52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 39 "Steps"

THE BERLINER DOM AND WARTBURG CASTLE

My passion for genealogy began in the mid 1970's and has continued to this day allowing me to research my German and Polish ancestors.  During those 46+ years I have been able to visit Germany four different times.  Those visits were historical, enjoyable and worth every minute.  I would love to be able to go back again some day.

One thing I learned when visiting Germany was that the Germans love to walk and are much more adept at that than we are here in the US.  They walk everywhere and I mean everywhere!

On my trip in 1993 I visited my brother and his family who were living in Hanau, Germany where my brother was stationed with the US Army.  We traveled across Germany and into Poland, visiting 16 of the villages of our ancestors that I had uncovered to that date.  

On one of our days in Eisenach my brother wanted to take me to the Wartburg Castle.  As Lutherans we knew that the Wartburg is famous as it was the place where Martin Luther translated the New Testament of the Bible into German.  My brother and his family had been there before but they wanted me to experience the visit as well.

The Wartburg is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages.  It is situated on a precipice of 1,350 feet to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach in the state of Thuringia, Germany.

I was excited to visit this castle but what my brother did not tell me was that there were many steps and steep inclines to get to the top all outside!  Steps and steep inclines were not in my comfort zone but I set off with my brother and his 10 year old daughter.  I was amazed to see elderly German people, many with canes, marching along up the stairs passing me by with no obvious strain.  There are resting benches along the way and I was stopping at each one.  I thought we would never get to the top.  My 10 year old niece was quite amused!

Once there it was well worth the struggle but oh those steps!  Going down was so much easier.  Obviously the significance of visiting these sites is the experience of seeing the site in its original condition.  If only they had heard of elevators!!  

This photo from 1817, in the public domain, shows a good example of the steps needed to get to the Wartburg:

In 2008 I again visited Germany, this time to visit cousins in Berlin.  This was an exciting visit as I had connected with these cousins back in 1999 and had confirmed that their Kolberg grandfather and my mother's Kolberg grandfather were indeed brothers thus adding a 6th Kolberg brother to my ancestral family.  I was there for 3 weeks and, again, walking was a daily occurrence.

The day they took me to see the Berliner Dom reminded me of the visit to the Wartburg Castle some 15 years earlier.  

The Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) is a monumental German Evangelical church and contains in the basement the dynastic tombs of the House of Hohenzollern.  It is located in central Berlin.  The Dome's organ has over 7000 pipes and is a masterpiece to see and is one of the largest in Germany.  

Again, what I did not realize, was that a visit to the Dom requires climbing 270 STEPS to the top where one stands outside viewing all of Berlin below.  As before on my trip to The Wartburg, Germans of all ages were sprinting up to the top without a care.  My host cousin, then 78 years old himself, could easily keep up with the rest but he was gracious in allowing me to stagger behind.  Eventually we reached the top where the view was amazing:

Martin Luther in the Dom:

Germany is indeed a place of many historical landmarks that connect me to my ancestors.  Hopefully with my genealogical research I am memoralizing them with honor and dignity.  

Copyright 2021, Cheryl J. Schulte 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 38 "Fun and Games"

KEEPSAKES OF MY YOUTH

My maternal grandparents, Joseph and Ella, nee Kolberg, Kijak were blessed with creative talents.  They were loving grandparents who were able to produce gifts for their children and grandchildren created with their own hands.  

Here are some examples of these creations that I still have today along with the memories of where they came from:

My mother was born in 1925 and her father made her a child's rocking chair as well as doll furniture which she played with.  When I came along some 20+ years later I also sat in the rocking chair and played with the doll furniture some of which I have recently had re-upholstered:

  

My grandmother was an excellent seamstress and also very interested in the creation of crafts many of which I have today from stuffed animals, doll clothes, refrigerator magnets, etc - all items that I had fun with when I was growing up and now which have treasured places in my home:

My grandmother even made my christening gown which I still have today as well:

But what was the favorite toy that my brother and I always enjoyed playing with when we would visit our grandparents?  A huge can that contained hundreds of EMPTY SPOOLS from thread!!  As a seamstress my grandmother went through thread rapidly and she saved all the empty spools.  When we would visit she would let us empty the can onto the living room floor and we would build things with them.  

