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Home and Family
In 1919 Grandpa Kull purchased the house at 69 Market Street. He was the proprietor of the Carroll Hardware store located on West Canal Street. Mom was sixteen years old at the time. Mom had an older sister Flossie, who had moved away when she married Noah Martens. They had a daughter named Esther. When Flossie came down with tuberculosis, she, along with Esther, moved back into the Kull home to be cared for by Grandma and Grandpa. A side porch was temporarily enclosed to provide a somewhat isolated room for Flossie. She died in 1921 and Esther was then raised by Grandma and Grandpa. She was like a younger sister to my mom. In 1926 Mom married my dad. They set up housekeeping in the Kull house along with Grandma, Grandpa and Esther. My oldest brother Garry was born in 1927. My brother Dick was born in 1929. Esther moved out in 1932 to go to college. That same year, my brother Roger was born. I was born in 1935, bringing the household total to eight.
Now, with that brief family history bringing us up to the year I was born, let’s take a tour of the house and see what memories are lurking there.
The House at 69 Market Street
Front Porch – The front porch is at the southwest corner of the house. It has green canvas awnings on both the front and side during the summer. There is a glider, a couple of chairs and a low wooden railing that you can sit on. Beside the door is a metal name plate with Grandpa’s name, “S E Kull” in raised letters.
Living Room – You enter the living room from the front porch. On your right are numerous potted ferns sitting inside the bay windows. Straight ahead in the center of the room is Grandpa’s rocking chair, positioned in front of the gas heater. To the right of the heater is Grandma’s cushioned recliner. Grandma has a pencil and note pad handy for communicating with Grandpa. She also has a stick handy that she can use to catch his attention when his rocking is making too much noise. Grandpa is hard of hearing and Grandma is particularly sensitive to the noise of his rocking and to the noise of four young boys. My brothers and I don’t spend much time in the living room.
Parlor – To the left is the parlor. We don’t spend much time here either. This room is rarely used and has an upright piano that is never used. This is the room where my grandfather’s body was laid out for visitation before his funeral. To this day, I cannot smell a collection of flowers without being immediately transported back in time to this room. That was my first close-up exposure to a dead person and I was fascinated with the whole concept of death. When my grandmother thought she was alone, I saw her approach the casket, bend over, kiss him on the lips and walk away. It was the only time I ever saw them kiss. I wanted to know what that kiss had felt like for her. So when no one else was around, I reached into the casket and felt his hand. It was very firm and cold. Since then I’ve given that kiss much thought. I reckon that a goodbye kiss like that would go a long way toward giving one the closure needed after the death of a loved one.
Bedroom – This was my grandparents’ bedroom, another room we boys didn’t spend much time in. But occasionally, after they had gone to bed, I would sneak in to inspect a strange contraption. It would be lying with Grandpa’s clothes on top of the cedar chest at the foot of his bed. I did not know what it was then. But I now know it was a hernia truss. Maybe this explains why Grandpa became a business proprietor instead of a farmer like his father.
Dining Room – The table seating arrangement at supper was always the same. Grandpa sat at one end and Dad at the other. Mom sat in the middle on one side of the table between Roger and me, where she could help us cut our meat or butter our bread. I was next to Grandpa and across from me was Grandma. To her left was Garry and then Dick next to Dad. Mom was a very good cook. Sweet corn was one of the family favorites, especially for Grandpa and Mom. Grandpa always made a second pass over my ears to catch the kernels I missed. And Mom, after eating her fair share at supper, would eat the leftover ears, cold from the refrigerator, later in the evening. One memorable occasion, especially for my brothers, was the time I had requested beans for supper. When we got called down to dinner from upstairs and I saw what was being served, I, with much indignation, said “What, no beans?” and went behind the dining room door to pout. Much to my mortification, everyone else in the room found this to be absolutely hilarious.
Kitchen – The kitchen is where Mom cooked the corn and did not cook the beans. As you enter the kitchen, the sink and pump are located in the far corner. To the right of the sink, next to the back door, is where Mom would set up the wash tub and wash board. To the left of the sink, there is a window facing east. Late one evening in 1937, the entire family couldn’t stop looking out this window. The whole sky was lit up. My grandfather’s store was burning to the ground. This is my earliest memory. I was only two years old but I distinctly remember the lit sky and the commotion in the house. I assume I remember this because the actions and emotions of everyone were like nothing that I had ever seen before. All the adults knew that the store and contents were not insured.
