0 HEAD 1 SOUR Legacy 2 VERS 4.0 2 NAME Legacy (R) 2 CORP Millennia Corp. 3 ADDR PO Box 66 4 CONT El Mirage, AZ 85335 1 DEST PAF5 1 DATE 12 Mar 2005 1 SUBM @S0@ 1 FILE Stelzriede-031205living-noinfo.ged 1 GEDC 2 VERS 2 FORM LINEAGE_LINKED 1 CHAR ANSEL 0 @S0@ SUBM 1 NAME R. Nelson 1 ADDR 217 Sereno Dr 2 CONT 2 CONT Santa Fe, NM 87501 1 _EMAIL nelsonro@mindpspring.com 1 _URL http://nelsonro.home.mindspring.com/ 0 @I80@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F3@ 1 FAMC @F1@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @N0@ NOTE 1 CONC Still Living. 0 @I10@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMC @F3@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I101@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMS @F5@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I102@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMC @F5@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I103@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMC @F5@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I104@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F27@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I105@ INDI 1 NAME Fordice (Smitty) /Smith/ 2 GIVN Fordice (Smitty) 2 SURN Smith 1 SEX M 1 DEAT 2 DATE Unknown 1 CHAN 2 DATE 10 Aug 2004 3 TIME 18:49 1 FAMS @F28@ 0 @I106@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMC @F28@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I109@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F479@ 1 FAMC @F18@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I11@ INDI 1 NAME Frederick Carl Benjamin (Fred) /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Frederick Carl Benjamin (Fred) 2 SURN Stelzriede 2 _AKA Fred // 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 14 May 1894 2 PLAC Hoyleton, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 11 Aug 1989 2 PLAC Alton, IL 1 BURI 2 PLAC Valley View Cemetery, Edwardsville, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 5 Mar 2005 3 TIME 21:13 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Program Files\Legacy\MARY KRIETEMEIER STELZRIEDE FAMILY.jpg 2 TITL Mary Krietemeier Stelzriede Family 2 NOTE (L-R) Julia (Babe), Ruth, Fred, Mary, Mae. Abt 1910. 2 _SCBK Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\DATA\Ancestry\LegacyData\Pictures\FredC-ERuthStelzriede1970sm.jpg 2 TITL E. Ruth and Fred C. Stelzriede 2 NOTE 1970. E. Ruth Kinney Brown and Fred C. Stelzriede. 1970 2 _SCBK Y 2 _PRIM Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 FAMS @F4@ 1 FAMC @F19@ 1 NOTE @NI11@ 0 @NI11@ NOTE 1 CONC THE MEMOIRS OF FREDERICK CARL BENJAMIN STELZRIEDE 1 CONT (Recorded Spring 1982 at age 87, recorded by Keturah (Kaye 1 CONC ) Stelzriede Sickbert and transcribed by her daughter Sandr 1 CONC a Sickbert Thompson) 1 CONT 1 CONT REMEMBRANCES OF CHILDHOOD (abridged version) 1 CONT 1 CONT I, Frederick Carl Benjamin Stelzriede, was the third chil 1 CONC d of Frederick Christian Stelzriede and Anna Maria Charlott 1 CONC e Krietemeier Stelzriede. My first sister died shortly afte 1 CONC r birth, about two years later my sister Mae Elizabeth wa 1 CONC s born, and then I was born on May 14, 1894. I have a haz 1 CONC y memory of my maternal grandfather dying when he was somew 1 CONC here in his fifties, I think. He had been a coal miner an 1 CONC d a miller, and they were living at Nashville, Illinois, a 1 CONC t the time he died. The hazy memory of mine is that we call 1 CONC ed there after he had died, and we were in my grandmother' 1 CONC s home. I just recall being in the rooms and especially i 1 CONC n the hall which, in the small house they had, was betwee 1 CONC n the kitchen and the bedrooms. Then I remember Mother an 1 CONC d Father bidding my grandmother goodbye, and that's all I r 1 CONC emember of that. I think that is about the earliest memor 1 CONC y I have. 1 CONT Another memory that I have is of my father. I just don't kn 1 CONC ow exactly how old I was, but my mischievous nature showe 1 CONC d up that time because we had a pile of lumber by the sid 1 CONC e of the barn lot. The pile was raised up a little bit by s 1 CONC ome wooden blocks so that there was room for chickens to ge 1 CONC t under it. There was a chicken that had a flock of littl 1 CONC e chickens, and she was scratching around that old woodpil 1 CONC e and all the little chickens were running around. When I c 1 CONC ame up, she had her chickens underneath the pile of lumbe 1 CONC r and she kept them under her wings. Well, I got the idea t 1 CONC hat I'd like to see those chickens come out, so I got a pol 1 CONC e and began shoving it under the woodpile. The old hen woul 1 CONC d get angry and she would come out at me and ruffle up he 1 CONC r feathers. That amused me, and when she would get back und 1 CONC er with her little chicks, I'd poke it again. We had some s 1 CONC lop, we called it, that was really the garbage that came ou 1 CONC t of the kitchen from preparing meals and that would be pu 1 CONC t into buckets along with perhaps some water, dishwater, o 1 CONC r something like that, father would take that down to the h 1 CONC og pen and feed it to the hogs in a trough. They liked it b 1 CONC ecause it had so much garbage in it. Well, father came dow 1 CONC n along that way while I was poking at the hen with her lit 1 CONC tle chicks and he said, ÙSFreddy, quit that!ÙT Of course my f 1 CONC ather was very stern, an old German, and I quit it for a li 1 CONC ttle bit. Then he went on down with the slop for the hogs a 1 CONC nd I started poking the old hen again to see her come out w 1 CONC ith her little chicks. I didn't realize my father was comin 1 CONC g back behind me, and he picked me up and gave me a good pa 1 CONC ddling. Oh, I knew I needed it, - I didn't bother the hen a 1 CONC nymore. 1 CONT Another memory I have is of the time I started to school 1 CONC . I began school, I guess it must have been September or Oc 1 CONC tober, when I was between five and six years old. My mothe 1 CONC r didn't want me to wait until after I was six, so I starte 1 CONC d then. I recall that my feet were rather large and the sho 1 CONC es I had were pretty rough shoes. When I walked through th 1 CONC e woods, which had kind of a low spot in it and a lot of le 1 CONC aves and moisture, there was also a little road that we use 1 CONC d to get out to school and it was quite muddy. I recall tha 1 CONC t I was having a hard time plowing through that mud. My sis 1 CONC ter Mae, two years older than I, was going ahead and she wa 1 CONC s always worried that we would be late to school. She'd say 1 CONC , ÙSHurry up, Freddy, hurry up, we'll be late!ÙT I got into t 1 CONC hat mud and I was just having an awful time wading throug 1 CONC h it. She just said, ÙSHurry up, Freddy, hurry up, Freddy. W 1 CONC e'll be late!ÙT Well, I just didn't like it at all because s 1 CONC he was hurrying all the time, but I managed to get through 1 CONC . I guess my feet were pretty muddy when I got to school. B 1 CONC ut I always felt that I was slow, and actually my mother sa 1 CONC id on occasion, ÙSFreddy is stiff. He's a little stiff. He d 1 CONC oesn't get around very well.ÙT I guess that must have been t 1 CONC rue. At any rate, nearly all of my life I have felt tha 1 CONC t I have been hurried, ever since that. 1 CONT … 1 CONT Another memory I have of school was when I was older. In th 1 CONC e springtime we used to go down into the woods or the cree 1 CONC k just below the schoolhouse. (By the way, this was jus 1 CONC t a one-room schoolhouse and the teacher taught all of th 1 CONC e classes, all of the age groups, one by one. We went to th 1 CONC e front of the school room to recite around her desk, and t 1 CONC hen when the recitation was over, we'd go back to our deck 1 CONC s and another class would come up.) Well, about this cree 1 CONC k that ran down at the bottom of the schoolyard, we often w 1 CONC ent down there to play in the fall We got the idea of takin 1 CONC g some old boards or an old tub or something, and we woul 1 CONC d slide down the bank of the creek which was quite steep. I 1 CONC t was dry and, of course, it made a lot of dust. Sometime 1 CONC s we would fall off what we were sliding down. … 1 CONT It comes to my mind that after I had grown, in fact was mar 1 CONC ried, my wife and I (I don't know if any of the children we 1 CONC re with us, but I think maybe it was just the two of us) we 1 CONC nt back to that old part of the township and visited the sc 1 CONC hool. Of course the school had been abandoned a long time a 1 CONC go, and I think they kept chickens and pigs or something li 1 CONC ke that in the school. It was kind of a nostalgic and disap 1 CONC pointing experience that I had then. 1 CONT We had a neighbor who lived just beyond the border of our p 1 CONC art of the farm. By the way, there was a creek that ran thr 1 CONC ough our farm too. Across that ditch fence there was a moth 1 CONC er and her daughter and her daughter's son living there. I' 1 CONC m quite sure that he was born out of wedlock. His name wa 1 CONC s Clint and the family's name was Newman. He went to my sch 1 CONC ool, of course. He was just about my age, and I recall on 1 CONC e day we were going home from school and he said, ÙSLet's g 1 CONC o down here and get some wild onions.ÙT It was early in th 1 CONC e spring and we got some wild onions. We had a sandwich o 1 CONC r two left in our lunch buckets, because that was the way w 1 CONC e took our lunch to school, and we made some sandwiches wit 1 CONC h some onion in it. That tasted pretty good, and I recall t 1 CONC hat that was one of the first times that I really played wi 1 CONC th Clint because it was kind of a shameful thing, you know 1 CONC . That was the way people looked at it then, to be the chil 1 CONC d of an unwed mother. But that was one of the times tha 1 CONC t I can recall going back from school. And sometimes we'd g 1 CONC o by that same fence row and get some sassafras. We'd che 1 CONC w off the bark in the early spring and get the sassafras ta 1 CONC ste, which we rather enjoyed too. 1 CONT … 1 CONT I recall that before my father's death, there was a neighbo 1 CONC r who had a little boy just about the same age that I was 1 CONC . All the rest of the family were girls, so they had a hire 1 CONC d hand to help the father in the farming. This hired hand w 1 CONC as out plowing with five horses. The five horses would dra 1 CONC w two large plows. We called them gang plows because they w 1 CONC orked together. They had wheels on them, and you could le 1 CONC t the plowshares up or down according to whether you just w 1 CONC anted to ride to the field or whether you wanted to plow. T 1 CONC he ground was plowed in lands - that is, a certain number o 1 CONC f yards was stepped off. That meant that when the field wa 1 CONC s plowed, there was always a furrow between what we calle 1 CONC d lands. Of course, when you got to plowing with five horse 1 CONC s, three behind and two in front, you had quite a lot of li 1 CONC nes to begin with. But when you got to the end, you had t 1 CONC o be careful the way you turned around. When you finally go 1 CONC t down to plowing this land piece of ground that you were o 1 CONC n, you couldn't very well turn that plow around because i 1 CONC t always got narrower and narrower, the land that was lef 1 CONC t unplowed. When they got a certain number of these lands 1 CONC , they would take the two horses off the front. Usually the 1 CONC y were tied up to a fence post. The little boy had come wit 1 CONC h some lunch for the hired hand. The hired hand ate his lun 1 CONC ch and I guess he thought maybe this little boy (he must ha 1 CONC ve been about five years old) could take this team home. Th 1 CONC e team was fairly gentle, so he let the boy take the team h 1 CONC ome. When plowing with a walking plow, just one plow, you w 1 CONC alked behind it holding the handles. You always put the lin 1 CONC es around you, around your waist, or over one shoulder an 1 CONC d the other arm. This little boy thought he was pretty bi 1 CONC g taking this team home, but the trouble was that when yo 1 CONC u had nothing behind the team to pull except this (we calle 1 CONC d it a double tree and then there were single trees on i 1 CONC t - each horse was hooked to one of the single trees and th 1 CONC e double trees was hooked to the single trees), when you di 1 CONC dn't have a weight behind it, the double tree tended to fol 1 CONC low the horses and the single trees would bump on their hee 1 CONC ls. Well, this team didn't like that. They were a fairly ge 1 CONC ntle team, but they didn't like the bumping and they trie 1 CONC d to get away from the single trees. The faster they went 1 CONC , of course, the more it hit them on the heels, so they ten 1 CONC ded to go faster and faster. This little boy couldn't hol 1 CONC d the team, but he had that line around his waist. They wen 1 CONC t so fast and began to run and to gallop that they just dra 1 CONC gged him along and it killed the boy. My father heard abou 1 CONC t it and knew from the neighborhood when the funeral was t 1 CONC o be, and he took me along. That was a real traumatic exper 1 CONC ience to me because in those days the undertaker didn't fi 1 CONC x the body all up so it looked natural. The body was just w 1 CONC ashed and put into a suit or a dress and laid in the coffin 1 CONC . The coffins were very cheap, too. We went into the home 1 CONC . The sisters, of course, had doted on their little brother 1 CONC , as did the mother and father too. There they were and th 1 CONC e sisters especially were all moaning and crying because o 1 CONC f their little brother's death. Then I went and I guess m 1 CONC y father probably lifted me up or else maybe I could see, a 1 CONC nd I saw the little boy. He looked terrible and it gave m 1 CONC e a great fear of death. 1 CONT I guess it must have been a year or so after that when m 1 CONC y father was still alive. He was home helping my mother mak 1 CONC e apple butter. They made apple butter in a large black ket 1 CONC tle (they used that kettle for many other things, too), an 1 CONC d they had a stirrer on the end of a long stick (a piece o 1 CONC f lumber). The stirrer had holes on it, and you would hav 1 CONC e to stir the apple butter to keep it from sticking to th 1 CONC e kettle. My father had stayed home to stir and Mother, o 1 CONC f course, was bringing out the apples that had all been pee 1 CONC led and cut up to put in the kettle. They were both busy do 1 CONC ing that, and I had taken some lunch to my half brother, wh 1 CONC o was in the field in the same way with a team of horses wi 1 CONC th two in the lead, just like with the little boy. My broth 1 CONC er was in the same position, needing to take two of the hor 1 CONC ses off the front and plow with the three. He said to me, ÙS 1 CONC Freddy, can you take these horses home?ÙT Of course I was ea 1 CONC ger to do that and I wanted to be a man. He said, ÙSWhateve 1 CONC r you do, don't put those lines around you because you reme 1 CONC mber what happened to that little neighbor boy of ours. Wha 1 CONC tever you do, don't do that.