|
| Back to Historic Oella |
During the night a cold, wet snow had fallen on Oella to a depth of nine inches. Mrs.
Baer, a mother of eleven children, discovered this when she arose at 5 A.M. to begin
a routine weekday. She quickly dresses and hurries to the kitchen to kindle a fire
in the old iron cook stove, the home's only source of heat. During the night a large pail
of water standing beside the unlit stove has frozen over.
The crackling fire in the cook stove soon dispels winter's chill in the kitchen,
and Mrs. Baer arouses her husband and older children. They hurry to the now
warmed kitchen to dress. They do not dally over break- fast for their workday
begins at 6 A.M.
The village is now awake, and old and young begin moving toward the mill, only a
short walk away. The school age children arise a little before eight. The boys
arise first and hurry to the warm kitchen to dress. After dressing, the boys
are shooed outside to engage in their morning chores of fetching water and
chopping firewood until their sisters are up and dressed.
The school day begins at nine 0' clock in the morning. The Oella school, a three-room
stone structure, is located at Oella Avenue and Race Road . Each room has a
potbellied stove to provide heat. Older boys arrive early to kindle fires in
these stoves and carry in a tin pail full of water from the spring. The pupils
quench their thirst during the day by drinking from a common dipper. Three grade
levels share one room. Pupils engage in their assignments with the aid of slates
and slate pencils. On occasion, an improperly held pencil will produce spine chilling
sounds as it raspingly grates against the slate.
The teachers check the pupils' hands for cleanliness and the cleanest hands
are entrusted with the cleanest textbooks. The curriculum is limited for very few
children ever graduate from the eighth grade. When a youngster grew strong
enough, parents or older children would take them to the mill to train them for a job.
School hours for the younger pupils ended at two o'clock in the afternoon, but
the older pupils remained until four o'clock in the afternoon.
On winter weekdays Mrs. Baer would always be found busy in her kitchen,
the heart of the home. Here, she prepared everything from lye soap to superbly
cooked substantial meals. Meals were prepared from items she canned during the
summer. There was sauerkraut, from her own crock, dried beans for soup and
pie from her own dried apples.
There was little waste for table scraps were saved for the neighbors hog, in hopes
of a ham at butchering time. Chickens were raised by practically every family, and
those fortunate enough to own a cow could sell milk and butt~ to a neighbor.
Other food staples were purchased at the Company store, which also housed
the community post office. The store stocked barrels of crackers, flour, sugar,
coffee and molasses. Kerosene and household articles were available. If one was
in need of an item that was not stocked, that item would be ordered for one. Credit
was extended to all employees, with deductions being made from the weekly pay
envelope. Families faced with an Emergency and in dire need of funds could borrow an
advance on their wages and repay such a loan by having a small sum deducted
from their wages each week until the loan was repaid.
The family income consisted of the combined wages of the parents and all working
children under the age of sixteen.
1996 photo by McGrain
W.J. Dickey and Sons, Oella Mill was built in 1918 and several times enlarged.
Traditionally, children collected their own wages and paid their parents board. Most
mill workers were inclined to retire early in the evenings, after their day's labor.
However, it was not all work and no play. Occasionally there were "Pound Parties"
to attend. Each individual attending such a party would bring a pound of something
edible. On other occasions, there would be impromptu dances. A group of friends
would gather at a neighbor's house and roll back the rugs and dance to music provided
by local amateur musicians.
The town of Oella had a curfew, and a bell at the mill tolled every evening at eight
o'clock reminding the small fry that it was time to hasten to their respective homes.
This ordinance was enforced by the town policeman, a kingly gentleman named Howard
Robinson. Officer Robinson patrolled the town on foot, and when observing a tardy
juvenile, he would escort the tardy one home.
The Oella Community Hall was the center of entertainment on Friday nights, where movies
would be shown for an admission price of twenty- five cents. These were the days of the
"silent" flicker type films. Young and old alike would be thrilled by the adventures of such
heroes as William S. Hart, Tom Mix and Bill Farnum, and be convulsed with mirth by
the antics of Charles Chaplin.
A prominent mid-summer event was Field Day. On this day the families of the community
would pack large picnic lunches and go out to what was known as the "Picnic Woods."
Here there would be bag races, potato races and baseball games. Later on, in the evening
there would be dancing, on a large wooden platform that had been erected a day or so previous
to the event by mill carpenters. Rarely was there any intoxication observed at these Field
Day events. An old ordnance prevented any tavern, or liquor dispensing business from
being operated within the jurisdiction of the town of Oella. That ancient ordinance is still
in effect today. Even though lacking many conveniences, life in Oella in the 1900's was
pleasant, moving at a slow tranquil pace with few disruptions. Town- people were
summoned to Sunday morning service by the sonorously tolling bell in the steeple of
the little church located in the heart of the town. There were also evening services and
Prayer Meetings during the week.
The mill workers in Oella enjoyed unique relationship with the firm of W.J. Dickey and
Sons Incorporated. Such a relationship was seldom found in other mill communities.
The owners of the mill were present at the mill every day and were aquatinted
with practically every employee on a first-name basis.
Any employee having a grievance had the opportunity to take his problem directly
to one of the owners, rather than deal with an impersonal organization. The owners
often acted as advisors and counselors in neighbor disputes. The existence of such
intimate communication had the effect of creating a high degree of cohesiveness between
employee and employer. This is substantiated by the fact that the employees consistently
refused to become a Unionized work force. Several trade unions attempted to
organize the employees of the W.J. Dickey firm, but all their efforts met with defeat.
|
