Genealogy

First Christmas 1947

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Everyday until Christmas, I am going to try to post a picture from a past family Christmas. 

Christmas 1948 Gail

Gail’s First Christmas

This is my first Christmas and we are of course at Grandma’s house.  I can actually remember some of the toys.  Rudolph on the left is one that I remember.  I think I had him for several years.  The Teddy bear on the right I had well into my grown-up years, and I think I might still have him packed away in the attic.  I look happy and I am clapping my  hands.  Where is everyone?  

Copyright © 2019 Gail Grunst

Christmas 1948 Opening Presents

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Everyday until Christmas, I am going to try to post a picture from a past family Christmas. 

Openng Christmas Presents 1947

Openng Christmas Presents 1948

This is the family opening their presents in 1948.  What a mess!  It looks like our typical Christmas.  One habit that the family had was every one opened their presents at the same time.  No one could see what the others received nor see their reaction to the present.  After I married, I suggested that we open them one person at a time.  For a few  years we drew names to see who would go first, second and so forth.  After the kids came along they went first and then we went by age.  Oldest was the last one.  On the left is my father, and grandmother.  My mother is sitting in front of the tree with a sweater in her hand.  Grandpa is in the corner chair holding up something that looks like it could be a pair of pants. On the right is my grandmother’s sister, Frances, and  her daughter Pat. You can see my play pen in the picture.  Missing from the picture is my Uncle Russ so he is probably taking the picture.

Copyright © 2019 Gail Grunst

Christmas 1943

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Everyday until Christmas, I am going to try to post a picture from past family Christmas’ each day. 

Dorothy Christmas 1943

Mom Christmas Time 1943

This picture is dated on the back January 1, 1943.  My mom age 18 is sitting on the floor.  At first glance, I thought it was my grandmother.  But when blown up on the computer, I’m not so sure.  It could be my grandmother’s sister, Frances.  Notice the granny square afghan on sofa.  In yesterday’s picture there was a pillow with a granny square pillow case.  The tree sure lights up the corner. Our family tradition was always put the tree up the weekend before Christmas and take it down the day after New Years Day.  This was especially true with the live trees.  Once we went to artificial trees we may have put them up earlier, but still took them down right after New Years day. I can’t tell what she is holding in her hand.  I remember that table next to the tree being in that same spot forever.  Next to it is one of those ash trays on a pedestal.  You don’t see those around anymore.  On the wall near the ceiling it looks like it was stenciled, and the crown molding is something you don’t see very often anymore in new houses. For me it is interesting to see the changes made to my grandparents house over the years, although a lot stayed the same. 

Copyright © 2019 Gail Grunst

Christmas 1940

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From now until Christmas, I am going to try to post a picture from past family Christmas’ each day. 

Russ and family Christmas 1940

Fred. Dorothy, Russ, and Helen Christmas 1940

I love this picture of my grandparents, mother, uncle, and their dog.  My grandfather is sitting in a wicker chair with a glass of wine.  My mom is sitting on the floor next to him barely visible, and my uncle is sitting on the floor with the dog.  My grandmother is next to my uncle on floor. I noticed the crochet pillow on the sofa.  My grandmother made afghans with crochet squares like the ones on the pillows.  The sofa was a wedding present to my grandparents from my grandfather’s parents and there was a chair that matched.  The sofa and chair lasted 57 years and was reupholstered twice during those years.  It was still in good shape when they had to sell their house and go to a nursing home.  I also noticed the plants in the window.  She always had lots of plants in her front windows.  The Christmas tree is in the corner and I notice that in addition to the electric lights there are candles.  One looks like it very close to the curtains.  In this picture my grandfather is 44, my grandmother 42, my mom 16, and my uncle is nine years old.

Christmas’ past 1929

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From now until Christmas, I am going to try to post a picture from past family Christmas’ each day. 

Dorothy and Santa

Mom and Santa

This is a picture of my mother with Santa in 1929.  It looks like she is sitting on a horse or maybe it is suppose to be a reindeer.  There is a number on the wall 742.  Was that their way of keeping track of the pictures taken?

