Two Sides of the Ocean

The Family Kolberg/Colberg...Revisited...Part One

2012-01-06T19:49:00.005-05:00

When I began my genealogy research in the mid-70's, I seemed to focus on my maternal grandmother's Kolberg line. It wasn't that I chose that line over the other lines but it seemed like I continued to have the most success with that family. This was surprising in that my Kolberg ancestors originated from a small village in what was once Pomerania and what became Poland. The chance of getting records from this small area seemed a bigger challenge than focusing on my West German ancestors. That proved to be untrue.

As the years progressed I had continuing success in my research on this family. My information at the outset was that my 2nd great grandparents, Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Sr. & Henriette Amalie Kautz had 12 children (11 sons and 1 daughter) with 4 of the sons and the 1 daughter dying in infancy or childhood. The seven remaining sons lived to adulthood and my goal was to trace these 7 sons down to the present generation.

Five of the sons immigrated to the United States between 1880-1910 and all settled in Berrien County, Michigan where I live. Over the years I was successful in achieving my research goals with these 5 sons and successfully amassed a database of near 2,400 individuals descended from these 5 Colberg/Kolberg brothers - August, Heinrich, Otto, Paul and Ferdinand.

My research then turned to finding descendants for the other two brothers (Johann and Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr.) who had remained in Germany. During this research I received the most stupendous gift that any genealogist would love to have - I discovered a German cousin, from the family of brother #6 - Johann Colberg, who lived in Berlin and who not only was happy to hear from me but who also shared my passion for genealogy.

This cousin, Gerhard Kolberg, and I have had 13 wonderful years of collaborative connection. We not only shared our mutual files and managed to each achieve in the process data on 6 of the 7 Colberg/Kolberg brothers but we also visited each other on more than one occasion, met and mingled with family on both sides of the ocean and developed a real kinship. I have come to consider Gerhard a very special Uncle though in reality he is my mother's 3rd cousin. Over these years our e-mails have burned up cyberspace and I have 5 three ring binders full of the correspondence that Gerhard shared with me.

Together we continued to work on attempting to find information on the remaining elusive Kolberg brother, Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. but were unsuccessful. Gerhard's health began to decline and our correspondence became mainly familial topics and general interests.

In the last month I have had the remarkable good fortune to make a huge break-through in the search for information on Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr and his family. I was not able to share this news with Gerhard as his daughter had informed me he was very ill and had been hospitalized through the holidays.

Today I received the sad news that my special cousin, Gerhard Kolberg, had passed away. The e-mail arrived just 30 minutes following his death and I was saddened to read it. I had known he was ill but had held out hope that he could recover. This was not to be.

Even though our relationship only lasted 13 years it was a wonderful connection and one that I will cherish always. Gerhard was a remarkable man with extraordinary talent and drive, loved by his daughter and her family as well as many other family members and numerous friends. He was a graphic designer by career, an author, a poet, an exceptional photographer and creator of family history videos, an avid reader who enjoyed the outdoors and made good use of each minute of every day. He was a devoted husband during his wife's life caring for her during her final years and maintained a sunny and friendly disposition.

I will certainly miss him and our connection. Our relationship was such that I felt I had known him my entire life. This certainly speaks to his character and charm.

I will continue the research on our mutual Kolberg family in memory of Gerhard and to thank him for the part he played in my life. He was one special person and I am honored to have been a small part of his remarkable life.

Gerhard Kolberg & great-granddaughter, Milena
Christmas, 2009
Berlin, Germany

Above photos personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

Rest In Peace Aunt Virginia

2011-09-06T16:22:00.002-04:00

There are certain people in our families who are special in many ways. They may not have achieved fame or fortune or even performed tasks of great renown but their presence in the family circle was welcomed and cherished. This was the case with my special Aunt Virginia. I cannot remember a time in my life when she was not there for me, always ready to talk or listen and to offer advice or just friendship. Her long life ebbed slowly away this week and in her memory, I feel that she deserves her own special tribute.

Virginia Edna Reske was born August 22, 1918 in Detroit, Michigan to John and Anna, nee Becker, Reske. She was their first surviving child though an older daughter, Julia, had passed away at a young age. At the time of the 1920 census in Detroit, the Reske family was living on E. Canfield Avenue and the family consisted of John and Anna with their baby daughter Virginia. Living with the family as well were Anna's father and brother as well as a boarder.

By the time of the 1930 Detroit census, the Reske family had grown to include Virginia, John, Delphine and Eugene and they still lived on E. Canfield Avenue.

They were a Polish American family with both John and Anna having been born in the US but with a definite Polish heritage. The family were devout Catholics who practiced their faith making sure that their children did as well.

By 1939, Virginia was now a 21 year old young lady who enjoyed going to the movies with her girlfriends. It was at the Rialto Theatre on Gratiot and Mt. Elliott Avenues in Detroit that she met Melbourne Schulte. Mel was working as an usher at the Rialto Theatre and shone his flashlight down the row of seats where Virginia was sitting, admired her legs and a romance began that would continue for over 70 years.

Virginia and Mel enjoyed outdoor activities as well as family holidays with his Schulte family as these photos show.

Virginia Reske

ca 1939

Virginia Reske
ca 1939

Virginia Reske & Gertrude Kolberg
Christmas, 1939

Virginia Reske & Melbourne Schulte
ca 1940

On November 15, 1941 Virginia Reske and Melbourne Schulte were married at Mt. Zion Lutheran Church in Detroit. They participated in a double wedding that day along with their good friends, Dorothy Voelker and Russ Stickney as this photo will show. Unfortunately it is the only photo I have of their wedding.

Ariel view of wedding of Virginia Reske & Melbourne Schulte
November 15, 1941
Mt. Zion Lutheran Church
Detroit, MI

Marrying into a German Lutheran family did not particularly please Virginia's staunch Polish Catholic parents but in time the Reske family came to embrace the Schulte family. At the time of their wedding, however, Virginia's parents were unable to attend because Virginia's mother was giving birth to a son, Fred at the precise time of the wedding of her eldest daughter.

The Second World War was in progress and Melbourne joined the US Navy and went to the Pacific to serve leaving Virginia at home in Detroit where she lived with Mel's parents. In December, 1943 Virginia gave birth to their son, Melbourne, Jr. while her husband was overseas. By 1944 the family was complete with baby Mel.

Virginia & Melbourne Schulte
with infant son, Melbourne, Jr.
ca 1944

My earliest memories of my aunt are from my childhood and though I don't remember these particular events she was an integral part of my life from the day I was born.

Virginia & Cheryl Schulte
ca 1949

Melbourne Jr., Virginia & Cheryl Schulte
ca 1949

Virginia & Melbourne Sr Schulte
with Cheryl & Melbourne Jr Schulte
ca 1952

Virginia did work for a time as a sales clerk at the former Winkleman's Department Store in Detroit but the primary focus of her life was as a wife and mother. She was social and sociable and entertained guests in her home frequently.

Melbourne & Virginia Schulte
ca 1970

Melbourne & Virginia Schulte
April, 1981

She was widely known for her family favorite baked beans though she never could master cookie baking. I particularly remember when I was 11 years old and a pretty good baker of cut-out cookies. I went over to my aunt and uncle's home, along with my baking supplies and cookie cutters and proceeded to make a batch of these cookies for them. I can remember my cousin, Mel, Jr. who was then 16 years old sitting at the table with his chin in his hands watching me cut out these cookies. For her entire life my aunt proclaimed my cut out cookies her ultimate favorite and looked forward to my packages of cookies that I would frequently mail to her once she and my uncle were living in Arizona. It didn't matter if they arrived broken or not because she enjoyed them in any condition and liked to state that she would not share them with anyone else.

Throughout her long life, my Aunt Virginia suffered from numerous physical health issues with accompanying severe head and neck pains. Despite continual physician visits and consultations she continued to suffer and was wheelchair bound the last 15 years of her life. However her mental health remained intact and she could carry on a conversation with the best of people regarding politics, health care issues, financial issues and other such topics. She also was one of my best resources for memories of my grandfather and grandmother Schulte's families more so than my uncle was considering these were HIS family lines. Her mind remained sharp and her memories clear her entire life.

Melbourne & Virginia Schulte
2006
Sierra Vista, AZ

Yesterday, September 5 (Labor Day), 2011, my beloved and special Aunt went to her heavenly home. I had spoken with her only a few days earlier but it was obvious that her body was finally giving out on her. I know she is at peace and suffering no longer but her presence in my life will be greatly missed.

She leaves behind to mourn her passing her husband of near 70 years, Melbourne Schulte of Sierra Vista, AZ, son Melbourne Jr and wife, Mary Schulte of Mt. Clemens, MI, three grandsons, Scott, Robert and Christopher Schulte, one great-grandson Kyle Schulte, three great-granddaughters, Savannah, Shelby and Jessa Schulte. She also leaves three step-grandchildren, John, Thomas and Joan Burgess along with their combined 6 children. She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Anna Reske, her sisters Julia Reske and Delphine Sexton, her brothers John and Eugene Reske, her baby grandson Jason Schulte and her goddaughter, Kathy Schulte.

I will never forget her!

Above photos from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

Kramp Family Inquiry from Germany

2011-06-01T19:29:00.003-04:00

I am always excited when I see German readers in my Site Meter and hold out hope that someone is reading something of interest to THEM which will motivate them to contact me.

The other day I had an interesting e-mail as follows:

Hello,
my name is Shari and i am 17 years old and i come from germany, so i am sorry for my english ;-)
this article is amazing! a few weeks ago i started to find out something about my familiy, about my grand-grandma and so on. well, her name was Bertha Kramp, too. Her husband named August and they lived in the todays poland, so pommern. when i read this article i thought: oh my gosh, this cannot be true, could it? are YOU part of my family?
i am a litte bit shocked right now ;-) but something doesnt fit in this wohle thing: the daughter of my grand-grandma Bertha Kramp, named Waltraud Kramp... do you might forgot a child? i dont know.. but if you leave this thing out, everything fits! its unbelivable.

maybe you could sent me a mail with your answer? i would be very very pleased!

Shari

I can feel this Shari's excitement and how I wish I had developed an interest in genealogy at the age of 17. I would have had so many more opportunities to quiz 3 of my grandparents as to their memories.

Unfortunately, Shari posted a comment on my blog as "anonymous" and did not give an e-mail address. There is no way for me to contact her.

Shari - if you are reading this, contact me again but include an e-mail address. I would certainly respond to you if I had a way to do so.

Hopefully, I will hear from this young girl again.

Life on Lake Michigan

2011-05-26T18:11:00.005-04:00

My mother was born and grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan. Over the years of her childhood her family lived in many different homes, all of which were within walking distance of the Lake. It, therefore, stood to reason that there would be many photos of her and/or her family taken during activities at the beach/Lake. Not so!

A few days ago I told my mother that I wanted to write a blog post for the "4th Annual Swimsuit Edition" of Jasia's COG . We had, over the last year, sorted out the thousands of photos that I have and divided them by surnames. This was the first step in what I envision as a massive scanning and computerizing project. I asked my mother if she wanted to go through the photos of her Kijak family and pull out some for me of swimsuits or activities at Lake Michigan. She didn't seem to think there would be any photos of such events because she reminded me again that she and my grandmother had a deep fear of the water (ever since my mother's younger brother almost drowned) and they never went near the Lake. I persisted, though, and told her I knew there was an old photo of her in a bathing suit at maybe 2 or 3 years of age. The search began.

After several hours of her searching, I went back to see what had been uncovered. Immediately I saw the photo that I had remembered and told my mother - "there it is" to which she laughed and told me "that isn't ME, that's my older brother at 2 years old". The joke was on me but the picture is great and definitely dates back.

Here is a photo of my uncle, Elden Jay Kijak, at approximately 2 years old in 1920 in St. Joseph. Perhaps the family had been to the Lake, I don't know, but at the time they did live in downtown St. Joseph within walking distance of the beach. My grandparents had been married in 1914 and had son, Harris, in 1915 and son, Elden, in 1918. There was a large extended family and I can imagine they did have some picnics and such at the beach.

Elden Jay Kijak
ca 1920, St. Joseph, MI

In any event, the photo is darling and worthy of this post. By 1927, there were 4 children in the family including my mother, Eloris, who was born in 1925 and younger brother, Leslie, born in 1926. This photo is perhaps the only one I have of my mother and her 3 siblings together in a photograph.

Harris and Elden Kijak
Leslie Kijak (in highchair) and Eloris Kijak (sitting on step)
ca 1927, St. Joseph, MI

Today my mother and I live in St. Joseph and I must confess that we don't go into the Lake or take advantage even of the pool in our condo complex. Fears of water can be passed on and my mother certainly did that to me as well. But it is lovely living near the Lake, walking along the shore and sitting and watching the view. I may even go so far as to get my feet wet (perhaps even to my ankles) but that is it!

Above photos from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

Genealogy Research Then or Now?

2011-04-26T15:23:00.003-04:00

In my "olden" days (way back in the mid 1970's) genealogy research was performed vastly differently than it is now. Was it easier then or harder compared to the resources available today? Let's take a look:

In 1976 when I began genealogy research, I used a steno pad, a supply of pens, my car to drive to and from various repositories and good, ole elbow grease. I spent hours in the Mt. Clemens Library genealogy section sitting before a microfilm reader spinning records upon records of my paternal ancestors. I visited the Burton Library in Detroit periodically also searching for paternal ancestral information. I copied all these records into my steno pad. I visited local cemeteries and took photos of gravestones, read records in cemetery offices and recorded information in my steno pad. I made trips back and forth to Berrien County to stand in the Vital Records division of the County Clerk's office and copied record upon record of my maternal ancestors, visited cemeteries there and actually visited with cousins of my grandmother to ascertain more information. The furthest that I traveled was either to Bay County or Berrien County, each no more than several hours away from my home at the time in the Detroit suburbs. Total money spent on these endeavors was minimal other then (very low) gasoline costs. I was able to learn the ancestral villages of the majority of my 8 major surnames going back to my great-grandparents. It was fun, exciting and very rewarding.

In 1980 I began inputting my information by typing, on a manual typewriter, all my data into the LDS genealogy forms which were the premier medium at that time. I lived in a very small apartment at the time and remember my card table/kitchen table which served as the place I ate and the place I typed.

In the mid-1980's I began mailing away for vital records mainly from the Michigan archives. Costs at that time were $2.00 per record and I amassed binders full of data on each of my 8 ancestral surnames. I followed advice in the Genealogical Helper magazine at the time and crossed the ocean to Germany finding records and information on my ancestors from that country. True it took weeks, sometimes months to get results but the bonuses were exciting with envelopes in the mail with German stamps. There is no excitement like seeing a personal letter from a church in the (then) DDR with information on a 3rd or 4th great grandparent taking my research back to the 1700's.

Fast forward to the 21st century. Now we have personal computers, scanners, the Internet with Google and a wealth of genealogy sites and information at our fingertips to be accessed in private in our pajamas with instant results and gratification. We can scan old photos and restore them with great photo software, we can access European archives through Ancestry.com and other sites, some with hefty fees, others free. We can order microfilm records from the LDS and read them at a local LDS stake and find records upon records of interest to our research.

The best perk to this century of resources is the possibility of connecting with others researching our same surname or, even better, finding long lost relatives. That is huge and cannot be minimized. I, myself, have had great success with finding relatives in Germany who share my interest in our mutual family line. This can't be beat.

Is it better and easier now to do genealogy research than it was in the 1970's and 1980's? I don't know what the answer would be. There certainly were benefits to getting out in the field and trekking to find records, waiting for results and the joy of finally getting a positive response. That doesn't undermine the excitement of clicking on Ancestry and finding an instant pension record or census record that answers a long lost question.

Taken all together, I have to admit that I have done wonderfully in these 30+ years in getting results. I have visited Germany and Poland and walked the paths that my ancestors walked in their home villages and imagined what their lives were like then. I have connected with closely related family members during this research and connected with many other researchers searching my surnames and ancestral villages.

One of my favorite success stories was when, after years of searching for a death date and location of burial in Detroit of a German immigrant ancestor and coming up blank, I actually found the death information in of all places - Germany and learned that this ancestor and her husband had taken a trip back to her homeland, when she was at an advanced age, and learned that she and her husband both passed away there and were buried in Germany.

It is definitely true that we can go further in our research and faster, too, with all the resources available to us. Imagine how much further this can take us in the future!

Can we get back to Adam & Eve!!!! Interesting thought, don't you think? Who wants to be the first to try?

Civil War Ancestor? A New Mystery!

2011-04-11T13:07:00.007-04:00

Yesterday when viewing my latest newsletter from Ancestry I noted an article regarding the Civil War and the upcoming 150th anniversary of this US historical event. Not having any ancestors that served in the Civil War, I quickly discounted the article and went on with the remainder of the newsletter. Though I have been an active genealogist since the 70's (1970's that is!) I never have studied, researched or otherwise been involved with seeking out Civil War data.

However, though I ignored the article on the Civil War, a little bird was whispering in my ear throughout the day. I suddenly remembered the box of war medals that my paternal grandmother Schulte had grudgingly given me in the 1980's. I was the only granddaughter but none of my male cousins, nor my brother, had any interest in these medals and I finally managed to get my grandmother to let me take them. There were medals from my great-grandfather, Rudolph Schulte, who served in the Spanish American War and medals from my grandfather, Elmer Schulte, who had served in WWI. I created some shadow boxes and these medals are now displayed in my home.

Somehow the thought kept coming to me that there were some other medals in that box that my grandmother kept and these had the wording of "The Grand Army of the Republic". I did learn that this organization was a fraternal organization comprised of veterans of the Union Army who had served in the Civil War. I asked my grandmother at the time where these medals had originated and she stated she didn't remember. I will confess that my grandmother was not totally immersed in my family quests, and while she did help me some, more times than not she gave me inaccurate information. When I would later uncover the accurate facts and ask her about them, she would confess that she had not told me the truth because she wanted me to "let sleeping dogs lie".

The majority of my ancestors did not arrive in the US until after 1870, long after the end of the Civil War. However, my Feucht ancestors WERE in the US in the mid-1850's though I just assumed that my second great-grandfather, Jacob Feucht, never would have served in the Civil War as he was married with several children at that time. That may have been a mistake because we should never assume anything in doing research!

Yesterday my thoughts started to expand and I decided to go on Ancestry and search the Civil War draft registers on a whim to see if my Jacob Feucht would be listed. Imagine my surprise when I found the following entry:

There definitely is an entry for a Jacob Feucht. The information contained in the draft register is mainly of a general nature, and while the data does match up with MY Jacob Feucht, I wonder if I can definitely say this is my ancestor.

My second great-grandfather Johann Jacob Feucht (known as Jacob) was born August 11, 1826 in Tamm, Ludwigsburg, Wuerttemberg, Germany. He came to the US in the mid-1850's and on February 20, 1859 married Magdalena Helena Bauer (known as Helena) at Trinity Lutheran Church in Detroit, MI (now Historic Trinity Lutheran Church).

The draft registration does match, basically, with my Jacob. It does show an 1863 draft in Hillsdale, MI (near to Detroit) of a 34 year old white male who is married and who was born in Germany and who is listed as a laborer. My Jacob Feucht was 34/35 at that time, married, born in Germany and the 1870 census shows Jacob listed as a laborer. Neither the 1870 or 1880 US census records from Detroit show any information on former military service so those census records do not assist a genealogist in determining whether an ancestor did serve.

I am inclined to believe this record is my Jacob Feucht. Jacob's daughter, Julie Feucht, married Rudolph Schulte and following her death, Rudolph married her sister, Elizabeth Feucht, which could explain the Grand Army of the Republic medals in my grandmother Schulte's safekeeping.

I am also wondering, though, whether Jacob Feucht actually served in this War. I searched the other Ancestry records on the Civil War and Jacob's name does not appear though there are two Jacob's listed with a surname that could be considered a variant of Feucht (the name has been massacred greatly in the records I have searched) and those entries show service from Ohio and Pennsylvania. Not having previously researched in any way Civil War records, I am not knowledgeable as to whether individuals could have registered for the draft in Michigan but been assigned to regiments in nearby Ohio or Pennsylvania.

To add to my mystery, Jacob and Helena Feucht had 10 children during the years 1860-1881. The years of birth were 1860, 1861, 1864, 1866, 1868, 1870, 1872, 1875, 1877 and 1881. I noted with interest the frequency with which their children were born BUT there is a 3 year gap from the time daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1861 and daughter, Rosa, was born in 1864. Could it be that father, Jacob, had been serving in the Civil War during that period?

Can I claim a Civil War ancestor? I will need to begin researching this event in US history in more depth to see what further records I can uncover.

A Family Gathering by the Car!

2011-03-28T16:43:00.013-04:00

I love seeing old photos especially those that contain multiple family members in them. In the realm of genealogy research, an extra plus of connecting with distant cousins is the opportunity to share photos. I am always hoping for photos that are "the older, the better".

I was fortunate to receive many photos from my paternal grandmother, Ella Schulte, and many of the photos came to me via HER mother, Amelia Schluessler Wellhausen. My great-grandmother passed away when I was 16 and I knew her well. Many of my older photos are from my great-grandmother's Schluessler family and just as many are unidentified as to all of the people in the photo and the dates taken. Sometimes it is a bit easier to date a photo if children are included and one can go to their genealogy information and pinpoint a bit better a date that a photo was taken. In other cases, where no children are included, it becomes tougher.

How about dating a photo from the automobile in the snapshot? Maybe that would work. Here are some examples.

My Schluessler family obviously liked family gatherings as I have many group photos in my collection involving different time periods. They evidently also liked taking photos by their auto.

Wilhelm Schluessler, Sr. & Minnie Schluessler Bredow
families

This photo actually includes my second great-grandfather, Wilhelm Schluessler, so it was a real prize. Inside the car, sitting in the back seat is my great-grandmother, Amelia Schluessler Wellhausen. Next to her is her brother in law, Ellis Rine (married to her sister, Helena Schluessler Rine) and next to him is Vina Winegard, daughter of Minnie Schluessler Bredow.

Standing outside the car from left to right is Helena Schluessler (sister-in-law of my great-grandmother who was married to William Schluessler, Jr.), followed by Mrs. Charles (Wilhelmina) Bredow, and my second great-grandfather, Wilhelm Schluessler. Sitting next to him is his sister, Minnie Schluessler Bredow, followed by an unknown woman and on the end is Minnie Bredow's son, Charles Bredow.

