"As families grow and change, so does the house they inhabit. Memory is selective in all of us. Everyone recalls a time and a place differently. From 1893 when Fred and Abbie Ottley began married life in a two-room log house, to 1927 when they left, 34 years passed away. The time chosen to describe the home is 1910 when all the children were born and were still at home.
Living Room (Front room)
Facing South, the front door opened into what was always called the "front room." Two hug tubs of oleanders bloomed there and facing the entry were narrow, enclosed stairs leading to two upstairs bedrooms. Under the stairs was a "cubby-hole" storage area for laundry and medicines. A mammoth walnut pump organ stood alongside the staircase. It had been ordered from a Sears Roebuck catalog whose packing box was used by the children to play "store." Two windows faced South and East, geraniums growing in pots on the windowsills. Curtains were of starched white lace and dark green pull-down blinds kept the room cool and pleasant in summertime. There was an oblong black heating stove on the East wall whose stovepipe went through the ceiling heating one upstairs bedroom. Along the north was was a wire cot with drop-leaves covered with quilts. This was used for company, as Grandad's resting place and for sick children.
In one corner were wall shelves holding precious plates from England and a white porcelain hen atop a nest. These shelves had fancy napkins placed on them, three per shelf arranged to show a pretty border. Above two doors hung embroidered samplers which said, "Home Sweet Home" and "Welcome." Photographs on the wall in old gilt frames were of Grandad's mother and Granmother's father. In early days log and board walls were covered by a heavy cheesecloth-like fabric called factory. Then "whitewashed" with a lime solution but later beige colored wallpaper was purchased and hung. Ceilings were whitewashed and the paper had a narrow border, usually of flowers where walls and ceiling met.
Wood floors in the front room were covered in carpets made from saved rags. These Grandmother would sew together in long strips and two children would sit beside the sewing machine on the floor -- one to cut threads and the other to wind the lengths into large balls. These would then be sent to Liza Chandler who would weave the carpeting. Grandmother was very creative, often using the children's color crayons to achieve the combination she wanted Liza to make.
Spring housecleaning was a glorious upheaval and meant days of hard work. Bed ticks (mattresses covered in heavy canvas ticking) were filled with fresh straw, pillows with new feathers. Carpets were taken up, cleaned, and new straw placed on the floor. Then the carpets were refastened with tacks over this fresh padding which was wonderful to walk on for a long time. the stove would be taken out by the menfolk to reside in a shed or granary and a tin "plate" painted in a pastoral scene was used to cover the stovepipe opening. Curtains would all be washed, blued, starched, stretched, ironed, and re-hung at just-washed windows.
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