My husband’s great-great grandfather, August Meydam, immigrated from Danzig, West Prussia (now Gdańsk, Poland) to Elderon, Wisconsin, USA in the early 1880s. A certified carpenter and wagon maker in Prussia, he brought those skills with him to America. Because of his woodworking ability, he made a lot of things, including his own coffin. While still alive, August stored his coffin in the grainery on the family farm, propped up on some boards to keep it off the floor.
Shortly before August’s death in 1904, the Elderon area received a lot of rain. As a result, the family farm wound up with standing water everywhere. August’s grandson, Edwin Meydam Sr., was 7 years old at the time. His 9-year-old cousin, Bill Meydam, also happened to be visiting.
about 1900.
One day Edwin’s parents, Charley and Helene Meydam, went to Wittenberg, leaving the older boys in charge of their younger siblings, Mollie, age 6, and Herbert, age 2. It feels a little strange or even neglectful today to leave a 9-year-old in charge of younger kids. But back in the days of latchkey kids, parents didn’t worry so much about crime or accidents.
However, everyone knows, even today, that kids left to their own devices… find mischief. This was the case in 1904. I don’t know who had the bright idea, but Bill and Edwin decided “Grandpa’s coffin” would make a great boat for all this sitting water! Before setting off on their adventure, Edwin tied their little tag-along Herbert up in the house. This way he wouldn’t see what they were up to and tell their parents. Then Bill and Edwin lifted the coffin up off the boards it waited on, carried it out of the grainery, and placed it on the standing water in the yard ready to set sail.
The boat ride, by all accounts, was great fun. However, it turned out tying Herbert up wasn’t such a good idea. He got so mad at not being included that he “told on” the two boys. I don’t know what the consequences were. What does it say in the parenting book for ‘what to do when your kids turn grandpa’s coffin into a boat‘? Regardless, this story has passed down in the family as one of the funnier childhood episodes for the Meydam clan.
August Meydam passed away in August of 1904 and I’m assuming that he was buried in his coffin. I guess there were no more “boat rides” after that.
Interested in more Meydam family stories? This one is a classic.
References
Originally told by Edwin Meydam’s younger sister, Leona Meydam Littlefield, on video in 1985. From “Aunt Lee telling family history from photos”, video by Ted Monte Romo.
Photo Credit
From the Meydam Family Photo Archive.
Header image from iStockphoto.com.
My Father Carl, said that his Grandfather August and His Brother Paul ( my Great Uncle) came over in 1871. Was my dad incorrect? Robin Meydam
Hi Robin. Your great-grandfather August Meydam immigrated to the United States, along with your great-grandmother Amalia (Fuchs) Meydam and your grandfather Carl (Charley) in 1881. August and Amalia’s oldest son Paul, your great-uncle, followed them in 1883. (August and Amalia had one other son who died as a baby.) The family first moved to Clintonville, Wisconsin, then to Norrie, Wisconsin, where August and Amalia show up on the 1885 Wisconsin census. Paul and Carl worked for a few years around Hurley, Wisconsin. By 1895 the whole family was living in Elderon, Wisconsin. If you would like more details, I would be happy to share them with you via email. Janet