Here is a different view with my second great-grandfather, Wilhelm Schluessler, and his sister, Minnie Schluessler Bredow.

Wilhelm Schluessler and sister, Minnie Schluessler Bredow

Wilhelmina (Minnie) Schluessler was born in March, 1842 in Fahrenwalde, Kreis Pasewalk, Pommern and her brother, Wilhelm Schluessler, was born on June 25, 1845 in Fahrenwalde, Kreis Pasewalk, Pommern. They were the children of Christian Frederick Schluessler and Wilhelmina Krumbach who were from the neighboring village of Neuenfeld, Kreis Pasewalk, Pommern. All came at varying times to the US and settled in the Macomb County area of Michigan.

While I am not knowledgeable as to what type of car this was and what time period this would have been from I do know that the photo was taken between 1913 and 1932. My second great-grandmother, Amelia Schauer Schluessler - wife of the above Wilhelm Schluessler - is not pictured and she passed away in 1913. Wilhelm himself lived until 1932. I am sure there are readers out there, though, who probably will recognize the car and perhaps would be able to estimate the type and year of the automobile. I am guessing the photo to be from the mid-1920's as I do have other photos of these family members with different automobiles in which children born in the late 20's and early 30's are included.

As an aside to this post, I visited the areas of Neuenfeld and Fahrenwalde in 1993 and took some photos of these ancestral villages which were most difficult to find. If not for my sister-in-law, with her GPS ability (before GPS was around) we would have missed the little paths leading to these villages.

Neuenfeld, Kreis Pasewalk, Germany - 1993

Fahrenwalde, Kreis Pasewalk, Germany - 1993

It was well worth the effort to search out these towns and walk the paths where my Schluessler ancestors walked more than 100 years earlier.

Above photos from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

A Woman in History - Perpetua

2011-03-01T21:51:00.006-05:00

The topic for the 103rd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is "Women's History" in conjunction with National Women's History Month. During the last month, since Jasia announced this topic, I have struggled with just what to write about.

I could certainly write about either of my two grandmothers who I knew well but I have written much about them already on this blog. I could write about any of my four great-grandmothers, one of whom I knew well, but I have also written about them in the past. While they were all great women in their own right, and they were certainly all part of the person that I have become, I could not get a strong vibe to devote this post to one of them.

I decided instead to write about a woman from history. Way back in history to be exact and somebody who was actually born in AD 181. While I would like to claim her in my heritage, I would be one very lucky genealogist if I could trace my family back that far. I will say, though, that her story qualifies her for recognition during National Women's History Month.

No matter your religious preference or non-preference, the Christian noblewomen, Perpetua's story should touch your heart and give you reason for pause.

Perpetua was born AD 181 in Tunis (Tunisia). She was a Christian martyr who wrote "The Passion of Saints" which is a journal recounting her imprisonment and trial and which was continued after her death as a martyr. Both her martyrdom and its account have been highly revered by ancient and modern Christians. This writing of "The Passion of Saints" is one of the rare surviving documents written by a woman in the ancient world.

In Carthage in the 2nd century there was a vibrant Christian community including this young mother, Perpetua, who was the daughter of a prosperous provincial family. Sometime after
AD 201, the Roman emperor of the time forbade conversion to Christianity or Judaism and in AD 203 the governor of Carthage enforced this edict. Perpetua, who was nursing a newborn son, along with four of her companions were arrested. In clear violation of the emperor's edict, all five people were preparing for baptism. They were tried, refused to renounce their faith and were condemned to death in the arena.

At this time, Perpetua began her diary with an account of her imprisonment and continued it with descriptions of her trial and her father's impassioned, but fruitless plea, for her to renounce her Christian identity.

On the evening before her scheduled death, Perpetua gave her diary to another Christian, who then continued the story of the martyrdom of Perpetua and her fellow Christians. He described how one of Perpetua’s companions—the pregnant slave Felicity—gave birth while in prison; he also wrote of the young Christians’ bravery in the arena when they were attacked by wild beasts and, finally, of Perpetua’s voluntary acceptance of death by the sword.

Perpetua’s diary was read annually in Carthage’s churches for centuries. It was so influential that it was praised by Christians and non-Christians alike and 200 years later sermons were still being written commenting on the young martyr’s words. Perpetua’s text, with its powerful, personal voice, continues to draw readers.

Her death on the 7th of March in AD 203 and the later granting of sainthood has assured that her memory continues to be honored.

During Women's History Month it is appropriate that this Christian Saint should be remembered for her courage, commitment to her faith and the lasting memorial she has left for women everywhere.

I will admit that I had never heard of Perpetua before this evening though I was raised in the Lutheran faith and attended 12 years of parochial school. I heard of her tonight at a church meeting where the minister gave a talk on a Woman Christian saint (in honor of Women's History Month) who is honored by the Catholic church, Lutheran church as well as in other denominations. His presentation on Perpetua touched me and gave me the vibe I was looking for to write this post.

How appropriate that my minister would choose to speak in honor of Women's History Month at the same time that I was searching for something to write on this very event!

The 2010 iGene Awards for Two Sides of the Ocean

2011-01-10T17:53:00.006-05:00

The COG 102nd edition topic has been named by Jasia and is "The 2010 iGene Awards". I have never participated in an iGene Awards topic and thought it would be interesting to see what I could come up with. Impacting my choices involves the fact that I only posted 17 times in 2010. Come along with me to see what I can contribute....

Best Picture - What was the best old photo that appeared on my blog in 2010?

For this category, I chose the photo of Thomas & Ida Padgett from approximately 1888 that I posted with the topic "Whose Mother Are You?" on Mother's Day, 2010. This portrait came to me via my friend, Karen, who had rescued it along with its old frame from an estate sale. She had intended to remove the portrait, discard it and sell the frame at her antique booth. She was only too glad to pass it along to me instead when I expressed dismay that a lovely old portrait would be destroyed. Not only did I rescue the portrait but I researched the people in the photo, contacted their great-granddaughter who had sold the portrait and did some extensive research on the lives of Thomas & Ida. It was a most rewarding journey.

Best Screen Play - Which family story from 2010 would make the best movie? Who would I cast as my family members?

Best Comedy - Which was the best funny story that I wrote in 2010?

My screen play would be a comedy and would involve my post on "There's One In Every Family...The Jokester" which appeared on November 28, 2010. This post told the humorous antics of my uncle and godfather, Melbourne Schulte, along with photos of his various hi-jinks and hilarity. The main characters in this comedy would be my uncle and I feel that James Garner would be an appropriate actor to portray him. Why? Because James Garner is my favorite actor of that age range, he is darned good looking still and I especially liked his comic antics in such movies as "Move Over Darling" and "The Thrill of It All", both movies with Doris Day.

To portray my aunt in the movie, the woman who was willing to get married on the start of hunting season in Michigan, willing (?) to spend her honeymoon at a hunting cabin while her bridegroom went hunting, who was willing to put up with anniversaries with her husband off hunting and who has just celebrated her 69th anniversary with her husband would be Peggy McCay as she is one of my favorite actresses of that age range, she has played a long suffering wife on "Days of our Lives" and she has the wit and backbone to laugh at her circumstances but also show some toughness in putting her man in place from time to time.

Best Biography - What was the best biographical article I wrote in 2010?

My submission for best biographical article would be my post on "Religious Rites in my Family" which was posted on November 1, 2010. In this post, I detailed extensively the various confirmations in my family, with one baptism, complete with photos and details on the religion that the majority of my family have participated in.

Best Documentary - Which was the best informational article I wrote involving my family's history in 2010?

Saving the "best for the last" in my humble opinion would be my 9 part series on "The Family Kolberg/Colberg". This series covered a time span of 25+ years of my research on the history of my Kolberg family from Klein Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern and my efforts on tracing the 7 sons of my great-great grandparents, Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg and his wife, Henriette Amalie Kautz. In this series I cross the ocean to Germany, discover a fellow genealogical cousin there and together we combine our efforts to reach success on tracing 6 of the 7 Colberg/Kolberg brothers. This would be my favorite post of all time from my blog and definitely my favorite from 2010.

I hope all my readers enjoy my selections for my 2010 iGene awards and come along for the ride.

My 2011 Genealogy Plan

2011-01-01T19:57:00.005-05:00

Ok, resolution time is upon us on this first day of the year. I don't do resolutions as they put undue stress on me but I was intrigued by Jasia's Carnival Blog subject for the first Carnival of Genealogy for 2011 - "Describe your Genealogy/Research Plan for 2011". I am going with the thought that a "plan" is not a resolution.

I have been involved in genealogy since the mid 1970's. Yep, way back then when I was just a child, (ok, TK and I were both children, right TK?). Back in those days, there were no personal computers, family history software or the Internet and my research consisted of leg work visiting cemeteries, county buildings, libraries, writing multitudes of letters, etc and typing up my results on the old LDS family history sheets.

I started out with lofty plans involving researching all 8 surnames of my great-grandparents so I had stacks and stacks of typed Family History sheets, documents, and as the years went by, many photos that I acquired as my reputation as the family historian became more pronounced and multitudes of cousins shared information with me.

Where are all these materials now? I was organized - of a sort. I used an individual envelope box for each surname (the type of boxes that 500 #10 envelopes came in), some surnames required more than one box but they were all the same shape and size of boxes with the surnames neatly labeled on the ends and all stacked up on shelves.

In 1998, I decided that Family Tree Maker was my software of choice and I would start inputting this data in the computer. I chose the surname in which I had the most information which is my Kolberg family. The reason for that choice was that my mother and I were planning a 1999 Kolberg family reunion and I wanted to have all that data computerized so that I could print out a huge family chart. It took just shy of 12 months for me to computerize all that data in FTM and I admit that I slacked greatly on sourcing my information. Well, that is another subject for another time.

Since that time nothing else has been computerized. And being an over-fussy person I have been debating just how to bring order to the chaos (though neat chaos) that are my genealogy files.

I have upgraded to FTM 2011 and installed that on both my desktop and my new laptop in a different file from my old FTM 2006. I have installed Picasa and my Paint Shop Pro on the laptop as well and have installed Drop Box on both computers.

Now, the plan.....

I will begin inputting into FTM and start with the surname that I have the least information on which is my Rubis family. By starting with the smallest amount of data, I hope I get motivated to continue. I am going to be scanning all the documents and photos that I have on this surname as well (very few photos and a minimal amount of documents on this Polish surname) and will be placing the originals on heavy bond paper, sliding them into archival sheet protectors for final placement in designated 3-ring binders.

That is the plan; let's see if I can get going...

There's One In Every Family..

2010-12-01T17:07:00.004-05:00

..A Favorite Teacher

It has been many years since I was in school - many, many years - but I still remember each and every one of my teachers. I had a 100% Lutheran education with 8 years at St. Peter's Lutheran School in East Detroit, MI followed by 4 years at Lutheran High School East in Harper Woods, MI. My high school has now been closed, the building demolished and today I read in the paper that Ford Auditorium in Detroit, where my high school graduation was held, is going to be demolished as well. There will be no physical reminders of my school days.

However, I do have memories of one special teacher. Actually most of my teachers were pretty good. I do specifically remember a rather unkind second grade teacher who scared me, but other than her, my teachers were decent.

But my third grade teacher was the best! I remember her well.

It was the summer preceding my entrance into third grade. It was the custom at St. Peter's in those days that the teachers visited each of their students the summer prior to the start of school. This was the day that I was expecting my third grade teacher to visit and I knew her name was Miss Margaret Johnson.

Early afternoon I was playing with my friends. We had strung a clothesline from the side door of my house, across the driveway and attached it to the neighbor's fence. We had all our little doll clothes hanging there to dry but quickly got tired of that project and decided to ride our bikes instead. But our bikes were in the garage and the clothesline was in the way.

My little brother got the idea that he would stand at the clothesline and hold it up so we could all ride our bikes under. He was only about 4 at the time. My friends all rode their bikes under the clothesline but I picked up my head too soon, the clothesline caught me at the neck and my bike fell into the side door, breaking the glass and cutting my face badly.

Blood was everywhere and my mother was panicked. I was screaming, sure I was dying and the neighbor lady came over and together they bandaged me up. What a sight I must have been for Miss Johnson when she visited later in the afternoon. But she was so sweet and sympathetic and I think I fell in love with her then.

By the time school started, her name had changed. She was now Mrs. Margaret B and had recently married. Third grade was going to be fun, I was sure. I can still remember my second floor classroom, how our seats were arranged and how kind, complimentary and patient a teacher she was.

Although I was the most sedate and quiet child there was, I had another incident during the school year. We were out on the playground and I was standing still, minding my own business when a boy student ran into me, knocked me over and I passed out. The next thing I knew I was waking up IN the classroom ON the second floor and all the students were sitting staring at me asking me "what is your name"? Mrs. B called my mother who came over, panicked and took me home. Mrs. B was so concerned and checked often on me before I returned to school but I suffered no lasting effects.

Later in the year, another girl student suffered a similar incident, suffered a concussion and was out of school even longer. My goodness, us little third grade girls were tough on poor Mrs. B.

At the end of the school year, Mrs. B was gone. I never knew why and the years went by. Over those years I learned that Mrs. B's husband was a noted composer of church music and a concert organist and I did follow his career as well as I could before the Internet.

A few years ago I was pleased to hear that Mr. Donald B was going to be coming to my church in St. Joseph, MI to perform an organ concert. I was hopeful that his wife would be accompanying him. The church choir was going to be performing as well and my mother, a member of the choir, spoke to Mr. B. and learned that his wife could not be present.

I wrote a letter to Mrs. Margaret B, attended the concert and at the social hour following I introduced myself to Mr. Donald B, told him his wife was my third grade teacher at St. Peter's Lutheran School in East Detroit and that I had this letter for him to give her. He was gracious and pleasant and told me that my class was the only class that his wife had ever taught, that they had started their own family that year and now had 6 children and many grandchildren. He did take my letter and told me his wife would be pleased to receive it.

Since that time, I have enjoyed a correspondence with Mrs. B. She and her husband, who has recently retired, live in Ohio. I had joked with her in my first letter that perhaps she had given up teaching because the girls in the class were so accident prone and gave her angst but she answered that we were the best experience she could have asked for and she frequently thinks of her class. Our class had recently had a confirmation reunion and I had a photo of about 20 of her former students as adults and I framed the 4 x 6 photo, sent it to her and she was pleased to have it. To this day, she remarks on the photo when she writes me.

At this time, her grandson's future wife is the organist and choir director at my church. Their family is planning a 2011 reunion in St. Joseph for the summer of next year and I am hopeful that I will be able to see her again at that time.

I wrote her recently to tell her that I had retired this year. Her remark was "do you know how old I feel in knowing that my former student is retiring". She has sent me photos of herself and her family and she remains my favorite teacher. What a joy to have reconnected with her after all these years.

There's One in Every Family..

2010-12-01T13:42:00.010-05:00

..Special Holiday Traditions

Every family has their special holiday traditions and memories. Perhaps they date back to our childhood, and as we mature and have our own households, we try to duplicate those memories. Others forgo continuing their childhood traditions and carve out new ones for their families.

In my family, I can remember distinctly one yearly holiday over all the others. No, it was not Christmas but rather Easter. My mother's family lived in St. Joseph, MI on the western side of the state, and while I was born and baptized there, we moved to the Detroit suburbs when I was a toddler. Each Easter, though, we returned to St. Joe for our family holiday.

My mother was one of 4 children. One of her brothers lived with his family locally and her other two brothers lived in the suburbs of Chicago. They were all always the first to arrive at my grandparents' home on the day before Easter. My father needed to be at his barber shop on that Saturday and my mother would load the car with our suitcases, myself and my brother and we would drive to the barber shop to pick him up at his closing time of 6 p.m. My mother most definitely could not forget the Easter baskets that we kept at our house but which my grandmother would fill in St. Joe. Sometimes we had to wait for my father to finish his last customers but we were usually on the road by 6:15 p.m.

On I-94 we went and 3 hours later we were arriving at my grandparents' home. Even though it could be as late as 9:30 my grandmother always had a chicken dinner awaiting us. She bought only fresh chicken to roast and what a difference from the poultry we buy today. There is nothing more prominent in my memory than the smells in her house when entering while she had dinner cooking.

My grandparents lived in an old frame home in downtown St. Joe. The home had two bedrooms on the main floor and four on the second floor. My parents always received the extra main floor bedroom and my cousin, Jeanine, and I were lucky to have a second floor bedroom. We always felt like grown ups when we were upstairs in our own little area. The two sets of aunts and uncles also took the two other bedrooms on the second floor and my little brother and Jeanine's little brother, Mike, got to sleep on the couch in the living room.

My grandparents had little money but it didn't matter. When I was 12 my grandfather passed away and my one uncle and his family had moved to California. But the two Illinois uncles and their families and our family continued the Easter trip to St. Joe.

My grandmother outdid herself with decorating the house. Her cut glass punch bowl sat on the buffet and sparkled for us to enjoy.

Cut glass punch bowl of Ella Kijak

She put together her hand made Easter egg tree and had that displayed on the buffet as well. I now have both the punch bowl and the Easter eggs to cherish.

Easter egg tree with homemade eggs by Ella Kijak
Antique Easter baskets behind tree

We all sat up late on Easter eve talking and visiting but finally we were off to our respective rooms for sleep (and more giggling with our cousins).

On Easter morning grandma would arise at 5 a.m. (with little sleep) and walk downtown to Wilson's Bakery which was on State Street. She wanted to be the first to arrive so that she could select the best coffee cakes and muffins for our breakfast. She worked on a huge breakfast for all of us as we sat in her dining room around her huge table. When we came to the table we noted our Easter baskets were now filled with chocolate covered eggs, marshmallows, colored eggs and a present for each of us. I remember one year Jeanine and I received little glass covered dishes with mine in the shape of a deer and hers in the shape of a bunny. The covers came off to reveal a little jar of dusting powder. Again, grandma had little money but knew how to find just the right presents to please us. Another year, much earlier, I remember receiving a cylinder shaped box with crayons and a sharpener. I think the love that went into the gifts was what made us cherish them so much.

I don't have those gifts anymore but I do have the little lamb stuffed animal that she made me and I put it out each Easter on my buffet.

After breakfast it was off to church for all of us and grandma was so proud to have her whole family there to accompany her. One year the church was so full that we were forced to have to sit on folding chairs in the basement where the church piped the service in (the church wishes today to have such attendance). The uncles (and my father) did not appreciate the basement seating and after that we made sure that we arrived at church at least 30 minutes before the Easter service.

Back home after church and grandma, the aunts and my mother with Jeanine and myself set to work finishing the dinner of ham, potatoes, vegetables, relish trays, home made crescent rolls (that took two days to make) and pies, pies, pies - all handmade by grandma. There were even Easter cut-out cookies for us to enjoy though I have to admit that my grandmother had a preference for anise in her cookies and the taste did not excite me. But her pies were heavenly.

As a centerpiece each Easter my grandmother made her special Lamb cake. She had this mold that involved a special recipe (and much fiddling around to not knock off the lamb's ears, etc) and she would make a yellow cake, frost it with white frosting and cover in coconut. Again, it was a sight to see, though not liking coconut, I don't remember ever tasting the cake.

I now have the mold and have made lamb cakes the last few years myself but have chosen to make a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I have even named the cake as "Lucy Lamb". Don't ask me where the name came from; I have no idea.

Lucy Lamb Easter Cake
Antique vase with hyacinths
Both cake mold and vase from Ella Kijak

Following dinner, all the women chipped in to do the dishes and clean up the dining room while the men did what men do - watched television. In those days, I remember, men did nothing in the way of chipping in and cleaning up or certainly the ones in my mother's family did not.

The afternoon went by quickly with talking, visiting, snacking and by 7 pm or so my father was ready to make the trip back to Detroit. He was never one for taking an extra day off from the barber shop-being self employed dictated that.

It always seemed that the week-end went by so quickly. The aunts and uncles had a much shorter trip back to the suburbs of Chicago and didn't leave as soon but off we went, waving good-bye and wishing the week-end could have lasted longer. We would be back in the summer to visit our grandmother but this was our one time to visit with our aunts, uncles and cousins. My grandmother always stood outside and waved to us until we could not see her any longer and we were back on I-94 for the trip home.

Ella Kijak with roses
St. Joseph, MI
1965

Many years have gone by since those Easter memories. My grandparents are both gone. My father and all of my uncles are gone. Even my special little cousin, Jeanine, is gone, dying way too soon in her early 40's of cancer. My mother and I are living back in St. Joe now and try to replicate those Easters as best we can with the keepsakes that we still have.

Easter definitely was that one special holiday in my family.

Above photos from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

There's One In Every Family...

2010-11-28T16:01:00.009-05:00

...The Jokester!

When Jasia announced her topic for the 100th Carnival of Genealogy, I struggled with what to write on the subject "There's One In Every Family". Cousin, TK, of Before My Time was visiting and we were going through my photos of our mutual Schulte family. TK came across some interesting photos of one member of my family and she strongly suggested that I base my blog post on this relative. So, TK gets the credit for the decision and I will do my best to do the subject justice.

In my Schulte family, the men were known for their sense of humor. My grandfather, Elmer Schulte, had a good sense of humor and my father did as well when he was in the mood. But the one with the outstanding sense of humor and ability for joking around is my Uncle Mel.

Melbourne M. Schulte was born on September 27, 1920 in Detroit, MI to Elmer M. Schulte and Ella A. Wellhausen. He was their firstborn child and came along in their third year of marriage after my grandfather's return from WWI. Evidently my grandparents had the camera and the means to take multiple photos because many exist of my uncle as a baby and a young child.

As other children came into their family, their photo taking diminished some but this photo, taken in 1935, shows what a prankster my uncle was becoming. Here he is shown with his tongue out while his brother and sister are looking appropriately serious. When I told him recently about this photo, he laughed and said "I was such a pistol".

Melbourne, Mylen & Marilyn Schulte
1935
Detroit, MI

In 1940 both my uncle and my father got jobs as ushers at the old Rialto Theater on Gratiot Avenue and Mt. Elliott in Detroit. Here they are looking serious in their uniforms standing outside the theater.

