Where Did I Come From?

Does the story of my life begin the day I was born? Or does it begin the day my parents got married? Or the day they met? Or does it begin with my grandparents? Does it begin even farther back than that? The tale of a life can be quite fascinating, even if it is a very simple life, such as mine. So, I'll begin briefly with my heritage, and then weave more of the stories of my grandparents in as they lend themselves to the story at the time.

Melchior Detweiler arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 16, 1736, on the ship "Princess Augustus" by way of Cowes, England. Melchior was a native of the Palatinate, a province of France. He was the father of four sons: Christian, Jacob, John, and Rudolph. The family settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania, near the Blue Mountain. They lived in various counties in Pennsylvania for several generations.

Solomon Detweiler, Melchior's great, great, great, great grandson (ie sixth generation), was born March 24, 1851, in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. December 28, 1876, he married Salina Byler, daughter of Rudie Byler and Mary Hertzler, in Lawrence Coutny, PA. Several of his brothers moved west to Ohio where they settled with their families. At some point Solomon and Salina moved even farther west, settling first in Hutchinson, Kansas, then on to Thomas, Oklahoma.

A Xanga friend sent these pictures to me after reading of my heritage.  She lives in the area. 

Wasn't that sweet of her?

Benjamin Harrison Detweiler was born February 13, 1888, in Hutchinson, Kansas, to Solomon and Salina (Byler) Detweiler. He was the seventh of fourteen children. Solomon died when Ben was eleven years old. The story of Solomon's death is a sad and a tragic one. Solomon had a dispute with neighbor John Yutzy over the sale of hay. I don't have the details in my memory -- I should get Uncle Johnny to dictate them to me sometime. And Aunt Edna has newspaper reports of the incident of which I should obtain copies. But at any rate, the dispute became physical. They were in the barnyard fighting, John Yutzy picked up a pitchfork and actually pierced Solomon with it. The wound was treated, but became infected, and as a result, Solomon died some time later of blood poisoning. This made a great impression on young Ben, and to the day he died he held a grudge against anyone with the name "Yutzy." The irony of this is that if you go to the little cemetery beside the Upper Deer Creek Mennonite Church in Iowa County, Iowa, you will see the headstones marking the graves of Benjamin H. Detweiler and his spouse, Anna J. Detweiler ... beside the headstone of a couple with "Yutzy" as their surname!!! And further irony that one of his granddaughters (me!) actually married a Yutzy. Well, the Canadians preferred to keep the Swiss/German spelling of Jutzi, but the pronunciation is the same and they all came from the same four brothers who came to the States in the early 1800's.

Anna J. Miller was born May 25, 1893, in Hubbard, Oregon. I know nothing about her family; when did they move to Oregon? How long were they there? Where did she and Grandpa meet? All I know is that she and Grandpa were married January 30, 1913, in Weatherford, Oklahoma. Their first four children, Solomon, Martha, Irene, and LeRoy, were born in Weatherford (Custer County). Their fifth child, third son, Raymond, was born in Keota, Iowa (Washington County). Their remaining 8 children were born in the Wellman/Kalona, Iowa, area. There is some dispute as to whether the section of Wellman they were in was in Johnson County or Washington County. I have tried to determine that from the internet, but Wellman is listed in both counties.

Ben and Anna raised 13 children to maturity. I don't know that Grandma had any miscarriages, but if she didn't I think that's quite unusual. My Dad told me that after Aunt Martha was born the doctor told Grandma she should have a hysterectomy, but she didn't pay any attention to him and had eleven more babies! After they moved to Wellman, they spent the rest of their lives in the Wellman area. The house I remember was on the outer edge of Wellman, across the road from the Wellman Mennonite Church, which they did not attend. They had been reared as Amish, so when they left the Amish church they found the conservative Upper Deer Creek Church more appealing than the more liberal "Old Mennonite" church.

Celebrating 50 Years Together

January 30, 1913 - 1963 

Grandpa was a farmer and the four boys learned to farm as well. The only two of the four who continued in farming were the first and second sons, Sollie and LeRoy, although Raymond (my dad) settled in the country on 7 acres of land, which allowed the opportunity of having assorted farm animals and large gardens. I will probably discuss various members of the Detweiler family in later pages, but I think this is enough for now.

