I have been thinking about using DNA in my genealogy research. I started my genealogy research long before the Internet and DNA. When I first heard about having your DNA done to find out where your ancestors were from, I thought it was interesting. I had mine done through Ancestry.com years ago. It told me I was 39% Southern Germanic Europe (Germany, Austria, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Netherlands), 19% North Central Europe (Poland, Czechia, Germany, Austria, Hungary), 15% Northwestern Germany (Germany, Denmark, Netherlands), 15% Southeastern England & Northwestern Europe (England, Belgium, Channel Islands, France, Netherlands), 6% Southern Poland (Poland, Belarus, Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine), 2% Western Ukraine (Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia), 2% Sweden, (Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland), 1% Estonia & Latvia (Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Lithuania), 1% Leinster, Ireland (Ireland) descent. I already knew most of this from my paper research which led me to Germany, Poland, Belgium, France, England, Scotland.
I knew who some of my matches were and some of the ones I did not know had no online family trees, therefore, I did not know our common ancestor. I thought the ones that had no family tree were just interested in where their ancestors came from but didn’t care about who they were. After all the research and paper trail that I did for many years, I felt like just doing your DNA was kind of like cheating and an easy answer to your ancestry. I ignored it for many years.
Recently, I was working on a brick wall trying to find one of my 2nd great grandmother’s parents. I had a lot of circumstantial evidence, but no actual documentation. I looked at some of my DNA matches and found one 4th to 6th cousin that had her family tree online. She has the person in her family tree who I believe is my 2nd great grandmother’s father and the person I believe is her mother. This leads me to think I am on the right track, but I am still looking for the paper proof. This piqued my interest in DNA.
I know nothing about DNA and how it works. I have heard that it can help break brick walls, and I would like to know more. I decided to enroll in an online course through the National Genealogical Society. I am currently working on module 3. I now see how DNA can be very helpful in our genealogy research and have changed my thinking on DNA. It is just one more tool for us to use. It is not meant as a replacement to doing the research and gathering the documentation to prove your ancestry.
I have several favorite pictures of my ancestors, and this is one of them.
I love this picture of my grandmother, Helen Bowers and her sister Frances Bowers. There was no date on this photo, but I am guessing it was around 1904. Frances is sitting and Helen is the one standing. Helen and Frances were born 14 months apart. I think they are such cute little girls and I love them both. Helen and Fran stayed close to each other their whole lives even though they led very different lives.
Helen married at 25 years old to Fred Kaiser. They had two children Dorothy and Russell. In between Dorothy and Russell, Helen had a miscarriage and they lost a baby Richard at two weeks old. Russell was born premature and according to Helen, he was so small she could hold him in the palm of her hand. Russell survived and died at 80 years old. Fred and Helen lived in Chicago until around 1935 when they bought a house in Villa Park, Illinois. Helen stayed home and took care of the house and children while Fred went to work. She played pinochle with the same group of ladies for many years. She belonged to the sewing circle at church and they made things for charity. Her hands were always busy crocheting afghans, sweaters and many other things. She was a good cook and made everything from scratch. She canned fruits and vegetables grown in their yard. She loved gardening and had beautiful flower gardens with help from Fred. She made everyone feel welcome in their home. All holiday dinners were at her house, and she did most of the cooking. She had two stoves one in the kitchen of course and one in the basement. On holidays she would run up and down the stairs between the two stoves cooking a turkey in one and a goose in the other. She and Fred were married 58 years until his death in 1980. Helen died at a few months later at 82 years old.
Fran also married at 25 years old to William Beck and in 1932 she gave birth to a daughter Patricia. A few years later, she and William divorced. Fran lived in Chicago all her adult life. She raised in daughter alone and worked to survive. They moved every few years from one apartment to another apartment in Chicago. Fran sewed for a living, working in factories that mass produced clothing. In her later years, she worked in a bridal shop making wedding dresses and formals. Fran wasn’t much of a cook, but she sure could sew. She made many dresses for me. Fran loved to shop and she would find some unusual things. When she visited us, she would bring us things like alligator meat, rattlesnake meat, frog legs, etc. She also knew how to throw parties. She would come out for my birthday parties and bring prizes, party favors, and decorate the house. She helped with Halloween parties too. She was strong and a worker. She worked until her death at 71 years old.
