Their Entitlement To America, Part One
"Their Entitlement To America," Part One, "The Mighty Ohio"
When I was a kid in the 1950s and 1960s, our part of town was something of a mixture of many people. Later, when I was in my 20s, I started research into our family tree, called genealogy, for those unaware. By looking over old records and talking to “old timers,” I learned some bits and pieces about the history of where I grew up. Even before the Civil War many German immigrants were settling in the area I would later call home. There were also a number of people of Scots-Irish descent,* many whose ancestors had come to America well before the Civil War era.
The neighborhood was a narrow band of streets and alleys squeezed into a valley between the Ohio River on the west and some low hills to the east (actually the lower part of the Appalachian Mountains). I don’t know, I’m not all that great at judging distance, but I can’t be far off in saying that from the riverbank of the Ohio to the hillside was only about a half mile or so, although, especially by the time I was running around as a kid, in certain areas, civilization had actually crept up the extreme lower part of the hillside, as homes had been built there, and they were all newer. Over time, a lot of people in the area opened or took over existing shops and other businesses in the area, and they lived there, too; after all, in those times, you just didn’t go out to your driveway or garage, hop in your car, and drive off to go open your business for the day. By the latter part of the 1800s, there were some very ornate homes in the area, and I suppose many of these shopkeepers had had them built. There was a major problem, however, and that was the Ohio River. It would flood many parts of the neighborhood, especially in early spring, when the ice and snow would melt and run off further up river. Back then there were no dams to try to control the water level of the river, and so folks had to either leave their homes, or take the chance of going to upper floors. Many home builders had tried to get around some of the flooding problem by building the main living quarters of their homes well above ground level. Of course, this meant some fairly long stairways were necessary to get into these houses.
Not all parts of our neighborhood were equal for the flooding, as the rise and fall of the land usually kept some from the muddy swirling waters of the Ohio River, unless it was a really bad flood, but we lived in one of the lowest lying areas. One time, I’ll guess in the early spring of 1956, my mother and I were still in the house as the waters filled the basement and surrounded the house. I don’t know why my mother and I were still there that day, but perhaps because the news reported that the river was expected to crest soon, but then that didn’t happen. When floods were expected, my dad and others in the neighborhood would park their cars on higher ground a few blocks away near the hillside, where the street was fairly wide and bounded by a junkyard on one side and the hillside on the other, although part of the hillside there was occupied by an electrical “park.” I don’t know the proper word for them, but all of you know about them. They have lots of large metal towers with wires and transformers, and the unceasing “buzzing” sounds like a bunch of beehives are there. My dad always owned a Buick back in those days. It’s been so long ago, I can’t remember everything, but my dad may well have arranged for someone with a boat to pick him up and take him to dry land that morning, and he then walked to his car and went to work. My older brother…hmm, where the hell did he go? He wasn’t there, I know that. The deserter! He may have gone to my maternal grandparents’ house, which tended to remain out of the flooding. The house was absolutely freezing, as the furnace was in the basement and it always flooded there (see further below about the heating.) My dad hired a guy with a rowboat and they came and got us out.
When I was a kid, most people in the neighborhood heated their homes with large coal burning furnaces, although some homes (and businesses) still had the old potbelly stove within the living quarters to keep them warm through bitter cold winter weather. This situation also posed a problem (seems there’s always some darned problem, no matter what we humans do), as once the fire burned down, someone had to go and throw some coal into the stove, or worse, if you had a coal furnace, someone had to go clear to the basement to shovel in some coal. And of course, you had better have had the coal truck stop by recently to keep you supplied with the solid black fuel, or… well, you wouldn’t want to have to use the toilet anytime soon. Gradually over time, some people got small natural gas heaters installed in certain rooms of their homes to supplement the furnaces or potbelly stoves. The other problem with coal furnaces and stoves was….SOOT!!! My mother was a fanatic housekeeper, but even she couldn’t keep up with it. At times, within hours of her having cleaned the house, you could write your name on the mantel in the newly deposited soot. And for those who tried to keep their cars clean, they were fighting a losing battle, as naturally the problem was much worse outside, as you could “see the air,” or so it seemed. Then too, it wasn’t any good for your health breathing in all that stuff. (Pardon me while I clear my throat.) I’ve often wondered if all that foul air from those days has been wreaking havoc with my respiratory system ever since. (A word history is below the note)
*Scots-Irish tends to be more of an American term for people of Scottish descent from Northern Ireland. That area is known as Ulster, and the people there of Scottish descent call themselves “Ulster Scots,” rather than our term “Scots-Irish,” or the more corrupted form, “Scotch-Irish.” Remember, “Scotch” is a type of whiskey. (Hiccup!!!…Ah, ’scuse me!)
WORD HISTORY:
Soot-This word simply refers to smokey particles that "sit" or "settle" on something. It goes back to the Indo European root "sod/sed," which meant "sit," and which gave Indo European "sodo," which meant "soot." The Old Germanic offshoot was "sotam," with the same meaning, and this gave Old English "sot;" the "o" had a long sound. It wasn't until sometime during the Middle English era, (about 1066 A.D.-until around 1500) that the softer "o" sound developed into the double "o." German, a very close relative of English, has "Sott," and Swedish, another close relative, has "sot."
