52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - 2025; Week 9 "Faith"

FAITH, HUMOR AND STRENGTH:

My paternal uncle, Melbourne Schulte, had a great sense of humor.  He always managed to make family gatherings enjoyable with his jokes and storytelling.  He was also my godfather and he took great pride in reminding me of that numerous times.  Whenever he would call me he would start out the conversation by saying "this is your godfather calling".  

My uncle was also a man of tremendous faith and he was an active member of his church, Mt. Zion Lutheran in Detroit, Michigan.  He was always the one in the family to mediate squabbles and disagreements reminding everyone of the need to be kind to everyone regardless of the situation.  

I had him in my life a long time; he was 92 when he passed away in 2013.  Even all these years later I often remember something he would say or do that would make me smile.  

When looking through the multitudes of photos that I have inherited from family members, I will often see photos of my uncle which make me smile. 

Following are a few of those photos.

In 1922, not even 2 years old:  

My uncle, Mel, with his mother, Ella Wellhausen Schulte, standing in front of the family grocery store "Kolberg and Schulte" in Detroit, Michigan.

Unfortunately, this photo has degraded over the years and it appears that my uncle was a "child with no face".  Despite my abilities with Paint Shop Pro, and after calling in the enormous talents of one of my Schulte cousins, we conceded that it wasn't possible to enhance the photo any more.  I still enjoy the photo and one of the few photos of the family grocery store.

In 1935, with his brother, Mylen, and sister, Marilyn:

Always the prankster, sticking his tongue out at the camera.  I'm glad that my grandparents saved some of these photos.

In 1962, at my confirmation gathering:

My uncle, picking up HIS uncle, George Wellhausen, Sr.  I don't know what prompted this display of humor but it was so typical of both men when they were together at family gatherings.  This photo was taken in the backyard of my childhood home on Dwight Avenue in East Detroit, Michigan.

If my uncle could see these photos now I know that he would be pleased that I have maintained these memories and he would get a good laugh out of the photos.

copyright 2025, Cheryl J. Schulte

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - 2025; Week 8 "Migration"

MIGRATION OF MY SECOND GREAT GRANDFATHER, JOHANN JACOB FEUCHT:

I will be incorporating in 16 of my posts this year, a feature on each of  my 16 second great grandparents.  Today, on the topic of migration, I am featuring my paternal second great grandfather, Johann Jacob Feucht.

Johann Jacob Feucht, my father's great-grandfather, was the earliest of my ancestors to migrate to the US, arriving in 1857.  Throughout all of the records on him in the US, he was known simply as "Jacob" Feucht.

Jacob Feucht was born on August 12, 1826 in Tamm, Ludwigsburg, Württemberg, Germany.  He was the 5th child of Johannes Feucht (1783-1854) and Ana Barbara Meile (1789-1865).  I have been fortunate to have gained access to the actual vital records for my Feucht ancestors, however, they are not of a high enough clarity to be clearly visible on Blogger.

Map of Tamm, Ludwigsburg, Württemberg, Germany:

According to the Württemberg, Germany Emigration Index, Johann Jacob Feucht emigrated to the US as follows:

District:  Ludwigsburg

Name:  Johann Jakob Feucht

Birth Date: 12 Aug 1826

Birth Place:  Tamm

Application Date:  1857

Destination:  America

Number:  837991

Jacob settled in Detroit, Michigan and on February 20, 1859 he married Magdalena Helena Bauer (1840-1885) who was from Schwarzenbach by Nürnberg, Bavaria, Germany.

In the case of Jacob and Helena Feucht, I have uncovered their marriage record in three different places in the US.  I have the marriage record from the City of Detroit, one from the State of Michigan and another (with the most vivid details) from Trinity Lutheran Church in Detroit where they were married.  All of the records agree on the facts involved but an added bonus was that on the Trinity Lutheran Church record, the places of birth of Jacob and Helena were listed with precise detail down to the villages of birth.  This was an exceptional bonus allowing me to quickly write to the two villages - Tamm in Ludwigsburg, Württemberg and Schwarzenbach by Nürnberg, Bavaria from which I received documents of their births.

Jacob and Helena Feucht were blessed with 10 children as follows:

Johann Georg (1860-1860)

Anna Margarethe Elizabeth (1861-1937)

Kunigunde Margarethe Rosa (1864-1908)

Johann Conrad (1866- ?)

Karoline Margarethe Mary (1868-1869)

Christine Katharine Juliane (1870-1907)

Margarethe (1872-1936)

Helene (1875-1957)

Johann Georg (1877-1933)

Charles Henry (1881-1945)

There is a possibility that Jacob served in the Civil War based on war memorabilia and Grand Army of the Republic memorabilia that I was given by my grandfather who was a grandson of Jacob Feucht.  Upon research, some records were found of a Jacob Feucht having served in the Civil War in the years from 1861-1863 but there wasn't enough information to definitively state that this was MY Jacob Feucht.  Looking at the birth years of his children there was a 3 year gap between daughter Elizabeth (1861-1937) and daughter Kunigunde (1864-1908).  Their other 8 children seemed to appear every 2 years without fail.  This will require further research to confirm.