ÙT He unhooked one side of eac 1 CONC h single tree and that put the horses a little farther away 1 CONC . Yet they apparently knew that I wasn't somebody who kne 1 CONC w how to handle horses. I just held the lines in my hands 1 CONC , and the horses began to walk toward the house, They wer 1 CONC e in the same position as that other team was, and the sing 1 CONC le tree kept bumping at least a little bit at the heels o 1 CONC f these horses. They started to walk faster and faster to g 1 CONC et away from this bumping, and I got to the place where I c 1 CONC ouldn't hold them. They started into a run, then into a gal 1 CONC lop, and I just let go of the lines and let them go. They r 1 CONC an and ran toward the locked gate near the barn. My fathe 1 CONC r saw these horses coming and he was frightened. He droppe 1 CONC d that stirrer and started out to the little road that le 1 CONC d up to the gate. I guess he was greatly relieved when he s 1 CONC aw I wasn't hanging on the lines. At any rate, the horses s 1 CONC topped right at the gate, and he went to get them. That wa 1 CONC s a very scary occasion to me! 1 CONT It must have been the winter following that, or maybe two w 1 CONC inters following, that we had nothing to burn in our stoves 1 CONC . We had a kitchen range and also a stove in what we calle 1 CONC d the parlor, but there was a bed in the parlor too becaus 1 CONC e our family was pretty much crowded in the little house th 1 CONC at we had. My father went to a woods that belonged to someb 1 CONC ody else and was quite a distance from home, perhaps five o 1 CONC r ten miles away. He went in a farm wagon and took enough f 1 CONC eed along for the horses to use as the noon meal. Then he h 1 CONC ad a lunch to eat for his noon meal. My father was a hard w 1 CONC orker, and he cut up a lot of wood. He would cut it up wit 1 CONC h a saw and then use an axe to split the wood, or perhaps h 1 CONC e might bring it up to the house and split it there. I reca 1 CONC ll there was a big woodpile, and it looked like a mountai 1 CONC n to me. It looked like it was almost as high as our house 1 CONC , which wasn't very high to begin with. My father had a bi 1 CONC g pile of wood, but he just kept going. This was sometime i 1 CONC n late December or early January, sometime like that, and h 1 CONC e contracted pneumonia in doing that. He would work hard an 1 CONC d perspire, then get chilled while he ate his cold lunch. H 1 CONC e came home one day, and he was ill. They didn't know how t 1 CONC o treat pneumonia very well in those days. Of course we ha 1 CONC d a doctor who came to the house from a little town about t 1 CONC hree miles away. My father probably was sick less than a we 1 CONC ek. I guess they were really very much afraid that he migh 1 CONC t die. One night I remember I was sitting in the kitchen. W 1 CONC e had a long table in the kitchen and a bench behind it 1 CONC . I was sitting on that bench and had gotten so sleepy I pu 1 CONC t my head down on the table and went to sleep. Then I was a 1 CONC wakened by crying. I don't know, perhaps it was some neighb 1 CONC or (I think we did have some neighbors there waiting too an 1 CONC d watching my father because the so-called crisis was comin 1 CONC g), but one of them came in and awakened me, saying ÙSPapa i 1 CONC s dead.ÙT That was another traumatic experience for me becau 1 CONC se we were not rich at all, and I guess the funeral, the wa 1 CONC y of taking care of bodies was not anywhere near what it i 1 CONC s now. At any rate, I remember that we had a very black, ch 1 CONC eap-looking casket (at least it would be in today's eyes) 1 CONC , and my father was placed in that. Then I recall going t 1 CONC o church to the funeral. This was a church that was out i 1 CONC n the country called North Prairie. There was a cemetery ri 1 CONC ght next to the church. After the service the family gather 1 CONC ed around to take a last view of the deceased one, and I re 1 CONC call seeing my father lying there so pale and emaciated i 1 CONC n that old black casket. That was another traumatic experie 1 CONC nce too - my father's death. After that, of course, what we 1 CONC re we going to do? My mother was very much broken up. She h 1 CONC ad four children - three girls and a boy - and there wa 1 CONC s a stepdaughter and a stepson who were left with her there 1 CONC , so what in the world was she to do? It was a great shoc 1 CONC k to my mother, I know that, so my Uncle John Kihnlein, wh 1 CONC o had married my mother's next younger sister, Aunt Julia 1 CONC , came to live with us. He had been working in a factory i 1 CONC n St. Louis, and I guess was doing pretty well because he w 1 CONC as a good carpenter and a good workman. He came to live wit 1 CONC h us and to manage the farm. He and Aunt Julia built a litt 1 CONC le two-room house that they lived in and the rest of us liv 1 CONC ed in the other old house. Uncle John was a wonderful man 1 CONC . He had a very high temper, but yet he was a good man. H 1 CONC e chewed tobacco and smoked a pipe when he had a chance. Ho 1 CONC wever, my father did not. I recall that I found a cigar, a 1 CONC n old cheap cigar, lying in the bureau drawer and I knew be 1 CONC tter than to do anything with that cigar because my mothe 1 CONC r had left it lying there and my father never smoked. He ei 1 CONC ther would put a cigar that was given him, because he had p 1 CONC aid a bill or something like that, in the bureau drawer. So 1 CONC metimes he would just take it and lay it up on a joist in t 1 CONC he barn, but he never smoked it, he never chewed, and he ne 1 CONC ver drank any liquor. In fact, when we had his funeral, th 1 CONC e obituary the pastor wrote to be put in the paper in Germa 1 CONC n said that he was an ÙSechten Christ,ÙT which mean that alth 1 CONC ough his middle name was Christian, he was a good Christian 1 CONC . I've always cherished that thought because he was, even t 1 CONC hough I don't remember him too well. 1 CONT Uncle John worked the farm until the farm itself was sold 1 CONC . Of course there had to be a lot of legal things that ha 1 CONC d to be taken care of. There had to be a certain amount o 1 CONC f time, about two years, I think, before the full estate co 1 CONC uld be settled. Mother, of course, got what was called a do 1 CONC wry, a certain percentage of what Father had. The price o 1 CONC f the farm that was finally gotten had to be divided, howev 1 CONC er, and each one of us children (including the stepchildre 1 CONC n because they were his own) got a portion, so there wasn' 1 CONC t a great deal left. Uncle John was certainly a kind of a s 1 CONC urrogate father to me, and I always have thought very highl 1 CONC y of him. In fact, he did live a good life. Uncle John an 1 CONC d Aunt Julia moved to Centralia, Illinois, so finally we mo 1 CONC ved there too, which was quite an experience itself. 1 CONT There were a lot of things that came in there in that perio 1 CONC d. I don't know whether I should put this in or not, bu 1 CONC t a near neighbor, Christ Uphoff, lived between a quarter a 1 CONC nd a half-mile from us. [Note by R. Nelson- It is quite lik 1 CONC ely that the Uphoffs came from Hille or descended from Hill 1 CONC e inhabitants. There is an Uphoff in the Stelzriede famil 1 CONC y tree.] They were always good neighbors. I always though 1 CONC t that he was pretty long on his prayers, but they were mem 1 CONC bers of the same church that we were members of. Sometime 1 CONC s I thought that he was awfully hard on his family. I kno 1 CONC w that he had a daughter, really his only daughter that wa 1 CONC s at home. He also had three boys, I believe. At any rate 1 CONC , they finally sold their farm. I often had gone over to th 1 CONC eir place and played with their son Leslie. He and I were p 1 CONC retty good friends. They had a hammock made out of barrel s 1 CONC taves and wire, and we used to swing in that hammock. The 1 CONC y decided to sell out before we moved to Centralia, and the 1 CONC y sold their farm. They had to give the people who bought i 1 CONC t a chance to get in at a certain time to harvest their cro 1 CONC ps. Wheat was sown in the fall, so it was in the fall tha 1 CONC t they came. This was after my Uncle John had moved to Cent 1 CONC ralia and gotten a job in the mines there. Of course, the c 1 CONC rops had been harvested on our ground too, and I think th 1 CONC e people who bought the farm had put in the wheat crop on o 1 CONC ur farm also. The Uphoffs came to live at the little two-ro 1 CONC om place that Uncle John had built for himself, his wife, a 1 CONC nd little boy. So they were living there right next to us 1 CONC . I recall that even though Leslie and I were very good fri 1 CONC ends and had been neighbors for a long time, I was mischiev 1 CONC ous and would get Leslie angry at me and then I would run 1 CONC . I would run around the pigpen, the barn lot, and everywhe 1 CONC re to keep him from catching me because he was about to hi 1 CONC t me with a stick. Then I'd laugh at him and that would mak 1 CONC e him pretty angry, but we were good friends until they mov 1 CONC ed away. I recall that my half brother Arthur and my Uncl 1 CONC e John came, and with farm wagons we moved to Centralia, wh 1 CONC ich was perhaps a dozen miles, or maybe fifteen miles, fro 1 CONC m where we lived. I can recall that Mae and I were on the s 1 CONC pring seat in that wagon loaded with our farm goods. We fol 1 CONC lowed my Uncle John, who had another wagon in front wit 1 CONC h a lot of our household goods. I recall we made that tri 1 CONC p to Centralia, where my mother had bought a little house o 1 CONC n the edge of town not far from where my Uncle John lived 1 CONC , so we had them near. Then my Uncle Ed, who had married an 1 CONC other sister of my mother's, Aunt Lizzie, came from St. Lou 1 CONC is. I guess for some reason the jobs must have been less o 1 CONC r he decided he could make more money in the mines than h 1 CONC e could make as a motorman on the streetcars in those days 1 CONC . At any rate, they moved to Centralia too, and they were l 1 CONC iving very near to Uncle John - almost next door, I thin 1 CONC k - so we had people to help take care of us and watch afte 1 CONC r us. But my mother had a very difficult time. I didn't rea 1 CONC lize it, but oftentimes we were indeed very poor. I can rem 1 CONC ember once when I was perhaps twelve or thirteen years old 1 CONC , coming through the bedroom (I slept in what was called th 1 CONC e front room) to go to my room, and I saw my mother kneelin 1 CONC g at the side of her bed with a tithe box. She always tithe 1 CONC d her income and had it in a baking-powder can. We had to b 1 CONC uy some things on credit quite often, and she had gotte 1 CONC n a statement from the grocery man saying she owed so muc 1 CONC h money. I don't know what else he might have said, perhap 1 CONC s that he would have to cut off the credit or something i 1 CONC f she didn't pay. At any rate, she was kneeling at the sid 1 CONC e of her bed there with this tithe can in front of her, try 1 CONC ing to decide if she had any right to take the tithe to hel 1 CONC p pay this bill. I tiptoed on through to my room, and it ma 1 CONC de a great impression on me. 1 CONT It was perhaps a year after that. Mother was always good t 1 CONC o us children, but there being three girls, she had them t 1 CONC o do the housework, of course. She never seemed to be har 1 CONC d on me at all. The girls have said since they thought I wa 1 CONC s Mom's pet. Maybe I was in a way, but of course I was th 1 CONC e only masculine person around the house and perhaps she th 1 CONC ought, ÙSWell, Freddy can take care of me when he gets older 1 CONC .ÙT At any rate, I recall that I thought to myself one eveni 1 CONC ng, ÙSHere's Mom in the wintertime. She's always making th 1 CONC e fire in the dining room where we eat.ÙT We had a little st 1 CONC ove in there, and we had nothing but coal and maybe sometim 1 CONC es corn cobs to burn. We had a range in the kitchen, the ol 1 CONC d range we brought from the farm, and we burned coal in tha 1 CONC t. Well, she made all the fires and her hands would crack i 1 CONC n the wintertime. The skin would crack and get coal black i 1 CONC n those cracks. It was hard to get her hands clean, so I th 1 CONC ought to myself, ÙSHere I am, old lazy lump, lying in the be 1 CONC d early in the morning and waiting for the room to get warm 1 CONC ed up, and Mom's in there doing all that.ÙT So I said to he 1 CONC r the next day, ÙSMom, I'm getting up to make the fires. Yo 1 CONC u stay in bed.ÙT Well, she was surprised, but she did. She l 1 CONC et me go ahead and from that time on, I built the fires. W 1 CONC e had to take up ashes first and then build the fires and g 1 CONC et the room warm. 1 CONT I remember another thing from before my father died about m 1 CONC y oldest half brother Henry. I don't know what his age wa 1 CONC s but he must have been past eighteen (boys were supposed t 1 CONC o have reached their majority when they were eighteen). May 1 CONC be he wasn't quite eighteen - he might have been seventee 1 CONC n - but I recall he had a strong head and will of his own 1 CONC . One evening, (I was still a very small boy, perhaps abou 1 CONC t six or seven years old - I guess I must have been six a 1 CONC t least because it was before my father died) they came in 1 CONC . I didn't notice it especially, but I thought Father was v 1 CONC ery quiet. He always was a quiet man anyway, so I didn't th 1 CONC ink much about it. But I saw a big hickory stick sitting th 1 CONC ere in the corner of the kitchen. Finally Henry came in an 1 CONC d Father began talking to Henry, that he hadn't done what F 1 CONC ather had asked him to do and apparently he had been in tha 1 CONC t position for some time. He was, of course, an adolescent 1 CONC , grown and he felt like making up his own mind about thing 1 CONC s. I know that finally my father said, ÙSHenry, either you c 1 CONC an take a whipping from me right now or else you can leav 1 CONC e home.ÙT Well, Henry chose the next day to leave home, an 1 CONC d he went up north to northern Illinois (really we call i 1 CONC t central Illinois now, but then we called it going up nort 1 CONC h). He went up north and got a job with some farmer up ther 1 CONC e. He lived there and he never came home until my father' 1 CONC s death. By that time he had married, and they had a littl 1 CONC e girl they called Helen. I can just recall when my fathe 1 CONC r died that they came home and that Henry, of course, was s 1 CONC orrowful. His wife was with him and also his little girl. H 1 CONC elen was just a toddler, just starting to walk, and I recal 1 CONC l that very sad experience. Oftentimes I have thought of i 1 CONC t and wondered what Henry's thoughts were when he came. O 1 CONC f course, I think Father had been too strict on him the wa 1 CONC y they treat young people these days, but my father had bee 1 CONC n born in Germany and those old Germans were very strict wi 1 CONC th their children. He had just followed that pattern that h 1 CONC e had learned at home, of the children having to obey thei 1 CONC r parents as long as they were at home. 1 CONT I can remember a Christmas before my father died. One Chris 1 CONC tmas Father took me and Mae to town with him. He traded a 1 CONC t the store of a man who must have been either a brother o 1 CONC r an uncle or something of my father's first wife. It wa 1 CONC s a Krueger store, and my father wanted to do some Christma 1 CONC s shopping and perhaps he had to arrange for a little credi 1 CONC t with Mr. Krueger too. ... We went on home after a while a 1 CONC nd Christmas came around. At home instead of hanging up sto 1 CONC cking like they do here (which practice I think came from E 1 CONC ngland), we put plates on the table at the place where we u 1 CONC sually sat at the table. I think that was an old German cus 1 CONC tom. Sometimes children put a dishpan there and sometimes t 1 CONC heir parents would play a trick on them and not have anythi 1 CONC ng in the dishpan. We had plates and we got candy and othe 1 CONC r little gifts there. I recall this particular Christmas be 1 CONC fore my father died, I came in there to my place at the tab 1 CONC le and my eyes nearly bugged out because there was a beauti 1 CONC ful little red express wagon right at my place. What a surp 1 CONC rise that was and how I treasured that little express wagon 1 CONC ! 