Dec 26

The Day After Christmas

Today is the day after Christmas. The anticipation and preparations are over. Cookies and other Christmas treats, lovingly made days before, have mostly been consumed by now. The church Christmas program and candle-light service are past. We completed our Advent calendar puzzle. Presents have been opened and are now in use or put away. Or returned. Most family gatherings are over, although some may still occur between Christmas and New Year. Pretty much all that is left is the tear-down and clean-up.

December 26 is also the Second Day of Christmas of the Christmas festival season, The Twelve Days of Christmas. Traditionally, the Christmas Season ends on the evening of January 5, the Twelfth Night. January 6 is Epiphany, the celebration of the Magi’s visit to Baby Jesus.

I have read that it could be bad luck to leave Christmas decorations up beyond January 5. No problem here. That gives us more time to enjoy them.

Christmas 2024 is now a memory in our minds and in our photographs.

Here are some photos of past family Christmas gatherings. My dad is absent in most of the photos because he was the photographer.

My first Christmas with Grandpa & Grandma Miller and my Miller cousins.

Miller Christmas 1952.

Later that day I fell and cut my head and wasn’t so happy to sit on Santa’s lap, aka Uncle Kenny.

Karen on Scary Santa’s lap. (Santa, aka Uncle Kenny)

The Miller Christmas, about a year later, 1953:

Christmas at the Carl & Gertrude Miller home, c1953.

At Grandma Schumm’s, with cousins, late 1950s:

Cousins Susie, Sharon, Karen, Diane, Ron

Christmas dinner at Grandma & Grandpa Schumm’s, in the early 1960s:

Christmas at Cornelius Schumm home (c1963)

Aunt Amy had Christmas dinner in the early 1970s:

Christmas at Aunt Amy’s, c1970

Christmas at Aunt Amy’s, c1970

The Carl Miller family Christmas tree in 1951:

Carl Miller family Christmas tree (1951)

Dec 22

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Karen’s Chatt! Christmas blessing to you and yours.

The Nativity, on wood.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

c1911 Christmas postcard to Wilbert Germann

Dec 19

Tombstone Tuesday-Grange Symbol

We were going through a cemetery a couple weeks ago and Joe noticed this unusual symbol on a tombstone. I knew this inscription was out there on some tombstone somewhere, but I had never come across one before. The P of H on the inscription gave it away. I recognized it immediately and I was certainly excited.

Grange symbol; “The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.” Evangelical Protestant Cemetery, Convoy, OH (2023 photo by Karen)

The P of H stands for Patrons of Husbandry, more commonly known as the Grange. Their official name is The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, or Order of Patrons of Husbandry, but I will refer to them here as simply the Grange.

The Grange is the oldest American agricultural advocacy group, a social/fraternal organization that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and agriculture.

The Grange was founded in 1867 by Oliver Hudson Kelley, a Minnesota farmer and activist. He believed that farmers needed a national organization to represent them like the unions industrial workers had.

Regular Grange membership is open to anyone age 14 or older. The Grange Youth consists of members 13½ to 35 and the Junior Grange is open to children aged 5–14. In 2005, the Grange had a membership of 160,000 in 36 states.

The Grange is a grassroots organization and policies originate at the local level. The Grange is a hierarchical organization ranging from local communities to the National Grange organization. The local Grange level is the Subordinate Grange and usually all the subordinates in a county are grouped together to form a Pomona Grange. The next level is the State Grange. The thirty-five State Granges and Potomac Grange #1 in Washington, D.C. form the National Grange.

Granges hold regular meetings and discuss community issues. In addition, they offer a wide range of locally-oriented programs and activities for all ages and sponsor social events and community service projects.

Legislatively, the Grange represents the views of rural residents and the agricultural community. They have an impressive record of successful lobbying over the years: rural school improvements; laws to lower rates charged by railroads; the establishment of the Extension Service, postal Rural Free Delivery, and the Farm Credit System; making the U.S. Department of Agriculture part of the President’s Cabinet (1889); legislation promoting ethanol as a motor fuel (1906); the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906); the Federal Farm Loan Act (1916); organizing mutual insurance companies that focus on serving farm and rural markets (1920-1950); organizing rural electric, telephone, and water service cooperatives, public utility districts, volunteer fire departments, and state police programs.

In 1871 Chicago entrepreneur Montgomery Ward began his mail order business as a contractor to the National Grange and sold exclusively to Grange members.