Pantry – To the side of the kitchen opposite the window is a small pantry. In the pantry is a Hoosier cabinet. On the counter of the cabinet is where Mom would sometimes let me mix the margarine. It came in pure white blocks and looked like lard. It also came with yellow color packets that were added and then kneaded in to make it look like butter.
Stairway – In the corner of the living room is the door to the enclosed stairway to the second floor. I don’t recall ever seeing either of my grandparents on the second floor. My brothers and I used to slide down the steps on our rear ends. One time Dick decided to use a blanket and hold up the front end like a toboggan. The blanket didn’t slide and Dick was pulled head first tumbling down the steps. My dad was taking a bath in the bathroom at the top of the stairs. Upon hearing the racket, he jumped out of the tub, only to slip and tumble on the bathroom floor.
Bathroom – During one winter, probably 1940/41, the bathroom was the scene of special Saturday night gatherings. Roger and I were permitted to stay up late. Shortly before ten o’clock we gathered in the bathroom. Dad would bring the radio from the sitting room and plug it in. The bathroom was the only room with a heater. Mom would be sitting on the clothes hamper, Dad on the toilet lid, Garry on the box that covered the lavatory pipes, Dick on the floor and Roger and I wrapped in comforters in the bathtub. The six of us with our bowls of popcorn, settled in to listen to the crazy antics of The Jack Kirkwood Show.
Mom and Dad’s Bedroom – This bedroom also served as the upstairs living room. So this is where our first television was located. Sometime in the early 1950’s Dad was sick in bed. Mom had called Doc Simiele and asked him to stop in. Mom and I were watching the television when the doctor arrived. Doc Simiele started examining Dad and then noticed that the television was out of focus. He stepped across the room, adjusted the picture on the television and then turned back to his patient. Mom and I just looked at each other in surprise. Later, Mom found this to be very amusing and wondered if the doctor’s bill would include a TV adjustment. Mom really had a great sense of humor.
Us Boy’s Bedrooms – The other two bedrooms were shared by us four boys. On hot nights in the summertime, we would sleep on the floor because it was a little cooler. In the winter time, we might have as many as four comforters piled on the beds. The morning barefoot rush to the warm bathroom was always a bittersweet occurrence. You had to go across the landing at the top of the stairs to get to the bathroom. On the second wake up call on school days, Mom would stand at the bottom of the steps and say “Let me see you go across.”
My cousin Esther stored some of her books in the back bedroom. Somewhat unbeknownst to her, she generated my love of reading. She worked as a librarian in Canton Ohio. She would send paperback mysteries and westerns for Mom and me to read. Some of our favorites were Earl Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason and Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe mysteries. But my secret treasures were Esther’s books stored in the back bedroom in a barrister bookcase. Here I had access to books that my mother would never have allowed me to read at such a young age. Here were Richard Wright’s Black Boy and Native Son and Erskine Caldwell’s Tobacco Road and God’s Little Acre.
Cellar – The ceiling of the cellar was unfinished. It was about six feet high and adults had to duck their heads to avoid hitting the pipes that ran underneath the floor joists. The primary heating for the house was a coal furnace located in one room of the cellar. Coal was delivered down a chute, through a window into the furnace room. Grandpa usually tended the furnace. The ashes were shoveled into wash tubs. My brothers would lift them to a cellar window and carry them out to the ash pile in the back alley. The other room in the cellar contained two pumps. One was connected to the cistern and the other to the well. Around the walls were shelves holding many mason jars of peaches, green beans, tomato juice, pickled beets, apple butter, apple sauce, and grape juice. I remember a few times after heavy rains when the water would be knee deep over the floors of the cellar.
Car – I think the car may have been a 1937 Plymouth. I’m not sure of the year but I am sure of the make. Dad worked as a mechanic and body man for Campbell Motors, a garage in Lancaster on Broad Street. I don’t think he ever owned a vehicle that was not a Chrysler product. Mom would sometimes ride the bus to Lancaster with me in tow. We would go to Kresge’s Five and Dime where Mom would shop and always buy a bag of hot redskin peanuts from their nut stand. Then we would cross Main Street to Beiter and Flege’s soda counter for a lemon phosphate. We would then walk to meet Dad at the garage and wait for him to get off work. Before the gas rationing of the Second World War, Dad would sometimes take the whole Ridgway family for Sunday drives. These trips sometimes had destinations and sometimes not. We would occasionally drive to Galena to visit my Grandpa and Grandma Ridgway. Once we drove to Pickerington to attend a Kraner family reunion. I think I’ll always remember the ripe smell of the Pickerington Creamery that permeated the town. I think Dad’s absolute favorite drives were just starting out and seeing where we ended up. Sometimes we would drive to Lancaster and take in a Sunday afternoon movie. One occasion that particularly stands out in my memory was at an Abbott and Costello movie. The movie was interrupted midway through for the announcement that the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor. In looking back on it I am sure this was disturbing news for many in the audience but to me it was merely an interruption to my movie watching.
