Wistful Wednesday: 1884

In 1884 my Great Grandfather was Confirmed.

This beautiful old document is dated April 06, 1884 in Walcottsville, NY.  My Great Grandpa was born in Germany on March 20, 1870 his birth name was Christian Higher.  He did not stay with his birth parents.  He became part of the Drewes family sometime before 1884, from then on he was known as Christian Friedrich Drewes. Was he adopted or just taken in..I am not sure.

He came from Germany when he was twelve years old (1882).  He told my Mother that he was on a ship for a really long time and he saw lots of rats.

I always knew he was in New York for awhile..I always assumed he must have been in New York City or that area.  What a surprise for me to find out that on his Confirmation Certificate it says Walcottsville, NY which is near Buffalo NY.

He was a logger and also worked in the CCC camps. He was crippled with rheumatoid arthritis.

He used a chair with wheels on it to scoot around. He died before I was born. I do know that my Great Grandmother was devoted to him, she took care of his every need for many years.

Christian and Hatwig Drewes

This photo was taken in April of 1944 more than likely Easter Sunday April 09, 1944.  I looked really closely at the calendar.. I couldn’t figure out the photo on the calendar for the longest time..it is an Empty Tomb.. and the Good Friday and Easter Sunday are highlighted.  Oh ya it was almost 2:30 in the afternoon. This is one of the very few photos of my Great Grandparents Drewes together:)

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? :)