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Note: H00003
Note: Elsie was a bookeeper -- never had a problem finding employment in Cincinnati, Cleveland or Chicago. She was very bright in school and had a scholarship to continue on at Univ. Cincinnat, but her father made her turn it down and go to work to earn money for the family. She hated him for this all her life.
She became a citizen on April 24, 1922 by the fact of her farther's naturalization in the United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio -- Certificate # 1699747, Petition Volume 31, # 4725.
She loved to read.
She was proud of her family's accomplishments and would do anything for her husband and son.
In later life she got interested in the darndest things (an active, but undereducated mind) -- reflexology, UFOs, ESP)
Elsie lived as a child at:
1. Cincinnati - 2020 Baymiller Street
2. Cincinnati - Bank & Linn Street
3. Cincinnati (Fairmont) - 1881 Baltimore Ave.
When first married she and Ed lived in Mt. Washington.
Other residences in order:
1. Mt. Washington - Beechmont Ave. David born while
here?
Don't think so.
2. Fairview - 2367 Fairview Ave. [lived in Ida's 4 unit Apt.
Bldg.]
Caroline living in house near the Zoo.
3. Delhi Township - 1136 Betty Lane (lived downstairs from
Ida & Walter in a two-family) Caroline lving with them.
Then moved to Cleveland:
4. Parma, Ohio - 4502 or 4507?Redfern Ave. Dave went to Parma
High.Caroline living with us.
Then moved to Chicago, Illinois:
5. Chicago - nr. 70th S. & Western [Carolina returned to Bob
Nees in Cincinnati]
6. Oak Lawn - 102__ S. Keeler Ave. Dave in College at
Muskingum & later Northwestern Univ.
Then moved to:
7. Atlanta, GA
8. St. Louis Missouri
Finally retired back in Cincinnati
9. Cheviot - Tuxworth Ave.
10. Oak Ridge, TN - Garden Apts. for a year, but the
old hometown called
11. Bridgetown - 3775 Robb Ave. Carolina having
gone into a nursing home just down the road.
And in the end after Ed died:
12. Oak Ridge, TN - Callahan Towers (became
absentminded, blood chemistry problems, diabetic}
13. Oak Ridge, TN - Oak Ridge Retirement Center
{supervised care}
14. Oak Ridge, TN - Briarcliff health Care Center (died
day after being transferred here).
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Personal statement by Elsie Reichle.
"I, Elsie Nees Reichle, am writing some things I remember as a child & older. I was 3 1/2 years old when my father left Germany.
My father, Alber Frederick Nees, was born in Gottchild Oberstein Germany on 6/16/88. My mother Carolyn (Lena) Bach Nees inherited her father's house when he passed away. The rest of the family took money. When Pop decided to come to America with several friends, he & Mom sold the house & he took most of the money with him.
Pop and his friends went to Novia Scotia. He & his friends worked in the coal mines. It was hard work & he did not like it. He did not take care of his money and it was gone before you know it. Pop sent a letter to a family friend in Cincinnati Ohio. Mr. Mueller sent him $75 and let him live in his home. He got a job at the J. H. Day Co., a machine tool company on Harrison Avenue near Spring Grove Avenue. Mr. Mueller made my father send Mom $10 a month. After three years my mother & three kids, Albert Jr., Elsie, Helen Renata, came to Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mom and we three children lived in Neunkirchen, Saar Germany. While Pop was in Cincinnati, she did all kinds of odd jobs, cleaning, sewing, etc. to take care of us. One thing I remember about Neunkirchen. we went to a Circus & believe it or not they had a double deck merry-go-round. I also remember eating ice cream there. It was slushy. I also helped my Mom when she worked for my fathers sister - Helen Eberly. He was a tailor and operated out of his home. I remember thay had a circular staircase. Beautiful wood. My mother used to clean it with creamy milk & it gave the stairs a glossy finish. Finally she put my sister Helen in an orphanage, my brother Albert with a relative and I was sent to a cousin of my fathers in Oberstein, Germany. I lived there about 6 months before we came to Cincinnati, Ohio.I don't remember any of the family. The children did not treat me very nice. One time they tried to force me to swim in one of the mountain streams. It was a shallow stream & Pigeon Forge River always reminded me of same. I have been afraid of water ever since. Another time they put me on high bars & would not take me down. I fell on my face. The mother had a basin of water & soon it looked like a basin of blood. Isn't it strange I don't remember any of their faces. Another time we were up in the mountains. It looked like the hilltop on which Julie Andrews sang "Sound of Music". To the right was a plum orchard & we ate some. In the distance I saw some castles & on top were the {she draws a picture of H_H_H_H}.