Helen and Frances talked on the phone almost daily, and in her younger years Fran and her daughter Pat would visit my grandmother on weekends. They would come out to Villa Park on the train either on Friday night or Saturday morning and go back on Sunday after the family dinner. Helen lived ten years after Fran’s death. She missed their daily phone calls and her confidant. They were truly sisters forever.
There have been several breakthrough moments throughout the years. Today I am focusing on this breakthrough moment because the story of my ancestor’s life is tragic.
Back in 2007 I sent for my great-grandfather, Carl Desens, death certificate from Cook County, Illinois and it listed his parents as John Desens and Henrietti Gressier.[1] I looked all over for John Desens, but there were too many to narrow it down to my John Desens without more information about my John.
Carl along with his wife and children settled in Forest Park in 1891.[2] According to my father, they went to St. John Lutheran Church in Forest Park, IL. I went there to find my grandmother, Helen Desens, baptism record and while there I copied the records of all the Desens I could find. I noticed on the baptism record for one of their children listed a Johann Desens, Herman Desens, and Bertha Matthews as Godparents.[3] Was this Johann Desens, Carl’s father? And could Herman Desens be a brother of Carl’s? I assumed they probably lived in Forest Park or nearby, and I looked for them in this area with no luck.
I was having no luck on Ancestry or Family Search back then. For some reason I googled their names. For Herman Desens I found an obituary on Clark County Wisconsin History Page, “The latest victim of careless handling of guns is Herman Desens, a man about thirty years of age who lived with his father across from Fred Zell’s place west of town (Greenwood, Clark County). Friday evening, Oct. 18, 1901, as the two were about to leave the clearing where they had been working, the young man went after his shot gun, which he had left nearby standing against a log. He seized the gun by the muzzle and drew it toward him, and in doing so the hammer cocked, discharging the load of one barrel into his breast. The father hearing the shot, looked up, but noticing his son standing thought nothing of the shot and stooped to his work, when he heard his son give an exclamation and saw him start for the house. The man only went a few yards when he dropped to the ground dead. The funeral occurred at the cemetery on the West Side Sunday afternoon. Deceased, with his father, came to Greenwood about two years ago and have lived together on their small clearing.” [4]
I started looking around the Clark County Wisconsin History website and found a death index that listed Herman’s death as October 15, 1901, and John’s death as July 16, 1907.[5] I also searched all the cemetery’s and found the graves of John and Herman Desens at the United Church of Christ East Cemetery.[6]
I sent to the Wisconsin Historical Society for John’s death record hoping the informant would be a name I recognized linking him to my grandfather Carl. When I received it, there was no informants listed, however, I was surprised to see that the cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest.[7] This sent me back to google and the first thing I found was an article from a book GreenwoodThe Hub of Clark County (1853 – 1907)[8] “Much later, Zell and Dazen, neighbors, who lived three and one-half miles west of town, quarreled and fought; Dazen with a knife, which he cut Zell in the face, on the hands and wrists. They were both seriously injured and were brought to the North Side Hotel, then operated by Gene Cummings. Both were put into the same room where they could glare at each other. By the doctor’s orders they were to be kept in bed, but Dazen got up and started for home and the next morning was found dead, just outside his own yard.”[9] They do not give a first name, and the last name is spelled different.
Next article that I found was from the Neillsville Times and it read as follows: “Peter Desens, who was cut in a fight with his neighbor, Fred Zell near Greenwood (Clark Co., Wis.), died last Saturday as a result of his wounds. Zell is in the hospital Marshfield and is in precarious condition and death may come to him also.[10]
There are of course two versions to the fight. Zell claims that Desens was the aggressor and that the fight resulted after an altercation over some cattle. Zell says that Desens was standing near the gate at the Desens home and that the old gentleman called to him as he was passing. As he stood with his resting on the gate, Desens suddenly drew a knife and cut him across the hand, severing the cords. He also was badly cut about the face and chest.
