Wagon Maker Heinrich Gorath

By Teresa Martin Klaiber, 2020

My mother remembered German spoken in the house, as a child.  Mary Helen Feyler Martin was born in 1921.  She was 18 when her grandmother Anna Katherine Gorath Halderman died in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio 19 June 1939.

The Gorath’s left a small treasure trove of official documents to help tell their immigration story.  Anna’s father Heinrich (Henry) Gorath was born 22 June 1829[i] [ii] in Wusting, Holle, Osterburg (Oldenburg) Germany, the son of Johann Heinrich Gorath and Anna Elizabeth Kroog.  His baptism is recorded in the Holle kirchlich and when fourteen he was confirmed in the same church.

His parents dutifully had him vaccinated for smallpox the 24^th August 1830[iii], at one year of age. Smallpox vaccine had been established for decades.  By the 1830’s towns in Germany had sanitary police.  Schoolmasters, master craftsmen, servants and apprentices were requested to only accept vaccinated persons.[iv]

At the age of 18 Heinrich began keeping a small booklet, or day book, dated Oldenburg 1847.  His designs for sleds and wagons are a joy to look at.

Heinrich Gorath in possession of compiler 2020

Heinrich Gorath served in the 3^rd Battalion where he asked permission to marry in October 1853.  Four months later he received a permission after learning the trade right, from the Kirschpiel, to master the trade of wagon maker.

With his life in order, Heinrich married Anna Marie Holman in the Kirschlich Oldenburg 19^th April 1854.  He duly recorded a simple one line note in the back of his day book about his marriage.  Flip the page and the birth of baby Anna is carefully noted as 3 April 1855.  About midway in the book at a bottom of a page is the last date – he simply wrote “Marie Gorath Oberhausen 1857”.

Oberhausen translates to “upper house” and I have wondered if Heinrich was trying to get cabin passage for them when the family migrated to America.  During the early 1850’s  Germany was having an industrial boom but what comes up comes down and the bubble went bust in 1857 with a financial crash. 

His last official act in April 1857 Heinrich was to receive an honorable discharge from six years of military service.   The discharge gives a wonderful description of Gorath.  He was 6 ½ feet tall, his eybrows dark, a high forehead, grey eyes, ordinary mouth and nose, uneven teeth, oval chin, a round face, healthy and a scar on his left hand thumb.

Now with small baby Anna Katherine, and his wife’s widowed mother, Anna Catherine Neumann Holman, they paid passage on the barke Rastede.  There were 226 passengers along with the Captain H. A. Kahle.   A barke is a sailing vessel with three or more masts.  The barke may have been named for the village Rastede which is 12 kilometers north of Oldenburg.  It was built in 1852 by Oltmann’s at a town, near Bremen named Brake.  It was said to have two forward square-rigged masts and a rear mast rigged fore-and-aft.[v]

The family embarked at Bremen.  Among the passengers were eight children under the age of eight which would have included two year old Anna.  The Gorath’s did not pay for cabin passage and are listed as between deck, passengers 219-222 on the manifest whish was submitted by the captain upon their arrive in New York.[vi] The New York Times reported the barke was cleared on July 3^rd.  

When the couple celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary, Gorath gave an account of their voyage. The Wellston Telegram  wrote on 26 April 1904:

 “…Mr. Gorath’s account of their voyage would frighten the twentieth century traveler. They were seven weeks coming across, taking passage on a sailing vessel. At one time when almost in port they were blown out to sea and three weeks passed before they sighted land again. They came direct to Portsmouth and from there to Jackson county. Later they settled at Berlin, where for thirty years Mr. Gorath has been the village wagonmaker…”

Seven weeks between decks with a toddler and elder.  Yet today we complain about cramped seats on jets that cross the world.  They had a destination.  They came directly to southern Ohio because Heinrich Gorath’s, brother-in-law, Hermann Heinrich Hollman had already established themselves.  Hermann Holman and Anna Marie Holman Gorath were children of Johan Heinrich Hollman (1795-1857) and Anna Catherine Neumann Hollman who travelled to America with the Gorath family. Hermann Henry Hollman/Holman was a shoemaker born in Wusting, who with wife, Isabella Katherine Mittendorf, had settled at Pine Creek, Bloom Township, Scioto County, Ohio.

