Oren R.

Carter
History of my life
Started March 26, 1958, finished April 28, 1958
(this is typed how he has written it)
I am in hopes that some of my future generations
may profit from the mistakes I have made they have
read this brief history.

I was born in New Cumberland (now Matthews,

Indiana) on the banks of the Mississinewa River, also known at that time as
Buckwheat Bluff, in a log cabin on June 7, 1887. My first recollection of boyhood
days is when I lived on a farm with my parents and sister about 3 miles from
Matthews. It was here that my sister and I first started to school which was about
1 miles from home in the country. Those days were a lot of fun playing tag,
jumping, and blind-mans bluff on nice days at school. In the winter, sister and I
used to walk on snow drifts that were 3 and 4 feet high it sure was fun.
While living on this farm, my father became very ill and he went to Christs
Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, for an operation for stones in the bladder. After 3 of 4
weeks, he came back home, but his health was not very good, and I was too small
to do any farm work. So Dad sold all of the stock and farm implements and moved
back to Matthews, and we lived in one of his brothers house (Uncle John) and
Dad got a job at a general store, groceries, dry goods, notions, etc. It was then that
I had a wonderful time as a boy, swimming and baseball in the summer and ice
skating in the winter. While in school on bad weather days, we would play go-inand-go-out-the windows, which boys and girls played together. I enjoyed this, as
like most boys I had a little school sweetheart who I could choose and of course
kiss in the end. We also had a lot of parties at different houses where we would
play post office, which was right up my alley, so I got to kiss all the girls before
party ended. School in those days was only 7 months, so I had a lot of time for fun.

My fathers health did not seem to improve much, so when I was 11 years of age
I started working in a bottle factory (glass) after school was out, working on
weekdays and there on weeknites alternating, to help out at home as much as I
could. I worked 9 hours a day for $6 a week. When I was 14 years old, my father
passed away on April 13, 1902. He was 63 years old.
A short time after that, my mothers brother, Uncle Charley, who lived in St.
Louis, Missouri, wrote my mother and asked her to let me come to St. Louis, and
he would give me a college education and bring me up in the firm where he was
business manager of the Belding Bros. Silk firm. But mother did not tell me
anything about it for a long time as she refused to let me go. So Uncle Charley
came to Matthews on a short visit to see how we were making out and what should
be done. He found out that my father owned a grocery bill of $50, and he advised
my mother that I should quit school and pay off the debt and he would help her
with rent and other necessities. I was in the 8th grade of school at the time, so I
went to work in the bottle factory on weekdays and on weeknites until the bill was
paid. I felt like a heavy load was put on me and I wanted to finish grade school
education, so when I worked at nites, I would get up and go to school in the
daytime, and when I worked days, the teacher would send my assignments with
sister, and I would send back my reports with her. I managed to keep up with the
class, and I passed the examination and graduated with the class. I realized I had to
go to work now that I was thru school, but I didnt want to go back to the factory
as it was very hard and hot work, so I got a job on a farm making $20 a month and
board and room. I did not like farming so after one season I quit and went to work
in a stove factory which paid better money and I would be home where I could
have some pleasure with the boys and girls I knew while in school.
In the summer of 1903, my Uncle Charley sent for me to come to St. Louis for a
months vacation and my mother agreed to let me go. I sure had a wonderful time
going swimming and to some ballgames the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis
Browns also there. It was the first time I was ever on a train. I was 16 years old.
After I came home I got a job in a grocery store working from 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
to 8 p.m. Monday thru Friday, and Saturdays from 5:30 a.m. to noon to 1 a.m.
Sunday. After a couple of years I got tired of such long hours at only $8 a week. I
decided to quit. When I was 18 years old I had a chance to go to Indianapolis, Ind.,

for a friend of ours had some relatives there where we could get board and room. I
got a job right away at Eli Lilly Co. at $9 a week. Soon after I got interested in
bowling and bowled with a team at Eli Lillys. I also took up dancing and I finally
met a very lovely girl by the name of Flora Pltimner and we went to a lot of dances
and had a wonderful time together. We finally became (word is missing; could
have been engaged) and when her mother (who was a widow) found it out she
ordered me away and told me to let her daughter alone until I was at least making
$18 a week. This was disappointing to me as I really thought I was in love.
However, we managed to see one another quite often at some of her girlfriends
homes.
One night while eating my supper at a restaurant, I met an old school chum of
mine from home (Ernest Lambert). We had a lot of things to talk about. He said his
dad was sending him through a business college, but he wasnt very much
interested in it. He said he had a friend in Omaha, Nebraska, who had written to
him to come there as there were plenty of jobs, so he asked me if I would like to go
with him. I told him that I could not afford it, so he said if you will go with me, I
will pay your way from Chicago to Omaha. I asked him to give me a few days to
think it over. At the factory I saw the boss promote a cousin of his to a better job in
the department, who was hired after I was, so like a foolish young man, it made me
mad and besides I couldnt be with Flora as much as I wanted, so I decided to quit
and go with him.
When we arrived in Omaha, we found a place to board and room, and as I only
had a couple of dollars left, I had to put up my watch for security with the landlady
for a weeks room and board. We started out the next day to look for a job and all
we could find at the time was selling a disinfectant for bugs, cockroaches, etc. This
was in August 1908. We did pretty well for a couple of weeks, but it was very
uncertain, so I applied for a job at a wholesale and retail grocery (Courtney & Co.).
After about 2 weeks of doing nothing I got a job as a cashier in the cheese, pickle
and olive department. I finally was promoted to take charge of the department and
was doing real well, but again I became interested in girls and went to a lot of
dances which would keep me up late at nite, so I finally got to the point where I
couldnt get to work on time. After about 7 months, I was discharged.

