Mrs. Wilhelmina Rodeheffer

Mrs. Wilhelmina Rodeheffer, 90 Years Old Sunday, Has Interesting Memories of Past—Sauer Kraut Credited With Her Recovery From Serious Illness

Mother Wilhelmina Rodeheffer, nee Bielefeld, residing at R. R. 3 St. Marys, is spending today (Saturday February 11), Enjoying the numerous well-wishes which the mail man delivered to her house yesterday and today. The occasion is the 90th anniversary of her birthday which falls on Sunday the 12th. And from all reports by her acquaintances, her daughter-in-law (Lena Steinecker Rodeheffer), and her grandson’s wife (Mrs. Kenneth Rodeheffer), she is entitled to all the well-wishes that she is receiving, having earned them during her 90 years. Many of these come from members of the New Knoxville Methodist Church who were her pupils at one time or another during her 40 year teaching career in the Sunday Church School. They remember her gratefully and with appreciation for her friendliness, for her truly Christian spirit, for her desire to help them find the Christian solution to life’s problems, and for her wholesome and healthy-minded approach toward life. 90 years of victorious living have utterly convinced her that the Bible is man’s God-given guide for faith and conduct.

Although she can no longer understand (hear) the Service, she still attends Church whenever she is able. “I enjoy the fellowship and I can pray with the others,” she says.

She was born Feb. 12, 1860 on what is today known as the Ben Raberding farm, 4 miles south of Moulton, 2 miles east of New Knoxville, and has lived her entire life in that neighborhood. She and her sister walked the 2 miles to the New Knoxville school and neither rain, snow or high water was permitted to stop them. When she was 3 years old, her father died. She remembers it distinctly. “For the funeral they put the casket on the hay wagon and the entire family sat around it, on the way to church. I wanted to sit on the casket but they told me it wasn’t dry yet. The day after the funeral my aunt carried me over to my grandmother. Mother couldn’t keep us all. When we got there Grandma was baking pan cakes. I stayed with her 2 or 3 years.

After several years Preacher Ekermeyer called on Mother and told her he knew a good man for her. Mother told him to send the man over. He did. His name was Chris Raberding. They liked each other right away and soon got married. Then I came home again. I went to school till I was 14. But the last two of those years my mother was sick, and so I went to school one week and my sister would go the next week. I was allowed to wear only plain clothing. But I made ruffles for one of my dresses myself. I could take these ruffles on and off easily. So I would put them on in the woods, on the way to school, and take them off in the woods again before I got home, and so father never knew about it,” she recalled laughing.

After she quit school she stayed at home and helped with the farm work while her sister “worked out”. During that time she helped plant the corn, plow the corn, cut the corn and husk the corn. Their social life centered around and in their church. But at this time also she had other things to think about. She became violently ill, a fever persisting continually week after week. “I was desperately hungry for SAUER-KRAUT, BUT THEY WOULDN’T LET ME HAVE ANY. The doctor said I shouldn’t have any. But there was a whole barrel-ful of it standing in the kitchen. So one night, after they were all to bed, I helped myself, ate all the sauer-kraut I wanted, and never had any more fever after that.”

All went well until her 18th year, as far as health was concerned. And nothing particularly exciting happened, except that she got a boy friend. But then suddenly, she became violently ill. She thinks it was Typhoid Fever. “Dr. Zuelch came every day for a week. They thought I was going to die. All my hair came out and I,-- -- well-- --I was bald. That was terrible. But my boy friend kept coming just the same. He was the only boy friend I ever had. By this time also I was getting paid for working at home—a dollar a week. And around that time I made my first trip to Wapakoneta, and I was allowed to buy my first ready made dress. It was a woolen dress, and I picked it out all by myself. I don’t remember what it cost, but I do remember that my wages were $1.00 a week.”

The boy friend’s name was John Rodeheffer. “He was really in earnest about me—but there were some difficulties standing in the way of our marriage. But he’s the only man I ever went with. We would walk to Church together at night, walking those two miles. A few times he took me in his father’s spring wagon, the first ride I ever had in one of them. That was exciting.”

