Lightning

My daughter asked me to record this bit of family history related to me by my mother. The tale is so long that I am going to make two posts out of it. If you are intrigued, you’ll need to return next week to find out the ending. It won’t be what you expect, but life can take some strange twists and turns.

My maternal grandparents were first cousins and rode in the same baby buggy in Germany. One great-grandfather was a master carpenter, which in Germany meant that his son, my grandfather, would be the same. My other great-grandfather was a sailor and often gone from the home for long, stretches of time.

When my grandmother was five-years-old she was put out to work at one of her aunts’ home. This aunt had married well. It was Grandmother’s job to clean the house, wash dishes, and stir the pot of food cooking over the fire. This particular aunt was known for her vicious temper.

Somehow, one day, the pot was tipped over. The aunt was furious and she ripped the golden circles of metal out of my grandmother’s ear lobes, instructed her to clean up the mess, and left for a visit. My grandmother was left screaming hysterically and blood running down from her ear lobes.

An older neighbor man heard the child’s screams and came over. He was shocked at the sight and led her outside. Then he pointed down the street and commanded, “Run home, little one, and do not stop.” Grandmother obeyed him.

When she ran into her parent’s home or apartment (Mama was never clear about that) her father was home. He was outraged that she had been placed to work at such a young age and forbid it to happen again until she was fifteen, an acceptable age.

My great-grandmother was a good frau and did not place Grandmother out to work again until Grandmother turned fifteen. Then she hired her out to a dairy farm as a milkmaid. Do not think that my grandmother was paid. The money was paid to my great-grandmother each month.

My grandmother was a beautiful, blue-eyed, blood mite of a woman standing four feet and eleven inches. One of the older milkmaids decided to protect her and insisted she must sleep next to the barn wall. All the milkmaids and dairy hands slept in the loft above where the cows were milked. Their pallets were made of straw and they brought their own blankets. The woman protecting my grandmother was an older, huge person of six feet who had never married, nor had children.

Mama was vague (which meant she didn't know) about how many days they might have off if any, but it seems they rotated Sundays so that they could attend church. Many of the young men would snicker at the females so employed as dairymaids. Later my father told me that was because so many of the milkmaids had been raped and bore children out of wedlock. There was no forgiveness for the female in the 1880’s.

Grandmother had learned to love organ music in church. Some of the Lutheran hymns were written by Bach. Recitals by prominent musicians were also given in the German churches. One Sunday, on her day off, Grandmother tried to attend the program given at church several miles away. Her walk took her through a forest and then along the road to the town. At the church, she found it was filled and the music swelling into the air. The usher would not permit her to go inside. He did permit her to sit on the bench in the vestibule. Grandmother was exhausted and fell asleep. The people leaving the church woke her in the late afternoon. She had to hurry to be back at the dairy farm in time for the morning milking. She sobbed all the way to the farm.

It was dark by the time she arrived. All were sleeping, and there was no way she could have made it to where she normally slept. Her legs hurt and her head hurt. She slept at the edge of portion designated for the milk maids.

She did not know how long she slept, but she awoke with a hand on her mouth and a heavy body on top of her, and someone invading her insides. Of course, she told no one.

When it became obvious that she was pregnant, the farm kicked her out as immoral. Her mother did the same. Grandma found refuge with one of her Aunts that was married to a baker. She and my grandfather had been corresponding and she told her childhood friend the truth. My grandfather and his parents had already immigrated to the United States. He forwarded money for her to join him and insisted they would be married when he had once again saved enough money.

Single women with a one-year-old child would not have been permitted on a ship carrying immigrants to the United States. Grandmother and her Aunt sewed and dyed her clothes to widow’s black and a black band was painted around a gold ring. This told the world that she was a respectable widow traveling to join relatives already in the United States. Remember there was no Ellis Island at this time. People of German descent had through their churches formed committees at ports of entry and would route the people to the correct part on the nation.

Grandmother was met at the railroad station by my grandfather and taken to his parents’ home. The child would remain with his mother while my Grandmother had been hired out as a maid to a rich couple in town. What they hadn't told my Grandmother was that my Grandfather’s mother had tuberculosis and was coughing blood.