Looking west; Evelyn and Mary (Mamie) Claus Young

In 1849, the value of this lot jumped from seven to two hundred dollars when, according to tax records, Henry Schuetz built a log house on this lot. The value held fairly constant until 1895, when in rose to $460. My assumption is that the north, lower, portion of this house is log and the southern portion was added by Michael Reller in 1895, and the house still exists in 2007.

Michael Reller

Michael Reller was born September 1, 1826 in Rheinpfalz, Germany and came to the United States sometime before he married Mary Deakick in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. She was born in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany on April 22, 1833. Michael was a wheelwright who, by one account, “manufactured and dealt in wagons, plows, buggies, etc. doing a wholesale and retail business.” His shop was located on Lot 29.

The following information describes his family in 1903:
Michael and Mary had eleven children: Michael (Jr.?) deceased; Charles, a painter in Barnesville; Rev. Henry, a clergyman in the German Lutheran Church; John, a farmer in Smithfield, Iowa; Louis, a grocer in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania; Otelia, deceased; William of Chicago, Illinois; Amelia, who married Ernst Rochow; Edward, deceased; and Otto, deceased.

Edward F. Young

Edward and Mary (Mamie) Young had five Children: Ada, Lillian, Lewis and Paul (twins), and Evelyn. Lewis later lived at Lot 12 and Paul at Lot 44.

Oral History

About 1923, when Ed Young lived in this house, it was his son Paul’s job to bring the cows from a field behind Lot 45 (which was owned by Adolph Claus, Mamie’s father) to the barn behind Lot 11 and it was his twin brother, Lewis’ job to then milk the cows. Hulda Landefeld, who lived with her father George Landefeld at Lot 19 always managed to visit her aunt, Dorothy Feiock, who lived at Lot 24 about milking time in order to have an excuse to talk to Paul. In 1927 they were married and in 1977 they celebrated their fiftieth anniversary. Hulda recalled having a little spat with Paul during one of these meetings and that Paul brought her a candy bar to make up.

Henry Zwick, whose family operated the telephone switchboard, had four (?) children: Frank, Molly, and Katherine, and Laura (?).

Paul Young recalled that while he lived at Lot 11, during a severe storm, hailstones bounced off the roof of Michael Reller’s shop on Lot 29 and broke windows in their house.