1 CONT We had a lot of Christmases when Mother was there. She alwa 1 CONC ys had something to give us. It might be something she ha 1 CONC d made herself or it might be some little toy or trinket 1 CONC . I recall that usually we children, even when we first mov 1 CONC ed to Centralia, would perhaps be given a nickel or maybe e 1 CONC ven a dime. Usually the amount was in copper pennies or w 1 CONC e changed them to that. Then we would buy little sticks o 1 CONC f candy or something like that to give to each other. We le 1 CONC arned the way of giving to everyone and trying not to mis 1 CONC s anyone that was in our family. Oftentimes, too, we woul 1 CONC d make little things to give to our uncle and aunt and ou 1 CONC r cousin Wesley Kihnlein, who lived close to us because Unc 1 CONC le John built a house that was next door to us. He did quit 1 CONC e a little carpenter work even after he quit mining, and h 1 CONC e also dabbled a little bit in real estate, buying some lan 1 CONC d right next to our place. That's how they happened to be s 1 CONC uch close neighbors to us. I also remember one Christmas wh 1 CONC en Uncle John made a Christmas tree by boring holes in a br 1 CONC oomstick in which he stuck cedar branches to make a tree. 1 CONT There is another memory of something before we moved to Cen 1 CONC tralia - my first trip to St. Louis. It was after my father 1 CONC 's death when Uncle John had come to work on our farm. My U 1 CONC ncle Ed and Aunt Lizzie were living in St. Louis and they d 1 CONC ecided, I guess, that Mother and we children too should hav 1 CONC e a little vacation. They had us come to St. Louis to sta 1 CONC y with my Uncle Ed at his house while the St. Louis World' 1 CONC s Fair was going on in 1904. That was two years, perhaps, a 1 CONC fter my father had died. I recall that we were taken to th 1 CONC e station three miles away at Beaucoup, Illinois, and wen 1 CONC t in on the railroad train. What an experience that was! Go 1 CONC ing across the bridge over the Mississippi River, as I look 1 CONC ed down it looked to me like the people were just like litt 1 CONC le dolls walking around, as I was looking at that distanc 1 CONC e from the train down to the riverbed. When we got across 1 CONC , we went through a tunnel on the train. The train stoppe 1 CONC d at what was called the Washington Street Station, and the 1 CONC n we went on a little farther still through the tunnel unti 1 CONC l we came out to the Union Station, which was 'way over o 1 CONC n Market Street (Market and 14th or 16th or something lik 1 CONC e that). There was where we got off. Then we had to tak 1 CONC e a streetcar (they called it an electric car or trolley ca 1 CONC r) to Uncle Ed's place. I recall being there and I recall t 1 CONC hat of an evening we would see the fireflies around in th 1 CONC e air because they lived near some large empty lots. I reme 1 CONC mber how Mae would get an old tin can of some kind and catc 1 CONC h those fireflies. She would put them in the can and cove 1 CONC r them up, and then she'd open it up and they would be glow 1 CONC ing then with their lights. I recall the trolley cars runni 1 CONC ng through St. Louis, too. Of course, Uncle Ed was one of t 1 CONC he motormen. They had open-air cars for the wintertime. The 1 CONC re were a lot of people riding on the trolley cars in thos 1 CONC e days. We went out to the Fair in the trolley cars. I enjo 1 CONC yed the animal cages and looking at the various animals a g 1 CONC reat deal. But when we got to the buildings, it was somethi 1 CONC ng else. Of course, they had many things in the many grea 1 CONC t buildings but there were a lot of concrete places in betw 1 CONC een. I just didn't know whether I enjoyed it too much or no 1 CONC t unless I got to something that aroused my curiosity. The 1 CONC n I wanted to spend quite a little time. Of course we got s 1 CONC ome ice-cream cones, I think perhaps the first I'd ever eat 1 CONC en. Maybe they were not the first, but they were very rar 1 CONC e if I had ever eaten any at a picnic before that. We had q 1 CONC uite an experience there in St. Louis and finally went bac 1 CONC k home again, but I never forgot that experience at the Wor 1 CONC ld's Fair in St. Louis. 1 CONT Aunt Julia was always a great lover of animals especially 1 CONC . She liked flowers too (she raised a lot of flowers), bu 1 CONC t she liked animals and they always had at least a little d 1 CONC og or a dog and a cat. Uncle John had built a cage of ver 1 CONC y small wire netting. On a farm like that, especially in th 1 CONC ose days, hogs were always being killed for winter meat. Th 1 CONC at's the way we did it - we smoked it or fried it down (fri 1 CONC ed-down ham) and then put it in lard. Then we sealed it wit 1 CONC h paraffin or something of that sort. That's where we had o 1 CONC ur meat in the wintertime, and sometimes we would even kil 1 CONC l beef (I know Uncle John did). They would be skinned and c 1 CONC ut up in pieces. Then they would be processed in one way o 1 CONC r another. Sometimes the meat was canned like a canned frui 1 CONC t, and sometimes it was put up in tin cans. You would hav 1 CONC e a lid that went on it, and then you melted sealing wax an 1 CONC d sealed those cans with that. You learned that you had t 1 CONC o live off the land - the things that you raised. In orde 1 CONC r to get meat, hogs and cows and chickens and ducks and thi 1 CONC ngs of that sort were killed and used for food in that. 1 CONT I recall that one time while we were still on the farm, Ma 1 CONC e and I were playing out in the yard near this old machin 1 CONC e shed, and they had pulled one of these gang plows that ha 1 CONC d two plows on it. Those plows were raised or lowered wit 1 CONC h levers. I would get up on those plows and play like I wa 1 CONC s plowing, the way we expressed our imaginations of what wa 1 CONC s being done all around us during the year. I recall that s 1 CONC omeone had taught me (I guess this was before my father die 1 CONC d), had taught me some rhymes. One of them was in German: ÙS 1 CONC Ich bin der Herr Pastor, Ich predich euch was vor. Und wen 1 CONC n ich nicht mehr weiter kann, Denn fang ich wieder von erst 1 CONC en an.ÙT It meant, ÙSI am the preacher, I am preaching someth 1 CONC ing to you, And when I can't go any farther, I start agai 1 CONC n from the beginning.ÙT That's the translation, and I can re 1 CONC call always standing up there as proud as can be and I wa 1 CONC s the Herr Pastor. I wasn't thinking anything of going int 1 CONC o the pastorate at that time, but I've often thought sinc 1 CONC e in my older years that maybe that's where something got s 1 CONC tarted in my brain. You never know. 1 CONT … 1 CONT After Uncle John came to our place (it may have been the fo 1 CONC llowing summer), some of our family (I think maybe even Mot 1 CONC her for a little while,) had what they called a touch of ty 1 CONC phoid fever. Of course they didn't know how to handle tha 1 CONC t as well as they do today, but we had old Dr. Meer come ou 1 CONC t from Beaucoup, three miles away, and take care of the sic 1 CONC k. I came down with it and really had it. We didn't know fo 1 CONC r certain whether or not it came from contaminated water i 1 CONC n our well. The well was cleaned very thoroughly after that 1 CONC , of course. (By the way, I'll just throw this in. When the 1 CONC y were cleaning it, they found an old brass hand bell and w 1 CONC e still have that.) To get back to my story of the typhoi 1 CONC d fever, I was very low and they were not sure whether or n 1 CONC ot I was going to pull through. I think I was in bed abou 1 CONC t six or seven weeks, and I didn't know anything from the t 1 CONC ime that I really began to feel the effects of it. I recal 1 CONC l that before I was down in bed that I was standing on th 1 CONC e sill of the old smokehouse door where the meat was usuall 1 CONC y smoked, looking out the open door across the pasture an 1 CONC d the creek where I had often played. I don't remember anyt 1 CONC hing more after that. I simply was out of my head. I recal 1 CONC l that my half sister Millie would come to the bed and si 1 CONC t with me because I was always picking at my skin somewhere 1 CONC . I would actually get sores on my hands and sometimes on m 1 CONC y face from clawing at my hands and my face. She would si 1 CONC t with me and would grab my hands and hold them for long ti 1 CONC mes until I went to sleep again. One of the medicines the 1 CONC y gave in those days was quinine. I would call when I was b 1 CONC eginning to feel better and finally woke up to where I wa 1 CONC s and what shape I was in. I was hardly anything more tha 1 CONC n skin and bones. At first I couldn't walk across the roo 1 CONC m without help. Finally I got so I could walk around the pl 1 CONC ace a little bit. I recall one day I went to the orchard an 1 CONC d had found a good apple there. I thought, ÙSBoy, that woul 1 CONC d be good to eat.ÙT Then I walked down to the pumpkin patc 1 CONC h where there were a lot of pumpkins. There was a big orang 1 CONC e-colored pumpkin, and I sat down on it and started to ea 1 CONC t a little bit of the apple. I knew that I had been warne 1 CONC d not to do it so I didn't eat anymore, but when my folks f 1 CONC ound it out, boy, did I get a scolding! ÙSYou shouldn't do t 1 CONC hat. Don't you know the doctor said you mustn't eat anythin 1 CONC g that's hard? It's all got to be soft!ÙT At any rate, I go 1 CONC t along all right, but I never have forgotten that experien 1 CONC ce - how I walked around and staggered around for days on m 1 CONC y thin spindly legs. 1 CONT That brings to mind another story. Not too long after tha 1 CONC t (this was when Uncle John was there - I had that typhoi 1 CONC d fever shortly after they came), that fall then, Arthur an 1 CONC d Uncle John (Arthur was my half brother) were husking corn 1 CONC . Many crops would be cut and stood up in shocks to sort o 1 CONC f let them cure. They did that with corn, too, but they did 1 CONC n't put any caps over the top of it because the ears that h 1 CONC ad the grain in them were farther down. Then early in the f 1 CONC all or at the time there was even a little frost, they woul 1 CONC d go out with a wagon and the team. They had husking pegs t 1 CONC hey would put on their hands (sometimes they wore gloves) 1 CONC , and they would pull the husks or shucks off the corn, shu 1 CONC ck the corn off, and throw it into the wagon. I was in th 1 CONC e wagon and we were going across the corn hills. Before th 1 CONC e corn matured, while it was still green, they would go thr 1 CONC ough with plows and hill the dirt up to the corn. We were g 1 CONC oing across those corn ridges with the wagon, and I was u 1 CONC p in the wagon bed doing the driving. I was still not ver 1 CONC y old, about ten or eleven years old, and the men (Uncle Jo 1 CONC hn and Arthur), were husking out, taking the stalks of cor 1 CONC n off the shock and husking it out and throwing that in th 1 CONC e back of the wagon. We had one old mare and her colt whic 1 CONC h was now old enough to drive. They had been put in harnes 1 CONC s and hitched together. One of the men (I think it was Arth 1 CONC ur) suddenly came from behind the shocks of corn and his su 1 CONC dden appearance apparently frightened this young mare tha 1 CONC t we called Puss (her mother's name was Nellie). She took o 1 CONC ne lunge forward, pulled her mother along with her, and bot 1 CONC h of them got scared. The wagon was going up and down ove 1 CONC r those corn ridges. Fortunately the tongue was a little bi 1 CONC t long and the double tree came loose from the tongue. The 1 CONC n the neck yoke came off the tongue, and I had hold of th 1 CONC e lines. I didn't have a great deal of strength, and the ed 1 CONC ge of the lines cut my fingers. Before the double tree cam 1 CONC e off, the tongue went into one of those ridges. Pulling o 1 CONC n the other end of the tongue, the end nearest the wagon bo 1 CONC x, caused the front wheels of the wagon to rise up, and th 1 CONC e double tree came out. In the meantime, when the wagon rol 1 CONC led up, I slid to the back of the wagon box. When the doubl 1 CONC e tree came out, then the front wheels went back down an 1 CONC d I sort of lunged to the front. I cut the front of my hea 1 CONC d on the edges of the wagon box, which were lined with iron 1 CONC . I've often thought of that - that was a providential thin 1 CONC g. I could have been killed with those horses running if th 1 CONC ey hadn't been undone because they were going right for th 1 CONC e house with no lines to hold them anymore. I got out a ver 1 CONC y shaken boy and was taken to the house. I think of some o 1 CONC f the narrow escapes I've had, and they look providential t 1 CONC o me. 1 CONT My half sister Millie, who was home quite some time after w 1 CONC e had moved to Centralia, finally married a man. I don't re 1 CONC ally know how she met him, but his name was August Meyer an 1 CONC d we always called him Gus. I always sort of felt close t 1 CONC o my half sister Millie. When I was about twelve years old 1 CONC , my mother asked if I could go out there and stay with the 1 CONC m during the summer. They decided I could go and help a lit 1 CONC tle bit with chores and maybe some field work on the farm 1 CONC . I did this each summer for quite a number of summers. I r 1 CONC ecall they had big maple trees in their front yard, and I u 1 CONC sed to climb up in those maple trees and look around. I enj 1 CONC oyed that very much. Also they had a dog they called Carlo 1 CONC . He was just kind of a small dog - brown and black - and w 1 CONC as a good old dog. He didn't like strangers to come aroun 1 CONC d the place very much, but he didn't offer to bite them. Th 1 CONC ere was an old fellow that used to come around in the harve 1 CONC st time. We called them bums. They were apparently men wh 1 CONC o just for one reason or another liked to drift around an 1 CONC d get jobs where they could. This old fellow whose name wa 1 CONC s McKittrick (we always called him McKittrick) was kind o 1 CONC f fat and slept in the little box bedroom where I usually s 1 CONC lept. My half sister Millie put me on a pad in the front ro 1 CONC om, the parlor. Their room was in between this little bedro 1 CONC om and the parlor, and of course they had an entrance to th 1 CONC e kitchen too from their room. McKittrick slept in this lit 1 CONC tle box bedroom and he snored. Oh my, how that man snored 1 CONC ! I could hear him in the parlor if I was not asleep. He wa 1 CONC s snoring like that one night and Carlo just didn't know wh 1 CONC at it was. He would run around the house just barking lik 1 CONC e everything and trying to locate where this terrible nois 1 CONC e was coming from. It kept me awake, of course, and it go 1 CONC t funny to me after a while. I was mad because I couldn't g 1 CONC o to sleep, but it got awfully funny when that dog just cha 1 CONC sed around the house. I don't remember what night that happ 1 CONC ened but it was quite something! 1 CONT When I was working for Gus during the year, oftentimes I wo 1 CONC uld plow with a walking plow. I recall one spring, it was o 1 CONC ne of those chilly March or April days, we were having jus 1 CONC t a little drizzle. It really wasn't enough to wet us throu 1 CONC gh and through, and I was barefoot, although I was wearin 1 CONC g a jacket to keep the drizzle off me. I was plowing alon 1 CONC g with a walking plow and all at once I stepped on somethin 1 CONC g that was colder than the ground. I looked down and ther 1 CONC e was part of a snake that was coming up off the moldboar 1 CONC d and the other part was still in the ground. I had steppe 1 CONC d on that, and I jumped as high as the plow handle, I'll be 1 CONC t. I used to run the cultivator too, cultivating corn. We h 1 CONC ad a piece of ground that was full of stumps. The thing tha 1 CONC t held the shovel was held rigid by a little oak peg throug 1 CONC h holes. When you happened to run into something, it didn' 1 CONC t wreck your plow but it just broke the pin and pulled th 1 CONC e shovel back. I remember all those pins that I whittled an 1 CONC d stuck in there while I was plowing that stumpy ground. An 1 CONC other time was when we had a wheat harvest. I was at Gus' 1 CONC s the same as usual and drove the binder. I was really to 1 CONC o light and too weak to shock the grain, so Gus said, ÙSI'l 1 CONC l shock it and you can get up here and drive this binder. 