In 1961 my mom, brother and I went with my Grandparents Ramer to visit Gramp's hometown of Milroy, PA. We visited his mother's sister Carrie Viola Ramer Bobb who had helped raise Gramps after the death of his mother and grandmother. She was a quiltmaker and my mother brought home this Dresden Plate quilt, which she gave to me in 1990.
Many of the fabrics date to the 1930s and 1940s. The quilt may have been made in the 1950s.
I love the stripes fabrics used in wonky ways.
Above: Aunt Carrie Bobb in her later years. Below: Aunt Carrie behind my Grandfather Ramer when Carrie was 52 years old and Gramps was 24.
Sidney Bobb, great-grandson of Aunt Carrie, has two of her quilts as well; a Drunkard's Path and Grandmother's Flower Garden.
Carrie was born June 14, 1875 in Milroy, PA, daughter of Joseph Sylvester Ramer and his second wife Barbara Rachel Reed Ramer. My great-grandmother Esther Mae Ramer was her younger sister. Carrie married John Edward Bobb. She lived next door to her daughter Pearl when I met Aunt Carrie and Pearl. Aunt Carrie still had an outhouse. And yes, there really is, or was, a Potlicker Flats in Mifflin County near Milroy! Its on Laurel Creek near U.S. 322. The 2010 census showed 172 residents.
Gramps wrote letters to Lewistown Sentinel columnist Ben Meyers. In 1960 he wrote, "We had our dinner at Cousin Pearl's (Mrs. Lobiah Gonsman) up at Potlicker--two roast chickens and all the fixins. Aunt Carrie was spry and talkative--at 85 years." In 1961 he wrote, "Overnight at 86-year-old Aunt Carrie Bobb's home and a typical Pennsylvania Dutch dinner at cousin Pearl's and Abe's home."
March 17, 1963 the We Notice That column was all about Carrie. She had asked Ben Meyer to share her letter:
Dear
Ben:
Will
you print this in your column? I am a guest at the County Home, and
Mifflin Countians can be proud of their home.
Mr.
and Mrs. Wagner run the farm and the home and they are wonderful
people and I love them dearly.
And
the nurses are all grand and I love them, also the women cooks and
their helpers.
In
this way I want to thank the fire companies and churches and all the
other organizations for their lovely Christmas gifts and treats and
services throughout the year.
Also
the hairdressers for their gift. They are doing a wonderful job.
I
am a little handicapped. I can’t see or hear very good. Too bad.
I will be 90 years old June 14 and I am I fairly good health and I
thank God for that. Love to all people.
Mrs.
Carrie V. Bobb
c/o
Mifflin County Home
P.
S. Ben, I am going to send you a receipt for chive dumplings soon.
Yum, yum! Wish I had three!
Ben replied in his column,
Dear
Carrie Bobb:
Thank
you so much for your very sweet letter! It stirred us deeply. And
we’re quite sure all the members of We Notice That family will
enjoy it too.
Just
to read your letter, then reread it, maybe a couple of times, ought
to act as a great morale booster for many who, though in a much
different situation and environment from yours, have never learned to
count their blessings, but gripe and complain about their lot. You
set us all a good example by practicing the “contentment that is
great gain,” as one inspired writer expressed it. Wealth, social
prestige, power—none of these can be favorable compared to one’s
being happy, content, and grateful just for the little things, the
things that money can’t buy.
And
another, thing, Mrs. Bobb. You’ve learned how to overcome or
rather how to combat loneliness which is one of the greatest problems
among elderly folk. For
those up in years, the most common cause for loneliness is neglect,
even when living with relatives, but more often when living in an
institution. Older
people tend to feel outdated, deliberately cut-off by those from whom
they expect love and friendship. Changed attitudes of families
towards parents and grandparents in recent years has resulted in
increased loneliness among the aged. But
in your case, Mrs. Bobb, its evident you still enjoy the
companionship and care of your loved ones. They come often to call
and to take you out for a visit, yes, even for an overnight stay or
longer.
We
believe you had lived alone for years in your little home at
Potlicker Flats till advancing years and frailties made it impractical
to continue going it by yourself as winter approached again. And
so it was last fall, with your own choosing and consent, you welcomed
and accepted the transfer to your present quarters. The basic human
desire to be with a loved one, to be understood, to be loved, to feel
wanted, needed and cared for—these needs you now find are furnished
in your present environment. There you have your own individual
room, too.
