Haaki’s Salad: 75 Years of Living, The Logan Ewell Stories
The Sentinel-Echo March 5th, 1959
A charming family of people, Mr. A Haaki and wife, their daughter and her husband, Mr. Conroy, a retired brick mason and contractor of Youngstown, Ohio, lived in the Colony region.
They had an attractive little place, grew many flowers, grapes and vegetables and, I suppose other crops as well. Near the house, but still in the yard stood a smaller building which was their private chapel.
Mr. Conroy, the owner of some business property in Youngstown, had called my father on some legal question. Being in the neighborhood we went to see them.
In the time I write of, such things as lettuce, celery, tomatoes, etc., were not handled out of season by our grocers it was necessary if celery, cranberries and fresh oysters were wanted, for the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, that the housewife place an order with the grocer, who then would order enough to fill the orders on file and no more, nor not again in the winter.
It was a bright day in February, when we made our call to the Conroy's. We were invited to dinner. It was delicious, fried chicken, jams and jellies, the famous Colony cheese, with homemade grape wine. And believe it or not, a tossed green salad of crisp lettuce, radishes and the green sprouts of turnip tops, which they raised in ingenious hot beds they had made.
This was the first green salad that I had ever had in the winter time, I think, and it made a hit with me. I ate it. I felt sorry for the greens-hungry citizens of the region, scanning the warm sky, wondering how long it would be until they could get a "mess of poke sallet."
Additional Notes by Renee Beets
This event described by Logan Ewell probably happed in the early 1900's. According to my research Hugo Haake was not married. The woman Mr. Ewell referred to as his wife was probably his mother. Hugo Haake, who was born October 1854/55 was actually from Belgium/Germany according to census reports. His will was filed June 10, 1930. It was written August 1921. According to our Northwest Cemetery book Hugo and his mother have stones at St. Sylvester Cemetery. I do not know if these are tombstones or just memorial stones since both stones say "Schalach Cemetery." Neither stone has dates. His mother's stone simply says "Mother Haake." I could not read her name on the 1900 census report. It looked like Miss. According to that report she was born January 1833 in Germany. It also said she had three living children and one deceased child. Therese Conroy was her daughter. She was born September 1859/62 in Germany and was married around 1903 to Thomas Conroy who was born December 1834/1837 in Ireland. M.T. Conroy died in Bernstadt on May 5, 1914.