1 CONC ÙT It wasn't very much like the combines they have nowaday 1 CONC s - it didn't work that way. It cut the wheat with a sickl 1 CONC e that ran back and forth at the front, and there was a ree 1 CONC l that threw the wheat back onto a canvas. That canvas trav 1 CONC eled, then hit another canvas, and traveled up to the compa 1 CONC rtment of the machine that would take the stalks of wheat a 1 CONC nd pack them up. Then there was what we called the needle t 1 CONC hat took the thread and somehow worked around that bundle a 1 CONC nd tied it very tightly. Then it was cut off and the bundl 1 CONC e would drop off into what we called a carrier that was mad 1 CONC e of small pieces of iron, long pieces of iron bent somewha 1 CONC t, about the size of one's little finger. We'd carry as man 1 CONC y bundles as the thing would carry, and then we would hi 1 CONC t a pedal that would bring those bars back to the side an 1 CONC d the wheat would drop off. There it was in piles, and Gu 1 CONC s would take it and set it up straight and put a cap on to 1 CONC p of it. I was driving that binder and we were on some grou 1 CONC nd that sort of sloped off toward the creek. Oftentimes dur 1 CONC ing the summer rains, there would be places in that groun 1 CONC d where the water would gather and then run off toward th 1 CONC e creek and cut a sort of a deep furrow, not very wide bu 1 CONC t rather deep. One day I was driving along, cutting wheat 1 CONC , and wasn't paying too much attention except to the horse 1 CONC s and watching the wheat falling on that canvas. All at onc 1 CONC e, without my being able to see it on account of the wheat 1 CONC , the big wheel (there were two or three wheels on that thi 1 CONC ng to run along the ground) which ran all this machinery hi 1 CONC t that thing and just dropped down and almost kept me fro 1 CONC m staying on the seat. When it bounced back up, it bounce 1 CONC d me up and I thought for a minute that sure as the worl 1 CONC d I was going to fall down on that canvas and maybe even ge 1 CONC t hit by the reel and put down on the sickle. I thought tha 1 CONC t just for an instant, but I caught myself and I stayed the 1 CONC re. That was kind of a frightening experience, but all tha 1 CONC t wheat harvest I think I cut all the wheat. As I recall 1 CONC , I was twelve years old and here I was doing the work o 1 CONC f a man on a binder like that. 1 CONT … 1 CONT I remember one summer (I guess I had been there maybe a cou 1 CONC ple of summers or something like that), Gus came to me. H 1 CONC e must have had a pretty good harvest, and when I was read 1 CONC y to come home, he brought me twelve big silver dollars. H 1 CONC e said, ÙSHere now, you can take these home with you. I'm gi 1 CONC ving you those for your work this summer.ÙT That was quit 1 CONC e a thrill! I don't think I spent any of the dollars becaus 1 CONC e Mom needed them too badly. 1 CONT Another thing that comes to my mind about the school, ever 1 CONC y once in a while in order to have something more for schoo 1 CONC l funds (perhaps that's where our library came from, too) 1 CONC , they would have a pie-and-box supper. The older girls an 1 CONC d a lot of times the married people and single people tha 1 CONC t were at home would bring a box of food. Oftentimes this w 1 CONC as in the fall after the pears and the apples had ripened w 1 CONC ell. By the way, in Pleasant Grove Township, Washington Cou 1 CONC nty, we grew some of the best apples - Roman Beauty, Golde 1 CONC n Delicious, Jonathan, and Grimes Golden. They would have t 1 CONC hose pears and apples in there as well as sandwiches and ma 1 CONC ybe some pie or some cake. Then they'd auction these boxe 1 CONC s off. Of course, the fellows who took a notion to certai 1 CONC n girls would be the ones who would bid. They'd come prepar 1 CONC ed usually to bid the highest they could to see if they cou 1 CONC ld get that box. I can recall one time my half sister Milli 1 CONC e had a box there. Some of the pears that were on that pea 1 CONC r tree next to our home, oh they were delicious! I think th 1 CONC ey must have been some of the best pears around. They wer 1 CONC e simply delicious and very juicy. Millie had some of thos 1 CONC e pears in there. I don't remember who got her box, but I c 1 CONC an remember she laughed about it when she got home - how th 1 CONC at fellow would take a pear and take a bite and then he wou 1 CONC ld shake the juice off his hand. It was fun to watch that! 1 CONT … 1 CONT Another time we had a teacher and I felt very sorry for her 1 CONC . She was having a hard time. I think she probably had som 1 CONC e T.B. and was not very strong. She was a fairly good-size 1 CONC d woman but she wasn't very strong. There were some with th 1 CONC e devil who were always pretty mean because they thought th 1 CONC ey could get away with so much with her. I can recall for s 1 CONC ome reason or another some boy had done something pretty ba 1 CONC d. I guess she knew an easy mark, so she said, ÙSFreddy, wil 1 CONC l you go down and cut me a switch?ÙT She told us she was goi 1 CONC ng to give him a whipping. I went down to the creek and cu 1 CONC t her a switch and brought it up. Of course, the boy go 1 CONC t a whipping in front of the whole school, and I got threat 1 CONC ened about that. I don't think they ever really did anythin 1 CONC g to me, but I didn't feel I could refuse and anyway I fel 1 CONC t sorry for the woman. She was just doing the best she coul 1 CONC d with a whole room full of kids, and some of them were lit 1 CONC tle devils too. 1 CONT I can recall one of the things they used to do - some of th 1 CONC ose boys would bring apples to school and put them in thei 1 CONC r desks. Then while they were supposed to be studying (som 1 CONC e of the classes within that room - fifth grade on throug 1 CONC h the eighth - would be reciting before the teacher), the 1 CONC y would get out the apple and take a chomp out of it and ma 1 CONC ke a noise, then slip it back in the desk and be chewing ap 1 CONC ple. Of course they would get scolded for that and sometime 1 CONC s they would get slapped for it. 1 CONT These are many of the memories I have of my childhood. 1 CONT 1 CONT On his birth record (in German) his name is listed as Benja 1 CONC min Karl Frederick Stelzriede. Thanks to Murl Sickbert fo 1 CONC r this. 1 CONT 1 CONT ImmanuelÙus Retired MinisterÙus Sunday 1 CONT 1 CONT Frederick Carl Benjamin Stelzriede was born in the coun 1 CONC try (Hoyleton) near Centralia, Illinois, May 14, 1894, of G 1 CONC erman parents. He grew up one boy among four sisters but wi 1 CONC th two additional stepbrothers and two stepsisters. His wif 1 CONC e, Emma Ruth Kinney, was born near Carlinville, Illinois, a 1 CONC nd was the only girl in a family of four boys. She was bor 1 CONC n August 17, 1893. Their home was blessed with five childre 1 CONC n: Keturah (Kaye Sickbert), Betty (Simpson), Bonnylin (Cast 1 CONC le), Wesley, and Carmen (Nelson). 1 CONT 1 CONT As a very young man he began working as a bookkeeper fo 1 CONC r a lumber yard, and perhaps it was in that lumber yard tha 1 CONC t he learned skills as a carpenter which he has used throug 1 CONC hout his life to improve parsonages, make furniture and toy 1 CONC s for his children and grandchildren, and added a large liv 1 CONC ing room and bath to his retirement home with the help of h 1 CONC is son. 1 CONT 1 CONT During World War I he served as a secretary for the med 1 CONC ical units. After the war he enrolled as a student at Shurt 1 CONC leff College in Alton where he completed both high school a 1 CONC nd two years of college. 1 CONT 1 CONT During this period at Shurtleff, he preached (as a stud 1 CONC ent minister) at AltonÙus Washington Church. On April 4 (fol 1 CONC lowing the Easter service), the young minister invited th 1 CONC e congregation to remain for his wedding in which he marrie 1 CONC d the pianist and organist of that church, Ruth Kinney. H 1 CONC e and his new wife moved to Lebanon where he attended McKen 1 CONC dree College and completed his degree. During this time h 1 CONC e preached at Belleville Epworth one year (1921), Glen Carb 1 CONC on one year (1922), and St. Jacob finally moving there t 1 CONC o a rented parsonage to continue preaching for two years un 1 CONC til 1923. 1 CONT 1 CONT His wife and family then traveled to Drew University i 1 CONC n New Jersey where he was granted a Bachelor of Divinity de 1 CONC gree. 1 CONT 1 CONT By special request he returned to AltonÙus Main Street C 1 CONC hurch to finish out the year for Rev. Cates with the unders 1 CONC tanding that he would remain there, but seniority ruled an 1 CONC d he was sent to a three-point circuit at Equality, Illinoi 1 CONC s, in 1927. 1 CONT 1 CONT He was a pastor of Granite City East in 1929-30. He ser 1 CONC ved Flat Rock, Illinois, until 1932 and Palestine and Gree 1 CONC n Hill until 1934. Then he traveled back across the state t 1 CONC o serve EdwardsvilleÙus Immanuel for six years. From Immanue 1 CONC l he moved to CairoÙus First Church in the southern most par 1 CONC t of the state, returning at last to Lebanon in 1943. Whil 1 CONC e serving the Methodist Church in Lebanon, he became a teac 1 CONC her to the student ministers at McKendree College where h 1 CONC e had received part of his early education. 1 CONT 1 CONT In 1947 he moved to the Illinois Conference serving Fis 1 CONC her, Illinois. DeLand was his home in 1950, Rossville in 19 1 CONC 53, Mason City in 1957, and Pawnee in 1959. During his past 1 CONC orates he served as secretary for the Southern Illinois Con 1 CONC ference and Registrar on the board of ministerial training 1 CONC . He retired in 1962 returning to Edwardsville and to Imman 1 CONC uel Church that had long held a special place in his memor 1 CONC y because of its German heritage. 1 CONT 1 CONT However, his retirement could be more aptly described a 1 CONC s just a slight slowing down as he continued to serve a 1 CONC s a supply pastor of the area for ministers on vacation o 1 CONC r those unable to fulfill their duties because of a prolong 1 CONC ed illness. He served as Assistant Minister to Immanuel an 1 CONC d for many years tutored SIU foreign students of many natio 1 CONC nalities in English through a volunteer program. 1 CONT 1 CONT He continues to serve the Church he loves by teaching a 1 CONC n adult class every Sunday and serving on commissions and c 1 CONC ommittees. 1 CONT 1 CONT On April 4, 1980, he and his wife will celebrate thei 1 CONC r 60th wedding anniversary. 1 CONT 1 CONT Stelzriede 1 CONT The Rev. Frederick C. Stelzriede, 95, of rural Edwardsville 1 CONC , died at 12:55 a.m. Friday, Aug. 11, 1989, at Memorial Hos 1 CONC pital, Alton. 1 CONT He was born May 14, 1894, near Hoyleton, Ill., a son of th 1 CONC e late Frederick C. and Anna Marie Krietemeier Stelzriede. 1 CONT He married E. Ruth Kinney in Alton on April 4, 1920. His wi 1 CONC fe died Jan. 2 1983. 1 CONT He is survived by a son, Wesley Q. Stelzriede of Edwardsvil 1 CONC le; two daughters: Mrs. David (Betty) Simpson of Green Vall 1 CONC ey, Ariz., and Mrs. William (Carmen) Nelson of Tallahassee 1 CONC , Fla.; 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. He wa 1 CONC s preceded in death by two daughters, Bonnylin Castle and K 1 CONC aye Sickbert, and by four sisters. 1 CONT Mr. Stelzriede was a graduate of Drew Theological Seminary 1 CONC , Madison, N.J. He served as a Methodist minister in the So 1 CONC uthern Illinois and Central Illinois Conferences at churche 1 CONC s in the following communities Belleville, Glen Carbon, St 1 CONC . Jacob, Equality, Granite City, Flat Rock, Palestine, Edwa 1 CONC rdsville (Immanuel Methodist Church from 1935 to 1940), Cai 1 CONC ro, Lebanon, Fisher, Deland, Rossville, Mason City and Pawn 1 CONC ee. His career in the ministry began in 1921, and he retire 1 CONC d in 1960. He was a member of the Board of Ministerial Trai 1 CONC ning and Qualification for Southern Illinois Conference, an 1 CONC d taught speech at McKendree College In Lebanon, Ill. whil 1 CONC e serving as pastor there. 1 CONT He served with the U.S. Army during World War I. 1 CONT He was a member of Immanuel United Methodist Church. 1 CONT Funeral services were held at 11. a.m. today at the Weber F 1 CONC uneral Home Chapel with the Rev. Ellis Dugger, pastor of Im 1 CONC manuel Methodist Church, officiating. 1 CONT Burial was in Valley View Cemetery, Edwardsville. 1 CONT Memorials may be made to the Preachers Aide Society. 0 @I110@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMS @F30@ 1 FAMC @F18@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I111@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMS @F517@ 1 FAMC @F27@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I112@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMC @F27@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I113@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMS @F264@ 1 FAMS @F262@ 1 FAMC @F17@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I114@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMS @F263@ 1 FAMC @F17@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I115@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F197@ 1 FAMC @F17@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I116@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMC @F17@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I117@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F30@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I118@ INDI 1 NAME Christine Louise (Louisa) /Krueger/ 2 GIVN Christine Louise (Louisa) 2 SURN Krueger 2 _AKA Louisa // 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 30 Jun 1858 2 PLAC North Prairie, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 26 Oct 1887 1 CHAN 2 DATE 17 Oct 2004 3 TIME 17:26 1 FAMS @F31@ 1 NOTE @NI118@ 0 @NI118@ NOTE 1 CONC Died by being kicked by a calf according to the memoirs o 1 CONC f Gus Meyer. But the memoirs of Fred C. Stelzriede say tha 1 CONC t she died in childbirth with her fifth child. Perhaps bot 1 CONC h are correct? 1 CONT North Prairie is near Nashville, IL. 0 @I119@ INDI 1 NAME Henry Frederick Christian /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Henry Frederick Christian 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 30 Jun 1878 2 PLAC Hoyleton, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 5 Jun 1968 2 PLAC Mount Auburn, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 31 Jul 2004 3 TIME 09:29 1 FAMS @F37@ 1 FAMC @F31@ 1 NOTE @NI119@ 0 @NI119@ NOTE 1 CONC Found on www.genealogy.com. 1 CONT Phyllis Scott 1 CONT In IL in 1910 & 1920 census. 1 CONT In SS death index. 1 CONT 1 CONT Listed as a farmer in the 1920 IL census. From Darin Harshm 1 CONC an. 0 @I12@ INDI 1 NAME Emma Ruth (Ruth) Kinney /Brown/ 2 GIVN Emma Ruth (Ruth) Kinney 2 SURN Brown 2 _AKA Ruth // 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 17 Aug 1893 2 PLAC Carlinville, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 2 Jan 1983 2 PLAC Alton, IL 2 CAUS Stroke 1 BURI 2 PLAC Valley View Cemetery, Edwardsville, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 5 Mar 2005 3 TIME 21:18 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\DATA\Ancestry\LegacyData\Pictures\FredC-ERuthStelzriede1970sm.jpg 2 TITL E. Ruth and Fred C. Stelzriede. 2 NOTE 1970. E. Ruth Kinney Brown and Fred C. Stelzriede. 1970 2 _SCBK Y 2 _PRIM Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 FAMS @F4@ 1 NOTE @NI12@ 0 @NI12@ NOTE 1 CONC She didn't like the name Emma - used Ruth always. She sai 1 CONC d that she was 1/8th Cherokee - this would mean that a grea 1 CONC t-grandparent was Cherokee. 1 CONT Broke a hip in later years. Cause of death was stroke. 1 CONT 1 CONT THE MEMOIRS OF EMMA RUTH KINNEY STELZRIEDE (childhood to 2 1 CONC 6 portion) 1 CONT (Recorded Spring 1982 at age 88, recorded by Keturah (Kaye 1 CONC ) Stelzriede Sickbert and transcribed by her daughter Sandr 1 CONC a Sickbert Thompson) 1 CONT 1 CONT 1 - 5 YEARS, CARLINVILLE, ILLINOIS 1 CONT 1 CONT I was born on Thursday, August 17, 1893 - Old Settlers Picn 1 CONC ic Day! My first memories are of playing post office with m 1 CONC y cousin Louise, who was ten years older than I. I remembe 1 CONC r visiting relatives in St. Louis where I was given a tast 1 CONC e of beer, I was spanked for spitting it on the floor. Whe 1 CONC n my older brothers could not add or subtract their arithme 1 CONC tic, I would put my hands behind me and add or subtract o 1 CONC n my fingers, giving them the answers. (That was when I wa 1 CONC s five years old.) I saw horses race on the St. Louis rac 1 CONC e tracks. I always was able to tell when my oldest brother 1 CONC , who left home at 14 or 15 years and earned his own living 1 CONC , was coming home -- he was sick or had fallen from his hor 1 CONC se and cut his face. 1 CONT With my brothers I would play hide-and-go-seek. My grandmot 1 CONC her, sitting in a rocker and with a full, long dress, woul 1 CONC d hide me under her skirt. I could get to base free as gran 1 CONC dmother would tell me when to come out. Finally I miscued a 1 CONC nd they caught me. My brothers brought other boys to play a 1 CONC t our house, and I listened to their language. We had tin 1 CONC y little chicks. I cuddled one in my hand and said to Mothe 1 CONC r, ÙSAin't they cute little sons of a b----!ÙT Mother was hor 1 CONC rified! 