Thanks
again, dear friend, for your mighty welcome letter. It’s quite
remarkable. But then you are quite a remarkable woman. Not only are
you active, having a keen mind, but most of all the appreciation you
feel for others, your zeal to enjoy things so much! We
hear too your room was so filled with presents at the holiday season,
it prompted you to say, “I never before had such a wonderful
time—it would take me a whole year to consume all these goodies!” So
the thankfulness you expressed to all the different groups who do
much to lighten and cheer the County Home Guests, it comes bubbling
out of your appreciative and grateful and loving heart, Mrs. Bobb!
As
for the chive-dumpling recipe, we’re looking for it. We’ll keep
working up an appetite for the feast. Meanwhile, as the Psalmist
said, Mrs. Bobb, “Be courageous and may your heart be strong.”
In 1965 Lynne wrote about a family reunion with folks bringing Aunt Carrie scraps. He waxed philosophically about life being like a patchwork quilt.
Well, we have
stitched on another vacation patch to the crazy quilt of life. At the
Richfield Ramer Clutch several widely scattered cuzzins brought bags
of patches for Aunt Carrie Bobb of the Mifflin County Home, who has
another Postage Stamp Quilt underway.
Aunt Carrie sews on
this quilt between times devoted to folding sheets and towels for the
guests and writing 10 letters each week. This year the patches came
from Bethesda, Camden, Annapolis, Indianapolis, Sinking Valley, Allen
Park and Berkley, etc., etc.-and a crazy assortment they were to be
sure!
Yet when a quilt is
complete there is some manner of symmetry and form to the total, be
it a Dresden Circles, a Field of Diamonds, a Double Wedding Ring or
just a plain Postage Stamp.
Such is life!
Patches added willy-nilly, seemingly with no central purpose, yet the
total displays an amazing degree of purpose. A quilt is hard to see
because we look at the patches, just like it's said we can't see the
forest due to the single trees.
The way the patches
are being added, daily and yearly, in the USA makes it very nigh
impossible to see the 'quilt', which though never finished, may have
some form and sense ultimately. We should not be too critical of
ourselves or of our children since our grand-pappy's grandpappy sewed
in some patches as 'crazy' as they came! The patterns never change,
generation after generation.
I am not sure if only Milroy Countians called the quilt I own Dresden Circles. I did find that Amy Smart of
Diary of a Quilter has a post on Dresden Circles
here.
Field of Diamonds is made of hexagons like Grandmother's Flower Garden, but the flowers are a diamond shape.
In 1966 Ben Meyer wrote,
One
evening there came a knock on the door. And who was there but a lady
bringing some samples of her famous chive dumplings which we’d
mentioned before in this column. She
was Mrs. Pauline Saddler of Milroy. It seems that once a year she
and Mrs. Carrie Bobb get together for a cooking spree. They spend a
large part of a day to produce their favorite dish—fried dumplings
seasoned heavily with chopped chives. The
reason they turn out so many dumplings is because they’re not
selfish. They like to share their good things with others. And the
gift delivered to us was just one of many they distributed to their
friends. If
we’re not mistaken, Mrs. Saddler and Mrs. Bobb produces 90-odd
dumplings in one batch which was enough to full their own needs and
to share some with other folks. The
90-year-old, spry Aunt Carrie Bobb as all her friends call her) has
given us the recipe for this intriguing dish. Here it is:
Aunt Carrie's Chive Dumplings Recipe
- Take
two parts chives and one part parsley. A big colander full. Wash
and cut up into small pieces. Fry a few minutes to soften with small
amount of shortening and salt.
- Then
break three eggs over it. Cook till eggs set. Take off stove. Put
in a pan to cool. Then make dough as for pie crust only not as
short.
- Roll
out dough in squares about six inches long and three or four inches
wide. Put the chive mixture in between two squares. Then turn and
pinch the sides together so no water gets in. Make them kind of flat
till they look like an oversize ravioli.
- Drop
them slowly, one by one, into pot of boiling water, but not on top of
one another. Like you do in dropping squares of home-made pot pie
into the pot.
- Boil
four or five minutes. Then remove from pot and fry them in a pan
with shortening till both sides are nice and brown. When they are
browning, you can refill the pot with another round of dumplings and
be ready to repeat the process. After they are browned, the chive
dumplings are ready to eat.