On census records and city directory entries, Jacob was listed alternatively as a beltmaker or a tailor.  

Jacob's wife, Helena, died on September 22, 1885 leaving him with 8 children.  Jacob died on November 25, 1892 and both are buried in Trinity Lutheran Cemetery on Mt. Elliott Avenue in Detroit in Lot 4C.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of Jacob or Helena but in 1993 I visited Germany and was able to travel to 16 of the villages of my ancestors where I was able to take photos of the villages and in some places visit the various churches.

Photos of Tamm, Germany:

With the advent of DNA research, I was pleased to receive notification from Ancestry.com of a DNA match for my brother with a person in Germany.  Upon further research and correspondence I was fortunate to connect with a wonderful and sharing gentleman with shared ancestry with my Feucht family.  Through him I was able to obtain vital records going back several generations from my Jacob Feucht as follows:

My second great-grandfather, Johann Jacob Feucht (1826-1892), son of:

Johannes Feucht (1783-1854) and Ana Barbara Meile (1789-1865).  Johannes Feucht was the son of: 

Matthaeus Feucht (1732-1791) and Christine Ade (1748-1805).  Matthaeus Feucht was the son of:

Matthaeus Feucht (1701-?) and Anna Maria Kraus (1700-?) who were my fifth great grandparents.

I am pleased with the progress I have made on tracing this line of my family.  

copyright 2025, Cheryl J. Schulte

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - 2025; Week 7 "Letters and Diaries"

AUGUST GOTTLIEB KOLBERG'S 10TH BIRTHDAY:

I have created the following post using notes and recollections that my maternal grandmother, Ella Kolberg Kijak, shared with me regarding HER father, August Gottlieb Kolberg's, 10th birthday.  

On November 24, 1919, during a celebration of August's 65th birthday, he related the details of his 10th birthday celebration as follows:

"I was born on November 24, 1854 in Klein Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern, Preußen*.  I was the third son of my parents.  In our family, a boy's 10th birthday was a special occasion and the year I was turning 10 my birthday in November was on my mind constantly.

Thursday, November 24, 1864 began early.   I awoke even before it was light outside and could hear Mama and Papa working in the house.  Today would be my special birthday and many aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbors would be coming by.  Papa and Mama had a strict rule in our family that each child must attend school for four years; that was very important to them as they were not able to have any schooling.  So far my two older brothers, Albert and Fritz, had studied for four years in school and then when they were 10 they were allowed to stop school and begin working on the farm with Papa.  I was looking forward to this as well.  I must admit that school was not my favorite thing to do; I would have rather been outside in the fields or playing with my brothers but Papa and Mama were very strict about the school rule.  Today I would be allowed to stop school and begin to work on the farm as well.

Papa called to us boys to get up while it was still dark.  Fritz and I got up immediately.  Our oldest brother, Albert, had died last year at age 12 and that had been a very sad time for all of us, especially Mama and Papa.  Today our younger brothers, Heinrich and Johann, were lazier and had to be prompted to get up.  They were only 7 and 5 at the time.  Baby Hermann would be 2 tomorrow and he was still sleeping.  Mama also had the new baby, Gustav, who was only 5 weeks old.  There had also been another brother,  Franz, but he had died last year when he was only 2.  Mama had been so hoping that this latest baby would be a little girl but now we were a family of Mama, Papa and 6 sons.

That  morning Mama had our breakfast ready for us and told us to hurry and eat because aunts would be arriving soon to help with the birthday celebrations.  Because Mama had baby Gustav to tend to some of the aunts would be helping with the food for the birthday so that Mama could rest.  Mama would do this for the aunts in return as well.  Having a large family was important Mama would say because everyone would help everyone else.

We had barely finished our breakfast and the light was just beginning when we could hear a wagon outside.  It was Oma Kautz coming to help with the birthday.  Oma was Mama's mother and all us boys loved Oma Kautz because she always brought us special breads and cakes that she had made.  Oma was the only grandparent I had anymore.  I had not known Opa Kautz because he had died long before I was born.  When he died, Oma married Mr. Krause so that she would have help on the farm.  Mr. Krause was very stern and never smiled so we boys stayed away from him.

Oma came in the house and told me "Happy Birthday, August" and showed me the basket she was bringing that held some special cakes with sugar on top.  She went over to Mama and inquired how baby Gustav was doing.  Mama said he was sleeping fine but not eating well and she was worried.  We did not know it then but in a few months baby Gustav would die.

