19. My family authorities (continued)

Here I want to keep listing my family authorities among our branch of the Krieg-Treuthardt family.   This early effort took about twenty years and more, up to about 1997.   (Certainly it was not something I worked on continuously, but every so often one or two new facts came to me.)      

Family history research has a life of its own.   "It" is resistant to releasing information;  it closely and jealously guards the secrets.    What information it gives up at first seems insignificant, almost petty.   Many times the effort of discovery seems futile, and one is embarrassed to admit how little progress he/she is making.   How easy it is for one's family story to languish and fade away over time.   One cannot even define what progress is.   

Every family's history is unique, so one never knows what to expect.   There is no way to anticipate from which direction the ideas may come.   It has to be important to somebody, to rediscover it by being patient and waiting for the research to creep its way towards his/her direction.

Many times while my children were young, I had to "let it go."    However, I never gave up curiosity or my goal, and I developed patience.   Now I know, the work has to ripen.     That takes a long time.   It is important to begin a family history study when one is young, so that he/she has many years to develop patience.   

A remarkable thing happened over time.     Knowledge and information began to tumble in, quite suddenly in the scheme of things, after all those preliminary years of building on small events and ideas.   

If you want to get my instruction list and scientific techniques and methods for researching our family history, here it is.

•  Ask
•  Seek
•  Knock  

Asking, seeking and knocking comes in many forms!   

   
Among my grandfather Gottlieb Krieg's family of twelve, he was the second-to-last child.    My father was the second-to-last child of eight.   I am the second-to-last child in a family of six, and Gottlieb's and Ida's penultimate grandchild out of eighteen.   Birth-order-wise (second-to-last), I arrived at the end of the branch of my family.   Knowing absolutely nothing about the subject of family history was apparently was so fascinating to me, that I was motivated to ask, seek and knock for more than three decades, going on close to four decades.   This information came from others.  

Sincerely, I would have made no progress whatsoever without the help of Roy and Norman.     Both of those men were inspirational and helped me to have a vision.   They got me oriented in the right direction.   They brought first- or second-hand memories to share, giving me events on which to focus.

Roy and Jo provided their Georgetown home as an ideal central place for our "small" Krieg reunions every year, where the older people talked;   the children played alongside each other and, two kids at a time, drove the go-kart endlessly in circles around the house -- and recklessly drank more soda water than they were permitted the rest of the year.    Providing a venue for sharing news, meeting people, and remembering history, was a tremendous contribution to this study. 

Norman every year would bring a family history "show-and-tell" object that he had found at home.   He had a great memory and could talk for a long time.  I brought a notebook, but there was more to learn and do than I could take notes of.   One needs to listen and hear.   I wanted to visit too, and watch the kids.   I depended on Eddie to remember things that I had not heard.  

The cousins were encouraged to recall things.   The ones who used to live in and around Thrall described the family of those early days.    Marjorie recalled things that were "atmospheric," Robert was always there to give information and approval, and Lucille added items or memories.     Roy took us to places of interest in the Georgetown area, and he suggested other materials for me.    Leon and Ida encouraged me with their support and memories.    Reinhold told me his story about the Williamson County flood.   Jean too had interviewed Aunt Anna before the latter's death.   My brothers lived in Thrall only a short time and were too young to remember the oldest history, but Harvey observed a lot, for being so little.    At one time (Roy told me) 26 members of the Krieg family lived in Thrall.   Since Aunt Maude's death, there are none.

Before Uncle Arnold Krieg's death in 2000 (he was in the nursing home for a couple of years), we visited at their home several times, and I would always ask him questions.   He might have a [short] answer that generated more questions, he might not, but we gained in those visits a better first-hand sense of the earliest times, and of his childhood memories at New Bern, Texas.
   
Of considerable value was the packet of snippits and papers that Reinhold and Katherine shared with me.   Although Katherine didn't know anything about them, and they didn't make any or much sense to us, they came from the files of Ida Krieg, our grandmother.    There were some Swiss documents that we didn't know anything about (now I know more and will tell you later).   Little as they were, they led me to other remote facts.    In these posts, I will record now and then that certain items came from the collection of Katherine and Reinhold.   They originally belonged to Ida.  

What all of the above eventually resulted in, was a history of Krieg Brothers Chevrolet Company, of Thrall, Texas.   Using the memories of the cousins and uncles, I wrote this history of the memories of the uncles, aunts and cousins, to compile as much "regional" information as possible.    Afterwards, I shared the history with every branch of the family.   The reports have probably been lost in the shuffle, so I plan to enter the report on this blog eventually.   When I get to the Kriegs, this report will be helpful in imparting the history of the Kriegs in Williamson County from about 1920 to 1950.