The Grange borrowed some of its rituals and symbols from the Free Masons, including oaths, secret meetings, and special passwords necessary to keep railroad spies out of their meetings. I often wondered why we had to use a secret code word to get in if we were late for a meeting. After all, we were in a small community and we all knew each other. I learned from this research that it was because of railroad spies, although I don’t think railroad spies were a big problem in Chatt in the 1960s, but that was their ritual and tradition. However, railroad spies were evidently a big problem at one time.

My family belonged to the Chatt Grange in the 1960s. We attended meetings at the Grange Hall, aka Parish Hall, about a mile east of Chatt on Tama Road, a building that was razed a few years ago. In 1969 I was a member of the Mercer County Grange Youth Drill Team when we won the Ohio State Grange Drill Competition, defeating seven other Ohio counties. Our local Grange also hosted the annual Strawberry Festival and decorated a booth at the Mercer County Fair.

Mercer County Grange Drill Team, State Champions, 1969. [1]

The word “grange” comes from a Latin word for grain, related to a “granary,” or generically a farm. The motto of the Grange is In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas, i.e. “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”

Source: National Grange, of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.

Dec 15

Advent-Countdown to Christmas

This is the season of Advent, the first of the six seasons in the church liturgical year. Unlike some of the church seasons that begin on a different date each year and vary in length, Advent is always the same. Advent is always celebrated the four Sundays before Christmas at church and for many the Advent countdown begins December 1st and lasts 24 days. The last day of Advent is Christmas Eve.   

During Advent we wait and anticipate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. Many Sunday scripture readings are from Old Testament prophecies.

The colors for Advent are violet and blue. Most churches, ours included, have an Advent wreath made up of five candles, three violet and one pink that encircle a white candle. A candle is lit each Sunday as we sing O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. The white candle, the fifth and final candle, is lit with the all the other candles on Christmas Eve.  

That is the countdown to Christmas at church.

The countdown here at home includes an Advent calendar. Advent calendars have become a popular family tradition and activity and there are a variety of themes from which to choose. The calendar activity begins on December 1st and you open one treat or do one activity each day through Christmas Eve, a 24-day countdown.

Over the years we have done several different Advent calendars: a cheese advent calendar, a Keurig coffee calendar, and chocolate Advent calendar. The chocolate Advent calendar can be hard to resist. I read this humorous comment about a chocolate Advent calendar early in the Advent season: According to my chocolate Advent calendar there are only three days to Christmas! Chocolate is way too tempting and you have to discipline yourself to one treat a day.

This year we are doing an Advent puzzle. We are both puzzlers so this is a really fun Advent calendar for us.

This Advent puzzle calendar is actually 24 individual puzzles that join together to form one large 27 x 19-inch puzzle, with about 1000 pieces. The pieces of each daily section are in individually numbered boxes and we assemble one box of puzzle pieces per day.

Here is our Advent calendar puzzle on day 15 of Advent:

Advent calendar puzzle, day 15

Each day’s puzzle has about 42 pieces and each piece is numbered on the back, according to its day number. That will come in handy when we dis-assemble the puzzle and put it away. We can put the daily pieces into their corresponding numbered box. Or, I may  mount the puzzle and reuse the 24 boxes for a different Advent project.     

24 individual boxes of Advent puzzle pieces

We did have to laugh about one claim listed on the box: Each Piece is Unique, Automatic Error Correction. This is a false statement. I guess you could say each piece is unique, according to the picture it fits in, but there is no automatic error correction. We have put several pieces in the wrong place and there was nothing automatic about fixing the mistake.

This is what the competed puzzle will look like:

Advent puzzle calendar box, 2023

This is a fun Advent calendar project if you enjoy puzzling. We are certainly enjoying putting it together.  

Dec 12

Tombstone Tuesday-Frederick & Catharine (Koch) Kable

Frederick & Catharine (Koch) Kable, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2023 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Frederick and Catharine (Koch) Kable, located in row 12 of Kessler, aka Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. This marker is unusual because the vital information about the individuals is inscribed on the ends of the marker and a verse is inscribed on the front. The marker faces west, Frederick’s inscription is on the south end and Catharine’s inscription is on the north end. The inscriptions:

FREDERICK
Died
Apr. 29, 1886
Aged
68Y. 10M. 17D.

CATHARINE
Died
July 5, 1911
Aged
73Y. 8M. 8D. 

MOTHER and FATHER
O, let us think of all they said
And all the kind advice they gave
And let us do it now they are dead
And sleeping in their lonely grave.
KABLE

Frederick Kable inscription, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2023 photo by Karen)

Catharine (Koch) Kable inscription, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2023 photo by Karen)

Frederick Kable was born in Fechingen, District Saarbrucken, Kingdom of Prussia, on 10 June 1817, the son of Jean “Christian” Kable (c1782-?) and Catharina Elisabeth (Muller) (c1791-1864).