Three years after my father left Mom had a neighbor get her tickets for her passage on the Koenigie Louise (Queen Louise). This steamship line was [part of the] North German L[ine]?. The ship was docked at Bremen, Germany. My mother's brother Heinrich took us to Bremen. When we arrived there he found out that Mom's friend & neighbor bought her steerage tickets instead of second class tickets. My uncle changed the tickets for second class & paid for it.
We arrived in New York City 6/6/12 {1912}. We had a lovely stateroom. I also remember the huge dining room. I ate my first omlet on board ship. There was this beautiful large stairway from the second floor to the dining room on the first floor. The purser took a liking to me because I had the Oberstein brogue. He took my hand an showed me many places on board ship. I also remember seeing large fish leap into the air. We did not arrive at Ellis Island. That was for those that came by steerage. First and second class passengers landed at Castle Garden near by. When we arrived on 6/12/12 we were met by the Travelers Aid people. They saw to it that we boarded the train for Cincinnati, Ohio. We arrived at the Pennsylvania Station. Don't know who all was there, or where we slept.
We had a two room apartment. Very large rooms. We also had a large porch the full length of these rooms. We lived at 2020 Baymiller Street. Had 2 outside toilets.
At the corner of Bank and Baymiller Strees was a saloon Next door was a shoe store where we lived. Next to that a grocery store, then a candy & ice cream store. The last one was a building and loan company. We went to a school on 14th Street. There was an old school being torn down across the street from us. We used to bake potatoes in the openings where the basement windows used to be. Every year my parents bought twenty bushel of potatoes from a farmer. We kept them in a huge wooden crate that {once} held our belongings from Germany. You can see that my parents did not miss these potatoes. And I never told them I took them either. They were kept in the basement.
I used to go to a restaurant for Henry Flaig - the candy man & would bring him his dinner every day. He would give me a penny and a bag of pan candy crumbs - vanilla, walnut & French Chew.
On Saturdays Mom {would} bake a huge coffee cake - about 12 " in diameter. I would go to the store and get a half pint of milk. On the way home I would drink most of the cream from the top & then I stopped in a side yard & filled the bottle with water. No one ever said anything and of course I never said a word.
The school across the street from us was finally completed. It was called the Bloom Junior High School. It was a beautiful building - from 1st through 9th grades. They also taught vocational subjects. My older brother Albert learned the printing trade there. We also had a swimming pool & on certain days the girls could use it. Most of the time the boys used it. The boys and girls gynmasiums were separate: next to the school on Dayton Street we had a lovely library. We practically lived there & had lovely librarians who helped us. All of us in the family up to the present time have enjoyed reading books.
Grandma Nees went to night school at Bloom Jr. High School. It was not long and she too read a lot. We used to get the German Press, a daily newspaper. Then she decided to get the Cincinnati Post and began reading it.
We also had a nice place to play in front of the school. One of the ladies {Bob Miller's wife} (at Railway Express) asked me if I ever went to the University of Cincinnati, and I said yes. She was such a snob & I enjoyed lying to her tho it was not a hoby of mine. Our gym class at Bloom Junior High School had to compete with other schools at Nippert Stadium at U.C. I competed in the running broad jump and my score was 12' 11 1/2 inches & I won. They said it was even better than the U.C. girls jumped. So you see I did go to the University of Cincinnati. I just did not go into the buildings to study. One of the buildings had two lions outside in front of the the stairway. Every Sunday for pasttime my sister Helen & I would hike to U.C. and we would sit on those lions. We called one Mick & the other one Mack. I have a picture of them somewhere in my file. We spent many Christmasses at Baymiller St. My father would decorate the tree. It was lit with candles & we all had to watch that they did not tip & burn the tree. We all received some clothing. Each one of us children received some hard candy, nuts & an orange. We all counted our candy to be sure no one else got more than the other. It was only time of the year we got an orange. We children would all go to the Mueller's house & sing carols. She would give each one of us a penny. Our Sunday School gave each child a box of candy too.