1 CONT My father's foster parents - the man was a minister, lawye 1 CONC r and businessman, and was rich. He educated five children 1 CONC . I remember Mother helping foster grandmother with Thanksg 1 CONC iving dinner. My father washed me and took me over later. M 1 CONC y foster grandmother gave us some apples. Joe and I went af 1 CONC ter them. Some big boys persuaded us to go a longer way. Th 1 CONC ey took all our apples and left us stuck in the mud. Mothe 1 CONC r finally went out to look for us and there we were in th 1 CONC e mud with no apples. 1 CONT I was told that before her marriage, my grandmother would s 1 CONC neak out her father's razor and trim her tough toenails! 1 CONT A Pentecostal woods was near our home and real Romanian gyp 1 CONC sies visited there each summer and told fortunes to any wh 1 CONC o would cross their palms with silver. My mother had no mon 1 CONC ey so they told her fortune for a loaf of homemade bread. 1 CONT 1 CONT 6 - 12 YEARS, ALTON, ILLINOIS 1 CONT 1 CONT My parents sold our 4-room home and moved to Alton with a 1 CONC n old-maid Aunt Emm, my four older brothers, and me. We liv 1 CONC ed for one year in a 6-room duplex on the ground where Love 1 CONC joy* was killed. (*Elijah Parish Lovejoy was a newspaper ed 1 CONC itor who, as an abolitionist newspaper man, was forced to l 1 CONC eave St. Louis by angered townsmen. He moved across the riv 1 CONC er to Alton, Illinois, where he established the Alton Obser 1 CONC ver. He was killed in 1837 by a pro-slavery mob. ) His monu 1 CONC ment is on 4th and Monument Street in Alton. Then we move 1 CONC d into 4 rooms back of Dietz Grocery Store. There were no s 1 CONC creens in the house. We had malaria each summer for 7 years 1 CONC . 1 CONT It was a very ignorant and evil neighborhood. (I can't tel 1 CONC l you all that went on there.) One mother of two sons and t 1 CONC wo daughters taught her girls to steal and live immorally 1 CONC . She really ran a house of prostitution. Other neighbors w 1 CONC ere uneducated, dirty, or Catholic. None attended church. M 1 CONC y brothers and I attended a mission Sunday School in a litt 1 CONC le room beneath the home of the above-mentioned evil mothe 1 CONC r and her daughters. I visited a dirty family. One daughte 1 CONC r was called Greasy Mag. There I was taught to dance in the 1 CONC ir home. When they moved below a public dance hall, I woul 1 CONC d go with them to the dance until my oldest brother told m 1 CONC y mother. During this time I learned to pray my first praye 1 CONC r. After ÙSNow I lay me down to sleep...ÙT I prayed for thre 1 CONC e things: to be good, to be beautiful, and to have hair t 1 CONC o my waist. 1 CONT The 4-room house we rented from a German woman, Mrs. Dietz 1 CONC , whose son had built a 2-story building against our littl 1 CONC e house. He had a store on the first floor and lived with h 1 CONC is three brothers and two sisters, all unmarried. The boy 1 CONC s were very immoral except the youngest one. He took me t 1 CONC o see the explosion at the Western Carriage Company in Eas 1 CONC t Alton. The two old maids used half of one of our bedroom 1 CONC s as a laundry. Often they would let me go upstairs to ea 1 CONC t with them. I loved it! They would steal my little dolls a 1 CONC nd outfit them with lovely clothes. 1 CONT My three brothers drank water from an abandoned sistern beh 1 CONC ind a saloon. All got typhoid fever and nearly died. We ha 1 CONC d a young doctor in his first year of practicing. He had fo 1 CONC urteen cases of typhoid and lost none. The saloon keeper' 1 CONC s family lived above the saloon. They were clean, honest pe 1 CONC ople who would not touch a drop of what they sold. Incest w 1 CONC as not an uncommon practice (you know, they would tell me w 1 CONC hat was going on and I didn't understand it because it didn 1 CONC 't mean a thing to me) when nieces and nephews visited thei 1 CONC r grandparents in the home of Greasy Mag. 1 CONT I visited a circus with my brothers and was pulled up on th 1 CONC e platform and told to go behind the curtain. I refused t 1 CONC o go and returned to my brothers. The next day we heard the 1 CONC y had stolen a child, but they were caught and the child wa 1 CONC s returned unharmed. 1 CONT I would take evening walks on the railroad with my father 1 CONC . One evening we were coming to a curve in the tracks. I no 1 CONC ticed father holding my hand with a death grip. He knew I w 1 CONC as sure the train was on our track, and I would have jumpe 1 CONC d directly in front of it. He saved my life! 1 CONT Father hunted raccoons and possums at night across the Miss 1 CONC issippi River. One night he killed and put a possum in a sa 1 CONC ck, brought it home, and threw the sack on the kitchen floo 1 CONC r. The next morning we found the possum underneath the stov 1 CONC e in the room where I had slept. 1 CONT A sewer muskrat got into our home, but we didn't know how 1 CONC . Three men sat in our kitchen with shotguns until they kil 1 CONC led the animal. 1 CONT Mother jokingly said to me, ÙSI am going to sell you to th 1 CONC e gypsies,ÙT and I believed her and would not leave her da 1 CONC y or night. I was terrified for months but said nothing abo 1 CONC ut it to anyone. 1 CONT In the evening Mother would sing hymns and Father, from th 1 CONC e kitchen, would join in. But Mother, who had a perfect ear 1 CONC , would say, ÙSCharlie, keep still. You are off key.ÙT He was 1 CONC ! We attended a Congregational Sunday School taught by tw 1 CONC o old women. I learned much about the Bible there. 1 CONT When my oldest brother left home to earn his own living, h 1 CONC e first tried to be a jockey for horses owned by an uncle 1 CONC . He was too heavy and gave it up. He was offered a free co 1 CONC urse in a Chicago art school but refused it. Our doctor an 1 CONC d his brother got him to train as a prize fighter. He lacke 1 CONC d one fight for the heavyweight championship. He was perfec 1 CONC t physically. 1 CONT I started school at six but was told I was too young. I sta 1 CONC yed home for one year and returned. On the first day of sch 1 CONC ool, I saw a man stop with a load of rock, take a large roc 1 CONC k, and hit his horse in the head because it could not pul 1 CONC l the load. When I was sick and allowed to stay home, my br 1 CONC other Frank always got sick also. He wasn't really sick bu 1 CONC t was an excellent actor and made Mother believe he was. 1 CONT I attended a Catholic funeral where they carried the caske 1 CONC t up and down each aisle in the church, preceded by men car 1 CONC rying candles as ÙSLead, Kindly LightÙT was played and sung 1 CONC . When I asked why, they said, ÙSTo get the devil off the tr 1 CONC ack.ÙT 1 CONT My father, Charles Nathan Kinney, was a college student o 1 CONC f Blackburn College in Carlinville. My mother, Lydia Trace 1 CONC y Kinney, only went to grade school but had the better mind 1 CONC . I had four brothers. The oldest one became a boxer from t 1 CONC he influence of our family physician. He was also given a f 1 CONC ree scholarship to the Chicago Art School but refused. He w 1 CONC e an excellent cartoonist. He drew pictures of three kinder 1 CONC garten teachers whom I entertained for dinner. He drew th 1 CONC e three pictures, framed it, and put a purple bow on it. Th 1 CONC en he put it above the dresser. When they went in to comb t 1 CONC heir hair and powder their noses, they saw those horrible p 1 CONC ictures (caricatures) and when they saw it, they blew thei 1 CONC r tops! 1 CONT My next oldest brother went to school through fifth grade 1 CONC , then worked as a clerk in a grocery store for many years 1 CONC . His last years he worked at Alton Box Board as a carpente 1 CONC r. He was fired just before 65 years of age and lost all hi 1 CONC s insurance.- My third and fourth brothers quit school at f 1 CONC ourth - grade. They could learn everything but math, yet ou 1 CONC r father was considered a math whiz, according to his profe 1 CONC ssor at Blackburn College in Carlinville, and Mother was ve 1 CONC ry quick in mental arithmetic. They worked in the Illinoi 1 CONC s Class Company from ages 11 and 13 years for 25Ù! a day. Th 1 CONC ey were hidden in pits when the inspectors came through t 1 CONC o check on child labor. Molten glass would drop on their ba 1 CONC cks leaving terrible scars and causing them to be rejecte 1 CONC d for the Army. The glass blowers were making from 12 to 1 1 CONC 8 dollars a day, and would work for nine months, then chart 1 CONC er a train to take them to Atlantic City for the summer. Th 1 CONC is was in the early 1900s. My youngest brother worked in th 1 CONC e tannery at Wood River, Illinois. He lost his thumb in ung 1 CONC uarded machinery. He was promised a lifetime job but was le 1 CONC t go later with no compensation. 1 CONT My father was a good carpenter. He had beautiful shaded han 1 CONC dwriting. He was exceptional in college in math. He was als 1 CONC o stubborn as a mule. He was injured as he worked diggin 1 CONC g a hole. A large lump of dirt fell on his bent back, and h 1 CONC e died of this injury later. 1 CONT My mother was an excellent mother and very religious. She h 1 CONC ad a true-pitch voice. She could paint flowers and wanted t 1 CONC o be an entertainer who went into wealthy homes and gave re 1 CONC adings. 1 CONT My oldest brother Milton left home at 14. He became a jocke 1 CONC y, then a newspaper writer. He read the history of the U.S 1 CONC . at ten years of age and could remember dates and facts. H 1 CONC e was also a boxer and was one short of the championship. 1 CONT My second brother Albert was a wonderful mimic. He worked a 1 CONC s a delivery boy and clerk for a grocery store. Also he wor 1 CONC ked at the Box Board factory and the Illinois Glassworks. 1 CONT My third brother Joe was docile and patient. He could remem 1 CONC ber facts and figures connected with a political campaign o 1 CONC nly, but couldn't remember four things in a grocery store. 1 CONT My youngest brother Frank was a clown and loved to read. Mi 1 CONC lt, my oldest brother, was last heard from in Los Angeles 1 CONC . Albert died from burns at the city dump -- he may have ha 1 CONC d a stroke. Joe and Frank I put in a nursing home and sol 1 CONC d the home place. Both died in hospitals-Joe at Alton Memor 1 CONC ial and Frank here in Edwardsville. 1 CONT 1 CONT 12 - 14 YEARS, ALTON, ILLINOIS 1 CONT 1 CONT When we moved on the hill, I entered a new life experienc 1 CONC e because I met and visited clean, moral young people. I to 1 CONC ok my first piano lessons and gave the neighbor girl lesson 1 CONC s as I learned. The eighth grade of the entire city was i 1 CONC n one building, like present-day junior high schools. I ha 1 CONC d a neighbor who made her two teenage sons lick up some sug 1 CONC ar spilled on the clean floor. I met a family who were igno 1 CONC rant and coarse and became infatuated with their handsome s 1 CONC on, an apprentice glass blower. I gave up high school afte 1 CONC r one year. My English teacher was sad because I was a goo 1 CONC d student and wrote fine themes, she said. 1 CONT A neighbor woman asked me, a 13-year-old, to go with her 13 1 CONC -year-old girl to have her tonsils removed. I little knew w 1 CONC hat I would encounter. The doctor set the girl in a chair a 1 CONC nd he sat in one facing her. There was no preparation. He s 1 CONC aid to me, ÙSHold her head,ÙT and to her he said, ÙSOpen you 1 CONC r mouth.ÙT He then proceeded to clip the tonsils off withou 1 CONC t an anesthetic or anything. 1 CONT When I wanted to go to St. Louis shopping and was told by M 1 CONC other that she had no money, I filched change from her purs 1 CONC e and hid it under all four sides of the rug. When I had en 1 CONC ough, I pulled it out and said, ÙSHere, Mother, is enough mo 1 CONC ney.ÙT I was never scolded for it and I never used any of i 1 CONC t either. 1 CONT At Cherry St. Baptist Church, we played games back of the k 1 CONC indergarten building. The young people would make a circl 1 CONC e around a huge fire. With the help of the minister, we wou 1 CONC ld pull until one had to leap over the fire. I was usuall 1 CONC y chosen to leap over the fire. 1 CONT I borrowed 4-5 rings to wear on my fingers from young marri 1 CONC ed neighbors. They lived on each side of us and were jealou 1 CONC s of each other. They used me as a buffer. The neighbor o 1 CONC n the right side had a husband with tuberculosis and one 3- 1 CONC year-old girl. Another barber visited her regularly when he 1 CONC r husband was at work. When I was converted in a Baptist re 1 CONC vival, both neighbors were there. One said to me, ÙSAren't y 1 CONC ou going back and speak to the other neighbor?ÙT She had mis 1 CONC judged me and told my mother a lie on me. I said, ÙSNo, I ha 1 CONC ve done nothing wrong.ÙT When I did go to her, she said, ÙS 1 CONC I knew you would come.ÙT We both wept in each other's arms a 1 CONC nd all was forgiven. 1 CONT A neighbor died leaving a large family of children from 8 t 1 CONC o 20 years old. The older children deserted the younger one 1 CONC s. I brought the 6-year-old girl to my home and bathed her. 1 CONT Mother and I raced to beat each other getting dressed whe 1 CONC n we were going shopping. She thought she had beaten me an 1 CONC d started out the gate, but she had forgotten to put on he 1 CONC r outside black skirt. She was in a black petticoat. I call 1 CONC ed her back when she reached the gate. 1 CONT Another time I was talking to Mother, who was in the outsid 1 CONC e toilet, and left her there when I went to the store for g 1 CONC roceries. I had jokingly locked her in but fully intended t 1 CONC o unlock the latch before leaving. I forgot and when I go 1 CONC t back from the store, she was furious. 1 CONT My father inherited a farm and $1,000 to stock it from th 1 CONC e people who raised him. He had been shipped from New Yor 1 CONC k with a carload of orphans. His foster parents adopted o 1 CONC r raised four children. The man was a lawyer, businessman 1 CONC , and minister. When he died, his will said all money was t 1 CONC o be divided equally between the girl and my father. No mon 1 CONC ey was to be used except for charitable purposes, but his w 1 CONC ife took in this girl with a husband and 12 children. The 1 CONC y used up most of the money. My father lost $75,000 which h 1 CONC e should have had. We sold the farm and bought 3 houses an 1 CONC d 4 lots in Alton. 1 CONT Dr. J. had one of the first cars in Alton. He would keep u 1 CONC s in his office as his last patients. Then he would take u 1 CONC s home in his automobile. It was a wonderful treat! 1 CONT Quotations I remember: Let's go to bed, said sleepy head 1 CONC . Let's tarry a while, said slow. Let's put on the pat, sai 1 CONC d Greedy Gert, and eat before we go. 23 skidoo, vamoose, bu 1 CONC gs me. 1 CONT 1 CONT 14 - 26 YEARS, ALTON, ILLINOIS 1 CONT 1 CONT After Father inherited the 120-acre farm, we were going t 1 CONC o move to the farm each March 4 for many years, but we neve 1 CONC r did. Instead he sold the farm to Judge Early of Edwardsvi 1 CONC lle for the 3 townhouses and an extra lot. We then moved t 1 CONC o one of the 5-room houses and rented the other two. Her 1 CONC e I lived until I married, 13 years later. 1 CONT I lost my maternal grandmother who lived with us during th 1 CONC is time. She washed dishes for us until the night she died 1 CONC . She just went to sleep in the night with my father sittin 1 CONC g on the edge of her bed until she died. He knew she was go 1 CONC ing, but we didn't. She was 79, I think, and she wouldn't l 1 CONC et anyone move a dish or a pan after she placed them in th 1 CONC e cupboards. 1 CONT I lost my mother when I was about 24 and my father died a n 1 CONC umber of years later. 1 CONT I had several work experiences during this time. I worked i 1 CONC n an Italian settlement. I taught little children how to cr 1 CONC oss stitch and sew little things. The first Sunday School c 1 CONC lass I was given at the Baptist Church was the 12- to 14-ye 1 CONC ar-old girls, and then they took me upstairs and put me i 1 CONC n the membership training class where I trained the childre 1 CONC n to join the Baptist Church. I taught two years of kinderg 1 CONC arten at the Baptist Church. The woman was a graduate of Ch 1 CONC icago Kindergarten Training School and she taught us -- the 1 CONC n we in turn taught. It was on-the-job training. After on 1 CONC e year of high school, I entered Brown's Business College 1 CONC . I didn't know it, but there was another girl there that w 1 CONC as rotten (although I didn't know it at the time) and she w 1 CONC orked in his office after school. She quit (she couldn't le 1 CONC arn) and I went to him and said, ÙSMay I have Mabel's place? 