Uncle Dane's House

In the 1950’s, when we went to visit my Grandma and Granddad Bentz in Racine, Ohio, along the Ohio River, my Dad took us to visit Uncle Dane out in the "back-country". Uncle Dane’s place was a memorable place to visit as a kid, maybe because we never went to or saw another place like it.  It seemed like it was way out in the country; but it only took maybe a half-hour’s car ride to get there from Granddad’s place in Racine; and I don’t have the faintest memory of how to get there, except you turn left out of my Granddad’s driveway to start, go one-half mile to where the road dead-ends, turn left again, and then keep going.  Uncle Dane’s house and the barn were in a grassy clearing surrounded by woods; the clearing was maybe two acres.  The house was in the style of an old single-story log cabin, but I think the siding of the house was unpainted clapboard siding, not logs.  There was a big porch on the front side of the house, but the front side of the house didn’t face the road; it was at a 90 degree angle from the road and faced the gravel driveway where you drove up from the road.  The house looked old and weathered from the outside; but the house and the surrounding clearing were tidy; there was no trash lying around and the grass was always looked cut.  There was a long-handled, manual water-pump sitting in the front of the porch.  There were a couple large trees along the driveway.  I don’t remember a garden, but I think he must have had one because almost everyone living in the country did then.

I found one online reference to Dane Wickline.  On March 3, 1915, the Athens Messenger said Dane Wickline got a burning permit in Sutton Township.

We always visited in the summer, and Uncle Dane was always sitting outside in a rocking chair, but the rocking chair was not on the porch, but was sitting in front of the porch in the grass.  Uncle Dane always had on loose bib-overalls, a white T-shirt, work boots, and a straw hat.  I don’t believe that Uncle Dane had a phone, so we always were visiting unannounced; so I think this must have been his normal routine during the summer afternoons.  I think he must have been in his 60’s when we visited because he was my Grandma’s brother; and as a young kid, Uncle Dane seemed old, even in comparison to my Grandparents.  There were two or three hunting dogs lying around, maybe coon hounds since he liked to hunt; but they were always very gentle and were never threatening. 

The house seemed dilapidated from the outside, but when we went inside, it was very clean and inviting and cozy and neat as a pin.  When you went into the house from the front porch, you entered directly into the kitchen.  This is the only room that I remember.  There was a large old wooden kitchen table with chairs; cheery white-with-red-trim curtains on the windows; and large sink with a hand water pump.  Uncle Dane’s wife sometimes gave us milk and cookies.

My Dad would sit outside and talk to Uncle Dane.  My brothers and I had to sit there too and listen to the grown-ups talk; it must have been pretty boring to us because I don’t remember anything they were talking about.  We were not allowed to run around.  There were a lot of interesting-looking places to investigate so I am sure we would have if we had a chance.

I remember my Mother and Dad later talking about Uncle Dane’s wives.  His first wife was sent to the Mental Hospital in Athens.  They said she was always picking “nits” off her clothing, like she thought there was something always on her clothes.  I think Uncle Dane was married to his second wife when we visited, but I don’t remember much about her, even her name.  I don’t think Uncle Dane had any children.

Uncle Dane not at house in country