It is hard to track down broken romances after a
century. Take the example of Frank J. Anderegg. Anderegg
(1882-1957) was born in the Wood County hamlet of Dowling. Son of Jacob and Anna Maria, he was of German-Swiss
extraction. He was born in Perrysburg
township, married Eliza Voland, a German-speaking girl, and raised two
daughters. Anderegg was a farmer in
later years. Frank and his wife are
buried in the New Bellville Ridge cemetery in Dowling, which may have been her
hometown.
In a letter dated March 16, 1907, he wrote to a
(potential?) girlfriend who also lived in Dowling. The letter was sent from Lime City, another
northern Wood County hamlet. After some
not-very-aggressive lines proclaiming his devotion to the lady, Frank wrote
some unsentimental words about his work:
I
would have had a fine time coming home in the mud and dark. Well I hope that I will not be disturbed any
more writing this letter, for Butcher Reitzle came and I had to help him kill
the calf. But on account of that, [I] hope
it will not clear the love in this letter….
Even
a century later, I’m tempted to shout: “Don’t do it, Frank. Don’t mix butchering and pitching woo in the
same letter.” But I’m way too late. The only Reitzel identified specifically as a
butcher in Perrysburg Township is Chester Reitzel (1895-1974), listed in a 1916
Farm Journal Directory of Wood County,
Ohio. Chester was only 11 or 12 in
1907; perhaps his father Lewis Reitzel
(1855-1938) was the butcher.
Almost every farmer in those days could butcher, so the identification
is by no means certain.
Frank’s
1907 love letter was decorated with “copperplate” calligraphy. Copperplate was a style of handwriting
popular in the late nineteenth century and know for its odd slant, frills,
curlicues, and use of animals and birds as decorations. Use of copperplate was considered the sign of
a well educated person. An contemporary accounting
book called The Farmers’ Manual and
Complete Accountant, distributed by The American Stock Food Co. in nearby
Fremont, gave as its very first lesson to its rural readership instructions on
copperplate. Frank Anderegg may or may
not have seen this book, but whatever the source, Frank knew about copperplate
– or at least knew that it was the sign of a cultured man.
There
are few clues to identify Frank Anderegg’s sweetheart beyond her name on the
envelope. Heidtman is a name still found
in the Perrysburg area. But time heals
all wounds, and I hope that, as fervent as Frank Anderegg’s love was in 1907,
he found happiness with Eliza, and that Francis was happy too.