1 CONC ÙT He said, ÙSSure.ÙT He thought I meant her seat in the class 1 CONC room, and I meant the job after school. So I went in ther 1 CONC e after school and he looked at me and said, ÙSWhat do you w 1 CONC ant here?ÙT Then he explained to me that he didn't want me t 1 CONC o work for him, because it was an immoral situation. So I c 1 CONC hanged and went to the Ursulan Academy and stayed there unt 1 CONC il ÙSgraduated.ÙT It was a poor, poor training. I lost my tou 1 CONC ch system while there because they didn't teach it. Whe 1 CONC n I had been there long enough she wrote me a letter of rec 1 CONC ommendation to a man in St. Louis. I don't think I could ha 1 CONC ve held a job. Anyway, I got sick because I didn't want t 1 CONC o go and never did go, and that was the end of that. 1 CONT I had one year of photography. I began as a retoucher and e 1 CONC nded up doing everything but snapping the pictures. The 1 CONC n I had one year, beginning as a bookkeeper, in a shop. The 1 CONC re were 15 to 25 men on contract work doing interior and ex 1 CONC terior work. I ended up as a supervisor of the store whil 1 CONC e the boss opened up another store. Finally when they opene 1 CONC d up the extra store, they got me both a bookkeeper and ste 1 CONC nographer and let me take charge of the store. 1 CONT Then came the story of the theater salesman, when I worke 1 CONC d in the exterior-interior decorating shop. While I was wor 1 CONC king as an assistant manager of the paint store, a man cam 1 CONC e in and asked for the little black-eyed girl -- that was m 1 CONC e. He asked to borrow from the cash register $2.00 but no 1 CONC t to record it. I loaned him the $2.00 but put a note in th 1 CONC e cash register. When the boss looked at it, he asked me t 1 CONC o explain. He said nothing to me but went to the theater ma 1 CONC nager and together they caught the salesman, He had been do 1 CONC ing that kind of stealing in other places, only getting big 1 CONC ger amounts as time passed and had not been caught before. 1 CONT Also while I was working at the decorating shop as a bookke 1 CONC eper, we had Kinlock and Bell Telephones. I would cross th 1 CONC e two so my boss's wife and her friend could talk to each o 1 CONC ther. 1 CONT I went for 6 weeks to an evangelistic meeting every night 1 CONC . Dr. W. N. Y. Critchlie gave me a book because he said I h 1 CONC ad a brilliant mind. 1 CONT I had a Mexican boyfriend and he took me to see a movie wh 1 CONC erein the trey of hearts is a death sign. I refused to marr 1 CONC y him, so he took me to see this movie of death and gave m 1 CONC e a trey of hearts. 1 CONT We had a hammock in our yard where my girlfriends and I wou 1 CONC ld eat and sleep. We had a lawn swing later where I enterta 1 CONC ined my boyfriends. One offered to bring me election return 1 CONC s and a box of candy, but before he left he had failed an 1 CONC d said, ÙSI have accomplished nothing.ÙT He went away kickin 1 CONC g rocks in his path. 1 CONT A drunken neighbor stole all of Albert's tithe money from h 1 CONC is church envelopes. A neighbor told us they saw him go i 1 CONC n our house often. 1 CONT The boy next door tied me to the front porch and left me s 1 CONC o all the men coming home from work could see me. 1 CONT My brother Albert worked on the railroad and was very lat 1 CONC e coming home because of a wreck. My mother would say, ÙSHe' 1 CONC ll never come home, but when he does, I'll whip him.ÙT 1 CONT For a while I worked as a secretary for Doctor Jones. I ha 1 CONC d to put drops in eyes, and I had never done anything lik 1 CONC e that before. I also kept his financial records. 1 CONT I took a Swedish girl and another woman took another daught 1 CONC er because the father was in jail for drinking. The ministe 1 CONC r took two boys to the orphanage. The mother grieved so I w 1 CONC ent to the orphanage and got the two sons. The father was f 1 CONC inally released and all were united and moved north. 1 CONT I had an old-maid aunt who was an excellent cook. She worke 1 CONC d in St. Louis for a wealthy lawyer. I visited my aunt an 1 CONC d was taken in by the family. A sister of the woman also li 1 CONC ved with them. Her husband was a judge and divorced. They h 1 CONC ad one son. They tried hard to get me to marry their handso 1 CONC me son. After Christmas my old-maid aunt would comb the dep 1 CONC artment stores for reduced bargains. She would load us wit 1 CONC h wonderful Christmas gifts. 1 CONT I sold Baldwin pianos in a contest and I was asked to wor 1 CONC k out a time schedule for five other girls. They resented m 1 CONC y orders, so the head man said, ÙSThe way to win every argum 1 CONC ent is to state facts, then keep silent.ÙT 1 CONT My father gave me my first Christmas gift after Mother die 1 CONC d -- a rose-colored sweater. 1 CONT Gangs of boys on the street corners would wait to attack yo 1 CONC ung girls. Often they succeeded. I saw one young girl i 1 CONC n a casket. She had committed suicide by taking carbolic ac 1 CONC id. Oh. it was a terrible thing! 1 CONT Milt would watch for the paper and tear out the weather s 1 CONC o poor grandmother couldn't ask what it was going to be lik 1 CONC e. Also he changed the hands of the clock so she couldn't t 1 CONC ell the time. He also got a friend to act as a doctor. He e 1 CONC xamined grandmother and fixed up a bottle of medicine -- or 1 CONC ange extract, cascaria, and water -- and gave it to her. Se 1 CONC veral days later she said, ÙSMilt, that man was not a doctor 1 CONC . You are fooling me.ÙT 1 CONT When Mother was ill, the doctor came to see her. It was rai 1 CONC ning and she said to me, ÙSStay in. You'll get wet.ÙT The doc 1 CONC tor said, ÙSNo, she won't get wet. She's so fast she can ru 1 CONC n between the raindrops.ÙT 1 CONT A ditch was dug just outside my father's house for city wat 1 CONC er. At night I put two pies out there to cool. It was dar 1 CONC k and Al forgot and kicked both pies into the hole. Anothe 1 CONC r time Al lifted his shotgun which was supposed to be empt 1 CONC y and shot a hole in the wall. 1 CONT Sometimes when I came in from school, I'd find the neighbo 1 CONC r children laying Mother out for dead on the couch. She lov 1 CONC ed to play with the children. I brought some goldenrod hom 1 CONC e from the country once. My mother wept with childhood memo 1 CONC ries. My father sometimes would spread a piece of bread wit 1 CONC h milk and gravy and cut it in small cubes for me to eat. W 1 CONC hen Milt came home on a visit, he would give his brothers f 1 CONC ive cents apiece for their pieces of pie. 1 CONT Two tales told to me: A girl who was to get married had a p 1 CONC icture taken. The photographer called her back three times 1 CONC . Finally he told her a person mysteriously would appear i 1 CONC n the picture, holding a dagger over her head. My mother to 1 CONC ld me this story and said it was supposed to be true. Anoth 1 CONC er story was about an old lady who wanted a set of china di 1 CONC shes and a closet. When she got there, she had waited so lo 1 CONC ng that she went crazy and would sit in front of the chin 1 CONC a closet and make a noise like a goose when anyone approach 1 CONC ed. 1 CONT When my boyfriends would call before my marriage and staye 1 CONC d a little late, my father would call out, ÙSBreakfast wil 1 CONC l be ready soon.ÙT 1 CONT 1 CONT Stelzriede 1 CONT E. Ruth Stelzriede, 89, of Edwardsville died Sunday, Jan. 2 1 CONC , 1983, at 7:30 a.m. at Alton Memorial Hospital. She had en 1 CONC tered the hospital on Wednesday. 1 CONT She was born Aug. 17, 1893, in Carlinville, Ill., a daughte 1 CONC r of the late Charles and Lydia Tracy Kinney. 1 CONT She married the Rev. Frederick C. Stelzriede on April 4, 19 1 CONC 20, in Alton. He survives. 1 CONT Also surviving are a son, Wesley Q. Stelzriede of Edwardsvi 1 CONC lle; three daughters, Mrs. Murl (Kaye) Sickbert of Colorad 1 CONC o Springs, Colo., Mrs. David (Betty) Simpson of Bonners Fer 1 CONC ry, Idaho, and Mrs. J. W. (Carmen) Nelson of Tallahassee, F 1 CONC la., 12 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. 1 CONT One daughter, Bonnylin, and four brothers preceded her in d 1 CONC eath. 1 CONT Mrs. Stelzriede was a member of the Immanuel United Methodi 1 CONC st Church in Edwardsville and the United Methodist Women. 1 CONT Friends may call from 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, and Wednesday mo 1 CONC rning until 11 a.m. at the Weber Funeral Home; and from 11: 1 CONC 30 to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Immanuel Church. 1 CONT Funeral services will be held Wednesday at the church wit 1 CONC h the Rev. Ralph Totten, pastor of Immanuel Church officiat 1 CONC ing. 1 CONT Burial will be in Valley View Cemetery. 1 CONT Memorials to the Immanuel United Methodist Church would b 1 CONC e appreciated. 0 @I120@ INDI 1 NAME Ida /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Ida 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 29 Mar 1880 2 PLAC Hoyleton, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 1967 2 PLAC St. Louis, MO 1 CHAN 2 DATE 19 Aug 2003 3 TIME 20:12 1 FAMS @F35@ 1 FAMC @F31@ 1 NOTE @NI120@ 0 @NI120@ NOTE 1 CONC Lived in St. Louis, MO. 1 CONT Some info from phys@fgi.net - Phyllis Scott on genealogy.co 1 CONC m. 0 @I121@ INDI 1 NAME Arthur F. /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Arthur F. 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 19 Oct 1885 2 PLAC Hoyleton, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 1 Jan 1983 2 PLAC Centralia, IL 1 BURI 2 PLAC Ashley Cemetery, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 24 Aug 2003 3 TIME 16:41 1 FAMS @F39@ 1 FAMS @F47@ 1 FAMC @F31@ 1 NOTE @NI121@ 0 @NI121@ NOTE 1 CONC He worked on a farm in Richview since moving there. In hi 1 CONC s later years on the farm, he ran the dairy portion of it 1 CONC . From daughter Ada via Claude Stelzriede. 7/21/2003. 1 CONT 1 CONT Some info from phys@fgi.net - Phyllis Scott on genealogy.co 1 CONC m. 0 @I122@ INDI 1 NAME Emelia Mary (Amelia, Millie) /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Emelia Mary (Amelia, Millie) 2 SURN Stelzriede 2 _AKA Millie // or Amelia // 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 30 Jul 1882 2 PLAC Hoyleton, North Prairie, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 22 Mar 1969 1 BURI 2 PLAC Hillcrest Cemetery, Centralia, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 15 Feb 2004 3 TIME 11:52 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Program Files\Legacy\AUGUSTMEYER.jpg 2 TITL August Meyer & Amelia Stelzriede Wedding 2 NOTE August Meyer & Amelia Stelzriede wedding photo. 1 Mar 1905. 2 _SCBK Y 2 _PRIM Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Program Files\Legacy\MEYERPHOTO.jpg 2 TITL August & Amelia Meyer 2 NOTE August & Amelia Meyer 50th wedding anniversary. 2 Mar 1955 2 _SCBK Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 FAMS @F32@ 1 FAMC @F31@ 1 NOTE @NI122@ 0 @NI122@ NOTE 1 CONC Some info from phys@fgi.net - Phyllis Scott on genealogy.co 1 CONC m. 0 @I123@ INDI 1 NAME August Henry Ludwig (Gus) /Meyer/ 2 GIVN August Henry Ludwig (Gus) 2 SURN Meyer 2 _AKA Gus // 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 16 Sep 1877 2 PLAC South Hemmern, District Of Minden, Germany 1 DEAT 2 DATE 7 Feb 1969 2 PLAC Centralia, IL 1 BURI 2 PLAC Hillcrest Cemetery, Centralia, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 15 Feb 2004 3 TIME 11:57 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Program Files\Legacy\MEYERPHOTO.jpg 2 TITL August and Amelia Meyer 2 NOTE August and Amelia Meyer 50th wedding anniversary. 2 Mar 195 3 CONC 5. 2 _SCBK Y 2 _PRIM Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Program Files\Legacy\AUGUSTMEYER.jpg 2 TITL August Meyer & Amelia Stelzriede Wedding 2 NOTE August Meyer & Amelia Stelzriede wedding photo. 1 Mar 1905. 2 _SCBK Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 FAMS @F32@ 1 NOTE @NI123@ 0 @NI123@ NOTE 1 CONC Came to U.S. about 1893 at age 16. Settled in Irvington, I 1 CONC L area. 0 @I124@ INDI 1 NAME Albert Frederick August /Meyer/ 2 GIVN Albert Frederick August 2 SURN Meyer 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 7 Dec 1907 2 PLAC Grand Prairie Township, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE Unknown 1 CHAN 2 DATE 15 Feb 2004 3 TIME 11:57 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\DATA\Ancestry\LegacyData\Pictures\MeyerChildren.jpg 2 TITL The Meyer Children 2 NOTE Meyer children: Eileen, Lester, Albert, Fred, and George (l 3 CONC eft). Albert all dressed up (right). (Abt 1930 & 1910). 2 _SCBK Y 2 _PRIM Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 FAMS @F48@ 1 FAMS @F69@ 1 FAMC @F32@ 1 NOTE @NI124@ 0 @NI124@ NOTE 1 CONC There is a 141 page volume of the "Recollections of the Lif 1 CONC e, Times, and Activities of Albert F. Meyer". I have a copy 1 CONC . He was an editor & news writer for the Southern Illinoi 1 CONC s University-Carbondale News Service and the School of Agri 1 CONC culture. Part I follows: 1 CONT 1 CONT MEMORIES: Recollections of the Life, Times & Activities o 1 CONC f Albert F. Meyer 1 CONT By Albert F. Meyer (b. 1907) 1 CONT 1 CONT PART I. [Based on his motherÙus (Emelia Stelzriede Meyer (b 1 CONC . 1882)) report written in 1930.] 1 CONT 1 CONT My ancestry loses itself amid the rural communities of Germ 1 CONC any (now West Germany), a heritage of the soil. The record 1 CONC s have not been well kept, so knowledge of our past is rath 1 CONC er sketchy. Knowledge of my motherÙus ancestry goes back far 1 CONC ther than that of my father. The two branches on motherÙus s 1 CONC ide are the Krueger and the Stelzriede families. 1 CONT 1 CONT My great-grandfather Krueger was born in 1821 in the littl 1 CONC e country village of Hille, Germany. At the age of 20 or so 1 CONC , he came to the United States to seek his fortune, comin 1 CONC g almost immediately to the Midwest and remaining in Southe 1 CONC rn Illinois most of the rest of his life. Great-grandmothe 1 CONC r Charlotte Krueger (his wife) likewise was born in German 1 CONC y near her husbandÙus birthplace. She came to America to see 1 CONC k work at the early age of 16 or 18 years, finding work sh 1 CONC e desired in St. Louis, MO. Before long she was married t 1 CONC o my great-grandfather Krueger, making their home for a tim 1 CONC e in, or near St. Louis. 1 CONT 1 CONT Later the family settled on a farm a few miles northeast o 1 CONC f Nashville, Illinois, after having moved about some becaus 1 CONC e they were having a hard struggle for a livelihood Accordi 1 CONC ng to a family story, the Kruegers were living for a shor 1 CONC t time at Cairo, Illinois, where their first child, Mary, w 1 CONC as born. According to one report, the father had crossed th 1 CONC e river to buy a supply of flour for the family. On the ret 1 CONC urn with a barrel of flour in the boat, the boat capsized a 1 CONC nd the flour was lost. The young family had a shortage of f 1 CONC lour for a time because they lacked money to buy more. 1 CONT 1 CONT After moving later to the farm in North Prairie near Nashvi 1 CONC lle, conditions improved and they made their home there fo 1 CONC r a considerable time. Two more daughters, Sophia and Loui 1 CONC se, and a son, John, were born there and grew up to marriag 1 CONC e age. Sophia married a Michael Schmidt, a native of German 1 CONC y, and Mary married Casper Finke, another German, both of w 1 CONC hom had settled in the Nashville region. Louise married Fre 1 CONC derick Stelzriede, likewise a native of Germany. John marri 1 CONC ed and established his home near Sandoval, Illinois, fo 1 CONC r a time, and the parents came there to live. Here father K 1 CONC rueger died at the age of 67 years and his wife, Charlotte 1 CONC , then returned to the farm home of her oldest daughter, Ma 1 CONC ry (Mrs. Casper Finke.) near Hoyleton, Illinois, and live 1 CONC d there the remaining 24 years of her life, dying in 1914 a 1 CONC t the age of 87 years. 1 CONT 1 CONT At the time this account was written in 1930, Sophie (Schmi 1 CONC dt) resided at Nashville. (Illinois); Mary Finke in Hoyleto 1 CONC n; and son, John Krueger, in Audrey, Texas. 