Memoirs of Ottilie "Tillie" Obenhaus Haseloff on the Daniel/Collier Homepage

Memoirs of Ottilie "Tillie" Obenhaus Haseloff

A fifth child and another girl probably wasn't what my parents had hoped for; still I know they accepted each of us as a gift from God! Respect and obedience for our parents and elders were virtues instilled in each of us at an early age.

Assuming responsibilities in the home and helping with outside jobs also became accepted routines. I recall being assigned the job of looking after Rachel and Edward while Mama was busy trying to run the rest of the household and while she was also helping Papa with all his farming and ranching interests. It was Otto and I that played together most and got into much mischief. On one instance we found it very amusing to shake the ladder as an Old German painter was working on the gables of our two-story house, just to hear him rave and shout at us. He had never married and disliked pesky kids, but he was an excellent painter. I admired the beautiful scroll patterns near the ceiling of our parlor, bedrooms, and hallway that he painted after our house was built.

As I grew older, I had to assume more jobs, such as bringing in the firewood, cleaning out the ashes, helping turn the milk separator, and churning the butter with a wooden stamper in a three-gallon crock jar.

Then came the time to help the older sisters and brother. One day Papa had sent Clara, Otto, Rachel, Edward, and I out to shuck corn. This soon became boring and we started playing in the large hayloft and found a mother cat with little kittens. We decided to name them and thought the proper way to do so was to baptize them. We got a pan of water, and with Clara serving as the preacher, the rest of us each held a kitten and provided the music. This was so exciting we decided to try it on the little pigs; however, they didn't cooperate and did so much spealing that Papa came to investigate what was happening. Needless to say, we got back to our jobs in a hurry, as we feared Papa's discipline.

Perhaps the most frightening experience was when our large hay barn that had stables for the horses and storage for a lot of grain and other feed was struck by lightening. This happened during a severe rain and wind storm, and we were unable to get to the storm cellar. At times like this, our parents would gather us together and Papa would read from our prayer book and lead us in faith to trust in God's protective care.

Several years later our large dairy barn that had a number of cows, calves, and hogs in it caught fire in the middle of the night and was totally destroyed, along with the animals that were inside.

One of the happier events in our early lives was swimming after the summer rains in one of the deeper places in Paradise Creek, which crossed our land. There was a large willow tree with a long over-hanging branch across the water, which made an excellent diving board and also a good swing. This same creek would become very treacherous after heavy rains as the water would often rise and come very close to our home.

In the early summertime, we had a lot of practice in picking soft feathers from our ducks and geese. We couldn't let them bite us, and we couldn't let them go, although they were flapping their wings so hard we could hardly hold them. These feathers made luxious pillows and covers for the cold winter nights. Since Walter, Otto, and Edward were excellent hunters, they brought home many wild fowl that helped provide food for the table; the small feathers were always saved.

Since girls outnumbered boys in our family, the large upstairs became the girls' bedroom. Together we made dressing tables from wooden apple crates; we hung a mirror over them and decorated them with ruffled skirts and then made window curtains to match. One table had a large porcelain water basin with a large water pitcher to match. On one portion of the wall we hung pictures of famous movie stars. How I envied Millie and Clara when they were dressing up, getting ready for their dates, using curling irons heated over a kerosene lamp to style their hair. How I wanted to join them and no longer be treated as a child still in pigtails.

Romance did come into the picture, though. I became aware of boys while in fifth and sixth grades. My first crush ws on the guy I married, and marriage lasted a lifetime. Ours was an on-again/off-again romance for a number of years. Since both our parents attended the same church and had many of the same friends, we were together a lot. I recall the first date was over to his Aunt Hattie's house where we played the Victrola most of the afternoon. Herbert and his cousin both had a motorcycles, but my parents wouldn't allow me to ride with him on it. The temptation was so great that I would meet him at other places and enjoy the thrill of getting to ride.

Perhaps one of the most interesting dates was when we attended the final session of the Lockett Baptist Revival which was conducted in a neighbor's pasture about two miles from his parents' home. I had never attended any church other than Lutheran and the complete water immersion in the earthen tank was a unique experience.

During high school there were lots of fun times. The one I most remember was when a large number of students decided to play hooky and not attend school on April Fool's Day. Instead we went to Oklahoma for a day of picnicking, boatriding, and sightseeing. We ate our sack lunches in a graveyard. The next day brought sever retribution both from teachers and parents.

After my graduation in May, Herbert and I were married on December 10, 1932. It was a very cold day, and the ground was covered with snow and ice. The cold weather had no effect on the warm love we felt for each other. Our marriage was blessed with two wonderful children.

Reprinted from The Otto and Alvene Obenhaus Family History compiled by their children April, 1977 pages 35 and 36.

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