Absalom Rosenberger (1849-1934)
 

Excerpts from a manuscript written by Absalom Rosenberger about 1920
Recollections of his early life in Thorntown, Indiana

Birth

"I was born in a log cabin, situated on the banks of Wolf Creek three and one-half miles to the southwest of Thorntown, Indiana, in the year of our Lord December 26, 1849, at two o'clock in the morning .... "

Religion

"When I was four years old my father entered into membership with the Friends, taking the boys of the family along with him. At that time the daughters were Friends for mother was a "birth-right" member and the daughters thereby were accepted as birth-right Absalom Rosenberger members but the boys were excluded because the father was a non-member. He immediately set about becoming a consistent Friend by strict conformity to their demands of 'plainness of dress and address'. A life of self-sacrifice began with me immediately for my father proceeded promptly to clip from the top of my little cap an ornamental button which to my childish eyes was a thing of beauty and a joy forever. To the day of his death my father deported himself in perfect accord with the customs and traditions of the old-fashioned Friends for he was a Friend by convincement and loyal to the last."

Home

"My memory runs back to a time in our neighborhood when nothing but log cabins dotted the landscape and not a carpet of any description covered the floor in any of them. Tongue and groove lumber was unknown so that cracks were opened between the boards of the floors for the admission of fresh air making it unnecessary to give instruction on proper ventilation . . ."

Travel

"The first time I ever went beyond the boundaries of Boone County . . . was when I was about thirteen years old. The four boys of our family accompanied by Abel Barker, a neighbor, and Solomon Johnson, whose home was in Illinois, went in our road wagon to visit the families of Uncle George Rosenberger and our Uncle Christopher and Aunt Mary Decker. It required two days in which to reach our destination (about 40 miles.) We arrived at Uncle George's home after dark and took them by surprise, but we did not find them unwilling to receive us. What times we had for the next week with the young people of the two families. It was in some respects like discovering a new world for I did not before know of the Decker family who had lived many years in that section. The young Folks were full of life and they made the visit most interesting. Two of the Decker boys (Isaac and Jack) were men and had served valiantly in the Civil War and they gave charming stories of army life.

Quaker Lifestyle

"Plainness of dress included a kind of half cut-away coat called a 'shad with standing collar', a vest without lap of any kind and trousers of the ancient flap model such as the Friends used to wear. The hair might not be parted but pulled down straight on the forehead giving the appearance of having been cut to the pattern of a wash pan covering the head producing a decidedly round-head effect. The color of the garments should be at least free of any gaudy appearance. Likewise the women must go in modest apparel, ribbons not too glaring in color and showing by every other evidences that they belonged to our beloved society. Plainness of address meant the use of 'Thee and 'thou' in speaking to single individuals instead of the plural form of 'you' in the singular which was in common use generally among all classes except the Friends. Instead of using the heathen names of the month and of the days of the week, the Friends designated them by the numerals such as First-day and Second-day and so on through the days of the week and the months in like manner as First-month, Second-month and so on. To depart therefrom was a serious offense even punishable by disciplinary measures . . . My father never put into disuse his Quaker garb even when my mother continued to wear her "dove-colored" bonnet until her death."

School

" . . . I never failed to receive the usual reward of merit for faithfulness in 'speaking pieces' On the afternoon of Sixth-day when all were required to come up to the platform and declaim, a real ordeal, which caused many a bashful boy to fall from grace in the eyes of the teacher. In all my younger years I did not allow a prize for good work escape me except in penmanship and in it partial success crowned my efforts. William P. Brown conducted writing schools of evenings in school houses within the radius of four or five miles of his home whereby he accumulated a few dollars for his own personal expenses. One was held in our schoolhouse which was attended by most of the young people of the neighborhood. The first thing on the first evening all were required to write in their best hand 'This is a specimen of my penmanship' and this was filed away until the end of the term by the teacher. The last thing on the last night was another effort at 'This is a specimen of my penmanship.' The teacher then pinned every young scholar's two writings together and passed them to judges who had been invited in for the purpose and they were to examine and award prizes, first, second and third. It so came to pass that my brother Jeremiah took first prize as the best penman, Nathan the brother younger than myself second prize as being second best and it fell to my lot to win the third prize as having made the most improvement. The boys teased me with the declaration that there was need for improvement in my case . . . it was the Quaker ideal that every boy and every girl belonging to their 'Religious Society' should have a common school or elementary education and in so far as was possible that all should take advanced work at their academics. It was at the Academies that the teachers were prepared for the work of teaching in their lower grade neighborhood schools. No child should be permitted to grow up without having passed the three 'R's' as the term was applied to reading, writing and arithmetic. Thus illiteracy was practically unknown in the Friends."
 

Submitted by: Doug Russell
Source: Some excerpts from Absalom Rosenberger's recollections of his early life in Thorntown, Indiana, courtesy of Mrs. Homer G. Rosenberger, Jr. [Alice Evelyn Martin], 1958 and R. Douglas Russell, Tacoma, WA, 2003