1 CONT 1 CONT However, Louise Krueger is the essential branch of our fami 1 CONC ly tree. At age 17 she married a small energetic German, Fr 1 CONC ederick Stelzriede. Grandfather Stelzriede was born in 184 1 CONC 8 in Kreis-Minden, Germany. He came to the United States a 1 CONC t the age of 17 or 18 to escape compulsory military trainin 1 CONC g in the German army, this being during the time of Prussia 1 CONC Ùus military expansion that resulted in uniting the other Ge 1 CONC rman states to form the German Empire. 1 CONT 1 CONT Frederick Stelzriede came almost at once to Hoyleton, Illin 1 CONC ois, area where many other Germans were settling and worke 1 CONC d as a farm laborer. At age 27 he married Louise Krueger an 1 CONC d bought a farm about five miles south of Hoyleton in the N 1 CONC orth Prairie neighborhood. 1 CONT 1 CONT He made a livelihood from the farm through hard work and be 1 CONC ing thrifty. Two sons and two daughters--Henry, Arthur, Id 1 CONC a and Emelia--were born there. The third of the four childr 1 CONC en, Emelia (later spelled Amelia) is my mother. She was bor 1 CONC n on July 30, 1882. Tragedy struck when Emelia was but fiv 1 CONC e years old. Grandmother Louise was fatally injured by th 1 CONC e kick of a calf at her early age of 29 years, leaving th 1 CONC e four children motherless. The oldest child was nine year 1 CONC s old. For two years grandfather Frederick struggled alon 1 CONC e with the four children on the farm with a three-room fram 1 CONC e house. Mother says they lived there comfortably. 1 CONT 1 CONT After two years the father married Miss Mary Krietemeier o 1 CONC f Nashville, IL. She had come to America from Germany wit 1 CONC h her parents at the age of two years. The Krietemeier fami 1 CONC ly came to Illinois, living for a time at Petersburg, and C 1 CONC entralia before settling at Nashville. MaryÙus father died t 1 CONC he year she married grandfather Stelzriede when she was 2 1 CONC 1 years old. Four more children were born to this union 1 CONC , a son and three daughters--May, Frederick, Ruth and Julia. 1 CONT 1 CONT Mother reports the little farmhouse now was a scene of happ 1 CONC iness. Another room was added to accommodate the larger fam 1 CONC ily. The inevitable spells of childhood illnesses hardly ru 1 CONC ffled the surface of the farm life. The fatherÙus motto wa 1 CONC s hard work, a necessary practice on a small farm with a fa 1 CONC mily of eight children. 1 CONT 1 CONT Among the many escapades of the children on the farm, mothe 1 CONC r was especially fond of telling about their fun in teasin 1 CONC g the ram of their fatherÙus flock of sheep. The children ca 1 CONC ught the ram and blind-folded him to get him angry. They th 1 CONC en ran around a tree stump in the pasture with the irate an 1 CONC imal chasing them until he became dizzy after which the chi 1 CONC ldren got the ram down, placed a fence rail on him, and sca 1 CONC mpered to the safety of the pasture fence before the ram co 1 CONC uld get up and follow them. 1 CONT 1 CONT My mother, Emelia, attended a small, one-room country schoo 1 CONC l about a mile from their home through woods and fields. Th 1 CONC e public school was in session only about five months eac 1 CONC h year with an additional two months of spring school for s 1 CONC mall children too young to work on the farm. The school wa 1 CONC s not graded as today. Schooling consisted of five reader 1 CONC s and a course in history as well as arithmetic, but childr 1 CONC en attended school until they became young men and women. M 1 CONC other quit school for home work at age 15, having reached t 1 CONC he fifth grade level. 1 CONT 1 CONT Grandfather StelzriedeÙus home was devoutly religious. The f 1 CONC amily attended Pleasant Grove, the country church a short d 1 CONC istance from home through the woods. Sunday school, churc 1 CONC h services, and Epworth League were on the familyÙus progra 1 CONC m each Sunday, rain or shine. The ÙSold time religionÙT preac 1 CONC hing was part of many of the meetings. Families came to th 1 CONC e church on foot, in buggies, surreys, or wagons. Mother jo 1 CONC ined the church at age 11. 1 CONT 1 CONT Life for young folks at that time was different than in th 1 CONC e modern fast-paced living. Mother said in those days a you 1 CONC ng ladyÙus dress swept the ground if she did not hold it ou 1 CONC t of the dust or mud with her hands. It was a time of ÙSbust 1 CONC lesÙT, ÙSleg-oÙu-muttonÙT sleeves, toboggan hats and tam oÙushan 1 CONC ters. Mother recollected one of her school teachers, who al 1 CONC ways wore a ÙSbustleÙT to school, and some mischievous boys t 1 CONC ook delight in using the bustle as a pin cushion as the tea 1 CONC cher passed along the aisle between the desks. 1 CONT 1 CONT She said young folks had hilarious birthday and surprise pa 1 CONC rties where they played games while the older folks talked 1 CONC . She said the Stelzriede home was too religious to tolerat 1 CONC e dancing. Fall ÙSapple cuttingsÙT were quite interesting tim 1 CONC es in their neighborhood. Young folks gathered at a neighb 1 CONC orÙus house in an evening to peel and cut apples for the fal 1 CONC lÙus cooking of apple butter. Throwing apple peelings and co 1 CONC res was even more interesting than cutting the apples at th 1 CONC ese parties. 1 CONT 1 CONT Sadness came to the Stelzriede family in 1901 when the fath 1 CONC er died of pneumonia at the age of 53 years. The family di 1 CONC d not remain on the farm long after his death. The farm wa 1 CONC s sold and, the family moved to Centralia because three o 1 CONC f the older children already had left home to marry or work 1 CONC . The following year my mother Emelia left home for work u 1 CONC p north to Boody and Blue Mound, Illinois, for a year. Th 1 CONC e following year she went to St. Louis for work in homes fo 1 CONC r a time. A high point in her life there at this time wa 1 CONC s a visit. to the 1904 St. Louis WorldÙus Fair. On March 2 1 CONC , 1905, she was married to August H. Meyer, my father, a yo 1 CONC ung German farmer near Irvington, Illinois. 1 CONT 1 CONT The Meyer side of the family tree is well-rooted in Germany 1 CONC , but we have not collected much ancestry about the Meyer f 1 CONC amily because only two of them were living in America at th 1 CONC is time of writing. Grandfather Meyer, probably Fred, live 1 CONC d at South Hemmern, Kreis-Minden, which was not far from th 1 CONC e birthplace of my grandfather Stelzriede. In Germany the M 1 CONC eyer spelling was Meier. My father, August, was born on Nov 1 CONC ember 16, 1877. He had one brother and three sisters. His m 1 CONC other died while father was a child and he had no later rem 1 CONC embrance of her. Grandfather Meier married a second time an 1 CONC d the new wife cared for the family with love. Three more s 1 CONC ons were born to the family. 1 CONT 1 CONT Of the Meyer children, a sister, Louise, came to America t 1 CONC o live, married Henry Wellpott, a German farmer, and at thi 1 CONC s writing (1930) are still living on a farm near Hoyleton 1 CONC . The Wellpott family consisted of eight daughters and a so 1 CONC n--Minnie, Louise, Clara, Sophia, Martin, Frieda, Alice, Id 1 CONC a and Bernice. 1 CONT 1 CONT FatherÙus only full brother, Fred, serving in the German arm 1 CONC y, was killed on the Western front during World War I. Th 1 CONC e husband of one of fatherÙus sisters also was killed in th 1 CONC e conflict. The other sister still lives in Germany at thi 1 CONC s writing. Of the three half-brothers, one, Christian, bor 1 CONC n in 1889, came to America at the age of 23 to satisfy hi 1 CONC s lust for wandering and to seek his fortune. He lived at o 1 CONC ur home for a time while attending the Breese country schoo 1 CONC l for a time to learn some English language, and then lef 1 CONC t for work. He lived only two years longer, becoming ill wi 1 CONC th tuberculosis and died on the day in 1914 that World Wa 1 CONC r I began. 1 CONT 1 CONT The other two half-brothers of my father returned to thei 1 CONC r German homes after serving in the German armyÙus losing ca 1 CONC use in World War I. FatherÙus stepmother had died some tim 1 CONC e before the outbreak of that war. Grandfather Meyer live 1 CONC d until 1928 dying at the age of 71 years. One of these ste 1 CONC pbrothers was Ludwig, born in 1887, who owns and operate 1 CONC s a soda and mineral water bottling business in Waune-Eche 1 CONC l in Westfalen, West Germany. A sister of fatherÙus is Carol 1 CONC ine von Behren, born in 1882, who lived in Kreis Minden. 1 CONT 1 CONT During father MeyerÙus boyhood, South Hemmern was a farmin 1 CONC g village where people had small land holdings which were f 1 CONC armed intensively. Yields from the soil were large and vari 1 CONC ed. Grandfather MeyerÙus home was a rather large building 1 CONC , a typical German farmhouse of the time and place which wa 1 CONC s a combination house and barn. The family lived in the fro 1 CONC nt part and the farm animals were housed in the barn additi 1 CONC on to the back of the house. This was partly due to the val 1 CONC ue of land and better protection for farm animals. 1 CONT 1 CONT Father completed public school studies in Germany and als 1 CONC o was confirmed into the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Howev 1 CONC er, the lure of work in America was great to the crowded co 1 CONC nditions in Germany, so at the early age of 16 years youn 1 CONC g August Meyer embarked for America as some of his acquaint 1 CONC ances had done. He landed at New York and came immediatel 1 CONC y to Illinois. He worked for a time on the farm of a distan 1 CONC t relative living near Irvington which is eight miles sout 1 CONC h of Centralia, Illinois. Several Germans had settled wes 1 CONC t of Irvington and in the Hoyleton area. 1 CONT 1 CONT Father attended a public school for a short time to get a r 1 CONC eading knowledge of English, but he found association wit 1 CONC h people who had no knowledge of German more valuable in le 1 CONC arning to understand and speak English. He never tried to w 1 CONC rite in the English language much other than signing his na 1 CONC me or other necessary paper, such as checks. He worked in t 1 CONC he corn fields of northern Illinois as a harvest hand in th 1 CONC e fall for a season or two (as many young men in Southern I 1 CONC llinois did at that time) and found the associations ther 1 CONC e quite helpful in learning to converse in English. 1 CONT 1 CONT However, fatherÙus health did not seem very good at that tim 1 CONC e, so at 23 years of age he went west to the lumber camps o 1 CONC f Washington state with a friend. They worked in the pine w 1 CONC oods and saw mills for three years at Addy, Washington, nea 1 CONC r Spokane. It was a good life, health restoring, and fille 1 CONC d with valuable experience. 1 CONT 1 CONT By chance, the friend, with whom father went west, had bee 1 CONC n courting Emelia Stelzriede earlier. When, after three yea 1 CONC rs in the lumbering work, my father expressed a desire to r 1 CONC eturn to Illinois, but his friend desired to stay on in Was 1 CONC hington. He jokingly told father that he could have his gir 1 CONC l friend when he returned. Father was interested in farming 1 CONC , so when he returned to Irvington he arranged with a Juliu 1 CONC s Wacker to rent a farm he owned southeast of town to star 1 CONC t working for himself. He apparently had saved some money f 1 CONC rom the three years of work in Washington to arrange fo 1 CONC r a few essential farming tools and a team or two of work h 1 CONC orses. Almost immediately he took his friendÙus remarks seri 1 CONC ously and got acquainted with Emelia Stelzriede. 1 CONT 1 CONT After a three-weeksÙu courtship the couple were happily marr 1 CONC ied on March 1, 1905, and started life together on the newl 1 CONC y-rented farm. Two years later the first child, a son, wa 1 CONC s born on December 7, 1907, and named Albert. Three other s 1 CONC ons and one daughter were born into the family. The struggl 1 CONC e for a living was hard, but the heritage of my father an 1 CONC d mother was that of hard-working, thrifty Germans filled w 1 CONC ith the love of the soil and what it produced. 1 CONT 1 CONT After nine or ten years on the rented Wacker farm, father w 1 CONC as able to get enough money together to make a decent payme 1 CONC nt on the 160-acre Fisher farm as a place of his own. Thi 1 CONC s farm, with house and barns, was only about three miles no 1 CONC rth of the Wacker farm, so the family quickly made the chan 1 CONC ge of abode, using wagons with wide hay frames on them to m 1 CONC ove household belongings and other items while larger far 1 CONC m equipment was transported separately. Farming was reasona 1 CONC bly good during the World War I years and the immediate yea 1 CONC rs thereafter at the new farm. The soil was quite good alth 1 CONC ough father spent many winter days of hard work clearing ou 1 CONC t overgrown fence rows on the farm to improve the land. Th 1 CONC e depression that came in the late aftermath of World Wa 1 CONC r I hit the family hard for a time and made the struggle fo 1 CONC r a livelihood strenuous in the face of remaining debts o 1 CONC n the farm purchase, but the future was not without conside 1 CONC rable hope--as was borne out in the years to follow. 0 @I125@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMC @F32@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I126@ INDI 1 NAME Lester Arthur /Meyer/ 2 GIVN Lester Arthur 2 SURN Meyer 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 15 Feb 1916 2 PLAC Irvington, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 16 Aug 1992 2 PLAC Centralia, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 15 Feb 2004 3 TIME 11:31 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\DATA\Ancestry\LegacyData\Pictures\MeyerChildren.jpg 2 TITL The Meyer Children 2 NOTE Meyer children: Eileen, Lester, Albert, Fred, and George (l 3 CONC eft). Albert all dressed up (right). (Abt 1930 & 1910) 2 _SCBK Y 2 _PRIM Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 FAMS @F50@ 1 FAMC @F32@ 1 NOTE @NI126@ 0 @NI126@ NOTE 1 CONC Live near Irvington, IL. 0 @I127@ INDI 1 NAME George Jacob /Meyer/ 2 GIVN George Jacob 2 SURN Meyer 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 16 Sep 1918 2 PLAC Irvington, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 13 Jul 1949 2 PLAC Centralia, IL 1 BURI 2 PLAC Hillcrest Cemetery, Centralia, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 15 Feb 2004 3 TIME 11:31 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\DATA\Ancestry\LegacyData\Pictures\MeyerChildren.jpg 2 TITL The Meyer Children 2 NOTE Meyer children: Eileen, Lester, Albert, Fred, and George (l 3 CONC eft). Albert all dressed up (right). (Abt 1930 & 1910) 2 _SCBK Y 2 _PRIM Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 FAMC @F32@ 1 NOTE @NI127@ 0 @NI127@ NOTE 1 CONC Unmarried. 0 @I128@ INDI 1 NAME Infant /Meyer/ 2 GIVN Infant 2 SURN Meyer 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE Abt 1920 1 DEAT 2 DATE Abt 1920 1 CHAN 2 DATE 5 Jul 2003 3 TIME 12:07 1 FAMC @F32@ 0 @I129@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMC @F32@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I135@ INDI 1 NAME Otto /Meisner/ 2 GIVN Otto 2 SURN Meisner 1 SEX M 1 DEAT 2 DATE Unknown 1 CHAN 2 DATE 28 Aug 2003 3 TIME 23:46 1 FAMS @F35@ 0 @I136@ INDI 1 NAME Ernest /Meisner/ 2 GIVN Ernest 2 SURN Meisner 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE Abt 1900 2 PLAC IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE Unknown 1 CHAN 2 DATE 28 Aug 2003 3 TIME 23:46 1 FAMC @F35@ 0 @I137@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMS @F36@ 1 FAMC @F35@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I138@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F36@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I139@ INDI 1 NAME Orville Henry /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Orville Henry 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 13 Aug 1905 2 PLAC Decatur, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 24 Jul 1991 2 PLAC Decatur, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 17 Aug 2003 3 TIME 19:27 1 FAMS @F38@ 1 FAMC @F37@ 1 NOTE @NI139@ 0 @NI139@ NOTE 1 CONC From FamilySearchÙL U.S. Social Security Death Index. 