Melbourne & Mylen Schulte
1940
Rialto Theater, Detroit, MI

My uncle reported that his favorite part of his ushering job was when he went up and down the aisles of the theater shining his flashlight down the rows of seats. He did admit to me that if there were pretty girls in the row he would shine his flashlight on their legs. He evidently found just such an interesting pair of legs because he chose the young woman to be his wife and they were married November 15, 1941.

Virginia, nee Reske & Melbourne Schulte
1941
Detroit, MI

And, where did they go on their honeymoon? Why, November 15th is the start of deer hunting in Michigan and my uncle, an avid hunter, did just that - taking his new bride up north in Michigan while he and his uncle went hunting all day. My aunt loves to tell the story that she sat in the cabin with her husband's aunt while the men hunted and this was her memorable honeymoon. And, each anniversary that followed? Why off deer hunting again.

I like to tell my uncle that he is lucky that my aunt stuck with him with his romantic ways. They both just laugh about it now but I wonder if she was doing a lot of laughing in the early years of their marriage!

With WWII in progress, both my uncle and my father enlisted in the Armed services with my uncle enlisting in the US Navy and my father in the US Army Air Corps. Both young men left for their duty on the same day at different locations and my grandmother told the story that they took one son off to the war and took the other son in a different direction off to the war as well on the same day causing her much anguish. My uncle also left behind his wife who was expecting their first child.

In December of 1943, my aunt and uncle became parents of a baby boy and the American Red Cross got their signals crossed and sent the notification of birth to my father instead of to my uncle. The postcard read "Congratulations on the birth of your new son. May be prove to be as fine of a citizen as you are a soldier". My father was understandably confused by this message and it took the Red Cross some time to get the message delivered to the true father in the Pacific.

Upon his return from the service, my uncle playfully posed for a photo with his father, Elmer Schulte. My his strength must have been great to be able to lift his father off the ground like this.

Melbourne & Elmer Schulte
ca 1945
Detroit, MI

Proud father with his son, they posed for this photo in 1947; in 1948 when I was born, this special uncle became my godfather.

Melbourne, Jr. & Melbourne, Sr. Schulte
1947
Detroit, MI

In 1956, my uncle decided to show off his strength again by lifting his uncle, George Wellhausen, off the ground. I would like to tell him that it is obvious to me why NOW he is suffering from back problems. Should have left these full grown men standing on the ground by themselves.

Melbourne Schulte & George Wellhausen
1956
East Detroit, MI

Over the years his sense of humor and joke playing has made him loved by all. I have never seen him angry, never heard him scream or shout and his motto is that family is important, everyone should love each other and accept them as they are, though he can get pretty animated over US politics and politicians I will admit!

On September 27, 2010, my uncle turned 90 years of age. He told me that in church on the 26th of September he decided to go to the front of the church and make an announcement. He has no problem with shyness and up he walked where the minister asked him what he wished to share with the congregation. He told me that he stated that "tomorrow I will be 90 years of age and I never thought my wife and I would be here that long and on the 15th of November we will celebrate 68 years of marriage and I think I should get the Medal of Honor for this long marriage". He received much applause and laughter for this announcement and was proud to share it with me.

I, though, hastened to tell him that in reality his 2010 anniversary would be their 69th anniversary and not their 68th. Back and forth we went on the phone with my aunt getting in her opinion as well and they both insisted it was going to be 68 years. I reminded them they were married in 1941 (like I was even there!!) and they agreed it was 1941 and I stated that it would be 69 years as this is 2010.

My uncle's response? "Oh, my God now I have to go and stand up in church next Sunday and tell the congregation I made a mistake and shortchanged my wife by a year".

I am sure he did just that to another rousing laugh and round of applause from the members.

Today my aunt and uncle live in Arizona where my aunt is 92 and my uncle 90. He is my aunt's primary caregiver as her physical health has deteriorated but her mental health is sharp and her memory is intact (other than her memory of her years of marriage, of course!). He maintains his sense of humor and tells me some of the conversations he has with neighbors, church friends, bank tellers and others in their town in Arizona.

And I don't think he looks all that bad for his age. A sense of humor and positive attitude do help for sure.

Melbourne Schulte
2005 (85 years of age)
Sierra Vista, AZ

Above photos from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

Religious Rites in my Family

2010-11-01T20:01:00.012-04:00

Religion has played a major part in my life and in the lives of my family and ancestors. Throughout my 35+ year mission of tracing my family history I have discovered diversities of faiths and church affiliations but a definite pattern of religious lives.

Dating back to the 1600's in Bavaria, my paternal Bauer and Feucht ancestors were definitely of the Evangelical Lutheran faith and continued that pattern when arriving in the US. Once in Detroit, they attended Trinity Lutheran Church (now Historic Trinity) and my great-great grandparents, Johann Jacob Feucht and Magdalena Helena Bauer were one of the first couples married in that church on February 20, 1859. All of their children were baptized and confirmed at Trinity as well.

My paternal Schulte family from Beckum, Westphalia, Germany were of the Catholic faith while in Germany, and according to records found from those years, they were members of St. Stephanus Catholic Church. There still remains a church in Beckum with that name, and whether that is the same parish that served my Schulte ancestors, I don't know. Upon arriving in the US, though, some of the family switched to following the Lutheran faith while others remained Catholic.

My paternal Wellhausen/Schluessler family, with information that I have found dating back to the early 1700's, continually practiced the Evangelical Lutheran faith while in Germany and continued that when arriving in this country.

On my mother's side, we also had a diversity of faiths. My mother's paternal line were Polish and Roman Catholic and continued that in this country. Her maternal line, from Bütow, Pommern, were Evangelical Lutheran and remain that to this day.

Here are some examples of my family members during their various confirmations, with one baptismal example as well.

My paternal grandfather, Elmer M. Schulte, was born on August 4, 1894 in Detroit, MI. Here he is at his baptism in his Lutheran church later that same year.

Elmer Schulte
Baptism - 1894
Detroit, MI

My paternal grandmother, Ella A. Wellhausen, was born on November 15, 1896 in Detroit and was confirmed in the Lutheran faith in Fraser, MI.

Ella Wellhausen
Confirmation
Fraser, MI

My maternal grandfather, Joseph Kijak, was born on August 3, 1892 in Bay City, MI and was baptized as a Catholic at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, also in Bay City. After marrying my grandmother, he took confirmation lessons to become Lutheran and was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church, St. Joseph, MI as an adult on March 26, 1920.

Joseph Kijak
Confirmation - 1920
St. Joseph, MI

My maternal grandmother, Ella A. Kolberg, was born on August 8, 1895 in Stevensville, MI and was confirmed in the Lutheran faith at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Joseph.

Ella Kolberg
Confirmation
St. Joseph, MI

My maternal grandparents raised their 4 children in the Lutheran faith, all were baptized and confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Joseph, MI where my mother and I still belong. I am the 5th generation of my mother's family to have been a member of this particular congregation. My mother was confirmed at this church in 1939 and she organized a 60 year reunion of her confirmation class in 1999 where many attended from around the country.

Eloris Kijak
Confirmation - 1939
St. Joseph, MI

My paternal grandparents raised their 3 children in the Lutheran faith as well and attended both First English Lutheran Church in Detroit and later Mt. Zion Lutheran also in Detroit. First English has now relocated to Grosse Pointe, MI and Mt. Zion was disbanded some years ago. My uncle and my aunt are shown here at their respective confirmations.

Melbourne Schulte
Confirmation
Detroit, MI

Marilyn Schulte
(with parents Elmer & Ella Schulte
and brother, Melbourne Schulte)

Confirmation
Detroit, MI

My father, also, was confirmed at First English Lutheran Church in Detroit. I do not have an individual confirmation photo of his but do have this fantastic group photo of his entire class including the minister. This always draws a laugh when I see the photo because of the "unique" expression on my father's face. Take a look and see if you can pick him out of this group.

Confirmation Class of 1937
First English Lutheran Church
Detroit, MI

Mylen Schulte
Bottom row, far right

That's right, he is indeed the young boy in the bottom row on the far right. Guess he wasn't having a good day that day. I would bet he wanted to get home and listen to the Tigers on the radio!

Above photos from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

Whose Mother Are You?

2010-05-09T14:58:00.008-04:00

I love old photos and portraits. I certainly don't have enough of such items from my ancestors though I do have some good ones. I love all the ones I have and treasure them.

That is why it is beyond me when I go into an antique store or visit an estate sale that I see old photos and portraits for sale. I just can't understand why people would be willing to part with such objects reflecting their heritage.

I have a good friend, Karen, who loves antiques. After a long career as an executive secretary at Whirlpool Corp., she was able to take an early retirement and devote her time to her passion which is antiquing. She goes to estate sales, auctions, has booths at various antique malls in our area, shows her wares at our annual Antiques on the Bluff in St. Joseph and sells items on eBay. She enjoys this and does quite well.

The other day I was at her house and noticed she had a lovely portrait in an even lovelier frame sitting in her back room where she traditionally puts all her antique "finds". I commented on the portrait and she remarked that she had picked it up that day from an estate sale. Her intention was to take out the picture, dump it and put the frame for sale at her antique booth.

I immediately commented that she should most definitely not destroy the photo as it was beautiful and obviously an original oil painting. In her ever generous spirit, she then told me to take the frame and portrait if I liked it so well and believe me, I did. Here it is:

Thomas & Ida Padgett
ca 1888

I told her that I could only wish that I had such a portrait from one of my ancestors and she told me she had been to an estate sale at one of our local mobile home complexes. That was all she knew about the portrait other than the estate sale was from an elderly lady who had recently passed away and her adult daughter was conducting the sale.

The genealogist in me wanted more information. So, I put on my Nancy Drew 'hat' (I did read all her books and have them all still) and went on a mission. I knew someone who lived in that particular mobile home complex so I called her and inquired if she knew who had recently had an estate sale in her area. She did, she told me the name of the daughter of the deceased as well as her phone number and I called the woman.

Once I explained why I was calling, the woman was very receptive to giving me more information. She told me the couple in the portrait were her great-grandparents and she knew his name was Thomas Padgett and the great-grandmother's name was unknown to her but that was all she knew. She told me that her grandmother was this couple's daughter and her name had been Edna and she was born in 1888 or 1889. She explained that her mother had had the portrait, nobody in the family was interested in it and there were no descendants to come so she and her brother decided to sell it. She was delighted that the portrait had found a good home with someone who would appreciate it.

Off to Ancestry.com I went in search of more information on Thomas Padgett and his wife. I also searched for the obituary in our local paper from this recently deceased lady who had had this portrait. Armed with the information from the obituary and the sketchy information from the great-granddaughter, I learned quite a bit.

Thomas Padgett was born in Cuyahogo County, Ohio ca 1859. He was married on June 1, 1887 to Ida Mills in North Plains, Ionia County, Michigan. Ida Mills had been born in 1868 in North Plains, Ionia County, MI. Her parents were William Mills (born in 1832 in Michigan) and Emma Wright (?) (born in 1849 in Michigan).

Census records showed that this Thomas & Ida Padgett had had a daughter, Edna, born in 1888 who married Chester Barr. Edna and Chester Barr had had a daughter, Ida Lucille Barr, who was the lady who had recently passed away and who had had this portrait.

I was able to find vital records on this family, information that extended back further generations indicating Ida Mills Padgett's family had come from England and generally found more information in a shorter amount of time than I ever spent on any of my personal lines. It was exciting and challenging and the information just flowed from the computer on this family.

Today, on Mother's Day, I hope Thomas & Ida know that their portrait has found a good home and someone is appreciating it and thinking of them.

Above photo from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

Heirloom Hallmark Family Tree

2010-05-02T19:06:00.006-04:00

I will admit that my cousin, TK, of Before My Time is one talented artistic person. When she wrote her 3 posts about her Heirloom Hallmark Family Tree and discussed the photo ornaments that she created for her tree, I was mesmerized.

I did go out on eBay and found a similar tree for sale. A good bid later and the tree was mine. It was shipped promptly and was easy to assemble. TK and I had several e-mails back and forth about how I was going to adorn my tree. I will probably also do the photo ornaments as she did and she graciously offered to help me with the preparation of the photos.

In the meantime, though, I had another seasonal use for the tree:

Easter eggs handmade by Ella Kolberg Kijak
ca 1945
St. Joseph, MI

These egg ornaments were all made by my grandmother, Ella Kolberg Kijak, approximately in 1945. She displayed these eggs on a tree at her home in St. Joseph every Easter. Her tree consisted of using a large crystal vase and putting live tree branches in the vase with stones and sand at the bottom to hold up the tree branches. It was the focal point on her buffet and something that stands in my memory of "Easter at Grandma's house".

She gave my mother the eggs perhaps in the early 1970's and we have displayed them in a variety of ways over the years. However, this year, I thought this Hallmark Family Tree was the ideal display option. I don't remember how many eggs there were originally. I do remember the detailed work that went into creating these eggs, though. We have only broken a few over the years and there are 23 remaining. Today the tree was disassembled and the eggs packed away for safekeeping.

Now it is time to begin collecting locket ornaments and creating my own Heirloom Family Tree. TK, are you ready?

Above photo from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

The Family Kolberg/Colberg...Addendum

2010-04-28T19:10:00.022-04:00

"WHAT ABOUT FRIEDRICH-WILHELM COLBERG, JR.?"

Following the successful discovery of the family of Johann Colberg, after many, many years of research, cousin, Gerhard Kolberg and myself had now successfully traced the descendants of 6 of the 7 Colberg brothers...August, Heinrich, Johann, Otto, Paul and Ferdinand. We were pleased with our success and pleased with the shared connection between ourselves.

The question remained, however? What happened to any descendants of the eldest sibling of the 6 Colberg brothers? Where had these descendants ended up? How would we begin to learn anything new about this family?

Gerhard and I compared our records and pooled our information. What we knew was the following:

(1) Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Jr. had been the second son of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Sr. & Henriette Amalie Colberg. He was, though, the first son to survive to adulthood.

(2) We had the following photo of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. and his wife:

Henriette Amalie (Kautz) & Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg (sitting)
Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. & Hermine (Melchert) Colberg (standing)
ca 1899
Bütow, Pommern

(3) Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. had been born September 28, 1852 in Klein Tuchen, Bütow, Pommern and he was christened at the Evangelical church in Groß Tuchen on October 3, 1852.

(4) He and his wife supposedly had had at least 6 children, whose names were unknown.

(5) He was to have stayed on the family farm in Klein Tuchen when brother, Johann, relocated to Berlin and his other 5 brothers immigrated to the US.

(5) He died in 1918.

This was the extent of our shared information and was not much to go on.

Over the course of the next several years we both did some research in the LDS microfilms both here in Michigan and in Berlin. With this research, we did discover some further data:

Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr.'s wife was named Hermine Melchert. Together they had at least 6 children that we discovered, namely:

(1) Martha Maria Franziska Colberg, born May 28, 1882 in Klein Tuchen.
(2) Paul Willi Colberg born December 25, 1883 in Klein Tuchen.

Then the family must have relocated to the nearby village of Zemmen in Kreis Bütow because the next 4 children were born there:

(3) Fritz Wilhelm Colberg, born May 27, 1885 and died April 21, 1886, both in Zemmen.
(4) Erich Ernst Franz Colberg, born November 12, 1886 and died January 24, 1887 in Zemmen.
(5) Ernst Friedrich Paul Colberg, born January 17, 1888 and died February 11, 1888 in Zemmen
(6) Max Friedrich Adam Colberg, born November 1, 1889 and died November 20, 1889 in Zemmen.

This information opened up new possibilities for us:

(1) With 4 of their 6 children dying in infancy, was it possible that the oldest two died as well before having any children of their own? We could find no records of that happening.

(2) If the 2 oldest children DID marry and have children, is it possible they died during WWI or even WWII when many German people were killed while fleeing from what became Poland?

(3) Was it even possible that there were NO descendants remaining from the family of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. & Hermine?

It became evident that we had reached a brick wall. However, I have learned more times than not that one should "never say never". There is always hope of learning something new.

A few years ago something fell in my lap that I hope proves to be a connection to any descendants still remaining today from the family of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. & Hermine Colberg. A cousin here in Berrien County contacted me and explained that she was a granddaughter of younger brother, Ferdinand Kolberg. She and her husband were involved in genealogy as well and wanted to meet with me. They came to my home for some discussions and to my surprise brought with them the German photo album of her grandfather, Ferdinand. They explained that when Ferdinand Kolberg and his family came to the US in 1910 that Ferdinand had carried with him this old photo album. Growing up she had seen this album many times and the family here always referred to it as "Grandpa's German album of his Kolberg family".

There were 21 photos contained in this album. All were professional cabinet photos and were in mint condition. They were all taken in Germany, some listed the photographer's name and location, some were taken in Bütow, some in Stolp (a neighboring county), some in Berlin and other areas as well. They allowed me to borrow the album and I scanned all 21 photos into my computer and then returned the album to them.

There were no identifications on any of these 21 photos. I e-mailed the 21 photos to Gerhard Kolberg in Berlin and he immediately responded that 4 of the photos were from the family of his grandfather, Johann Colberg. There was a photo of Johann in his military uniform, another photo of the wedding of Gerhard's parents and two other photos of daughters of Johann Colberg. The other 17 photos were unknown to Gerhard as well as the other Johann Colberg cousins he shared them with.

This led us to wonder - IF some of the photos were from the family of Johann Colberg, was it possible that the rest were from the family of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr.? Is it possible that the two first born children of Friedrich-Wilhelm & Hermine DID marry, have children, grandchildren, etc and that they had shared their photos with "Uncle" Ferdinand? We don't know but there was no other explanation we could think of for the identity of these 21 photos given the album was always known as Ferdinand's German family album.

The 17 photos follow. It is my hope that by posting these photos here, that perhaps someone will recognize one and we can move closer to learning more about brother, Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Jr.

Enjoy!

And, the search continues!

Above photos personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

The Family Kolberg/Colberg...Part Eight

2010-04-25T15:41:00.002-04:00

"THE JOHANN COLBERG FAMILY IS FOUND"

I was one excited researcher as I waited to hear from this woman contact in Berlin as to whether she indeed was from the family of my elusive Johann Colberg. It only took her a surprising two weeks to respond to me. When I saw the letter in my mailbox, postmarked Berlin, I eagerly opened the envelope and out spilled some photos with a letter.

There for me to see was the photo of a very distinguished white haired gentleman with the indication on the back that he was Johann Colberg of Berlin!

Johann Colberg
Berlin, Germany
ca 1930

This lady indicated that her husband had been a grandson of Johann Colberg and that she indeed knew the Gerhard Kolberg that I was searching for. She told me she had telephoned to the daughter of Gerhard who would stop by her apartment and pick up my letter to deliver to Gerhard. She commented also that she was sure that Gerhard would respond to me as "he is retired and has much time to spend on his research".

I could only hope. It was only another 10 days or so when my first letter from Gerhard Kolberg arrived. He expressed pleasure and surprise that I had found him from his 7 year old letter to the "O" family and more surprised that I was able to find him after he and his wife had moved to a new apartment. He had extensively traced his grandfather's family and he eagerly shared the data with me. The fact that he had been a graphic artist in his career certainly did not hurt and his charts and graphs were beautifully presented. I, in turn, shared the data from the 5 Colberg/ Kolberg brothers who had immigrated to the US. After just a few letters back and forth, with Gerhard writing in German and my needing to have the letters translated, he switched to using English which was just as proficient as his graphic design skills.

In the course of our correspondence, Gerhard explained that the surname was originally Colberg and that most of the cousins still in Germany used that spelling. He told me an interesting tidbit that there had been two Otto Colberg men in Berlin, both dentists (Gerhard's father was a dentist) so Gerhard's father, Otto, changed HIS surname spelling to the Kolberg which is the spelling that Gerhard uses. However, all the other cousins in Berlin, descended from Johann Colberg, continue to use the Colberg spelling.

We now had SIX Colberg/Kolberg brothers' families traced to the present generation. It had only taken me 23 years to accomplish this but it wasn't until the Internet was popular that this connection was actually made.

Over the years since our 1999 discovery of each other began, Gerhard and his two adult grandsons have visited my mother and I here in St. Joseph for our 2000 Kolberg family reunion.

Humorous pose at Kolberg Family Reunion 2000
Oliver Beyer, Gerhard Kolberg, Kai Beyer
St. Joseph, MI

They stayed in our home and spent 3 weeks with us here in the US. He obtained the Internet and E-mail and our correspondence travels quickly through cyberspace.

Both my niece and nephew have visited Gerhard and his family in Berlin on several occasions while studying in Spain and Italy respectively.

My niece, Diane, (left side in black shirt) in Berlin, Germany
with Gerhard Kolberg family
(Gerhard not shown-taking photo)
2004

My nephew, Jay, (back row, far right side) in Berlin, Germany
with Gerhard Kolberg Family
(Gerhard in back row far left side)
2007

In October, 2008, I visited Gerhard and his family in Berlin for two weeks where I met his daughter and son-in-law and met the new wives of both of the grandsons who had visited us in 2000.

Gerhard Kolberg, Harald & Uschi Beyer, Cheryl Schulte
Berlin, Germany
October, 2008

In addition, Gerhard arranged a mini Colberg/Kolberg family reunion in Berlin where I was able to meet other Colberg cousins.

To further prove the connection with Johann Colberg and his five brothers who immigrated to America, Gerhard had the written verification, in Johann Colberg's diary in his own hand:

Johann Colberg Diary

Entry for Vater Colberg
Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Sr.
Born 1821/Died 1900

Entry for Mutter Colberg
Henriette Amalie Colberg
Born 1831/Died 1908

Entry for Bruder, Friedrich Colberg (Jr.)
born 1852/died 1918

Entry for Bruder, August Colberg
Born 1854
To America

Entry for Bruder, Heinrich Colberg
Born 1857
To America

Entry for "self" Johann Colberg
Born 1859

Entries for Bruder, Otto Colberg
Born 1867
To America
&
Bruder, Ferdinand Colberg
Born 1872
To America

Entry for Bruder, Paul Colberg
Born 1869
To America

What have I learned from these years of research and what hints have I come away with from my extensive efforts in tracing this family?

(1) All things come in time. If I had connected with Gerhard in 1979 when I began my research, perhaps it would not have been as important to him at that time, he was still working, he was raising his family. Only in retirement did he develop his passion for his family history.

(2) Snail mail is still a good option. While e-mail has overtaken the world and researchers alike, sometimes success is found with writing letters to small villages, churches, archives.