Scioto and Jackson county are noted for furnaces.  Jackson county was not lacking in work and wagons were needed to haul coal, ore and fire clay.  There was plenty of work for Gorath.   At least two Bituminous furnaces are listed in Berlin Cross Roads.

The family settled at Berlin Cross Roads.  Heinrich dutifully registered for the Civil War draft. On July 17, 1863,  John Hunt Morgan was on the march with Ross county militiamen chasing them.  Two Confederate scouts sent into Berlin Cross Roads were shot.  By noon it was over.   It did not deter Heinrich Gorath in October he filed his naturalization in Scioto County.[vii]

Mother-in-law Anna Catherein Neumann Hollman died in March 1867 and was laid to rest at Monroe Furnace, Jackson County, Ohio. By the 1870’s Heinrich/Henry Gorath is well established with his shop in Berlin Cross Roads.  Daughter Anna Katherine Gorath married Dr. Stephen Simpson Halderman 28 August 1873 at Berlin Cross Road, Milton Township, Jackson County, Ohio. By 1875 Gorath is listed as a manufacturer of all kinds of carriages and wagons, with special attention given to repairing.[viii] A simple sign on the shop reads “H. Gorath Wagon Maker.”[ix]

The family lived happily at Berlin Cross Roads until after the death of Anna Marie Holman Gorath, 16 February 1908.  She was buried in South Webster Cemetery.  In March the Portsmouth papers report Henrich Gorath is ill and now residing with his son (in-law) S. S. Halderman at 826 Gay Street, Portsmouth, Ohio.  “venerable Mr. Henry Gorath…continues ill in bed …gaining ..in strength …His old home in Berlin, made desolate by the death of his life partner, the late Mrs. Gorath, has been broken up, and the household goods sold-excepting articles the family desired to keep, and among which is some quaint furniture from the native place of the Gorath’s Germany.”[x]

My 2^nd great grandfather died 11 March 1909 in the home where my grandmother and mother were born, where family passed from this life, and many patients were tenderly treated.   “Venerable Citizen Answers Last Call…contracted a severe attack of the grip, which gradually superinduced serious complications…passed away peacefully at the home of Dr. and Mrs. S. S. Halderman where he was tenderly cared for…”[xi]

I cried when the beautiful brick home at 826 Gay Street had to be torn down in the 1970’s. The bricks were crumbling and could not be saved.  But the whisper of so many voices in that house still linger.  I am 70 now and my mother gone.  I don’t want to be the last to tell the stories. 

826 Gay Street, Halderman Home demolished, late 1970’s.  Still Standing can be seen the outline of attached dental office between Halderman and Feyler Home. Shortly after the Feyler Home was also demolished.  Today both properties are parking lot.  But the carriage house still remains.  Carriages that were repaired and possibly even built by Heinrich Gorath.

