Anna Marie Schwebler’s Life

January 26, 2021 / Gail Grunst Genealogy / Leave a comment

In the small village of Bairertal, Baden, Germany, Anna Marie Schwebler was born on 20 January 1855 to Peter Schwebler and Friederike Liecht.[1] Baiertal is a village in the district of Heidelburg in Baden (now Baden-Wurttemburg) in Southwest Germany. Baden-Wurttemburg contains Germany’s largest continuous forest area, the Black Forest (Schwarzwald), which spreads westward to the banks of the Rhine River.[2] This is where Anna was baptized Lutheran on 29 January 1855,[3] and where she grew up, married, and her first two children were born. Anna was 22 years old when she married Johann Konrad Reinhardt on 26 April 1877 in Baiertal.[4] Nine months later their first child, Eva Friederike Reinhardt, was born on 14 February 1878.[5] A year and a half later their son, Johann Konrad Reinhardt, was born on 9 August 1879[6] (the birth record says Johann was born on 9 August 1879, but in all other documents he is listed as being born on the 10th.) Shortly after Johann was born Anna and her husband left for America. First, they traveled 284 miles through Germany to Antwerp, Belgium.[7] Today it is a 5-hour trip,[8] but in 1879 it was much longer. It is unknown what form of transportation they used from Baiertal to Antwerp. The Reinhardt’s probably left Antwerp somewhere between 19 November 1879 and 25 November 1879 on the ship Belgenland I (1878 Red Star Line).[9] The ship was 403’ x 40’ and went 14 knots,[10] and it was placed in Antwerp to New York service in 1879.[11] The trip from Antwerp to New York was 3,827 nautical miles.[12] If the ship went an average of 10 knots the trip would take about 16 days, and if it went top speed of 14 knots all the way it would take 10 days.[13] The Reinhardt’s arrived in New York on December 5, 1879.[14] At that time, they would have been processed through Castle Garden Immigration Center.[15] Seventeen days later, on 22 December 1879 they arrived in Amana, Iowa.[16] Amana was the home of Johann’s aunt, Elizabeth Schuh.[17]

“The Amana Colonies are seven villages on 26,000 acres located in Iowa County in east-central Iowa. The seven villages consist of Amana (or Main Amana), East Amana, High Amana, Middle Amana, South Amana, West Amana, and Homestead. In 1714 in Southwestern Germany two men started a religious movement which later became known as the Community of True Inspiration. A group of people from this movement came to the United States in 1842 settling in the vicinity of Buffalo, New York. They built four villages known as Middle Ebenezer, Upper Ebenezer, Lower Ebenezer, and New Ebenezer in New York State. They also built two villages in Canada. The Buffalo area was becoming quickly urbanized so the group sought land to west, and in 1854 purchased the sight of the present-day Amana Colonies in Iowa.”^{^[18]}

“After arrival in this county, the group adopted a religious-communal way of life, with all property held in common and with all church and secular decisions being made by the same leadership. The communal way of life lasted nearly a century until the people voted separation of church and state in 1932 adopting the free enterprise way of life that surrounded them.”^{^[19]}

“Mother and baby stayed home until the child was two and went to Kinderschule. The child would be in school from 8AM to 11AM and then would be home for lunch with the mother, not the communal kitchen. After lunch Children went back to Kinderschule. The Children went to Kinderschule until age seven.” [20]

The Reinhardt’s settled in South Amana.[21] Johann Americanized his name and went by Conrad. Conrad worked as a shoemaker in Amana.[22] Anna would have been at home and not working in the communal kitchen because she had two children under two. On 10 February 1881, Anna gave birth to another daughter, Elizabeth, born in Amana.[23] Reinhardt’s decided that Amana was not for them and left there in April 1883.[24] In 1885 they settle in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois and joined the Zion Evangelical Church in Ottawa.[25]

At this time, it is not known where they may have lived between 1883 and 1885. In 1886 another daughter, Emma, is born in Ottawa Illinois,[26] followed by a son, Frederick, born in 1887,[27] Anna born in 1889,[28] and Agnes, 1891.[29] Anna spent the rest of her life in Ottawa raising her children and keeping house. My grandmother often visited her grandparent’s in Ottawa, but she didn’t tell us many stories about her grandparents. Although, there were not many stories handed down about Anna and Conrad Reinhardt, there were traditions that were handed down. I visited Amana, Iowa and ate at one of the many restaurants. The food is served family style and when I took a bite, it was like being back in Grandma’s kitchen. Apparently, Grandma learned to cook from her mother and grandmother. In the museum, there were quilt’s just like the ones handed down to me that were made by my great-grandmother.

Quilt made by my Great-Grandmother Eva Reinhardt

The family referred to their daughter Annie as being slow. No one elaborated more than to say she was slow. Anna Marie had a nervous breakdown sometime between 1900 and her death in 1910. There is a gap in children between 1881 – 1886 so I wonder if she lost one or two in that time period. It probably wasn’t easy in those days to have a mentally challenged child, and the possibility that she may have lost one or two children may have contributed to her nervous breakdown. Plus, we will never know what else was going on in her life at that time that may have contributed to it.

Anna Marie passed away on 11 June 1910^[30] at age 55 years, 4 months, and 22 days. She is buried in the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois.^[31] A long way from Baiertal, Baden, Heidelburg, Germany. She shares her birthday January 20 with her 4^th great granddaughter.

Other Ancestors born in January

George Manfroid – 1 January 1892

Arthur Manfroid – 5 January 1901

Charles Bowers – 7 January 1784

Johann Friedrich Reinhardt 10 January 1814

Mary Bowers – 13 January 1792

Sarah Bowers –13 January 1792

John Bowers – 22 January 1786

Hugo Kaiser – 26 January 1899

Augusta Gabbi – 28 January 1859

Citations

[1] Ancestry.com. Baden, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data:Mikrofilm Sammlung. Familysearch.org. Originale: Lutherische Kirchenbücher, 1502-1985.

