My Milwaukee roots

Ok, so clearly I suck at this blogging thing. Seems there is so little time for everything. I have been very busy working on my genealogy over the past few months, but had little time to post anything here. So I'll post a quick update.

Most of my research is focused on the Dederick-Herrin side, although I have also done some work on my mom's side of the family. She herself knew little about her family, as her parents died when she was 12 and 13. I learned years ago that my gr-gr grandfather on her side had been a fireman in the city of Milwaukee. He died while fighting a fire in March of 1888. I had always meant to contact the fire department to see if they could tell me anything at all about him. Well I finally got around to doing that just before Thanksgiving. When I spoke to the man in charge of these old records, he told me that my gr-gr-grandfather's name sounded familiar, and in fact he thought that he might have a picture of him. I almost fainted. I have just one picture of my grandfather, nothing older than that. Sure enough in 2 days he sent me this.



Wow. He didn't have any other information for me, but just to see the face of this man is incredible. Oh, and after joining Ancestry.com recently, I also found out that he served in the Civil War, for about 3 years. He certainly felt a sense of duty to serve and protect. What a wonderful man he must have been. According to various census records he was born in Prussia, in about 1838. So here's my mom's family.


Patricia J. Westfahl

Parents

Herman Westfahl
Born Jan. 31, 1886-Milw. WI
Died Oct. 22, 1944-Milw. WI

Minnie Itzakowsky
Born July 1, 1888-Germany
Died Feb. 16, 1943-Milw. WI


Grandparents

Henry Westfahl
Born Nov. 12, 1863-Milw. WI
Died Jan. 28, 1925-Milw. WI

Clara Maria Lecher
Born Nov. 13, 1867-Milw. WI
Died May 29, 1939-Milw. WI


Gustave Itzakowsky
Born Aug. 22, 1849-Germany
Died July 3, 1906-Milw. WI

Wilhelmina Kuep
Born Jun 3, 1850-Germany
Died July 1, 1928-Milw. WI


Great-Grandparents

Hans (Johan) Westphal
Born Dec. 26, 1827-Mecklenburg, Germany
Died Jan. 4, 1886-Milw. WI

Elizabeth Seeman
Born Feb. 25, 1834-Mecklenburg, Germany
Died Oct. 26, 1918-Milw. WI

They immigrated to the US sometime between 1855-1863

Hermann G. Lecher
Born about 1838-Prussia
Died March 15, 1888-Milw. WI
while fighting a fire as a city of Milwaukee Fireman
Herman immigrated to the US sometime between 1853 and 1860 with his mother, and possibly his father, and his 5 brothers and sisters

Elizabeth Schaeffer
Born Sept. 26, 1846-Germany
Died Feb. 2, 1909-Milw. WI

Great-Great-Grandparents

Hans H. Westphal
Maria ?????

???? Seeman
???? ????

Martin Lecher
Johanna (Jane Christiana) Schulz
Born May 16, 1813-Prussia
Died Dec. 10, 1897-Milw. WI

Philip Schaefer
Gertrude Mueller

I still have some research to do here in Milwaukee, to see if I can find any information on Philip and Gertrude Schaefer, parents of Elizabeth Schaefer Lecher, as I presume they immigrated here with their daughter. But other than that, I am mostly at a dead end of now trying to trace these lines back to Germany, which probably won't be easy. So far I haven't found any immigration information at all. But one step at a time. I've come a long way in what I've learned about my mother's family. What a strong German heritage.

I am still working on my dad's side too, and learning more all the time. Will post some more about that as soon as time permits.

Anyway, if you find your way here and have a Dederick, Weaver, Herrin or other relative that you think might be a relative, I have started a family tree on Ancestry.com. I am still filling in information on that too. Like I said at the beginning of this post, so much to do, so little time.

Until later....

Cheryl

How time flies....

