NEWSLETTER

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SERVING THE GREATER LIVINGSTON COUNTY AREA

NUMBER 10 - OCT. 2001

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STUFFED CLUBS AND ANTIMACASSARS

BY ALMA LEWIS - JAMES

BY 1878, ENOUGH GERMANS HAD SETTLED IN THE COUNTRY SURROUNDING FAIRBURY THAT THEY WERE HOLDING THEIR OWN PICNICS AND CAMP MEETINGS, AND THEIR LOCAL APOSTOLIC CHURCH CAME TO HAVE WHAT WAS SAID TO BE THE LARGEST MEMBERSHIP OF ITS ORDER IN THE WORLD, ALTHOUGH THE MOTHER ORGANIZATION REMAINED IN GERMANY.

THEIR CHURCH WAS A LARGE, TWO STORY FRAME BUILDING ON PADUCAH AVENUE. IN THE REAR, ALONG THREE SIDES TO FORM A COURTYARD, WERE THE NEST SHEDS FOR THEIR HORSES AND KLONDIKE BUGGIES. THEY WERE NECESSARY FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ANIMALS IN STORMY WEATHER BECAUSE THE SERVICES WERE DAY LONG MEETINGS, WITH BREAD AND COFFEE SERVED AT NOON.

IN ADDITION TO THE GERMANS, FIVE HUNGARIAN FAMILIES CAME TO SETTLE ON THE CONRAD MUNZ FARM TO EXPERIMENT WITH THE RASING OF TOBACCO AND WATERMELONS. THEY BUILT HOMES ON THE BANK OF INDIAN CREEK WHICH WERE REPLICAS OF THE ONES IN THE OLD COUNTRY, MAKING A LITTLE COMMUNITY WHICH WAS BOTH BEAUTIFUL AND PICTURESQUE.

SEVERAL OTHER LARGE GROUPS OF THESE IMMIGRANTS FOLLOWED, AND THEN THE PUBLIC FEELING TOWARD THEM BEGAN TO CHANGE. FROM AN INSIGNIFICANT COMPANY, THEY HAD BECOME SO NUMEROUS THAT THE FAIRBURY STORES ADVERTISED GERMAN SPEAKING CLERKS, AND DOCTORS WHO WERE CALLED TO THEIR HOMES TOOK INTERPRETERS WITH THEM. POLITICAL RALLIES WERE HELD FOR THEM WITH SPEECHES IN BOTH LANGUAGES.

IT WAS NOT ONLY THE LANGUAGE WHICH KEPT THESE IMMIGRANTS APART, BUT ALSO THEIR CUSTOMS AND DRESS. THEIR WOMEN, IN CONTRAST WITH THE FRILLS, FEATHERS, AND FURBELOWS OF THE OTHERS, WORE PLAIN DARK DRESSES, WITH TIGHT WAISTS AND VERY FULL SKIRTS OVER NUMEROUS PETTICOATS.

THEIR HAIR, WHICH WAS THEIR OWN, WAS BRUSHED SMOOTH AND TIGHT INTO A KNOT ON THE NAPE OF NECK, AND THIS WAS COVERED WITH A HEAVY BLACK NET. THE HATS, TINY BLACK "SAILORS", WERE SEVERELY PLAIN AND WERE WORN STRAIGHT UPON THEIR HEADS. ON THE STREETS THEY WALKED RESPECTFULLY BEHIND THEIR MEN, WAITING PATIENTLY AS THOSE GREETED EACH OTHER AND STOPPED TO TALK.

WITH THE HUSBAND, THERE WERE NO DERBY HATS OR "HANDLEBAR" MUSTACHES. THEY, TOO, ALL DRESSED ALIKE IN DARK, BAGGY CLOTHES, AND BROAD TRIMMED BLACK HATS, AND THEY ALL WORE CHIN WHISKERS.

IN ADDITION TO THIS DIFFERENCES OF DRESS AND CUSTOMS, THERE WAS A RAPIDLY GROWING RESENTMENT AGAINST THEM BECAUSE OF THEIR RELUCTANCE TO BECOME NATURALIZED CITIZENS, AND AN ORDINANCE WAS DISCUSSED TO PROHIBIT ANYONE BUT A CITIZEN FROM BEING EMPLOYED BY THE VILLAGE. FIGHTS BEGAN BREAKING OUT, AND DOCTORS REPORTED GERMAN MEN SO BRUTALLY BEATEN AS TO BE NEARLY KILLED. THEIR BOYS WHO CAME TO TOWN ON SATURDAY NIGHTS WENT IN GROUPS, FOR SAFETY’S SAKE.

FAIRBURY BOYS BEGAN BREAKING INTO THE CELLARS OF THE GERMANS TO DRINK THEIR HOMEMADE WINE, DESTROY THEIR PROPERTY, AND GENERALLY TERRORIZE THEM. ONE GANG OF ABOUT A DOZEN YOUNG HOOLIGANS STOLE THE HARNESS FROM A WIDOW’S BARN, TOGETHER WITH ALL HER CHICKENS; AND THEY LEFT A NOTE ON HER FENCE TO INFORM HER THAT THEY WOULD BE BACK TO GET EVERYTHING ELSE. THEY WERE. WHAT THEY WERE UNABLE TO CARRY AWAY, THEY DESTROYED. ALL HER FRUITS AND VEGETABLES WERE TAKEN, INCLUDING AN ACRE OF CORN, AND THEY CUT DOWN HER GRAPES VINES AND BERRY BUSHES. THE GERMAN BOY WHO ATTEMPTED TO HELP HER WAS BEATEN AND VERY NEARLY KILLED.