Desen claimed before his death, that Zell grabbed him by the throat and that he drew the knife in self-defense.”
It will be a pretty hard matter to determine who was the aggressor in the fight, and if Zell is brought into court his plea will probably be self-defense.” In this article the first name is Peter. At this point, I did not know if this was John Desens or not. Zell was name in Herman’s Obituary and again in these two articles. There was no Peter Desens in the Clark County Death Index.
I went back to my original notes that I took when I interviewed my father back in 1979 and I had written down that some relatives were killed in Wisconsin by Indians. This led me to believe I was on the right track, but they were not killed by Indians.
A trip to Clark County to get more information was required to find out if John was indeed Carl’s father. In 2014 my husband and I made the trip and my goal was to:
1. Visit the Clark County Courthouse in Neillsville to find the following
A. Will or probate for John Desens – Death Date 7/6/1907
B. Land records for land – Came there in approx. 1899.
C. Court record of stabbing incident with Fred Zell.
2. Find the United Church of Christ East Cemetery.
3. Find Farm located 1 ½ – 3 miles west of Greenwood.
My first stop at the Court House in Neillsville, Wisconsin was the Probate Office. Since he owned land, I thought there should be a probate file. I was told that the old probate files had been transferred to the Wisconsin State Archives in Madison, but she was able to tell me that there is a file and gave me the number. Next, I went to the Circuit Clerk to see if there was a criminal file for the neighbor that killed him. I was not allowed to search; they will search for me at their convenience. I filled out a form and paid $5.00 for the search. My next stop was the land office. The lady in this office was great! She showed me to the Grantor and Grantee books and let me search. I knew his death date, so I started with the Grantor books for 1907 and found the sale of the farm in Sept of 1907. I did not recognize the name of the man who purchased it. I copied down the information and went back to clerk with the information of the book and page number the title should be in. She had to take to the basement of the courthouse. The bookshelves were covered with plastic tarps, she pulls a tarp back, pulls out the book and opens to the page. I was able to write down the legal description. Next to that title was one for his son, and I wrote down that legal description too. It appeared that they each owned 40 acres next to one another. The clerk asked me if I would like to know where the farms were today. She anticipated my next question! We went back upstairs to look at the current plot book. By the legal description we were able to find the farms and the roads that they are on today.
My husband and I drove out to the farm, and I was able to get some pictures and see what it looks like today. Then we went to find the cemetery where he is buried. I was hoping he had a headstone so I could find his grave and he did, but his son who is buried right next to him did not. The church he went to is close by the cemetery. Both church and cemetery are close to his farm.
I sent to the state archives for his probate file and while waiting for that to come, I received the court records of the stabbing incident.[11] The court records were an interesting read and gave me a better insight into how it all occurred and what happened afterwards, but no clue to his relationship to me. Finally, the probate records came, and this was my breakthrough moment because after several years of searching it listed my great grandfather Carl as one of John’s heirs.[12]
Today, the probate file is available online at Ancestry.com. My search would have been a lot less complicated if it was online back then.
[1] Certificate of Death for Carl Desens ,12 June 1921, Registration Number 1050, State of Illinois, Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Statistics, County of Cook, City of Chicago.
[2] Forest Park Pioneers, abstracted from the book Forest Park Welcomes you to its 100th Birthday Party 1856-1956 by Ellen Cannon. Found this in the McHenry County Genealogy Section at McHenry Public Library District in McHenry Illinois. Call # Illinois, Cook Co. 977.3 Local History
[3] Baptism Record for Henrich Herman Desens, 21 April 1895, St John Congregational Book 1887-1905, page 85, #1888 28. St John Lutheran Church, Forest Park, Cook Co., Illinois.
[7] Death Record for John Desens, 6 July 1907, Pre- 1907 Wisconsin Death Record, County of Clark, Vol 1, Page 428. State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Microfilm room, 816 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin.
