Graf History

Settie Graf Locke (1868-1955) wrote this account in 1954. 

The effects of the Napoleonic wars were still felt keenly in Germany, which at that time was but a loose confederation of States ruled or presided over by Kings, Bishops Landgraves or others potentates, unorganized as a sovereign nation.  Not until Bismark in 1871, in the war with France, subdued their enemies did Wilhelm I become emperor.  Before that, foreign soldiers were quartered in every home until children learned another language.  Soon after this, Philip of Roggenhausen (July 7, 1824) was born in Bavaria, the eldest son.  The boy, of husky stature, grew to maturity and helped his parents till the small farm, and in winter he became a weaver of linens.  His brothers were allowed to learn more remunerative trades such as cabinetmakers.  Philip looked after their parents and provided the means for the brothers to emigrate to America, to avoid the draft.  Service in the army took seven years of the best years of every man selected.*  Before their majority they sent the boys to relatives in Indiana, which was then being hewed out of the wilderness.

China tea jar and pitcher

All of Valentine and Barbara Graf's belongings were packed in a trunk to make the voyage from Germany to America.  It is quite remarkable that these china pieces survived.  This pewter charger is stamped with the insignia of the maker.

Pewter charger with maker's insignia

When this had been done, Philip and his parents sold their beloved home and personal effects and prepared to follow the boys.  Their nearest route was through France and from the dock at Havre they took ship.  Their household effects, clothing, cooking utensils, pewter table service and food, all stored in cedar chests for the long passage.  Steamboats had not been invented nor airplanes, so they set sail and selecting the route favored by the trade winds.  Unfortunately a storm drove them out of their course and they were six weeks on the ocean, arriving at New York harbor 1853 to be welcomed by friends who had braved the voyage earlier.  Then by wagon and canal boat, drawn by mules on the tow path, the party came overland to Waupecong where they found refuge among relatives and joined John, Christian and Valentine who had all found employment.  

Now to establish a home and care for the father who was ailing was the next concern.  Having paid for their passage, they were able to purchase a farm of forty acres, improved with a hewed log house and a log barn and a well.  A formal garden was soon laid out with flower beds planted to tulips and hyacinths which had been stored in the cedar chests.  

Next an orchard was planted, as there was no other fruit in Indiana but wild grapes, wild plums and berries.  Every foot of soil was planted and tended by hand.  Grass for hay was cut with a scythe or a sickle.  Grain was thrashed with a flail.

Clay mud mixed with straw was tramped by horses or cattle to chink the cracks between logs.  The broad ax and adz were used to dress the floor of puncheon, since saw mills had not yet arrived.  Neighbors were friendly and using the sign language soon showed the Germans how to make maple sugar, which lasted a year. 

Cattle were allowed to roam at will, only the crops being fenced in.  The leader wore the cow bell which helped in the hunt.  Philip refused to eat butter when the cows ate ramps, since he disliked onions.  Cottage cheese and ball cheese were always to be seen on the family table.

The spinning wheel spun tow and wool for the linsey-woolsey which was the cloth from which every day clothing was made.  The broadcloth and embroidered silk vers of the fatherland were out of place in the crude life of Howard County in those days, but were used for his burial.

Settie Graf Locke, demonstrating spinning

 This is the Graf Family spinning wheel referred to in Settie's account.  Here, Settie is participating in a Pioneer Days reenactment.

According to holy writ, it was not good for man to live alone.  Philip’s mother, Barbara Wagner Graf, no longer young, welcomed the young and beautiful Caroline Schaaf who came from Ohio, to dress the garden of Graf, instead of Eden, and became the helpmate of Philip and to mother his children.  Times were hard when the Civil War broke out and their first child, Emma, was born in 1861.  The draft caught up with Philip, but being a farmer without help, he was deferred.  Privation and illness were the lot of the young family, but gifted with a singing voice and a love for flowers and a cheerful disposition they bore the loss of their sons as best they could.

Came now the reconstruction days, illness and high taxes, muslin at 75 cents a yard, likewise calico.  Grandpa Graf sold hickory ax handles at 25 cents each, made brooms, bee hives, ladders, quilting frames and gates, grafted his own fruit trees, became a self-made veterinary and a Democrat.  In the home we enjoyed homemade cheese, smearkase, kraut, pickled beans, apple butter, cider, honey, liverwurst, maple syrup, pork, potatoes, bread and cakes made of yeast dough with a fruit topping.  Also flannel petticoats – home spun – and stockings knitted from home spun yarn, dyed analyne red, walnut brown, black or cochineal red.

Handmade sausage mill

Rag carpets soon gave the living room a festive appearance, muslin curtains and husk door mats showed the family to be progressive and the dance, the singing school, the taffy pulling, husking bees and the apple cutting for apple butter all afforded opportunity for the social life of the community.  Not to be overlooked was the spelling school and the barn raising and quilting bees for the ladies.

Happiness and contentment are a state of mind and do not depend upon worldly possessions.  Things which endure are those of the spirit.  To sit at the bedside of a sick neighbor, to officiate at a birth or death, to plant or harvest the grain of a bereaved widow, to sew for a motherless family, all help to cement a friendship, which nothing but adversity can make us appreciate.

We travel this road but once.  “Let us live in the house by the side of the road, and be a friend to man.”

                                                     Grandmother

                                                     May 17, 1954

* For a very well-researched account of military service, click here to read a post by
fellow blogger, Kathy Gosz. 

Philip and Caroline Graf, Settie's parents

Settie as a young girl

Settie Graf

Settie Graf Locke in 1950s, when she wrote this account