They
may be eaten hot or cold. Some like ‘em hot, some vice versa. If
you like ‘em hot and there are some left over, warm them in a pan
over slow heat and a little shortening and a small sprinkling of
water. Makes them as good as new!
In 1967 Carrie again wrote to Ben Meyers, a long letter full of remembrances of people from Reedsville's past. She concluded,
I
am almost 92 years old, but I have a good memory. As
I said, you can print what you want. I am almost blind and awful
hard of hearing. Otherwise I am good. I can go up and down stairs
and I help a laundress fold sheets at the County Home. You
reported those chive dumplings I made last year with relatives and
friends in Milroy. Well, it’s the chive season again and we cooked
up some more. With best wishes to all the readers,
Sincerely,
Mrs.
Carrie Bobb, Mifflin
County Home
P. S. I used to live at the foot of Seven Mountains, alongside the
Lakes-to-Sea cabins. Excuse poor writing, Ben.
Aunt Carrie died in 1971, six months before my grandfather died.
*****
My Ramer Family Tree
Mathias Roemer, born September 1746 in Wesphalia, Germany and arrived in America in 1765. In 1756 the Greenwich Twsp, Berks Co. tax lists show Mathias Reamer. By 1790 he settled in Maxatany, Berks Co, PA and appears as Matthew Rehmer. He appears as Maths Reimer in Upper Mahontongo, Berks Co PA in 1810 and in 1820 as Mathias Remer. He dies in 1828 and is buried in Pitman, Eldred Twsp, Schuylkill Co, PA, listed in the Abstract of Graces of Revolutionary Patriots. Mathias married
Maria and they had children Catherine, George, Issac and Nicholas.
Nicholas Roemer was born in 1791 in Greenwich, Berks CO., PA. In 1814 he married
Maria Mattern, whose father was in the Revolutionary War. Maria's ancestor Peter Matthorn came from near the Matterhorn in Switzerland and arrived in America in 1751. Nicholas died in 1831 and is buried in Pitman, Eldred Twsp, Schuylkill Co. PA. He may be the Nicholas Roemer who was a Union soldier during the Civil War. They had children Salome, Caroline, George, Joshua, William, Issac, Madelena, Catherine and Joseph Sylvester. Nicholas died in 1867.
Joseph Sylvester Ramer was born in 1832 and died in 1900. His first wife was Anna Kramer and they had children Daniel, Anna Sarah, Robert, Joseph Karner, William E., Oscar William, Ida B, and John. Anna died in 1870. In 1871 he married
Rachel Barbara Reed. They had children Anna Verona (married Charles Smithers), Clyde Oliver, Howard Jacob, Carrie Viola (married John Edward Bobb), Emma J, Esther Mae, Charles Perry, and Marcia Etta.
 |
| Joseph and Rachel Reed Ramer |
 |
| Believed to be Rachel Reed |
 |
| Esther Mae Ramer |
Esther Mae Ramer was born in 1880. She had child
Lynne Oliver Ramer in 1903; Harry Shirk was the father.
 |
| 'Essie' and son Lynne |
In 1908 she married Lawrence Zeke Harmon. By 1910 the census showed they were divorced. My mother told me that her father was not allowed to call Esther "Mother." Since the above photo shows a proud mother, she may have hidden that she was Lynn's father from Lawrence and when he discovered the truth their marriage failed. But that is just conjecture.
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| Lawrence Zeke Harmon |
Esther Mae died in 1912. Her mother Rachel Barbara Reed Ramer also died in 1912. Lynne Oliver Ramer was raised by his aunts Anna Verona Ramer Smithers and Carrie Ramer Bobb. Lawrence went on to marry two more women, both recently widowed.
Lynne married Evelyn Adair Greenwood (see
My Lancaster Greenwood Family) and their children were Joyce Adair, Nancy Jean, and twins Frederick Donald and Lynn David.
 |
| Joyce, Nancy, Don and Dave, 1945 in Milroy, PA |
Joyce Adair married Eugene Vernon Gochenour and their children are Nancy Adair (me) and Thomas Eugene.
Lynne met the man who was to become my husband at a Fourth of July picnic at my family's home. Six days later we lost my grandfather.
He is