[8]Greenwood the Hub of Clark County, Compiled 1934 by the Greenwood Women’s Club, Transcribed 2001 by Janet Schwarze. This complete manuscript with illustrations, as well as the follow-on volume “1934 to the Present”, is available in paperback for $16 from: The Branstitter’s Museum, South Main Street, Greenwood, WI 54436. All proceeds go to this non-profit museum. Compiled by Members of the Woman’s Club, Essalyth Andrews, Gladys Arends, Hazel Flatz, Ingebor Shields, Lillie Heilman, exofficio. Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History. Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History Greenwood, Clark Co., Wisconsin History
[10] Obituary for Peter (John) Desens 11 July 1907. Neillsville Times (Neillsville, Clark County, Wisconsin) 11 July 1907.
[11] I received copies of court documents from the Clerk of the Court, 517 Court Street Rom 405 Neillsville, WI 54456 for an incident involving Fred Zell and John Desens. There is no citation for them from Clerk of the Court.
[12]Probate Case Files, Ca. 1873-1917, and Beginning With File No. 2699, Ca. 1900-1917, 1918 (See Film Inventory Below); General Probate Index; Author: Wisconsin. County Court (Clark County).
At the turn of the 20th century, my grandmother Helene Margarete Augusta Desens came into this world. She was the youngest of eight children born to Carl and Augusta Desens. She was born and grew up in Forest Park, Illinois. She attended St. John Lutheran Church and school. I never had the privilege of knowing my paternal grandmother because she died six months before I was born. For some reason, I always felt connected to her. As a little girl, I would visualize her looking down from heaven and watching me. My father never told many stories of his mother except that she had a great sense of humor and could be sarcastic. I wanted to know my grandmother like I knew my maternal grandmother. My grandmother suffered many hardships and died at a young age. I think that is why her story means so much to me.
In January of 1919 she anxiously awaited the return of her boyfriend to come home from France after serving in WWI. Two months later, Helen married George Manfroid the day before her 19th birthday. Near the end of 1919 she gave birth to a baby boy, George, Jr. For the next 10 years, life was pretty good for them. My grandfather work and she stayed home with their little boy, George. They lived in Forest Park among both of their families. They visited back and forth with family and friends. My grandfather bought a gas station and they bought a house in Elmhurst, IL where her sister Annie lived. Life was good!
Then the great depression happened. It hit them hard. My father always talked about it. He was only 10 when it happened, yet it made a big impression on him. My grandfather lost his business, and he had a hard time finding work. They lost their big house in Elmhurst, but somehow, they managed to buy a smaller house in Elmhurst. The house had a living room, dining room, kitchen and one bedroom and one bathroom. My father slept in the living room on the sofa.
My grandmother worried about where they were going to get their next meal. Sometimes they ate bananas for Sunday dinner. In 1933, during height of the great depression Helen gave birth to another son Donald. He was born mentally challenged. I often wondered if my grandmother did not get the right nourishment during her pregnancy. As he grew older, he could not feed himself, dress himself, or go to bathroom on his own. He was non-verbal and my father said that Donnie could be a handful. Helen became his full-time caretaker. I can’t image how she handled this alone while my grandfather tried to find employment and finally did with the American Can Company. She had a big family so maybe her sisters pitched in and helped her. My father was 14 when Donnie was born so maybe he helped after school. Although, my father left high school when he was 17 to find work to help support the family. I don’t know how much help he was after he started working. When Donnie was about 11 years old, Helen was diagnosed with Parenchymatous Nephritis (kidney disease and failure). She suffered with this for 4 years. Image having to take care of her son Donnie and at the same time she was sick. Treatment for this during the 1940’s was dietary modifications mostly milk and low salt diet to control Edema, bedrest and warm clothing, antibiotics for secondary infections. She could not rest when she had a son that needed her. I don’t know if she followed the dietary recommendations or had antibiotics. After four years of suffering, she succumbed to the disease. She was hospitalized over Labor Day weekend with Uremia and was there for five days. On the fifth day she died at 46 years old leaving behind a husband and two sons. During the five days, the doctor never came to see her until the day she died. My father thought the doctor and the hospital didn’t do enough to save her. They just let her lie there and die. After that, my father would have nothing to do with doctors or hospitals for a long time. Donnie was 13 years old and still needed his mother. I wrote about Donnie’s story on my blog several years ago you can find it at Meeting Uncle Donnie. As it turned out, Donnie can understand more than he is able to verbalize. He did manage to tell me one time, “Ma is with God.”