Now, years later when I talk with other cousins in the area the first thing they mention about when visiting "Aunt" Ella was that they were able to play with the spools.  I wish I had a photo of them but when my grandmother sold her home in 1970 and moved into a new Senior Citizen apartment complex in St. Joseph, Michigan she actually was able to sell the can with the spools and off they went - perhaps to be toys for other children!

Such good memories!

Copyright 2021, Cheryl J. Schulte 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 37 "On The Farm"

MY MATERNAL ANCESTRAL FARMS

Many of my mother's maternal ancestors were farmers both in Germany and in Berrien County, Michigan.  While I don't have many photos of the actual farms, quite a few original farm homes are still standing in excellent condition.  

My maternal grandmother's sister, Amelia, nee Kolberg, Mielke, and her husband, Edward Mielke, had a large farm in Stevensville, Michigan on Roosevelt Road.  Their farm produced a variety of fruits and vegetables which they sold from a stand in front of their home.  Their daughter told me many times about how she loved to help her father on the farm despite the fact that she was only 3 or 4 at the time.  Recently when I was talking to her I mentioned that I had bought a bushel of peaches from a farm in the area and she asked me the price of the peaches (2021 price!).  When I told her that they were $44 for a bushel she was shocked and told me that her father sold their peaches for 50 cents a bushel!  I told her I would drive by her old home and see if peaches were being sold there for 50 cents a bushel and she got quite a laugh out of that.

Following is a photo of Amelia, nee Kolberg, Mielke with two of her children in 1946 and a photo of their home today:

My great-grandfather, August Kolberg's, brother Henry and his wife, Ottilie, nee Kramp, had a large farm on Cleveland Avenue in Stevensville, Michigan.  They also had a large family of 14 children which required a very large home.  Today their home is a showpiece along Cleveland Avenue which owners over the years have renovated.  

Following is a photo of Henry and Ottilie with two of their children in approximately 1890 followed by a photo of their home today:

Another Kolberg brother, Otto, and his wife, Alvina, nee Truhn, also farmed in Berrien County though their farm was in the village of Baroda, Michigan.  They grew berries on their farm and their farm produced such an over-abundance of fruit that family from Germany came each year to visit and to help pick the fruit.  It was through memories of descendants of Otto and Alvina that I was able to connect with Kolberg cousins still living in Germany.

Following is a photo of Otto and Alvina on their 25th wedding anniversary in Baroda, Michigan:

August, Henry and Otto Kolberg's younger brother, Paul Kolberg, and his wife, Augusta, nee Zuhl, also farmed in Stevensville, Michigan.  Their farm was on Cleveland Avenue and their home is still standing today.  The windows on the second floor of the home opened up to a part of the roof where their younger daughter, Mildred, told me she used to climb out on when she was trying to avoid her father's anger.  Paul's wife, Augusta, had passed away at a young age when Mildred wasn't even 2 years old and it was quite a challenge for Paul to raise his younger children by himself.  

Following is a photo of Paul and Augusta Kolberg on their wedding day followed by a photo of Paul with his family in approximately 1955:

The youngest Kolberg brother, Ferdinand, and his wife, Helena, nee  Mielke, also had a farm in Baroda, Michigan very near older brother Otto's farm.  Ferdinand and Helena had both been born in Germany and married there as well.  They came to the US in 1910 with their 6 children long after his 4 older brothers had immigrated.  At first they stayed with older brother Henry and his wife Tillie on their farm but later were able to purchase farm property of their own.  

Following are photos of Ferdinand and Helena standing by their home in Baroda:

 

Of the five Kolberg brothers who immigrated to the US the only one that I don't have information on their farm is my own great-grandfather, August, and his wife, Bertha, nee Kramp.  I do know from a plat map that they did have a farm in Stevensville, Michigan but the current location of the property today has been difficult to ascertain.  

