The topic for the upcoming 'Carnival of Genealogy' is "Shelter from the storm, stories of the home and hearth" so here is what I remember about the homes of my youth.
When my parents were first married in May 1946 they lived for a short time with her father (Vic Phend) in Larwill. This was the house that her parents had purchased in the late 1930's and the same house that my cousin now owns. Then, before my older brother was born in March 1947 Mom and Dad purchased a small concrete block house that was originally built by my uncle Emory Wiseman as a garage. It was a part of the old Wiseman homestead in Tippecanoe Township, Kosciusko County, Indiana - property that my great grandfather Samuel Bray Wiseman had purchased from his father in 1885.
The garage was converted into a home albeit a very small one, perhaps 20 x 30 feet, but it was 2 stories high, with two rooms downstairs - the kitchen/bath room and the living/family room - and two bedrooms upstairs. We lived in this house until I was eight years old and by that time there were four kids in the family. We did have indoor plumbing but just running water in the kitchen and a toilet hidden away in a closet. Baths were taken in a tub with water heated on the oil stove. Believe me, it was awful cold getting up in the morning in the winter. Maybe that's why I'm not a 'morning' person!
We were out in the country, 15 miles to the nearest town, but there was a neighborhood grocery store ½ a mile to the east. Everybody in the neighborhood was related in some way to nearly everyone else. Us kids couldn't get away with anything without Mom finding out about it. And if it was something we shouldn't have been doing, she'd make us go and cut a switch from the big willow tree. If the switch wasn't just right we had to go get another one! After we'd grown up she told us she made us get the switches so she wouldn't swat us when she was mad. It gave her a chance to cool down some so the spankings probably weren't near as bad as we thought they were. The worst part was going after the switches ourselves!
The house was on top of a hill and below the hill was a swamp. Of course, the swamp was off limits. And of course my brothers and I spent some time and had some fun exploring it and the various forms of life it held - snakes, frogs, turtles, etc. We built forts and tree houses in the big trees surrounding the swamp. The large old willow tree had more uses than swatting switches. It was on the side of the hill and was an awesome swing - grab a few drooping branches and let yourself fly! It's a wonder we made it through childhood without any broken bones.
Our 'uncle' Howard Wiseman owned the farm to the south of our house on 80 acres, about half of which was farmland and the other half wooded land. Howard passed away in May of 1956 and his heirs offered to rent Howard's house to us, which was quite a bit larger than ours, but old and not in good shape. We lived there about 2 years. When I was 10 years old we moved into a newer 'Ranch' style house about 10 miles north, on Armstrong Road, that had little personality. Neighbors were just a stone's throw away. There was a separate bedroom for the boys and another for the girls, a full bath with hot and cold running water - all of the modern amenities, even a television!
We lived in the house on Armstrong Road through my high school years. It was about four miles from North Webster. Close enough so us kids could ride our bikes into town or even walk in if we really wanted to, which we did many times. I lived there off and on until I joined the Navy in 1969. My parents had divorced in 1964 and Mom couldn't afford to keep the house on her own so she and my sister, the only child still at home, moved to Larwill to live with her father. Back where she started.
I lived in several different apartments and houses in Fort Wayne during the 3 years between graduation from high school and enlisting in the Navy, but my favorite house was located at 1234 Home Avenue!
If you'd like to get a feel for what it was like to live on a farm in the early 1900's my grandmother wrote a series of stories of her life, one of which vividly describes her memories of the Brubaker farm where she lived from 1910-1916. It is posted on my Kinexxions website at http://www.kinexxions.com/mykin/grandma/part4.htm
Also, I recently posted some memories my Aunt Phyllis had of her grandparents and the Phend home in Columbia City.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Aunt Phyllis remembers Henry & Susie
Phyllis Phend Mitchell, oldest daughter of Rolland Victor Phend, son of Henry and Susie Yarian Phend, wrote these memories of her grandparents and their home. Published here with her permission.
Grandpa and Grandma Phend's house was big. There was a side porch that ran the length of the kitchen which had a swing at one end. Grandma loved sitting there in warm weather. There was moss rose on both sides of the walk leading to the porch door that opened into the kitchen. There was a big wood range. For her 50th anniversary, in 1942, Uncle Russell bought her a gas range! There was a cupboard, a small sink that had cold water only from a pitcher pump. There was a big round table; a wood shed off the west end; and the door to the pantry on the back porch.
The pantry had a lot of cupboards where Grandma kept the food...and the sugar cookies from Jones Bakery. They never had fresh milk, only canned. We always had to have a cookie when we went to Grandma's. Since there was no milk, we dipped them in a tin cup of cold water. They were delicious!
Also in the pantry, in front of the cupboards, was a lift up cellar door and a door to the back yard where there was a mulberry tree. We always had stained clothes when the berries were in season. They had a large grape arbor with vines on both sides and over the top. My cousins Josephine, Betty and Louise and I loved to sit under the arbor. We talked and played and always ate a few grapes before they were ripe and had belly aches.
Off the kitchen, through a swinging door was the dining room, it probably would be called a great room today. They had a large square table that opened up to seat a lot of us. There was a buffet, a heating stove, a day bed, and Grandpa's big drawing board where he drew his house and building plans. The drawing board had a high stool in front of it. We were never supposed to touch anything but I loved to crawl up on the high stool and just look at all the drawings on the big sheets of paper.
On a shelf in the "dining room" there was a clock that had to be wound daily. And there was Grandma's wood rocking chair. It had a leather seat and a little footstool. Beside the chair was her floor model radio. On the wall above the radio was the telephone, their number was 472. You just lifted the receiver and told the operator the number you wanted! Grandma would call Yontz Grocery Store and read off her list and in a short time they would be delivered to the back door.
