Notes for Elizabeth Mendenhall

Notes for Elizabeth Mendenhall

Obituary in the South Bend Tribune, Saturday Evening, October 17, 1942:
Mrs. Elizabeth B. Meyers

Mrs. Elizabeth Brown Meyers, aged 76, formerly of South Bend, died Friday in Parkview Hospital, Plymouth, Indiana. She was born June 17, 1866, in St. Joseph County and lived in South Bend until 13 years ago when she moved to Plymouth. Surviving are two dauthers, Mrs. I.R. Austin of South Bend, and Mrs. K.O. Shelle, of Mishawaka; tow sons, Louis C. and D.R. Brown, both of South Bend, 11 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and a sister, Mrs. J.C. Lolmaugh, of Plymouth. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Monday in the Danielson Funeral home in Plymouth. Burial will be in Highalnd Cemetery here.

From the family notes of Kurt Otto Schelle, Jr.:

Elizabeth was born on a farm in Huntington County, Indiana. When she was about 4 years old her famly moved to a farm just outside the village of Penn in Cass County, Michigan. The farm bordered (may have included) on a small lake. Their house and banr, etc. were on top of a small hil and the land sloped down to the lake. A great place for a youngster to grow up...fishing, ice skating, horse back riding, etc. In fact, the worst beating (spanking) she ever received came when her father caught her riding one of the horses bare back standing up. He judged she was guilty of cruelty to a dumb animal. I don't know what he considered the beating to be.

She bore 10 children of which only five survived longer that two years. She was reared in the Dunkerd Brethren Church but as an adult she joined the Methodist Church.

We, her grandchildren, never called her Grandmother or Grandma...we called her Ma (pronounce MAW). Apparently she and Grandfather were addressed as "Ma" and "Pa" by their children. Somehow it carried over to us.

She was a strong woman who was generally kind, gentle, considerate, loving, and very loyal to her family but when aroused she would beocome quite formidable. For example the story is told about how, when she was frying potatoes in a cast iron skillet, Grandfather came in from work and decided to sneak up behind her and scare her. Her reaction was quick and decisive. She wheeled around fromt he stove with the skillet in her hand and flattened him with it. There he was flat o the floor with frying potatoes all around and Grandmother standing over him, skillet in hand, saying "Don't you ever sneak up on me like that again"...he didn't! I am told she was slow to anger but when she was younger it was not wise to push her too far.

When her oldest son Clarence and his wife had their first child, Lillian, her daughter-in-law felt she was too young and inexperienced for the responsibility of caring for a baby. So, Grandmother took Lillian and the responsibility for her. When a second baby was born her daughter-in-law thought it might be a good idea to swap - Grandmother to take the new baby, Clarence (Buster) and she would take Lillian back. This proposal did not sell. So, Lillian was reared apart from her siblings by Ma and after Grandfather died my parents helped and Lillian lived with us part of the time.

After Grandfather's death in 1919 Ma had difficulty keeping her home on Bissell Street, on the east side of South Bend. My folks gave up there home, which they were renting, and moved in with Grandmother. This solved the economic problem - at least for the short term. Ma was an independent perosn and wanted to support herself and Lillian. So, she found a job in the laundry at Epworth Memorial Hospital. Things were reasonably well for her until she sustained an eye injury that rapidly develope into cataracts. The injury occurred on an open air streetcar when a man, sitting in front of her, flipped his cigarette out of the streetcar and the wind blew some sparks into her eye. About this time (1922-23) she also suffered a severe hearing loss. The result was she had to give up her job and become dependent on her children for support (this turned out to be her two daughters and their husbands).

At some point early in this period her youngest son, Russell, remarried (his first wife died) and was having difficulty "making ends meet". So they moved in with the rest of us. The small house was horribly overcrowded. After their first child was born the situation was hopeless. Uncle Russell said he would be glad to take over responsibility for the house and Ma's care. So, Mom and Dad bought a new home in a new develpment in the River Park section of South Bend and move us, leaving Ma with Russell, Bertha (his wife), and Russell Jr.

Ma should have known this arrangement would never work. Sure enought, after a short thime her home was lost and she was living with us part of the time and with Aunt Bess and Uncle Irvin the rest of the time. Lillian lived with us until she married Fred Kunde. Russell and his family were drifting from place to place. Supported by occasional odd jobs, handouts from his or Bertha's family.

As Ma became blind and deaf she also became completely dependent on her daughters. Fore example when she took Ma to visit, picnic, etc. it was my job to be her eyes and ears. She would put her hand on my arm and I would lead her and keep her from hurting herself. She trusted me completely. When I was about 10 years old we were trying to cross Michigan Blvd in downtown Chicago on a Sunday afternoon when Mom, Aunt Bess, and Don made it across before the light changed but I amd Ma got as far as the bus island in the center of the street. I was going to wait for the light to change but one of "Chicago's finest" sized up the situation quickly and stopped the traffic and came out and led us across the street to safety. Like Dad always said "A policeman is your friend."

