A Family Heirloom, the Keller Coverlet

 I wondered which project I would write about in my president's letter in a 2021 genealogy newsletter. While deliberating, a mysterious package from my husband’s brother and sister-in-law arrived. We opened it excitedly, wondering what this large box might contain. What we found has led me on a new genealogical journey.  

 

They sent us a beautiful 169-year-old, elaborately designed, handmade cotton or linen and wool coverlet.  It was woven in North Liberty, Knox County, Ohio. My husband’s mother, Ruth, called it the “Keller coverlet. ” A photograph of his mother with the coverlet is labeled as such. 

Ruth Workman Studebaker with the Keller coverlet, collection of Stephen Studebaker

The coverlet was kept in a cherrywood cupboard in my husband’s great-grandfather Daniel’s home. Daniel Keller built this house in about 1874. Due to the coverlet's 1852 date, likely, it was also in Daniel’s father, Henry's home.  Daniel wasn't born until December 1851.  Whether it belonged to Henry's father, Benjamin, is unknown.  Daniel and Henry lived in North Liberty, Pike Township, Knox County, Ohio.  Benjamin lived in Fairfield County. 

                                                            Daniel Keller, collection of Stephen Studebaker

A corner of the coverlet on the coverlet has the name Jacob and what I believed was Aylor or Saylor. I thought these were two first names, and the Keller last name was not on the coverlet. I researched all of the Kellers. While there were many Jacob Kellers, none lived in this part of Ohio, let alone in Knox County. This made me rethink my assumption.  It soon became evident that this was the name of the weaver.  Research on coverlets substantiated this.

                                            Close-up of the Keller coverlet, collection of the author

Coverlets started being used in the late 1700s in America.   They became prevalent in the mid-1800s. Initially, women probably made them at home using smaller looms.  Later, men and women were weaving coverlets.  Sometimes, traveling weavers would come to town, set up temporary shops, and weave to order.  Coverlets would be made in two pieces and then sewn together.  Patterns were generally geometric.  Later, figured and fancy designs became popular and were almost always made by professional weavers, who were men.  These were made in factories or by individuals.  Many figured and fancy weavings, such as the Keller coverlet, would include inscriptions with the weaver’s name and his location.

                        The Kalida Venture, Kalida, Ohio, Fri, Feb15,1850, Page 3, Col 5.

If the coverlet had come into the Keller family when it was new, Henry may have given it to his wife, Elizabeth, to commemorate the birth of his first child, Daniel.   Or possibly Benjamin, Henry's father, gave it to them.  Daniel may have been gifted the coverlet upon the date of his first marriage or even the birth of his first child with his wife.  We will never be able to prove any of these theories.  

Elizabeth Grubb Keller, collection of Stephen Studebaker

                                                  Henry Keller, collection of Stephen Studebaker

Coverlets like the Keller one kept people warm on cold winter nights and made the beds look special during the day.  Depending on which Keller was the original owner, this coverlet has been in the Keller / Studebaker family for four to six generations. It will be passed on through the family for many generations to come.  See http://www.coverletmuseum.org/coverlet.htm for more information.

Originally published in Generations, the newsletter of the Southwest Colorado Genealogical Society.  Updated and edited.

 

Ohio County Agent Becomes a Naval Officer on a Liberty Ship During WW II

                                                                Eldon F. Studebaker, courtesy of Stephen Studebaker

Eldon E. Studebaker, a young Church of the Brethren member, watched as his friends signed up to fight in WWII.  The members of this church had a long history of being pacifists, but for some, this war was different.  After what I am sure was a great deal of soul searching, Eldon signed up for the Navy in May 1944.  He had completed his education in agriculture at Manchester College and Ohio State University.   Because he already had a degree, the military sent him to Princeton and later to the Armed Guard Training School in Norfolk, Virginia, for further training.  His college education and military training allowed him to obtain the rank of Ensign quickly.

Newspapers.com, The Journal Herald, Dayton, Ohio, 4 Mar 1945, Page 10

The Navy assigned him to the liberty ship, S.S. Harold T. Andrews.  He commanded a twenty-four-man armed guard aboard the Andrews, where most of the crew were civilians.  Liberty ships served various purposes in the war, including carrying food, fuel, vehicles, and aircraft.  Some were used as troop carriers or for transporting prisoners of war.  The Navy used some of these vessels as hospital ships.  Eldon’s ship was carrying Coca-Cola syrup, uniforms, and Studebaker trucks.

