Mention must be made of the large bells several of the families
of the colony had and used daily. They seem to have been
used in this prairie country to quite an extent, as several
early day settlers are known to have had them. They were
large cast iron bells and were hung on a post or sometimes
on a tall pole near the house, where the woman folks could
easily reach them.
Johnnie Heims, Jacob Ulmers, Jacob G. Heims,
John J. Heims, Sam Heims and Joe Heims all had these bells.
They were used to call the men folks for meals, and if it
wasn't meal- time and they heard the bell, it meant come
fast, because of some emergency. Strict orders were that
the bell was not to be used unless the men were wanted.
It was not a plaything by any means. Each of these bells
had a different tone and everybody knew whose bell was being
rung by the tone of it.
It has been told that on a clear day all these bells could
be heard in the entire community and since each had a different
tone it was a beautiful sound to be heard, especially on
the still air of evening.
The Emanuel Ulmer family did not have a bell and some
of the children were somewhat envious of cousins who had
them. Reuben says; "I suppose, since we lived so near
Uncle Sam's the folks thought we didn't need one as we could
hear theirs and so know when it was meal time."
Melvin Heim tells: "Even the horses knew the sound
of our bell and knew what it meant, also" If the men
didn't happen to hear the bell they could always tell it
was ringing by the way the horses acted and by the special
sort of whinny they gave when they heard it. If they happen
to be headed toward the barn they at once speeded up to
get to the end of the row as they knew the bell meant it
was time to quit work and go eat. However, if Uncle Joe's
bell rang they kept right on working the usual way and paid
no attention to it. They knew it wasn't meant for them.
Melvin also says he remembers that two of the emergency
calls were to put out flu fires.
In later years when they had the big Keifer pear orchard,
his mother used the bell to call his father from the picking
of fruit to wait on the customers who came to buy pears.
The bell the Jonnie Heims had was moved by Henry Heim
to his own yard and is still in this location used by a
great grandson of Johnnie's, Ronald Heim.
The John J. and Jacob G. bells were in use many years
by the Israel Heim and Johnathan Heim families respectively.
Now Jacob G's grandson, Arthur Heim has their bell still
on the old home place. The John J. bell is now in the home
dooryard of a granddaughter, Mrs. Arlo Coons (Verna Heim),
where it is greatly prized.
I do not know what became of the Jacob Ulmer bell. Perhaps
it is still on the same farm.
The bells belonging to Sam and Joe are each still hanging
where they first were placed.
None are used as much as they were in former years but
if someone on the place, who is at a distance, is wanted,
they are still made use of and their ringing voice is obeyed.