[2] https://www.britannica.com/place/Heidelberg

[3] https://www.britannica.com/place/Heidelberg

[4] Germany Marriages, 1558 – 1929, LDS Library, Salt Lake Ciry, Utah, microfilm # 1272787.

[5] Ancestry.com. Baden Germany Lutheran Baptism, 1502 – 1985[database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Mikrofilm Sammlung. Familysearch.org.

[6] Ancestry.com. Baden, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Mikrofilm Sammlung. Familysearch.org. Originale: Lutherische Kirchenbücher, 1502-1985.

[7]Maps, Google. “Google Maps Heidelburg to Antwerp.” Google Maps, Google, 2021, http://www.google.com/maps/dir/Antwerp,+Belgium/Heidelberg,+Germany/@50.2921341,4.2755556,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x47c3f68ebfc3887d:0x3eaf448482a88ab8!2m2!1d4.4024643!2d51.2194475!1m5!1m1!1s0x4797c1050eccdccd:0xefe6ea0044243ad7!2m2!1d8.6724335!2d49.3987524.

[8] Ibid.

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

[10] Smith, Eugene W. Passenger Ships of the World: Past and Present. George H. Dean, 1978.

[11] Smith, Eugene W. Passenger Ships of the World: Past and Present. George H. Dean, 1978.

[12] “Port of Antwerp, Belgium to Port of New York, United States Sea Route and Distance.” Ports.com, ports.com/sea-route/port-of- antwerp,belgium/port-of-new-york,united-states/.

[13] Ibid.

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

[15] “Castle Garden”. Castlegarden.Org, 2021, http://www.castlegarden.org/.

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

[17] Amana, Iowa, Amana Heritage Museum, Anderson Cards, the Koch Verzeichnis

[18] Bourret, Joan Liffring-Zub and John Zug, Amanas yesterday: a religious communal society: a story of seven villages in Iowa: historic photographs 1900 – 1932. IA City, IA: Penfield Press, 2003

[19] Ibid.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Year: 1880; Census Place: Amana, Iowa, Iowa; Roll: 345; Family History Film: 1254345; Page: 146D; Enumeration District: 201; Image: 0155. 1880 United States Federal Census. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

[22] Ibid.

[23] Ancestry.com. Iowa, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: “Iowa Births and Christenings, 1830–1950.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009, 2010. Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records.

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

[25] Daily Republican Times, Ottawa, Illinois,Vol XXXII no. 291, 13 June 1910, Pg 4.

[26] Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1871-1998,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVRN-D8VZ : 16 March 2018), Emma L Mataway, 18 Aug 1956; citing Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, source reference , record number , Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm .

[27] “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6DL-3XZ : 12 December 2014), Fred Reinhardt, 1917-1918; citing La Salle County no 1, Illinois, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,614,034.

[28] Illinois Births and Christenings, 1824-1940,” database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2LZ-4LN : 12 December 2014), Anna Reinhardt, 28 Apr 1889; Birth, citing Ottawa, La Salle, Illinois; FHL microfilm 1,710,998.

[29] Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File. Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014. Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.

[30] Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, LaSallle, Illinois cemetery records, Cemetery card CCY-TS, Burial Location BU, 47C (N ½) Record # 5856.

[31] Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, LaSallle, Illinois cemetery records, Cemetery card CCY-TS, Burial Location BU, 47C (N ½) Record # 5856.

Naughty Great-Grandpa part 2

February 4, 2020February 4, 2020 / Gail Grunst Genealogy / 2 Comments

A while back I wrote about my great-grandfather Rudolph Kaiser who may have left a family in Germany when he came to the United States and started a another family here. For back ground to this post you might want to read my original posts about Rudolph Kaiser at Naughty Great Grandpa and Letter’s from Germany to Rudolph Kaiser.

I just had the second letter from Germany transcribed. It is dated 13 November 1910 and is written by his son this time.

Letter Transcribed:

Page 1

Allenstein, 13 November 1910

Mr. Kaiser,

After many efforts, we were able to determine your valuable address. We only found out from Mother this year that our father is in America. So we decided to write a few lines. Hopfully, they will be received with pleasure. Things are currently very bad for us. Mother is alone with Ida because I have been drafted into the

Page 2

Military, Infantry Regiment 146. 6 Allenstein Company. As a result, it has not been possible for me to work as I must now serve two years. Ida works in a factory in Berlin. Unfortunately, her earnings are very meagre. Mother has been sickly of late so she is no longer abler to earn any money. I Rudolf, have decided to move to America after my service. Dear Father, write

Page 3

To me please and tell me how you are and how it is in America. Hopefully, it is better than in Berlin because everything is expensive here and work is hard to come by. Therefore dear Father, we ask you kindly, please reply.

Warmest regards

From your children

Sent

From afar

Rudolf Ida

Inf. Regt. 146. Berlin S.O. 33

5^th Company Skalitzerstr. 54a

Allenstein

Page 4

Musketier [private]

Rudof Pielenz

Inf. Regt. 146.

6^th comp.

Room 22

Allenstein

I have two more letters that I want transcribed and will do as I can afford it. I am hoping one of them contains answers to all my questions that I have about these circumstances. I can’t say it any better than I did in my previous post about my feelings toward this woman and her children and my great-grandfather. I can’t help wonder about my great-grandmother in all this. Did she know? If so what did think or do about it? Did this cause a riff in there marriage? Did my grandfather know? If he did, he never told anyone. It was kept a secret, I think, except for the buried letters. By the time they were found there was no one around that could read, write, or speak German. Years ago my mother asked a German neighbor to read them and tell her what they said. The neighbor did not transcribe word for word, but just gave my mother a summary of the letters so we had an idea of the information contained in them.