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[iii] Vaccination Certificate, James & Teresa Martin Klaiber Family Artifact Collection; privately held by Teresa Martin Klaiber, [address for private use], Rush, KY 41168. Carried on ship to America - original. From Stephen Halderman Home, Gay St., Portsmouth, OH to Mary Helen Feyler Martin to Teresa Martin Klaiber.[iv] The History of Smallpox Vaccination in Germany: A First Step in the Medicalization of the General Public. Journal of Contemporary History Vol 20 #4 Oct 1985 p 617-635[v] Breener & Bonne, The Steffen, Brandt and Euler family histories…p. 138. 1999.
[vi] New York Passenger Lists 1820-1897, microfilm publication M237 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives, ), 175, Arranged by date; Rastede, 1 July 1857, .[vii] 1863 Oct 8 NATURALIZATION: Scioto Co Oh FC Searl Judge
"...of Oldenburgh...emig from Bremen on 4 May 1857 DI from Jackson
Co Ohio 30 Jul 1860 ae 31. Jnl 2 208 {NAT PAPERS OF SCIOTO CO Ohio,
Portsmouth Public Library, Gallia St., Portsmouth} and original document possession of compiler
Gorath notebook item 32 "...of Oldenburgh...emig from Bremen on 4 May 1857 DI from Jackson
Co Ohio 30 Jul 1860 ae 31. Jnl 2 208 {NAT PAPERS OF SCIOTO CO Ohio,
Portsmouth Public Library, Gallia St., Portsmouth} and original document possession of compiler
Gorath notebook item 32
"...of Oldenburgh...emig from Bremen on 4 May 1857 DI from Jackson
Co Ohio 30 Jul 1860 ae 31. Jnl 2 208 {NAT PAPERS OF SCIOTO CO Ohio,
Portsmouth Public Library, Gallia St., Portsmouth} and original document possession of compiler
Gorath notebook item 32
"...of Oldenburgh...emig from Bremen on 4 May 1857 DI from Jackson
Co Ohio 30 Jul 1860 ae 31. Jnl 2 208 {NAT PAPERS OF SCIOTO CO Ohio,
Portsmouth Public Library, Gallia St., Portsmouth} and original document possession of compiler
Gorath notebook item 32
"...of Oldenburgh...emig from Bremen on 4 May 1857 DI from Jackson
Co Ohio 30 Jul 1860 ae 31. Jnl 2 208 {NAT PAPERS OF SCIOTO CO Ohio,
Portsmouth Public Library, Gallia St., Portsmouth} and original document possession of compiler
Gorath notebook item 32
"...of Oldenburgh...emig from Bremen on 4 May 1857 DI from Jackson
Co Ohio 30 Jul 1860 ae 31. Jnl 2 208 {NAT PAPERS OF SCIOTO CO Ohio,
Portsmouth Public Library, Gallia St., Portsmouth} and original document possession of compiler
Gorath notebook item 32
"...of Oldenburgh...emig from Bremen on 4 May 1857 DI from Jackson
Co Ohio 30 Jul 1860 ae 31. Jnl 2 208 {NAT PAPERS OF SCIOTO CO Ohio,
Portsmouth Public Library, Gallia St., Portsmouth} and original document possession of compiler
Gorath notebook item 32
[viii] D. J. Lake, Atlas of Jackson County, Ohio (Philadelphia, PA: Titus Simmons & Titus, n.d.), Berlin Business Directory.[ix] Berlin Xrd, OH, original photograph possession of compiler. 2020
[x] Portsmouth Daily Times 7 Mar 1908
[xi] The Daily Blade Mar 1909

[i] Gorath Auszug [Extracts] Kirchengemeinde kirchlich Oldenburg State Archives, privately held by Teresa Martin Klaiber, [address for private use]; Holle Page 109 Best 250-37 Bd. 2; , Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oldernburg, Germany
[ii] Birth Certificate, James & Teresa Martin Klaiber Family Artifact Collection; privately held by Teresa Martin Klaiber, [address for private use], Rush, KY 41168. Original hand written brought on ship from Germany. From Halderman Home, Gay Street, Portsmouth, Oh to Mary Helen Feyler Martin to Teresa Martin Klaiber.

The Waters Receded and the Music Stopped

By Teresa Martin Klaiber Feb. 2020

Eighty years after the 1937 flood, it was so horrific, no one forgets.  It was late January, cold and miserable when the waters of the mighty Ohio rose over 74 feet out of its banks into Portsmouth, Ohio.  Statistics say that nearly two-thirds of the city residents were forced out of their homes.  Many found the highest point on Waller Hill for safety.  Some of the schools were utilized as refugee housing.    This compiler’s paternal grandmother, Clara Page Geer Martin, who lived on Waller, helped the Red Cross, having set up their station in front of the Presbyterian Church.  She would continue to volunteer for the Red Cross during World War II.