My father made us a beautiful red wagon. There was a brewery on Atlantus Street near the Catholic Church. I had to go there and pick up all the useable bottles they disgarded. Pop used to make beer & he used these bottles. I remember when he filled the bottles. I had to hold them while he put the caps on. I also use{d} the wagon to haul ice for a lady on Bank & Colerain Sts. She lived on the second floor & of course I carried it up to her. She would give me a penny for same. All the pebnnies I earned I gave to my mother.
Sometime{s} my sister Helen & I went to sewing school. I think it was a Lutheran School but am not sure. They also sponsored summer vacations. I was allowed to go. They called us "Fresh Air Kids". They paid all the expenses, train & food. I was sent to the Titus family in Markleville, Indiana. The family consisted of Gladys & Oscar & their children Louis M., Ellen, & Rose. They were so good to me and treated me as one of their own.
Later on when I met Ed we visited tham & they liked Ed so much. On April 16th 1932 we were married in the Titus home. A relative from Indiana - Polis - married us. We had many happy years with them & visited often. Louis M, or L.M., as we called him, passed away. The girls married & had families of their own. Gladys and Oscar passed away too. I still correspond with them {the girls}.
We moved to Bank & Linn Street & had more privacy & an indoor privy. From there we moved to 1881 Baltimore Ave. in Fairmont. I got a job at the Schuster Electric Co. Later I worked for the Robert Tailoring C. I had quite a responsible job and I loved it. My father left us and I had the task of taking over the responsibilities and money. Shortly after my older brother got married & wanted nothing to do with us. He even gypted Mom out of two weeks rent he owed her 2 x 7 ($14). He paid Mom $7 per week & I paid Mom $15 and extras. Finally Helen and Charles Thompkins eloped & left me with everything. There was Mom, Alfred, Bob & myself. Pop was supposed to pay $2 a week for each boy but he missed many times.
I met Ed at the Robert Tailoring Co. He had been divorced & his wife got everything - his house, furniture, etc. When Ed's mother passed away he received $3000 which he put into his new home. He also had a second job & would work as late as 10 pm. While he was working on the second job, his wife Mildred started going with other men. One of Dad's friends told him about it & he found out it was true. Pop got a divorce & Mildred got custody of Harlan Edward their son.
Several years later Ed and I were married in Markleville, Indiana while I worked for the Robert Tailoring Co. The labor unions wanted to unionize the company. Our company oaid the best wages of all the clothinbg manufacturers, so if they unionized us the rest would follow. Some of the nicest people got real vicious. They would get drunk at the union halls & then when some of our workers left the building they would beat them up right on the sidewalk. The union offered to pay off our mortgage (Bal $4000 if we would come over on their side. Ed said no. The company was paying his salary & he was loyal to them, Onetime they tried to force us off the levy on the way home from work. There was a 15' drop on either side. Then they dumped about a buschel of broken glass in our driveway. Ed called a friend who turned union, and said that if he ever frightened Grandma, Bob or Alfred he would personally answer to him. He also said - you know Elsie is a good shot (from hunting trips). She has a shotgun on her side of the bed & I have one on the other side. If we see or hear anyone out there at night we will shoot and ask questions later. Now you know why I have such little respect for labor unions. Their tactics were just too dirty and I have never forgotten what they did. I do think unions are necessary but their methods are wrong. The union finally won out. There are very few clothing manufacturers left in Cincinnati. They all moved to New York & then the Mafia got control. {Ed went to work for the Railway Express Agency.} This is about all I am going to write. The family knows the rest of our life together.
Albert Nees was naturalized on April 24, 1922. This automatically made my mother Caroline, brother Albert F. Nees Jr., Elsie Nees (Reichle) and my sister Helen Renata Nees (Thompkins) citizens of the USA. {Bob Nees was born in the US and automatically became a citizen.}"
Elsie Reichle, by her hand
________________________________________
Elsie REICHLE
Birth Date: 16 Jan 1906
Death Date: 15 Mar 1991
Social Security Number: 288-03-8741
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Ohio
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