Border Town

 I grew up in Monroe, MI. It's about Twenty minutes from Toledo, OH. Growing up in this area, you never thought it was strange to venture into Ohio for any number of things. That's one of the cool things about growing up on a border.

Of course, for a genealogist, this can complicate things a bit. My family lived most of their lives in the Monroe County, particularly the townships of Bedford and LaSalle. From the map, you can see how close that is to Ohio.

Did you know that vital records (birth, marriage, and death records) stay in the county that the event happened? I think I knew that, but it was confirmed after I stopped at the Monroe County Courthouse the other day. I had gone looking for the death records of a few specific people, plus anyone else I happened to run across.

I stumbled on Henry Meinhardt Sr. He died in 1906. His son, Henry Jr. died just a few months before in a fire. But I couldn't find him in the records anywhere. The County Clerk's office had some very helpful people, including one guy who agreed that Henry Jr had probably been taken to Toledo for treatment of his burns. Which means his records would be down there instead. Oh well, guess I'll just have to make a trip down there sometime. At least it isn't clear across the country.

While I was doing research on a few pictures, I found some other interesting things about Monroe County. Do you see that little house symbol on the map? There's an arrow pointing to it that says Michigan Welcome Center and under that, Toledo Beach.

Toledo Beach opened in the early 1900's and didn't close until the 1950's. People from Detroit, Toledo, and Monroe flocked there in the summers. It was a place to swim (and slide), dance (there was a pavilion), and eat. Apparently there was a restaurant that specialized in seafood and chicken.

 The bathhouse featured 300 rooms and you could rent bathing attire to go swimming for the day. You can see the dock that stretched out into Lake Erie in this postcard. Swimming for women at this time usually involved holding onto a rope tied to a buoy farther out and being able to jump in the waves. Of course their suits were more like dresses then. They were usually made out of wool and used 9 yards of fabric or more.                                                                

Toledo Beach also featured a wooden slide. I couldn't find any information telling how high it was, but from this picture, I'd say it was pretty good size.

You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all about this place. Part of the reason I love searching for my ancestors is because I want to know what life was like for them. I want to know where they went, what they did, and how they met people.    

My great grandpa, Ernest Meinhardt grew up in the Bedford Township area of Monroe County. My great grandma Etta Luebben grew up in the city of Toledo. I have stories of their courtship, but I've never found out how they initially met. Could they have met here? It's entirely possible.

On the right is a picture of Etta's family. (Left to Right: Fredricka, Lena, Irma, and Louise) You can see clearly that they were at Toledo Beach in 1914. Though Etta isn't pictured here, she would have been 17 that year. 

The picture on the left is Ernest Meinhardt in his first pair of long pants It's more difficult to see, but in the upper right hand corner it says, Toledo Beach 1913. He was 17 here.

How many other memories did Etta, Ernest and their families have of this place? It makes me wonder. 

Henry Meinhardt

Here is my 3rd great grandfather Henry. He's the furthest back along the Meinhardt family line that we've found so far.

He was born about 1828 in Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany. It's kind of near Frankfurt, in the middle of the country.

He came to America around 1852. He was about 24 years old. We know he came over with his mother and siblings and maybe his dad. According to his obituary, he only came over with his mother and other siblings. But on the 1860 census, it lists an H. Meinhardt, 50 years old. Was that his dad? Or maybe an uncle?

Also listed are C. Meinhardt (his brother, Conrad), M. Meinhardt (his mother, Magdalena), and Ernest, Philip, and Catherine.

We really only know of his mom and brother, Conrad. We know that they farmed together at the homestead off of Temperance Rd. in Bedford Township, MI. We've never found anyone else from that census beyond that record.

Below is a map of Germany. Hesse is that sort of heart-shaped state edged in light blue.  

Henry married Mary Schweitzer around 1860. They had at least 6 children, Lena, Henry Jr., Mary, Edward (my great-great grandpa), Charles, and Fred. They're all listed in the 1880 census.

Henry Jr. never married. He died the same year as his father, Henry, 1906. It says "cause of death: burned to death." Charles married Pearl and had a daughter, Ethel. Fred has a few more records that are easy to find. There's a WWI draft registration card on file. He married Alma and they had a daughter, Ruth.

Henry died of congestive heart failure, May 30, 1906, just a few weeks shy of his 78th birthday.

The death record lists his father as Henry and his mother as Mary Schweitzer. That's a huge mystery because Henry Jr.'s death certificate says the same thing. Charles filled out that one, but no one is listed as an informant on Henry Sr.'s. I think it was probably his wife and I wonder if she understood what the form was asking for. After all, they were from Germany and English would have been a second language. There's no guarantee that they spoke much English, let alone being able to read it fluently.

Henry and a number of other Meinhardt ancestors (including his wife, Henry Jr, and his mother Magdalena) 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