People with second stories rushed to move belongings upstairs.  Katherine Marie Halderman Feyler and extended family were not exempt.  Her mother, Anna Katherine Gorath Halderman was 82, widowed, and lived next door on the corner of 9^th and Gay and needed to be prepared as well.  Katherine’s husband’s dental office was tucked between her parent’s home and 822 Gay Street where they lived. The dental equipment needed to be saved. It was a daunting task to get as much belongings as possible on the second floor from three structures.  Some items were too large and bulky to move.  They did not anticipate the rise to reach the second story. When the water crested it was lapping just about 3 inches from the ceiling.  This compiler remembers her grandparents re-papering the dining room and painting many times and could see the faint water line as it leached onto the new paper even into the 1960’s.   Water collected and remained in the houses even as the flood receded. 

I have mentioned before, my cherished bow front cabinet that was in the house during the flood (Family Heirlooms Have Value…10 October 2015). At some point they could hear clanking as the water stirred and rippled.  As the water level lowered, they discovered a large piece of wood was continually banging against the beautiful bow front cabinet sitting in the dining room.  They had been able to empty the cabinet but it was too large to take up the stairs.  Miraculously the fragile bowed glass was not even scratched. 

Katherine’s daughters, age 18 and 20 at the time, gave vivid accounts of the flood.    As the front door was pried open remaining water, along with pieces of wood washed out.  It was all that was left of Katherine’s baby grand piano. Dramatically she cried “I shall never play again.”  And she didn’t.  I never heard her talk about the flood, nor even knew of her musical background until she went to a nursing home in her twilight years.  She was always a soft-spoken gentle soul.

Kathrine Marie Halderman Feyler

At the age of 18, Katherine attended the Cincinnati College of Music. [i] Today it is the Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati.  By 1916 she is listed as a music teacher on Gay Street in Portsmouth, Ohio.  Daughter, Mary Helen said when her mother tried to teach her to play, she would cry and her mother finally gave up.  Katherine was in a nursing home, with Alzheimer’s disease, for several years prior to her death in August 1980.[ii]  We had gone to visit when the desk nurse said “I did not know your mother played the piano.” Startled my mother told her not since she was very young.  The nurse said Katherine had wandered into the common room, sat down and played a beautiful waltz.  They tried several times afterwards to get her to play without success. 

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[i] Portsmouth Daily Times. Social news’ 21 Dec. 1910

[ii] Ohio, Department of Health, Death Certificate Scioto County, Ohio (15 August 1980); Ohio Department of Health, Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio.

The Disappearance of William Graham

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2020

Bernice Graham, author of Graham Descendants of William and Dinah Wilson Graham, 1967 was the glue that kept Graham family members, far and wide, together.  The Graham descendants in Portsmouth, Ohio diligently filled out or wrote her yearly with  updates of family births, marriages and deaths.  Her book was published when I was a senior in high school.  On a hot summer day in the late 1980’s I paid her a visit in Marietta, Ohio.  Surrounded by stacks of newspapers, that she said she still must clip and file, we chatted about our family.  Close to 90 years of age, Bernice’s mind was bright and sharp. 

I asked who had supplied my birth information. She promptly said my grandmother.  She said my grandmother, Katherine Halderman Feyler,  would write her notes but my great aunt Eva Clayton Scott was more informative.  She also stated she had letters from my great grandmother Dessie Clayton Feyler.  Graham then directed me to go to the basement between isles, count two stacks then down three boxes and bring the box upstairs.  That box was just like Christmas morning.  Crammed full of letters from the descendants of George Graham son of William Graham.    There were several letters from my great grandmother Dessie Clayton Feyler from the 1920’s and 30’s.[i] Without hesitation she reached in and located the letter announcing my birth from my grandmother.  After getting permission to photostat some of the letters, I was prompted to take the box back to the basement and place it exactly as I had found it.