To give my great-grandparents, August and Bertha, equal coverage, following is a photo of them with their two oldest daughters in approximately 1889:

In conclusion, on August 16, 1953, on the occasion of the 84th birthday of Paul Kolberg, the three remaining brothers were photographed together.  From left to right they are Otto Kolberg, 86 years old, Paul Kolberg, 84 years old and Ferdinand Kolberg, 81 years old.  The occasion elicited an article in the local paper which stated that all three brothers had immigrated to the US from Klein Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern, Germany between 1880-1910, all had been widowed and each of the three brothers were now making their home with a daughter - Otto Kolberg with his daughter, Grace Gaul, Paul Kolberg with his daughter, Edna Kolberg, and Ferdinand Kolberg with his daughter, Selma Jung:

Copyright 2021, Cheryl J. Schulte 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 36 "Working"

TWO GENERATIONS OF GENERAL STORE OWNERS

If I were to do a comparison of my various ancestors and the occupations they had I would find invariably that most were farmers both in Europe and in the US.  There was a butcher thrown in here and a blacksmith thrown in there but the majority were farmers.  An honest occupation for sure and one that was sorely needed but the farmers needed somewhere to market their crops in the 1800's and early 1900's in America.  That would be where the General Stores came in.

In my ancestry I have 2 generations of General Store owners and the stories are interesting, historical and challenging to research.  My paternal grandmother, Ella Wellhausen Schulte, lived well into her 90's and I had many opportunities to tap into her memories of her ancestors.  She told me many times about the General Store that her parents had and in which she and her older sister lived as young girls.  Taking the meager information I had from her I was able to discover some interesting facts.

My second great-grandparents, Charles and Christina (Graumann) Wellhausen, were both born in Germany in the Pomeranian county of Demmin with Charles being born in the village of Alt Kentzlin and Christina born in the neighboring village of Hohenbollentin.  These villages are still in Germany in what later became the DDR.  Charles and Christina married in 1860 at the Evangelical Church in Hohenbollentin and their first two daughters, Bertha and Augusta, were also born there in 1860 and 1862 respectively.  Here is a photo of the Evangelical Church in Hohenbollentin from when I visited the area in August, 1993:

When Bertha was 3 years old and Augusta 6 months Charles and Christina decided to immigrate to the United States.  Accompanying them was Christina's mother, Christina (Neider) Graumann.  They arrived in the US on the ship Saxonia on April 19, 1864 settling in the village of Fraser in Macomb County in Michigan where their next daughter, Caroline, was born in 1866.  Information found indicates the next 3 children, Anna, George and Edward, were born in 1867, 1869 and 1872 respectively in what was then known as Greenfield Township in Wayne County, Michigan.  Following this they evidently moved back to Macomb County because their last child, son Charles, Jr., was born in Fraser in 1876.  Whether Charles was farming at the time, first in Fraser, then in Greenfield Township is unknown but it is assumed that he was.  However, upon relocating back to Fraser prior to the 1876 birth of their last child, Charles and Christina were able to purchase a large farm in what is now Clinton Township.  The 1880 Macomb County, Michigan US census corroborates the family were living in Clinton Township, Michigan and Charles was a farmer.

With more daughters than sons Charles naturally was assuming that his 3 sons would help him on the farm and Edward is known to have done so.  Son George, however, was not a well man with bronchial ailments and farming played havoc with his health.

On February 14, 1895 in Fraser, Michigan son George Wellhausen married Amelia Schluessler at St. John's Lutheran Church.  They were my great-grandparents.  Later in 1895 their first daughter, Gertrude, was born in Fraser and in 1896 their second daughter, my grandmother, Ella, was born.

