Martin and Anna Waldvogel

My third great grandfather, Johann Martin Waldvogel was from the small town of Stetten, Switzerland. He was born November 29, 1830.

Anna Waldvogel was born July 30, 1830. She grew up in the same small town.

When I say small town, I mean pretty tiny. If you're from the Monroe area, I'd say it's comparable to Ida, MI. Stetten is right on the border of Switzerland and Germany. When I was in Europe around 2008, we stopped there just to see it. As we trace our family history on this line, we see the same three names pop up. In Stetten, there are only about 4 family names that populate the area.

I think it's safe to say that this was the highlight of the trip for my mom. I've mentioned it before, but there's something amazing about traveling to the places you know your ancestors once were. And then to see Ehrat, Bucher and Waldvogel over and over on the headstones in the local cemetery...so cool. (Anna's mother's maiden name was Ehrat. Martin's mother's maiden name was Bucher. If you were wondering about that connection.)

Anna and Martin were probably cousins. They didn't come to America until 1872. They would have been about 42 then. Here's where I have to do some supposing. Why would they come to America?

From what records we've found, it looks like they lost quite a few children to sickness in Switzerland. Not just babies, but older children as well. I'm going to suppose that they figured they didn't have anything else to loose. Why not come to America? Thank goodness they did, or Rose might never have been born and then where would I be?

They came over on a steamer ship called the "City of Limerick". It left from France October 9, 1872. It belonged to the Inman Line, one of the three largest British passenger ship lines of the 19th century. (Cunard and White Star where the other two. Fun Fact: White Star Lines were the owners of the Titanic.)

I can't find a record of Martin on that ship, though I do find Anna and number of her children. It was always told that Martin came over ahead of the rest of the family to find a job and a place for them to live. Entirely possible.

They settled in the Toledo, OH. My great great grandmother, Rose, was their youngest child. She was born in Toledo.

Martin is listed in the Toledo city directory in 1879 as working in a saloon. I wonder if he was a bar tender?

We know he farmed some too. Most likely he took a job where he could find one. He passed away of chronic pneumonia, March 5, 1898.

Anna lived with Rose and her family until her death, January 12, 1915. She was 84. It makes me think about Rose and her life again. When I look at the dates, I realize that not only was she a widow with 5 small children, but she had her elderly mother living with them as well. Wow!

Both Martin and Anna are buried at Hitchcock Cemetery in Temperance, MI.

Rose Waldvogel

 I should title this: Rose and the Magic of Picasa. I've been scanning old photos and then cleaning them up using the editing tools on Picasa. It was free and it's worked out pretty well. I've even been able to touch up photos that have been written on. And the ones with tape all over them? Most of the time I can get it to fade into the background.

But what can I tell you about Rose? Well, Rose was my great-great grandmother. She was born in Toledo, Ohio on January 4, 1874 to Anna and Johann Waldvogel. She was the youngest of a very large group of children. We're thinking 13 (of course not all of them survived childhood). Here's the really cool part. She was the only one of her family born in the U.S. The rest of them were born in Switzerland.

She grew up in Toledo and married Edward Meinhardt on her 20th birthday. (Jan. 4, 1894). I have lots of sources telling where they lived. There was a family farm off of Temperance Rd in Bedford, MI. This picture shows her at the old homestead...

It was in terrible condition before I took the editor to it.  Writing on the women's aprons and across the top, tape, cracks and tears...Now it doesn't look so bad, even if it is a little out of focus.

No one's quite sure who the woman on the far left is. Maybe a relative, maybe just a neighbor. Next to her is Grandma Weltie (I know Rose Weltie was my great-grandpa's cousin, so this is probably her mom. Of course I have no idea what her name is and I haven't looked into it yet) Then in the middle is Magdalena Meinhardt. This is Edward's mother. And hooray! We have a name! (Even if it was written in pen over the top of her apron.) See the tall lady on the far right? Yup, that's my great-great grandma Rose. She was tall, even by today's standards. The little girl with them is Rose's daughter, my great-great aunt Laura.

Rose and Edward had 5 children; Edward, Ernest (my great grandpa), Laura, Aaron, and Alvin. Edward died May 8, 1905. She was now a widow with 5 young children. Edward Jr wasn't quite 10 and Alvin was only six months old. She never remarried (which was common in those days) but they managed. In later census records is shows that she took in boarders.

As she got older, Rose continued living with Alvin, his wife Virginia, and their daughter Arlene. They owned a little store on the corner of Samaria Rd and Lewis Ave. Rose lived in a small house behind the store. My grandma was 13 when Rose passed away in 1946. My grandma remembers her and still talks fondly of the "garage" house and how she always had a jar of cookies, usually oatmeal or sugar.

I can't imagine how things must have changed for her when Edward died. She must have been a strong woman to face raising 5 children on her own in a time when there weren't a lot of jobs available (or acceptable) to women. Rose was 72 when she died. She's buried next to her husband in Hitchcock Cemetery in Temperance, MI