Knowing about the hardships she faced in her short life is why her story means so much to me. We all face some hardships in our lives, and I certainly have in my long life. Mine were different than hers, but I feel I can relate to her. Maybe someday I will get to meet her in Heaven for the first time.
I find each year that the younger generation seems to care less about our family traditions. I don’t know if this is true for everyone, but I have talked with a few friends and they also say that their family traditions seem to be going by the wayside. On Thanksgiving they are interested in eating and leaving to go shopping for deals. They seem distracted by their phones and everyone sits looking at their phones instead of having a conversation. If you try to tell family stories, that is old times and old stuff and no cares about the past. They have no desire to know about their ancestors or the even my past.
Christmas 1948 Family
I came from a small family of maybe 10 to 15 people as it varied over the years. We all got together on Christmas Eve and opened gifts. Santa would come and leave a bag of gifts on the front porch, ring the bell, and disappear. My brother and I were the only kids in the family so Christmas Eve was at our house. Christmas Day everyone gathered at my grandparent’s house for dinner. The women would all contribute to the cooking, but my grandmother did the turkey and goose. My grandfather had to have goose. She had a stove in the basement as well as her kitchen. She would run up and down the stairs while cooking both. My grandmother had a big heavy swinging door between the kitchen and dining room which usually remained open, but on holidays when she cooked, she closed it to keep the heat in the kitchen and the house cool. The kitchen was so hot the women would sweat. My job was to set the table and put the olives out. They were lucky that there were olives left as I ate some while putting them out. After dinner the men retired to the living room to watch TV and usually fell asleep, while the women cleaned up and did the dishes. After dishes were done, the adults played cards while my brother and I played with our new toys. I always enjoyed the conversations that went on and that is where I heard a lot of family stories. After the card playing, we would have our dessert and then everyone would depart for home. Thanksgiving was at my grandmothers and was pretty much like Christmas Day. New Years Eve my parents often had parties and it would be mostly their friends and their kids, plus my grandparents and uncle. New Years Day was again at my grandmothers for another big meal. Easter I would find an Easter Basket on the dining room table and then I would hunt for eggs. Then we would get ready for church. Back then everyone dressed up so I always had a new dress, hat, gloves, and new shoes. After Church we would go to my grandmothers and I would hunt for eggs again, but this time outside. My Aunt and cousin would always bring us another Easter Basket. There would be another big dinner at grandmas.
After my grandmother got too old to do all that cooking, my mother started hosting the family dinners. Grandma would still bring a dish to dinner, and she would still help clean up. We still played cards or a board game after our dinners. By this time, my brother and I were old enough to play games with the rest of the family. After I married, I wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner at our house and so I started hosting Thanksgiving dinners, and my mother did Christmas. When the children came along, I also started hosting Christmas Eve so Santa could come deliver the gifts to our house. New Years Day and Easter were at my mom’s. But other than the place we celebrated, everything else remained the same except for a few years when my kids were in a Christmas Eve presentation at church. We would go to church first before opening gifts and Santa coming. There were also a few years where we went to candlelight services at midnight.
When my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles were all gone. I still tried to carry on our family traditions. There were years that it was only my husband, two kids, my brother, and I that were left. It was up to me to do every holiday meal and plan the activities. I always tried to find a new game every year to keep our game playing interesting. When my kids grew up the family expanded once again. Son number 2 married and eventually had three kids. They would celebrate every other Thanksgiving with us and Christmas Day with us. My brother had a girl friend he lived with for many years but never married. Once again, we had 10 people for our holiday celebrations
At the present time it is hard to keep those traditions going because once again the family has gotten smaller. Son number one never married and had kids. Son number 2 got divorced and his kids are grown up now and they go their own way on holidays. My brother passed away 6 years ago, and my husband two years ago. I still cook for my two sons and we still play games on holidays. I cook the same way my grandmother cooked and the same things. But our holidays just are not the same. They are as good as can be, but I miss those days with everyone. I know when I am gone this family’s traditions will be gone with me.
