. I was so afraid to face my mother when she came home. I was afraid she’d scold me, but she didn’t. She knew I just wanted to help. She did tell me I was too young and to small to try doing these things that were to big for me. I didn’t like scoldings but my brothers told me “A scolding don’t last and a whipping didn’t last and they don’t dare to kill to kill me.”

When Aileen was born, my teacher and a man friend came over to see Mom and her baby. The man had whiskers, he asked me if the baby looked like him. I said No! He asked me Why? I couldn’t say whiskers. A “W” was real hard for me. I couldn’t say “biskers” so while he was in talking to Mom I practiced saying whiskers unti they came out of Mom’s room. Then I yelled, She doesn’t have any whiskers.” My teacher was so surprised “Just why couldn’t she teach me that. I never said biskers again.

Vinegar was another word I couldn’t pronounce. I called it “bingar” or bing bing. I had a friend who helped me on the word vinegar. We practiced one whole lunch time. But it was worth it.

To continue with the next installment of Elsie's manuscript, click here. 

Amanuensis Monday--Elsie Crocker’s Manuscript, Part 9: Laundry and cleanliness

To read this project from the beginning, click here.

These few pages of Elsie’s manuscript are a treasure trove of information on the everyday life of country women early in the twentieth century. It’s amazing to think of the changes that laundry, for example, has undergone in a single lifetime. Elsie and her sisters spanned the days of boiling shirts on the woodstove all the way to the modern technique of simply tossing everything into an electric washer. I’m sure they must have appreciated modern conveniences far more than anyone born and raised in our own era ever can.

You may also recognize a couple of the following paragraphs from my Halloween entry of last year. Now you will get to read them in their full context.

We had to iron most of our clothes, no dip dry or winkle proof or stain resistant. Sometimes stains were taken out by putting wet materials on the grass on a sunny day or rub a little salt on the stain if it’s stubborn. Milddew was common, if things weren’t used and laid around, they would collect damnest. Those days we never had heat all thru the house in the wintertime. A little lemon juice sprinkled on the spots and placed in the sun would come out easy. Grass stains were the most and hardest those days. The spots had to washed and then rub with soap and layed in the sun.

The girls wore dresses and slips, blacksateen bloomers. And black, long stockings Rarely did we have white stockings. We wore our hair in braids, with ribbons to hold the braids. I hated those braids and would take them doun on our way home. Mother never could figure out how they came doun, and I never told her. The children we walked home with would say how pretty my hair looked doun.

No slacks, shorts, pedal pushers, sleeveless blouses, pretty sweaters. No shells. We had gingham or calico dresses Shoes were MaryJanes, black, Oxfords, high shoes that came almost to your knees. Laced or buttoned. Pretty pretty awful. We didn’t know any different Everyone had the same. Maybe this is why they taught “Pretty is as pretty does”.

Mother wore ankle long dresses. She had a skirt and a pretty blouse, she wore on Sundays. She had a pretty pin she wore at the neck of her blouse.

We used oil cloth to cover our tables. They were easily cleaned, just wipe off with a damp cloth. Years later we had some cloth ones, Indianhead and a linen one for company. The Indian and linen, had to be real damp in order to iron them. With the irons we had those days, it took a couple of hours to iron one cloth.

The boys and men, wore overalls and jeans made of the overall material. The men wore dark blue serge pants to dress up. Those blue and white stripe coveralls were all most like some of the boys wore then. We called them milkman’s pans.

The irons were made of iron and heated on top of the stove If they got to hot they were pushed to the far side of the range top. The irons had a wooden removable handle. You needed about four irons to keep them hot enough, to do your whole ironing. On handle fitted all irons, the handle would clamp on top of the iron. If too hot it would scorch, to cold it wouldn’t iron. To hard to push across the article to ironed. So you had to test it by wetting your finger tip and touching it ever so lightly, if it spit, it was ready. Mom would clean her irons by wiping them on newspaper. This still is a good way to clean your iron. Only now rub your iron over a little bees wax or parafine then wipe it off.

Dad’s shirts were hard to iron, they had cold starched separate collars. The shirts were starched and then dried and then dampened doun real well. They were left several hours between dampening and ironing, for easier ironing. To dampen the clothes we would have a pan of water, dip one hand in the water and then shake over the clothes to be ironed. The collars of the shirts were really stiff. The collars were held on to the shirt in the back with a collar button. In the front of the shirt with the top button of the shirt. The men wore quite a number of bow ties.

Our clothes was two post set up, between these posts was rope. Usually two or three lines. Depending the distance between the post. Sometime we used to have to have props in the middle to keep the lines from sagging. Some of the clothes were long and heavy when wet. Especially Dads long johns.

The clothes were dried outside, if it rained they were hung on one of the porches. Monday was always wash day. The old saying “if there was enough blue in the sky to make a Scotchman a pair of britches” your washing would get dry.

They had no dryers, washing machines, no washing powder. The clothes were scrubbed on a washboard, with hoemade soap made from lard or fat and lye, hard on the hands. The fat was saved from the cooking of their meats.

