Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Wistful Wednesday: Great Grandmother Hatwig

My Great Grandmother D was born in Germany in 1878. She came to America in 1882 when she was four years old, she had a twin sister named Elsie. How or why she ended up in Minnesota is a mystery. She gave birth to five children, one of which was my Grandfather Albert D. She suffered the losses of two of her children Freddie at the age of nine from Scarlet Fever and Walter in 1935 from injuries in a car accident. She and her husband, Christian, were farmers. When Christian developed crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis she devoted her life to caring for him and their farm.

My Mother has many good memories of her Grandmother, my Mom would stop by her Grandmas house before school for "something good" to put in her lunch pail, usually a cookie.

I remember her, but as a child I was introduced to many old people..and I was not paying very good attention. I do recall some stories of her burying money in jars and coffee cans..and my Grandfather wondering if they would ever find them all.

This photo is impossible to date.. under the B there is a 25 on the license plate..I am not sure if it means anything or not..the classy outfit she sported that day always makes me smile. I wonder what color it was? :)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The outfit, the car are priceless. I bet the outfit was blue!

DayPhoto said...

I am always so touched by the struggle and 'good measure' our relatives gave to living and life. Someday you need to make a page of all your history posts and let everyone read them all together.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

Jan said...

You have inspired me to show one of my favorite old pictures. I have it hanging on my bedroom wall. Whenever I see yours I always think that I need to look through my old photos and then I saw that one on my wall today and finally did something about it. I hope you stop by.

Julia said...

Amazing photo Connie..really shows how it was in them days..
I had Scarlet Fever when I was a kid about 12 yrs old, I had to be isolated from every one else...of course the meds were different for me and got me through it.. then back in those days..if they had any at all!
Julia ♥

Unknown said...

I also remember hearing stories of buried money. That might not be a bad idea today! Especially with the financial crisis we're in.

Lanny said...

Looking at hellebores the other day remarked that they look old. Then I said, "You know, I can't help feeling that if I was transported back to the twenties everything would be sepia tone." I think her outfit was brown.

A comely trip into your ancestry. Thanks for sharing

Anonymous said...

Love the car, the outfit, everything about her! She looks so centred and sure of herself...

Jeanne Estridge said...

That's great -- they were tough old birds, weren't they?

Debbie said...

What a great old photo and story of your grandmother. My mom in law is a genealogist and has done the entire family on both sides and way..way back. This time frame you mention (1882) was during the immigration period when many folks came to the U.S. from Europe...a certain percentage from Germany. Here's a link to that info...http://www.path.coe.uh.edu/seminar2002/week2/immigrant_facts.html ....you have a really interesting blog...I will check back often...you are on my favorites!:)

Lori E said...

I am not 100% positive about this but from what I have been able to deduce about this photo it was about 1910-1915. The length of the dress would mean it was before the 20's and the car is about 1914. I am checking that one out with my hubby but he hasn't got back to me yet. Photos with cars in them are much easier to narrow down because you can set an "after" date for sure.

Connie Peterson said...

I am guessing that Great-Grandma was wearing a silver-gray dress and matching hat. It looks like it's a "Sunday-go-to-meetin'" outfit and could have been silk or that highly-glossed cotton (I've lost the name right now). Wonderful picture!