If they ever decide they are interested in family stories, they are all written down. Some on this blog and all of them on paper in a book.
Everyday until Christmas, I am going to try to post a picture from a past family Christmas.
Christmas 1948 Family picture
The picture was taken on Christmas Eve 1948 in my parents apartment. On the left is my grandmother holding a doll, Fran my grandmother’s sister is next to her, my mother is in the kitchen doorway, I am next to my mother, Pat (Fran’s daughter) is front left, my Uncle Russ, and Grandpa. I assume my father is taking the picture since he is missing. I always like looking at the background in these old pictures. In this one you can see a little into the kitchen. There is an old stove with a kettle sitting on a burner. The stove has a shelf and on the self is a clock and two coffee carafes. I remember that kitchen was very small, and there was a small table that fit the three of us. Notice the knick-knack shelf on the wall. I think my mother had that one and others in all of her houses until the day she died. I know my grandmother did. I don’t see them anymore, but they were kind of nice for displaying items. I know I am always looking for shelf space to display things. A few of those around would help. The knick-Knack shelves now are plain square boxes. I love to see how styles of furniture, kitchen appliances, clothes, and hair styles change over the years. The trees were always real with the bigger lights and tinsel.
Everyday until Christmas, I am going to try to post a picture from a past family Christmas.
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.
I’m still running a week behind with my post for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Last weeks topic was naughty. I think I have already written about a few ancestors that were naughty and could not think of a new one to write about. So I decided to repost one about my great grandfather Rudolph Kaiser. Some letters were found when cleaning out my grandparents home years ago. I finally had one transcribed. Read the story below.
If you read my last post on Letters from Germany, you will know that I have some letters written in German addressed to my great-grandfather, Rudolph Kaiser. From the little we could deduce from them, it appeared he had another family in Germany.
Since writing my last post on Rudolf Kaiser, I have done some searching on his Children in Germany.
I researched on Ancestry.com and came up with the following:
Rudolf Otto Pielenz (Rudolf Kaiser’s son) born 18 February 1890; Mother: Anna Auguste Emilie Pielenz*
Ida Bertha Pielenz (Rudolf Kaiser’s daughter) born 19 December 1891; Mother: Anna Auguste Emilie Pielenz*
Rudolf Otto Pielenz Married 7 April 1917 to Pauline Wilhelmine Helene Schauer; son of Anna Pielinz and Werner*
Anna Pielenz married Friedrich Carl Wagner 24 February 1894.* Anna Pielenz and Friedrich Carl Wagner’s children are as follows:
Anna Louise Auguste Wagner born 16 September 1894.*
Emma Bertha Wagner born 15 November 1895.*
Otto Robert Wagner born 27 July 1898.*
After finding this information, I went back to the letters written in German. I was able to pick out the dates 18 February 1890 and 19 December 1891. I was also able to pick out the name Warner. So I was sure that I had the right people.
I wondered why Rudolph would leave a wife and children in Germany, start another life here with a different wife and children. It appears they were never married as she did not give the children his last name. Then I thought maybe his intentions were to save some money and send for them. But before he could save enough money, she moved on and got married. She married two years before Rudolph got married here in the United States. Maybe he wasn’t the scoundrel after all. Then my curiosity got the best of me, and I had the first of the four letters transcribed. As you will see as you read the letter, she is very upset with Rudolf Kaiser. Here is the letter from 30 October 1910 transcribed
Berlin, dated 30.10.10
Dear Mr Kaiser!!!-?
