Grandma’s Drop-Down Table

In the mid-1950s, my Grandma Austill moved to an apartment in downtown Sikeston, above the Collins Music Store.  I remember taking a set of very steep stairs to reach her apartment.  At the top of the steps, there was an open landing area leading to the several apartments.  Once Grandma opened the door to her two-room, one-bath apartment one was always impressed at how fastidious she kept the two rooms.  She was a second generation German-American, and they believed that cleanness was next to Godliness.  You could not find a speck of dust on her floors. 

The apartment had a room in front where she had her bed, a chest, a chair and table with a lamp and a couple of other things in that space.  Then you went through a small hall with the bathroom on the right and her closet on the left.  She had a tiny kitchen, with a divider between the small stove, refrigerator, and dining area.  The divider was where she kept her dishes.  The dining area was small, a standard table and chairs would not fit into the designated eating area provided because space was only about four feet by five feet in size.  Instead of a standard table, she had a fold-down or drop-down table, and two thin benches, one on each side of the table, where she ate her meals.  The table and two benches worked like a Murphy bed.  You opened double doors of a cabinet.  Inside, the table and two benches were mounted to the kitchen wall.  The legs fit into specials sized wells cut into the back of the cabinet for storage. To use them, you unhook the latches, drop each down to the floor and place each leg on the floor to stabilize the table and benches.  When you are through eating, you do the reverse to put it back into the cabinet. Not once did I ever hear my grandma complain about a lack of space.  She loved the little place she made her home, and I loved visiting her in her unique place with the “special” table for two.  She would have preferred a standard table and chairs, but she never complained about the effort it took to take down and put up the table daily.  She was content staying home; she did not have the drive or need to travel and see the world.

Other than work, church and the grocery store, she rarely went anywhere.  She would have much rather people visit her in her apartment than to go and visit others.  She had no car and walked to work, shopping or to visit my family.  In a small town in the 1940s and 1950s, a person could live without a car.  I am not sure if that is true today.  Few of us today could be as happy and content with so little space or items of comfort as she was throughout her life.  When I want to travel, but don’t have extra money for that special trip, I think about my Grandma Austill.   I am truly blessed and can learn from her lesson of being content with what I have and with the good Lord above.  She was about minimalist before it was in vogue.  As an adult,  I am thankful for the many lessons she taught me, however, I will pass on having a drop-down table to use daily.

Next week, I will tell of my first meeting with my husband, and the results of that meeting.  I was a wee girl at the time.

My Grandma Austill - Her Hearing Aid & Spinach!

Caroline "Carrie" Rettig-Price-Austill

Carrie Rettig-Price-Austill was my mother's (Marie Ruth Price-Cline) mother.  She was a quiet lady who wore a hearing aid most of the time.  When she had her hearing aid in her ear, she was soft spoken.  One Sunday after church, I went home with her for a few hours.  I played near her with childhood toys she kept in her closet for me.  All of a sudden, she said something to me so loudly it frightens me.  My parents said I got up and ran the three blocks home.  She did not have a telephone at the time, so she walked to my house behind me to learn what caused me to run off.  I told her she had never yelled at me before, and it scared me.  My mother laughed because she knew how Grandma talked without the hearing aid.   I think Grandma was embarrassed.  From that point on she never took her hearing aid out around me and I always looked to see if it was in her ear.  Back in the 1940 and 1950s, hearing aids were about the size of a nickel, flesh colored, and worn outside the ear.  They were visible, unlike they are today.  

Grandma’s parents were both German.  Their parents immigrated to the USA in the mid-1850s.  Louis (Ludwig) Rettig immigrated from Evangelisch, Kandel, Pfalz, Bavaria through the Port of New York on 11 May 1852.  He first settled in Louisville, Kentucky where he met Elizabeth Bell Milch, who he married later that year.  Elizabeth immigrated to America from Speyer, Pfalz, Germany in 1850.  After they had married, they moved to Evansville, Indiana where they raised fourteen children.  Carrie’s father, Fred Joseph Rettig, was one of those children.