Copyright © 2019 Gail Grunst

On this day 121 years ago

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Grandma and me

Grandma Kaiser and Gail

On this day one hundred and twenty-one years ago Helen Bowers (my grandmother) was born in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois.  Here she is pictured with me in August of 1948.  The picture was taken in my grandparent’s front yard and neighbor girl can be seen in the background. I tried to find a picture of her taken on her birthday, but could not find one.  I noticed that most of the family photos from that time period were taken outdoors.  I remember celebrating many birthdays with Grandma and the family on December 3.   I was very close to my grandmother until passed away when I was 34 years old.  That is many many years ago now, but I still miss her.  I miss our conversations, her cooking, and her hugs.   I can still feel her undying love for me.  Never ever was there a doubt in my mind about her love.  I can only hope that I passed that on to my family.  She taught me so much about life and God.  I am grateful for all she taught me and for her love.  I can remember her touch, her soft skin, her voice, and her face as if I saw her yesterday.  Happy Birthday in heaven, Grandma!  Love and miss you!

Copyright © 2019 Gail Grunst

Lovingly to Helen

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Frances Bowers Beck

Frances Bowers

This is my grandmother’s sister Frances.  She signed the picture “Lovingly To Helen Frank.”  In my last post, I posted a picture of my grandmother and she signed her picture, “Yours to a turn, H. B.”  I had a lot of discussion about the “Yours to a turn” part with many people.  At least Frances signed with something that I understand.  Now I am wondering if my grandmother and her sister exchanged pictures.  They were very close to each other and both pictures are from the same time period.   I like her outfit, and wonder if she made it as she was a wonderful seamstress.   Maybe her mother made the hat as she was milliner.

Copyright © 2019 Gail Grunst

Yours to a turn

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Yours to a turn H. B.

 

In 1919 my grandmother signed this picture “Yours to a turn, H.B.”  H. B. is her initials, but I was wondering what Yours to a turn means.  I Googled it but did not come up with much.  I found that in 1913 Charlie Chaplin signed one of his pictures this way, and there were letters in several digitized books where the writer also wrote this salutation.  Next, I turned to a genealogy group on Facebook and asked if anyone knew what Yours to a turn meant.   I got a wide variety of answers.  Most people thought it meant perfectly, exactly right, as in the expression fits him to a T, and “to turn” to the right amount or degree.  One person suggested that person is clearly related (child?) of the person receiving the picture because they look so much alike.  I happen to like this explanation, and it is possible she originally gave this picture to her mother. That would explain how the picture found its way back to my grandmother.  She probably got it back when her mother passed away.   Several people said that Yours to a turn was commonly used in letters around 1900 give or take 10 years like we use Sincerely yours. Some said they have seen it used in personal letters they have from their family.  I had never heard of Yours to a turn used before on pictures or in letters, so I guess I learned something new today.  If anyone knows more about Yours to a turn, I welcome your thoughts.

Copyright © 2019 Gail Grunst

Grandma’s Grandpa

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Helen Bowers and her grandfather

Helen Bowers and Conrad Reinhardt 1918

Here is my grandmother, Helen Bowers, at 19 years old with her maternal grandfather, Conrad Reinhardt, in 1918.  I am wondering why she has an umbrella.  Was it raining?  She isn’t holding it above her head to keep the rain off.  I thought maybe to keep the sun off as women use to carry parasols to keep the sun off. The back of the picture says March 20, 1918, Ottawa, Illinois.  I don’t think the sun in March in Illinois would be a problem. Although, it must have been a fairly warm day since both are not wearing a coat or even a sweater.  The picture was probably taken in the Reinhardt’s backyard at 630 Washington Street, Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois.[1]

Conrad Reinhardt is 66 years old in this picture.  He was born on 18 February 1852 in Nusselock, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany to Johann Friedrich Reinhardt and Philippina Schuh.[2]  He and his wife, his son and one daughter arrived aboard the ship Bergenland in New York on 5 December 1879.[3]   From New York they traveled to Amana, Iowa arriving on 22 December 1879.[4] They settled in the South Amana village.[5]   They left Amana in April of 1883 because they found no basis in the community.[6]  They settled in Ottawa, Illinois where Conrad was a shoemaker and had his own shop.[7]  Conrad died in Chicago at his daughter, Elizabeth’s apartment[8] on 6 July 1922 of Myocarditis and Chronic Intestinal Nephritis.[9]  His body was shipped from Chicago to Ottawa by train for the funeral at the Gladfelter Undertaker establishment.[10]  Conrad is buried at the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, Illinois alongside his wife Anna.[11]

Copyright ©2019 Gail Grunst

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[1] Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Original sources vary according to directory. The title of the specific directory being viewed is listed at the top of the image viewer page. Check the directory title page image for full title and publication information.