By the time of that visit, I had already worn the pages of my copy of her publication, the culmination of all those letters and questions, on the eleven children and descendants of William and Dinah Anne Wilson Graham.  As we walked to the library, that day, to make copies, I asked her if there was more to the story of the disappearance of William Graham.  She shook her head no and said that her 2^nd great grandmother, Dinah Wilson Graham, was said to have mourned and hoped he would return all the rest of her life.

The first part of her book reads more like a thought process, explaining why Bernice believed William was the son of Jared Graham.  She cites bible records and stories from various branches of the family as well as trips she and her brother, an avid McGrew researcher, made to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.  Sometimes she gave a proper deed citation and other times just descriptions. 

Over the years Graham researchers are still hoping, new technology and ease of retrieving original records, we will unravel the mystery of William Graham’s disappearance.

William Graham’s birth is given as 25 August 1793.  Bernice stated: "I have an old bible published in 1816 which William Graham wrote ...data for most of his family. His signature is also written beside the 19th chapter of Proverbs...given me a few years ago by Reba West Wilson a granddaughter of Rebecca Ross Graham."  In today’s analytical genealogy world we immediately would question if the birth date was primary (written by him from knowledge) or secondary evidence since the bible was not published until after his birth.

Bernice goes on to say that William was a farmer, storekeeper, teacher and hat maker making beaver hats especially.    In referencing William Graham as a teacher:  “ .. arithmetic book in possession of my grandfather Dickson Graham...copyright 1811...used by Wm Graham while teaching school at Youngstown, Pennsylvania...inscribed his signature...Youngstown...date Feb 19, 1814...possession of Thomas Dickson Graham of Clearwater Florida, my brother...”  William would be twenty years of age thus considered an adult able to teach.  Youngstown was developing and the first town lot was not recorded until November 1815.  Prior to that time it was often referenced as Martinsburg.  Youngstown is one of the oldest borough’s in Unity Township.

Graham mentions a deed in her book concerning Arthur O’hara, who married Sarah Jackson Graham, William’s widowed mother.   With FHL microfilm at our fingertips I located  an article of agreement 24 September 1792  between O’hara, now deceased, and Henry Furry both of Unity Township.  One of the witness’ is John Chambers.  The document was not filed until 25 May 1814, the year Bernice says the book shows William Graham as a teacher.  William Graham by oath, in 1814, says that he was well acquainted with John Chambers…resided near this deponent in the character of a schoolmaster for several years that the said John Chambers removed from this country about 12 years ago and now resides…Kentucky.[ii]  This document does not clearly state that William Graham is now, himself, a school teacher.  It does tell us that William Graham was likely schooled by John Chambers circa 1802, at about nine years of age, and resided in Unity Township. 

William married Dinah Anne Wilson 16 July 1816, we assume in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.  While not listed by name in the 1820 census, this compiler finds the “Widow Ohara” with the correct age for her along with the family of William and Dinah Wilson Graham.[iii]  William already has three children. The first daughter named Sarah, possibly after her grandmother, was born that year.

Arthur O'hara, who married Sarah Jackson Graham[iv] about 1806 died before the deed in 1814 and probate records continue thru August 1825.[v]  William Graham is cited in the partition docket. William Graham, appears in his own household in Unity Township in 1830.  By 1830 he and Dinah have nine children.

Bernice states in her publication: Some time in...& before the birth of ...youngest child, William...disappeared and was never heard from again by anyone in the family or area..”   Deborah was born 4 January 1832 and the last child Richard Wright Graham was born November 1833.

Eleven children in the household and father, William Graham disappears.  The last two children are thought to have been born in Sewickly Township, where Dinah’s father, William Wilson, resided.  It is assumed that Dinah is being helped by her father, William Wilson, until his death in June 1848.  But it was six long years before Dinah Anne Wilson Graham received three annual payments of $300.00 from her father’s will.  Eleven children being raised during the Panic of 1837 when unemployment was at it's lowest, money was devalued and banks were passing out bad loans. The recession lasted seven long  years.