KNITTING AND STITCHING

A year or two ago a number of ladies at church had expressed a desire to learn to knit, so my sister Jo Ann and the other Juanita in our small group agreed to be the instructors in this venture. Both are skilled at knitting, crocheting, sewing, etc., etc. (Jo Ann has done tatting, quilling, macrame, and other interesting projects over the years. I have a lovely quilled piece in a frame she made for me about 35 years ago.) I can both knit and crochet, so I wasn't planning to join the group, but Jo Ann insisted I could help ladies figure out a pattern, figure out where they might be doing something incorrectly, etc. So I joined them for a while. Then things came up and I wasn't going much any more. Well, about 8 weeks ago one of the ladies in the group, Penny, suggested it might be fun to do a group project. So it was agreed that everyone who felt comfortable with the skills they've learned or perfected would knit a 12" square, then the squares would be joined together to create an afghan which they would present to one of the older ladies in the church for her 79th birthday. Betty quilts, but she doesn't go out much at nights, and she wasn't interested in learning to knit, so she has never joined the group.

Jo Ann had a book that was perfect for the project -- it was a book of 52 knitted sampler squares for the express purpose of making an afghan. Jo Ann and Juanita both suggested I join them in the project. Each of us chose a square we felt comfortable doing -- some squares involved cabling, others involved some tricky stitches. Several girls feel more comfortable crocheting, so they were encouraged to find a pattern that coordinated with the knitted patterns. We had a lot of fun working on these. Two ladies ended up choosing the same pattern, so we had to put them in opposite ends of the afghan.

Several weeks ago half a dozen or so of us got together and determined where each square should be placed, then we began stitching squares together. After that was finished, Juanita G. took the still unfinished afghan home with her and corrected a few mistakes that were visible, and made sure all the squares were securely together. Then she gave it to Jo Ann who crocheted a lovely edge on it. The end result was quite lovely! I didn't get a final picture of the finished piece on its own, but I think you'll get the "picture"!

Determining the placement of the squares was like putting a puzzle together!!

I made the one with the zig-zag stitches running down the center - it's the one in the lower left, second one from the right. Jo Ann's daughter-in-law Jessica crocheted the one above it -- the one with a circle in the middle. I also made the one in the top left of the afghan (the one to the left of the ball of yarn) but I didn't get a good picture of it. It was called Shadowed Cable.

Beginning to stitch squares together. Left to right, Gloria, Patsy, and Carolyn.

Here Carolyn and Juanita G. work at stitching together while Hampton and Penny look on.

Two squares left to put together.

Two weeks ago we invited Betty to join us at our Thursday evening knitting to see some of the projects we've been working on. Carolyn had brought a couple coverlet quilts she's been working on for some time, knowing Betty would enjoy seeing them. Then we presented the afghan to Betty. Her birthday is this Tuesday, and it's her 79th, not 80th, so she definitely wasn't expecting anything. 
 

Betty talking about something.

After we presented the gift to her.

She admired the flower decorations Juanita G. had knitted for a topper for the package.

And she began to open the package.

And then she ooohed and aaahed over the afghan!

Carolyn held it up and pointed out various blocks.  It was the first time most of us had seen the finished product, so we were as excited with it as Betty was!

Jo Ann (in the center) explained who had made each block (I'm going to make a graph for Betty so she'll be able to know who made which ones.)

This shot shows the crocheted border.

Then Susan presented Betty with a birthday cupcake and candle. It was at this point that Betty's eyes welled with tears.

Carolyn demonstrated how the knitted flower would make a lovely boutonniere!!

And those are our most recent activities! We are well into spring -- I saw the first open redbud tree yesterday, and took a picture of dogwood beginning to open last week. Bradford Pears are beginning to finish their blooming and the white cherry blossoms have begun to turn pink, so they are on the wane as well.  Yards were mowed yesterday for the first time this season. We've had lots of good rains, so the water table is almost back to normal.

Dogwood blossoms beginning to open.

I'm not sure what this is -- perhaps a red maple?

The trees in the back are cherry trees in full bloom.  The one in the front has its florets open (I'm not sure what kind it is), the ones in the middle haven't begun to open yet.

This is a dogwood with its buds just beginning to open -- its in front of two cherry trees in full bloom.  These were taken at the Kings Charter Manor House where our offices are located.

Shalom, ya'll!