Here’s my mother’s notes:

Mom's notes about German letters

Mom's notes about the German letters 2

I have a letter dated 1914 which corresponds to the note “wounded in Russia 1914 discharged”. Story to be continued when next letter is translated.

Grandma’s Grandpa

November 9, 2019 / Gail Grunst Genealogy / 2 Comments

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]

____________________________________________________________________________________________

[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.

Naughty Great Grandpa

December 19, 2018 / Gail Grunst Genealogy / Leave a comment

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.

img062 (2)

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.

Black Sheep?

June 26, 2018 / Gail Grunst Genealogy / 1 Comment

Frances and Helen Bowers

Ralph Bowers

52 Ancestors in 2 Weeks topic this week is Black Sheep in the family.

I can’t think of any ancestors that were black sheep in the traditional sense. I have not run across any criminals or ones that have done outrages things and been banished by family.

The closest I can come to black sheep are my grandmother, her brother, and sister. My grandmother’s parents were divorced when she was a young child. She grew up never knowing her father or his family. They lived in the same small town, and she would see them from a distance. She said the reason she never knew them was because the Bowers family thought they were better than the Reinhardt’s. My Grandmother claimed the Bowers denied that their son, Robert, married and had children. My grandmother told stories of how she saw her grandmother, Alexena, in the cemetery; but Alexena did not acknowledge her. One time she saw her father walking down the street and she ran up to him and said, “I’m your daughter.” He said, “Get away from me kid, I don’t have any children.” The Bowers were of English and Scottish descent, and the Reinhardt’s were from Germany. Also the Bowers appear to be financially better off than the Reinhardt’s. It also appears that the Bowers were upper class and the Reinhardt’s lower class. Maybe the Bowers had something against Germans or maybe it was a class thing.

The story is that Robert Bowers and Eva Reinhardt ran off to Chicago to be married, however I have not been able to find a marriage record for them in Cook County Illinois. For awhile, I wondered if they never married and that is why the Bowers denied the children were Roberts. However after Charles Bowers died in February 1897,[1] Robert and Eva sign a quit-claim deed over to Alexena Bowers on 26 June 1897.[2] It lists Eva Bowers as Robert Bowers wife.[3] Eight days earlier on 18 June 1897 Eva and Robert’s first child is born.[4] Charles bought the two lots listed on the quit-claim deed in 1882. [5] At some point he turned the lots over to Robert and Eva. I am wondering if he gave them as a wedding present to Robert and Eva. After his death and after their first child is born, the property is signed over to Alexena for $1.00. I am speculating here, but did she insist on getting the property back because of her dislike for Eva and now their newborn child? I never found a divorce record for Robert and Eva either. Robert died in Chicago 4 March 1913.[6] Eva went by Eva Bowers until she died 23 December 1941.[7] Her death certificate lists her as Eva Bowers, widow. I believe they were married because of the quit-claim deed and her life long use of the Bower name. I beginning to believe that they were never officially divorced. See Quit-Claim Deed below:

img145 (2)

The story my grandmother told came to life for me when I read Alexena’s will. This is proof that they did not want to acknowledge Robert’s children. The following is a transcribed from Alexena’s will in Probate Court for proof of heirship:

On the 26^th day of June 1926 R Ethel Vittum, a competent witness of lawful age produced sworn and examined on oath in open court, testified as follows, to-wit:

C. B. Chapman
Q. Your name is R. Ethelyn Vittum?
A. Yes
Q. You reside in Ottawa, Illinois?
A. Yes
Q. You are a daughter of Alexena Bowers?
A. Yes
Q. When did she die?
A. March 7, 1926
Q. Where did she die?
A. At her residence 543 Chapel Street
Q. At the time of her death was she an actual resident of the city of Ottawa, County of LaSalle, State of Illinois?
A. She was
Q. About what was her age?
A. 79 years in August
Q. She was a citizen of the United States?
A. She was
Q. Did she leave a surviving husband?
A. No
Q. What was her husband’s name?
A. Charles Bowers
Q. And about how long ago did he die?
A. I think it was about thirty years ago
Q. Was she married more than once?
A. No
Q. How many Children were born of the marriage?
A. Five
Q. What were their names?
A. Richard L. Bowers, Elizabeth A. Bowers, Robert F. Bowers, Genevieve L. Bowers, myself.
Q. R. Ethel Bowers is yourself?
A. Yes
Q. And you are residing in Ottawa, Illinois?
A. Yes
Q. Is R. L. Bowers living?
A. He is
Q. And he is living in Ottawa, Illinois?
A. In Ottawa
Q. And Elizabeth Ann Bowers is living in Ottawa?
A. Yes
Q. Is Richard Bowers living?
A. Richard and R. L. are one and the same. You mean Robert?
Q. Robert, I should say.
A. He is dead
Q. About how long ago did he die?
A. 13 years ago, I think.
Q. And was he married?
A. I don’t know, Mr. Chapman
Q. You haven’t any knowledge so that you could testify as to whether or not he was ever married?
A. No.
Q. Do you know whether or not there are living any persons who claim to be his children?
A. There was a few years ago.
Q. And do you know there names or the names that they go by?
A. I don’t think of the name, Mr. Chapman.
Q. Let me refresh your recollection. Do you remember whether the persons who claim to be his children are Ralph Bowers?
A. Yes Ralph is one
Q. And Helen Kaiser?
A. I don’t know the Kaiser, but I know a Helen.
Q. Helen claimed to be Helen Bowers and you don’t know whether she is now married and whether her name is Kaiser.
A. No
Q. And Frances Bowers, who also claimed –
A. I think so.
Q. And do know that she is now married and her present name is Beck?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Were there any other parties than Ralph, Helen and Frances that claimed to be children of Robert?
A. I don’t know of any others.
Q. Never heard of any others?
A. Never.
Q. And in matters where the question of the heirship of Robert was raised you knew that there was proof made and these three parties were found to be children of Robert, did you?
A. Yes
Q. And found to be the only children of Robert?
A. Yes
Q. and the other child of Alexena Bowers was what?
A. Genevieve L.
Q. And she died in infancy?
A. Yes – Oh, no –
Q. Because she was-
A. Why she died about 29 years ago.
Q. Was she ever married?
A. No.
Q. Did your mother at any time ever adopt any children?
A. No. [8]

