Continuing Eda's account:
“Well back to the story again, as father wnet on his Westward travels. He had many interesting experiences I have heard him say ( many times) he awoke at night hearing his name called and heard a voice say, “Fred, Fred why are you wasting your time here.” He was raised in a religious home, and always no matter where he was said his prayers before going to sleep at night. The Lord was with him.
He had heard about Utah and the Mormons. The most he had heard was none too good. In his journey he came to a fork in the road. One road went south the other to Utah. He let his horse choose the way. The horse took the road to Utah. So father came to Utah, in 1886 when he was 24 years old.
Along about this time he dreamed of a beautiful girl. He never forgot the dream, and was always looking for the girl. In Utah he went to work in a mine near Toole. Father Guilliand, a Methodist Minister he had met before in his travels, looked him up to keep him from the Mormons. One Sunday night walking down an aisle in the Methosids churchin Toole, he came face to face with the girl of his dream. My father was a handsome young man 6ft. tall. He had black cury hair and dark brown yees, and there was beautiful little mother, just five ft. 2 inches with beautiful big blue eyes, and brown hair. Her skin was white and clear as lily. It was love at first sight. He looked at her and she at him. Thinking they know each other. After an embarrassing monment they excused themselves and parted. Later they met again through a mutual friend. Mother was visiting a brother in Tooele, and had attended the Methodis church with a girl friend. Mother preached the gospel to my father. He had found what he was searching for. He was baptized 6 days after they were married, nine months later they were sealed in the Logan Temple. Mother was ill at the time with rheumatism. She went into the temple on crutches and came out walking. She had been healed. [3]”
Commentary:
1. The Call. Eda emphasizes how Fred was strongly impressed by the need to stop wasting his time by wandering from place to place. Or was he pushed from place to place by being told that that he was wasting his time here?
2. I think Eda is the only one to mention Fred’s religious upbringing and his attention to personal prayers.
3. The horse story is further elaborated in Fred’s partial autobiography.
4. The Methodist Church and Mary Ella. Eda’s account here is unique in being so detailed. We learn why Fred went to the Methodist church and what minister was guiding him. We see that he met Mary Ella at this Methodist church. What she was doing in the church was another question, given that she was a Mormon. I believe another account claims she was singing in the choir, and he noticed her there, while walking down the aisle. Eda’s account has her just visiting a brother, and attending the Methodist church with her friend.
5. Although Eda is romanticizing their physical descriptions, it is still nice to receive them. The description of Fred somewhat matches the description given in the passport application. This is the first description of Mary Ella that I have ever read.
6. Fred’s conversion. It is interesting that they were married before Fred joined the church. She must have had a lot of confidence in his decision-making. Of course, his baptismal date must have been set before then. I think it shows of Mary Ella’s personality that she preached the gospel to him. While Fred must have been receptive in many senses, I don’t think he immediately “fell in.” There is a copy of a letter from this time period in the special collections at BYU in the Minerva Teichert papers from Mary Ella to Fred, which seems to note some possible tension here. I will transcribe the letter when I locate it later.
7. The healing story that occurred at the temple sealing is unique, noted only here in Eda’s account to my knowledge.
Showing posts with label childhood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label childhood. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Dye Business, Education, and Health (Lisonbee Account 2)
I continue on with Eda’s account:
“My grandfather was the first person in America to dye human hair. He came just in time for the Civil War in American and he dyed the material for the northern soldiers uniforms during the war. Grandmother’s first husband had a dying business, he died, Frederick John Kohlhepp was one of his employees[.] He married his former boses daughter and then he owned the dying establishment.
My father was educated in a private school where he was taught German half the day and English the other half. In his home the children spoke English while the parents answered them in German. His people weree of the finest class, and they came from the fest families of Europe. The VonRosens of France, Abies from Germany, and the Juesiers from Switzerland. [1]
My fahter never got along well with his father. His father wanted him to carry on his business, he was the only son, which by then had grown into quite a large concern, the family became very wealthy from their dying business. Then my father became ill, finally a doctor advised my grandmother that her son would never live to see 20 years because he had “consumption.” The damp climate of Boston the Dr. told the mother was very bad for his health. So at a very early age, he always said 17, he left school and headed out West.”
Comments:
1. It is an interesting oral history that Johann Friedrich (Fred’s father) dyed the uniforms for the civil war. It is a little surprising that Johann could set up a factory and become prominent enough for the Northern troops to employ his work for uniforms. Of course, I do not know when he moved to Boston. He lived in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania beforehand. They were not in Boston at least by 1855 when Amelia was born. I suppose it’s possible, but I wonder how that information could possibly be verified. I could learn some general information about Boston during the Civil War, but beyond this it would be quite difficult. I wonder what information or papers is available about long dead companies, besides just being in directories and advertisements. But a business directory doesn’t say much. For instance, I found Johann’s business in the 1871 Jamaica Plains business directory.