There were big double doors off the dining room that went to their bedroom and yet another door led to two large parlor rooms that were used only on special occasions. There was a crank phonograph, a wood and leather davenport that opened into a bed, and a chair. A door opened to the front porch on the east side of the house facing Chauncey Street. The light plant was on the other side of the street. In the other room was a pump organ and stool and some other furniture.
When Aunt Gladys died [July 4th, 1931] her casket was in the room where the organ was. I was about eight years old. All of us cousins were running in and out through the rooms and all the doors, just going in circles. We got scolded for it too. After the funeral everyone was sitting on the front porch reminiscing about the "olden days". The funeral directors were Luckenbills and my dad and uncles had grown up with them. Everyone was laughing and having a good time when just a short time earlier everyone had been so sad. I remember Grandma commenting on that fact.
I thought my grandpa and uncles were the tallest men. At family get-togethers, which were often, they would always seem to be standing together and talking so loud. One time I asked Mom why they were always mad at each other. She didn't understand what I meant at first. I said they were always fighting and arguing. She laughed and said "Oh no, they're not mad at each other, they were just talking politics and like all good Republicans they were talking against the Democrats and giving them the devil." They got quite loud on these occasions, even Grandpa who was really a quiet man.
In the 1930's there were a lot of tramps and hobos that came through town (and the rest of the country). Grandpa fed all of them that stopped at his house. But they had to chop wood or do some kind of chore to earn their meal. Grandma always cooked up big meals for all her men folk with enough for extras. I asked Grandpa why he always fed the tramps and he told me that the Bible says that Jesus was coming back and we would never know when or how. He thought the He might return as a tramp so he took them all in. He even had a building out back where he would let them sleep. We always thought that they somehow had marked the house because Grandpa never turned anyone away.
My Grandfather Phend was a very Godly man. He believed in his Lord and he lived for Him. He was an honest man that probably never received as much as he gave. He was very particular about doing good work. He was a perfectionist and so were his boys... slow, deliberate, good, quality workmen.
Grandpa and Grandma Phend's house was big. There was a side porch that ran the length of the kitchen which had a swing at one end. Grandma loved sitting there in warm weather. There was moss rose on both sides of the walk leading to the porch door that opened into the kitchen. There was a big wood range. For her 50th anniversary, in 1942, Uncle Russell bought her a gas range! There was a cupboard, a small sink that had cold water only from a pitcher pump. There was a big round table; a wood shed off the west end; and the door to the pantry on the back porch.
The pantry had a lot of cupboards where Grandma kept the food...and the sugar cookies from Jones Bakery. They never had fresh milk, only canned. We always had to have a cookie when we went to Grandma's. Since there was no milk, we dipped them in a tin cup of cold water. They were delicious!
Also in the pantry, in front of the cupboards, was a lift up cellar door and a door to the back yard where there was a mulberry tree. We always had stained clothes when the berries were in season. They had a large grape arbor with vines on both sides and over the top. My cousins Josephine, Betty and Louise and I loved to sit under the arbor. We talked and played and always ate a few grapes before they were ripe and had belly aches.
Off the kitchen, through a swinging door was the dining room, it probably would be called a great room today. They had a large square table that opened up to seat a lot of us. There was a buffet, a heating stove, a day bed, and Grandpa's big drawing board where he drew his house and building plans. The drawing board had a high stool in front of it. We were never supposed to touch anything but I loved to crawl up on the high stool and just look at all the drawings on the big sheets of paper.
On a shelf in the "dining room" there was a clock that had to be wound daily. And there was Grandma's wood rocking chair. It had a leather seat and a little footstool. Beside the chair was her floor model radio. On the wall above the radio was the telephone, their number was 472. You just lifted the receiver and told the operator the number you wanted! Grandma would call Yontz Grocery Store and read off her list and in a short time they would be delivered to the back door.
There were big double doors off the dining room that went to their bedroom and yet another door led to two large parlor rooms that were used only on special occasions. There was a crank phonograph, a wood and leather davenport that opened into a bed, and a chair. A door opened to the front porch on the east side of the house facing Chauncey Street. The light plant was on the other side of the street. In the other room was a pump organ and stool and some other furniture.
When Aunt Gladys died [July 4th, 1931] her casket was in the room where the organ was. I was about eight years old. All of us cousins were running in and out through the rooms and all the doors, just going in circles. We got scolded for it too. After the funeral everyone was sitting on the front porch reminiscing about the "olden days". The funeral directors were Luckenbills and my dad and uncles had grown up with them. Everyone was laughing and having a good time when just a short time earlier everyone had been so sad. I remember Grandma commenting on that fact.
I thought my grandpa and uncles were the tallest men. At family get-togethers, which were often, they would always seem to be standing together and talking so loud. One time I asked Mom why they were always mad at each other. She didn't understand what I meant at first. I said they were always fighting and arguing. She laughed and said "Oh no, they're not mad at each other, they were just talking politics and like all good Republicans they were talking against the Democrats and giving them the devil." They got quite loud on these occasions, even Grandpa who was really a quiet man.
In the 1930's there were a lot of tramps and hobos that came through town (and the rest of the country). Grandpa fed all of them that stopped at his house. But they had to chop wood or do some kind of chore to earn their meal. Grandma always cooked up big meals for all her men folk with enough for extras. I asked Grandpa why he always fed the tramps and he told me that the Bible says that Jesus was coming back and we would never know when or how. He thought the He might return as a tramp so he took them all in. He even had a building out back where he would let them sleep. We always thought that they somehow had marked the house because Grandpa never turned anyone away.
My Grandfather Phend was a very Godly man. He believed in his Lord and he lived for Him. He was an honest man that probably never received as much as he gave. He was very particular about doing good work. He was a perfectionist and so were his boys... slow, deliberate, good, quality workmen.