In Memoriam

On this Memorial Day I cannot help but think of two of my uncles.  Each of my parents lost a sibling in World War II.

This is my father's brother, William George Haller.  He entered the army in 1942 and after nearly two years of training, left for overseas in April of 1944.  Lieutenant Haller was a pilot.   He had completed 33 missions over Germany.  He had lost more than one airplane.  His last mission began November 5, 1944.  There were nine persons aboard his B-17 plane, The Characters.  It was part of a B-17 Flying Fortress unit stationed at RAF Bury St. Edmonds in England.

The visibility was good that day.  He was in the 94th Bomb Group, 410th Squadron.  Their intended target was an oil plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany.  After the mission was completed, they were headed back to England when the plane was hit.  One report I read said 99% of the plane was blown up.  Some of the men survived and were POW's.  But Uncle Bill was not one of them.  He was initially buried in the town cemetery at Kirrlach, Germany.  He was later reinterred in the Lorraine American Cemetery and memorial in St. Avold, France.  He was the recipient of three Oak Leaf Clusters on the Air Medal; the Distinguished Flying Cross; the Presidential Citation with one Oak Leaf Cluster; ribbons for European Theatre Operations in two major battles, Normandy and D-Day.

Dale Bechtol Porr is my mother's oldest brother.  He enlisted in the Army in 1928.  In 1943 he went overseas to serve in the war.  He was a Technical Sergeant and was killed in action in Germany February 24, 1945.  At that time he was a tank commander in the 8th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division of General Patton's Army. 

A month prior to his death, Dale's division was cited by General Patton after four days and nights of incessant battling in the relief of Bastogne. (http://www.historynet.com/firsthand-account-4th-armored-division-spearhead-at-bastogne-november-99-world-war-ii-feature.htm)  He received a citation the previous year for repairing tanks under enemy fire.  He was awarded a purple heart.  He is buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery in Luxembourg City where General Patton is also buried.

Dale's Battalion Commander said this of Dale:  "Dale was a dedicated, courageous warrior.  He was older than most of the tankers, and was an especially fine influence on the younger ones".

I wish I could have known these brave men.  Each time I sing America the Beautiful my mind turns to them as I sing, "O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life".  This Memorial Day and always, I will never forget.

Spring Cleaning and Creativity

No, this is not a post on creative ways to do spring cleaning.  Today I was cleaning out the armoire in our bedroom.  Some things were destined for the garbage.  Some made me laugh - my Sony Walkman, ancient ancestor to the IPod.  And I unwrapped a gem.  It was not a diamond, or ruby, but to me it is more precious than either of those.  This is a small six inch china plate that was hand painted by my grandmother, Anna Mary Bechtol Porr.  I called my Mother to ask if she remembered when she had painted it.  She felt pretty certain she made it before she got married, which was in 1909.  Mom said that while we lived in Iowa she showed it to an older lady who told Mom that that's what young ladies did at the time.  President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said the following:  "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul." http://lds.org/ensign/2008/11/happiness-your-heritage?lang=eng Grandma was probably between 16 and 19 when she made this.  She came from a large family in rural Ohio. They were farmers, like their ancestors before them.  I had a hard time imagining a teen age girl, whose mother was ill during those years,  having the time to paint, but prior to her marriage she did spend some time in Indiana with extended family.  Perhaps she made it there.   To further quote President Uchtdorf:  "No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before." 
This is a picture of Anna taken before she was married, perhaps at the time of her engagement.  After she was married Anna became the mother of 14 children.  No doubt, there was not time to paint pretty plates.  There were children to tend to, laundry to be done, and many meals to prepare for a very large family.  Yet, she still found time to create.  President Uchtdorf:  "Everyone can create.  You don't need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty."  Grandma created quilts.  Each of her children received one when they graduated from high school. Grandma sewed dresses for her daughters.  At the end of each harvest season, her shelves displayed "the fruits of her labors" with her creations of jams, jellies, etc.  Each spring Grandma went through the yearly rituals of deep cleaning in order to create a clean home for her family.  President Uchtdorf:  "Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment."  I have felt that deep satisfaction in doing the things that my Grandmother did:  quilting, canning, and sewing.   Not so much the spring cleaning - I'd rather blog about spring cleaning than do it!  But I'll be back at it tomorrow, and maybe I'll discover another long-forgotten treasure.

Barbara Ellen Asire

Barbara Ellen Asire, my great-grandmother, was born February 24, 1858 in Millcreek Township, Coshocton County, Ohio.  She had a twin sister, Amanda, who lived only six weeks.  They were the youngest of eight children born to Henry M. and Elizabeth Conrad Asire.