I then got a job on a fruit and vegetable farm one mile east of Council Bluffs,
Iowa, across the Missouri River from Omaha. Every Saturday nite, I would go to
Omaha to meet my girlfriend and to an all-night dance. Her name was Maude
Franklin. One nite we won first prize for waltzing sure had some wonderful times
together. I think I was falling in love again when I heard from home that my half
brother Charley was about to die and my other half brother Milo from California
was there whom I had not seen since I was a little boy and I really wanted to see
him.
In July 1909, I came back home to be with my two brothers with the idea of
returning to Omaha but financial circumstances made me change my mind. I went
to Muncie, Ind., where I got a job at the Whiteley Malleable Co. in the foundry as a
molder. While working there I met a girl by the name of Ethel who was a coremaker in the same plant. After several dates, going to dances we started going
steady. We were finally engaged to be married, but I found out she was seeing a
married man on the side so I broke the engagement. After a coupe of years I left
the Malleable and went to work for H.W. Jones, who had a grocery store on
Walnut Street in Muncie. I was not satisfied, so I quit and went to work for another
groceryman where the gas office is now. In the meantime, attending various
dances, I met a Louise Bott. As I was only getting $11 a week at the grocery, I
decided to take an offer as an apprentice molder at the Muncie Foundry Co., as it
would pay more money.
In November 1912, Louise and I were married by Father Schmidt in the priests
parsonage. She was sure a sweet girl with golden hair and very fair complexion.
She was 17 years old at the time and I was 25 years old. A short time after our
marriage I joined the molders union AFL, which entitled me to the union scale at
that time of $19 a week. In August 1913, our first child was born, a little girl we
named Thelma. We sure were happy for we both wanted a girl. Then in February
1915 another little girl was born. We named her Doris. In 1916 we moved to
Connersville, Ind., as I was offered a better paying job at the Amsted Foundry as
they were working on war supplies. We lived there for about two years until a
strike was called by the union. After about seven weeks of the strike I realized I
had better get out and look for a job somewhere else. During this time, Louise and
the two girls went back to Muncie and stayed with her sister Eva and we stored our
furniture.

I heard they were needing molders in Anderson, Ind., so I left with a friend of
mine for Anderson, and we got a job right away at the Lavelle Fdg. Co., but it sure
was hard and dirty work. I heard they wanted a molder at a brass and aluminum
fdg. So I applied for it and was hired. It was much easier work and not as dirty.
After about 2 months of boarding and rooming I found a house furnished. I sent for
Louise to come and look at it. So she came over on a Saturday afternoon and we
stayed at a hotel which was the first time she had ever been in a hotel overnite. The
next morning we went to look at this place. We decided to take it so we could be
together until we could find a house to rent. Before I found this house, I had started
taking instructions in the Catholic faith.
We were not satisfied living in a furnished house as we had our furniture stored,
but rented property sure was scarce in Anderson. So we managed to buy a place in
Park Place on Walnut Street for a small down payment, and the rest to be paid thru
the Anderson Loan Association by the month. It was while living here that two
more little girls were born Rita in July 1920, and Pauline in March 1923.
In 1922, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. was advertising for agents, and with
the advice of my lovely wife, I decided to try it, as foundry business was getting
very slow. I did very good in the insurance field for about 3 years, then the bottom
fell out at the Delco-Remy plants here and I stood to lose a lot of the insurance I
had written, which I tried to carry along hoping that things would get better and the
people would take their insurance up again. However, the insurance company sent
a field man out on my debit and found out what I was doing and I was fired
immediately without any chance of protecting myself. That was in 1926. I then got
a job as an agent with the Western Southern Insurance Co., but things were still at
a standstill at Remys and again I made the same mistake by trying to carry some
of the peoples insurance and again I was fired after about 2 years, and in addition I
was charged with embezzlement, but when it finally came to trial in 1929 the
charges were thrown out and I was released (Thank heaven as I was not guilty).
In July 1928, our only son was born, and I worked for a while selling radios
which were operated at that time by batteries. I wasnt making very much and we
had to borrow money from a loan company to make ends meet. We realized that I
had better try and get some steady work some place, so thru some friend of ours in
Muncie I got a job at Glascocks in Muncie in January 1929, and I really made