Grandpa Kull – There were a number of Grandpa’s biblical compendiums and other religious books stored in a backroom upstairs. This and the fact that he delivered a guest sermon at the Methodist Church makes me suspect that he considered going into the ministry in his early years. He was seventy-two years old when I was born. He tried a hearing aid one time. It sat in his vest or coat pocket and had a wire running up to an earplug in his ear. However he would not tolerate the racket that it brought to his head. It may have been faulty but I suspect that after so many years of quiet it was just too much. He seemed very serious and proper from my perspective. I do not recall ever hearing him laugh or joke. He wore a suit, tie and vest to work every day. In hindsight the most amazing thing to me about Grandpa was that after his hardware store burned in 1937, he started over from scratch and reopened his store in a new location at the age of seventy-four.
Grandma Kull – Grandma had been a Kraner before she was married. Her grandfather was among the very first settlers of Pickerington, Ohio. Obviously she was quite elderly when I knew her. She was no longer helping with the house work. I remember her as being very frail and nearly an invalid. I rarely if ever saw her out of the house. She was either in her chair in the living room, her chair in the dining room or her bed. Something that Mom and we four boys found amusing was that she enjoyed listening to the Gene Autry radio show.
Esther Martens – Cousin Esther continued to have a bedroom in the house until she finished college and got a full time job and moved away. This was somewhat of a welcome change for it now gave the six Ridgways three bedrooms. Esther would always return home for Christmas and other festive occasions. She would sometimes take us boys swimming at Miller’s Park in Lancaster or on a picnic at one of the State Parks in the Hocking Hills.
Seated - Dad, Denny, Roger Standing - Dick, Garry, Mom
Garry Ridgway – My oldest brother Garry was eight years older than I. So we did not share many of the same experiences. He played in the band at school and was a manager for some of the sports teams. He was an excellent student and placed well on various scholarship tests during his school years and was president of his senior class. He was drafted into the Army shortly after graduation and served in Korea prior to the Korean War. He was in the 98th Military Government Group and reached the rank of Staff Sergeant. Shortly after being discharged he married the daughter of the proprietor of the local grocery store and started a family of his own.
Dick Ridgway – My brother Dick was six when I was born. He was a good athlete in school. Dick was a little inclined to take advantage of his youngest brother. He also was drafted into the Army shortly after graduating. He was serving in Korea while I was in high school. In the summer of 1951 he was with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division about twenty miles northeast of Hwachon Reservoir in a depression referred to as the “Punchbowl”. During an attack by the Chinese he suffered numerous shrapnel wounds when a grenade exploded in his foxhole killing his companion. He was awarded a Purple Heart. He recovered from his wounds. He got married and raised two children.
Roger Ridgway – My brother Roger was just three years older than I and shares many of these memories. He and I are the only two members of this family still alive. He taught me to drive when I was fifteen. A couple of years ago I had to take a defensive driving course on the internet because I had accumulated too many points due to speeding tickets. I believe that these two things are connected because I don’t recall his ever telling me not to speed. After graduating from high school Roger went to work in Columbus, married and had two children.
Dad – Willard “Bill” Ridgway was ambitious. Not ambitious in the usual sense of wanting to accumulate great wealth. In fact I doubt if that ever entered his mind. He was the son of poor share croppers and his ambition was to make a name for himself in the community. He succeeded at this through active involvement, even leadership, on the Carroll School Board and in the Carroll Lion’s Club. For those of you who have access to a copy of Ray Skinner’s History of Carroll High School, just look at his picture on page 148 if you think he wasn’t proud of his accomplishments. He was always working outside of Carroll during my years there. He worked in Lancaster as an automobile mechanic and body man for Campbell Motors until the war started. During the war he worked at Curtiss Wright in Columbus. After the war he returned to Lancaster and automobile work at Kelly R. Hanna’s garage. Then after a few years he went back to working in Columbus at North American Aviation. Shortly after I joined the Marines he purchased the Carroll Hardware from Grandpa’s brother Frank and managed it until he retired. He would come home in the evening to dinner and maybe a little garden work. I think he was generally well liked by most people in town. He was not overly strict with us boys and left most of the child rearing to Mom. He was a fan of Paul Brown’s Cleveland Browns and a fan of Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams. He could get very upset watching ball games on television later in life. He thought the players had all become over paid prima donnas.