No running water in the house, all had to be carried in The white clothes were put in a boiler on top of the stove and boiled. She had a certain stick to take the clothes out of the hot water.

Our wash basin, to wash our hands and face was on the back porch. We would wipe our hands and face, on a huck roller towel. The towel was a long one about one and half yds. Sewed together in the middle and then put on a roller. You’ve seen these they have them in some washrooms now. You would use what you needed then pull it doun a little so the next guy would have a clean spot. After all was used it would be removed and a clean one replaced the dirty one. No soft towels then.

We drank water from a long handle dipper, from a water pail that sat on our back porch.

With a barn and lots of animals we had a lot of flies. My mother hated them, she hung fly paper from the ceiling of the back porch. No matter how careful you are with this flypaper it is so sticky on one side. No fly can escape. The wind had blown one of these doun on the back porch which landed on the floor. My mother had called me in and I was in a hurry, I landed both feet right on this fly paper. It was awful, Mother came to help, she finally got a chair for me to sit on. She could get at it better. Between us we got that sticky mess off. It took a lot of soap and elbow grease to get the stickyness loose. She told me next time watch were I was going.” My dad had a good laugh over it. He said “We’ve really caught a big fly this time.” I didn’t think it was funny and I’m sure Mother did’t either. She was afraid I would get it on her floor, she was very particular about her floors.

My dad would take a bath sometimes in the canal, but we couldn’t because we didn’t know how to swim. Our baths were in the wash tub.

We didn’t have a bathroom in our house. Just a out house or (privy) as they were called. This was a small shed like type building, located a short distance from the house. Inside was a long seat across the back with holes small medium, and large, with covers, when not in use you put the cover on. Lye was used to keep it clean and oderless.

At night we would carry a lantern to see our way. One of the older ones would walk out with us, and stand out side and wait for us.

    

On Hallowe’en the big boys in the neighborhood, would like to tip one of these over, hoping someone was inside. They never got ours, maybe because we had a fence all the way round our place. The fence had barbed wire on top of the mesh fence, hard to climb.

No plumbing inside we had a poe (jerry or thunder mug) under the bed to use when we needed it at night. They even had different sizes of those. These were only used in emergencies.

Some of the poes were made of granite or china, they usually had a handle on one side, kept under the bed. Each had a cover.

To continue with the next installment of Elsie's manuscript, click here.

Amanuensis Monday--Elsie Crocker’s Manuscript, Part 6: Aunt Sadie

To read this project from the beginning, click here.

Walter and Flora Underwood had left their family behind in England when they came to America, and then left their Hawkes cousins behind when they left Idaho Falls, Idaho. Only their son Walter had ever met any of his extended family, and he had been a baby at the time. But in this installment of Elsie Crocker’s manuscript, things are about to change.

Dad was surprised when his youngest sister showed up. She arrived from England, was the first relative we had ever seen. We were excited, we had a lot of relatives in England, but England was a long way off. One thing we missed, by Dad and Mom coming to America, was not knowing our cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. It seemed all friends had some relatives near by. That’s why Dad always wanted six children, he got his wish. He didn’t want us to be left alone, when he and Mom were gone.

One Thanksgiving, Aunt Sadie invited our family, for dinner. Dad gave us strict orders, to eat everything on our plate. Aunt Sadie was very much English. Very proud very stylish and spoke with an accent. We were young, and been raised Americans, we thougkt her quite different.

Dad wanted to impress her with his children, mind your manners, eat everything on your plate. Like it or not

Well I ate every thing but a huge big green olive. I put my tongue on it and it tasted awful. No, way was I going to eat that olive. I put it back on my plate, it even larger than ever. I didn’t know what to do I had to get rid of that olive, but how? I waited until all people were busy talking. I wasn’t very old about four and a half. I wore these black sateen bloomers, that had elastic around the legs just above the knees. I waited until no one was watching, I slipped that olive safely in one of my pant legs. When I thought everyone was thru their dinner, I excused myself. I hurried outside with that olive dangling in my pant leg. Being sure no one was watching, I let that olive out. I had never see a olive that big before. Our family never could aford olives no matter ripe ones or green ones.

My sister Olive was born, May fourth, in Burley Idaho She was named after “Olive Fremstead”, who was Doctor Fremstead’s daughter. Olive Mabel Fremstead, became a well known opera singer. My sisters name was Olive Mabel Underwood.

Aunt Sadie sang too I don’t know where it was opera or not. I do remember sometimes when she was going to sing she would, ask Mother if she had a lemon. She told us it would clear her throat so she could sing better.

We moved to Boise, we had a next door neighbor. Who had a big pear tree. Under the tree next to our house was a cellar door. (Basement doors were outside those days.) If a ripe pear would fall on that door or on our side. the neighbor told us we could have them. So you can guess who got the pear or pears. Dad would say “The early bird gets the worm”. I was all ways a early riser. Mother loved pears so much, she usually got my pears I picked up. She would share, with the rest of us.

Our neighbor, whose name was Alvy Mason, became our uncle. We were all surprised to see them together, we never even knew they knew each other. We were all happy because we had known him before.

To continue with the next installment of Elsie's manuscript, click here.