My mother was just the contrary of my father. She was small, with a modest and reserved nature, and attended her maternal duties quietly. She loved her children and did everything to raise them and give them a good background of Christian education. I
f
have already mentioned that she came from an old resident family of farmers - Elisabeth Dax was her maiden name - and that her father dealt in horse trading and breeding, as far as I remember. My parents married when my father was not even 20 years old and had not served his military time yet. Their children came pretty fast one after the other, and that means a lot of work and worry.
My father was a powerfully built man and tremendously strong. He was also hard working and economical. When I walked with him to the cattle market in Waldbröl he drank no more than one Schnaps. He served his military service when he was 20 years old and already married. He had moved from the farm Zum Hoff to his new domicile in Harscheid.
He had a pugnacious youth about which he liked to talk. So he told me that during his quarrels and scuffles he never used another weapon than a selfmade oakstick. The reason of those scuffles used to be love affairs generally and were customary to that time. Once my father was mixed up in a fight between some young fellows. The situation became very difficult when the whole bunch was piled up on the ground and between them was a policeman. One of the fellows got the thumb of the policeman between his teeth and bit it right off. My father was considered the offender (confidentially he told me that he really did it). As it was an attack against a policeman, the lawcourt of Bonn, about 30 miles away, was in charge. My father had to walk about 8 hours to arrive at Bonn because there were no railways in those times! With him walked the witnesses who were supposed to witness against him. Before he started the walk he had written down everything he intended to say in front of the judge. During his walk he learnt by heart what he had written down and recited it again and again with a loud voice. The result was that the other people who walked with him and were supposed to witness against him, in front of the judge stated just what they had heard all the way. And the court gave him a verdict of not guilty.
Kaspar Heinrich Simon
born 13. May 1818 in Hoff
died 11. February 1884 in Harscheid
died 11. February 1884 in Harscheid
Elisabeth Dax
born 28. October 1814 in Harscheid
died 17. February 1885 in Harscheid
died 17. February 1885 in Harscheid
Simon
Dax
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From: Karl Schmitz, Chronik von Harscheid (Chronicle of Harscheid), Harscheid 1999. We gratefully remember the late Manfred Söhn, Nümbrecht, who gave us this wonderful, utterly readable book, packed with an amazing amount of knowledge.