In 1935 Ethelyn passed away[9] and in 1947 Elizabeth passed away.[10] The only one left was Richard Bowers. It was after the others were all gone that my grandmother got to know her Uncle Richard Lambly Bowers. He must have been the one who gave her the pictures of the Bowers family that are now in my possession. I have done extensive researched Charles and Alexena Bowers, and I think it would be of interest to my Grandmother to know about her father’s roots. They seem to interest me for some reason. What kind of people deny their own grandchildren? By the way, my grandmother, her brother and sister did not receive any inheritance from her Grandmother.

Today with DNA tests it can be proved that my grandmother, her brother, and sister were indeed Robert’s children. I had my DNA test done and it is a match with fourth cousins that descend from one of Charles Bowers brothers.

Ottawa Avenue Cemetery Records: Ottawa, LaSalle County, Illinois. Record number 8539, Cemetery Card CCY-TS, Burial location OT18-7
Tract Index Book, Recorder of Deeds Office, Ottawa, LaSalle County, Illinois, Book488, Page 167, Microfilm at the LaSalle County Genealogical Guild 115 W. Glover St., Ottawa, Illinois 61350
Ibid.
[1] Registration State: Illinois; Registration County: Cook; Roll 1613573; Draft board: 53. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. {database on-line}. Provo, UT, USA; Ancestry.com Operation Inc, 2005. Original Data: United States, Selective Service System World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cares, 1917-1918. Washington, D. C. : National Archives and Record Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library Microfilm.
Tract Index Book, Recorder of Deeds Office, Ottawa, LaSalle County, Illinois, Book238, Page 137, Microfilm at the LaSalle County Genealogical Guild 115 W. Glover St., Ottawa, Illinois 61350
Certificate and Record of Death for Robert F. Bowers, March 4, 1913, Registration 1311, Department of Heath, City of Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Certificate of Death for Eva Bowers; State of Illinois, Department of Public health, Division of Vital Statistics, Springfield, Illinois, Registration Number 34633. Date of death: December 23, 1941; Place of death: County of Cook, City of Chicago.
“Probate of will of Alexena Bowers” (Proof of Heirship), 26 June 1926, LaSalle County, Illinois, Old Estate Books, File 1, Box 954., LaSalle County Court House, Ottawa, Illinois. Photocopy of original in possession of this writer.
Cemetery Record for Ethelyn Bowers, Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa LaSalle, Illinois; Date of Birth, June 20, 1878, Date of Death March 14, 1935, Burial March 16, 1935; Burial location: OT, 18-7, Cemetery Card: CCY-TS, Record: #8542.
Cemetery Record for Elizabeth Bowers, Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois; Date of Death January 31, 1947; Burial location OT, 18-7; Funeral Home Gladfelter; Cemetery card CCNF-noTS; Record number 10315.

Same Person Two Names

June 23, 2018 / Gail Grunst Genealogy / Leave a comment

This week 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks topic is the “same name“. When I first started genealogy back in 1979, I started with my parents and grandparents and asked them a lot of questions. My father’s name was George, and his father’s name was George, and I was told that his father’s name was George. Not much was know about my great-grandfather George Manfroid. In the early 1990’s I visited a Family History Center and found a man named Isidor Manfroid that was born in Germany in May 1855. I didn’t think much about it and kept searching for a George. Back then you inserted disks into the computer, there was no Internet yet for public use. Below is a printout from that time period. I even eventually wrote a note on it that said, “Wondering if this is George. George born May 1856 in Germany according to the 1900 census.”

Manfroid Isidor (IGI)

Also on the 1900 census, he named one son Isidor and one Felix. The Isidor in this IGI printout’s father’s name was Felix Joseph Manfroid. Manfroid is an uncommon name so there was not many in the index or in the phone books of Germany, France, Belgium and the United States. As it turned out, finding my great-grandfather Isidor George Manfroid was a search that took me years to solve. It seemed that sometimes he used Isidor and sometimes he used George, but not together. Also, my father knew next to nothing about his grandfather. He knew his name was George, but he didn’t remember him except that he thought he went to his funeral when he was 3 or 4 years old. My father thought he was born in Germany, and that his grandparents had divorced. It was with these skimpy facts that I was finally able to find my Great Grandfather. For years I didn’t know if Isidor and George was the same person. I was pretty sure, but could not prove it until I found his marriage record to my great-grandmother where he is listed as G. Isidor Manfroid.