As recently as last year, Earl brought me an item from the Krieg family Bible which was a typewritten Christmas poem on which paper my father had signed his name in cursive handwriting.   It must date from about 1920.   One never knows what might become valuable as a clue to the history.   When I get to that point, I will tell about that little adventure of the Christmas poem.  

16. Baptism Day of Anna Krieg and Louise Treuthardt, 14 February 1897

The Baptism Day of Anna Louise Krieg and Louise Elisabeth Treuthardt

February 14, 1897

These two Baptisms are documented in the 100th anniversary edition of St. Peter Lutheran Church of Walburg, Texas.   The infants are cousins, Anna Louise Krieg and Louise Elizabeth Treuthardt.   Anna's birth date is November 21, 1896.   Louise was born in December, 1896.   This picture was in the possession of Anna (my Aunt Anna) in 1977.   (See notes at the end of this post to find out how I got a copy of it.)   She told me she was one of the babies in the photo. 
 

It was February 14, and the tree was leafless.  Everyone was wearing long sleeves, and most were wearing several layers.    A few people look windblown and cool.   The children's patience was being strained, not to mention that of some other people who wished they could be someplace else.   Isn't that the way it is when people gather for a family photograph? 

The Treuthardt Grandparents

In the front row center are seated Friedrich Treuthardt, age 63, and his wife Anna Johanna Geiser Treuthardt, age 50.    Grandfather Friedrich (or Fred, as his tombstone records) lived exactly ten years, minus two days, after this picture was taken; he died February 12, 1907.  Grandmother Anna lived an additional thirty-nine years, to age 89; her death date is March 11, 1936. 

 The Babies' Parents

The honored mothers are seated on either side of the grandparents, each holding her baby.  Their husbands stand behind them--in perfect symmetry--between the wife and parent. 

Seated next to Grandfather Fred is his daughter Ida (Treuthardt) Krieg, and behind them is her husband Gottlieb Krieg.  Ida is 25 years old, and Gottlieb is age 26.  Ida is holding baby Anna.

Next to Grandmother Anna is seated her daughter-in-law Louise (Ischy) Treuthardt, holding baby Louise, and behind them, Wilhelm Treuthardt, holding his child.  Will, born in 1858, is 39 years old.  His wife Louise, born in 1865, is 32 years old. 

The three older children belong to Will and Louise Treuthardt.   He and Louise were married at St. Peter in 1891.  The three children are Frederick William, almost 5 years;  Will F., Jr., not yet 4 years; Arnold, two years old.*  The baptisms of these three children are not recorded at St. Peter.  

*These children were identified by their daughters and nieces

 in June, 1997, at the Treuhardt reunion in Holland, Texas. 

These five children are all of the grandchildren of the Treuthardts in 1897.  No other children of Gottlieb and Ida were baptized at St. Peter, as the Lutheran church at New Bern became their new church home.  Their son Oscar, born in 1899, was baptized at New Bern, and all their other children as well.  Thus the association of the Kriegs with St. Peter, Walburg/Georgetown, was terminated by 1899.    Three additional children of Will and Louise were born later than 1897 and were baptized at St. Peter.  

 

 The Pastor and his wife

In 1977 Anna Krieg Fuessel (who was one of the babies in the photo) stated that she thought the pastor and his wife are pictured at the right of the photo.  The pastor in 1897 at the Walburg Church was Rev. Johannes Mgebroff.     

In February, 1997 (exactly 100 years after this picture was taken) Eddie and I went to Clifton, Texas, for me to interview Pastor Mgebroff's son (who was also a Lutheran pastor) at their home.    Pastor Fred Mgebroff was then 89 years old.    I brought along this picture to ask Fred Mgebroff whether the man in the picture was his father.    He did positively identify his father and mother, Pastor Johannes and Mrs. Helene Mgebroff.     

Pastor J. Mgebroff is the second from the far right, back row, the nice-looking young man with a beard, and his wife stands next to him, looking towards the group.    Pastor Mgebroff was born in 1868 in the Ukraine of southern Russia.  He graduated from the Pilgermission St. Chrischona in Basel, Switzerland, and was sent to Texas as a missionary.   In this photo he would have been 29 years old.  His wife, Helene Kummel Mgebroff, was well educated in "music, voice and domestic science."  Their marriage date is September 14, 1895, so on the date of the photo they had been married for exactly one-and-one-half years.  The couple remained at St. Peter barely another year, as they left Walburg to take a call at another Texas church, in June, 1898.

