MY GRANDPARENTS AND THEIR SIBLINGS:
In my ancestral research, between the 1400's to the late 1800's, it was very common to see enormously large families with a child having perhaps 12, 14 or even a greater amount of siblings. By the time I researched down to my grandparents' generation, families began to be much smaller.
My focus in this post is to discuss the siblings of my 4 grandparents, all of whom were born in the 1890's in Michigan.
MY SCHULTE FAMILY:
My paternal grandfather, Elmer Meyer Schulte, was born August 4, 1894 in Detroit, Michigan to Rudolph Myer Schulte (1869-1940) and Juliane Feucht (1870-1907). Unfortunately my grandfather was an only child as his mother died very young.
But an interesting feature that I discovered was that my grandfather had two cousins who were all born the same year as him. My great-grandfather, Rudolph Schulte, and two of his sisters, Elizabeth and Ida Schulte, all had babies born in 1894. These 3 cousins were as close growing up as though they were siblings as indicated by the following photo.
Left to right: Mamie, Elmer and Evelyn in 1900:
This sweet photo shows Mamie Schulte, (1894-1958), who was born May 9, 1894 to Ida Schulte, followed by my grandfather, Elmer Schulte, (1894-1968), and then Evelyn Hauer, (1894-1988), born April 1,1894 to Elizabeth Schulte and Felix Hauer. All 3 children were born in Detroit, Michigan.
I can clearly remember family gatherings in the 1950's when both Mamie and Evelyn, along with their families, would be present for the festivities. It was clear that though my grandfather had no siblings of his own, he certainly considered Mamie and Evelyn as close as siblings could be.
MY WELLHAUSEN FAMILY:
My paternal grandmother, Ella Anna Helene Wellhausen, was born November 15, 1896 in Detroit, Michigan to George William Wellhausen (1869-1938) and Emilie Auguste Christina Schluessler (1876-1963). My grandmother had two siblings, Gertrude and George Wellhausen, Jr. as depicted in the following photos.
In 1900, Gertrude and Ella Wellhausen:
This adorable photo shows Gertrude Wellhausen, (1895-1973), who was born April 10, 1895 and my grandmother, Ella, (1896-1989), appearing in a contest for the "Dancing Darlings" of Macomb County, Michigan. They won the contest and were featured in the local paper at that time. Their baby brother, George, (1906-1985), had not been born at that time but he would appear in later photos with both his sisters and their mother.
May 19, 1942 with siblings Gertrude (Wellhausen) Kolberg, George Wellhausen, Jr. and Ella (Wellhausen) Schulte, with their mother Emilie (Schluessler) Wellhausen:
and in approximately 1955, the three siblings again, George, Gertrude and Ella with their mother, Emilie, looking over their shoulders:
My grandmother and her two siblings were extremely close through the years. I even have very fond memories of my great-grandmother, the above Emilie (Schluessler) Wellhausen, as she lived until 1963 when I was 15 years old. As a child my brother and I often had our great-grandmother Wellhausen babysitting us when our parents had an evening out.
MY KIJAK FAMILY:
My maternal grandfather, Joseph Kijak, was born August 3, 1892 in Bay City Michigan to Joannes Albert Kijak (1861-1945) and Marianna Rubis (1874-1918). My grandfather had three sisters, Anna, Martha and Rozalie, however, I do not have any photos of them together. In recent years I have been able to receive individual photos of my grandfather's three sisters as follow.
Joseph Kijak (1892-1960) in 1912:
and, again in 1945:
Martha Kijak (1896-1992) with husband Samuel Mills in 1920:
MY KOLBERG FAMILY:
My maternal grandmother, Ella Emma Louise Kolberg, was born August 8, 1895 in Stevensville, Michigan to August Gottlieb Kolberg (1854-1920) and Bertha Kramp (1860-1915). My grandmother was the youngest of the six children that her parents had that lived to adulthood. These children were Hedwig (1880-1956), Amelia (1887-1963), Kurt (1890-1935), Robert (1892-1950), Hugo (1894-1951), and my grandmother, Ella (1895-1973).
I have many photos and stories of my grandmother as I was extremely close to her. Here are a few pictures of my grandmother and her siblings.
Robert, Ella and Hugo Kolberg in 1902:
Robert Kolberg confirmation in 1908:
Kurt and Edna (Filbrandt) Kolberg at their wedding on October 22, 1913:
Kolberg siblings in 1942 (brother Kurt had already passed away):
Kolberg sisters and sisters-in-law in 1945 at the 50th birthday of Ella:
The sisters-in-law, in the back row, were: Irene (deCaussin) Kolberg, wife of Robert Kolberg, Edna (Filbrandt) Kolberg, widow of Kurt Kolberg and Gertrude (Wellhausen) Kolberg, wife of Hugo Kolberg.
The Kolberg sisters in the bottom row were: Hedwig (Kolberg) Kuse, wife of Emil Kuse, Amelia (Kolberg) Mielke, wife of Edward Mielke and my grandmother, Ella (Kolberg) Kijak, wife of Joseph Kijak.
copyright 2025, Cheryl J. Schulte
