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]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sisters all grown up!

November 2, 2019 / Gail Grunst Genealogy / 1 Comment

Frances and Helen Bowers

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

Helen Bowers, John Walter Prettie, Frances Bowers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

3.Ibid.

4. Ibid.

Sisters

October 26, 2019 / Gail Grunst Genealogy / 1 Comment

Frances and Helen Bowers

This is the earliest picture I can find of my grandmother, Helen Bowers. It was taken around 1904 when she was about 5 years old. My grandmother is on the right and the one on the left is her sister Frances. Frances was 14 months younger than Helen. Frances looks to be about the same size as Helen. When they were fully grown Frances was the taller of the two. Frances had lighter hair than Helen, and Helen had brown eyes whereas Frances had grey eyes. Helen was the better cook of the two, however Frances was the better seamstress. Frances was the tomboy and Helen was the little lady. They remained close throughout their lives. Frances passed away first on 13 July 1971, and Helen passed away 10 years later on 9 February 1981. I love this picture of the two of them. I loved them both and still miss them.