Finally, after many, many years I have succeeded in finding out your address. You, dear Sir, will know that the result in 1890 of our relationship was a boy, and then, as a good-bye ! – a step which was so difficult – also a little girl. – And Anna Pielenz is deserted by the most beloved I once possessed, with two children, fatherless, alone. I have carved out an existence with my children in need of a father, and now that they are both grown, it is always the same lament: Where is our father…
My boy, as you know, has his father’s name, i.e. Rudolf Pielenz, born on 18 February 1890. My character and Your face, which was my consolation. Now he is big and a soldier. He is serving in Allenstein and has grown into a handsome young man. But now he is interested and searching for his father, who has treated him so ignominiously, so completely without interest. And the little girl has grown into a young lady. Born on 19 December 1891, her name is Ida and she also had no idea of her fatherless birth. But now
that they are both grown they will probably be in touch very soon and will greet their father by way of a letter, (because), when the boy was 5 years old and the girl 4, I was forced to get married because I could no longer afford the maintenance for the 2 children. It was just too hard for me, so I married without love and had to be content with my lot, because my love belonged only to one person ? , to whom, after all, I gave everything, and to my children. I have been on my own again for years now, and, as I say, I am content, because resentment and hatred grew more
noticeable all the time; because, you’ll know what I mean ?, a marriage without love is like a soup without salt and thus I am on my own with my children, living with my youngest sister. I hope you have not completely forgotten me and that [your] 14 years were happier than mine were. I really only moped around continuously. Maybe you think back occasionally to times past when happiness was still sweet.
Respectfully,
Anna Vägner nee Pielenz
Berlin, S.O. 33
Skalitzerstr. 54a
Both children send their greetings
This opens up more questions than it answers. How did she find him? How does one find someone across an ocean in 1910? I started to think how I would go about it. Now we turn to the Internet or maybe private detectives. I don’t think she had the means to hire a private detective. But she probably knew what ship he traveled on, maybe he told her what city he planned to settle in. She may have known his friends and family in Germany. So maybe she found him through them. It sounds like she never got over him. I also notice that while she tells him of her unhappy marriage, she does not mention the children that were born of that marriage. She says she hopes he has been happy the past 14 years. It took me awhile to figure out where the 14 came from. From 1890 or 1891 to 1910 is 19 or 20 years not 14. In 1910 Rudolph was married 14 years. She even knew how long he had been married.
I do not know who is right or wrong and there are always two sides to a story. Her side is documented with letters, his side is silent. There are no letters from him, no stories handed down, and so we do not have his side. When I thought about her contacting his family in Germany, I wondered what happened to his mother and father. I have their names and that is it. When they were born or died remains a mystery. I never heard my grandfather talk about his grandparents. I don’t even think he knew their names. When I started doing the family tree, he was still alive and never gave me that information. I don’t know if he knew about his half-brother and half-sister. If any of their descendants are around today, I would love to meet them. I’m sorry that Anna Pielenz was so hurt. I hope she forgave him and moved on for her sake. As with all family secrets, they make for a good story, but I think about how sad it was for those children and their mother. On the other hand if he stayed with them, I would not be here. While I feel sad for them, I’m glad he had my grandfather. Rudolph did something good; he raised a good and decent man in my grandfather. My grandparents were married 58 years, my grandfather served in the United States Army during WWI, and worked at the same place for 45 years. He owned a home and raised a son and daughter who were also good and decent people, and life goes on in me, my children, and grandchildren. Maybe somewhere in the world there are sons, daughters, and grandchildren of Anna Pielenz and Rudolf Kaiser’s relationship.
*Information from Berlin Germany Birth and Marriage Records at Ancestry.com.
The topic this week for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is lucky. “Do you have an ancestor who was lucky at something? Lucky to be alive? Lucky at cards? Lucky in love? Maybe you have an ancestor with a name that reminds you of luck or fortune. There’s always “luck of the Irish.” Maybe you have a story of how luck played a role in finding an ancestor.”
I have racked my brain trying to come up with a lucky ancestor. So instead of a lucky ancestor, I decided that I would write about my luck that my grandmother kept good records. My grandmother kept a date book and sometimes she made comments on the pages. Her dates are mostly correct, and I love her comments. This datebook has helped me find her parents, grandparents, and cousins. Plus my grandfather’s family.