0 @I140@ INDI 1 NAME Helen Freda /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Helen Freda 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 18 Oct 1902 2 PLAC Blue Mound, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 12 Sep 1995 2 PLAC Decatur, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 31 Jul 2004 3 TIME 09:29 1 FAMS @F113@ 1 FAMC @F37@ 1 NOTE @NI140@ 0 @NI140@ NOTE 1 CONC Some of this from http://www.geocities.com/ggsnider/ on Hel 1 CONC en Stelzriede - maybe another one? 1 CONT Some of this from F.C. Stelzriede - thought Helen born befo 1 CONC re his father died. 1 CONT Found lots on FamilyTreeMaker.com - descendants of Frederic 1 CONC k Stelzriede. - from Phyllis Copenbarger - Scott 0 @I141@ INDI 1 NAME Alma Francis /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Alma Francis 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 7 Oct 1910 2 PLAC Mt. Auburn, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE Mar 1995 2 PLAC Decatur, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 19 Aug 2003 3 TIME 20:27 1 FAMS @F102@ 1 FAMC @F37@ 1 NOTE @NI141@ 0 @NI141@ NOTE 1 CONC Some info from phys@fgi.net - Phyllis Scott on genealogy.co 1 CONC m. 1 CONT born on T.T. Roberts place. 0 @I142@ INDI 1 NAME Evelyn Irene /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Evelyn Irene 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 26 Nov 1918 2 PLAC Mt. Auburn, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 30 Jan 1920 2 PLAC Decatur, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 19 Aug 2003 3 TIME 20:28 1 FAMC @F37@ 1 NOTE @NI142@ 0 @NI142@ NOTE 1 CONC Some info from phys@fgi.net - Phyllis Scott on genealogy.co 1 CONC m. 1 CONT Born on T.T. Roberts place. 1 CONT In 1920 census in Mosquito Township, IL on 1/22/1920 - die 1 CONC d 8 days later. 0 @I143@ INDI 1 NAME Evelyn Margaret /Fickes/ 2 GIVN Evelyn Margaret 2 SURN Fickes 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 7 Nov 1913 2 PLAC IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 10 Feb 1986 2 PLAC Illiopolis, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 19 Aug 2003 3 TIME 22:46 1 FAMS @F38@ 1 NOTE @NI143@ 0 @NI143@ NOTE 1 CONC From FamilySearchÙL U.S. Social Security Death Index. 1 CONT 1 CONT Some info from phys@fgi.net - Phyllis Scott on genealogy.co 1 CONC m. 0 @I144@ INDI 1 NAME Dora M /Smiley/ 2 GIVN Dora M 2 SURN Smiley 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE Abt 1890 1 DEAT 2 DATE 1964 1 CHAN 2 DATE 7 Feb 2004 3 TIME 15:37 1 FAMS @F39@ 1 NOTE @NI144@ 0 @NI144@ NOTE 1 CONC From a children's home (orphanage) in Hoyleton, IL. (from A 1 CONC da Stelzriede via Claude - 7/21/2003). 0 @I145@ INDI 1 NAME Lyle /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Lyle 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 8 Oct 1909 2 PLAC Beaucoup, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 1954 2 PLAC MO 1 CHAN 2 DATE 24 Aug 2003 3 TIME 16:41 1 FAMC @F39@ 1 NOTE @NI145@ 0 @NI145@ NOTE 1 CONC From FamilySearchÙL U.S. Social Security Death Index as L. S 1 CONC telzriede only. More information elsewhere. 1 CONT Had Heart Condition. My understanding he had his own constr 1 CONC uction company, as told to me by Aunt Ada - from Claude Ste 1 CONC lzriede 7/21/2003. 0 @I146@ INDI 1 NAME Everrett W. /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Everrett W. 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 11 Jul 1911 2 PLAC Beaucoup, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 21 Sep 1984 1 BURI 2 PLAC Richview, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 24 Aug 2003 3 TIME 16:41 1 FAMS @F42@ 1 FAMC @F39@ 1 NOTE @NI146@ 0 @NI146@ NOTE 1 CONC From FamilySearchÙL U.S. Social Security Death Index. 1 CONT Heart Condition Buried in Richview Cemetery. He retired fro 1 CONC m Eltra Die Casting Company. - from Ada & Claude Stelzried 1 CONC e 7/21/2003. 0 @I147@ INDI 1 NAME Oscar J. /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Oscar J. 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 29 Jan 1914 2 PLAC Ashley, Beaucoup, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 6 Mar 1972 2 PLAC Nashville, IL 1 BURI 2 PLAC Ashley Cemetery 1 CHAN 2 DATE 24 Aug 2003 3 TIME 16:41 1 FAMS @F41@ 1 FAMC @F39@ 1 NOTE @NI147@ 0 @NI147@ NOTE 1 CONC From FamilySearchÙL U.S. Social Security Death Index. 1 CONT Died of Cancer, buried in Ashley Cemetery. Had twin sons, s 1 CONC till living (2003), both served in the Navy at the same tim 1 CONC e, Viet Nam Vets. His wife, Lois M. died September 22, 2001 1 CONC . She was buried in Ashley Cemetery. 1 CONT Some info from phys@fgi.net - Phyllis Scott on genealogy.co 1 CONC m. 0 @I148@ INDI 1 NAME Mildred /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Mildred 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 3 Mar 1916 2 PLAC Beaucoup, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 15 Oct 1998 2 PLAC IL 1 BURI 2 PLAC Richview Cemetery, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 24 Aug 2003 3 TIME 16:41 1 FAMS @F43@ 1 FAMS @F44@ 1 FAMC @F39@ 1 NOTE @NI148@ 0 @NI148@ NOTE 1 CONC Mildred A., born March 3, 1916, died October 15, 1998. In N 1 CONC ursing Home. Had both legs amputated at one time. Buried i 1 CONC n Richview Cemetery. 0 @I149@ INDI 1 NAME Claude F. /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Claude F. 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 27 Apr 1918 2 PLAC Beaucoup, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 12 Mar 1955 2 PLAC Ashley, IL 1 BURI 2 PLAC Ashley Cemetery, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 24 Aug 2003 3 TIME 16:41 1 FAMS @F57@ 1 FAMC @F39@ 1 NOTE @NI149@ 0 @NI149@ NOTE 1 CONC From FamilySearchÙL U.S. Social Security Death Index. 1 CONT Claude was born April 27, 1918, died on his son's 4th birth 1 CONC day, March 12, 1955. Heart Problems. He was a self employe 1 CONC d contractor/carpenter. Did a lot of work at Scott Air Forc 1 CONC e Base in Southern Illinois. He was buried in Ashley Cemete 1 CONC ry. He married Idra Lee McCoy, from Ashley, her birth dat 1 CONC e is February 8, 1924. - From Claude L. (Bud) Stelzriede. 2 1 CONC 003. 0 @I150@ INDI 1 NAME Ada Alice /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Ada Alice 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 3 Nov 1921 2 PLAC Beaucoup, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 30 Jun 2004 2 PLAC Centralia, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 18 Jul 2004 3 TIME 22:18 1 FAMS @F45@ 1 FAMC @F39@ 1 NOTE @NI150@ 0 @NI150@ NOTE 1 CONT Ada Groves, 82, of Centralia, formerly of Richview, Illinoi 1 CONC s, died at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, June 30, 2004, at the Fires 1 CONC ide House Nursing Facility in Centralia. She was born Novem 1 CONC ber 3, 1921, in Beaucoup, Illinois, daughter of Arthur an 1 CONC d Dora (Smiley) Stelzriede. She married Charles W. Groves o 1 CONC n June 21, 1941, in St. Louis, Mo., and he preceded her i 1 CONC n death on Dec. 24, 1986. Mrs. Groves is survived by two da 1 CONC ughters, Mary Ellen of Irvington and Sharon Belcher and spe 1 CONC cial friend Steve Gwin of Richview, a sister, Mary William 1 CONC s of Richview, four grandchildren, Lisa Tracz and husband L 1 CONC arry, Melissa Brown, Willie Belcher, and Terry Gwin; an 1 CONC d 9 great grandchildren. In addition to her husband, she wa 1 CONC s preceded in death by her parents; four brothers; two sist 1 CONC ers; a grandson, Tony Funk; and a great-great grandchild. M 1 CONC rs. Groves was a mail carrier for many years. She was a mem 1 CONC ber of the Richview Methodist Church and loved gardening an 1 CONC d flowers. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in th 1 CONC e Boggs Chapel of the Styninger-Pacey Funeral Home with th 1 CONC e Revs. Brett Yates and David Trover officiating. Intermen 1 CONC t will follow at Friedens Cemetery in Irvington. Friends ma 1 CONC y call from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home. Memorial 1 CONC s may be made to the Richview Cemetery Fund and will be rec 1 CONC eived at the funeral home. 0 @I151@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMS @F46@ 1 FAMS @F431@ 1 FAMC @F39@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I157@ INDI 1 NAME Lois M. /Krietemeyer/ 2 GIVN Lois M. 2 SURN Krietemeyer 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE Abt 1920 1 DEAT 2 DATE 2 Sep 2001 2 PLAC IL 1 BURI 2 PLAC Ashley Cemetery, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 7 Feb 2004 3 TIME 15:39 1 FAMS @F41@ 0 @I158@ INDI 1 NAME Esta Vera /Thompson/ 2 GIVN Esta Vera 2 SURN Thompson 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 16 Jan 1908 2 PLAC IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 2 Jul 1995 2 PLAC Thompsonville, Franklin County, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 17 Aug 2003 3 TIME 20:06 1 FAMS @F42@ 1 NOTE @NI158@ 0 @NI158@ NOTE 1 CONC From FamilySearchÙL U.S. Social Security Death Index. Zip 62 1 CONC 890 0 @I159@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F43@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I160@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F44@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I161@ INDI 1 NAME Wesley /Groves/ 2 GIVN Wesley 2 SURN Groves 1 SEX M 1 DEAT 2 DATE 24 Dec 1986 1 CHAN 2 DATE 18 Jul 2004 3 TIME 22:16 1 FAMS @F45@ 0 @I162@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F46@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I163@ INDI 1 NAME Olive /Jack/ 2 GIVN Olive 2 SURN Jack 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 30 Jun 1890 1 DEAT 2 DATE 18 Jan 1981 1 CHAN 2 DATE 5 Jul 2003 3 TIME 15:42 1 FAMS @F47@ 0 @I164@ INDI 1 NAME Alveria Faye /Wood/ 2 GIVN Alveria Faye 2 SURN Wood 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 16 Nov 1910 2 PLAC Karnak, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 2 Sep 1963 2 PLAC Jackson County, IL 1 BURI 2 PLAC Pleasant Grove Memorial Cemetery, IL 1 CHAN 2 DATE 29 Aug 2003 3 TIME 19:58 1 FAMS @F48@ 0 @I167@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F53@ 1 FAMC @F48@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I168@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMS @F54@ 1 FAMC @F48@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I169@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMS @F50@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I170@ INDI 1 NAME Sharon Kay /Meyer/ 2 GIVN Sharon Kay 2 SURN Meyer 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE Abt 8 Jun 1947 1 DEAT 2 DATE Abt 1947 1 BURI 2 PLAC Hillcrest Cemetery 1 CHAN 2 DATE 19 Aug 2003 3 TIME 23:18 1 FAMC @F50@ 0 @I171@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F56@ 1 FAMC @F50@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I180@ INDI 1 NAME Harold P /Steltzriede/ 2 GIVN Harold P 2 SURN Steltzriede 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 17 Feb 1910 2 PLAC Saginaw, MI 1 DEAT 2 DATE 12 Aug 1990 2 PLAC St Louis, MO 1 BURI 2 PLAC Mt Olivet 1 CHAN 2 DATE 15 Oct 2004 3 TIME 22:48 1 FAMS @F206@ 0 @I188@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMS @F53@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I189@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMC @F53@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I190@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMC @F53@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I191@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F54@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I192@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMC @F54@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I193@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMC @F54@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I194@ INDI 1 NAME Edra Vinita Tweedy /Bricker/ 2 GIVN Edra Vinita Tweedy 2 SURN Bricker 1 SEX F 1 BIRT 2 DATE 12 Jan 1913 2 PLAC Murphysboro, IL 1 DEAT 2 DATE 2 Oct 2002 2 PLAC Frederick, MD 1 CHAN 2 DATE 31 Jul 2004 3 TIME 09:15 1 FAMS @F69@ 1 NOTE @NI194@ 0 @NI194@ NOTE 1 CONC Edra T. Bricker Meyer, 89, retired instructor (1955-1973) 1 CONC , died Oct. 2 in Frederick, MD. Meyer was hired in fall 195 1 CONC 5 as a lecturer at University School and at the student-tea 1 CONC ching department. She retired as an instructor Sept. 1, 197 1 CONC 3. 0 @I195@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX F 1 FAMS @F56@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I196@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMC @F56@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I197@ INDI 1 NAME Living 2 GIVN Living 1 SEX M 1 FAMS @F134@ 1 FAMC @F57@ 1 NOTE @N0@ 0 @I198@ INDI 1 NAME Christian Friedrich /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Christian Friedrich 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 16 Aug 1817 2 PLAC Hille, District Of Minden, Germany 1 CHR 2 DATE 17 Aug 1817 1 DEAT 2 DATE 17 Jun 1818 2 PLAC Hille, District Of Minden, Germany 1 CHAN 2 DATE 24 Aug 2003 3 TIME 16:43 1 FAMC @F21@ 0 @I199@ INDI 1 NAME Christian Heinrich August /Stelzriede/ 2 GIVN Christian Heinrich August 2 SURN Stelzriede 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 29 Sep 1836 2 PLAC Hille, District Of Minden, Germany 1 CHR 2 DATE 11 Dec 1836 1 DEAT 2 DATE Unknown 1 CHAN 2 DATE 28 Aug 2003 3 TIME 23:24 1 FAMC @F20@ 1 NOTE @NI199@ 0 @NI199@ NOTE 1 CONC Probably died young because same parents had a second chil 1 CONC d with this name 9 years later. 0 @I81@ INDI 1 NAME John William (Bill) /Nelson/ 2 GIVN John William (Bill) 2 SURN Nelson 2 _AKA Bill // 1 SEX M 1 BIRT 2 DATE 18 Jul 1926 2 PLAC St. Louis, MO 1 DEAT 2 DATE 8 Apr 2001 2 PLAC Tallahassee, FL 2 CAUS Complications following acute appendicitis 1 CHAN 2 DATE 31 Jul 2004 3 TIME 00:49 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Program Files\Legacy\CARMEN AND JOHN W NELSON (100).jpg 2 TITL Carmen Stelzriede Nelson and John W. Nelson. 2 NOTE Carmen Stelzriede Nelson and John W. Nelson (about 1960). 2 _SCBK Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\DATA\Ancestry\LegacyData\Pictures\JWilliamNelsonSummer1995sm.jpg 2 TITL Bill Nelson in the lab. 1995 2 NOTE John William "Bill" Nelson adjusts equipment in his Particl 3 CONC e-Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) laboratory at Florida Stat 3 CONC e University in the summer of 1995. He retired and becam 3 CONC e a "professor emeritus". 2 _SCBK Y 2 _PRIM Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\DATA\Ancestry\LegacyData\Pictures\Dolores Anne with Snowball, John William (Billy) & William(Bill) Nelson.jpg 2 TITL Dolores Anne with Snowball, John William (Billy) & William (Bill) Nelson. 2 NOTE Dolores Anne with Snowball, John William (Billy) & Willia 3 CONC m (Bill) Nelson. 2 _SCBK Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 OBJE 2 FORM jpg 2 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\DATA\Ancestry\LegacyData\Pictures\John Nelson & Mother.jpg 2 TITL John Nelson & Daisy Black Nelson. 2 NOTE John Nelson & Daisy Black Nelson. 2 _SCBK Y 2 _TYPE PHOTO 1 FAMS @F1@ 1 NOTE @NI81@ 0 @NI81@ NOTE 1 CONC Professor of Physics (Nuclear, Experimental) at Florida Sta 1 CONC te University (Tallahassee, FL 1960-1 & 1966-2001) and als 1 CONC o at Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS, 1962-65). Stud 1 CONC ied nuclear lifetimes in the millisecond range using a "Lea 1 CONC ky Integrator" that he invented. Later worked in air sampli 1 CONC ng and analysis of the chemical elements in air pollution u 1 CONC sing Particle-Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) analysis. 1 CONT Founded PIXE International Corp. in 1978 to produce and sel 1 CONC l air samplers called impactors and Streakers to measure ch 1 CONC emical elements using ion-beam analysis techniques for atmo 1 CONC spheric and indoor air pollution studies. 1 CONT Had heart disease (atherosclerosis). First artery bypass o 1 CONC peration at age 48. One more bypass operation about 10 year 1 CONC s later. Stents inserted in later years to keep arteries op 1 CONC en. Died from complications following an emergency appende 1 CONC ctomy for a ruptured appendix. 1 CONT 1 CONT Bill was always very curious about the world. As a boy he w 1 CONC ould ask his mother how something worked and when she tol 1 CONC d him that she didn't know he would get upset and say "Ye 1 CONC s you do!". He was a ham radio operator and enjoyed workin 1 CONC g and playing with all kinds of electronics. He also love 1 CONC d music, especially jazz and swing. He liked to roller skat 1 CONC e for exercise. 1 CONT 1 CONT Education: B.A. Meteorology, UCLA, 1947; B.A. Physics, Wash 1 CONC ington Univ., 1949; M.A. Physics, Univ. of Texas, Austin, 1 1 CONC 952; Ph.D., Physics, Univ. of Texas, Austin, 1959. 1 CONT 1 CONT Employment: Ens. (USNR) Flight f