Recollections of Grandma Loretta Ebinger Billiard Miller 1982

RECOLLECTIONS OF HER CHILDHOOD told by Loretta Ebinger Billiard Miller to Larry Lepard at Hillside Acres Nursing Home, Willard, Ohio, about 1982.

When Grandma Miller was a girl, her father bought her a large organ with a mirror on it so that she could play church music at home. She never learned to read a note of music but she could play very well by ear.

Evening prayers were read from a large German prayer book containing morning and evening prayers in German for every day of the year. On the flyleaf is written "Wilhelm Johann Ebinger" and on the next page is written "William John Ebinger". (Larry's note: My mother Dorothy has this book.)

As a girl Grandma Miller had straight blond hair. She went through the eighth grade at New Haven School, where she especially liked history and geography. She quit school to work for the Bachrach family, where she sewed and baked. She taught Mrs. Bachrach to bake pies. She had a picture taken in the suit and hat that she bought with her first wages. (Larry's note: I have this picture. See above.)

(Larry's note: The Bachrachs were big-time cattle dealers and were Jewish -- very unusual for this area. The business still continues. Mrs. Bachrach had come to the house one day and said, "Your daughters have worked for me and have been very good workers. If I'm not mistaken, I think your youngest daughter is old enough to go to work." So the next day Grandma's parents had her quit school and move in with the Bachrachs, just north of Plymouth, about 4 miles from her home. Grandma worked as a maid/nanny at two other locations, also on Route 61 near her home. I once worked on a history project with an elderly lady who remembered Grandma as her live-in maid/nanny.)

The Ebinger family had a large orchard. They grew peaches and Grimes Golden and red delicious apples. They kept apples in the cellar, and every night it was Grandma's job to get apples for the entire family to eat. Great-grandfather Ebinger always kept a "fresh" orchard, planting young trees to replace the older ones. He "witched" the best locations for new trees with a divining rod made of a peach branch. This method of planting trees was common in Germany.

The language spoken in the home was German. When Marie went to school, she spoke German to the teacher, having no idea that school would not be taught in German. The teacher did not understand a word of German. In her later years Grandma said that she could not recall a single word of German except "Kartoffel" (potato).

Confirmation clases were held in their home one night each week, with the pastor coming for supper before conducting class. The four girls in their family made up the church's entire confirmation class. (German Lutheran church in Willard, where there was also an English Lutheran church)

In a letter to Larry dated "Last day July 73 11/30 PM," Grandma Miller wrote the following. I have copied it exactly as she wrote it:

. . . the eve of our Confirmation of Oct.31-1909 is something I'll never forget it was beautiful I was 13 Marie was 14 Months older and Minnie & Carrie much older
We were all dressed in white Mrs. Weaver our neighbor then made all 4 dresses being a dress maker.
Our Dad drove the surry with fringe on top and our Mom drove the horse and buggy to the little white church in Willard, which was then called Chicago Junction, O. and that little white church is still there on the Corner real close to the Ieeal Laundry don’t remember the streets but it is still in use for different doings. I was born on Kautz St. 2 story house when my folks came from Wittenburg don’t remember how many years we lived there but later the folks bought our Farm in New Haven over 110 acres and in later years they worked a couple fields of Winn Head's land so that was lots of farming

(Larry's note: The old church is on East Pearl and Woodbine Streets. It is now a martial arts studio. Kautz Street is now Maplewood Avenue. The house was the second house from the north end, on the west side. It has been replaced. A picture of the family standing in front of the house is in the book Picturesque Huron, published about 1890 and reprinted in the 1980's. They lived for one year on Bull Head Road, NW of the corner of Paul Road. That is where Grandma was born. She grew up on Klein Road off Route 61. Klein Road is a very short road that ends in their driveway. The house is still there, NE of New Haven.)