Alma,
in her own words with photos
Stories handed down by
my grandmother, Alma Rafert Welp
Compiled and edited by
Joel S. Russell
Alma |
I
was born September 2nd 1900 on East Merrill Street in the same
house where my father was born. My parents, Edward Rafert and Elizabeth Otto,
met at a yearly picnic given by the Lutheran Orphan’s Home on |
Rafert
House on Merrill Street |
Pop and Mom
moved to the Rafert homestead on Merrill Street to care for Grandma. The home
had been Pop’s birthplace and here he lived almost his entire life. Here his brothers and sisters were born and
grew up and here also his children were born and grew up. We lived close to
Eli Lilly Company, and many people walked past our house to work. It was always a fun time watching
them. There was a large brewery in our
neighborhood and their wagons were drawn by the most beautiful horses. I’ll never forget them. The horse drawn fire engines were a
wonderful sight to see, how those horses could run! Evenings were quiet. We could use |
Ed
Rafert Ed Rafert |
Pop loved
his family devotedly and was proud of his six children. My father was of a quiet nature, he always
seemed content. He liked people but
did not enjoy visiting people. He was
a foreman at Diamond Chain Works on the second floor and was highly respected
by his workers. I remember when he
came home from work; Carl and I could go as far as the second alley, but not
to Delaware Street. We’d meet Dad and
take turns carrying his leather dinner bucket. After supper while Mom did dishes, my Dad
would often take me along while he got a beer at the saloon. Some of the other kids came too. He would have a glass of beer and talk to
his chums and we’d be back by the time Mom had the dishes done. He never stayed long. I also remember Dad standing in the front
yard at the gatepost watching us play at night. We neighborhood kids would play at the
corner under the streetlight. At night
I’d sit on the side of Dad’s arm chair while he read the newspaper. While sitting there I’d wind my hair ribbon
around the arm of the chair, pin it with a pin and the next morning it would
be smooth again. Dad liked to go
fishing and there were times when he would rent a horse drawn surrey to take
the family for an outing into the woods.
When the twins were born upstairs, Dad took Carl and me to see
them. He was so proud and happy. When we came to the stairs, he said I could
slide down and he held Carl and slid him down. We were never allowed to do that. I can also remember some serious scoldings we received, but always with an
explanation. You had to look Pop into
the eye when he was scolding you. Pop
gave me a stern lesson on telling lies after I had climbed out on the roof of
our porch from upstairs on a rainy day to get our rubber ball out of the
gutter. Walt made me go and get it as
he held my legs. Our neighbor, Mrs.
Redding, saw me and came over and told Mom.
We were always corrected or spanked by Mom, but this time she told
Pop. He was so kind. He got on his knee and made me look him
straight in the eye. Then he said,
“You better tell the truth”. I did but
I never told him that Walt made me do it.
He then impressed on me how I could have fallen. All my life if I wanted to lie, I could see
my Dad’s eyes looking straight into mine.
Pop died when I was seven years
old. At age 39 he had an attack of the
grippe or flu, as we would call it now.
He returned to work too soon and contracted pneumonia. A week later, January 15th,
1908, he died, despite efforts of a doctor and a private nurse who were
called in. I well remember our goodbye
to our Dad the night before his death.
He was well aware of his condition and wanted to see and speak to all
of the children. The twins were not
quite two years old. I remember
distinctly the funeral service and Miss Weiss singing “Harre,
meine Seele” (Wait my
Soul and Tarry). |
Elizabeth Otto |
My dear
mother, we called her Mom, was the sweetest, most understanding person one
could find. She was of a quiet,
retiring nature. Everyone loved
her. Mom had four sisters and four
brothers. There were many serious
sicknesses in our family, but Mom nursed them all. Her sisters teased her by saying “ |
Em
Rafert |
Our |
Uncle
Al Rafert also lived in Indianapolis; he worked in the carpet department in a
big store. He and Aunt Annie often came
to our house. Two of Mom’s brothers came
to live with us. Their board money
helped a lot to buy food, etc. Al was a
bricklayer and had little work in winter.
Sometimes he’d come home a bit tipsy but was always in a wonderful
humor. He was good to us. Art worked at a furniture store. He was a very quiet fellow. At age 19 he got pneumonia and died in our
house, he was the first person I saw die.
Charles
Otto |
Mom
borrowed the coal money from |
At times Uncle Billy Rafert came to
visit a few days from San Diego. He was
so handsome, but he had an injury in his leg from the war and needed a
cane. He would take Edna and me to show
downtown and treated us like queens.
Such a gentleman! He always sent
a check for $100 to Mom and she’d use it to pay Uncle Charlie Otto for the
coal. When he died, he left some money
to my Aunt Em and a bit to Mom.
Bena
(Rafert) Quack |
Aunt Bena was Dad’s sister and I often stayed with her in the
summer. She only had one girl, Clara
who later lived in |
Rafert
Family 1923 |
We
all gave Mom our salary until we were 21 years old; I got to keep 50 cents a
week from my pay. My sister Edna began
working in Uncle Doc’s grocery store on Saturdays when she was 12. At age 14 she went to work for a
milliner. Edna did not go to High School,
but later went and took a business course.
All the boys had paper routes; they took the papers on their
bicycles. |
Walt Rafert |
I remember
the Lusitania’s sinking in May 1915.
I read the newspaper to Mom after school as she peeled the potatoes
for supper. It was a terrible tragedy,
some 1200 persons killed. Then we knew
the war was coming. Later Walt and a
friend joined the Marines and spent many months in |
I
worked at Indiana Dry Goods for $4.00 a week when I was 16. I worked from
Rev. Harry Welp |
It was
while I was working at Kingans that I met Harry, it was the summer of
1919. He was in Seminary in |
Harry & Alma’s
wedding |
Two years
and two months after we met, we were married on Wednesday, October 12th,
1921. Our church at that time had the
style of many palms and decorations at a wedding. We had no money for all of that, so we were
married in our parlor at home on Merrill Street. My dress was white crepe. Aunt Em Kattau made it for me but made me do all the handiwork on
it (seed stich). I made my veil. Edna, my sister, was bridesmaid, and wore
peach color, and Erma, Harry’s five-year-old niece, wore white. |
The
day after our wedding we left by train from Indianapolis to St. Louis and from
there by train to
The
coal burning stoves and I didn’t get along well. At home my brothers took care of the stoves
and of carrying in coal buckets. Edna
and I had had other chores. Often when
Phy,
Alma Marian, Doris, & Harry Paul
& Phyllis Doris,
Vera, Phyl, Tom, & Ruth |
Phyllis was
born on October 15th, 1922 while her Dad was preaching in
church. Her sister Marian followed on
Harry & Alma
Ken & Ruth, Vera & Bob, Bob
& Doris, Phyl & John, Barb & Tom |
Elizabeth
(Otto) Rafert |
My
mom died of a heart ailment in 1945.
At one of Mom’s last attacks, the attacks seemed to come the last four
Novembers, I told her, “Mom, we need you yet”, she said; “Oh no, you all have
your families now and good partners.
Pop and |