Here is the story of Isidor George Manfroid. or George Isidor Manfroid

Isidor (George) was born on May 22, 1855 in Siegburg, Rhineland, Preussen to Felix Joseph Manfroid and Elisabeth Kelterbach.[1] Isidor George Manfroid left Germany around 1877 and came to the United States.[2] George’s occupation was an iron molder.[3] I do not know how George found his job in iron molding, or why he came to the U.S., but he may have come due to economic conditions in Germany, or to escape being conscripted in the German military service.[4]

It seems that sometimes my great-grandfather went by George, and sometimes by Isidor. In 1885 Isidor married Sophie Ahrens in Chicago, Illinois.[5] In 1886 Sophie died.[6] In 1889 George appears to be living in Cleveland, Ohio.[7] Cleveland was the home to Mary Fiderius, her parents, and bothers, and sisters.[8] Mary was the first child born to Peter Fiderius and Christina Oberdoester on July 1, 1870 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.[9] By 1878 Mary and her family were living in Cleveland, Ohio[10]. In 1889 her father, Peter, worked for the Cleveland Malleable Iron Company as a general labor.[11] The Cleveland Iron Malleable Company was located at Platt Avenue and East 79^th Street[12]. In 1890 George is listed as living on Platt Avenue and his occupation is listed as molder.[13] I believe that he probably worked for Cleveland Malleable Iron Company too. It is presumed that George and Mary met because they lived near each other, or her father knew George through work. George was 14 years older than Mary, and I wonder how Mary’s parents felt about the age difference. I don’t know George’s religion, but Mary was Catholic.[14] George and Mary were married in 1889 in Cleveland, Ohio,[15] but by December they were living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where their first child, Laura was born.[16] It appears that Laura did not live long. She does not appear in the 1900 census.[17] Around 1892 they moved to Toledo, Ohio, and their son, also named George, was born January 1, 1892 in Toledo.[18] In 1894 they are back in Cleveland,[19] in 1898 they moved back to Toledo,[20] and in 1900 they move to Chicago.[21] During the 1890’s fthree more children, Christina, Felix Philip, and Isidor are born.[22] The son Isidor only lived to be two and half years old.[23] During this time, it is presumed that George probably worked for Cleveland Malleable since they also had plants in Toledo, and Chicago.[24] It is possible of course that he worked for another company that made iron. After 1903 they moved again out of Chicago,[25] and I believe they may have moved to one of the Chicago suburbs. In 1901 they had another son, Arthur Anton[26] and another son Theodore was born in 1904.[27]

Sometime between 1904 and 1910 George and Mary divorced. The exact date and reason for the divorce are not known at this time. I believe it to be this time period because I assume they were together when the last child was born, but by 1910 the two youngest sons are not living with their mother. Arthur is in St. Mary’s Training School in Wheeling, Illinois,[28] and Theodore is in St. Vincent’s Infant Asylum (orphanage) in Chicago.[29] At that time their were no safety nets for single mothers, so I think she temporarily sent them to these places because she could not take care of them. I did not find either George or Mary on the 1910 census. Considering the time and Mary’s religion the only reason for divorce was the man deserting his family. I do not know if this is the reason for the divorce, it can only be assumed. I have been unable to find a divorce document to date.

I believe after the divorce, George moved back to Cleveland and became a barber.[30] He lived there for a while and returned to Maywood, Illinois where he died alone and poor in January 1924.[31] He died at Cook County Hospital in Chicago of Pancreatic Cancer.[32] He is buried in a pauper’s grave[33] at Waldheim Cemetery (now Forest Home Cemetery) in Forest Park, Illinois.[34]

I do not know George’s personality, but knowing my father’s and Grandfather’s personality, I picture George as an introvert, and hard-working, but always poor and maybe not very lucky in life.

[1] Birth Record for Isidor Manfroid, 23 May 1855, Siegburg, Rheinland, Pruessen; Duetschland Geburten und Taufen 1558 – 1898, Record 10442, GS Film 1057304.

[2] 1900 United States Census, State: Illinois, County: Cook, Township: WestTown, City: Chicago, Enumeration Dist: 293, Ward 10, Sheet 16B, Line 69

[3] Ibid.

[4] Energy of a Nation: Immigration Resources, a project of the advocates for human rights; www.energyofanation.org/4e667f77-e302-4c1a-9d2e-178a0ca31a32.html

[5] Marriage License & Certificate for Isidor Manfroid and Sophie Ahrens 29 August 1885; State of Illinois, County of Cook, City of Chicago, Certificate # 94849.

[6]Illinois, Marriage and Death Index, 1883 – 1889. Sophia Manfroid 3 August 1886; Cook County, Illinois, Marriage and Death Index, 1883 – 1889.

[7] Cleveland City Directory 1889 – 1890; listing for George Manfroid, 29 Carr; Occupation: Molder.

[8] Cleveland City Directory 1878, 1979, 1880, 1881, 1882,1882, 1884, 1885, 1886,1887, 1889 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908- 1908; listing for Peter Fiderius living in Cleveland, Ohio.

[9] Told to Author’s mother by Mary Fiderius Manfroid Beischer in 1947 and recorded in Author’s baby book. In Author’s possession at 2916 Martin Drive, Spring Grove, IL. 60081

[10] Cleveland City Directory 1878 – 1908; listing for Peter Fiderius, Leonard Fiderius, Christina Fiderius & Joseph Fiderius

[11] Cleveland City Directory 1889 – Listing for Peter Fiderius, Address: Cleveland Malleable Iron Company.

[12] William Ganson Rose, Cleveland; The Making of a City (Cleveland & New York: World Publishing Company, 1950), p. 351.

[13] Cleveland City Directory 1890 -01 – Listing for George I. Manfroid, Address: 31 Platt, Occupation: Molder.

[14] Told to Author and Author’s Mother by Mary Fiderius Manfroid Biescher between 1950 – 1960.

[15] Marriage record for G. Isidor Manfroid and Mary Fiderius, State of Ohio, CuyahogaCounty, SS., 5 February 1889.

[16] “Pennsylvania Births and Christenings, 1709 – 1950,” index, FamilySearch (https://familyserch/pal:/mm9.1.1/V2JV-3f4: Laura Manfroid, 13 December 1889.

