TheSchmitts.Org!

To continue with the Nashville, Illinois branch of the family.  Aunt Bert and Uncle John (Bertha Schmitt Meier and John Meier) didn't have any children.  They lived in a little house in Nashville. Their house did not have an indoor bathroom, they had an outhouse.  When your cousins were small (My kids) we would stop by and see Aunt Bert on every trip we made north by auto.  The kids thought that the outhouse was neat.  They would all manage to make 2 or 3 trips out to it during even a short hour or two visit.  Aunt Bert dearly loved the children, and was always glad to see them.  Uncle John was a carpenter.  He was a real character.  He helped General Black Jack Pershing whip the Kaiser to wind up World War one.  As a matter of fact, as a young boy, I was under the impression that Black Jack never would have gotten the job done if John hadn't been there to help him get things right.  I am under the impression that John hailed from the St. Louis area. As far as I know, John had 3 loves in his life, Aunt Bert, baseball and Falstaff beer.  I don't believe John was a St. Louis Cardinal fan.  If I remember right he was a Giant fan.  Uncle John had a favorite expression.  It was the word BANG.  He would be telling some tale, and if he paused or said the word and it was usually followed with the word BANG.  One time when I was about 4 or 5 Uncle John carried me with him to get something.  We made it as far as the Tavern down by the railroad tracks.  When dad found us I was sitting on a bar stool drinking orange soda pop and John was holding the line against the Huns.   For some reason, Ma got mad as hell.  Aunt Bert and Uncle John died within a week of each other in December of 1970.  They are buried at Nashville.