(3) Cemetery searching and vital records searching are still vital tools for research. Not every cemetery is computerized. Not every archive has their records on the Internet. Much can be found in stomping through cemeteries, reading gravestones, visiting vital records repositories to search out records.

(4) Family assistance is of the utmost importance. I could never have even begun my research without the assistance of Kolberg cousins Grace (Gaul), Ruby (Berndt) and Edna Kolberg. They started me on the path and encouraged me along the way and we remained close the rest of their lives.

(5) Memories of other family members adds to the knowledge. If not for cousin, Oliver Kolberg, I would never have made the connection that took me across the ocean to the family of Johann Colberg. Oliver was a source of inspiration and encouragement. His death in January, 2006 was a true loss and his memory lives on.

Oliver Kolberg

While I sincerely appreciate all the help that I have received over the years, and truly believe I could never have achieved what I did without this help, if it were not for my very special cousin, Bernice Gaul Schoenfelder, I would never have had the enormous success that I did with this research.

Bernice Gaul Schoenfelder
2004

Bernice was a researcher's dream and her help and excitement over every step of this research was inspiring. She passed away unexpectedly in June, 2007 and will never be forgotten. Following her death, her children surprised me by presenting me with all of her genealogical documents, photos, albums and other information which they knew would be preserved and appreciated by myself.

To be successful in genealogical research is not a solitary venture. It is only with the help and assistance of many, many people that success is truly just that...success.

Coming next...Addendum...What About Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Jr.?

Above documents/photos personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

The Family Kolberg/Colberg, Part Seven

2010-04-24T12:50:00.000-04:00

"SUCCESS WITH THE INTERNET...1999 STYLE"

In the over 20 years that I had been researching my Kolberg family, I had had many successes:

(1) I had been able to ascertain the name of the village in Pommern where my Kolberg ancestors had originated.

(2) I had received a few documents and old letters from local cousins which verified the data that I had.

(3) I had researched heavily the 5 Kolberg brothers who had immigrated to America.

(4) I had produced a 400+ page book on our Kolberg family which many cousins were interested in obtaining.

(5) I had "crossed the ocean" in my research and made a connection with a distant cousin in Hanover who shared her research and knowledge with me and visited with her and her family in 1983.

(6) I had connected with the Catholic priest in the home village of Tuchomie who shared vital records from the German Evangelical church books with me.

(7) I visited the areas of Groß Tuchen and Klein Tuchen in 1993 and met with many current residents there.

(8) I had computerized all my Kolberg records into my Family Tree Maker program.

(9) I was working on organizing a 1999 Kolberg family reunion.

It was truly a 20+ year labor of love with extraordinary results. I was very pleased.

When I moved with my mother back to St. Joseph in 1997 I knew that I would have a greater connection with the hundreds of Kolberg cousins still living in the area. I was hoping that with these connections I would still be able to find some clues as to the descendants of the two remaining Colberg brothers who remained in Germany, namely Friedrich-Wilhelm and Johann.

One of the most helpful cousins to me in my research had been the daughter of Grace Kolberg Gaul, Bernice Gaul Schoenfelder. Bernice and I had had a long correspondence over the past 20 years and her mother, Grace, had been instrumental in starting me on the path of my Kolberg research. Bernice had inherited her mother's love of family as well as all her mother's documents, journals, photos and most importantly, knowledge. Thus, when I moved to St. Joseph in 1997, Bernice was the first person I contacted.

We met frequently and she always surprised me with more old photos or documents which she let me borrow to scan into my computer. She possessed enormous knowledge on the areas in Berrien County where our ancestors had settled, she took me around to all the 'old' farms of the original Kolberg brothers, told me stories and shared documents with me. Through Bernice I made many closer contacts with area cousins. There was not a person around, relative or not, who did not know Bernice and respect her.

The first two years I was back in St. Joseph we batted around the problem of the descendants of Johann and Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg. Despite the numerous records Bernice had from her mother, she could not come up with anything that would give me a clue as to these elusive Colberg brothers.

In 1998, one of her close cousins, Oliver Kolberg and his wife, Anne, came to visit from Arizona. Also interested in the family history, they came to my home to view all my records and information. When they returned to Arizona, Oliver and I began an e-mail communication. In one of his e-mails in early 1999, he mentioned the following and I quote from his e-mail to me:

"I was thinking about your quest to find German relatives from the two brothers of my grandfather, Otto, who remained in Germany. You know, Cheryl, I remember something. When I was a young boy in the 1930's I can remember an older German lady coming to visit each summer. If I remember correctly, she came from Germany to Chicago where her son was living and they would all come out to Grandpa's farm in Baroda and we would all pick berries. I think she must have been a Kolberg relative because she was always calling Grandpa "Uncle Otto". I remember her coming year after year and I remember hearing that after I was grown she returned to the US again, became ill in Chicago and died there around 1946 before she was able to return to Germany. I think her name was Greta but I am not sure. But I can tell you for sure that Bernice would certainly know."

My first clue. Armed with that information, I gave Bernice a call, repeated Oliver's e-mail and asked Bernice if she remembered someone visiting her gradfather's farm in the 1930's and 1940's from Germany named Greta. She immediately responded "YES" and stated that her name was Greta "O" and she did indeed come each year from Berlin to visit her son and family in Chicago. Bernice seemed to remember that Greta's son was named Hans with a wife Julie and two small children at the time. They all enjoyed playing on Otto Kolberg's farm and picking berries. Bernice said that she even remembered specifically when Greta passed away because it was while Bernice was pregnant with her first child and she remembered driving to Chicago for the funeral...date Fall of 1946. She even thought she might have the funeral card in her home and she would search for me. Bernice said that she didn't know why she had never thought of Greta before when we were talking about any German cousins.

Of course, this did not prove that this Greta was indeed from the family of Johann or Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg but there were a few clues that led me in that direction, namely (1) she came from Berlin where Johann was to have settled and (2) she called Otto Kolberg 'Uncle".

Now what was I going to do to expand on these clues? It was a good 53 years since Greta had passed away in Chicago and what would be the chance that her son or wife, Hans and Julie "O", would even still be living?

To the Internet I went which would be my first attempt at using this tool in my Kolberg research. I first looked for a listing in Illinois of a Hans "O". Up came one listing in a suburb of Chicago with the names Hans & Julie "O". Okay, this was good. Now what?

I drafted a letter to Hans & Julie "O" in which I explained who I was and asked them if they were from the family of Greta "O" who had previously visited the US and Uncle Otto Kolberg's family in Baroda, Michigan in the 1930's and 1940's. I mentioned cousin, Bernice's name because everyone knew Bernice and that was a good opening. I included some dates that I had and asked them if perhaps Greta "O" could have been a daughter of Johann Colberg of Berlin. I included my phone number and address and off went the letter on a Thursday. I admit that I even kissed the envelope for good luck because this was the closest I had come to any clues on this elusive family in over 20 years of searching.

Three days later, on Sunday afternoon, I had a phone call. The caller identified herself as the daughter of Hans & Julie "O" and stated that they had received my letter. She affirmed that her grandmother was indeed Greta (Colberg) "O" and that she was indeed a daughter of Johann Colberg of Berlin. She herself could remember visiting Baroda, MI in the 1930's and 1940's and definitely remembered Bernice. She said that her father, Hans "O", was deceased but her mother, Julie "O", was in her 90's and still sharp. She said that she believed there were more family members in Germany but over the years they had lost touch with them.

This caller then told me something very intriguing. She said that her mother had received a letter in 1992 (7 years earlier) from a German cousin who was researching their Johann Colberg family. She said they had the letter "right here" but had never answered it. She agreed to mail the letter to me.

Talk about exciting. Now I was sure I was getting somewhere.

About 10 long, long, long days later the letter came to me from the "O" family in Chicago. This letter had been sent to them in 1992 from a cousin, Gerhard Kolberg, of Berlin. I quickly sent the letter for translation and it indicated that this Gerhard Kolberg was a cousin of Hans "O" and that Gerhard's father, Otto Kolberg (another Otto Kolberg) of Berlin, and Greta Kolberg "O" had been brother and sister. Gerhard was doing a Colberg/Kolberg family history on the family of grandfather, Johann, and he was asking the "O" family for information on their branch.

To my translator went a letter to have prepared in German and off it went to the address on Gerhard Kolberg's letter to the "O" family. I knew his address was 7 years old but was hopeful it was still an accurate location. However, three weeks later the letter came BACK to me marked "no such person at this address, moved, no forwarding address". Talk about a roadblock. Now what?

I thought about this for a few days and went back to the letter that Gerhard had sent the "O" family in 1992. He had indicated the names of a few other family members still living in Berlin so back to the Internet I went to search for addresses for any of these names. One name was found, whether it was the correct person I did not know, but I sent off a letter to this address, including the original letter I sent to Gerhard. I asked the lady I wrote to whether she was from the family of Johann Colberg of Berlin and, if so, if she knew Gerhard Kolberg of Berlin.

Now the wait began, again!

Coming next...Part Eight...The Johann Colberg Family Is Found!

The Family Kolberg/Colberg, Part Six

2010-04-23T19:10:00.001-04:00

"CONNECTING WITH GROSS TUCHEN"

The year was now 1983. In the near 10 years that I had been researching my Kolberg family, I had learned much and made some great discoveries. The biggest discovery was the connection I made with a distant cousin in Hanover. In numerous letters back and forth, we both shared data with each other and I am sure I was the lucky one in receiving far more data than what I was able to share. In genealogy, though, that doesn't matter as I believe this cousin was just as excited to have made a connection in the US.

It was at this time that my Hanover cousin suggested I try my hand at writing to the Priest at the Catholic Church in Tuchomie where she knew the Evangelical church books of Groß Tuchen were housed. I decided I would give this a whirl and see where it would lead me.

I first had to search for a Polish translator and found one through the German translator that I used. I then drafted a letter to this Priest, had it translated into Polish and sent it off to Tuchomie. I had decided to start small and asked only for the birth records of my great-grandparents, August Colberg and Bertha Kramp, their marriage record and the birth record of their first born child, my great-aunt Hedwig Kolberg. I had all the appropriate dates and felt that would make the search by the Priest much easier.

Within 6 weeks of mailing the letter, I received what would be the first correspondence between myself and Father Josef Kornaus with our correspondence lasting 11 years. In this letter, Father Kornaus sent me three records - the birth record of August Colberg, the marriage record of August and Bertha (nee Kramp) Colberg and the birth record of my great-aunt Hedwig. He apologized for not finding the birth record of Bertha Kramp who had been born in the neighboring village of Born Tuchen. He explained that Born Tuchen was not a part of the diocese that Groß Tuchen was and, thus, there were no records from Born Tuchen at his church. In any case, I was thrilled with the letter from Father Kornaus and the three records. While the data on the records did not provide me with any more information from what I already had, they were further proof that my information was accurate.

Over the next 11 years, I had a steady stream of correspondence with Father Kornaus and his secretary including Christmas cards and continuous records that they extracted and sent me. Yes, I did send small donations, which they had never requested but which they thanked me for, and they even went so far as to ask, each time, what further help they could be to me. With the information they sent, I was able to fill in more family lines of my 3rd, 4th and 5th great-grandparents including the addition of many children and extended family members. While some genealogists will scoff at researching all collateral lines in a family, I am here to say that this additional knowledge has aided in many connections that I would not otherwise have made.

I was very pleased with this correspondence, and while I did have to use a Polish translator for the letters we exchanged, I was able to decipher the records. It was just amazing to me to see these Evangelical German records come to me translated into Polish (or Latin) and with the stamp of the Catholic Church of Tuchomie. Father Kornaus was evidently fluent in both German and Polish as he could take the German church books and translate the entries into Polish. I was also pleased to see that all the records I received were exact matches to the entries that my Hanover cousin had sent me. This was further proof that Father Kornaus took his task seriously.

In 1993 I made a trip to Germany to visit my brother and his family. My brother was stationed in Germany and we had determined that we would make a genealogical research trip and visit the 16 villages of our ancestors that I had discovered. This would take us through the former East Germany, into Poland and on to what had been Pommern.

I arranged for a guide to meet me in Gdansk, Poland and he drove me to the villages of Groß Tuchen and Klein Tuchen where I met several Polish individuals who invited us into their homes and talked about the times at the end of WWII when the German inhabitants had been forced out of their land. Many years had passed since my Kolberg ancestors had lived there and nobody knew of any former Kolberg residents. This was to be expected.

Groß Tuchen, Bütow, Pommern - 1993
(now Tuchomie, Poland)

I was pleased that we were able to visit the former Evangelical church in Groß Tuchen where we walked inside to see the structure in renovation. I was told that this renovation had been going on since the end of WWII and was still in progress. It was inspiring to actually stand in the church where my ancestors had worshiped and where, perhaps, my great aunt (who I had known) had been baptized.

Former German Evangelical Church of Groß Tuchen, Bütow, Pommern - 1993

(now in renovation)

We also visited nearby Klein Tuchen and were invited into people's homes where they were more than eager to show their hospitality and talk to the American visitor. It was a wonderful experience and very emotional for me.

Village road in Klein Tuchen, Bütow, Pommern - 1993
(now Tuchomko, Poland)

The only disappointment I had on that trip was that Father Kornaus had just been transferred out of the Catholic parish there and I was unable to meet him. When I returned home, I wrote him a letter at the address that I had been given in Tuchomie, expressed my appreciation for all of his help and told him that I was sorry I had missed him during my recent visit. I received an answer immediately. He expressed his disappointment over not being able to meet me but stated that the Catholic diocese had decided it was time for him to be reassigned. My correspondence with Father Kornaus was now at an end but I truly appreciated all the help he had given me with information that would have been difficult to ever find elsewhere.

As an interesting sideline, residents in Tuchomie had informed me that their new Priest was totally uninterested in helping researchers and this has proved true as letters I sent to the church after this were never answered. In any event, I believe that I received an enormous amount of help and information from Father Kornaus and I am truly pleased with that.

Even though my initial quest when I began my research was to search for descendants of the two remaining Colberg brothers..Friedrich-Wilhlem, Jr. and Johann, I had still not achieved that. However, it was amazing to me just what I WAS able to uncover in 15 years of research and I could not have been more pleased.

From 1994 until 1999, my research on my Kolberg family languished due to the illness and death of my father, my move across the state to St. Joseph with my mother, starting a new career, buying a home, etc. During these years I did manage to finally computerize all my Kolberg data into my Family Tree program (which took over a year of steady computerizing) but I made no progress in uncovering any information on the descendants of the elusive Friedrich-Wilhelm and Johann Colberg.

But, 1999 would prove to be a successful year in more ways than I could ever have imagined!

Coming next...Part Seven...Success with the Internet.

Above photos/documents personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

The Family Kolberg/Colberg, Part Five

2010-04-22T20:01:00.001-04:00

"EXTENDING THE GENERATIONS"

What could be more exciting than making a connection with a distant cousin in the homeland of my ancestors? It would be the enormous amount of records and information that were garnered through the relationship with the cousin from Hanover that I discussed in Part Four of this series. This cousin had spent a great number of years tracing our mutual Colberg family and had made trips to the ancestral homeland of Groß Tuchen and Klein Tuchen long before travel to the former "East" was commonplace. She had come away from those visits with numerous records that she had meticulously copied from the church books there.

Now, years later in 1982, she made the connection with me and graciously shared this data as well. Our correspondence was on a magic track as I would write a letter to her in Hanover and she would counter with a response immediately upon receiving my letter. Our letters flowed back and forth consistently and I could depend on receiving a letter from her every 2 weeks. Each packet that would arrive contained not only a letter but copies of numerous records and much information. I contributed with data on the 5 Kolberg brothers who had immigrated to America and we were both pleased with the shared information.

From the information that I received from this cousin I was able to extend my knowledge on my Kolberg family back 3 more generations from what I had discovered on this side of the ocean. My ancestry is as follows:

Jakob Colberg, born ca 1737, married to Dorothea Schlutt who was born ca 1737. Jakob died ca 1807 while Dorothea died ca 1808 in Pyaschen (Franzwalde), Bütow, Pommern. They were my 5th great-grandparents. Their son...

Martin Colberg, born ca 1757 in Pyaschen (Franzwalde), Bütow, Pommern. He married on November 12, 1777 in Pyaschen to Catharina Schlutt who had been born ca 1757. Martin died on July 28, 1820 and Catharina died on April 11, 1818 in Pyaschen. They were my 4th great-grandparents. Their son...

Johann Jakob Colberg, born March 30, 1779 in Pyaschen. He married on November 28, 1814 in Groß Tuchen to Katharina Pliske who had been born on December 10, 1792 in Klein Tuchen. Johann Jakob died on May 22, 1862 in Klein Tuchen and was buried on May 25, 1862 also in Klein Tuchen. Katharina had died on March 29, 1854 in Klein Tuchen and was buried on April 1, 1854 in Klein Tuchen. They were my 3rd great-grandparents. Their son...

Friedrich Wilhelm Colberg, born August 18, 1821 in Klein Tuchen. He married on April 5, 1850 in Groß Tuchen to Henriette Amalie Kautz who had been born on December 25, 1832 in Klein Tuchen. Friedrich Wilhelm died on April 15, 1900 in Klein Tuchen and Henriette Amalie died on June 21, 1908 in Klein Tuchen. They were my 2nd great-grandparents. Their son...

August Gottlieb Kolberg, born November 24, 1854 in Klein Tuchen. He married on October 4, 1878, in Groß Tuchen to Bertha Kramp who had been born on July 26, 1860 in Born Tuchen. August died on April 24, 1920 in Lincoln Township, Michigan and was buried in City Cemetery, St. Joseph, Michigan. Bertha died on February 26, 1915 in Kalamazoo, Michigan and was buried as well in City Cemetery, St. Joseph, Michigan. They were my great-grandparents.

I was very excited to receive this data, along with copies of documents from the church (now) in Poland that my cousin shared with me. From the beginning of my research, and with only the knowledge of my great-grandparents' names, I had now gone back 4 more generations on my Kolberg family. I had also learned parentage on the female lines of these 4 generations as well and had added several more surnames to my list of ancestors.

In addition to the above data, this cousin from Hanover offered me the mailing address of the Catholic Church in Tuchomie where the church books from the former Groß Tuchen were housed. What had once been Evangelical German communities known as Groß Tuchen and Klein Tuchen were now Catholic Polish communities with new names as well which were Tuchomie and Tuchomko. My cousin suggested that I should try writing to the priest in Tuchomie to see what information I could obtain. She was aware that the priests assigned to that small parish changed frequently and she was hoping that a new priest was now in charge and would share more data than what she had personally been able to obtain.

Coming next...Part Six...Connecting with Groß Tuchen.

The Family Kolberg/Colberg, Part Four

2010-04-21T19:33:00.008-04:00

"CROSSING THE OCEAN"

Following the completion of my book on my Kolberg family, and the complimentary response from many of my cousins, my quest to further my research intensified. I was fairly satisfied with the information I had gathered on the 5 Kolberg brothers who had immigrated to America. I had their families, including children and grandchildren, nearly 100% documented. There would always be gaps to fill in, new marriages to add, new children to add, etc, but with the assistance and cooperation of so many of my cousins, I had documented these lines up to the present generation with vital statistics, photos, census images and vital records.

Now my attention turned to tracing the descendants of the remaining two Kolberg brothers who had remained in Germany. This would be challenging since knowledge on "this side of the ocean" was pretty sketchy. The most I knew was that the two remaining brothers were Johann Kolberg, who was to have moved to Berlin, and Friedrich-Wilhelm Kolberg, Jr., who was to have remained on the family farm in Klein Tuchen. From cousins here I was told that both brothers had at least 6 children each. I had a photo of Friedrich-Wilhelm Kolberg, Jr. and his wife but no photo or other information on Johann Kolberg.

At this time, 1980, I was an avid reader of the Genealogical Helper magazine. I happened to see an advertisement where a person could send to Germany for a listing of people with a specific surname with addresses from a specific telephone directory. So, off went some of my money (I don't remember now how much) and a request for a listing of ALL Kolberg names in Berlin. I was convinced that someone had to be remaining from the family of Johann Kolberg and I was hopeful that this might be a way to connect with those descendants.

The list came to me with 110 names of Kolberg individuals in Berlin. I then drafted a simple request letter and had it translated into German. Basically, it stated that I was searching my family history and that my great-great grandparents were Friedrich-Wilhelm Kolberg, Sr. and Amalie Kautz of Klein Tuchen, Bütow, Pommern. I further stated that I was searching for any descendants of their son, Johann Kolberg, who lived in Berlin from approximately 1890-1930 and who was to have had at least 6 children. I included the specific dates that I had already gathered, made 110 copies of this letter and mailed them off to each of the names on my list along with an International postal coupon to cover their cost for return postage.

Amazingly, over the next 18 months I did receive 87 responses to my letter which was very gratifying and exciting. But, unfortunately there were no connections. People were very gracious and willing to share their own personal line of ancestry with me but nobody was even remotely connected with my Kolberg line. I was beginning to think that Kolberg was as common of a surname in Germany as Smith, Jones or Miller are in the US.

At the same time I also placed a similarly worded advertisement in two different Berlin newspapers that offered a listing free of charge. But, again, two years went by with no response to those ads. Success with genealogy research, in those years, was a long, long process before the use of personal computers, the Internet, Google, e-mail and instant responses.

So, wait I did - but not patiently I might add. During that period of time, I continued to tweak the data that I did have on the 5 branches of my Kolberg line and kept questioning cousins as to any memories they might have of the German branches.

It was, therefore, in November, 1982 that I was totally surprised by a letter that I received. Letters with German postmarks and fancy stamps were a sight to behold and excitement reigned whenever such a letter appeared in my mailbox. This letter was to be the start of a correspondence that would last only a few years but would give me my first direct German connection. While it was NOT a connection with either of the families of Johann or Friedrich-Wilhelm Kolberg, Jr., it was actually a connection taking me back more generations.

This letter came to me from Hemmingen, a village near Hanover, and was written by a woman who informed me that, while she had not personally seen my advertisement in the Berlin newspapers, a friend of hers had and he shared my ad with her. She explained that from my data in the advertisement, she could inform me that HER great-grandmother and my mother's great-grandfather were indeed Colberg brother and sister (emphasizing to me the correct spelling of the surname was Colberg).

