Fritz Family

Standlay, Ohio, was an important village at the time. It still remains but is a residential community now. It is situated on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad that was built when Mary Fritz was a girl. Standlay then had a post office called Black Ash. Like the rest of Henry County at that time, the trees were being cut by the logging companies for ship timbers. The cleared land was drained and it became very productive farmland. John Fritz family lived south of Standlay.

The Fritz family raised every kind of fruit and fowl, including chickens, bantams, turkeys, geese, ducks, guinea hens and peafowl. They had horses, cows, sheep, dogs and cats.

John had a phonograph that played wax cylinder records each of which began with, "This is an Edison Record". He also owned a Lambert Automobile which was a large, two seated open touring car with real leather upholstery. It was painted red and had a big brass horn with a rubber bulb to honk.

Frank and Mary Orthwein set up housekeeping in the Fritz summer kitchen. Grandmother Fritz still had unmarried children at home in the big house. When the grandmother gave up the big house, except for a combination kitchen-sitting room and a bedroom, the Frank Orthwein family moved into the big house. It was nice to have a grandmother near, especially when the children wanted sympathy after a scolding by their parents.

Mrs. Orthwein helped in the fields, husking corn, shocking wheat and oats, and doing chores. After the cows were milked, the milk had to be put through a separator. The skimmed milk went to the pigs and the cream was churned into butter. There were eggs to gather, and in the springtime, new chicks were hatched under a mother hen in comfortable nests safely away from the other chicken flocks. She split her stove wood and carried it in, along with corncobs, to feed the cast iron stove and range.

Mrs. Orthwein whistled and sang while she worked. The children would wake up in the morning to the strains of "Shall We Gather at the River" that their mother was whistling while baking stacks of buckwheat pancakes on a long griddle.

The children came down the stairway with their clothing in winter and dressed beside the hard coal burner in the sitting room. By then the kitchen was warm and breakfast was ready for them, with the kitchen blue from the smoke from the griddle.

There were dinner pails packed for noon meals at school. Lunch consisted of thick slices of home made bread spread with apple butter, molasses, or jelly. After butchering was done, there would be a variety of sausages.

The children bundled up and walked to School District No. 5, or the Elery School, a distance one and a half mile from home. No matter what the weather, the children made it to school on time.

When school supplies were needed, or other supplies, the family went through the woods to the Elery Store. They followed their farm land then across fields to Elery passing a sawmill, a tilemill and a grain elevator before reaching the general store. The general store was typical of the times. All sorts of merchandise and groceries were kept on hand, including bolts of cloth and ribbons, and a revolving rack for picture post cards. The candy counter was a temptation to the children. Rollie Foor was the storekeeper. He lived there with his wife, Martha, and their three sons.

Mrs. Orthwein made nearly all the clothing for the family. She washed on a washboard and heated the water on the kitchen range and in the reservoir. She ironed with large cast irons that had to be heated on the range, even in the hot summer months.

Mr. Orthwein took care of the stock and shoveled the grain in the wagons and grain bins. He plowed, did the fence mending and haled the wood anc coal. In winter, he kept the hard coal burner filled. Often he took an arm basket and went to Elery to buy groceries. He would stay awhile to visit with the other men and enjoy a few games of cards and drink a glass of beer with his friends in the tavern. Most of the time he was serene and easy to get along with for he was quite deaf and the noise of the children went unheeded. When they quarreled too loudly, he acted quickly. He used the ever present peach tree switch that he kept handy.

Growing up on a farm was a great experience. The children learned many things by doing them. Each had their own chores to do. The parents encouraged them to try almost any task.

Threshing, butchering, and wood sawing were jobs shared with neighbors. The women would cook the big meal for all the helpers.

Winters were severe in those days, but families were prepared to cope. They had their own food and fuel supply. When the roads became too deep with snow, out came the big old farm bob sled and sleigh. The father packed the bobsled with clean straw and blankets and cowhide robes kept the family warm.

The children made popcorn and candy and had taffy pulls. There were lots of apples to eat and a barrel of cider made late in the season. Cider was drank as long as it remained sweet, then allowed to turn into excellent vinegar. There was also a barrel of grape wine that was served with molasses or sugar cookies when company came to visit.

Mr. Fritz played cards with the men who lived in the neighborhood. When the wives went along, they spent the time visiting. Checkers was another favorite game played by the men and children.

The children went to English school for eight months and in summer went to St. Paul Lutheran Church where they learned German reading, writing, spelling, catechism, and Bible history.

The Orthwein family became the proud owners of a 1913 Reo automobile. It was a wonderful car, but of no use in the harsh winters, so sat majestically in the garage on four jacks to preserve the tires. Mr. and Mrs. Orthwein never learned to drive the car. They enjoyed having three sons to chauffeur them places. When they went riding, the father sat in the front seat with the driver and lit up a fine cigar. The ash kept blowing back into the eyes of the riders in the backseat. Women wore the fashionable brigtly colored veils for protection. Mrs. Orthwein always wore a conservative black veil, probably a holdover from some funeral. Lorena's veil was pink and her sister's was green.

John and Mary Fritz were very progressive and had an interesting home. The home was far ahead of the times. It had water piped into the house and had a bathroom upstairs. There was a cellar under the house which was entered through a large trap door in the kitchen floor. The steps led down to shelves where canned food and other winter supplies were stored. The farm yard had a fountain with a pool where gold fish swam. There was a double seat lawn swing and a croquet set to entertain the children that came to visit. There were many high fences with lots of interesting gates to open and close as children went from one pen of stock to another, and there was a stile to go over from the orchard to the mailbox.

Mary saved the funny papers for the children and usually had a big stack of them all different from what the children had at home.

From Notes Made By: Lorena Badenhop