She grew up hearing German spoken and could understand German, but she did not speak it as well as she understood it.  In 1939, when Germany declared war on Britain and the rest of Europe, American-Germans were embarrassed to speak German.  That was the time older German’s learned to speak English.  Few future generations of German-Americans spoke English after World War II.  Her German-American upbringing shaped her personality.  She believed in cleanliness and was very frugal.

Another thing I remember about her was how she taught me to like spinach.  When I was about five or six years old, I was spending another Sunday afternoon with her.  Grandma started cooking supper for us.  The vegetable was spinach.  After she had cooked it, she ate some of it and went on about how good it tasted.  She said there might not be enough for me.   She then put a big helping on her plate and a small serving on my plate.  That was not her normal way of feeding us.  I watched her eat it and heard her make noises of delight.  She had me wait until after I ate everything else on my plate before eating my spinach.  When I finally tasted it, I thought it was the best vegetable in the world.  I still like it.   She taught me many things in her unique style.  It is odd what we remember about the ones we loved after they are gone.  I loved her very much.

Next week we will take a look at Grandma Austill's unique apartment and learn more of her philosophy of life.  

Missouri Veterans Cemetery at Bloomfield

Missouri Veterans Cemetery at Bloomfield
Enclosed shelter has two attached columbarium walls. 

Out of respect, one stands a little taller, and speak more softly when standing among the gleaming white headstones of fallen and other veterans buried in a military cemetery.  The Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield is located on 65 acres along scenic Crowley’s Ridge in the upper Missouri Bootheel. The cemetery sits on low rolling hills.  The first burial occurred on September 29, 2003. The cemetery has a capacity of 27,000 gravesites.  Mr. Stan Baughn of the Missouri Veteran Cemetery Commission told me that 2,964 burials were performed as of March 31, 2017. Of those, 2,116 were burials and 848 were cremations interred in the columbarium walls.  A shelter holds 8000 niches for the interment of cremated remains. To walk among enlisted men and officers side by side is inspirational.  To reach this peaceful cemetery from US Highway 60, take the Highway 25 North exit toward Bloomfield. Travel approximately 4 miles north and the cemetery is on the west side of Highway 25, at 17357 Stars and Stripes Way, Bloomfield, Missouri.

An enclosed and heated shelter is used for internment services. The tastefully finished permanent shelter is used for the sacramental portion of burial services.  It is flanked by two columbarium walls for the interment of cremains, and a flag pole area which makes a plaza.  Other formal memorial ceremonies are conducted on the plaza.  A small lake containing a red, white, and blue-lit fountain is encircled by a walking path on the south end of the cemetery.  Throughout the cemetery, visitors find granite memorial benches for rest and reflection.

The Veterans Cemetery program operates to honor our Veterans for their service and sacrifice.  Missouri Veterans Commission has created a network of Veterans cemeteries so that every Missouri Veteran will have reasonable access to a Veterans cemetery.  Five cemeteries are in operation at this time:

·                  Bloomfield 

·                  Ft. Leonard Wood 

·                  Higginsville

·                  Jacksonville

·                  Springfield 

Eligibility criteria for burial in a Missouri Veterans Cemetery are the same as that in a national cemetery.  It is not surprising that any Veteran convicted of a federal or state capital crime is barred from burial in a Missouri State Veterans Cemetery. This prohibition also includes those Veterans who commit capital crimes but avoid conviction due to death or flight.

Did you know spouses are buried in veteran cemeteries too?  Burial services are provided to Veterans, their spouses, and eligible dependent children.  Veteran benefits include a concrete grave liner, upright granite headstones, full military honors for the Veteran, and perpetual care. Those who choose cremation, have the choice of in-ground burial or placement within a columbarium niche.  Interment services are conducted Monday through Friday at hourly intervals. The funeral home and Veterans Cemetery coordinate the scheduling of services. 

On leaving the veterans cemetery, you may want to visit the Stars and Stripes Museum and see the original military newspaper printed in 1861.  The museum and cemetery share the same access road.  Another point of interest is a short distance away.  The Stoddard County Confederate Memorial was research and constructed by a group of passionate residences, spearheaded by Larry Arnold in 1992.  The project was completed in 2002.  When you leave the Missouri Veteran's Cemetery, you turn left (north) on Highway 25. At the four-way stop in Bloomfield, you turn right (East) on State Highway E. You go up the road approximately .2 of a mile and turn right on Country Road 517. The cemetery is on the left.

