The Householder Roots of the Family Tree, con't.

Interviews with daughters of Mary Alice Householder Elliott [daughter of Albert and Mary Elizabeth]:

Ethel: Ethel remembers going to her grandmother Householder's [Mary Elizabeth] house for a couple of weeks during the summers and helping her quilt. She marvels at how hard Mary E. worked. She had a big quilting frame and made piles and piles of quilts. And she had a large loom on which she made carpet and sold it by the yard.¹⁷ Ethel also has fond memories of her Grandma taking her down to Rock Springs Park in Chester to walk around and see all the beautiful flowers. She would tell Ethel the names of all the different kinds. She knew a lot about them because she loved flowers and plants of all kinds.

She remembers her grandfather, Albert, never had much to say. He was a quiet man.

Opal: "…she [Grandmother] was always dressed in black. My grandfather didn't allow her to wear bright colors. And she loved bright colors. And once in a while she could get a piece of [Pause] striped silk. What do they call it? Roman stripe silk–or somethin'–and make herself a real pretty blouse. But she had a black skirt–she always wore a black skirt. Once in a while she could have herself a little colored blouse. I don't know if she changed it on the way or left the house with it. But he didn't allow her to wear any colors. But the big thing about Grandma coming to visit was us watching her. She was pretty slick. She, rubbed snuff. And, she had these fancy little snuff boxes. And us kids useta stand around the corner and kinda watch for her and catch her when she was gonna rub snuff. We wanted to see what it was like."

Four Generations:

Standing: Aurelia Elliott, Emery Garlock, Maurice Garlock (in arms) Doris Elliott Garlock, Opal Elliott, Bertie May Tilly Elliott, Albert Elliott, Mary Alice Householder Elliot, Hazel Elliott.

Seated: Mary Elizabeth Elliott Householder

c 1928

Opal says that her grandfather [Albert Householder] never came to see the Howard Elliotts in Hammondsville. He let Grandma come but he wouldn't come himself. [Albert didn't like Howard.] She remembers her mother [Mary Alice] taking her over to Chester to see him one time. Apparently she had not seen him enough to recognize him, because when a tall man with a long beard came through the back door carrying a quart of milk, she asked her mother, "Is that the milkman"? Mary Alice said, "Sh-h, that's your Grandfather." She remembers him sitting in his rocker, just rocking away and stroking his long beard. She said her mother told her he had stomach trouble because of being in the Civil War.

I [Janice] remember my Grandma Elliott [Mary Alice] telling me that she thought maybe I got my artistic talent from her mother, Mary Elizabeth. She remembers her making quilting patterns by putting a piece of paper over the lace curtains while they were hanging at the windows. She would then use the light to trace the lace design for a pattern for her quilting.

Mom [Doris] remembers Uncle Callie [Calvin] Householder coming to the house to visit on payday. He always brought her a little bag of hard candy when he paid his bill at the grocery store in Irondale. Calvin never wore any color, he always wore loose black pants and black shirt. He would walk from Cream City to Irondale in his bare feet carrying his shoes tied together and hanging over his shoulder. As he neared Irondale he would sit down and put them on. Mom also remembers he would ask her mother if she had any clabbered milk and would sit down and eat it. She thought that was disgusting. Her mother told her Uncle Callie had a bad stomach from being in the Civil War.

This information was compiled over a period of several years. I researched the U. S. Census records; records in Jefferson County and adjacent counties in Ohio, the Ohio Valley newspapers on microfilm, and interviewed Mom [Doris], Aunt Ethel, and Aunt Opal [Rosie]. I also corresponded with Vera Frampton [from Hammondsville, Ohio] and Dorothy Call Scott [Indiana] who was Mom’s childhood friend. I also gleaned what information I could from my brothers and sisters.

Along the way I have met other Householder researchers: James Elliott of San Antonio, TX and Jeffrey Householder of Edgewater, FL. Some of their material is included in this narrative. Material from Householder researchers Sally Schiraldi of Worthington, Ohio and a couple of Jefferson County e-mail correspondents has also been incorporated. I am grateful for all contributions.