After breakfast all us boys were sent outside to give Mama and Oma room to work on the birthday.  Soon the aunts arrived carrying baskets of food as well.  Mama was going to make my favorite Pommern potatoes and the aunts had been helping her the last few days by boiling and cooling pounds of potatoes.  Now they were bringing them to the house so Mama could prepare them.  The potatoes took a long time to make but it helped Mama that the aunts had boiled them ahead of time.  Mama then sliced them and put them in the pan on the fire with lots of lard.  The potatoes sizzled and fried for quite some time while Mama kept slicing more potatoes.  We would need a lot for all the family that were coming.  What made these potatoes special was that after they were almost done frying Mama would crack eggs into the potatoes and fry them together; the eggs would work into the potatoes and Mama would get them very crispy.  I always wanted the potatoes around the edge of the pan because they were the best.  Many times we had only these Pommern potatoes for dinner because they were so good.  Mama had promised me she would make them herself for my birthday because her potatoes were much better than those made by the aunts though we could not tell them that.

Aunt Carolina and Uncle Johann arrived soon with some of the cousins.  Aunt Carolina was one of Papa's sisters.  They brought more food and chicken as well for the meal.  Mama was happy to see them because Aunt Carolina was a hard worker.  Soon Uncle August and Aunt Friederike arrived.  Uncle August was Papa's brother and he was my godfather which was something he reminded me of all the time.  I liked Uncle August because he would take my older brothers out behind the barn and let them smoke some tobacco and he had been promising this to me all year.  Aunt Friederike came bearing her usual gift for all the cousins which were hand knit socks.  She took great pride in using heavy yarn so that the socks would be warm and she would always say the same thing "if your feet are warm you won't get sick".  We boys thought her socks were picky and uncomfortable but Mama always frowned at us and we quickly thanked Aunt Friederike.  Later Mama would tell us that we needed to be grateful because we had many feet in the house to put socks on and it helped Mama when an aunt would give us new socks.

By midday we had many guests - aunts, uncles, cousins and even some neighbors all coming for my 10th birthday.  Uncle Gottlieb and Aunt Karolina brought a smoked ham from the hogs on their farm and Papa praised the ham. Uncle Gottlieb was Papa's brother as well.  They had children the same ages as us boys and even had an August born the same year as me.  Sometimes it became very confusing when all the cousins were together.

The day went by quickly but it was grand fun.  Uncle August tried to take me out behind the barn to show me his tobacco but Papa saw us and quickly stopped this.  Uncle August and Papa talked loudly about this for a while but in the end Uncle August shrugged and walked away.  Papa told me that there would be plenty of time for tobacco but he didn't want me to be sick today on my birthday.  I wasn't very happy but we boys knew we had to obey Papa.  That was the way it was.

By the end of the day the families were all leaving but Aunt Carolina and Oma Kautz stayed longer to help with cleaning up the house.  Mama was looking very tired and Oma was worried about her.  But Mama said to me "I think August Gottlieb that you had a grand 10th birthday and now you are a man".  Oma Kautz reminded me that Mama had worked hard on my Pommern potatoes while tending to baby Gustav and I should never forget the grand birthday I had.

And I never did!"

August Kolberg, November 24, 1919, 65 years old, Stevensville, Michigan:

(As a side note - the making of Pommern potatoes continues in our family to this day and the recipe has been passed down mother to daughter.)

* Klein Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern, Preußen is currently, as of 1945, Tuchomko, Bytow, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland.

copyright 2025, Cheryl J. Schulte

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - 2025; Week 6 "Surprise"

RED CROSS NOTICE:

In 1943, both my father, Mylen Schulte, and his older brother, Melbourne Schulte, were in two different branches of the United States Military.

My father was serving in Central America with the US Army Air Corps and my uncle was in the Pacific with the US Navy.

My father was single and he would not marry until 1946.  My uncle, however, had been married for 2 years and had left his pregnant wife at home in Detroit, Michigan where she was awaiting the birth of their first child.

On December 11, 1943, my aunt, Virginia Reske Schulte, gave birth to a baby boy and named him after his father, Melbourne Schulte, Jr.  As was common in the military, when the father was in the Armed Forces, the Red Cross sent a notice to the new father informing him of the birth of his child.

This is the notice that was sent from the Keesler Field Camp and Hospital Service Committee of the Red Cross:

However, the surprise was that the Red Cross inadvertently sent the notice to the incorrect Schulte soldier, sending it to my father in Central America.  

The above notice has been saved in my family all these years with my father keeping this card which has caused much laughter in the family.  I don't know how long it took for the correct new papa, Melbourne Schulte, to receive notice of the birth of his son but eventually he was notified. 

Melbourne and Virginia Schulte with baby Melbourne, Jr. in Detroit, Michigan, 1944:

Today that little baby is 81 years old and he was blessed to have had his parents in his life well into their 90's.  

copyright 2025, Cheryl J. Schulte