some pretty good money as it was on a piecework basis. So we moved back to

Muncie again; however, in June 1929 I was laid off on account of slack business,
but in about 2 weeks I got a job at the Delco Battery plant thru a very good friend
on June 30, 1929. And I remained there until July 1, 1955, when I retired on
pension.
During the year from 1929 until the death of my lovely wife on Oct. 30, 1931, we
had some very hard times, in fact, we had a mortgage on our furniture all the time
in order to keep things going with our lovely family. There were times when I felt
that things would never work out, but I always believed that what is to be, will
be, and we kept right on. But the real blow came to me when the good Lord called
my lovely wife to his home in Heaven. For a year or so I didnt know what to do
with myself as I now had my dear children to look after alone and I was pretty
heavily in debt. I was determined to keep my children together for I knew where
there is a will, there is a way. With the help of my two oldest girls we managed
somehow. Doris quit school in her junior high school year to keep house and we
got along real good. Finally the two oldest girls got married (also Pauline), and
there was only Rita, Jack and I left. We finally broke up housekeeping. Rita went
with some girlfriends of hers to light housekeeping, and she was working in the
Treasurers office, and I boarded Jack out with a Mrs. Smith who had a son a year
younger than Jack. I got a place to room in a private home and ate at restaurants.
This situation went on until October 1946. After 15 years a widower, I married a
Mrs. Mamie Poor. Jack joined the Navy in 1945, but again I was to have a
disappointment as Mamie passed away 22 months after our marriage in 1948.
Again I was alone, but not much interested in getting married again as I was
enjoying myself in playing cards with old friends and bowling one nite a week as
well as CIO No. 489, and also the recording secretary of the District Auto Co.,
which would meet every other month in different cities in Indiana and Kentucky. I
really enjoyed this work in the union and really got to meet some wonderful people
in my travels as well as conventions of the International Union as a delegate which
would meet in different cities in the U.S.
One of the greatest thrills of my life, I believe, was when I received word from
my son, who I had not seen for a couple of years, was returning to the States at the
Brooklyn Navy Yards, so I planned to meet him in New York City at the Grand

Central Station, and it was a meeting I will never forget with the most wonderful
boy in this world. I arrived the last week of June 1949 so I could spend several
days with him before he would be discharged on July 8, and I was to be a delegate
to a convention in Milwaukee on July 11. So I spent 9 days with him, and I dont
believe any father had a more wonderful time than we had together, going to
legitimate stage plays at night, ice skating reviews, nite clubs, and during the day
we would go to a baseball game at the Polo Grounds or Yankee Stadium which
was a wonderful sight. He also took me aboard a ship he was on overseas and that
sure was a thrill. We also walked across the Washington Bridge and out to the
Statue of Liberty. I shall always cherish this trip until I die. When Jack came home
he lived with his sister Pauline and worked at the battery plant where he previously
worked and maintained his seniority until September, when he entered Indiana
University as a pre-med student, which he used his GI insurance to carry him thru.
After seven years of studying and hard work on his part and his ambitions, he was
graduated in June 1955 and took his internship at the Mercy Hospital in Gary for
one year and started practicing in June 1957 at Hobart, Ind.
I have the most wonderful and dearest children in the world, and they are all
happily married now. My sons-in-law are all wonderful husbands, also my
daughter-in-law. I have at this time 23 grandchildren which I am also very proud
of. I met a widow woman from Anderson, a Mrs. Marie Parker, on Jan. 1, 1951,
and started to go with her in April. After several dates I began to feel I needed a
companion again, so we were married on Oct. 20, 1951. We have had some lovely
times so far and I hope we will always be happy together. Since my retirement I do
a lot of reading, television, playing cards on weekend and some fishing in the
summer.
Although I have had some very trying times in my life, I have really enjoyed it
very much. I never realized that some time I could just enjoy life and not have to
work hard, but thanks to the wonderful CIO and Social Security, my pension has
made it possible.
May God bless my dear, loving children and grandchildren. If my son and
daughters have anything to add to this story, they have my permission.

Postscript by Doris (Carter) Rooney

I enjoyed reading this story of my fathers life. I remember quite a few of the
things he wrote about. He mentioned the hard times after our mother died. How
true, but we knew he loved us very much, and we were willing to do everything
possible to keep us all together.
It is 1977 now, and Dad passed away in 1965 at the age of 77. We girls still live
in Muncie and Jack in Hobart. Every Christmas we get together with our families
for a reunion. The family is still growing and Dad would have been so happy to see
them all. One grandson is a priest and several are college graduates. Since 1958,
there are four more grandchildren. Quite a few of them are married, and at this
time he would 32 great-grandchildren. His widow, Marie, passed away in May
1974.