Here is a copy of this first letter that I received, complete with my English translation:

To say that I was excited with this connection is an understatement. Of course, initial pleasure was tempered by the fact that the letter had to be sent off for translation. During these years, I was fortunate to have a wonderful woman in California who did all my translations for me and translated my English into German and then translated the German responses back into English. I wish now that I had kept a tally of just how much money I spent on this Kolberg research but, perhaps, it is best that I don't know. However, without these expenditures, I would never have gathered the information that I did.

Our correspondence spanned a short period from 1982 until her death in 1989. During those 7 short years, we had twice/month correspondence and I even made a trip in 1983 to visit her and meet other members of her family. After only about 2 months of correspondence, her letters changed from German into English and she explained that she hated to see me spending my gelt (money) on translators so she would attempt to use her English skills from her school days. Actually her English was near perfect and there was never any difficulty with communication.

It is amazing to me, even now, to go back and re-read all the materials, data, maps, newspaper clippings and vital records that she shared with me. She told me that on two different occasions she had personally driven in her own car into Poland to visit Gross Tuchen and view the Evangelical church books that were still housed there in the Catholic church. This was in the 1960's and 1970's and was long before the Berlin wall came down. She stressed that these trips were dangerous but she was determined to obtain all the information she could. She was a very forceful woman and it was obvious, when I visited her in Hanover, that she meant business and I am sure any travel difficulties into old East Germany and into Poland were difficulties that she handled easily.

When I look back and remember the 110 letters that I sent off to Berlin and the two advertisements that I placed in Berlin newspapers with such high hopes of a match, it is obvious that a genealogist never knows what connection is going to appear. I did learn from this cousin that my chances of connection were probably hindered by the fact that our family Kolberg was actually spelled Colberg originally and I missed a whole contingent of listings in the Berlin telephone book under Colberg. Also, she explained that I would have done better to extend my search into East Berlin as well. These suggestions would prove to be correct and would actually help in my journey to finally make one of the connections I so desperately sought.

But, that is another subject for another chapter in this series and would take another 17 long years to come to fruition.

Coming next...Part Five...Extending the Generations.

Above documents personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

The Family Kolberg/Colberg, Part Three

2010-04-13T19:43:00.012-04:00

"FROM BÜTOW, POMMERN TO BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN"

My research was moving along well. I had received photos, documents and information from 4 of my grandmother's cousins and based on this information had learned that my Kolberg ancestors had been from Klein Tuchen in Bütow, Pommern. Now I was ready to move on with the research.

I had decided that I didn't want to just trace my direct line back but wanted to expand my research to encompass as many descendants of the 5 Kolberg brothers as I could. In the back of my mind was to also, one day, try to find information on the remaining 2 brothers who had remained in Germany. But that was a dream at this time.

To begin expanding my research, I checked out all the telephone books in Berrien County for names and addresses for everyone with the surname Kolberg. Along with the family members I already knew, I amassed quite a list of names.

I then created a form letter, along with a self-created family history sheet, and began a mammoth letter writing project. At the time I had an IBM Selectric typewriter and spent much time typing individually addressed letters to each of the names on my list. In the letter, I explained that I was the granddaughter of Ella Kolberg Kijak and that I was researching our mutual Kolberg family and would appreciate their completing the enclosed form. My grandmother had been well known in the community and within the large Kolberg family and I knew that most of these people would have been familiar with her.

I was not disappointed. Over the course of the next 2 years I had responses from probably 85% of the names that I had written. Some went so far as to send me more addresses and my list on the Kolberg family grew. As these forms came in as well, I typed the data into my LDS family history sheets, placed the sheets in a huge binder divided by family groups and my information expanded.

Many family members also sent me photos to add to my research and I xeroxed these (not as good as today's scanning) and returned the originals to their owners. I wrote to the various states for copies of death and marriage certificates and made many trips back to St. Joe to obtain data in the County records as well as researching the 1900 Berrien County, MI census. I visited the local cemeteries, took photos of the gravestones and joined the local genealogical society. I was moving along gathering a sizeable amount of information on my family.

I was pleased that many relatives also expressed an interest in knowing whether I would be preparing a book on the family. I had given that some thought and didn't really know where to begin but after seeing the magnitude of responses I had to my letters, I decided to give it a shot.

How did I go about doing that?

This was 1979, and after much thought, I decided to xerox all the family group sheets, add photos in the appropriate sequence, add in some basic family documents such as census records and death certificates and compile an index of all the names.

I decided to divide the book into 7 sections with 1 section for each of the 7 Kolberg brothers, have an Acknowledgment and Prelude and end with the Index. I assembled the original as I wanted the finished product to be and numbered all the pages. It was then time for the assembly line production.

I will say that the xeroxing of the mammoth amount of material took more hours, days and weeks than I had anticipated. My employer at the time graciously allowed me to do the xeroxing (on my own time, of course) using the company Xerox machine as long as I supplied my own paper. I decided to make 100 sets of this book as I had estimated that I had perhaps 70 relatives that had already requested such a book IF and WHEN I ever compiled one. I thought that once these books was out to these cousins that more would be interested. I was most definitely NOT disappointed.

Once I had all the 100 sets prepared, it was time for the collating. What a project! Picture piles of paper that are 100 deep spread across counters, tables, furniture, appliances in the basement of my home and continual walking back and forth to collate what became a 401 page book. I had to punch holes in these volumes and had purchased Acco hard stock covers with a clamp inside to use to hold the finished product.

BUT, wait! Before this project could be completed, the indexing needed to be done. I now laugh when I think about this, what with the advent of computers and software programs which will index for a person automatically, but readers let me tell you that I indexed this mammoth book on 3 x 5 index cards, all spread across the basement floor. Each name in the book was placed on an index card with the appropriate page number on it and then the cards were divided by the letters of the alphabet and 26 piles were made from which I had to alphabetize each pile by name. This then became a 10 page index of double columns to end the book.

Here are some samples from the book as I completed it in early 1980.

Following the completion of my book I sent letters out to all the Kolberg cousins whose addresses I had. Not only did the expected 70 copies sell but more as well. I did donate one copy to the "LDS Library Acquisitions Area" in Salt Lake City as well as a copy to the "Berrien County Genealogical Society". I had maintained a copy for myself but all 100 copies were sold and I ended up selling my own copy and for years did not even have a copy to maintain for my records.

Through the 25+ years following the publication of my book I was able to expand my data, cross the ocean to Germany, take the family back four more generations, update data that I had received via word of mouth or from old letters with additional, and sometimes corrected, information based on records I received from the churches and archives in Germany and Poland and even expanded my knowledge of the two brothers who had remained in Germany.

My information is now in my Family Tree Maker program, backed up on two separate external hard drives and the search continues.

The cost for my book in 1980 was $15 per copy. We could certainly not produce a quality family history book now for that price!!

Coming next...Part Four...First efforts at research in German archives.

Above documents personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

The Family Kolberg/Colberg, Part Two

2010-04-12T17:04:00.011-04:00

"FINDING KLEIN TUCHEN"

I now knew the birthplace of my Kolberg ancestors and set off on a mission to find these villages on maps. I was really naive about Pommern and its significance and location in German history but I was determined to learn all I could about this area. I had a few German maps but they were too modern and didn't even indicate where the area of Pommern had been. I had a set of encyclopedias that were from 1904 that had belonged to my great-grandfather Schulte, but they were very basic and contained general maps of Germany without any detail.

I had only been back a short time from my research trip to St. Joseph when I had a letter from cousin, Grace Kolberg Gaul, telling me that she had another cousin in the area who might be able to help me further. She explained that while her father, Otto, and his brothers August, Heinrich & Paul had come to the US in the 1880's, her other uncle, Ferdinand Kolberg, had actually not arrived until 1910, after he had married and his children had been born-all while living in Pommern. She thought that his one son, Walter and his wife Iva, would be perfect to visit with as Walter remembered living in Germany and would be happy to share further information with me.

Back to St. Joe I went where I was invited to the home of Walter and Iva Kolberg. Again, I found these cousins of my grandmother to be delightful and welcome hosts and Walter was a wealth of information on our Kolberg ancestors. He confirmed the birthplace of his father's family as indeed being Klein Tuchen, near Gross Tuchen in Bütow, Pommern as I had already been told. He added that his father had moved from the family farm in Klein Tuchen and settled in the neighboring county of Rummelsburg, Pommern where he (Walter) and his five siblings were born. He stated that he could remember the journey to America, leaving Rummelsburg, traveling to Berlin first and visiting with Uncle Johann and his family and then traveling on to New York and from there to Stevensville, MI where the family of Heinrich Kolberg met the arriving family and took them to the Heinrich Kolberg farm until they were able to establish their own farm in the area. He had a wealth of stories to share including memories of his grandmother, Henriette Amalie Colberg. As an interesting aside, he said that whenever his grandmother visited the Ferdinand Kolberg family, he (Walter) was her bed partner and he could remember walking to her funeral when she passed away in 1908 when he was only 8 1/2 years old.

Iva & Walter Kolberg
ca 1970

In addition to sharing photos with me, Walter had a map of Pommern which showed me the location of Bütow and Rummelsburg and the location of Pommern within Germany. This was a wonderful boost to my research and I did visit the St. Joseph Public library where atlases were available containing other maps of that area.

Over the years I did learn much about the history of Pommern with this website an excellent source for information on Pomerania including maps of the area from over the centuries.

Lands of the Kolberg/Colberg family

Pomerania, Germany

Bütow, Pomerania with
Kreis (counties)

As with cousins, Grace, Ruby & Edna Kolberg, I was aided tremendously by Walter & Iva Kolberg in getting a jump-start on my research and their assistance was greatly appreciated. All five of these cousins are now gone but their help was indispensable and their excitement over the fact that I was interested in tracing their family was just the impetus that I needed to continue.

Coming next...Part Three...Contacting the descendants of August, Heinrich, Otto, Paul and Ferdinand Kolberg to build a complete family genealogy on our mutual family.

Above photos personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

The Family Kolberg/Colberg, Part One

2010-04-11T20:09:00.016-04:00

"HEIMAT BÜTOW"

Genealogy research has come a long way since I began my adventure in family history. The advent of the home computer, Internet, web sites dedicated to genealogical research have all aided in more and more people being able to learn about their ancestors and has sparked the hobby of tracing one's roots. It was possible, though, to make great strides in research before these tools came into place and my research on my Kolberg/Colberg family is proof of that.

Come along and join me on my journey from a tiny bit of basic information on my Kolberg family to my crossing the Atlantic Ocean and discovering the great rewards of years of research and dedication. While I did end up using the tools of the Internet, I did spend near 25 years researching this family using good old elbow grease and hard work.

When I first developed an interest in genealogy in the mid-1970's, the family I was most interested in expanding my information on was my Kolberg family. I had been extremely close to my maternal grandmother, Ella Kolberg Kijak, and I wanted to honor her memory by learning as much as I could about her family. She had passed away in 1973, and while she had not discussed her family that much with me over the years, I decided to focus my new found love of genealogy on her line.

In Berrien County, Michigan, where my grandmother had been born and where her father, August Kolberg, and 4 of his brothers had settled when they immigrated to America, there were many, many listings of Kolberg in the telephone books. Over the next 30+ years, with intensive research, I would come to learn that each and every person in Berrien County with the name of Kolberg would tie into our family group. A long research project was begun.

Genealogy research hints in magazines gave advice on where to start when attempting to trace one's roots and I followed these tips to the letter.

Tip #1 - Look for information in letters, notes, photos that are/were in the possession of one's immediate family:

To begin my research, I gathered the information that I did have from my grandmother which was minimal. I did know that my great-grandfather and 4 of his brothers had immigrated to the United States between 1880-1910. These brothers were August, Heinrich, Otto, Paul and Ferdinand Kolberg. My grandmother had a few photos of her father which she had previously given me, but there was no indication on these photos, nor on any of her notes, of where these brothers had originated. I did have a letter written by my grandmother's mother, Bertha Kolberg, and I had Bertha's German hymnal but that was the extent of my keepsake items. The only information contained in the hymnal was the notation that "grandmother Kolberg came over from Germany in 1882 and brought this book with her". The handwriting in the book was my mother's and I knew that both August & Bertha Kolberg had passed away before 1925 when my mother was born because my mother never knew either grandparent. This was very basic information and would not take me very far in progressing with my research.

Tip #2 - Talk to senior family members and question them as to their memories and inquire if they have photos, documents, information that would reveal more data on the family:

I decided to make a trip to St. Joseph (I was living in the Detroit suburbs at the time) and seek out some of my grandmother's cousins who I hoped might have further information. Her one cousin, Grace Kolberg Gaul (daughter of Otto Kolberg) was someone I was particularly close to and I visited her at her home. She suggested that we go to the home of cousins, Ruby Kolberg Berndt and Edna Kolberg (sisters who were the daughters of Paul Kolberg) and visit with them. I had never met these two ladies but found them to be delightful and pleased to be able to sit and discuss their memories of their father and the Kolberg family. With the help of Grace, Ruby and Edna I learned more than I could have hoped for. They were willing to pull out their photo albums and I saw photos on the family that I could have only hoped to one day find including a family photo of my great-grandparents, August & Bertha, with their first two children. This is the only photo that I have of my great-grandmother, Bertha. After our visit, I took a trip to the local photography studio to leave these photos to be reproduced (remember this was before computers and scanners) and then returned the originals back to these three cousins. As well as photos, Ruby and Edna pulled out letters that their father had written and from these letters I learned even more exciting data - the parents of my August Kolberg were Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg and his wife, Henriette Amalie Kautz and they were the parents of 12 children (11 sons and 1 daughter) with 7 of these sons living to adulthood. The names of all 7 sons were listed on Paul Kolberg's notes and showed Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr., August, Heinrich, Johann, Otto, Paul and Ferdinand. The notes also stated that August, Heinrich, Otto, Paul and Ferdinand had immigrated to the United States between 1880 & 1910. In addition, there was documentation that brother, Johann, had moved with his family to Berlin from the home village and that oldest brother, Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr., had remained in the home village on the family farm.

The home village....dare I hope...yes, it was indeed listed on Paul Kolberg's notes and I now knew that my Kolberg family had been from the small village of Klein Tuchen, near Gross Tuchen in Bütow, Pommern.

The highlight of the visit was to actually see, as well, a wonderful photo of Friedrich-Wilhelm & Henriette Amalie Colberg and their oldest son, Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. & his wife (whose name was not indicated).

Henriette Amalie (Kautz) & Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg (sitting)
Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Jr. & wife (standing)
ca 1899
Bütow, Pommern

I came away from that trip to St. Joseph so delighted and excited at what I had learned and I continued to share a relationship with Grace, Edna and Ruby for the remainder of their lives. They were delightful and loving cousins of my grandmother and I grew to love them as well and credit them with leading me in the right direction to continue my research. I think they would be pleased to see just how far I have gone with what was no longer just a hobby but had become a full blown passion.

Grace Kolberg Gaul

1979

Ruby Kolberg Berndt
ca 1980

Edna Kolberg
ca 1980

Coming next...Part Two...Finding Klein Tuchen and educating myself on the history of Pommern.

Above photos personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

Is the Surname "Rubis" or "Rubisz"...

2010-03-29T17:00:00.004-04:00

...or even something else? My great-grandmother, Mary Kijak's maiden name, that is!

When I first began my genealogy research, the spelling most frequently associated with Mary's maiden name was "Rubis". Earliest records, though, such as her marriage license showed the spelling as "Rubisz". Census records from 1900, 1910 showed varying spellings as did the spellings for her two brother's names. I was leaning toward going with the earliest spellings, thinking they would be more apt to be correct, and that would be "Rubisz".

Jasia has given me some more clues, though, today. She graciously offered to look up the "Rubisz" surname in her Polish surnames book by Fred Hoffman and sent me what she had discovered:

Rub is from the Ukrainian and Russian root, rub meaning to chop, fell, hack. Derivations of the surname include Rubaszewski (398), Rubczak (55), Rubczynski (74), Rubel (92), Rubik (496), Rubis (262) and Rubisz (97) with the numbers in parentheses indicating the number of people with that surname living in Poland in 1992. The numbers were gleaned from a different book by an author named Rymut. From this it is obvious that Rubis was more common than Rubisz yet still pronounced the same.

The surname distribution for Rubisz shows nobody in the Gniezno/Poznan area which is the area of my research. However, a similar surname distribution for Rubis does show that name appearing quite a few times in the Gniezno/Poznan area.

I will definitely have to keep this in mind when viewing the films from Dziekanowice.

Speaking of which - viewing these records will be a challenge due to the fact that I learned today that my local Family History library has reduced their hours which were pretty reduced to begin with. Now they are only open Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. They require an appointment and on several occasions in the past when I arrived at the appointed time, the doors were locked (no volunteers that day). On other occasions, there would be more people wanting microfilm readers than available readers and even with an appointment it seemed to be either first come, first serve or members of their own church had priority. This will definitely be a challenge.

Thanks, again, to Jasia for motivating me with this research.

Searching for Jeziorzany, Poland

2010-03-28T17:39:00.009-04:00

On December 25, 2009 I wrote the 11th post in my 12 part-series on "From Whence I Came" in which I wrote a tribute to each of my grandparents and great-grandparents. That Christmas Day post was on my great-grandmother, Mary Anna Rubisz, and was the one ancestor, out of the other 11, that I had the least information on.

Mary Anna Rubisz
Bay City, MI

I have been involved in genealogy since the mid-1970's. While I had more success on certain lines, I did attempt to glean as much information that I could on all of my 8 great-grandparents. Some were born in the US, others were born in Germany and Poland. I had varying degrees of success in finding records and, amazingly, had great success with getting records from one line in Poland and another line in what had been Pomerania but was now Poland as well. I did NOT have success, though, with learning anything significant on the history of my Rubisz line.

When I began my research, I did have my grandmother Kijak's birthday book in which she had faithfully recorded all the birthdays of family members and friends. At the back of the book, on a blank page, she had listed the marriage date of her in-laws with the notation that "John Kijak came to the US on June 19, 1882" and another notation that stated "John Kijak was married in Bay City, MI on October 26, 1891".

With that information, I wrote to the St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Bay City, inquired if the marriage had taken place there (this was a guess as I knew my Kijak family had been Catholic and it was my first choice out of the Bay City Catholic churches) and I received a prompt response with a copy of their marriage record (typed from information in the church books).

Marriage record of
John Kijak & Mary Anna Rubisz
October 26, 1891
Bay City, MI

This record told me several things (1) that my great-grandfather, John Kijak, was born in Taniborz, Poznan, Poland and (2) that my great-grandmother, Mary Anna Rubisz, was born in Zczierzany, Gniemenski, Poland. At the time, I noted that the place of birth of Mary had been whited out and re-typed using a blue ribbon as opposed to the black ribbon of the remainder of the typed document. I surmised that the village name was hard to read in the records and the church secretary perhaps had felt she had typed it incorrectly the first time. When I later visited the church and saw the actual church books, it did show the exact spelling (as well as I could decipher in the old Polish writing) and I do regret now that I never asked for a photocopy of the page - this was, of course, ions before digital cameras and such and was in the early days of my research passion. I was just pleased to see these records and have the typed transcript.

With that information, I did have great success in finding Taniborz, Poland on a map, wrote the Catholic church in nearby Tulce and received many, many records from them on my Kijak line. When I visited the area in 1993, I actually walked in the church yard and through the cemetery in Tulce and saw the village of Taniborz as well.

However, I did not have the same success with the village of Zczierzany, Gniemenski, Poland, the supposed village of birth of Mary Rubisz.

At the time, I scoured maps and atlases in the libraries, I visited Germany in 1983 and bought some Polish maps there but there did not seem to be any village by that name. This was also before the advent of Google and maps, atlases, networking seemed to be the research aids of choice.

In the mid-1980's I did write to a professional researcher in Salt Lake City and inquired as to whether this village of Zczierzany, Gniemenski, Poland was indeed a village in Poland and was it possible the name was misspelled? It took the researcher 18 months to respond and when she did she simply stated that "your village is correctly called Jeziorzany in the district of Gniezno, province of Poznan, Poland". She also indicated that Jeziorzany was a "very small village and the nearby village of Dziekanowice is where the Catholic church is". She sent no copy of a map to indicate the location of this village but at least she had given me a new clue.

Again, back to the maps and atlases I went. I did find Gniezno in Poznan. I had good maps of Poznan since my Kijak ancestors had been from there and I had purchased some maps over the years. But neither Dziekanowice or Jeziorzany was found on these maps. I surmised that they must both be tremendously small villages to not be included on any of these maps.

I will admit that I let this Rubisz research languish for the next 20+ years in favor of other more fruitful lines. During those years, I visited Germany again when my brother was living there and my sister-in-law tried her hand at assisting me with finding this village. She had an uncanny ability to find the tiniest villages in Germany but, again, we had no luck. I figured if my sister-in-law was unable to find this village (I have great respect for her sleuthing ability), then it was hopeless!

But, hopeless is not a word for a true genealogist as I have just learned!

Enter 2009. My genie friend, Jasia, of Creative Gene fame, had become more than just a correspondence friend when she and her husband purchased a second home condo in St. Joseph in the same condo complex where I had moved. We met and a good face to face friendship has developed. As we all know, Jasia is also a Polish research genius and I don't say this lightly. She has done extraordinarily well on her total Polish research and she has contacts, ideas and hints for breaking down those brick walls that we all have.

I had been discussing my Polish predicament with her and she and I discussed this at length yesterday. She remarked that it is a known fact that Polish documents in this country are quite often filled with misspellings and inaccurate data due to the language barriers that the immigrants faced when they arrived in the US. I had just recently tried going to Google and did find the village of Dziekanowice listed. There were several articles on this village and by all indications a very small area it is. The Google listing stated that this village was a small village in Greater Poland approximately 16 km west of Gniezno and 40 km east of Poznan.

It also showed the village name was pronounced as Dzyekhanovitse which I will have to have Jasia demonstrate to me!!! Are you reading this, Jasia?

However, there was no Google listing for the village of Jeziorzany in the area of Gniezno. Several variations in the spelling of the name were suggested by Google but these were villages far removed from Gniezno and Poznan.

Jasia had suggested trying the Family History Library Catalog listing to see if the records from the village of Dziekanowice had been microfilmed. A quick look showed that they WERE and for the periods of time that I would be interested in. The listing also showed that the records for Dziekanowice also included records for the nearby villages of Jeziorzany, Lednagora, Waliszewa (Walsee), Siemianowo, Zydowko, Schonfelde. (I apologize to my Polish readers for not being able to adequately display the language accent marks).

