An Ocean Away...

 

 I was hesitant to work on this particular post for a few different reasons. One reason, being that these are my grandparents. That's close when you're considering generations. Another was simply that I knew their basic story, but I was worried about getting something wrong. I've decided to just go with it and I'll make changes later if needed.

Another reason, could possibly be that for the life of me, I always spell the names wrong. Of course, since I've been working on a family tree to hang in my parents' house, I have things written down.

So, that being said, these are my father's parents. Liselotte Brauninger and Sigmund Koch. This picture was taken shortly before they left for America.

Yup, you heard that correctly. My grandparents were the immigrants. I am a second generation American on my father's side. It's really pretty cool when you think about it. Most people, even those looking for their ancestors, don't have such close connections to the countries their families came from. I still have cousins and aunts and uncles in Germany. I've been to see some of them twice. Some of them have come to visit us in the States.

Here's some of the things I know. Sigmund was born August 8, 1914. He was the youngest of three sons and from what I understand, he was the youngest by quite a few years. The Koch family owned both a farm and a saw mill near Bad Waldsee, Germany.

Liselotte was born February 23, 1927. She grew up in a town nearby and worked at the Koch farm. She was the second oldest of 10 children. The area that they grew up in is located in the southwestern part of the country, a region known as Swabia. It's one of the prettiest parts of the country and what I always think of when I think of Germany.

According to the history that I've learned, we consider the start of World War II as September 1, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. By the 3rd, Britain and France had declared war. This changed things for many people, including my grandparents. My grandpa served as a soldier in the German Army. I have always been told that his job was to act as a guard in the town and guard prisoners of war sent to work on their farm.

My grandmother told lots of stories. I've never been able to keep them all straight. She did however mention working in a factory and burning her arm on purpose so that she didn't have to work there anymore. This story came up most often, so I remember it best. What hits me the hardest is the fact that Sigmund was only 25 in 1939. Liselotte was only 12. I have no doubt that growing up in this time and place had some bearing on the choices they made, including coming to live in a country, an ocean away from their family, and with a language they didn't even know.

May 3, 1945 Germany signed an unconditional surrender. The war, at least officially, was over. I'm not sure exactly what went on between 1945 and 1951 for my grandparents. I'm sure there are some people still living that might be able to tell me, but the most important thing to know is that they were married and made the decision to immigrate to America.

They packed their things in trunks that my grandpa had made with wood from the saw mill. They left their home and traveled to Rotterdam. They left there July 31, 1951 on a Holland-America ship and were admitted to the US in New York on August 8. This picture was taken on the ship and below is a part of their passport.

They settled in Erie, MI and later moved to a small farm in Ida. They had six children, my dad being the oldest. He looks the most like my grandpa. And he speaks Schwabisch (the dialect my grandparents spoke in their region) better than the others. It helps that that's all they spoke at home until he went to school. It might take him a few minutes, but it always comes back. He might not realize it but I've traveled with him over there and I've watched him slide into it so naturally that he forgets he's speaking it when he turns to talk to me.

Sigmund passed away in June of 1971, eleven years before I was born. I'm sad that I never knew him, but I've heard lots of stories and that helps. I'll save those for another time. Meanwhile, I'll continue to keep in touch with as many of the relatives that still live in Germany. I've met so many others through social media like Facebook and have gotten to know more about their lives through the things they share there.

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.

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