SINCE THE CHURCH MEMBERS WERE PLEDGED NOT TO GO TO LAW, THEY HAD A PARTICULARLY HARD TIME OF IT: " A COUPLE OF GERMANS LIVING IN THE EAST END OF TOWN, ATTEMPTED TO ARREST A YOUNG LAD NAMED ADAMS, WHO THEY ACCUSED OF BREAKING THE WINDOW LIGHTS OUT OF THEIR HOMES LAST SATURDAY EVENING. THEY DID NOT PROCEED ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF THE LAND, BUT WERE GOING TO KIDNAP HIM AND TAKE HIM HOME WITH THEM BY MAIN FORCE. BUT YOUNG ADAMS HAD A LUSTY PAIR OF LUNGS AND MADE SUCH AN OUTCRY THAT HE SOON HAD THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD OUT, AND THE GERMANS WERE MADE TO RELEASE THE BOY."

IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE ATTITUDE OF THE BOYS WAS ONLY A REFLECTION OF THEIR ELDERS. APPARENTLY NO ONE INVESTIGATED TO FIND OUT IF THE WINDOWS WERE ACTUALLY BROKEN, AND THE PAPER LOFTILY CONCLUDED THE ITEM WITH THE ADVICE: "IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA FOR SOME OF OUR TEUTONIC CITIZENS TO STUDY UP A LITTLE ON BLACKSTONE."

THE TOM SMITH BOYS, HOWEVER, RECEIVED A DRESSING-DOWN IN PRINT, BUT THAT SEEMED TO BE MORE IN REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR PAST ESCAPADES THAN IN SYMPATHY FOR THE VICTIMS. ON THIS OCCASION THEY HAD BEEN ON THEIR DRUNKEN WAY HOME AT NIGHT, WHEN A DOG BELONGING TO A GERMAN FAMILY RAN OUT TO BARK AT THEM. ANGERED BY THIS, THEY BROKE INTO THE HOUSE WHERE THE FAMILY WERE ALL ABED, SMASHED EVERYTHING IN SIGHT, AND FINALLY COLLAPSED INTO ONE OF THE BEDS WITH THEIR MUDDY BOOTS ON. THE FAMILY, UNABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH, FINALLY SUMMONED AID FROM THE NEIGHBORS, AND THE SMITH BOYS WERE ARRESTED AND JAILED.

MORE OUTRAGES

A STORY OF UNPRECEDENTED OUTRAGE AND PERSECUTION OF A FAMILY OF DEFENSELESS WOMEN IS BROUGHT TO US THIS WEEK, THAT IS SO REVOLTING AS TO BE ALMOST INCREDIBLE. THE VICTIMS ARE A GERMAN WIDOW LADY AND HER DAUGHTER NAMED NOHL, WHO LIVE IN THE OLD GIBB PROPERTY IN THE FARTHEST CORNER OF THE SOUTHEAST PART OF TOWN. THE PERPETRATORS OF THE VILLAINY ARE A GANG OF BOYS, SOME OF WHOM ARE WELL KNOWN TO THE POLICE, BY REASON OF THEIR CONNECTION WITH FORMER ESCAPADES. THEY BEGAN THEIR WORK ABOUT FOUR WEEKS AGO, AND STOLE A SET OF HARNESS OUT OF THE LADY’S BARN AND CARRIED OFF ALL HER CHICKENS. THEY POSTED A NOTE ON THE FENCE NOTIFYING THE WOMEN THAT THEY INTENDED TO STEAL EVERYTHING THEY HAD ON THE PLACE AND THEY HAVE BEEN TRUE TO THEIR PROMISES. ALL OF THEIR FRUIT AND VEGETABLES INCLUDING ABOUT AN ACRE OF CORN, HAVE EITHER BEEN CARRIED AWAY OR DESTROYED. GRAPE VINES AND BERRY BUSHES HAVE BEEN CUT DOWN, AND EVERY THING OUT OF DOORS HAS BEEN LAID WASTE. MUCH OF THIS WORK HAS BEEN DONE IN DAYLIGHT. WHILE THE FUNERAL OF N. KELLER WAS IN PROGRESS, THURSDAY AFTERNOON OF LAST WEEK, THE YOUNG OUTLAWS MADE ANOTHER RAID ON THE PLACE, AND DID MORE DAMAGE, TERRORIZING THE OLD LADY, WHO WAS ALONE, UNTIL SHE WAS AFRAID TO REMAIN IN THE HOUSE THROUGH THE NIGHT. A FEW DAYS AGO A COUPLE OF THE GANG ASSAULTED A GERMAN BOY IN THE ALLEY NEAR BY AND NEARLY KILLED HIM. HE MANAGED TO CRAWL TO THE HOUSE OF MRS. NOHL, WHERE HE FELL DOWN EXHAUSTED. HE WAS TAKEN IN AND CARED FOR OVER NIGHT. THE BOY IDENTIFIED ONE OF HIS ASSAILANTS AS ONE OF THE BELL BOYS. IT IS SHAME AND A DISGRACE TO THE VILLAGE THAT SUCH ACTS OF LAWLESSNESS ARE ALLOWED TO GO UNPUNISHED. THERE ARE FROM FIVE TO A DOZEN BOYS IN THE GANG.

SALOME NOHL

MAY 14, 1817 - APRIL 17, 1891

NO OBIT. AVAILABLE

GRAVE LOCATED IN THE CHURCH SECTION OF

GRACELAND CEMETERY