There are markers for 152 soldiers, nine civilians ‘political prisoners’ who died in prison at Alton, Illinois, plus 22 non-Stoddard Countians buried in this Memorial, and one Union soldier.  The interesting difference about this cemetery from other military cemeteries is the inscriptions on the back side of each headstone telling how and where the soldier died. This difference of the inscription on the back makes one think more about that soldier’s experience, and to appreciate his sacrifice.  Every soldier buried here, as did many buried in the Bloomfield Missouri Veteran Cemetery across town, paid the ultimate price for freedom, and for the veterans who survived, they returned home changed men by the horrific experience. 

My husband Tom and I visited both cemeteries and the Stars and Stripes Museum in 2005.  It was a sad, humbling, and moving experience to walk among the graves and to think of the horror that those men must have gone through in battle.  Soldiers of every war fought bravely and with pride for what they believed. These markers represent our ancestors, who earned our honor and respect.  Memorial Day would be a good day to drive to Bloomfield and to visit all three sites mentioned here.

Next week, will cover a family member who lived in another era.  Join me next week, and thank you for visiting today.

Soldiers of Both Sides of Wars Are Heroes

Photo by permission of Stoddard
County Confederate Memorial website

Last week we learned that the once pro-southern town of Bloomfield, Missouri set on Crowley's Ridge in Stoddard County and often saw both the Confederate and Union forces in the Civil War.

Larry Arnold from Dexter, Missouri, saw a Civil War tombstone in a St. James, Missouri cemetery that had the soldier’s general name and dates on the front of his headstone. However, on the back was inscribed, “killed by the Yankees at the Battle of Booneville, Missouri.  Whenever he saw a military stone after that, he was always disappointed not to see the detail of the serviceman’s death on the back side of the headstone.

The Stoddard County’s Confederate Memorial’s website tells what happened next in the words of the memorial's creator.  "When Jim McGhee and Jim Mayo published their book, “Stoddard Grays“ (an informational book about Confederate soldiers from Stoddard County) in 1995, Arnold started to get an idea. “I thought it would be neat to order grave markers for the 117 plus Stoddard Countians (identified in Stoddard Grays) that died during the war and inscribe where and how they died on the back."

“When I conceived the idea, there was 117 known Stoddard Countians. We now have placed markers for 152 soldiers, nine civilians ‘political prisoners’ who died in prison at Alton, Illinois, plus 22 non-Stoddard Countians buried in this location; their home counties are inscribed on the back of the stones.”

“Even though their bodies lie from Mine Creek, Kansas, in the West, to Petersburg, Virginia, to the East, on the battlefields of the South, and under the former POW camps of the North, their names and sacrifices will once again be remembered and spoken of in their home county they loved so much and were willing to die for.”

In 1992, Larry Arnold began steps to make his vision a reality.  Arnold is quick to give credit to many others who also contributed to the development and implementation of the Stoddard County’s Confederate Memorial.  Two of his dedicated workers in the cemetery was Jim Mayo, along with Ruth Wilson, who provided the necessary administrative services as well as manual labor.  Arnold also acknowledged the support of members in the Col. A.S. Riley Camp, No. 791 of New Madrid and Whitener's Monument and Lily's Monument companies generously completed the engraving of the stones.  Christian and Dowdy Lumber Company, of Dexter, furnished lumber, and Ray Ezzell if Dexter installed the shingles, and Pruitt Glass Company donated the bulletproof glass. Arnold said the Veteran Administration also provided the headstones. Many individuals, too many to list, contributed financially and with other support.

My husband Tom and I visited this cemetery in 2005.  The interesting difference about this cemetery from other military cemeteries is inscriptions on the back side of each headstone telling how and where the soldier died. This difference makes one think about that soldier as a person.  It was a sad, humbling, and moving experience to walk among those graves and to think of the horror that those men must have gone through over one-hundred and fifty years ago.  They fought bravely and with pride for what they believed, the same as Union soldiers fought for what they believed. These markers represent our ancestors, who deserve our honor. 