[17] 1900 United States Census, State: Illinois, County: Cook, Township: WestTown, City: Chicago, Enumeration Dist: 293, Ward 10, Sheet 16B, Line 69

[18] Illinois State Board of Health Return of Marriage to County Clerk (DuPageCounty) for George Manfroid (son of G. Isidor Manfroid) and Helen Desens, 22 March 1919. Birth place of George Manfroid listed at Toledo, Ohio.

[19] Cleveland City Directories 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897 list George Manfroid living at 235 Herald, Cleveland, Ohio.

[20] Toledo City Directories 1898, 1899, 1900 listed George Manfroid as living at 259 Caldonia and 255 Woodford, Toledo, Ohio.

[21].1900 United States Census, State: Illinois, County: Cook, Township: WestTown, City: Chicago, Enumeration Dist: 293, Ward 10, Sheet 16B, Line 69.

[22] Ibid.

[23] Department of Health: City of Chicago: Bureau of Vital Statistics: Undertakers Report of Death for Isidor Manfroid (Son of G. Isidor Manfroid) 12247, 22 March 1901.

[24] William Ganson Rose, Cleveland; The Making of a City (Cleveland & New York: World Publishing Company, 1950), p. 352.

[25] Chicago City Directories 1901, 1902, 1903 listed George Manfroid as living at 1313 N. 42^nd Avenue, Chicago, Illinois

[26] Certificate of Birth for Arthur Anton Manfroid, 5 January 1901, State of Illinois , Department of Public Health, Division of vital Statistics registered no 72637, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois

[27] Texas, Deaths, 1977 – 1986 index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-22864-3780=71?cc=M9S8-8SD:2136566208, 1978 Vol 140, Sep, Certificates69501-70000, Harris County, Image 149 of 579 for Theodore Manfroid 8 August 1978

[28] 1910 United States Census, Wheeling, Cook, Illinois; Roll T624-241, Page 21B, Enumeration District 0132; FHL microfilm 1374254.

[29] 1910 United States Census, Chicago, Ward 21, Cook, Illinois; Roll T624-264. Page 168, Enumeration District 0923; FHL microfilm 13742777.

[30]ClevelandCity Directory 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912.

[31] Death Certificate for George Manfroid, 22 January 1924. State of Illinois, County of Cook, City of Chicago; Registration no. 2041.

[32] Ibid.

[33] Forest Home Cemetery Records, 863 South Des Plaines Avenue, Forest Park, Illinois; Lot 1736, Section IH. Date of burial: 24 January 1924, 68 years 8 months, 10 days. No Marker. Lot owned by State of Illinois.

[34] Ibid.

Heirloom Quilts

February 24, 2018 / Gail Grunst Genealogy / 1 Comment

002 003

This weeks topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Heirloom.

I have several things that have been handed down to me mainly from my mother’s side of the family. Today I want to focus on two quilts made by my great-grandmother, Eva Reinhardt. My great-grandmother came to America from Germany with her parents in December 1879 when she was 21 months old and her brother John was four months old[1]. Eva’s parents, Conrad and Anna Reinhardt, settled in Amana, Iowa.[2] I always wondered what attracted them to the Amana Colonies. Did they belong to the Community of True Inspiration in Germany? I don’t know the answer to this yet. Usually people tend to settle in places where they have relatives or friends. Who did Conrad and Anna know in the Amana Colonies? As it turns out Conrad had an Aunt that lived in Amana. Maybe there were others as well, however at this point I can only find the aunt.

Aunt Elisabeth Schuh came to the Ebenezer Society in September 1847 at age 16 and then to Amana in October 1863.^[3] She did not come with her own family, but came with the Bortz family with the intention of going to live in Galion, OH.^[4] According to the Bortz family, Elisabeth’s parents did not approve of her relationship with a certain boy and shipped her to America.^[5] She is described as 6’ 2” tall and 225 lbs.^[6] or a person of size and strength.^[7] Elisabeth spent her life in Amana and it appears she never married. Elisabeth Schuh was born on May 26, 1831 in Nussloch, Baden, Germany[8] and died on May 25 1908 one day shy of her 77^th birthday.[9] She is buried in the Amana Cemetery in Amana, Iowa.[10]

Conrad and Anna only stayed in Amana a little over three years and then moved to Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois.[11] Eva was five years old at this time and spent the rest of her youth in Ottawa, Illinois. She became a milliner and seamstress. Her daughters, Helen and Frances, inherited her seamstress skills. Frances earned her living sewing first in a sweat shop and later in bridal shop. My grandmother, Helen, was a housewife and sewed for her family. She made quilts out of my mother’s old dresses and mine too. I liked to looking at them and remembering the dresses. Unfortunately, those were not given to me, and I don’t know what happened to them.

In 1985 my mother and I made a research trip to Amana, Iowa and visited the Amana Heritage Museum. I saw many items in the museum like my grandmother had in her home, but what really grabbed my attention were the quilts. They were just like the ones made by my great-grandmother Eva. Now when I look at these quilts that I inherited, I think of my heritage, Eva, and Amana, Iowa.

If you would like to read more about the Reinhardt Family see the following blog posts.

Conrad Reinhardt

Great Grandmother Eva

John Conrad Reinhardt

Aunt Liz’ Secret Life

Aunt Emma’s Two Lives

Aunt Agnes a Love Story

Remembering Grandma

Memories of Aunt Fran

Thinking of Uncle Ralph

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

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

[3] Amana, Iowa, Amana Heritage Museum, Anderson Cards, the Koch Verzeichnis

[4] Amana, Iowa, Amana Heritage Musuem, The Bortz Family

[5] Amana, Iowa, Amana Heritage Musuem, The Bortz Family

[6] Sabetha, Kansas, Sabetha Herald, Wednesday, December 8, 1936, page 4.