All it tells you is the name of the business “Jamaica Plain dye house” and that it was located on Brookside Avenue. It is nice to be able to plot where it would have been on a 1870s Boston map, but you can’t tell about what sort of business they did. This makes substantiating the claims about hair dying and soldiers’ uniforms quite difficult.
2. The statement about Johann marrying the former boss’ daughter to own the dying establishment has been recorded in other records too. I believe Minerva or my Grandmother (Laurie) wrote an elaborate description of the situation that may have been an oral history or their speculation about what happened. I will get to those records later.
3. Fred’s education: I think Eda’s account here is the only document where Fred is described as attending a private school where he learned German and English, or how languages were used in the home. Fred’s education is problematic since many documents claim different things; it will be difficult to pin down.
4. Eda claims he came from some of the best families in Europe: how is this claim made? How does she know what are good European families? All of our Abes are from Saxony/Germany as far as we can go back in 1502. By Juesiers, Eda must mean the Heuszers who we have located in Hessen, Germany. As for the Von Rosens, I need to check up on them in another PAF.
5. There has been a lot of mythology on Fred’s consumption. True, it seems he died of it; it killed a lot of people. But how did Fred live relatively well with consumption until the age of 57? People have claimed he also contracted it on his mission in 1905, but he lived another 12 years. I doubt the historicity of these claims. Regardless, there was definitely a movement going on with transcendental idealism in Thoreau and also in the Boston climate of the need to get out into nature for the good of one’s lungs. People feared their health when they were around industrialized cities. I read in some education books on Boston schooling from Fred’s time period on children’s needs to get out of the city for fresh air. I will have to locate my source there and place it up, and place some of Thoreau’s statements.
“My grandfather was the first person in America to dye human hair. He came just in time for the Civil War in American and he dyed the material for the northern soldiers uniforms during the war. Grandmother’s first husband had a dying business, he died, Frederick John Kohlhepp was one of his employees[.] He married his former boses daughter and then he owned the dying establishment.
My father was educated in a private school where he was taught German half the day and English the other half. In his home the children spoke English while the parents answered them in German. His people weree of the finest class, and they came from the fest families of Europe. The VonRosens of France, Abies from Germany, and the Juesiers from Switzerland. [1]
My fahter never got along well with his father. His father wanted him to carry on his business, he was the only son, which by then had grown into quite a large concern, the family became very wealthy from their dying business. Then my father became ill, finally a doctor advised my grandmother that her son would never live to see 20 years because he had “consumption.” The damp climate of Boston the Dr. told the mother was very bad for his health. So at a very early age, he always said 17, he left school and headed out West.”
Comments:
1. It is an interesting oral history that Johann Friedrich (Fred’s father) dyed the uniforms for the civil war. It is a little surprising that Johann could set up a factory and become prominent enough for the Northern troops to employ his work for uniforms. Of course, I do not know when he moved to Boston. He lived in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania beforehand. They were not in Boston at least by 1855 when Amelia was born. I suppose it’s possible, but I wonder how that information could possibly be verified. I could learn some general information about Boston during the Civil War, but beyond this it would be quite difficult. I wonder what information or papers is available about long dead companies, besides just being in directories and advertisements. But a business directory doesn’t say much. For instance, I found Johann’s business in the 1871 Jamaica Plains business directory.
All it tells you is the name of the business “Jamaica Plain dye house” and that it was located on Brookside Avenue. It is nice to be able to plot where it would have been on a 1870s Boston map, but you can’t tell about what sort of business they did. This makes substantiating the claims about hair dying and soldiers’ uniforms quite difficult.
2. The statement about Johann marrying the former boss’ daughter to own the dying establishment has been recorded in other records too. I believe Minerva or my Grandmother (Laurie) wrote an elaborate description of the situation that may have been an oral history or their speculation about what happened. I will get to those records later.
3. Fred’s education: I think Eda’s account here is the only document where Fred is described as attending a private school where he learned German and English, or how languages were used in the home. Fred’s education is problematic since many documents claim different things; it will be difficult to pin down.
4. Eda claims he came from some of the best families in Europe: how is this claim made? How does she know what are good European families? All of our Abes are from Saxony/Germany as far as we can go back in 1502. By Juesiers, Eda must mean the Heuszers who we have located in Hessen, Germany. As for the Von Rosens, I need to check up on them in another PAF.
5. There has been a lot of mythology on Fred’s consumption. True, it seems he died of it; it killed a lot of people. But how did Fred live relatively well with consumption until the age of 57? People have claimed he also contracted it on his mission in 1905, but he lived another 12 years. I doubt the historicity of these claims. Regardless, there was definitely a movement going on with transcendental idealism in Thoreau and also in the Boston climate of the need to get out into nature for the good of one’s lungs. People feared their health when they were around industrialized cities. I read in some education books on Boston schooling from Fred’s time period on children’s needs to get out of the city for fresh air. I will have to locate my source there and place it up, and place some of Thoreau’s statements.
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