When I was a kid in the 1950s and 1960s, our part of town was something of a mixture of many people. Later, when I was in my 20s, I started research into our family tree, called genealogy, for those unaware. By looking over old records and talking to “old timers,” I learned some bits and pieces about the history of where I grew up. Even before the Civil War many German immigrants were settling in the area I would later call home. There were also a number of people of Scots-Irish descent,* many whose ancestors had come to America well before the Civil War era.
The neighborhood was a narrow band of streets and alleys squeezed into a valley between the Ohio River on the west and some low hills to the east (actually the lower part of the Appalachian Mountains). I don’t know, I’m not all that great at judging distance, but I can’t be far off in saying that from the riverbank of the Ohio to the hillside was only about a half mile or so, although, especially by the time I was running around as a kid, in certain areas, civilization had actually crept up the extreme lower part of the hillside, as homes had been built there, and they were all newer. Over time, a lot of people in the area opened or took over existing shops and other businesses in the area, and they lived there, too; after all, in those times, you just didn’t go out to your driveway or garage, hop in your car, and drive off to go open your business for the day. By the latter part of the 1800s, there were some very ornate homes in the area, and I suppose many of these shopkeepers had had them built. There was a major problem, however, and that was the Ohio River. It would flood many parts of the neighborhood, especially in early spring, when the ice and snow would melt and run off further up river. Back then there were no dams to try to control the water level of the river, and so folks had to either leave their homes, or take the chance of going to upper floors. Many home builders had tried to get around some of the flooding problem by building the main living quarters of their homes well above ground level. Of course, this meant some fairly long stairways were necessary to get into these houses.
Not all parts of our neighborhood were equal for the flooding, as the rise and fall of the land usually kept some from the muddy swirling waters of the Ohio River, unless it was a really bad flood, but we lived in one of the lowest lying areas. One time, I’ll guess in the early spring of 1956, my mother and I were still in the house as the waters filled the basement and surrounded the house. I don’t know why my mother and I were still there that day, but perhaps because the news reported that the river was expected to crest soon, but then that didn’t happen. When floods were expected, my dad and others in the neighborhood would park their cars on higher ground a few blocks away near the hillside, where the street was fairly wide and bounded by a junkyard on one side and the hillside on the other, although part of the hillside there was occupied by an electrical “park.” I don’t know the proper word for them, but all of you know about them. They have lots of large metal towers with wires and transformers, and the unceasing “buzzing” sounds like a bunch of beehives are there. My dad always owned a Buick back in those days. It’s been so long ago, I can’t remember everything, but my dad may well have arranged for someone with a boat to pick him up and take him to dry land that morning, and he then walked to his car and went to work. My older brother…hmm, where the hell did he go? He wasn’t there, I know that. The deserter! He may have gone to my maternal grandparents’ house, which tended to remain out of the flooding. The house was absolutely freezing, as the furnace was in the basement and it always flooded there (see further below about the heating.) My dad hired a guy with a rowboat and they came and got us out.
When I was a kid, most people in the neighborhood heated their homes with large coal burning furnaces, although some homes (and businesses) still had the old potbelly stove within the living quarters to keep them warm through bitter cold winter weather. This situation also posed a problem (seems there’s always some darned problem, no matter what we humans do), as once the fire burned down, someone had to go and throw some coal into the stove, or worse, if you had a coal furnace, someone had to go clear to the basement to shovel in some coal. And of course, you had better have had the coal truck stop by recently to keep you supplied with the solid black fuel, or… well, you wouldn’t want to have to use the toilet anytime soon. Gradually over time, some people got small natural gas heaters installed in certain rooms of their homes to supplement the furnaces or potbelly stoves. The other problem with coal furnaces and stoves was….SOOT!!! My mother was a fanatic housekeeper, but even she couldn’t keep up with it. At times, within hours of her having cleaned the house, you could write your name on the mantel in the newly deposited soot. And for those who tried to keep their cars clean, they were fighting a losing battle, as naturally the problem was much worse outside, as you could “see the air,” or so it seemed. Then too, it wasn’t any good for your health breathing in all that stuff. (Pardon me while I clear my throat.) I’ve often wondered if all that foul air from those days has been wreaking havoc with my respiratory system ever since. (A word history is below the note)
*Scots-Irish tends to be more of an American term for people of Scottish descent from Northern Ireland. That area is known as Ulster, and the people there of Scottish descent call themselves “Ulster Scots,” rather than our term “Scots-Irish,” or the more corrupted form, “Scotch-Irish.” Remember, “Scotch” is a type of whiskey. (Hiccup!!!…Ah, ’scuse me!)
WORD HISTORY:
Soot-This word simply refers to smokey particles that "sit" or "settle" on something. It goes back to the Indo European root "sod/sed," which meant "sit," and which gave Indo European "sodo," which meant "soot." The Old Germanic offshoot was "sotam," with the same meaning, and this gave Old English "sot;" the "o" had a long sound. It wasn't until sometime during the Middle English era, (about 1066 A.D.-until around 1500) that the softer "o" sound developed into the double "o." German, a very close relative of English, has "Sott," and Swedish, another close relative, has "sot."
Labels: English, etymology, Germanic languages, Germans in America, Ohio Valley, personal story
posted by Randy at 12:54 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home