Well that was my dad’s family, Now I’ll tell you about my mother’s family.
My grandfather was Freeman Maust, he was a tall slim man, clean shave, he always wore felt boots and a suit coat, he had blue eyes and was Dutch, he lived on a small farm seven miles from my dad’s farm. Grandpaw wasn’t much of a farmer, although he made a good living, his main work was making shoes, which he sold, I remember the high tops, thick leather soles. He tanned the leather from horse, cow, pig hide, whatever was available, he didn’t use nails for the sole of the shoes, he made wooden pegs and drove them into the sole of the shoe. Grandpop also made fiddles, from wooden cheese boxes, he made the strings from fine wire, and rabbit gut, which he dried in the sun, he made a banjo once, he put a hog bladder on it, it sounded real good. Grandfather was a real musician, he played his fiddle for hours and I never tired of listening to him, I think he also made harness and saddles, although I never saw him working on these.
My grandfather Maust was married to Effie Ditmore Maust, my grandmother. Grandmother was a little woman, about five feet, she had long brown hair that touched the floor, when she sat on a chair. It seems that all Grandmother ever done was cook, she had a big garden, with all kind of berries and herbs. There was a small building in the corner of the yard, where she kept her bread, pies, cookies, plus hams, dried beef, green beans, corn, spices from the garden. I used to love going into this building, it smelled so good and made me hungry.
Grandfather’s house was a small two story, with two bedrooms upstairs. The living room served as a living room and bedroom, it had a pot bellied stove, dresser and organ, a record player that had a big horn, and you had to crank it continuously for it to play a record , then there was Grandfather and Grandmothers big brass bed, several rocking chairs, and a stand with huge house flowers on it. Between the living room and kitchen was a hallway and stairway going up to second floor, under the stairway was a closet, where grandmother kept a flour barrel, and a box for shoes, and a rack for winter coats. They didn’t have water in the house like Grandfather Guthrie had, they had to carry water from a spring that was up the hill above the house. Across the road from the house was a creek, where grandmother got water for laundry. My cousin and I used to spend a lot of time playing in that creek when we visited Grandmother.
Grandmothers Kitchen had a big black cooking stove that sat in front of a window, then a big wood box that someone was always sitting on, then a dry sink where they set the water bucket, then a stand where house flowers were growing, next was a sewing machine, on the other side was a big long table with a bench behind, in the corner was a big corner cupboard, between the cupboard and stove was a wooden medicine cabinet with a mirror, below the cabinet was a small stand with a wash basin on it, Grandfather always kept his razor strap hanging by this stand, although I never saw Grandfather use this razor strap for anything but sharpening his razor, I was always conscious of it being there, and I know he wouldn’t hesitate to use it, If I got out of line.
Grandfather and Grandmother Maust had seven daughters and two sons.
Aunt Florence Maust Kingan , was the oldest, she lived at Smithfield, Pennsylvania, about thirty miles from Grandfather and Grandmother. I didn’t get to know her very well , she had had two children and a husband but they were dead. Her husband’s nephew which was as old as her, lived with her, he was a big man and always had a big wad of tobacco in his mouth. We, my cousin and I, watched him one time to see if he took the tobacco out of his mouth, when he ate ice cream, he didn’t.
Next was my mother Carrie Bell Maust Guthrie, I’ll tell you about her later.
Next was Aunt Mary Elizabeth Maust Guthrie, aunt Lizzy, I’ve already told you about her, she was married to my father’s brother, Uncle Norton Guthrie.
Then was Aunt Ada Maust Kingan, she was married to James Kingan, I don’t know if he was any relation to Aunt Florence’s husband or not, as they both had the same name. Aunt Ada lived next door to Aunt Florence at Smithfield, Pennsylvania. Aunt Ada had long hair like Grandmother, except her hair was a blondish brown, she had a daughter named Helen. Each summer Aunt Ada and Helen would come to Grandmothers for a visit, they always came when the church was having revival, I would go to visit Grandmother at the same time. During this time Helen and I were together constantly, playing with the animals. Playing in the creek, jumping on the beds and having a pillow fight, when evening came we all walked to Grandmothers church which was different, but all the same denomination. Aunt Ada’s husband James Kingan worked in the coal mines, he never came to Grandmothers with Aunt Ada.
Then there was Aunt Berdie Maust, she was crippled, she sat in a rocking chair all the time, she was very small and they carried her from place to place. Aunt Berdie died when I was about five years old.
Next was Aunt Bertha, Aunt Lucy, and Uncle Sammy, I don’t know which of these were the oldest, they were also crippled although not as bad as aunt Berdie. They walked on tip toe and leaned forward, An was always running to catch up with their body, when they walked they couldn’t talk very well and unless you were around them alot you couldn’t understand them. There was nothing wrong with their minds, they went to school an got an education, as an education went in those days they could sew, crochet, and knit and was always making beautiful things for the family. They had a bladder problem.That every time they laughed, they would wet themselves, my sister and I used to tell them jokes so they would laugh and wet themselves. I know now, what it was like because now I have the same bladder problem. The Lord is getting back at me for making them laugh.
Mentioned in this memoir are, William Freeman Maust 1864-1929, Effie Amanda Ditmore 1868-1946, Florence Maust Kingan 1887-1950, Caroline Clara Bell “Carrie” Maust Guthrie 1889-1965, Mary Elizabeth Maust Guthrie 1891-1973, Ada Mae Maust Kingan 1893-1967, James “Jim” Kingan 1884-1972, Helen Kingan 1922-1992, Berdie Alice Maust 1896-1927, Harvey Earl Maust 1899-1988, Lucy Maust 1898-1972, Millie Maust 1908-1992, Samuel Maust 1905-1954,Bertha Marie Maust 1904-1973
Great story!
Loved this story!