Logically, Dinah would try to locate her husband. Scant newspaper scans have surfaced  for The Gazette and Farmers & Mechanic’s Register (1828-1833) or the Greensburg Gazette/Register.  This compiler has found no newspaper article, at this writing, concerning his disappearance.  Dinah Anne would need money to feed that many children.  Usually guardianships are appointed at the death of a father, even though the mother was living.  A guardian appointment was put in place to manage finances and the best interest of the child.  Orphans Court, for Westmoreland County, show no entry for any of the children. Often the sheriff and courts would intervene to aid those in need. There are no land holdings in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in William Graham’s name either.  This is a family without a breadwinner, the eldest son Wilson Graham being about 16 years old.  Bernice states that Wilson Graham felt a responsibility to help the family and family stated he rode a horse along the towpath of a canal in Pennsylvania to help make ends meet.  The Pennsylvania Canal System began in 1824 so fits nicely into the story of the family.

Bernice gave assumptions that Sarah Jackson Graham O’hara’s husband was a Jared Graham, father of William.  The trail Bernice provided was later proven by several researcher’s to be Jared Graham that married Jane Nyce and migrated to Pickaway County, Ohio.  This compiler feels there is possibly several contemporary Jared Graham’s that still need reviewed and unraveled.  There are several Scotch Irish Graham families in the vicinity.    DNA shows that this compiler does have low centimorgans to at least two issues of the Pickaway County Graham family.

Dinah Anne Wilson Graham migrated with her family to Wesley Township, Washington county, Ohio where she resided among her grown children and grandchildren.   She died in the home of grandson Thomas Graham in Bern Township, Athens County 14 March 1879 on a visit from neighboring Washington County.  Most documents call her “Ann Graham.”  She was never referenced as a widow in any documents reviewed by this writer.  Bernice Graham’s statement still holds true “William Graham disappeared.”

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[i] 1929, Aug 2 Dessie Feyler to Bernice Graham…”…impossible for us to attend reunion…returned home from Michigan yesterday and had a nice visit with Eva.. She and I filled out the form you sent…”

[ii] Pennsylvania, Westmoreland, Deeds, Volume 10, p 631, fhl microfilm 008036029, image 72.

[iii] 1820 Federal census, M33-112 Unity, Westmoreland, PA page 174

[iv] Sarah Jackson Graham O’Hara b. 1760 was contemporary to Richard Jackson b c. 1775 m. Jane Seaton resided in Westmoreland County. Jane Seaton Jackson’s brother George was a well known hatter.

[v] Pennsylvania, Westmoreland Registers and Orphan Ct Recod Index; O’Hara Arthur acct 1 OC 182 1819 , partition 5C PN 242 1825

THE CHRISTMAS CRY BABY

THE CHRISTMAS CRY BABY

By Teresa Martin Klaiber December 2019

Growing up, I quickly realized that each of my friends had traditions that differed from our own.  Some, with Christmas trees, would have stars topping their glory, others a pretty angel or ornate, fragile pointed glass topper.  My neighbors, the Steele’s, had pretty bubble lights that fascinated me. 

Dad and I always went to the same tree stand, as a father/daughter outing (13^th Street, Ashland, KY.  Still selling trees for various organizations nearly 70 years later) while mother got the ornaments out.    Our tree sat in the picture window when I was smaller, where one Christmas I had to wait fidgeting, knowing Santa had already come, for my father, who had been called out to deliver a calf.  When I was a bit older our tree was placed in a finished basement recreation room.  I remember that my mother insisted that each tinsel be hung “perfectly” and it was dad’s job to string the lights. I must admit most Christmas were not the norm in our household.  We often had circus performers who helped celebrate with us. 