Jasia suggested, aptly so, that I visit my local Family History Library, order a few of these reels and see if I could pinpoint my Rubisz family in them. She helped me with deciphering the Polish on the listing of records so that I would know which films related to my years of interest and I was excited about this new development.

I do have a local Family History library in St. Joseph, however, they have very, very limited hours of operation. In the past, with my work schedule, it was virtually impossible to visit them and I had not pursued that avenue of research in some time. Now, though, I am on a fast slope to retirement in September, my job changed radically and my hours have been cut to almost nothing. Now is the time to re-enter the previously languishing genie research game.

Now the plan is to order some films, scan them for any Rubisz records that they might contain being aware of spelling variations in the names and hoping (fingers crossed) that the Polish researcher who gave me the "appropriate" spelling for my Rubisz home village was correct.

But that is not the end of the story yet. After speaking with Jasia and printing out the Family History film sheets, I decided to pull out my Polish maps and atlases again. I had been to Germany in 2008 to visit my cousin, Gerhard Kolberg in Berlin, and he had helped me select some new maps at their local book store. I had even purchased some new Polish maps as well.

I pulled out all those maps and atlases and did a long search for either Jeziorzany or Dziekanowice. Even though I could find Gniezno and Poznan on the maps, there was no indication of either Jeziorzany or Dziekanowice. Disappointing.

However! Light bulb moment! I remembered that I had purchased, back in 1983, some old German maps of former areas of Germany now in Poland. I went to my shelves, found a map of Gnesen-Wreschen from the former area of Posen, Germany and now Gniezno, Poznan in Poland. I quickly found Gnesen and Posen on the map. When I followed the Google description of 16 km west of Gniezno and 40 km east of Poznan, look what I found.....

JEZIORZANY AND DZIEKANOWICE.

Jeziorzany and Dziekanowice
Gniezno, Poznan, Poland

The map even showed the other villages of Lednagora, Waliszewa (Walsee), Siemianowo, Zydowko, Schonfelde named on the Family History Library listing in the vicinity of Jeziorzany and Dziekanowice. I knew for certain this was the correct Jeziorzany that I was searching for.

The map is not the best. When I scanned it and enlarged a bit I was able to see the villages. I am hoping on this post that it will be visible when clicking on the image. In any event, it is there in black and white that these villages do exist and I had this map in my home since 1983. I had bought it for my German research and never thought of using it to find these Polish villages.

I am still tempering my excitement with the knowledge that I am going on the assumption that the Polish researcher in the 1980's correctly indicated to me the proper spelling for Mary Rubisz' birthplace from the spelling on Mary's 1891 marriage license. It still remains to be seen if the films from the Family History Library will finally corroborate what I am hoping is true - my Rubisz family in actual Polish church records. But I do now have proof positive in map form of the existence of these tiny villages. That is excitement enough for today.

A huge thank-you must go to our genie expert and my good friend, Jasia, for her help and suggestions. I could not have done it without you!

Above photos and documents personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

From Whence I Came...George Wellhausen

2009-12-28T13:39:00.007-05:00

My great-grandfather, George Wellhausen, was born December 28, 1869 in Detroit, MI to Carl Wellhausen and Christina Grauman. He would become the father of my paternal grandmother, Ella Wellhausen Schulte.

I know very little about this great-grandfather, he died long before my birth and while I knew my great-grandmother (his wife), she never spoke about him in my presence. My grandmother did talk about her father from time to time to say that he was a good man but not a healthy man as evidenced by his death in 1938 at the age of 69 from longstanding abdominal ailments.

What I do know I have learned from discussions with my uncle, some cousins and from plain old research.

George Wellhausen was born in Detroit but the family later settled in Clinton Township, Macomb County, MI where he met his future wife, Amelia Schluessler (how they met is not known to me). They were married on February 14, 1895 (Valentine's Day-perhaps he was a romantic man!) and they owned a General Store at Van Dyke & 26 Mile Road in Utica, MI.

Together they had 3 children - daughters Gertrude and Ella and son, George, Jr.

I do know that my great-grandfather enjoyed hunting and fishing as my uncle, Melbourne Schulte, relates that his grandfather taught him both sports which were activities that my father was definitely not interested in. Obviously George enjoyed his hunting with his younger brother Edward as well, as these photos depict.

George was particularly fond of his granddaughter, Alvis Jean, who was born to his son, George, Jr and wife, Eleanor. I have several photos showing Alvis with her grandpa and I have been told that he was particularly fond of this child.

Alvis Jean Wellhausen with
grandpa, George Wellhausen
July 1, 1935

George Wellhausen, Jr. holding son, Lynwood
Alvis Jean with grandpa, George Wellhausen, Sr.
ca 1935

George & Amelia Wellhausen with grandson, Lynwood,
and son, George Wellhausen, Jr.
ca 1935

Tragically, Alvis would pass away at the age of 5, and I have been told that her death greatly affected George, perhaps contributing to his own death a few years later.

George Wellhausen passed away on April 8, 1938 in Utica, MI and is buried with his wife, Amelia, in Utica Cemetery, Utica, MI.

Following George's death, my uncle asked his grandmother if he could have his grandfather, George's, car which he desperately wanted. George had taught his grandson, Melbourne, how to drive and had let him drive this car around their property on different occasions. Amelia agreed to sell the car to Melbourne for $300 but not until Melbourne had proved to her that he had the money readily available. We have had some laughs about that remarking "that definitely sounds like great-grandma!"

A few years ago, my uncle, Melbourne, submitted the story about his purchase of his first car, along with a photo, to Reminisce Magazine who selected the story and photo for their yearly calendar. He was mighty proud of this selection and the memories of his grandfather that this evoked.

Above photos from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

From Whence I Came...Mary Anna Rubisz

2009-12-25T19:39:00.003-05:00

My decision to write a 12-post series on my 4 grandparents and 8 great-grandparents was an exciting challenge. To date, the 10 posts I have written were enjoyable to write and not very difficult due to the materials and photos, information and identifiable data that I had on these ancestors. I derived pleasure in doing these posts and feel that I did these ancestors justice as I personally remembered them or as others have spoken about them to me.

Today's post, though, is going to be the most challenging of all. While all of the previous 10 ancestors lived lives that were not perfection, had financial and personal challenges, I am confident that they all had happy lives that overshadowed the down times. In all that I have learned about my great-grandmother, Mary Anna Rubisz, though, I don't know if I can safely say that her life was at all happy and pleasant. I hope that I can do her justice in my tribute to her.

Mary Anna Rubisz was born on Christmas Day in Poland in either 1875, 1876 or 1877. Her parents, Lawrence Rubisz and Anna Budas, had two older children - Andrew born in 1861 and Josephine born in 1868. Following Mary's birth, they had a 3rd son, Stanley born in 1878. Between the birth of Stanley in 1878 and the immigration to the US of mother, Anna with children Mary and Stanley in 1888, I am assuming that father, Lawrence passed away though I don't have any definitive proof of that. In the variety of records that I have searched, I have seen their surname spelled various ways from Rubisz to Rubis to even Rubish. For the purposes of this post, I am spelling the name as Rubisz.

I do not know what prompted their immigration to America nor why they selected Bay City, MI as their destination point, but all research has shown that all 4 children of Anna & Lawrence Rubisz did indeed emigrate to Bay City which had a large Polish community. Perhaps there were other friends from their home village already living in Bay City but I do not know that either.

On October 26, 1891 at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Bay City, Mary Anna Rubisz married John Albert Kijak. They would have 4 children in the next 9 years - Joseph born in 1892, Anna born in 1894, Martha born in 1896 and Rozalie (Rose) born in 1898 all in Bay City.

Sometime, during those years, the following photo was taken of Mary which I am happy to have. She most definitely looks young in this photo and I have often wondered whether this was a photo taken prior to her marriage or after. I have even debated whether this could be her wedding photo due to the flower that she is holding in her hand. I don't know but it is a lovely professional photo.

Mary Anna Rubisz (Kijak)
ca 1891-1893

The copy of their marriage record that I received from St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in the 1980's indicates that Mary's surname was spelled Rubisz and that she had been born in Zczierzany, Gniemenski, Poland. A vigorous search for any village in Poland resembling this spelling was never found. Family documents that I found later indicated the village of birth was spelled Wierzbiczany, Gniezno, Poland but, again, nothing could be found coming close to that spelling in maps and atlases.

A personal visit to Bay City in the late 1980's and a visit to the St. Stanislaus Catholic Church office, allowed for a look at the actual marriage register. There I saw the clear indication that Mary was only a 13 year old female at the time of her marriage and her birth year was given as 1877. The secretary at the church remarked that she had felt uncomfortable with documenting that on the earlier copy she had sent me. We carefully studied the book, with magnifying glass, and it was very clear the age was 13. As John Kijak was 30 1/2 years old at the time of their marriage, which I had verified with his Polish birth certificate that I had previously received and verified with numerous other records, this gave me more than pause for thought. Despite the varying birth years on the records I have seen showing Mary's birth as in 1875, 1876 or 1877, it doesn't really become any more acceptable if she was 13, 14 or even 15 marrying a 30 1/2 year old man. To my way of thinking, she was just a young girl herself who could not read, write or speak English, coming to a strange country and being married to a man much older than herself. Whatever possessed her mother to allow this, I can only imagine.

Okay, this did happen in those time periods. Women were married young and husbands were at times older but 13 or 14 seemed exceptionally young for a bride. This age was verified also on the 1900 Bay City census which showed the family of John and Mary Kijak with children Joseph, Anna, Martha and Rose with John Kijak listed as a butcher. This 1900 Bay City census also showed Mary's brother, Andrew, his wife, Marcyanna Wierzbicki, and their family along with mother, Anna and brother, Stanley living in Andrew's household. Also shown was an entry for the family of Mary's sister, Josephine, her husband, Thomas Krzywosinski and their family as well. It was clear that the entire family was represented in Bay City.

Was Mary's family life a happy one? Was it moderately happy? Were the 4 Kijak children growing up in a loving family atmosphere? From all indications that I have found, and after numerous discussions with cousins, it would appear that they were not. John Kijak was obviously not destined to be a family man. Each time Mary was expecting a new baby, John would take a hiatus and leave the family home, go off and stay with other family members and be gone for months at a time. He would return eventually, stay for a while and when Mary was again expecting another child, he would be off and running again. This has been told to me by more than one cousin, some who were old enough to still remember Uncle John staying at their home for months at a time. Evidently after the 4th such incident, Mary put her foot down and said enough was enough.

BUT...divorce was unheard of for a Roman Catholic young woman who was now no more than 23 years old with 4 young children ages 2, 4, 6 and 8. John Kijak went on to another family home to live where it appeared there were no lack of relatives willing to take him in. And, what about Mary and her 4 children?

Records indicate that Mary, her brother, Stanley Rubisz and her 4 Kijak children, Joseph, Anna, Martha and Rose moved to South Bend, IN. I do not know the significance of that destination, how they traveled there in 1900 or what kind of financial means they had to fund the trip.

Once in South Bend, Mary entered into a common law relationship with a man named Frank Banner. Whether they had known each other in Bay City and that is what prompted the move, I don't know. All information appears to indicate that Frank Banner was, and had always been, an Indiana resident so I am not aware of how Frank and Mary met. In short order, Mary and Frank had at least 5 children - Emma, Frank, Anthony, George and James Banner. The 1910 census of South Bend, IN indicated that Mary was the mother of 11 children, of which 9 were living. I can only assume that the two deceased children would have been Banner children but I don't know that for a fact.

This photo shows Mary with her children Emma, Frank and Anthony Banner taken in approximately 1906.

Mary Kijak with Emma, Frank and Anthony Banner
ca 1906
South Bend, IN

Am I able to assume that life in Indiana was better than in Michigan for Mary? Was her relationship with Frank Banner happier than her relationship with John Kijak? It would appear that the answer to both of these questions would be "no".

My mother's aunt, Anna Kijak, told my mother that Mary had a very sad and unhappy life without any kind of caring or sharing in her two relationships with both men being unkind, cold and mentally abusive. I can only hope neither was physically abusive as well but Aunt Anna never mentioned that.

In late 1917, Mary became ill in South Bend. Rather than caring for his partner himself, Frank Banner called Aunt Anna in Detroit where she and her husband were living, told her that her mother was ill and made the command "come and get her". Again, Aunt Anna personally told my mother this information. Aunt Anna and her husband, Uncle Ted, made the trip to South Bend from Detroit and she brought her mother back to Detroit to care for her.

Mary Kijak passed away at their home at 500 Piper in Detroit on April 25, 1918. On her death certificate her place of birth is now listed as Gniezno, Germany and her age was 42 years, giving her a birth year of 1875. She was buried in Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery on East McNichols and Van Dyke on the east side of Detroit.

Following her death, her children with Frank Banner were divided between Aunt Anna and Aunt Rose with a few of the sons remaining with their father, Frank Banner.

Over the years of my research, I have accumulated the following diversity of information on my great-grandmother, Mary Rubisz:

(1) She was born on December 25th either in 1875, 1876 or 1877.

(2) Her place of birth has been shown to be (a) Zczierzany, Gniemenski, Poland, (b) Gniezno, Germany, (c) Wierzbiczany, Gniezno, Poland.

(3) Her surname has been shown to be spelled as (a) Rubisz, (b) Rubis, (c) Rubish.

(4) She was either 13, 14 or 15 years old at the time of her marriage.

In the late 1980's, I contacted a professional genealogist in Salt Lake City to try to ascertain just what the place of birth for Mary Rubisz would have been. I had been successful in finding most of the villages of birth of my other ancestors but was stumped with this one. I sent all the information I had to this researcher and 1 1/2 YEARS later she contacted me and told me that the village of birth of my great-grandmother would be correctly listed as:

Jeziorzany, district Gniezno, province Poznan, Poland. She further stated that this was a very tiny village and that the Roman Catholic parish that served this village was located in Dziekanowice.

In 1993 I visited Germany when my brother and his family were living there during one of my brother's tours while in the US Army. Together we decided to visit all our ancestral villages that I had knowledge of which totaled 18. Over a 3 week period we traveled, in my brother's US van of great age and mileage, over 3,000 miles between what was the former DDR, into Poland and all the way east to Gdansk. We located all the villages that we were searching for but could not find any location for our Rubisz family. With maps, atlases and my sister-in-law's uncanny ability to pinpoint the most minute villages with the worst possible maps, we were still unable to locate any place coming close to the village of our Rubisz family.

Growing up, none of the above information about my mother's grandmother was ever discussed with family members. Neither my grandfather nor my grandmother ever spoke about Mary. But then I must admit that they never really spoke about any of their parents.

My mother grew up knowing her Banner aunt and uncles but assumed that her grandparents Kijak had divorced and her grandmother had remarried to Frank Banner. When my grandfather passed away in 1960, his half sister and half brothers all came from South Bend to St. Joseph for his funeral. The two families did stay connected and had a familial relationship over the years.

When I began my research, I struggled to find the death certificate of Mary which I assumed would be listed as Mary Banner. Nothing of course could be found as that was not her surname. It was only after my mother visited her Aunt Anna, who at the time was living in Florida (she lived to be 101 years old), that my mother learned more of the facts. Aunt Anna shared the information that her mother, Mary, had died in Detroit and was buried in "that old Catholic cemetery" and that her death certificate would show her name as "Mary Kijak".

With that information, I quickly received her death certificate from Lansing, found the cemetery to be Mt. Olivet and paid a visit there. The staff were more than willing to look up her death record and directed me to the grave site where there was no gravestone nor had there ever been.

This bothered me and I could not get past the fact that my great-grandmother, Mary Kijak, was lying in a single grave, far removed from her family members and that nobody even knew she was there to come and visit her. I visited a local monument shop that very day and selected a gravestone to have placed on her grave which remains there.

I can only hope that she is truly resting in peace now and that she somehow knows that her great-granddaughter thinks often of her.

Above photos personal property of Cheryl Schulte

From Whence I Came...Emilie Auguste Christina Schluessler

2009-11-25T20:07:00.006-05:00

Emilie Auguste Christina Schluessler (known as Amelia) was born November 25, 1876 in Sterling Township, Macomb County, Michigan to William Schluessler and Emilie Werner (aka Emilie Schauer). She would one day become my paternal great-grandmother, mother of my grandmother, Ella Wellhausen Schulte. Amelia was the 5th and final child of William and Emilie Schluessler, however, hers was a special birth in that she appeared with a twin brother, Albert.

She would be the only great-grandparent that I actually knew as she did not pass away until I was 16 and I remember her well.

On December 3, 1876, Amelia was baptized in the Lutheran faith at St. John's Lutheran Church in Fraser, MI.

I don't have much information about her childhood or school years but I do have a photo of my great-grandmother in a school play. This photo was a tin type and scanned very well. The young man with her in the boat is unknown. Despite knowing my great-grandmother, I naturally knew her as an elderly person, and seeing her as a young girl was very interesting.

Amelia Schluessler in school play
ca 1890

On February 14, 1895, again at St. John's Lutheran Church in Fraser, Amelia married George Wellhausen. They had a wedding party of 3 couples and began their married life in Sterling Township, later moving to Utica, MI.

George and Amelia had two daughters - Gertrude and my grandmother, Ella, followed 10 years after Ella's birth by a son, George, Jr.

4 Generations
Ella Wellhausen Schulte holding son, Melbourne Schulte
William Schluessler and daughter, Amelia Schluessler Wellhausen
ca 1921

Mother and Daughter
Amelia Wellhausen &
Ella Schulte
ca 1925

George & Amelia Wellhausen with
grandson, Lynwood Wellhausen
ca 1935

While Amelia's husband, George, passed away in 1938 at a young age, she continued to live in Utica and later lived with her daughter, Gertrude. She was very social and enjoyed being with friends and family, though one of her favorite things to do was to visit the cemetery where her husband was buried and sit and eat lunch there. Hmm, sounds spooky to me but it was known far and wide that "Great Grandma loved to go sit in the cemetery". Too bad she didn't utilize that time in the cemetery for genealogy research which she could have documented and shared with her great-granddaughter!

Amelia Wellhausen with adult children
Gertrude Kolberg, George Wellhausen, Jr. and
Ella Schulte
ca 1942

Amelia Wellhausen
as I remember her
ca 1950

Amelia Wellhausen with adult children
George Wellhausen, Jr., Gertrude Kolberg and
Ella Schulte
ca 1955

On May 25, 1963 in St. Clair Shores, MI, Amelia Wellhausen passed away at the age of 86 and was buried with her husband, George, in Utica Cemetery, Utica, MI.

While I can't say that she was any more of a loving grandmother than her daughter, Ella, was, she was always pleasant, smiled and never uttered a nasty comment about anyone. She had a good life, financial security and her grandchildren gave her pleasure. One could not ask for more.

Above photos from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

From Whence I Came...August Gottlieb Kolberg

2009-11-24T20:25:00.004-05:00

My maternal great-grandfather, August Gottlieb Colberg (Kolberg) was born on November 24, 1854 in Klein Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern. He was christened the following day, November 25, 1854, at the Evangelical Church in Groß Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern. His sponsors were (1) August Colberg-likely the brother of his father, (2) August Goll, (3) Helene Litwinke.

Jasia, please note this birth certificate from a German, Lutheran church is actually written in Polish which owes to the fact that the village is now part of Poland and the churchbooks are housed in the Catholic church there!

Birth Certificate of August Colberg
November 24, 1854

August was the 3rd son of Friedrich Wilhelm Colberg, Sr. and Henriette Amalie Kautz of Klein Tuchen. This couple would eventually have 12 children with 11 sons and 1 daughter. Four sons and the one daughter died in childhood with 7 sons living to adulthood.

On October 4, 1878, in Groß Tuchen, August was married to Bertha Kramp at the above named Evangelical Church.

Evangelical Church of Groß Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern

They had at least 3 children while still living in Germany with 2 of the children dying in infancy.

August, Bertha and 3 year old daughter, Hedwig, immigrated to America on the ship Lessing arriving at the port of Castle Garden in New York on November 28, 1883. They had traveled from the port of Hamburg in Germany, on to the port of Havre in France and then on to the US. Their name was spelled "Colberg" on the ship passenger list. Bertha's sister, Emilie Kramp, and Emilie's future husband, Friedrich Skibbe, also traveled with them on the same ship. Upon arriving in New York, they traveled on to Lincoln Township in Berrien County, MI to join August's younger brother, Heinrich, who had arrived a few years earlier.

Over the course of their years in the US, August and Bertha had a total of 6 more known children with one son dying in infancy. Times were hard, farming did not produce much income but the family still grew.

In 1903, August owned 17 acres of land in Lincoln Township according to a plat book in the St. Joseph Public Library, St. Joseph, MI. The farm, home and property were located on Cleveland Avenue between what is now Rockey Weed and Linco Roads in Lincoln Township (Stevensville). I have searched for this property and located it by going out Cleveland Avenue, towards the town of Baroda and found the property on the left side of Cleveland Avenue, the third farm before Linco Road.

By 1917, August was a laborer and tenant farmer with a house and lot on St. Joseph Avenue in Stevensville.

Besides farming, August was a cabinetmaker and made such items as coffins.

While I don't have much definitive information on his life, the facts that I do have don't display a very happy lifestyle for August & Bertha. While August and his 4 brothers all became farmers in Berrien County, August's farm was probably the least productive. His wife, Bertha, had to supplement the income by picking berries on farms of the other brothers and then selling them for additional income. It also did not help that August had a propensity for alcohol and his wife, Bertha, certainly did not have a happy life.

Bertha Kolberg passed away first on February 26, 1915 and, interestingly, each of the 5 Kolberg brothers lost their wives at early ages. It would appear that the hard work of farming alongside their husbands, coupled with the enormous number of children that they had, made the lives of the Kolberg spouses hard and short.

In later years, August lived with his daughter, Amelia Mielke, and her family in Stevensville...

August Kolberg
ca 1918
Stevensville, MI

until his death on April 24, 1920 in Stevensville. He and Bertha are buried in City Cemetery in St. Joseph, MI.

While I was growing up, my grandmother, Ella Kolberg Kijak, never shared any information with me on either of her parents. While she was the baby of their family and was undoubtedly special to her mother, it just was something she never discussed. I only have the two above photos of August and only the one of Bertha but I am pleased to have what items I do possess and to have the limited knowledge of my great-grandfather that has been shared with me.