                             Liberty Ship Harold T. Andrews, photo taken by Eldon F. Studebaker, courtesy of Stephen Studebaker

Their ship left Rhode Island and crossed to the Pacific through the Panama Canal, heading for Manu, just north of Papua, New Guinea.  Manu had been a hotly contested island, finally liberated from the Japanese by the Americans and Australians in February 1944.  The island was significant to the United States because they used it as a supply hub for shipping items to many other conflict areas.

Map of Manu and  Seeadler Bay, Wikipedia

After a harrowing journey across the Pacific, Eldon arrived at what he called Manu Bay (probably Seeadler Harbor) in Dec 1944.  He photographed his ship in the harbor on December 25, 1944.  Luckily, he avoided the terrible explosion of the U.S.S. Mt. Hood one month earlier in the same harbor.  The Mt. Hood carried ammunition when she went up, killing many sailors on board and sinking seven smaller nearby vessels.

                                                                The Explosion of the U.S.S. Mt Hood, Wikimedia

The days must have seemed long for the men who spent weeks at sea.  Many of the men gambled, but Eldon did not join in.  He noted that when the ship got to Manu, a couple of the card sharks had the rest of the crew’s money.  Eldon spent time reading his prayer book, keeping a journal, and making sketches in the margins of the small book.  He wrote many letters home to his beloved Ruthy and his small daughter Nancy.  Eldon was a farm boy, learning to carve with a pocket knife as a child.  While at sea, he carved things that he saw, including a native outrigger he had photographed from the deck of his ship.  This treasure is in the collection of his son Stephen, who was born during the war.

Photo of an Outrigger Canoe by Eldon F. Studebaker, courtesy of Stephen Studebaker

Back of the Outrigger Canoe photo, courtesy of the author

               Carvin g of an Outrigger Canoe carved by Eldon F. Studebaker, courtesy of the author

    

Originally published in Generations, the newsletter of the Southwest Colorado Genealogical Society.

Guess Which Ancestor is Coming to Dinner?

 

Elizabeth Steele's great-grandson Isaac Studebaker

What a wonder it would be to dine with Elizabeth Steele Studebaker, my husband’s 3^rd great-grandmother.  Elizabeth Steele continues to live through the name she has passed down to her heirs, with all six of her sons carrying her maiden name as their middle name.  Her story is discussed and speculated around the tables of many of her descendants. It conjures up tales of longing and independence on the frontier.

Elizabeth was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in 1793.  Her husband, Abraham Studebaker, was born there as well.  She must have known him growing up in the same County.  He left for Miami County, Ohio, when he was only 15 years old, taking out land patents there in 1805.  It appears that he went back to Pennsylvania to marry Elizabeth in 1813. Abraham then returned to the Ohio frontier by horseback with his new bride.

The country was still wild and untamed when they came.  The troubles with Tecumseh were fresh in the minds of the settlers.  Living with relatives when they first arrived, they finally moved to their own land sometime after 1814.  Her husband built a log cabin where she raised her family of eleven children. This cabin was often used for services of the German Baptist Brethren Church, to which they belonged.  Six years after she died in 1842, he built a large brick home for his children and his new wife. 

The new wife's house

Stories are told that she must have been very lonely, living so far from her family in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.  Her niece recalled her returning to Pennsylvania alone, by horseback.  This trip would have taken more than twenty days. She left the children at home, the oldest ones, to care for the younger ones.  One story suggested her trip might have occurred in 1836 after the last child was two years old.  She is said to have stayed with her family for several months, leaving her husband and neighbors to wonder if she would return.

So many questions arise from this story.  What was her trip like? What route did she take? Did she have any of the children with her? Was she scared? Why did she stay so long?  Yes, she would be a fascinating dinner guest.   

Elizabeth's 3rd great-grandson Stephen, at their graves

First photograph from The Studebaker Family in America, 1736-1976, v. 1, by Carlock, Faust & Miller, p.188.  Second photograph from The Studebaker Family in America, 1736-1976, v. 1, by Carlock, Faust & Miller, p.57. Third photograph with permission of the photographer's son, Stephen Studebaker.