[7] Amana, Iowa, Amana Heritage Museum, Anderson Cards, the Koch Verzeichnis

[8] Amana, Iowa, Amana Heritage Musuem, The Bortz Family

[9] From Find-a-grave website: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2228228/memorial-search?firstName=elisabeth&lastName=Schuh&page=1#sr-106053138

[10] https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2228228/memorial-search?firstName=elisabeth&lastName=Schuh&page=1#sr-106053138

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

Conrad Reinhardt

October 6, 2017October 6, 2017 / Gail Grunst Genealogy / 2 Comments

Conrad Reinhardt

Konrad Johann Reinhardt was born on 18 February, 1852 in Nusselock, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany to Johann Friedrich Reinhardt and Philippina Schuh.[1] He married Anna Marie Schwebler on 26 April, 1877 in Evangelisch, Baiertal, Heidelberg, Baden[2].

On 14 February, 1878 they had their first child Eva Born in Germany.[3] Their son Johann Konrad was born next in August of 1879 in Germany.[4] Later in 1879 Konrad, Anna, and the children left their home in Germany for the United States. My grandmother always said that Konrad left Germany because he deserted the German Army. I have been unable to verify that story. They boarded the ship Bergenland at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium and arrived in New York on 5 December 1879.[5] . From New York they traveled to Amana, Iowa arriving on 22 December 1879.[6] They settled in the South Amana village.[7] In 1880, they had another daughter, Elizabeth, born in South Amana.[8]

In 1714 in Southwestern Germany two men started a religious movement which later became known as the Community of True Inspiration. A group of people from this movement came to the United States in 1842 settling in the vicinity of Buffalo, New York. They built four villages known as Middle Ebenezer, Upper Ebenezer, Lower Ebenezer, and New Ebenezer in New York State. They also built two villages in Canada. The Buffalo area was becoming quickly urbanized so the group sought land to west, and in 1854 purchased the sight of the present day Amana Colonies in Iowa.[9]

“After arrival in this county, the group adopted a religious-communal way of life, with all property held in common and with all church and secular decisions being made by the same leadership.” The communal way of life lasted nearly a century until the people voted separation of church and state in 1932 adopting the free enterprise way of life that surrounded them.”[10]

There are six villages that make up the Amana Colonies –Amana, West Amana, South Amana, High Amana, East Amana, Homestead, Middle Amana.[11]

“Churches were unpretentious and were indistinguishable in appearance from homes and other buildings.. Inside they were white-washed walls, bare floors, and unpainted benches. Regular church services were held 11 times each week – morning services Wednesday, Saturdays and Sundays; afternoon services on Sundays, and evening prayer meetings each day. There were special services during Holy Week, and other special services for Ascension Day, Pentecost and the day after Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Easter. Women wearing black shawls and bonnets sat on one side of the church, men on the other. There were no musical instruments. Hymns were sung and messages of the elders were from the Bible and from the testimonies of the founders and leaders of the church. They urged peaceful, brotherly way of living in simple dignity and humility, faith in Christ, and belief in the word of God.”[12]

“Children went to school from 7 to 14 or 15. School was held 5½ days a week the year round. There were breaks for weeding in the garden and harvesting, apples, potatoes, onions, etc. School opened with prayer and Bible reading. The three R’s were taught, reading, writing and arithmetic. Instruction was in German except that geography was in English because all the names on the maps were in English.”[14]

“There was no cooking in the homes. Families ate in groups of 30 to 60 at the communal kitchens. There were a number of these in each village, and each kitchen had its own large garden. The day began at 4:30AM when the hearth was lit with one match. Water was heated for coffee, potatoes were fried, bread was slice, and butter and milk prepared for serving. In the dining room the tables had been set the night before. The bell rang for breakfast at 6AM. The mid-day meal was at 11:30 and the evening meal at 6:30PM. There were coffee breaks at 9AM and 3PM. There were separate tables for men and women. Grace was said before and after meals and there was no talking during the meals. Families with small children, the ill, or elderly carried food home in hinged or willow baskets. The long tables were filled with food. Meals included soup, meats, potatoes, and other vegetables, salads, sauerkraut and bread. When men came from the factories for coffee break there was bread and cheese, and often radishes with the coffee. The day ended with the girls and women doing the dishes, cleaning the kitchen and setting the table for the days breakfast, all tasks being completed efficiently so as not to be late for evening prayer meeting.”[15]

The Amana colonies appeared to be very self-sufficient. They made or grew everything they needed. “Some of the occupations for men were: Barber, basket-making, beekeeper, blacksmith, brewery, broom-maker, butcher, cabinet-maker, carpenter, cooper (maker of barrels), calico factory, flour mills, harness maker, lumber yard, lampshade maker, locksmith, mason, stone/brick layer, whitewash man, machine shop, mail service (inter-village), molasses-sorghum mill, shoemaker, saw mill, soap factory, store keeper (general stores), main and local office staffs, tailor shops, tanneries, umbrella repair, wagon-maker, watch-maker, medical doctor, dentist, pharmacist, teacher, postmaster, railroad depot agent, farming. For women: Kitchens, communal gardens, kindergarten, (day care centers), after school supervisor, knitting, laundry, seamstress, woolen mills. For boys: Harvest apples, picking cherries, helping with harvest, etc. For girls: Help in the communal kitchen such as shelling peas, pitting cherries, coring apples, etc.”[16]

“For individuals there was no cash income. The Amana society gave you a house to live in, plus certain necessary items of furniture. There were shops for every necessity of life, and there was a drawing account or allowance, not in cash but in credit established for you at these shops and general stores.”[17]

This will give you some idea what Konrad and Anna Marie’s life was like while they lived in Amana. They left Amana in April of 1883 because they found no basis in the community.[18]

My grandmother said that her grandfather’s sister started the Amana Colonies. We have visited Amana and went to the museum there. Amana Colonies in Iowa were settled in 1854 just two a year after Conrad was born. If his sister had anything to do with the settling of Amana, she would be way older than Conrad. I do not think this story is true. However, it is likely that they knew someone there, perhaps a relative. I enjoyed seeing items in the museum that were similar to things my grandmother had in her home. We had quilts my great-grandmother made with the same pattern as the quilts on display in the museum. We ate at a German restaurant and it was just like eating my Grandmother’s cooking. Grandma probably learned it from her mother (Eva) who learned it from her mother (Anna Marie). The art of German cooking was lost on my mother and me.

