Love - The Odessa Record "By Your Relative"

Odessa Record subscriber Larry Fisher of Spokane continues his series of articles on the history of the Batum/Lauer area where his wife, the former Joyce Kiesz, grew up.

Hi, here I am again.

Bertha Raugust grew up at Batum, lived in both houses, the Sam Reimann one and the new one. She attended Batum School for a few years. 1916 appears to be the last year of attendance. In 1915 at age 14, Bertha got a job cooking for a harvest crew that was working with a thrasher. She cooked, baked, etc. for 14 men all by herself.

Around 1919, Edward Kiesz/Bertha Raugust met at a dance in Ruff, Grant Co., Washington. They eventually married on 10/6/1920 in Ritzville, Washington. The wedding was a double wedding with Bertha’s brother Rudolph “Rudy” Raugust and Margaret Reimann.

Ed and Bertha started their married life out living on the “Wilhelm Kiesz Lauer Farm” located about 3-1/2 miles south of Lauer adjacent to what is now called the Lauer Road. In 1927, they moved on to the “Jacob Raugust farm,” ¼ mile south of Batum in the L-B-D.

While at the Lauer farm, the house they lived in was similar to the Sam Reimann house at Batum except for the roof which was pointed in design and not “ridged” having a gable at each end. The Lauer house was about 30x30 feet in size, had four rooms, a kitchen, a living room and two bedrooms. The kitchen and living room were connected together side by side with one of their long sides touching each other. Each bedroom was located side by side next to the kitchen/living room.

The Kiesz children – two boys, two girls – are really two groups separated by eleven plus years. The boys, Virgil Elsworth (b.1922) and Gordon Orlin (b.1925) were born at the “Lauer farm.” The girls, Marian June (b.1936) and Joyce Elaine (b.1937) were born at the “Batum farm” where the barn exists today. When you listen to Virgil (group #1.), and Marian/Joyce (group #2.) talk about their lifestyles in the L-B-D, it’s like black vs. white. The only things common with the brothers/sisters are Bertha’s cooking and her work from dawn to dusk, and Ed’s no nonsense approach to work from dawn to dusk while at the same time, being a very kind-hearted person. Until next time.

Your Relative,

Spokane