Thousands of soldiers fought in the Missouri Home Guard (USA) and  Missouri State Guard (CSA) who are often forgotten.  For many, no confirmation of their deaths was sent to Washington, DC for inclusion in Civil War records at the National Archives.  I was pleased to see the following Missouri State Guard (MSG) soldiers honored at the Stoddard County Civil War Memorial.  

    2^nd Lt. Billington Offut,         Company A, 2nd Inf. Regt, 1 Div.          Stoddard County

    Pvt. Theophilus J. McKee     Company A, 2nd Cav. Regt.                   Cape Girardeau County

    Pvt. W. Shelton                       Company G, 3rd Inf. Regt.                     Iron County

    Pvt. J. Robert Kirkpatrick      Company E, 4^th Inf. Regt.                     Scott County 

In the Battle of Fredericktown, Gen M. Jeff Thompson's Missouri State Guardsmen suffered a total of 25 dead on the battlefield, 40 wounded, and 80 captured.  After their retreat, they brought the 40 wounded back to a hospital in Bloomfield.  At least six of the wounded died in the hospital and were buried in the Bloomfield Cemetery and now are honored in the memorial section of the cemetery.

     Cpt. W. M. Walker                    Company B, 1st Inf. Bn.                      Mississippi County

     Pvt. Nathaniel Wheat,             Company B, 2nd Inf. Bn.                     Butler County

     Capt. Thomas C. Neville         Company G, 2nd Inf. Regt.1 Div.        Stoddard County

     Pvt. Calvin Watts                     Company H, 3rd Inf. Regt.                  Mississippi County

     2^nd Lt. Allen Seabaugh           Company E, 4th Inf. Regt.                  Bollinger County

     Pvt. H. H. Kinder                      Company B, 4th Inf. Regt.                  Bollinger County

The above Missouri State Guardsmen are but ten of the total 152 men represented in the Memorial.  Most of them were just local kids who joined the MSG to fight against what they saw as illegal invaders who violated Missouri’s autonomy.  There were also thirteen young men with the MSG who were captured and sent to federal prisons in the region.  Four died of illness in the Alton, Illinois prison, and Pvt. William H. Neal died aboard the USS John Rice, with the others dying in St. Louis at Gratiot Prison, Jefferson Barracks, or the Myrtle Street Prison, and Pvt. David Shrum died at the Rock Island Prison in Illinois.

The war was over for the men in the Stoddard County Confederate Memorial grounds, but for the men who returned to their southern homes, many soldiers found them burned to the ground.  Many didn’t know where their family members were at the time of their return.  The Southern soldier lived with the results of the loss of the war and reconstruction for the rest of his life.  They fought as hard and with as much passion as the Union soldier, but there was no hero’s welcome home for them.  I would compare their return home with what the returning Viet Nam soldiers experienced.  Many of Viet Nam veterans lost their jobs and were changed men by battle, both the Confederate soldier and the Viet Nam soldier were champions for Freedom.  They deserved our respect and earned the honor in fighting for their beliefs.  My father’s side of my family fought for the Southern cause, and the men on my mother’s side fought for the Northern cause.  I believe all the men who fought in the Civil War deserve my honor and respect.  It is for this reason that I found the Stoddard County Confederate Memorial a moving experience.  I thank Larry Arnold for his vision and for spearheading the Confederate Memorial project completed in 2002.  I thank all the many others that contributed to the construction, the financial contributions, the in-kind services, and those who continue in the maintenance of the site.  I also salute and respect the soldiers who gave their lives for the belief they were defending the state of Missouri.

Residents of Bloomfield are proud to have both the Stoddard County’s Confederate Memorial and the Bloomfield Missouri Veterans Cemetery in their town.  Next week we I will write about the Missouri Veterans Cemetery.  I encourage you to leave a message on items in the Bootheel you would like to learn more about, or you can contact me at mcharmon1@gmail.com.  Have a great week everyone.