Well, I began this blog with the best of intentions, but we all know how that goes. Life does tend to get in the way sometimes. In 2010 my husband decided that he wanted to start brewing beer again, which led to establishling a not-for-profit microbrewery in our basement. He's the brewmaster, and I am his dutiful assistant. Countless hours and weekends were spent brewing, studying, and setting up operations. His hobby sort of took over my life for a bit last year. I didn't have nearly enough time to pursue my genealogy hobby, plus a computer crash mid-year didn't help things either. The brewery is now up and running, as is my new laptop computer, so hopefully 2011 will find me with more time to blog. One good genealogy related thing came out of the brewery though. Here's a little backstory first.

Growing up, my family rented the upper level of a duplex here in Milwaukee. We also shared the basement with the people we rented from. Our part of the basement was stuffed with all kinds of things, to the point that it was sometimes hard to walk through. Among the many things stored down there were some antique furniture pieces my father had brought with him when he moved from Warsaw, Indiana about 1957 or 1958. I couldn't even see them very well because there was so much "stuff" on and around them, that they were partly or almost fully obscured. When I was 15 my parents purchased a home, and we moved all our things, including the old antiques. My father told me about them, and I thought they were wonderful. Though they were still relegated to the basement, as my mother did not like them, and would not stand to have any of them in the upstairs part of the house. He worried about what would happen to them when he was no longer around to be their caretaker. He feared that neither of my sisters or my brother would want them. I told him that I would love to have them in my house someday, and have them in the main part of my house, and give them the love and respect they deserved. While he appreciated my interest and sentiment, he said he hoped that would be true, but feared that over time I would change my mind. Fast forward about 15 years.

When my father died, my husband and I moved into that same house, which now belonged to me. We pondered for a few years what to do about the house, should we keep it or sell it and move. My father always told me that I should stay here. Ultimately we decided to stay, but I told my husband that I intended to transform the house into what I wanted it to be. We hired a contractor, and remodeled about 1/2 of the huge basement into an entertainment, bar and model train area. Several of the antique pieces stored down there were finally brought up to the main floor to make way, and they were given a prominent spot in our living room. One piece that we could not find a way to fit upstairs was a large modular cabinet that had belonged to my great grandfather, William Dederick. He was a homeopathic physician, and the cabinet was where he stored his medicines, books and other related items. It was shuffled from place to place over the next few years, as we made further changes to the basement. It was finally shoved into a corner of the workshop area where my husband and my father before him kept tools of all sorts. It also became a critical part of the new microbrewery this year. As space all around the cabinet was filled in, it again became inaccesible, as it was all those years ago. For months I had been hounding my husband that he needed to get this area cleaned up and organized. When he decided a few weeks ago that he also wanted to get into wine making, I saw my opportunity. I told him that I would help him clean out and organize, and that I would find a way somehow to get that cabinet out of there so he had more room, and I could finally give it a proper home. The only place I could think to put it was in my guest bedroom. So this past Thursday in preparation for the move, I spent the whole day painting the room to give it a new life (it probably had not been painted for at least 25 years), and on Friday we dis-assembled the cabinet and moved it upstairs. The cabinet has been re-united with the physicians license which used to sit in the upper portion of the cabinet, and which I imagine probably hung somewhere near it, when my great grandfather was practicing medicine. It too has been restored as we matted, and re-framed it. The cabinet is still complete with all it's small bottles of medicines, the reference books that he used, and log books of his patients. William practiced medicine from the time he received his license on April 19, 1894 until his death in 1905.

The dresser and chest are antiques from my mother's side of the family. The radio atop the chest also belonged to my dad. I think it dates back to the 1950's. The table is new, although we chose it because of it's mission styling. I am also including a couple of pictures of the antique desk and bookcase, and music chest, both of which I believe date to the 1800's.

So dad, I have finally kept the promise I made to you all those years ago. All of your beloved antiques now have foud their home, in my home, and I will take the best care of them that I know how, as long as I'm around. Pictures below.










