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Lorene Andris, Mother: VignettesThe Canning TableWe were upstairs with Vicki looking at the steerage trunk that Abraham
Fickeisen made to bring their stuff over on the sailing ship. Mom said
that the knitting equipment that was kept in there, the knitting needles
were made of bone, and that in the winter they knitted all the socks and
other things that they needed for the year. Then we asked her who made
the drop leaf table. She said, "Grandma told me a story about that.
She said that her mother and she were in the kitchen making jelly and
Mutter said, "I need another table." Fatter overheard this,
and didn't say a word, just went out and bought this table from a neighbor
for a quarter." Uncle Tom and Aunt Rose HawkinsIn 1916, Frank had a drinking buddy, Tom Hawkins, who would bring Frank
home. They said they would love to have a little girl like me. Frank bought
a house next to Tom and "Aunt" Rose and lived there until 1919.
The Hawkins' got a chance to work as custodians at the County House. After
they moved, dad got disillusioned, sold his house, moved into Hawkins'
house and lived there until he died. The Hawkins' offered to take Clara and her daughter, Lorene, and they went to visit them for years. The day that Tom Hawkins died, March 6, 1945, was the day Thomas Franklin Andris, Lorene's second son, was born. He was named after Tom Hawkins and her father. On March 9, 1948, Lorene was in labor with Vicki Clare, her daughter. Clara sent down to the second floor of Marietta Memorial Hospital, where Rose Hawkins was ill, to tell her about Vicki's birth. She died that night at midnight. Lorene loved Uncle Tom and Aunt Rose, and they loved her. Vicki was almost called "Vicki Rose." Tom and Rose never had any children. Uncle Dan Fickeisen and his daughter, Lula FickeisenUncle Dan Fickeisen was not so much of a carpenter as a woodworker. Jake
and John were carpenters and built houses. This one bed that Jake and
Annie slept in had a headboard that he [Dan] had decorated. Mom has a
picture that was a wedding present to Eva Noe, his sister, in 1872. She
now has a sail boat framed in it. The frame has leaves sticking out from
it. Now it's painted gold, but Dan had stained it with vegetables. It
was red and green. He made a four-legged flower pedestal for me after
I was married. Up stairs in the back bedroom, the night stand was made
by Uncle Dan. Hall tree in the cellar was made by Uncle Dan. [Jim: I now
have the hall tree in my front hall.] A few years ago, I asked my mother if she would write down the story of her life. She said that she would try when she got a chance. A few weeks later, I received this document in the mail. Also, I am indebted to her for almost all of the details of the family of Abraham Fickeisen and Margaret Mueller Fickeisen. About dad's generosityDad took George Day in when he was 15. His dad was an alcoholic and had died. This is when I (Jim) was about 2.. Georged stayed in one of our rented rooms, and I (Lorene) did his laundry. He stayed until he was about 18. He also helped Mary Hartshorn when her husband died. She had a lot of little kids. Dad went down to Gruber's Department Store and told the owner to fix her kids up with new outfits and to send the bill to him. |