Because I'm a Bookworm...

Some of you may remember the time when Grandpa Elling would stay with some of his children and families for a month or so and then move on to the next. It was after Aunt Kate had died and his house was sold. One summer he stayed with our family for awhile when I was home from college and working a second shift job at a factory in Napoleon. I would get up late and eat lunch with him almost daily.

One morning I came into the living room after getting up and he said to me something like, "Since you're the bookworm, I've got something for you." Beside his chair was a small box of books. Inside was a book on World War I that I still have and a couple of McGuffey's school books. Both school books had belonged to Grandma Elling and had her signature inside.

In the photo above, one can see that she practiced writing her name over and over in the spelling book. The second book was McGuffey's Second Reader and this flyleaf also sports the names of Paul Elling, Malinta, Ohio and Louise Elling, Napoleon, Ohio. Ida Anna Katharine Spoering Elling was born on 5 February 1890, so these books were probably used before 1900. I wonder if a little girl who probably spoke German exclusively at home found these books challenging.

As a very young adult, I probably didn't appreciate these books as much as I should have, but now I surely do.

 

*This is a reposting from my previous Elling Family News blog on November 20, 2008.

A War-Time Wedding

Marriage Licenses

Rudolph A. Elling, 21, machinist, Napoleon, and

Donna Ordway, 19, defense worker, Malinta.





Back: Lorna Elling, Eldor Elling
Donna Ordway, Rudolph Elling

"Ordway - Elling Nuptials

On Sunday afternoon, October 29 (1943), Miss Donna Ordway, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ordway, became the bride of Mr. Rudolph Elling.  The ceremony was performed in the home of the bride at Malinta by the Rev. Martin Zschoche, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Napoleon.  Attendants were Mr. Eldor Elling and Miss Lorna Elling.  The young couple will make their home in Toledo, Ohio

Those attending the wedding were: Mr. and Mrs. Albert Elling, parents of the groom, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Elling, Misses Elinor and Louise Elling, Lt. Kenneth Musshel of the U.S. Air Corps, Mr. and Mrs. Henning**, grandparents of the bride, Rev. and Mrs. Martin Zschoche and Myra Berno of Toledo.

A tasty buffet supper was served by the parents of the bride.  The living room in which the ceremony was performed was decorated with beautiful bouquets of chrysanthemums.  The bride and the maid of honor wore beautiful corsages of American Beauty roses, while the groom and best man wore a buttonier of carnations."

**Newspaper error - should have been Mr. and Mrs. Ordway, grandparents of the bride.  There were no Henning grandparents and Donna Ordway's grandparents lived right next door and were very close to her, so it is most likely that they attended.

Both Donna and Rudy worked at the Willys Jeep plant in Toledo during the war.