The 1895 Atlas of Macomb County, Michigan reproduced in November, 1985 by the St. Clair Shores Historical Commission in St. Clair Shores, Michigan contains some sketches of prominent farms in the area in 1895 along with photos of the owners.  In this volume in 1985 I was delighted to find the farm of my 2nd great-grandparents, Charles and Christina Wellhausen, along with pictures of both.  This is the only photo I have of Charles.  Their farm was listed as having been in Section 29 of Clinton Township in that year of 1895:

In early 1900 Detroit Creamery was buying up farms in Clinton Township attempting to corner the milk market.  Charles and Christina decided to sell their farm to the creamery as they were both now 67 and undoubtedly farming was becoming more than they could handle.  As part of the arrangement they retained ownership of the farm house which to this day still is standing on what is now called Moravian Drive in Clinton Township.  To have an ancestral home still in existence some 121+ years later is very exciting.

Shortly after selling their farm in early 1900, Charles and Christina purchased a small general store in a nearby village known then as Cady's Corners.  They gave this store to my great-grandparents, George and Amelia, who ran it.  This was much less taxing on George's health than farming had been.  George and Amelia ran this General Store until 1905 and then moved to Utica, Michigan where George ran a "jitney" service which we now would call a taxi service.  There in Utica, George and Amelia had their 3rd and final child, a son they named George as well who was born in 1906.

My grandmother always spoke of Cady's Corners to me.  She told me that their General Store was on one corner and a "beer garden" as she always referred to a bar was on another corner.  In researching this little village I learned that Cady's Corners was an area first settled in 1833 with a post office being established on July 15, 1864.  The post office operated until July 31, 1906 when the village was disbanded.  Today the former area of Cady's Corners can be found at what is Moravian and Utica Roads in Clinton Township, Michigan.  

Following is a photo of George and Amelia Wellhausen's General Store in Cady's Corners, Michigan, ca 1905:

While living in Utica, Michigan great-grandpa George was an upstanding citizen and involved in local politics.  He was Utica's Clerk in the years 1917-1918 and was Mayor of Utica from 1920-1921.

In 1924 the local Kroger store in Utica needed a manager and George and Amelia persuaded their 18 year old son, George, Jr., to apply for the position where he was hired, becoming the youngest manager that Kroger ever had.  Son George remained with Kroger's as their manager for 24 years.  In 1948, an opportunity arose for George, Jr. and his wife Eleanor to purchase a General Store at 24 Mile Road and Van Dyke in a village that was known then as Disco, Michigan.  The store had been built in the mid 1850's and not only was a general store but also a gas station and in the early days a stage coach stop.  Originally it had sleeping quarters on the second floor for travelers and supposedly General George Custer stayed there on one occasion.  

After much deliberation George, Jr. resigned from his position at Kroger's and he and Eleanor purchased the above General Store which they owned from 1948 until 1970.  One of the big draws in this Wellhausen General Store was the home made German Pomeranian Teewurst sausage that they made there.  It was certainly a family delicacy and people came from near and far to purchase the sausage.  The recipe for the sausage came from my great-grandmother, Amelia Wellhausen, who had learned this recipe from her Pomeranian Schluessler ancestors.  Teewurst is a sausage made from two parts of raw pork, sometimes beef, and one part bacon which are minced, seasoned and packed in casings before being smoked over beech wood.  The sausage had to mature for 7-10 days in order to develop its typical taste and contained 30-40% fat.  I never had the privilege of tasting the teewurst sausage but sausage and I are not friends so it is just as well.

My great-aunt and uncle, George, Jr. and Eleanor Wellhausen, had this General Store until 1970 when they sold it for $68,000.  Under the new ownership it went into disrepair and was soon closed.

Despite the efforts of the local historical association to raise money to move the store to an area nearby that had other historical buildings, the store was demolished.

Today a huge CVS store is at the location of 24 Mile Road and Van Dyke with the land purchased for $650,000!

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the research and discoveries that went into this post.  I think it is a valuable piece of my family ancestry that deserved to be shared.

Copyright 2021, Cheryl J. Schulte