The one-room school where my mother, Millicent "Midge" Wiedrich Moore went to school in the 1930s. It was on the Creek Rd just outside of Batavia, NY. My mom is 1st person on the left in the 3rd row up. Her sister, Bonnie Wiedrich Selb is the 1st person on the left in the bottom row. Her other sister, Connie Wiedrich Davis may be the small girl 2nd from the left in the 2nd row up. Later when the school was closed the teacher bought the school and converted into her home.

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My Ancestors Jobs

Earl left officer

My dad, Earl Moore was a policeman. After WWII he worked in a wood working job for a short time before joining the Gloucester City, NJ police department. In those days 2 officers rode in a car. His first partner was Bud Lane. He was a good guy and a good partner. One day they drove into the alley at the department and he went inside. Bud stayed in the car. When my dad came back out Bud had suffered a heart attack and died.
A few years later he became a sergeant. His partner was Steve Farrell. Our families would do things together like going to an amusement park. Then he became Chief of Police about 1961. My dad had a good heart and I think he was respected.

Midge on far rt.

My mom, Millicent "Midge" (Wiedrich) Moore worked many years in grocery stores including ACME markets and Thriftway. Once she was held up with a gun held to her head. Later she worked for Oakwood Uniform in their office. But before all this she worked as a waitress in a diner. She started work at 12 years old after school. The diner was Security on Crescent Blvd. (Rt. 130) in West Collingswood Heights, NJ.

Ed on ice wagon

My grandfather, Edward Wiedrich was many things. He was a merchant sailor in WWI and in WWII. He was an iceman when he met my grandmother. Then he worked in the Wierd Plow factory. After work he cleaned up at the bean factory, bringing home the sweepings for his kids to pick out the stray beans. (It was the depression.) After moving to Florida he worked in a boat yard building boats.

Hazel's Doll Hospital

My grandmother, Hazel (Bristol) Wiedrich learned the trade of men's tailoring and haberdashery. After she married and had children she had a doll hospital. There were boxes with various color eyes, things to restring dolls, paints to restore china dolls, different color hair. She would even give dolls hair from the person.

Charles' crew

My paternal grandfather, Charles S. Moore was a waterman. He built wharfs, piers and bridges over water. Much of his
work was done in Camden, NJ but he did work other places. Later he was the foreman. One of the bridges he built was a train bridge either to or from Westville, NJ.




My paternal great grandfather, Charles S. Moore was a cooper and a carpenter. My maternal 2nd great grandfather had a public house (saloon) in Grafton, Dakota Territory in the 1880s and then went to Great Falls, Montana and had a hotel. Most everyone else on my mom's side were farmers.

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#52 Ancestors Challenge Week 2 Favorite Photo

Picking a favorite photo was a difficult choice to make. There are so many photos that I like. This photo was my mom’s favorite so since she has passed away feel a connection. That’s me on the left, my mom, Millicent (Wiedrich) Moore with the shovel and my grandmother, Hazel (Bristol) Wiedrich with the crutches. They spent all day burying car batteries upside down to make a walkway to their home. Environmentalists are gasping today but this was about 1953 in DeSoto Park Trailer Park in Tampa, Florida. Hazel lost her leg as a teenager, but she never thought of herself as handicapped and could do just about everything.

This picture is my favorite. It’s my mom and me on the front steps of our house in Gloucester City, NJ.  The picture below is my grandfather, Edward Wiedrich, my mom and her sisters about 1931 in Genesee County, NY. They were so poor it reminds me to be thankful for the many blessing I have.  

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #11 Millicent Wiedrich

Millicent Wiedrich –Growing Up in Batavia

She was born Millicent Arlene Wiedrich in Batavia, NY on May 15, 1928. From a young age she was called Midge. Many people say they grew up poor but in fact most just didn’t have that they would have liked or as much as the neighbors. My mom grew up poor although there were others who had even less than her family had. Her dad had various jobs like ice man, farmer, wood gatherer, junk man, plow

Ed Wiedrich delivering ice.

factory worker. Her mom had her leg amputated up to the hip as a teen but could still help with the family finances by selling handiwork like crochet items and operating her own doll hospital where she repaired beautiful china dolls. While she was still in primary school the family moved to a small family farm on the Creek Road just outside of Batavia. She often recounted happy stories about roller skating in the attic, playing games and more. One thing she didn’t enjoy was going to the creek at the back of the farm to swim. She was severely afraid of the water even though her three sisters loved to swim. Summers they would go to the Coby

Coby Farm

farm to “camp out”. She described it as fun but I’m sure her dad was helping with the harvest when he wasn’t working at his regular job and her mom was working cooking and canning for everyone. The foods they ate much of the year were things canned during the summer and fall. My grandfather would also go to the factory that produced dried beans after work hours and sweep the floor. He would bring home the sweepings and the children would play a “game” of picking out any bean from the refuse to supplement the family food. They ate a lot of beans and it was a good thing mom liked them. In fact it was one of her favorite foods throughout her life. She went to a one room school. She and her girlfriend, Arlene Cook were the only two students in

Creek Rd School, Batavia, NY 1935

her grade. She often took a potato to school and put it on the potbelly stove to bake for lunch. A special treat was when Arlene’s mom brought a pot of spaghetti for all the children to share. Some of the children were very poor and had only black bread and lard sandwiches to eat. The teacher not only had to teach but made sure there was firewood and made a fire in the stove in the morning. Once when my mom was playing baseball and was running the bases her teacher started to run after her and was slapping her on the head. It turns out the teacher had been burning caterpillar nests in the trees and a spark fell on my mom’s head starting her hair on fire. The teacher was only trying to put the flames. Things took a turn for the worse late in the 30s and they lost the family farm.

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