[i]

One tradition was constant.  Once the presents were opened it was off from Ashland, Kentucky, following the Ohio River, to Portsmouth, Ohio to share a holiday dinner with grandparents.  My paternal grandmother Martin’s tree was always large and the house was full of cousins and laughter.  At times we played with the electric train that had been my dad and uncle’s when they were small.  We had already written Santa Claus at Thanksgiving, while at her house, sending it up the chimney on a puff of smoke, for Santa to catch (I will give my readers time to think then chuckle at that tradition). 

My maternal grandparent’s home, on Gay Street, was a bit more sedate. Their beautiful tree sat between the vestibule and living room.  Each tinsel individually hung carefully along with antique, German blown, ornaments.  Cranking my head, I would see it was topped, not with a star or angel, but a crying baby. I never once asked, as a child, why the baby was crying, nor, why they did not have a star on the top of the tree. 

The dining room on Gay Street was carefully set with starched white table cloth, napkins, polished silver and crystal goblets.  The table usually included Clayton and Graham cousins, including Lucille Graham, my first cousin 3 times removed.  She was a teacher and author who wrote poetry and would be asked to recite at least one during dinner.

On my last Christmas, as a single lady, my grandmother shared Christmas with us in Kentucky. She no longer was able to decorate as she had when raising her own family.  Shortly after the birth of my first son mother brought me a box.  When opened I was holding the crying baby.   Why was the baby crying?  Why did my grandparents have the baby on the tree?  Mother had no idea, only saying that the baby had been on a tree as long as she could remember.

Mother was born in 1921 in Portsmouth, Ohio.  Her older sister Betty was born in 1919 in Honolulu, where my grandfather was stationed at the time.  Betty told me that she had replaced the crepe paper gown and ribbon several times during holidays when she was growing up.  Betty also stated that somewhere in the back of her mind she thought the baby could be her father.  The baby had a tiny bit of real hair taped at the cap.

Howard Clayton Feyler was born 10 September 1893 in Portsmouth, Ohio.[ii]  He was the only child of Edward Leopold and Dessie Mae Clayton Feyler.  He started kindergarten when he was five and the same year according to a social article in the local paper had been seriously ill.  His father’s jewelry store, on 2^nd Street, ran ads by 1889 including photo supplies and cameras.[iii]  Utilizing many online photograph dating sites it is probable that the photo could fall into place in the same timeframe of Howard Feyler when an infant.  The earliest confirmed photograph I have of Howard, a toddler, was taken by A. Willis on 2^nd Street Portsmouth. One might ascertain that the baby’s hair is brown and the nose could be the same. Maybe.

Howard Clayton Feyler

My husband was transferred to New Jersey while our youngest son was still a baby.  I was already immersed in family history, traditions, and genealogy. With hubby’s blessing the then fragile crying baby graced our Christmas tree until 1980.

My youngest son was now five and the crying baby was at the very least, seventy or older and terribly fragile. If I placed the baby on the tree for another year, I feared it would fall apart.  The tiny hands were flexing, the tissue thin, tape brittle and yellowed, the ribbon faded.  With trepidation I left it with a professional framer who in turn did a wonderful job mounting and sealing it. 

I have seen one other picture of a baby tree topper sold on Etsy, described as one of a kind.  The baby also had a crepe paper skirt.[iv]  Once again I wonder who the baby is.

Our cry baby has travelled from my birth place of Portsmouth, Ohio up river to Ashland, Kentucky, to New Jersey, back to Ohio, and finally to eastern Kentucky.  I have never let go of it and while he cries, he warms my heart, not just at Christmas time but all year long, one of many treasures I cherish for the memories.

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[i] Christmas, Ashland, KY left to right , the compiler, Jimmy Lloyd, Victor Lewis and Coco the clown.

[ii] Portsmouth Daily Times, 16 Sep 1893

[iii] Porstmouth Daily Times, Oct 1889

[iv] https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwji7I_8k4jmAhWiJDQIHfZaC3IQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.etsy.com%2Flisting%2F722979145%2Fvictorian-baby-picture-jesus-tree-topper&psig=AOvVaw38VDqMinXAqCg2gYMCx29e&ust=1574867284531605