Asked about her recollections regarding the years before her marriage she recalled them in the following order: Yes, they had Santa Claus. He brought only home-made things, consisting entirely of wearing material. These were hid in the barn, under the barley. “But one day we saw something sticking out of the barley and my sister and I pulled it out. But we put it back under again, and we never told the folks.” The picnics of the period are also remembered. “We girls went barefooted. They had a swing, and lemonade, and speeches and everybody sang. A Mr. Aufderhaar would sing so well, and he would lead us all in singing. BUTCHERING also was a big time. They would butcher 7 hogs at our house and they would sell the rest of their hogs to Lock Two. I well remember the day when father came home with a barrel of pig’s feet. Then we children all had to work, cleaning them. O, but they tasted good. Then on Sunday after noons some of the neighbor boys would come over. They were supposed to go to Sunday School, but they came to our house instead. We had Sunday School in the morning, but they had it in the afternoon. So they would come to our house instead. When they saw the other people coming home, then they would go home too. Thrashing was another big time. All the neighbors would help each other. My folks would often butcher a calf for threshing, but sometimes chickens, 15 or 16 of them. I remember that when grandpa had sale, we butchered 17 chickens, we set out bread, butter and apple butter, and the chicken, and the way they ate, they must have liked it! Apple butter Cooking was another big time. We would cook between 30 and 40 gallons, and the neighbors would help each other at applecutting. If someone died, all the neighbors would go and they would clean the house from top to bottom. That was the custom, when someone died, that house would be cleaned.”

After 5 years of waiting, walking home from church together, and an occasional ride in the spring wagon, she and John Rodeheffer were married. “I was 22 then. We were married Dec. 6, 1879. It was so muddy then that it took two horses to pull the spring wagon. We even had to stop to let the horses rest. But we were happy!” They were married by Pastor Kuckherman. They took up housekeeping with Mr. Rodeheffer’s folks, working for them the first 5 years, after which they took over the Rodeheffer home place. She has resided there to this day. Her husband died 35 years ago, having died of a heart attack while getting his horses home out of the pasture field.

Their 7 living children are Albert and George Rodeheffer of New Knoxville, Otto and Ferd of Detroit, Rev. Edwin Rodeheffer of New Lexington, Ohio, Clara (Mrs. Chris Katterheinrich) of Kenton, Ohio and Adella (Mrs. Elmer Whitcomb) of Tilda (Central part) of India. The latter’s husband is a medical missionary there. The Whitcombs have 4 children, all of which are preparing themselves for Christian life service. Thomas, the oldest, is preparing for the ministry at Eden Seminary; Bill is preparing himself to be a missionary to India and will be taking work at Eden Seminary also; John is a medical student at Harvard University Medical School; Anna Mae is currently a freshman at Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois. Another grandson is Rev. Calvin Rodeheffer, located at Marietta, Ohio, the son of Rev. Edwin Rodeheffer.

The life’s and heart’s prayer of Mrs. Rodeheffer is and always was – “O God, Thy Kingdom come!” She related how the happiest moment of her life was “when my husband knelt at the altar and gave himself to the “Lord.” The candlestick by way of which she let her light shine into all the world was the Methodist Church of New Knoxville where she taught for 40 years, where she regularly worshipped, where she was president of the Women’s work, and where she found inspiration and religious guidance. Her nightly prayer continues to be “O Lord, Thy Kingdom come!” Every night she prays for her children, for her grandchildren, for her church and for the kingdom. Of herself she says—“I am getting tired—tired of earth, and home-sick—home sick for the home and the rest that is promised the children of God.”

No—there’s nothing despondent or morose or unhappy about her. She is alert, has enjoyed life, has a good sense of humor, is able to laugh at her infirmities, and has the spiritual stamina and reserves necessary to keep herself in healthy-minded good humor. Of special delight to her are the letters from her daughter in India. “She writes every two weeks and the letters come air mail. It takes only about 8 days for her letters to get here. We folks in America have it nice, compared to the folks in India, where she is.”

The women at the New Knoxville Methodist Church are planning to visit her this Sunday afternoon, a poem having been composed for her and about her. Mother Rodeheffer still knits stockings and gloves, regularly receives inspiration from reading the Bible and a book of sermons, and is always happy when folks call.

Mother Rodeheffer has 19 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren. Three of her grandsons served during the war. Edwin Rodeheffer Jr. was killed in action. Laverne Rodeheffer received the Bronze Star for bravery under fire while delivering food to combat troops. The other grandson in the service was LeRoy Katterheinrich.

Notes: The farm where Mrs. Rodeheffer was born, which was later known as the Ben Raberding farm, is located on the west side of Cook Road, approximately a half mile north of State Route 219. No buildings remain at that location.

After Mrs. Rodeheffer was married, she lived the rest of her life (until 1952) on the Rodeheffer farm two miles east of New Knoxville at 09082 State Route 219. At the time of the interview, four generations of the family were living in the farmhouse at that location. These included Mrs. Rodeheffer, her son and daughter-in law (George and Lina Steinecker Rodeheffer), her grandson Kenneth Rodeheffer and his wife Garnet, with their three daughters Kathy, Patty, and Kendra.