Above photos/documents from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

From Whence I Came...Ella Anna Helene Wellhausen

2009-11-15T17:44:00.007-05:00

Ella Anna Helene Wellhausen was my paternal grandmother, born on November 15, 1896 in Detroit, MI to George Wellhausen and Emilie Schluessler. She was their second daughter and a son followed 10 years later. While the family had originally lived in Sterling Township in Macomb County, Michigan where their first child was born, they had moved temporarily to Detroit to live with Emilie's sister and that is where my grandmother was born.

Interestingly, I don't know if my grandmother was even aware of being born in Detroit as she always swore to me that she was born in Sterling Township and was baptized at St. John's Lutheran Church in Fraser. She sent me on a good number of wild goose chases when I began my genealogy. Quite by accident, while researching my Feucht family and THEIR connection with Trinity Lutheran Church in Detroit, I came upon the baptismal record of my grandmother showing she was indeed born in Detroit and baptized there as well. When I informed her of this she said she was never aware of it. She also told me that she could remember her mother speaking of the brief time the family had lived in Detroit with her mother's sister but she didn't realize that she was actually born there as well.

As young girls, Ella and her sister, Gertrude, took part in a dancing competition and were named the "Dancing Darlings of Macomb County". They certainly did look darling and their sisterly relationship lasted for Gertrude's entire life with Ella assuming caregiver duties when sister, Gertrude's, health declined.

Ella did grow up in Sterling Township with her older sister and younger brother. She attended St. John's Lutheran Church where she was confirmed but I have no idea where she actually went to school. Nor do I know how she met my grandfather, Elmer Schulte, when he was born and grew up in Detroit. I am guessing that it was through her Aunt Lena Herz in Detroit whose sons were friends of Elmer but I don't know that for certain.

Ella and Elmer were married on Christmas Eve, 1917 in Waco, TX before my grandfather shipped out to the War in Europe.

Ella Wellhausen Schulte
December 24, 1917
Waco, TX

During Elmer's time overseas, Ella lived with her father-in-law, Rudolph Schulte, and his wife, Elizabeth. Funny to see my grandmother doing some type of needlework, whether crocheting or knitting, as I never knew her to do any sewing of any type.

Elizabeth Feucht Schulte &
Ella Wellhausen Schulte
ca 1918
Detroit, MI

When Elmer returned, several years later, they began their family life in Detroit. Together they had three children - sons, Melbourne and Mylen (my father) and daughter, Marilyn. Their life was rather affluent. Both my grandparents inherited money from their parents and my grandmother never had to work outside her home.

Elmer & Ella Schulte
with son, Melbourne, ca 1922
Detroit, MI

Ella raised her children, belonged to several clubs and activities with other women friends and socialized with family frequently. She and Elmer had several very nice homes in various areas of Detroit

Elmer, Mylen & Ella Schulte
ca 1942
Detroit, MI

Elmer & Ella Schulte
w/son Melbourne & daughter, Marilyn
ca 1942
Detroit, MI

and in their later years they built a home on Springer Avenue in what was East Detroit, MI (now Eastpointe). When Ella's sister, Gertrude, needed assistance due to failing health, Ella and Elmer moved back to Detroit to Gertrude's home on Engleside Drive. While living there, my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on December 24, 1967.

Elmer & Ella Schulte
December 24, 1967
East Detroit, MI

They were living there when my grandfather passed away on January 21, 1968. Following his death, my grandmother continued to care for her sister until Gertrude had to be placed in a nursing home. At this time, as well, my grandmother rekindled a childhood relationship with a man who had also lost his wife. Within a few years of my grandfather's death, my grandmother married Robert Bloss who she had known when they were both 5 year old children. Their marriage was short lived as Robert was not in the best of health and he passed away soon after their marriage.

Ella continued her independent life in several apartments after the death of Robert. She maintained her own home, did her own cooking and cleaning and continued her activities with family and friends. She lived independently until the age of 90 when her fading memory forced her to enter a nursing home as well. On December 28, 1989, at the age of 93, my grandmother passed away and is buried, with my grandfather, in Gethsemane Cemetery in Detroit. Both her sister, Gertrude, and her much younger brother, George, had predeceased her.

I was fortunate enough to have known all 4 of my grandparents. My grandmother, Ella Schulte, I knew the best as I grew up in East Detroit and she and my grandfather lived there as well. While she was a good Christian person she was not what I would characterize as a loving grandmother. I really think that children annoyed her. She didn't like having children in her home and she complained royally about crumbs or disarray. My grandfather, on the other hand, was a wonderful loving grandfather. Memories of my grandmother are many but they are memories more of a gruff, unsmiling person who my grandfather tried at all times to soften up. I can remember the times he would grab her in a hug and kiss her only to have her gruffly push him away. It was something he never minded and his humor and good nature lasted his whole life. My grandmother's aloof, gruff ways continued through her entire life as well.

The one thing that she did do for me, though, was to initiate my love for genealogy. I can remember in 1977 that she showed me an onyx ring with a small diamond in the center. She told me that she had worn a diamond necklace on her wedding day in 1917 and that necklace had 3 diamonds in it. Over the years the necklace broke and she had the 3 stones set in 3 different black onyx rings. She actually gave me the ring and it started me questioning her about her ancestry, her parents, grandparents, etc. Once I began that, I was off and running on my research. I was fortunate that she remembered not only her parents but her grandparents and great grandparents as well and her memory was sharp. She did share much information with me over the years, though she tempered it with quite a bit of false information, that had me running down false leads. Her comments at those times were "you don't need to know the truth, just let sleeping dogs lie". Luckily I was able to discern the truth from the fiction and when confronted with my facts she would confirm my data. I do have to give her the credit for my love of genealogy and she did give me all my grandfather's war medals as well as the medals of my great-grandfather, funeral home guest books, photos and cemetery burial records. Initially she indicated to me that she was saving all these items for one of her grandsons, but as none of the three of them had any interest, she did finally allow me to take possession of the memorabilia and I am very grateful for that.

When all is said and done, while she was not a loving, affectionate grandmother, she was a good person and she led a very good life wanting for nothing. Her health was good, she had no undue financial problems and she was able to build a life that suited her.

Above photos from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

From Whence I Came...Rudolph Myer Schulte

2009-10-24T19:17:00.005-04:00

My paternal great-grandfather, Rudolph Myer Schulte, was born October 24, 1869 in Beckum, Germany to Joseph M. Schulte and Alvina Tobin. Joseph, Alvina and Rudolph immigrated to the US on the ship "Holsatia" and arrived on April 24, 1872 when Rudolph was only a 2 1/2 year old young boy. The family settled in Detroit, MI where father, Joseph, carved a career as a blacksmith.

Very little information exists about Rudolph's childhood but I do have this photo of him at the age of 21

Rudolph Schulte-age 21

just prior to his marriage to my great-grandmother, Juliane Feucht. Their son, my grandfather Elmer M. Schulte, was born on August 4, 1894 in Detroit when Rudolph was working as a Detroit Fire Fighter.

Rudolph Schulte
Detroit Fire Fighter

At the age of 28 he enlisted in the US Navy and served aboard the USS Yosemite during the Spanish American War. His younger brother, Theodore, also served in the military as this photo of the two of them indicates.

Theodore & Rudolph Schulte

Rudolph did not spend a great deal of time in the US Navy as he was injured and returned home to Detroit where he continued to work as a Detroit Fire Fighter.

Between my genie cousin, TK and myself, we have extensively researched our mutual Schulte line back to Beckum and uncovered exciting data which TK has recorded on her blog, Before My Time. Despite all of our research, we have not been able to uncover an actual birth record for Rudolph from Beckum though we have found records from his father, grandfather and generations earlier. We have, though, spent a great deal of time and research effort in attempting to uncover the reasons for the oft-times recorded hyphenated surname in the Beckum records of Meier/Meyer/Myer-Schulte and have not yet ascertained just why this family surname contained the addition of the variant spellings of Meier. In my own family, I do know that the name of Meier (again with variant spellings) has shown up as the middle name of one male in each generation going back 6 generations to Rudolph's father, Joseph. When I questioned my grandmother about this years ago, she indicated that the name of Meier was "an old family name". More research will need to be done to solve this mystery.

In 1907, Rudolph lost his wife, Julie, to cancer and he was left with his son, Elmer age 12. Despite the fact that Julie was to have been his "beloved" wife (as my grandfather often told me his father referred to his mother), Rudolph wasted no time in marrying again. Within a few WEEKS he was married to Julie's older sister, Elizabeth, who had been widowed twice before and came to their marriage with 5 children of her own. In essence, my grandfather grew up with a step mother who was really his aunt, cousins who were half siblings and one half brother even assumed the surname of Schulte. Must have been an interesting household.

Over the years, besides being a Detroit Fire Fighter, Rudolph also worked selling insurance and perfected the early art of investing in real estate. At one time in the 1930's he owned 4 homes on Concord in Detroit - homes that he promised to each of his 3 grandchildren when they grew to adulthood. Unfortunately, these promises did not materialize as Rudolph's second wife, Elizabeth, died in 1938 and he immediately turned around and married a third time to a previously single woman, Mary Bender.

This photo is probably my last photo of Rudolph with his granddaughter, Marilyn, and Amelia Wellhausen-Marilyn's maternal grandmother. I was quite close to my Aunt Marilyn but due to her young age at the time of her grandfather's death, she did not remember much, if anything, about him.

Baby Marilyn Schulte with her grandparents,
Rudolph Schulte & Amelia Wellhausen

Rudolph passed away on April 1, 1940, a short time after his marriage to Mary and he is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit with her.

Elmwood Cemetery is a very old cemetery in Detroit, considered an historic site and quite beautiful though located in an area now that is best visited with a large, burly partner. Despite this, I do have the following photos of the cemetery and the gravestone of my great-grandfather.

Elmwood Cemetery
Detroit, MI

Section I at Elmwood Cemetery
Detroit, MI

Gravestone of Rudolph Schulte
Elmwood Cemetery
Detroit, MI

I have thought often of what drove my great-grandfather during his life. My father and my uncle remember their grandfather well and can recount that he always had huge wads of money in his pockets which he would bring out and tease them with. They said he was a good grandfather but their "grandmother" (as they referred to wife, #2) was very solemn and not a grandmotherly type. I have always felt a kinship to my great-grandmother, Julie, and am just amazed that Rudolph would have chosen to remarry just a few weeks after her death. While I know that men in those years did not want to be "alone" raising their children following the early deaths of wives, Rudolph did not have a baby to raise as my grandfather was already 12. Family stories have indicated that Julie's sister, Elizabeth, initiated the marriage prompting Rudolph to combine their families. I have to chuckle and say "sure" - she had 5 children to raise and having a husband with considerable financial savvy did not hurt. For whatever reason, they were married many years and it must have been a beneficial arrangement and the children of Elizabeth remained close to my grandfather, Elmer, following the deaths of their parents.

Above photos/documents from personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

From Whence I Came...Ella Emma Louise Kolberg

2009-08-08T16:28:00.013-04:00

My maternal grandmother, Ella Emma Louise Kolberg, was born August 8, 1895 in Stevensville, MI to August Kolberg and Bertha Kramp. I believe that she was probably named in part for her Aunt Ella Kramp and her Uncle Louis Kramp with her uncle being one of her godparents at the time of her baptism. Ella was the last of the children of August and Bertha Kramp and had 5 older siblings still living. There was such a disparity in age between herself and her eldest sister that in later years they were mistaken for mother and daughter rather than sisters which did not please her sister at all.

The August Kolberg family had a small farm in Stevensville during the early years of my grandmother's life. She was baptized at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Stevensville and attended school there as well. When she was confirmed, it was also at St. Paul's Lutheran Church.

Ella Kolberg-confirmation

Family life was not easy in my grandmother's household. The farming her parents did was not enough to produce income to live comfortably. As a child, my grandmother often accompanied her mother to the neighboring farms of other Kolberg family members, where they were allowed to pick berries which they then brought home to their farm to sell. In addition, her father, August Kolberg, had a propensity for drinking and life was not pleasant. I must say, though, that I never heard any of this from my grandmother but rather from elder cousins of hers when I began genealogy research in earnest and after my grandmother was already deceased.

Over the years, my grandmother had some interesting experiences. While I could write about the dates of importance to her life, her marriage, raising her own family, etc much has already been written in my post on my grandfather, Joseph Kijak, and my grandmother's mother, Bertha Kramp. Instead I am going to list some of the experiences that my grandmother had in her life.

1. As a 14 year old she was sent from the farm to the city of St. Joseph to live with a wealthy family where she worked as a maid and lived in their home. When I think of that - 14 years old - I am amazed. While today a trip from Stevensville to St. Joe might take 15 minutes tops, in those days it was necessary for my grandmother to "live in" at her employer's home. She told the story about how one time the home was robbed and when the police came out to investigate they had to go through everything in the home. In the closet of my grandmother's bedroom she had a cardboard box in which she stored those 'delicate' items that women of the day had to use during those once/month occurrences. These items had to be hand washed and dried to be used over and over and the police had quite an eye full when they dumped out my grandmother's stash of female products. She liked to laugh about that in later years but said she was mortified at the time.

2. As a 16 year old young lady she was dating a particular young man who she never identified to me but she did tell the story of going on his motorcycle for a ride through the countryside, something she said her father would have been livid about. On this ride, she recounted that she fell, down a long hill and never was inclined to get on a motorcycle again. Gosh, she was a daredevil.

3. She went to work at Cooper-Wells Hosiery Mill prior to her marriage in 1914. When she actually began that job, I don't know but it was at that job that she met my grandfather and their marriage took place on June 17, 1914 at the parsonage at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Joseph.

4. On August 8, 1914, she received a poignant letter from her mother, Bertha Kramp Kolberg, written to Ella on "your first birthday as a married woman". I have this letter today and it is amazing to see how it has been preserved for 96 years. I can see my great-grandmother writing that letter to her youngest daughter.

5. On February 26, 1915, while pregnant with her first baby, Ella lost HER mother when Bertha Kolberg passed away in Kalamazoo, MI. This was probably a very hard time for her to lose her mother at the time she would have needed her the most.

6. In April, 1918, while pregnant with her second baby, Ella lost her mother-in-law when Mary Kijak passed away in Detroit, MI. I have often thought how both my grandmother's pregnancies must have been fraught with grief and loss.

7. Ella and Joseph moved many times from home to home before settling on a farm on Cleveland Avenue in St. Joseph where my mother was born in 1925 and my mother's brother in 1926. This was their first purchase of a home and my grandparents worked the farm together. However, the depression came and in 1929, they lost their home and their farm. They moved their family into the City of St. Joe proper and for years moved from rental home to rental home.

8. During the years from 1929-1940, Ella ran her home, raised her 4 children, added to the family with the addition of her father-in-law and uncle-in-law who lived with them as well. In addition, my grandparents took in boarders and my grandmother fed and did all the laundry for this large group of people. In addition to her work at home, she also took employment at the Manley Resort on Langley Avenue in St. Joe as kitchen help, washing dishes. While this resort is now gone, there is a Manley Street at this location. She later worked during these years as a maid at the Whitcomb Hotel in St. Joseph. She certainly knew the meaning of hard work but did so at all times with a sunny disposition. While working at the Whitcomb she cut her finger on something she was cleaning and developed a deep infection which would not heal. She later visited the house doctor at the Whitcomb for an exam. He asked her if "she played the piano" and she replied "no" and his response was "then you won't care if I cut the finger off at the first joint". Needless to say, she didn't let him near her and went to another physician in town who was able to save her finger.

Ella with Eloris & Leslie Kijak
USS Theodore Roosevelt
on a voyage from St. Joe to Chicago, IL
ca 1934

Joseph & Ella Kijak family
ca 1943
St. Joseph, MI

9. Ella was also very active in her church during these years and made sure that her children and husband attended as well. All 4 of her children were confirmed in the Lutheran faith, her husband converted from his Catholic faith at the beginning of their marriage and her two youngest children attended the Lutheran grade school as well. Ella took part in many activities at the church including Ladies Aid, where she held offices, Lutheran Women's Missionary League, sewing projects and the making of cancer dressings. She also sewed at home and began a sideline of making craft items and doll clothes some of which I have to this day. I can remember one room in her home filled with supplies for her craft projects and she always had a project or ten going on at one time.

10. During WWII, all three of Ella's sons served in the Armed Forces and she proudly displayed their photos in uniform on her living room wall along with a photo of my mother. Her six grandchildren's photos were displayed in another area of the living room as well.

11. One story she told about her years renting rooms in her home involved the time one of her renters was found to be involved in counterfeiting. After the man vacated the room, my grandmother found supplies left behind that indicated the counterfeiting of coin. The man was later apprehended and my grandmother had to go to federal court in Kalamazoo to testify against him.

12. After the death of her husband in 1960, Ella continued her activities. She continued, as well, to have renters in her home; fortunately the entrance to the second floor was separate from the entrance to her home itself so there was safety but there were several renters that she had to evict and she did so with gumption.

My grandmother stayed in her own home, alone, for over 10 years after my grandfather died and then was able to secure an apartment in a newly built senior citizens complex. She moved into her little "doll house" as she called her 14th floor apartment and lived there for the rest of her life until she passed away on May 29, 1973.

Ella & Joseph Kijak
1945

My memories of my grandmother are many. She was the sweetest and kindest person ever and I was extremely close to her. While she had very little finances, she was happy and positive her entire life. I am pleased, even at this time, when I see people here in St. Joseph who tell me they remember my grandmother and recount wonderful stories about her. She was truly the best grandmother that any person could ask for.

Above photos-personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

From Whence I Came...Elmer Meyer Schulte

2009-08-04T07:00:00.007-04:00

My paternal grandfather, Elmer Meyer Schulte, was born August 4, 1894 in Detroit, Michigan to Rudolph Meyer Schulte and Juliane Feucht. He was their only child, though they had lost an infant daughter two years earlier.

While I don't have many details of his early childhood, many photos exist of those years. I do know that he and his parents lived in Detroit, that his father went off to the Spanish American War in 1898 when Elmer was just 4 and that his mother and he were extremely close.

The 1900 Detroit census shows this family below.

In 1906, this family photo of the Rudolph & Julie Schulte family was taken and it is my most prized genealogical photo...

...because in January, 1907, following the taking of the above photo, Elmer's mother, Juliane, passed away of cancer, leaving a 12 year old boy without a mother. My grandfather told me many times when I was growing up how much he had loved his mother and how he had missed her terribly after her death.

His father didn't waste too much time, though, in marrying again - just a few short weeks - which just amazes me when I think of it. By February, 1907, following the January 14th death of his beloved wife, Rudolph Schulte had married Juliane's sister, Elizabeth, who had been widowed twice. Elizabeth came into the family with 4 children from her first marriage and a son from her second marriage giving my grandfather many cousins (or step siblings) to share a home with.

The 1910 Detroit census shows this combined family living on Concord Avenue in Detroit.

During the start of WWI, my grandfather enlisted in the Army and was stationed in San Antonio, TX. Prior to shipping off to Europe, his fiance (my future grandmother), Ella Wellhausen, made a secret journey to Texas and returned to Michigan a married woman. How my grandparents had met is a mystery but it is thought that they met through Ella's aunt who lived in Detroit and whose sons were good friends of Elmer. In any event, Ella, snuck off to Texas, with the above mentioned aunt, in order to wish her beloved Elmer farewell prior to leaving for France and when she returned, a married woman, her parents were none too happy and her mother was not that happy with her own sister - the above named aunt. Ahh, rebellious children in the early 1900's!!

Their marriage, though, which took place on Christmas Eve, 1917, did last just a month over 50 years and was a happy one.

My grandmother was a no-nonsense, tough, outspoken person in my memory so I have no doubt that she eagerly took this trip to Texas with the intent of becoming married. In any event, Elmer shipped off to Europe, was injured, was awarded the Purple Heart and they did not see each other for over 2 years.

Upon his return from the War, Elmer and Ella set up a home on Hendricks Avenue in Detroit as evidenced in the 1920 Detroit census.

In 1920, son Melbourne Meyer was born, followed in 1923 by my father, Mylen, and in 1928 by daughter, Marilyn. In 1930, the family lived on Strasburg in Detroit and Elmer was a driver for Bond Bread. As a child in the 1950's I can still remember him bringing us little loaves of bread from his Bond Bread company.

Through the years, my grandparents had a good life, they both inherited some money at the deaths of their respective parents and their life was more affluent than my maternal grandparents. Through it all, they had a strong faith and were active in their church and in the community. Though they only had 4 grandchildren, I was the only granddaughter and while my grandfather was loving and kind to all 4 of us, I like to think he had a special place in his heart for me. I can remember him driving me to and from school as my parents worked, he would bring me home to his house until my parents could pick me up from school, he spent time with me asking me about my day and having a genuine interest in what I was doing and thinking.

In December, 1967, my grandparents celebrated their 50th anniversary with a renewal of their wedding vows and a large party.

A little over one month later, on January 21, 1968, my grandfather passed away after a sudden and unexpected heart attack.

He and my grandmother are buried in Gethsemane Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan on a family plot.

I was extremely close to my grandfather; he was very special to me and when he died, I remember my grandmother telling me at the funeral home "your special buddy is gone". He was a sweet, kind, gentle grandfather who never raised his voice and always showed his love to me. I spent much time during my youth in my grandparent's home and the memories of my grandfather remain with me to this day. I have many keepsakes of his, his metals and honors from his service in WWI, numerous photos but the most important thing I still carry with me is my memory of my grandfather.

Above photos & documents - personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

From Whence I Came...Joseph Kijak

2009-08-03T07:00:00.012-04:00

To continue my series of posts on my grandparents and great-grandparents, this is a week in which three of my four grandparents had birthdays. As a child, I can remember the pure joy of having three birthday celebrations in a week for three of my special grandparents.

Joseph Kijak was born August 3, 1892 in Bay City, Michigan to John Kijak and Mary Anna Rubisz. He was their first child and only son and his birth was followed by the births of three sisters, Anna, Martha and Rose. Joseph Kijak would be my maternal grandfather and was a very special grandparent though I was only 12 when he passed away.

While I do remember my grandfather, I have very little information regarding his childhood. I don't have any photos of him from childhood but I know that he was baptized in the Catholic faith as an infant and that he lived in Bay City with his parents and sisters as evidenced by the 1900 Bay City Census.