The scholarly Pastor Mgebroff was a pre-eminent historian of the Lutheran Church in Texas, having researched the first 50 years of the Texas Synod, and written a comprehensive history published in 1902.   It is said that he had an extensive theological library, one of the best in Texas.   In 1919 he died suddenly at the age of 51, a great loss to the early Texas Lutheran Church.   

It is a marvel that the little community of Swiss people had such a knowledgeable and excellent resource of spiritual care during those years.   Our history might be different if they had not had this influence.     

Notes:    
Within the year 1997, the Pastor Mgebroff whom we visited at Clifton TX, had died.   
Originally this picture was in the collection of my grandmother Ida Krieg, then she passed it on to her daughter Anna (my Aunt Anna), whose Baptism Day is recorded here.  After Anna's death, Anna's son Reinhold and his wife Katherine inherited the pictures and album.   At a family reunion Katherine showed the album to me, and I recognized it as the same one Aunt Anna had showed me in 1977.   The snapshot was small, not more than 5 x 4 inches.    My husband Eddie Kolodziej took a picture of the snapshot.   
It is a tribute to the quality of these old photographs, that even when enlarged, the images, details, and faces are clear.    Eddie took the picture with an SLR camera.   I doubt these days that digital reproductions are capable of doing as well, being limited by pixels. 
Other people in the picture have been identified, however, I will not make those identifications yet.    It is enough to know that these people were a majority of the Swiss people who had immigrated to Georgetown, with their descendants.   It is fairly safe to say that most of the people in this picture (who are 20 years or older) were born in Switzerland.        
 

This information comes from a paper that I wrote in 1997, 100 years after the photograph was taken.

I used this picture in August, 2008 on the invitation to the Krieg, Treuthardt, Walther reunion in Georgetown, Texas at Christ Lutheran Church.   

5. My family authorities

When I pick up a nonfiction book, first I go to the back of the book, to the bibliography.   Doing this I learn, who are this writer's authorities?  When did these authorities live and write?  Do I recognize any of them?   From the bibliography one can tell fairly reliably the scope of the book, how deep is its depth, and a sense of whether one is able to accept or respect this writer's facts and opinions.

In a blog, the reader doesn't have the privilege of judging its bibliography, since the middle and end have not been produced.    Thus, I begin writing the way I like to begin reading a book, by telling you some of my authorities.   You must understand, I didn't want merely one or two points of view;   I wanted the viewpoints of many resources in order to develop a well-rounded story.     

Whether or not you know this family, you will be interested in knowing my resources.   Mainly because, my resources are exciting stories in themselves.    The processes of discovering the people who helped me all along the way, are adventures.    But since the people were not altogether famous household names, instead of naming them, I will give you their classifications, categories or group to which they belonged.

I would love to have begun with interviewing my Swiss-born grandparents, but they were long dead.   I started with the next tier, their Swiss-Texan children.    My father is at the top of the list.   He didn't speak a whole lot -- he was frugal with words -- but he would answer questions.   In those early days I didn't know the questions to ask.   He didn't have the answers.   Next I went to my oldest aunt in West Texas and interviewed her as completely as possible, on September 8, 1977.    She was my supreme authority, as she was the oldest of eight children.   She showed me pictures in an album and talked about the people.   I took notes and assembled the points she made.   That list, together with notes from my father, provided a starting point.   I should say, it was a short list.     

Next my husband and I went to family reunions in Central Texas and I (shyly) let it be known I was interested in family history.   It took a few years to speak to my uncles, and this top-tier interview process was not completed before they had died.   

The next tier in line were my cousins who were a generation older than me.   A couple of them had worked in the small town family business and some even lived next door to my grandmother Ida.   Several cousins were very interested in helping me and telling their remembrances.    In the meantime, while I was working on this research for many years, some of my cousins died.

The next tier in the family were cousins my age.   We are of not much use in this history.   We have virtually no memory, only faint recollections of what the older people told us, and not much of that.    I had run out of authorities in my branch of the family.   

One cousin asked me, "when are we going to HEAR about your research?"   Sadly, she died before this research ripened.   Now you see why I am anxious to share what I have learned from my family.   Because I am getting to be of an age when people die.    I won't want to die until I finish writing my discoveries for an audience who may be listening.

But I couldn't stop with the "authorities" of my family.   There simply wasn't enough to talk about.
     

Krieg Family reunion of long ago, in the early 1970's
in Brady/ Eden, Texas.
Kriegs, left to right
Oscar, Ed, Will, Julius, Werner, Arnold and Anna Fuessel
Not pictured is Sigfrid Krieg, who died before this time