[2] Germany Birth and Baptisms, 1558 – 1898,  LDS Library, Salt Lake City, Utah,  microfilm # 1183248 Page 377 #2.

[3] Germans to America(Vol. 34). (1993). Wilmington, DE, DE: Scholarly Resources.

[4] Amana Church Membership Records, in archive collection of the Amana Heritage Museum, Amana, Iowa.

[5] Year: 1880; Census Place: Amana, Iowa, Iowa; Roll: 345; Family History Film: 1254345; Page: 146D; Enumeration District: 201

[6] August Koch manuscript, Archives Collection, Amana Heritage Museum, Amana, Iowa.

[7] Year: 1920; Census Place: Ottawa Ward 5, La Salle, Illinois; Roll: T625_379; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 141Source Information:  Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).

[8] Daily Republican Times, Ottawa, IL, Vol XLVI, no 5, Friday Evening 7 July 1922 (front page).

[9] Certificate of Death, State of Illinois, Cook County, City of Chicago, Registration # 17200.  Illinois State Archive, Springfield, Illinois.

[10] Daily Republican Times, Ottawa, IL, Vol XLVI, no 5, Friday Evening 7 July 1922 (front page).

[11] Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois cemetery records, Cemetery card CCY-TS, Burial Location BU, 47C (N ½) Record # 5855.

Sisters all grown up!

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Frances and Helen Bowers in 1918

Frances and Helen Bowers

In my last post I wrote about two little girls who happened to be sisters.  Well here they are all grown up now.  Frances on left at 18 and Helen (my grandmother) on right at 20.  They appear to be in some kind of park.  I must say those are some outfits!  They sure look happy in this photo.  Like I said in previous post they were close and always together.   Just their names and 1918 was written on the back of the picture.  

Helen B, W. Prettie and Frances Bowers

Helen Bowers, John Walter Prettie, Frances Bowers.

Here they are together again.  Helen is on the left, W. Prettie in the center, and Frances on the right.  As you can see in this picture Frances is taller and overall bigger than Helen.  I don’t know who the soldier is to them.  I don’t know if he was a boyfriend of one or just a friend.  The writing on the back of the picture says, “H. Bowers, W. Prettie, and Franky Bowers Sun Dec. 7, 1919.”  It hit me when I saw the date that little did they know that 22 years later the Japanese would bomb Pearl Harbor on this day.  December 7, 1941 and it happened to be a Sunday too. 

I decided to search for W. Prettie and found a John W. Prettie on the 1920 census living at 2339 Racine Avenue in Chicago and the Bowers sisters are living at 2333 Racine Avenue.(1) As it turns out that they were neighbors and that is how they knew each other.  

“A Steamfitter by trade, John fought in France with the Canadian Expeditionary Force 1916-1918. He returned home to Chicago 1919. He was the son of John Adam Prettie and Mary Upton; his wife was Clara B. Jenkins (1900-?) whom I suspect is buried beside him.”(2)  John Walter Prettie was born 28 November 1898 in Canada.(3)  He passed away 20 February 1938 in Chicago and is buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in River Grove, Cook, Illinois. (4)  I am pretty sure that I have the same person as the W. Prettie in the picture.  He returned home in 1919, could this be his returning home picture?

I have looked at these photo’s many, many times but as I started scanning them and documenting them in the computer, I realized how much I missed before.  

Copyright © 2019 Gail Grunst

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1. Year: 1920; Census Place: Chicago Ward 24, Cook (Chicago), Illinois; Roll: T625_335; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 1371>  Source Information:  Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.  Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).

2. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.  Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.

3.Ibid.

4. Ibid.