From what I have learned over the years, and most recently confirmed after finding a relative in the family of Mary Rubisz Kijak, the marriage of my grandfather, Joseph's parents, was not a pleasant one. His mother had been only 14 when she was married to his father, who himself was 30. This no doubt was an arranged marriage after both families had arrived in the US from Poland and how this marriage was allowed is evidently laws of the time in the 1890's.

Somewhere during the period from 1900 (when the Bay City census shows the family still together) to 1903, when Joseph Kijak's step sister, Emma, was born in South Bend, IN, mother, Mary Kijak left Bay City with her 4 children Joseph, Anna, Martha and Rose and settled in South Bend, IN with a gentleman named Frank Banner. Father, John Kijak, remained in Bay City.

My grandfather, Joseph, spent his youth living in South Bend with his mother, sisters, step sister and step brothers and his mother's companion, Frank Banner, and this is the only photo I have of him during his youth.

The 1910 South Bend, IN census shows this family though the 4 Kijak children are listed with the surname "Banner" which was incorrect. It is amazing the steps a genealogist has to go through to find hidden data. For years I could not put my finger on a 1910 census for my grandfather and never thought to look under the surname Banner. We must always be alert to all the possibilities.

While living in South Bend, my grandfather found a job in St. Joseph, MI working for Cooper Wells, a hosiery manufacturing company. This was only a 30 mile drive from South Bend and it was here, at work, that he met my grandmother, Ella Kolberg. How long they dated, I don't know, but on June 17, 1914 they were married.

They began their married life in St. Joe where Joseph continued to work at Cooper Wells. In 1915, son Harris was born and in 1918, son Elden was born. The 1920 census shows this family then living on Court Street in St. Joe.

In 1925, their daughter (my mother) Eloris, was born, followed in 1926 by their 3rd son, Leslie. With these 4 children, their family was complete. At this time, Joseph and Ella had a fruit farm on Cleveland Avenue in St. Joseph and the work and toil was their income.

In addition, at this time, my grandfather had a unique experience with a member of the Al Capone gang which led to his discontinuation of driving.

The Depression came in 1929 and with it the loss of their home and farm though the 1930 census does still show them living on Cleveland Avenue.

The family lived in a variety of rental homes over the next 10+ years until Joseph & Ella were able to purchase a home at 818 Pleasant Street in St. Joseph in approximately 1940. During these years, Joseph worked as a painter and decorator and in later years for the S&H Green Stamp store.

In 1945, my grandparents had a professional photo taken of themselves on the occasion of my grandmother's 50th birthday. This is a favorite photo of mine.

Though photos with my grandfather in them are few and far between, this one of myself and my brother with my grandmother as well is one that I remember.

My memories of my grandfather are many - his coming to Detroit to help my parents with construction work when my parents bought their first home, building shelves in the basement to hold all of our toys, planting a maple tree in the back yard and planning the placement of the tree so as not to obstruct a future garage, getting paint poisoning and having to bandage his fingers for the rest of his life, living in extreme pain. He was a gentle man, never raised his voice and was a loving husband to my grandmother and a good father to his four children.

My grandfather became ill in October, 1960 and was diagnosed with a cerebral aneurysm. The hospital in St. Joseph could not treat this condition at that time and he was transported to a hospital in South Bend where he passed away on October 23, 1960. I was only 12 at the time but have vivid memories of our drive from Detroit to South Bend, having an accident on the way, getting lost trying to find the hospital in South Bend and my mother arriving to see her father just before he passed away.

He was a wonderful grandfather and I have always remembered him. He and my grandmother are buried in Stevensville Cemetery in Stevensville, MI and his memory lives forever in my heart.

Above photos & documents - personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

From Whence I Came...Bertha Kramp

2009-07-26T18:57:00.021-04:00

Bertha Kramp was my mother's maternal grandmother though she had died long before my mother was born. When my mother was growing up, nothing was ever discussed about her grandmother and she has no memories of her. I have always wondered why my grandmother never mentioned her own mother to me either as I am sure there would have been many stories that I could have heard.

Bertha Kramp was born July 26, 1860 and was the second of ten children of Albert Kramp and Emilie Rutt. At the time of her birth, the family lived in Borntuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern where the first three children of this couple were born. Between 1862 and 1866, Albert and Emilie Kramp moved their family to the nearby village of Klein Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern where their remaining seven children were born. I visited these areas in 1993 though my photography skills were not the best.

Nothing is known of Bertha's early years but on October 4, 1878 in Groß Tuchen, Bütow, Pommern, she married August Kolberg. Interestingly, Bertha's sister, Pauline Kramp, married on the same date in the same church to Heinrich Gersonde.

At least three children were born to August and Bertha Kolberg while still living in Klein Tuchen. These were (1) Paul Lui Robert, born June 8, 1879 and who died on October 20, 1879, (2) Hedwig Johanne Auguste, born June 2, 1880 and (3) Bertha Hermine Franziska, born January 14, 1883 and who also died as an infant though the date of death has never been discovered.

In the spring of 1883, the little family of August, Bertha and young Hedwig (age 3) began their long journey to America. August's brother, Heinrich, had already made the journey and had settled in Lincoln Township, Berrien County, Michigan.

Passenger list information from the port of Castle Garden in New York state the following: August, Bertha and Hedwig COLBERG arrived in New York, on the ship, Lessing, on November 28, 1883. They traveled from the port of Hamburg in Germany, on to the port of Havre in France and then on to the US. Their name was spelled Colberg on the ship passenger list. Bertha's sister, Emilie Kramp, and Emilie's future husband, Friedrich Skibbe, also traveled with them on the same ship. Arriving in New York, they took the train to Michigan and were met in St. Joseph by brother Heinrich.

Bertha brought with her to the US her German hymnal which I am fortunate to have received from my grandmother and which I still have and treasure.

Once in the US, another six children were born to August and Bertha. These were (1) Frederick Gustav Emil, born November 6, 1886 and who died July 13, 1887, (2) Amelia Alvina Henreitta, born December 6, 1887, (3) Kurt Paul Hugo, born July 23, 1890, (4) Robert Ernest Paul, born September 19, 1892, (5) Hugo Otto Heinrich, born May 29, 1894 and (6) Ella Emma Louise, born August 8, 1895. According to the US census records, Bertha had given birth to 11 children and it is believed the remaining two unknown children were perhaps born in Pommern as well given the three year gap between daughter Hedwig's birth in 1880 and daughter, Bertha's birth in 1883. No additional birth or death records for children of this couple were ever located in Berrien County, Michigan.

When I began my genealogical research, my grandmother was already deceased and I had to rely on the memories of many of her cousins for information (and one lowly photo) of my great-grandmother, Bertha, which based on the ages of the two daughters in the photo, must have been taken around 1889.

When I interviewed several of my grandmother's cousins I was told that August and Bertha Kolberg did not have much prosperity in their lives. Times were very hard and August had a desire for excessive drinking. I was informed that Bertha and daughter, Ella (my grandmother), would come to the farm of another Kolberg relative to pick berries which they would then sell on a stand in front of their own property for a little money to keep the family going. I was also told that on many a morning August would ride his horse through the countryside in Lincoln Township on his way to town to drink. At night, he would ride back with the horse knowing the way without guidance. A very religious woman, this must have been a trying lifestyle for Bertha.

When talking to these cousins of my grandmother, on separate occasions, it was interesting that each one of the four cousins I spoke to all remembered these same incidences.

I was told, also, that Bertha was especially closest to her youngest, my grandmother Ella, and missed her deeply when Ella married in June, 1914. On August 8, 1914, which was Ella's first birthday as a married woman, her mother, Bertha, wrote her a poignant birthday poem and finished with a short letter imploring daughter Ella not to forget her. This poem, written in the old German script, together with an English translation follows and, again, I am blessed to have been given this letter by my grandmother many years ago.

It was right after writing this poem and letter that Bertha became ill and six months later, on February 26, 1915, Bertha passed away in the Kalamazoo State Hospital, Kalamazoo, MI. According to her death certificate, at the time of her death, Bertha had been suffering from mental depression and exhaustion which had lasted for approximately 6 months. It was approximately February 19, 1915 when Bertha became too ill to remain at home and son, Kurt Kolberg, took her to Kalamazoo to the State Hospital, where she died one week later of nephritis (inflammation of the kidney) aggravated by the mental depression and exhaustion. Perhaps the hard life that she was forced into in this country and the loss of five children, along with having to work extremely hard to raise her family, became too much for her. It obviously made an impression on my grandmother, Ella, as after she was a married woman and raising her own family, my grandmother never touched alcohol and would not allow it in her own home.

August and Bertha Kolberg are buried in City Cemetery, St. Joseph, Michigan very close to my home.

I often wonder of just how difficult her life was in this country and the fact that she died so young with her own mother outliving her by a good 10 years. It is a sad commentary on the life of my great-grandmother but I like to think that somewhere during her 54 years of life that she had some happy times - perhaps with her children and the few grandchildren that she was able to know.

I think she would be pleased to see how large her family had grown to by the year 2000:

Above photos - personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

My Grandfather's Part in History

2009-07-12T15:43:00.008-04:00

My memories of my maternal grandfather, Joseph Kijak, are limited. I was born in St. Joseph, Michigan, where my grandparents lived, but when I was 18 months old my parents and I moved to the Detroit suburbs and only came to St. Joe once or twice a year to visit. The memories I do have of my grandfather are pleasant ones - he was a small man, very quiet and easy going and was always happy to have us visit. I remember him promising my younger brother at the age of 8 that he would take him fishing off the pier in St. Joe and my brother was anxious to do this but unfortunately my grandfather died before this could be accomplished.

One year in school, my class was instructed to write an article of interest about a grandparent. I struggled with who to choose to write about as I knew all my grandparents and I decided to write about the one grandparent who was at that time already deceased. I asked my mother for any interesting stories she could share with me about her father and she told me there was one incident that would make a great project for school.

It was at that same time that an article appeared in the Sunday Parade magazine that came out with the Detroit Free Press. It was an anniversary of an incident involving a henchman of Al Capone, named Fred Burke, and my mother proudly showed me this Parade magazine and told me "here is your story about your grandpa Kijak".

Al Capone??? What could my quiet, gentle grandfather have to do with Al Capone and his organization? Much, as it turns out.

Al Capone is a well known figure in history. Most people of a certain generation have heard of Al Capone and perhaps studied his organization and the crimes committed by his group. Perhaps, not so well known, was one of his henchman, Fred "Killer" Burke. Over the years, though, I have learned much about Fred Burke and how he related to my grandfather.

Fred "Killer" Burke was a participant in the infamous St. Valentine's day massacre. He then unknowingly hid out in Stevensville, MI trying to be obscure. On December 14, 1929, in downtown St. Joseph, Fred Burke happened to be driving. He struck a car driven by a resident, George Kool and Mr. Kool approached the car of Fred Burke and demanded payment for the damages. An argument took place and a police officer approached, named Charles Skelly. In the ensuing argument, Fred Burke picked up his revolver, fired three times at Officer Skelly and killed him.

Fred Burke then fled the downtown area of St. Joseph in an attempt to escape and soon abandoned his car after he struck a telephone pole. When the police later found his car and registration the paperwork showed the car was registered to a Fred Dane who was later identified to be Fred "Killer" Burke of the Al Capone 'family'.

Enter my grandfather who was driving along Cleveland Avenue in St. Joseph on his way home. While driving, my grandfather noticed a man hitchhiking. In those days of 1929, it was not uncommon for people to frequently pick up hitchhikers (these were all country roads at the time and farmland) and my grandfather picked up this gentleman. He later recounted that they spoke briefly, the rider said he needed to be driven several miles down the road which my grandfather did. At one point, near Glenlord Road and Cleveland Avenue, the rider suddenly announced "let me out here" and my grandfather did and the last he saw of his hitchhiker was when the man went through the farmland and disappeared from view heading toward Lakeshore Drive and Lake Michigan. Thinking nothing of it, my grandfather returned home.

The next morning, the local newspaper carried the report of the shooting of Officer Skelly and there was a photo of the man accused of killing him - Fred "Killer" Burke. My grandfather immediately recognized the photo as belonging to the hitchhiker he had transported the day before. He showed my grandmother and together they went to the local police and my grandfather gave his report.

Some time later Fred Burke was arrested, convicted of multitudes of crimes and imprisoned where he later died.

Whether this incident propelled my grandfather into discontinuing driving OR whether the effects of the Great Depression had a part (they lost their farm and property in the depression), my grandfather sold his car and never drove again.

Over the years books have been written about Fred "Killer" Burke and his part in St. Joseph history though my grandfather's part was obscure enough to not warrant mention. Life as my mother knew it (she was only 4 at this time) could have been tragically different if the automobile ride my grandfather gave Fred Burke had turned out differently.

Fred Burke's Stevensville home today? It is still on Lakeshore Drive and Glenlord Road but is now an office of Coldwell Banker, a local realtor. Wonder what secrets are in those walls (or buried under the foundation)!!

Above photo of Joseph & Ella Kijak - personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

95 years ago today...

2009-06-17T14:00:00.000-04:00

...my grandparents, Ella and Joseph Kijak, were married.

Joseph Kijak, born August 3, 1892 in Bay City, MI and Ella Emma Louise Kolberg, born August 8, 1895 in Stevensville, MI met in St. Joseph, MI when both were working at Cooper Wells Company, a hosiery manufacturing firm.

They were married at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Joseph, MI on June 17, 1914 and began their married life in a rental home on Hoyt Street, also in St. Joseph.

Joseph & Ella Kijak
June 17, 1914
St. Joseph, MI

Four children were born during their marriage - Harris in 1915, Elden in 1918, Eloris in 1925 and Leslie in 1926.

Life was not easy for my grandparents during their marriage. Financially they struggled the entire 46 years of their married life. They began their married life in a rental home on Hoyt Street, in St. Joseph where their first two sons were born, Harris and Elden. They then moved to a rental home on Brown School Road in St. Joseph and their sons attended elementary school at the Brown School. During these early years, Joseph continued to work at Cooper Wells.

In approximately 1924, after 10 years of marriage, they were able to purchase a home, farm and property on Cleveland Avenue & Maiden Lane in St. Joseph where they worked together at farming with Ella's brother, Kurt Kolberg and his family, living and working on an adjacent farm. They lost the home, farm and property during the Depression and were forced to live in a variety of rental homes for many years following that on Court Street, Market Street and Wayne Street, all in St. Joseph, with my grandfather working as a house painter/decorator.

During their entire marriage, Joseph's father, John Kijak, lived with them. In addition, they repeatedly had renters living with them in their variety of homes. With all these extra people in the house, my grandmother did all the laundry, cooking and cleaning for not only her husband and 4 children but the borders and her father-in-law as well. During some of these years, Joseph's uncle, Stanley Rubis, also lived with them. It was definitely more than a 'full house'.

In approximately 1941 they were able to purchase a home on Pleasant Street in St. Joseph, across the street from the St. Joseph Catholic Church. This was a 2 story home where, again, John Kijak lived with them.

All 3 sons served in WWII with two of the sons going overseas and, thankfully, all came home safely. During WWII, my grandfather worked at Dachel-Carter Shipbuilding in Benton Harbor, MI where he did ship painting. During this time he developed paint poisoning and suffered the rest of his life with the effects of this poison in his system. I can remember as a child my grandfather sitting at the end of the dining room table bandaging his fingers to try to ease the pain from the poison. He could no longer work at painting and decorating so the remainder of his working life he spent working at the local S&H Green Stamp Store in Benton Harbor.

They had no automobile after 1929 (that will prove to be a most interesting future blog post and I do mean, very interesting) and both my grandparents walked everywhere that they needed to go.

Joseph & Ella Kijak
ca 1929

Despite the financially hard times and the excessive work that both of my grandparents did, they had the most stable and happy of marriages. I can safely say that my mother grew up in a true NON-dysfunctional family where there was peace, happiness, love and a feeling of everyone pitching in to do their share for the total family. Interestingly, there were issues with extended family due to the fact that my grandfather was Polish and Catholic and my grandmother was German and Lutheran but these issues did not affect their marriage. They were a true team and my grandfather took confirmation lessons to become Lutheran of his own initiative early in their marriage so that their family could worship as one family unit. My mother has told me repeatedly that she cannot ever recall her parents sharing a harsh word between them.

In 1945 at the occasion of Ella's 50th birthday they had this professional photo taken to commemorate this special event.

Ella & Joseph Kijak
August 8, 1945
St. Joseph, MI

Joseph died on October 23, 1960 at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, IN where he had been transported after becoming ill. He had had a ruptured cerebral aneurysm and died a few days later.

My grandmother continued living in their home on Pleasant Street and supplemented her small social security income by doing sewing and crafts and selling her hand made doll clothes, baby garments and decorative craft items many of which I have to this day as shown below.

In 1971, she was able to sell her home and move into the Senior Citizens high rise apartment complex along Lake Michigan and the St. Joseph River where she had a small apartment on the 14th floor. She passed away on May 29, 1973 and both she and my grandfather are buried in Stevensville Cemetery in Stevensville, MI.

I have the most wonderful and loving memories of both of my grandparents. I was only 12 when my grandfather passed away but I remember him well. Visits to my grandparent's home in St. Joseph were always occasions for great joy. My grandparents went out of their way to make our visits memorable. I was especially close to my grandmother and have many special keepsakes from her as well as wonderful memories. Even now, 36 years after her death, my memories and love for her are still as strong as ever.

Jeff Schulte, Joseph Kijak,
Cheryl Schulte, Ella Kijak
818 Pleasant Street, St. Joseph, MI
1958

Above photos - personal collection of Cheryl Schulte

My Father...The Romantic Car Thief?

2009-06-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

When my parents were married on June 15, 1946 my father was just returning from service in WWII. Their courtship had been unique - they had not known each other but were brought together by my paternal grandfather. My father had grown up in Detroit, Michigan and my mother lived on the opposite side of the state in St. Joseph, some 200 miles away. The families knew each other, though, through another familial connection but my parents had never met. While my father's parents, and even his brother, had traveled numerous times to St. Joseph to visit my mother's family, my father had never joined his family on these trips.

When my father went into the service he was already engaged to someone from Detroit. She was wearing his engagement ring and my father had presented her with a photo of himself in uniform with a personal inscription that he had written on the photo. During his time in Central America in the Army Air Corps, his fiance, Lillian, had 'strayed' and my grandmother had been privileged to 'catch' Lillian in this indiscretion. My grandmother, being a very controlling person, had demanded the engagement ring and photo back and Lillian was banished - never to be heard from again.

It was at this time that my grandparents traveled to St. Joseph to visit my mother and her family. During this visit my grandfather played matchmaker and asked my mother if she would like to write to his son in the service who had just broken up with a girlfriend. My mother agreed to write to the serviceman only if he were to write her first. The correspondence began and would last for about 2 years until my father was discharged in February, 1946. During this time my father decided that it would be a great idea to send his "new" girlfriend a photo of himself in uniform and this is the photo he sent her. Evidently he had been raised to "waste not, want not" though my brother and I thought this was the most hilarious thing as we were growing up and would hear this story and see this photo.

In February, 1946 my father was discharged from the service and returned to Detroit. My mother and HER mother traveled to the train depot in Detroit to greet him. This would be the first time my parents actually saw each other. Immediately my father proposed, my mother accepted and you guessed it - she was given the same engagement ring that my father's previous fiance had worn. They were married just a few months later on June 15, 1946 and I will say that on their 25th anniversary in 1971 my mother did get a new engagement and wedding ring set though she really never seemed to mind the original setting either. It was more of a humorous story that was told over the years to friends who would always marvel at the recycled photo and ring.

But there is more - and another great story which was told over the near 50 years of my parent's marriage. My parents were to be married in my mother's home town of St. Joseph. A few days prior to the wedding my father arrived in St. Joe with his new acquisition - a used car that he had just bought in Detroit. He was most proud of this car and it would be their honeymoon transportation to Niagara Falls.

On June 15th, the day of their wedding, my father decided to move the car from my mother's house because he was sure his brother and other male friends were going to be playing a prank on him with his car. So, not knowing the area of St. Joe, he simply drove his car a few blocks from my mother's home and parked it in front of a house. The wedding took place, the guests moved to the reception and the day was perfect. After the reception, my father walked back to pick up his car and drive to pick up his new bride so they could start on their honeymoon. But when he got to the place he had parked the car, the car was gone.

Thinking for sure that his brother, cousins or friends had moved the car as a joke, he simply walked around the downtown area and happened upon his car - parked in the parking lot of what he assumed to be a business of some sort. He got in the car and proceeded back to pick up my mother at her home where she had gone to change out of her wedding gown. He had just pulled up in front of my mother's home when suddenly the police came up behind him and told him that he was driving a stolen car, and despite protests that my father was the owner of the car, he was made to drive back to the police station.

My mother, so sure now that HER brothers had played some prank was so angry that she marched back to the reception hall where the party was still going on and confronted her brothers, cousins and brother-in-law and all professed innocence in the matter.

Back to the police station they all went where my father was being held as being in possession of a stolen car. Everyone attempted to convince the police that my father was the rightful owner of the car, some offered to stay in his place and my mother's uncle even offered to put his nearby hotel up as collateral if the newlyweds could leave but were told that it was a state offense and that my father would have to stay in the police station until word came from Lansing, the state capital, as to the rightful ownership of the car.

What had happened was that my father had purchased the car in Detroit from a man going through a divorce. The man's wife had not known about the sale of the car and she reported the car stolen. When my father had moved his car on the day of the wedding and parked it a few blocks away, the owner of that home had noticed the car parked there all day and reported it to the St. Joe police who ran a trace on the license plate which came up as having been stolen in Detroit. The police towed the car to the parking lot of the police station and my father, not knowing the area, simply got in the car and drove it away.

After sitting in the police station until 4 in the morning, the word finally came from Lansing that my father was indeed the rightful owner and my parents were able to finally leave on their honeymoon.

They next day they did make the front page of the St. Joseph newspaper which made for a repeat of a good story over the next 50 years. My father died in 1996 but my mother continues to have friends remind her of this tale when they get together to reminisce about old times.

Mylen & Eloris Schulte (6/16/46)
with cans from back of car from wedding day

Above photos - personal collection of Cheryl Schulte