In 1910 when Anna Marie passed away her obituary stated that she was a resident of Ottawa, Illinois for the past 25 years.[19] This would mean that they came to Ottawa in 1885. I do not know where they lived between 1883 and 1885. In 1886 they have a daughter, Emma, born in Ottawa Illinois.[20] Next, Frederick, a son, is born in 1887 in Ottawa[21], followed by Anna born in 1889 in Ottawa,[22] and Agnes in 1891 in Ottawa. In 1888 they start to appear in the Ottawa, Illinois City Directories.[23] Conrad was a shoemaker and had his own shop in Ottawa, Illinois.[24]

There are not many family stories about Conrad and Anna. My grandmother visited and stayed with them sometimes when she was child. She talked about them with love. My cousin, Pat, told me that Anna had a nervous breakdown at one time. Their daughter, Annie, was mentally challenged and died at the young age of 30 from Chronic Gastroenteritis.[25]

During their life in Ottawa, Illinois, they lived at 311 W. Main Street, 1251 Phelps, 1415 Kansas, 802 Lafayette, and 1011 Pine Street[26]

Anna Marie passed away on 11 June 1910.[27] She was a member of the Zion Evangelical Church.[28] Anna is buried in the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, Illinois.[29]

Conrad died in Chicago at his daughter, Elizabeth’s apartment[30] on 6 July 1922 of Myocarditis and Chronic Intestinal Nephritis.[31] His body was shipped from Chicago to Ottawa by train for the funeral at the Gladfelter Undertaker establishment.[32] Conrad is buried at the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, Illinois alongside his wife Anna.[33]

*Note: Conrad Americanized his name from Konrad to Conrad.

________________________________________________________________________________________

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

[2] Germany Marriages, 1558 – 1929, LDS Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm # 1272787.

[3] Ancestry.com. Baden Germany Lutheran Baptism, 1502 – 1985[database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Mikrofilm Sammlung. Familysearch.org.

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

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

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

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

[8] Birth record for Elizabeth Reinhardt, Iowa County Births 1880 – 1835Index (https://Familysearch.org).

[9] Bourret, Joan Liffring-Zub and John Zug, Amanas yesterday: a religious communal society: a story of seven villages in Iowa: historic photographs 1900 – 1932. IA City, IA: Penfield Press, 2003

[10]Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Ibid.

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

[19] Daily Republican Times, Ottawa, Illinois, 13 June 1910, Vol XXXII no. 291. Pg 4.

[20] “Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878-1994,” database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVRN-D8VZ : 17 May 2016), Emma L Mataway, 18 Aug 1956; citing Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, source reference , record number , Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm .

[21] “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6DL-3XZ : 12 December 2014), Fred Reinhardt, 1917-1918; citing La Salle County no 1, Illinois, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,614,034.

[22] Illinois Births and Christenings, 1824-1940,” database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2LZ-4LN : 12 December 2014), Anna Reinhardt, 28 Apr 1889; Birth, citing Ottawa, La Salle, Illinois; FHL microfilm 1,710,998.

[23] Ottawa Illinois City Directories, Ottawa, Illinois 1888, 1891, 1894,1895,1898, 1901, 1902, 1904, 1905, 1906,1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1912, at LaSalle County Genealogy Guild, 115 W. Glover Street, Ottawa, Illinois 61350

[24] Year: 1920; Census Place: Ottawa Ward 5, La Salle, Illinois; Roll: T625_379; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 141. 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).

[25] Certificate of Death, State of Illinois, LaSalle County, Ottawa City, Registration District 513, Primary Dist No,. 3361, Registration No 44, LaSalle County Clerk, LaSalle County Courthouse, Ottawa, Illinois.

[26] Ottawa Illinois City Directories, Ottawa, Illinois 1888, 1891, 1894,1895,1898, 1901, 1902, 1904, 1905, 1906,1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1912, at LaSalle County Genealogy Guild, 115 W. Glover Street, Ottawa, Illinois 61350.

[27] Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, LaSallle, Illinois cemetery records, Cemetery card CCY-TS, Burial Location BU, 47C (N ½) Record # 5856.

[28] Daily Republican Times, Ottawa, Illinois,Vol XXXII no. 291, 13 June 1910, Pg 4.

[29] Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, LaSallle, Illinois cemetery records, Cemetery card CCY-TS, Burial Location BU, 47C (N ½) Record # 5856.

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

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

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

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

German Letter Transcribed Reveals Family Secret

June 10, 2016June 11, 2016 / Gail Grunst Genealogy / 4 Comments

img062 (2)

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.*

Berlin, dated 30.10.10

Dear Mr Kaiser!!!-?

Respectfully,

Anna Vägner nee Pielenz

Berlin, S.O. 33

Skalitzerstr. 54a

Both children send their greetings

*Information from Berlin Germany Birth and Marriage Records at Ancestry.com.

Family Tales from Gail

My pastime is past time

Germany

Anna Marie Schwebler’s Life

Naughty Great-Grandpa part 2

Grandma’s Grandpa

Naughty Great Grandpa

Black Sheep?

Same Person Two Names

Heirloom Quilts

Conrad Reinhardt

German Letter Transcribed Reveals Family Secret

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: