Years ago, like over twenty years ago, I took a big stack of letters and documents that Grandma Schlotman (Clara Marie Light Schlotman 1905-2001) had to the Old Courthouse Museum – Watseka and paid them to copy them.
I didn’t scan them due to time and hard drive restraints (I remember getting my first 1 gig drive around that time and thinking I would NEVER run out of space again, ha ha).
They’ve sat in a file in a drawer in Anna Goosey Reynolds Schlotman’s (1878-1912) dresser for a long time.
Doug ‘Spike’ Sowers is researching the Julien family and so I thought I’d get everything together that I have and send it to him. And, what did I find in that file, but a letter from Ephraim Francis Julien (1848-1877) to his sister Rhoda Ellen Julien Schlotman (1850-1934) written the November before he died.
Ephraim wrote this in 1876 after Rhoda and her husband, Daniel Franklin “D. F.” Schlotman (1850-1908) had moved to Sheldon, Illinois and had their first child, Oscar Francis Schlotman (1876-1956, my 2nd great-grandfather).
Ephraim was living at the Julien family farm in Perry Township, Hocking, Ohio. The location noted in the letter, “Middle Fork,” corresponds to the name of a nearby road. I don’t know if Middle Fork was ever a proper village or if it was just what that area was called. There was a village quite close called “Buena Vista.”
Likely also living at the Julien homestead at the time of this letter were siblings Louis Rene Julien (1855-1941), Emily Melissa “Emma” Julien (later Kane, 1853-1882), and Edwin Clarence “Ed” Julien (1858-1888). Father Joseph Julien (1825-1870) had died in 1870 and mother Mary Louisa Gettings Julien (1829-1873) in 1873.
Here’s the transcription. Check out the end notes for what I have to say about this letter. And, if I’ve made mistakes, please alert me.
The Letter, Page 1
Transcription, Page 1
Middle Fork Ohio Nov 27
Dear Bro & Sister
Your welcome favor
was received & perused & duly com-
mented on in Valentine's case.1 Sorry that we
unable to give an intelligent opinion that
is we can't say how it is for a man for
we have never been a mother.
First snow fell last Thursday. Snowed Sat
night & Sunday night about three ins of
snow on the ground. Kane & McBroom are
done husking corn2 that's all I know & all
the people that I've seen lately they turn up
very regular. Henry's school commences next
Monday. It's out beyond Logan some place. Lou's
began this morning.3
The winter campaign has fairly opened & has taken
me by surprise. Had to sleep two Sunday nights in
succession upstairs. I am on the ragged edge.
I want to buy two dozen roosters, good lively
crowers that will go to roost say 4 o'clock or
sooner so as to be ready for business by 4 in
morning. Our old plug don't blow his horn until
five & a feller don't get much of a nap after
that. If I don't get the thing fixed
The Letter, Page 2
Transcription, Page 2
run off or go to old Johnny and freeze.
Ren Julien & wife were in on a short visit
this fall.4 Dave Carrel & wife just return from
a visit to Ind.5 Nelse Thomas whipped his wife
& she went home for a day or two. All right
now.6 Obe McCellan departed very suddenly last
Mon morn for parts unknown & Miss Fast of
South Perry mourns as one that can't be comfort-
ed. Such is life.7
We have on the circuit for this year a sensation-
al preacher. He is working the members over
old & young. He throws red hot shot in the
camp. I haven't learned what kind of a
feeder is. If he is as bad as that last one he
will break some of the members up.
Well, it's getting late and I must close.
We had a fair corn crop this year, have about
200 bush to husk yet am feeding 27 head
of hogs. They are light, will weigh 150 lbs now.
Expect to feed till first of February.
Hogs are worth 5 cents, corn 30 cts.
Phil has three barrels of cider put away to
drink. He is in good fit all the time.8
I saw Rank Saturday. He said he was
looking for you in soon.9 If you come
let me know & I will meet you at
the depot. I thought you would send the
The Letter, Page 3
Transcription, Page 3
boy for I suppose he is running things by
this time. That is the impression I have from
his aunt's talk anyhow.10
I will close by wishing you all a happy
Thanksgiving
Your brother
E. F. Julien
PS enclosed please find poetry11
D. F. Schlotman Esq
Sheldon
Ill
D D D
D. F. Schlotman Esq
Notes:
- “Your welcome favor was received & perused & duly commented on in Valentine’s case.”
Valentine was a common surname in the area, but it was also used as a first name. I think that this Valentine was Valentine Friar Julien (1847-1912). Valentine was the second cousin of Ephraim and Rhoda. He was a boot and shoe maker who lived in Perry Township, Hocking, Ohio — the same township where Ephraim lived. By 1880, Valentine, his wife, and children were living in Sheldon, Illinois, where Rhoda and her husband moved in 1876. The location must not have agreed with Valentine, as they eventually moved back to their home in Ohio, where he lived the rest of his life.
As for the “favor” — it may have been a card, photo, or a gift. Ephraim’s birthday had been in August (the letter was written in November). If he was a poor correspondent, maybe it took him until November to write his thanks to his sister. ↩︎ - “Kane & McBroom are done husking corn…”
Kane was Peter Kane (1916-1898) who had 175 acres northeast and 150 northwest of the Julien farm. He was a farmer, sawsmith, and gunsmith. The 1876 plat map shows that Peter Kane had a residence and gun shop near to each other. Two of his children would marry Juliens — Ephraim and Rhoda’s sister Emily Melissa “Emma” Julien (1853-1882) married Peter Kane’s son Jacob Kane (1853-1928) in 1877; and Jacob’s sister Lavina Kane (later Julien 1858-1918) married Julien brother Louis Rene Julien (1855-1941) in 1878. The Kane/Juliens and youngest brother Edwin Clarence “Ed” Julien (1858-1888) all went to Kaufman County, Texas around 1878. Both Emma and Ed died there and the remaining Kane/Juliens went back to Ohio where they stayed for the rest of their lives.
McBroom was John Kinser McBroom (1818-1887) whose seventy-three-acre farm bordered the Julien farm to the east. ↩︎ - “Henry’s school commences next Monday. It’s out beyond Logan some place. Lou’s began this morning.”
Henry would have to be Henry Brown McBroom (1846-1927), son of the above-mentioned John Kinser McBroom. In both the 1870 & 1880 US Census, he was listed as a school teacher. He later moved to Kansas where he farmed. He died there in 1927 having never married.
Lou would have been Ephraim and Rhoda’s brother Louis Rene Julien (1855-1941). I knew that he taught school for a time due to the 1880 US Census. He and his family were in Kaufman County, Texas where he worked as a “teacher of com. school.” I don’t know where Lou’s school was in 1876, but I assume it was not far away from the Julien farm. ↩︎ - “Ren Julien & wife were in on a short visit this fall.”
This seems to be Rene Julien (1837-1922) and wife Nancy Jane Fox Julien (1847-1933). They had moved to Streator, La Salle, Illinois at some point after their marriage in 1866 and before the birth of their son Harvey Henry Julien (1871-1944). Both Rene and wife Nancy are Juliens, it turns out, being second cousins to each other. They were second cousins once removed to Ephraim and Rhoda. ↩︎ - “Dave Carrel & wife just return from a visit to Ind.”
Dave Carrel was David King Carroll (1830-1891) and his wife was Emily Frances Goss Carroll (1832-1919). Here again, we find more Juliens — Dave’s mother was Mary Emily “Polly” Julien Carrel (1803-1881). So, Dave was 2nd cousin once removed to Ephraim and Rhoda. And, they were neighbors, their homestead being on the northern border of the Julien land. The reason for the Carroll’s Indiana visit may have been to visit their son Amos Lemuel Carroll (1855-1926). I don’t have an indication that he was there at that time, but I do know that he married in Indiana in 1880 and then spent the rest of his life there. ↩︎ - “Nelse Thomas whipped his wife & she went home for a day or two. All right now.”
Nelson F. Thomas (1848-1885) married Jane Amanda “Jennie” Mowery (later Thomas 1858-1892) in 1874. The birth of their first (known) child occurred 28 Sep 1877. As this letter was dated just two months later, the timing of this whipping was either shortly after the birth of this child or while Jennie was still pregnant. Lovely. ↩︎ - “Obe McCellan departed very suddenly last Mon morn for parts unknown & Miss Fast of South Perry mourns as one that can’t be comforted. Such is life.”
At first, I thought that Ephraim was joking about Miss Fast — that she was “fast” and that her reputation was such that Rhoda would know exactly who he was speaking of without mentioning her name. But, it turns out that Fast was in fact a surname in that area at that time. Sorry, Miss Fast! Anyways, Obe McCellen was Obed Wallace McClelland (1856-1895). And, Miss Fast was Sabina S. Fast (later Karr 1858-1893). I have contacted someone on Ancestry who has Sabina as a spouse to Obed in her tree. I have found no record of them ever being married, but obviously there was connection enough for this person to record it. What I suspect is that they were engaged and one or the other broke it off which resulted in Obe leaving town for a time. He came back and both ended up marrying other people not long after — Sabina in 1878 and Obed in 1879. I’ll give an update if I get more information on this from the Ancestry user I contacted. ↩︎ - “Phil has three barrels of cider put away to drink. He is in good fit all the time.”
I think that this must have been Philip Carrel (1844-1905), brother to the above-mentioned Dave Carrel/Carroll, and so a Julien cousin (2nd cousin once removed from Ephraim & Rhoda). He lived a short way to the west of the Julien homestead. ↩︎ - “I saw Rank Saturday. He said he was looking for you in soon.”
I knew this name right away, as I had encountered it before. Albin Ranck (1835-1922) is the man who bought the Jacob Schlotman Farm in Salt Creek Township, Pickaway County after Jacob’s unexpected (and I think suspicious) death in 1875. The farm was sold to Ranck by Daniel Franklin “D.F.” Schlotman (Rhoda’s husband and Ephraim’s brother-in-law 1850-1908), D. F.’s brother-in-law Robert C. Todd, and “others” at some point shortly before 14 Jan 1876 at which time a real estate transfer notice appeared in the newspaper. Something seems to have gone wrong with the transaction as both D. F. and sister Mary Ashbrook were suing Ranck three years later. This passage in Ephraim’s letter leads me to believe that trouble started with Ranck much earlier than I had thought. I don’t know whatever happened with the lawsuit. ↩︎ - “If you come let me know & I will meet you at the depot. I thought you would send the boy for I suppose he is running things by this time. That is the impression I have from his aunt’s talk anyhow.”
The boy — this is undoubtably Rhoda’s son and first child, Oscar Francis Schlotman (my 2nd great-grandfather 1876-1956) who had been born 28 May that year.
His aunt — Oscar had one aunt on the Julien side at that time — his mother’s sister Emily Melissa “Emma” Julien (later Kane 1853-1882). This is probably who Ephraim is talking about. Did Emma go to Sheldon, Illinois to be with her sister for the birth of her child? That’s possible. Or, perhaps Rhoda and Emma corresponded more often than she and Ephraim and so he got updates about the new baby that way. Oscar had Schlotman aunts as D. F. was the only boy in the family. But, I don’t believe Ephraim would have been in contact with them. The Schlotman kids seem to have left Ohio quickly after their father’s estate was settled, all settling in Illinois. ↩︎ - “PS enclosed please find poetry”
Did Ephraim write poetry? I don’t think we have that. That’s too bad! I wonder if it was any good. ↩︎