Here are some excerpts from the Date book.
Inscribed inside:
“To Mother on her birthday Dec. 3rd 1944, With Love, Dot.”
Jan 1 — Charles Steinhauser 1898 – Fred’s cousin on his mother’s side Aunt Barbara’s son. Died in 1962.
Jan 2 – Dear Brother Ralph C. Bowers born June 18, 1897 in Chicago, Illinois. Died on January 5th 1963 after having a stroke on January 2, 1963. Had heart attack a year or so before.
Jan 4 — Gregory August born on this day – Gail and Bruce’s child weighed in over 8lbs. One wonderful boy!
Jan 6 – Grandpa Kaiser died on this date in 1933. He was a kind person and we were sorry to see him go. 69 years old – Rudolph Kaiser
Jan 20 – Grandma Reinhardt – Anna Maria’s Birthdate. Died June 11, 1910 (nee Schweppler).
Feb 10 – Aunt Elizabeth Louise — Born in South Amana, Iowa 1881. Aunt Liz passed away Aug 5th 1966 5:20 PM on Friday. Buried in Ottawa on Aug 9th 1966
Feb 14 – Born Eva Fredericka Reinhardt Feb 4, 1877 Nussellock Germany – Died Dec 23, 1941.
Feb 20 – 1971 Abigail Helen married Bruce A at Calvary U. M. Church at 5pm. In a candlelight service that was beautiful. May god keep and bless them always.
March 17 –Julius Reinhardt – Cousin – In service 1945
March 28 – Mark Lynn Reinhardt – Cousin – In the Marines, some place in the South Pacific 1945.
April 3 – Our baby Richard was born on this date in 1930. Lived just 11 days. Premature by two and half months.
April 5 – Birthdate of my father and also Fred’s father. Robert Bowers. Rudolph Kaiser.
June 11 – Our third baby boy (still born) on this date in 1933. Very Premature.
July 1 – Birthday of our daughter Dorothy La Von 1924 Born Tuesday 10:35 pm. Grant Hospital – Chicago, Illinois 6lbs 5 oz.
July 12 – Ronnie’s birthday 1955. May god guide him in all ways.
July 14 – And they did it. Dot and George were married here at home at 5:00pm on Saturday by Pastor Beigner of Elmhurst. Their attendants were Joe and Velma Mitchell a very dear couple. Guests were Fran and Pat, Ralph and Helen, Liz and Tim, Mr. and Mrs. Manfroid, Mr. and Mrs. Beischer, and Donnie. Eighteen in all. And a nice time was had by all.
July 16 – Our anniversary. Fred and I were married on this day in 1923. Dr. Fred M. Doyle gave me away. By Pastor A. Meyer. Went to Wisconsin Dells for honeymoon.
Oct 9 – Our second great-grandson born at Delnor Hospital this day. Weighed in at 7 lbs. Brian Andrew to our dear granddaughter and her good husband. May god continue to bless all four of them always. First great grandson Gregory A.
Dec 16 – Mother suffered stroke on this day in 1941 and passed away one week later. Terrible, terrible day.
Dec 17 – Birthday of Grandma Kaiser (Wilhelmina Springer) Fred’s mother.
Dec 23—Mother passed away at the Columbus Hospital at about 1:30 pm on Tuesday 1941. Can’t begin to say how much I miss her.
As you can see this is a goldmine of information for a genealogist. She identifies people for example she said Mark Reinhardt – Cousin. She writes when her mother was born and where. She also writes when her mother died, in what hospital she died in, the time, and year. She writes about two premature babies she had that died. I left a lot out and only wrote a few entries to show how she kept records. I feel very, very lucky to have inherited this book. I have used it a lot over the years. She left other items to me also such as letters, cards, post cards, document, etc. I wish I had such items from all sides of my family tree. Thank-you Grandma, and I think you would love some of the information I have gathered on your family over the years.
