follow up on the recent Howard and Mamie Horn entry

Dad pointed out an error in my last blog, so I went back in and made the correction. It was based on a recollection I had. Just reminded me how memories can overlap and take on a life of their own. But one of my recollections that I have no doubt about concerns a footstool with what appeared to be wooden thread spools of various sizes embedded in its sides. I bring this up again, because as I was going through the half dozen photos placed in the Horn family Bible, I enhanced a very faded photo of a teenage boy who took a photo of himself by setting his camera on a box on top of a footstool on top of a table facing a wall mirror. I have included a cropped portion of that photo (which originally included the entire mirror and part of the room behind him) so you could get a better look at the boy and that footstool.

Yep. That's the footstool I remember. Question is, who is the boy? My guess is that it is Howard or one of his brothers. We probably will never know for sure, but this photo seems to indicate that this footstool had been in the Horn family for at least one generation before Howard and Mamie possessed it. Your thoughts?

Howard & Mamie (Roediger) Horn

Recently, one of my cousins informed me that he had a family Bible in his possession that I didn't even know existed. We had been talking of our family, and I mentioned that we knew little or nothing about our great uncle by marriage, Howard Horn. Even my father, who knew him well, said he never heard much about his family. He didn't even know who his parents were. My cousin then told me, "Oh, I have his family Bible, and I think there are some things about his family written in it. After getting a look at it I decided to provide some of the information that we found there. My grandfather, Alfred Tobias Roediger, was the youngest child in his family, and the only boy. His next oldest sibling was Mamie Ethel. She was born January 12, 1896 in Moulton Twp, Auglaize Co, OH and was eight years older than Alfred. She taught school and married Howard Rollo Horn June 16, 1923 in Wapakoneta, OH. She was 27 and he was 36, having been born August 10, 1887 in Kossuth, OH. Howard was a rural mail carrier before their marriage, and continued in that profession until his retirement. They never had children of their own. Their wedding announcement from the local Wapakoneta newspaper reads as follows:
"Marked with quiet simplicity was the marriage this morning of Miss Mamie Ethel Roediger, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Roediger, residing on route 2, to Mr. Howard Horn, of this city. The ceremony was performed at the parsonage of the Methodist Episcopal church, Rev. W. T. Williams officiating, reading the beautiful ring ceremony of the church at 10 o'clock. The bride wore a becoming tailored suit of blue with a hat of sand color.
Mrs. Horn is one of the county's most estimable young ladies. She has been a successful teachers in the schools of the country. She is cultured and refined and has a most personal charm. She is a devoted member of the M. E. church and is active in all its organizations. Mr. Horn is a young man of sterling worth. He is a graduate of Blume High school and for some time he has been a genial mail carrier out of this city. The legion of friends of Mr. and Mrs. Horn are extending their heartiest well wishes and congratulations. Following a motor trip to points in the south they will make their home on West Pearl street, this city."
As a personal aside, my father recalled that when he was a young boy, he and Howard were near the creek that ran behind Howard and Mamie's farmhouse. Dad was standing just behind Howard when Howard started to back up and stepped on my dad's foot which sank into the soft earth, which really didn't hurt, but which he couldn't pull loose. Howard didn't realize that he was standing on a small boy's foot. Howard often recalled in later years, and would remind my dad of the small plaintive voice behind him saying, "Uncle Howard, you are standing on my foot."
My recollections are somewhat less well defined, as we did not live close by and Howard died soon after I graduated from high school. But in their later years, mom and dad would stop to see them on Sunday afternoons. The Sunday paper had obviously been perused prior to our arrival, and Uncle Howard would make sure my sisters and I had the opportunity to read through the Sunday comic strips. I do not recall much about the furnishings in their house, but I was always facinated by a footstool that appeared to have wooden thread spools inbedded in its sides. My grandparents inherited it after Mamie's death. And one of my sisters got her fingers snapped in one of their mousetraps while playing on the floor. Howard was a large man—but not fat—and had a hearty laugh. Whoever wrote the wedding announcement very aptly described him as "genial." Mamie was also well described by the news writer as having "a most personal charm." I don't have any personal stories to tell about her but the feeling I have retained about her over the years is that she was kind and gentle, and got a twinkle in her eye whenever Howard would tell an amusing story or anecdote. The house they lived in for most of their married lives was a brick farmhouse that sits along old US 33 (Plank Rd.) just south-west of Wapak and can still be seen when passing by Wapakoneta on the 4-lane ("New" 33). A few years before his death, Howard and Mamie sold the farmhouse and moved into an apartment on Hamilton Rd., Wapakoneta. Howard died August 15, 1973 and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, Wapakoneta, OH. Three years later, Mamie died (December 16, 1976) and is buried beside her husband of over 50 years.
The plan is that I will follow up with the info gleaned from the F. M. Horn Family Bible and perhaps a few photos as well. Don't hold your breath though. I seem to always find new family research leads to distract me.