Both the Asire and Conrad families came to Ohio from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.  Elizabeth Conrad arrived in 1826 with her family in a covered wagon.  The Asire family came a few years after that.  Henry and Elizabeth were married in 1836 in Holmes County, Ohio.  Six years later on March 26, 1842, 95 acres were deeded to them by Elizabeth's parents, Jacob and and Mary Conrad, for the sum of $500 (tribute to Barbara Ellen Asire Bechtol, written by daughter Nellie Bechtol Patterson).  That land was in Millcreek Township.  They built four different homes on the land and were living in the last when when Barbara was born.  Ironically, she died in that same room nearly 53 years later.  Photo of the Asire home taken c. 1902 - Barbara with several of her children.

Barbara attended  church and Sunday School at the Reformed Church in New Bedford.  She went to Hardridge, which was a one-room school house located just over the hill from where they lived.   Her brother Leonard taught at the school for one term while she was there.  Later, her children would attend the same school. 

In 1879, at the age of 21, she married Frederick Bechtol, son of Nathan and Nancy Griffith Bechtol.  He, too, was also born and raised in Millcreek Township.  The Bechtols were farmers who had come to Coshocton County from Pennsylvania.

Frederick and Barbara lived with her widowed mother for several years (I assume until Elizabeth's death in 1892).  During the 1880's they purchased 110 acres from Elizabeth (including the house).  Barbara and Frederick had 12 children.  One son died in 1889, at the tender age of three months.  No one has a record of what the baby's name was.

As a farmer's wife and mother of 11 living children, Barbara led a physically hard and demanding life.  She had been ill for several months before she died on November 24, 1910 - only 52 years old.   It was said that she bore this with patience and endurance.  Her death certificate lists the cause of death as organic heart disease complicated by nephritis (kidney disease) and enlarged liver.  In her obituary a neighbor said this of her:  "The most beautiful feature of her life was that she was always more thoughtful for the happiness and welfare of others than for herself.  Her name will ever be a blessing to her estimable family and all who came in contact with her."

Today her descendants number in the hundreds and are scattered across the country.  Not long ago I asked my mother if she named me after Barbara Ellen.  Although I wasn't, I am still proud to carry her name.  She left a great legacy to look to.  Aunt Nellie wrote in her tribute, "I think we can truthfully say, as in Proverbs, that 'She looketh well to the ways of her household and she eateth not the bread of idleness and her children rise up to call her blessed'."   These photos are of her New Testament, published in 1859, just a year after she was born.  The book measures 3" x 4 1/2".  The cover is peeling and there is some water damage.



Whose We Are

I began another quilt yesteray.  I love the whole process of choosing a pattern, buying fabric, cutting, piecing, quilting and binding.  Each time I work in my sewing room with my modern gadgets and computerized sewing machine, I look over on the dresser where I see a shadowbox containing mementos from my grandmother, Anna Mary Bechtol Porr.  One of the items is a quilt block from one of the myriad quilts she made.  It is hand quilted.  Perhaps some of the fabric was purchased, but the stars were made from scraps of the remnants of a dress or skirt.  Many of the quilts she made were hand pieced.  She didn't have a sewing room - her machine was set up in either the dining room or her bedroom.

I don't know how old Anna was when she began to quilt.  I assume it was when she was quite young.  Her sister Nellie Bechtol Patterson was an accomplished quilter, who in her lifetime made over 500 quilts!  Of course, they were all quilted by hand.  In a newspaper article featuring her prowess, Aunt Nellie recalls that she first learned to quilt when she was five years old - on a set of frames that she used to that very day!  In this same article it said that among her keepsakes was a quilt that her mother, Barbara Ellen Asire Bechtol made using her mother's dresses.  Last year as I was doing some genealogical research on the Asire family, I came across pictures of that very same quilt.  The power of Google!   

I try to picture a grieving Barbara, 33 years old with a young family of her own, washing her mother's dresses, cutting, piecing, and then handquilting the entire quilt.  I hope she found peace and comfort in creating this wonderful keepsake.

Truman Madsen, author and religious scholar, said, "You don't know who you are until you know whose you are."

I never knew my grandmother, Anna.  Likewise my mother never knew her grandmother, Barbara.  My grandmother Anna was born just three years before her grandmother died. As I have gathered their stories they have become real to me.  But as I carry on their wonderful tradition, I feel them close to my heart.  Thank you, Mom, for passing on the skills that began with your Great-grandmother, Elizabeth Conrad Asire teaching her daughter, Barbara, who taught your Mother.