Growing Up a Fattman (Not Literally)
My project proposal
My grandfather began school in a one-room schoolhouse. His name was George Fattman — I assume there were many jokes. You can find him in the front LEFT wearing knickers.
Early Life of George Fattman
Back track to the middle of the twentieth-century. A young, seven year old boy named George Fattman was just beginning the first grade with a class ranging from ages six to twelve years. All of the children between the first and fifth grades learned together in a single-room schoolhouse with a coal furnace and outhouse that was out back. Inside the building was nothing more than a chalkboard and a number of desks that did not match the number of students attending.
George McGouldrick School was the name given to the small shack of a schoolhouse. 30–40 children would come from different parts of Saxonburg, Pennsylvania; the teacher had an even longer commute as she rode in and out of town on a school bus.
Grades first through fifth are shown, all of which learned together in a single-room schoolhouse. George is in the front left wearing knickers.
In addition to the coal furnace and distant outhouse, other resources such as food and water were scarce. There was a single pump in the middle of the school’s front yard. A newly formed Parent-Teacher Association was created to buy a crock with a spout so that the classroom could have water from the pump in the middle of the schoolyard.
Back track another generation to George’s mother’s childhood. She attended the same exact schoolhouse but with a significantly larger class size. By this I mean that there were three more grades stuffed into the room when his mother attended. Grades one through eight all learned together.
George’s mother and her family photo in 1919 is pictured here.
A two acre lot with many chickens, a limited supply of vegetables, and a very friendly rabbit was where George would spend most of his time working when he wasn’t in school. “Special diets” for the family went into effect when his father was out of work because of union strikes. A typical dinner consisted of gravy and bread with ketchup or macaroni with government-surplus cheese.
Sometimes we get the most out of the least because we are forced to expand our minds and think harder. George still remembers his education when he was that young and claims that it was probably better than most kids get nowadays at that age. Still, the fact that George was able to become successful through such conditions is amazing. The source of his success was a strong work ethic.
Immigration and Historical Roots
George’s father, Ernest Fattman, seemed to have all odds stacked against him as he was the ninth of eleven siblings living on a farm in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He worked hard on the farm as a child, and eventually, the family moved to Greenville, Pennsylvania so that one of the sons could attend Thiel College. Just like every farm boy during the time, Ernest was looking to take up a job that paid a wage and eventually landed as an unskilled laborer at Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation in Brackenridge. The shifts varied each week between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 4 p.m. to midnight, and midnight to 8 a.m, but union strikes eventually caused him to be out of work for a couple years.
Still, Ernest was able to make something of himself through hard work and a strong drive. In 1941,when he decided to take the next step in his life with his family, Ernest built a house on the corner of his mother’s farm. While small, the house sufficed and was rather nice for the time as it had two bedrooms and a kerosene kitchen stove.
Going back yet another generation to Ernest’s father’s time, we find a man born in 1862 in Washington County, Pennsylvania. A man named Louis McCannon Fattman was raised on a farm as a laborer. However, like many German immigrants during the time, Louis was heavily involved in music and participated in the band at the local Lutheran church. Louis, while managing eleven children, still found time to give attention to each child and made sure they had decent knowledge to maintain a job.
Louis McCannon Fattman — 1916 (Top Left)
We now find ourselves at the point in the family tree where the immigration process took place. George’s great-grandfather, Henry Fattman, came from Germany to Washington County in the mid 1840s. My knowledge of the immigration process and Henry’s life before Louis and Ernest is rather limited, but I do know that he came over with just his wife, Wilhelmina Kline, and became farmers. Around the same time, Koedel, who was on George's paternal side, came from Germany as well. I will definitely gain more insight about these ancestors’ lives after I interview George and his wife.
A Preview to the Interview
Throughout the generations in my grandfather’s family, we find that George comes from a family with many strikes against them, but with the use of strong work ethics and smart decision making, they were able to become successful. For this project, I decided to interview my grandfather because I have done a similar project to this one before with him which can guide me, but I can also ask him deeper questions about our family’s culture.
