Farmer Gary has been incredibly patient as this blog has explored mostly my ancestors, as we peer back over the decades. But now, it is (ahem!) time to explore the story of a special clock from long, long ago. Gary remembers that his mom really wanted to inherit that clock. She’d grown up with it, after all. Every Sunday evening, her father – Mike Mehling – would smoke his pipe. Then he would gently remove the clock from its shelf…
Exploring the many branches of our family tree (another retirement project) is fascinating. Some of those limbs, though, are rather gnarly. Let’s get right to it: There was a murder in Ferdinand back in 1909. Gary‘s great-grandfather on his mom’s side, Henry Schum, was killed while trying to break up a drunken brawl. Note: I’m hoping enough time has passed that I won’t offend anyone by mentioning the coinciding murder of the English language. Coverage of the patriarch’s death unfurled…