Frederick Kable immigrated with his parents and brothers Ferdinand, Daniel, and Christian in 1849 on the ship Henrietta, arriving in New York on 8 May 1849. Immigrating with them was the Christian Kessler family. Christian Kessler’s wife Margaretha (Kable) Kessler (1816-1862) was Frederick Kable’s sister.

After immigrating, some of the Kables attended St. Paul Lutheran, Liberty Township, and Zion Lutheran, Chatt.

In 1850, brothers Frederick Kable, 30, and Ferdinand Kable, 25, and Margaret Kable, 50, [relationship unknown] lived in Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. [2]

Frederick Kable’s brother Ferdinand married Catharine Bollenbacher in 1853 and they started their own family.

In 1860 Frederick Kable, 40, single, resided with his mother Catharine Kable, 71, widow, in Liberty Township. They had a Skeels Crossroads post office. [3] Frederick’s mother Catharine [Muller] Kable died 8 January 1864.

About five months later, Frederick Kable married Catharine Koch, married on 2 June 1864 by Rev. George Heintz, the pastor of Zion Lutheran Chatt’s parish.  Witnesses to their marriage were Karl Bollenbacher and Barbara Koch.

Catharine (Koch) Kable was born in Trossingen, Wuerttenberg, Germany, 27 October 1837, the daughter of Jacob & Maria (Messner) Koch. She was baptized on 29 October 1837. [4]

One Catharine Koch, born 27 October 1837, applied to emigrate to America in April 1862. [5] I could not find a Catharine Koch of her age enumerated in the 1860 census, so she may have immigrated around 1862.

The Frederick Kable family in 1870: Frederick Kable, 52; Catharine, 33; Jacob, 6; Christina, 3; Frederick, 4 mo. Frederick was a farmer. [6]

The Frederick Kable family in 1880: Frederick, 64; Catharine C, 43; Jacob, 14; Christina, 12; Frederick, 10; and John 2. This enumeration actually notes that Catharine‘s parents were born in Trossingen,which agrees with Zion Chatt‘s records, and that Frederick was born in Rhein-Beiern/Bayern. [7]

Frederick Kable, died in Liberty Township, Mercer County, on 29 April 1886, aged 68 years, 10 months, and 19 days, per Zion Chatt’s records, aged 68 years, 10 months, and 17 days per his tombstone. He was buried on 1 May.

In 1900 widow Catherine (Koch) Kable, 63, head, resided with her four unmarried children Jacob, 35, farmer; Christina, 33; Frederick, 30, farmer; and John, 23, schoolteacher. [8]

In 1910 widow Catharine Kable, 72, resided with her son John Kable, 33, and his family, Viola, 21, wife; Walter, 2, son; and Larena, 3 months, daughter. This enumeration indicates that Catharine (Koch) Kable immigrated in 1862, which agrees with the emigration application information mentioned above. [9] 

Catharine (Koch) Kable, died from a stroke on 5 July 1911, aged 73 years, 8 months, and 8 days. She was buried on the 7th. According to church records she was survived by 3 sons, 1 daughter, and 1 sister.

Frederich and Catharina (Koch) had the following children:
Jakob Kable (1865-1946), never married
Christina Kable (1867-1939), married John A. Baumgartner
Frederich Kable (1870-1934), married Mary Ann Wendel
Christian Friedrich Kable (1872-1876)
Katharine Kable (1876-1876) 
Johann Heinrich Kable (1877-1957), married Viola L. Baumgartner

[1] New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, ship Henrietta, arrival 8 May 1849; database online, Ancestry.com.

[2] 1850 U.S. Census, Liberty, Mercer, Ohio, p.286a, dwelling & family 7, Fredk Roble [sic]; Ancestry.com.

[3] 1860 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer County, Liberty Township, p.359, dwelling 1014, family 1019, Fred Kable; Ancestry.com.

[4] Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898, Catharine Koch, 27 Oct 1837; database on-line, Ancestry.com.

[5] Trudy Schenk, Wuerttemberg, Germany Emigration Index, Katharina Koch, b. 27 Oct 1837, applied Apr 1862; database on-line, Ancestry.com.

[6] 1870 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, p.148B, dwelling 105, family 97, Fredrick Kable; Ancestry.com.

[7] 1880 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 188, p.473B, dwelling 43, family 45, Frederick Kable; Ancestry.com.

[8] 1900 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 85, p.6, dwelling 115, family 120, Catherine Cable [sic]; Ancestry.com.

[9] 1910 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, Ed 119, p.3B, dwelling 212, family 219, John Kable; Ancestry.com.