Mom – I realize that a son saying that his mom was the greatest doesn’t really tell you much. But she was. I rely on the authority of others who knew her, particularly her daughters-in-law. Mom was an exceedingly pleasant person to be around. She was talented, cheerful, funny, and fun loving with never a bad word for anyone else. She would compose and perform skits for the WSCS. A good example of her sense of humor is a speech she wrote and delivered sometime in the early 1930’s. You will find a copy of that speech in the appendix. She was an accomplished whistler. I never heard her whistle. Carolyn Fell told me “It was crisp, clear, and full tones whether high or low. She simply put her lips together and out it came.” Kind of like what Lauren Bacall told Bogie. Mom loved to reminisce about her teenage friends, Christine Brandt, Margaret Coffman and Grace Barrow. For a number of years even we boys called her “Midge” like everyone else. This was not disrespectful. I think it was because we recognized that this was how her many friends affectionately referred to her and we wanted to share in that.
Now that we have checked out the house and my family let’s go outside and explore our property and then meet some of the neighbors.
Dick Ridgway – My brother Dick was six when I was born. He was a good athlete in school. Dick was a little inclined to take advantage of his youngest brother. He also was drafted into the Army shortly after graduating. He was serving in Korea while I was in high school. In the summer of 1951 he was with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division about twenty miles northeast of Hwachon Reservoir in a depression referred to as the “Punchbowl”. During an attack by the Chinese he suffered numerous shrapnel wounds when a grenade exploded in his foxhole killing his companion. He was awarded a Purple Heart. He recovered from his wounds. He got married and raised two children.
Roger Ridgway – My brother Roger was just three years older than I and shares many of these memories. He and I are the only two members of this family still alive. He taught me to drive when I was fifteen. A couple of years ago I had to take a defensive driving course on the internet because I had accumulated too many points due to speeding tickets. I believe that these two things are connected because I don’t recall his ever telling me not to speed. After graduating from high school Roger went to work in Columbus, married and had two children.
Dad – Willard “Bill” Ridgway was ambitious. Not ambitious in the usual sense of wanting to accumulate great wealth. In fact I doubt if that ever entered his mind. He was the son of poor share croppers and his ambition was to make a name for himself in the community. He succeeded at this through active involvement, even leadership, on the Carroll School Board and in the Carroll Lion’s Club. For those of you who have access to a copy of Ray Skinner’s History of Carroll High School, just look at his picture on page 148 if you think he wasn’t proud of his accomplishments. He was always working outside of Carroll during my years there. He worked in Lancaster as an automobile mechanic and body man for Campbell Motors until the war started. During the war he worked at Curtiss Wright in Columbus. After the war he returned to Lancaster and automobile work at Kelly R. Hanna’s garage. Then after a few years he went back to working in Columbus at North American Aviation. Shortly after I joined the Marines he purchased the Carroll Hardware from Grandpa’s brother Frank and managed it until he retired. He would come home in the evening to dinner and maybe a little garden work. I think he was generally well liked by most people in town. He was not overly strict with us boys and left most of the child rearing to Mom. He was a fan of Paul Brown’s Cleveland Browns and a fan of Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams. He could get very upset watching ball games on television later in life. He thought the players had all become over paid prima donnas.
Mom – I realize that a son saying that his mom was the greatest doesn’t really tell you much. But she was. I rely on the authority of others who knew her, particularly her daughters-in-law. Mom was an exceedingly pleasant person to be around. She was talented, cheerful, funny, and fun loving with never a bad word for anyone else. She would compose and perform skits for the WSCS. A good example of her sense of humor is a speech she wrote and delivered sometime in the early 1930’s. You will find a copy of that speech in the appendix. She was an accomplished whistler. I never heard her whistle. Carolyn Fell told me “It was crisp, clear, and full tones whether high or low. She simply put her lips together and out it came.” Kind of like what Lauren Bacall told Bogie. Mom loved to reminisce about her teenage friends, Christine Brandt, Margaret Coffman and Grace Barrow. For a number of years even we boys called her “Midge” like everyone else. This was not disrespectful. I think it was because we recognized that this was how her many friends affectionately referred to her and we wanted to share in that.
Now that we have checked out the house and my family let’s go outside and explore our property and then meet some of the neighbors.