During the time we lived on Bissell Street, Lillian eloped and married Chris (Bud) Lolmaugh, Jr. Bud was the oldest stepson of Grandmother's Younger sister, Anna, who had converted to Catholicism prior to marrying Chris Lolmaugh, Sr. The sister had sort of reconciled their differences over religion and operated on sort of an armed truce with each other. However, when Lillian married into that Catholic family neither sister was pleased and little as I was it seemed to me the roof was coming off the little house on Bissell Street. It was the only time I ever saw Grandmother lose complete control of herself. The marriage was doomed from the start and lasted a very short time and produced no children.

In the late 1920's Mom and Aunt Bess heard of an eye doctor in Niles, Michigan (about 10 miles north of South Bend) who claimed he could cure cataracts with Medication, without the need for surgery. Mom took Ma to Dr. Bonnie for this specialized treatment, once a week until it became obvious it wasn't going to work. Finally, they took Grandmother to a young eye surgeon (Dr. Cassidy-later perfected a technique for correcting detached retinas) in South Bend and he operated on one of her eyes to remove the cataract. In those days that particular surgery had to be performed with out the benefit of anesthesia. After the surgery her eyes were bandaged, the room was darkened, and she had to lay flat on her back, with a sandbag on each side of her head so she could move it. I've forgotten how long this went on but it was more than a day. The surgery was sucessful and she regained good vision in that eye. However, the ordeal was such that she was happy to settle for vision in one eye and would never go back for surgery on her other eye.

Her restored vision plus her hearing aid gave Grandmother a new lease on life. Her sister, Anna, lived in Plymouth, Indiana and learned of a local widower who was looking for a housekeeper. Aunt Bess and Uncle Irvin took Grandmother down to Plymouth for an interview and she accepted the job. At long last she was self supporting again. It meant a great deal to her and much of the old Elizabeth resurfaced.

Her new employer was Charles Myers. He lived on North Clark Street in Plymouth, Indiana. The property included the house, chicken coop, etc. Fronted on the street and the one side bordered the Yellow River. In additon he had acreage a few blocks away at the edge of town, which he farmed primarily to grow feed for the horses he used in his gravel and landscaping business. He also kept a very large garden. The gravel he sold was taken from a pit which he owned. He was 9 years older than Grandmother, which made him the same age as Grandfather Brown. Grandmother and Charles Myers got along very well and married. This proved to be good for both of them. Apparently his first marriage was a bit stormy. He was so satisfied with his second marriage that he proposed to Grandmother that they should be buried together rather than with their first spouses. This idea didn't sit well.

Usually on Thanksgiving, we all (our family, Aunt Bess, and Uncle Irvin) went to Plymouth and Granmother's for dinner. She was an excellent cook. Her pies were superb, and she did it alll on onld hand fired kitchen range - no thermostat and nothing automatic. The meal and especially her pies drew such praise from Dad and Uncle Irvin that they both were in trouble with Mom and Aunt Bess on the way home. They never learned...it happened every year. As good as they were and they were very good, Grandmother really was a better cook than her daughters.

We were all pleased that Ma was self suficient again and leading a normal life. These few years were happy ones for her. It was a shame that they couldn't have lasted longer.

A big old cat had adopted Grandmother, so she had some companionship when no one else was around.
We took turns visiting her to see if everything was all right plus a neighbor kept an eye on her and called aunt bess if there was a problem. The cat was friendly only with Grandmother. He seemed to sense she was deaf. So, when he wanted to go out he would hit the bottom of her dress with his paw until he got her attention. When she looked down the cat owuld look like he was crying his head off but there wouldn't be a sound coming out of him. She would let him out and when he wanted back in he would jump against the door and she could feel the vibration and would let him in.

In June of 1942 I was drafted into the army. So Mary and I went down to Plymouth to see her and say goodbye. She was working in her garden when we got there. I was the first grandson to go in the service and it upset her. She cried and said "These old eyes will never see you again". I tried to cheer her up and made light of her fears but she didn't cheer up that much. We went into the house and believe it or not this old teetotaler brought out a small bottle of homemade wine and we had a drink together (small one that is). This was the last time I ever saw her.

She was 76 years old, lonely, her health not the best, was born right after the civil war, had lived through two wars (Spanish-American and WWI), upset about her grandsons and WWII, had been told the coming winter would be the last she would be permitted to live alone, and she just decided enough was enought and didn't want to live through another war. In short, the fire was out and she had ost her fight and desire to live.

In October I received a rare letter from my Dad telling me my Grandmother was in the hospital in Plymouth and he was worried about her. I was in basic training at Camp Joseph P. Robinson at Little Rock, Arkansas. A few days later I received a letter from Mom telling me Ma had died. The first sergeant noticed I was upset and asked what was wrong. I told him my Grandmother had died. he asked if I needed a furlough. I replied, "It won't help much. She is being buried in two hours". That moment I felt completely alone.

When you consider her background, education, period in which she lived, etc., Elizabeth Mendenhall Brown Myers was an unusual person. She is buried beside Lewis Caswell Brown in Highland Cemetery in South Bend, Indiana.