Dr. William Dederick

This is one of the reasons I like genealogy, it's like a jigsaw puzzle. I have a bunch of old letters that I want to read, and type up. When I first read this letter, I didn't really know who it was from, or who they were talking about. In researching the Crafts side of the family this week, I spent some time going through the Crafts family genealogy which I found online. My great-great-grandmother Cynthia Crafts Dederick had 2 sisters, and 1 brother, Talmadge Crafts. When I read through the entry in the book about Talmadge, it showed that he married, and had 2 children. The daughter died as a baby, he died when his son was 2 years old, and his wife died 5 years later, leaving the boy as an orphan at the age of 7 years old. It further mentioned that the boy was educated in Springfield, Illinois. I immediately thought of this letter, saw it was sent from Springfield, and the last name of the sender matched the maiden name of the boys mother. I finally knew who the writer of the letter was talking about, the young boy was Walter James Crafts, son of Talmadge. It's so much fun to me to make discovery's like this. The Crafts genealogy also has an entry for Walter, which states he was residing in New York city, and had one child with his wife, and that the child was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1890. I found a photo in one of the old family photo albums, which has a photographers stamp on it from Brooklyn, New York, and it is a baby. I bet that the photo is of Walter's son, Walter Earle Crafts. Another mystery solved. I truly do love genealogy. The text of the letter appears below.

Springfield, Ill
March 14th, 1873

Mrs. Weaver

I owe you an apology for not answering your kind favor of Nov 28 until this late day. ( ) I have often thought of doing so but as I have had to nurse my eyes a good deal during the lasst winter I have had in a measure to let my correspondence go. Now I have got me eye glasses that will I think be of some help to me. We have all got along nicely here during the winter and have enjoyed ourselves pretty well. Walter has kept close to school and I think is doing pretty well. His health has greatly improved since he has been with us. We have taken special care of the dear child-and I am glad he is improving in very many respects. He has not been to Sunday school very much this past winter, as we live some distance from the schools and the winter has been so severe that we did not send him- but will do so now that it has opened up so pleasant. Walter looks and acts so very much like his father that wife and I often call to remembrance our acquaintance with Mr. Crafts. I would like very much if you could see the fellow, I think it would be a great comfort to both of you. Mr. Lehindau has sold his place and has moved to Green County. I often think of dear Sister left all alone. How I do wish that she was lying by the side of her husband and her dear child that she loved so dearly. Well may we not hope that though their mortal remains are Sunder’d that their spirits are united and that now they are a happy little family in our Father’s Kingdom. I loved Mary dearly and I can hardly give her up. I understood her perhaps better than anybody else and it is a mournful satisfaction to me to have the privilege to do for her little boy. I hope and trust that hereafter we will hear from each other oftener. Walter often talks about his Aunts back in “York state”. He also remembers his little brother and prays for him. The children gets along nicely together and seems to be as fond of one another as if they were one family. This being Friday night wife has gone to Prayer Meeting and took Walter along for company. So you see he is quite a little man. We have several Homeopathic physicians here. Am glad that I have not had to call them in so far, but will employ none others for Walter should he ever need them. Have had him vaxinated , also have given him medicine for worms as he was very bad with them. He had other complaints that yielded to care and I am glad to be able to say that he is very much improved in every way. Have not heard very much from sister Nelly this past winter. Had some letters but as I did not answer them of course my correspondents have almost dropped me all together. Well I am in the hopes that I will be able to do better from this time on. Will be real glad to hear from you. Walter has just come in and I told him I was writing to you and asked him if he wanted say anything. He said he wanted to write to you and sends his love to both of his Aunts.

Yours truly,

JL Burke



This is the photo with the Brooklyn, NY stamp on it, most likely Walter Earle Crafts, born August 12, 1890. Son of Walter James Crafts and Augusta Helen Follmer.

Just checking in....

Just checking in that I haven't had time to post anything, but I spent several hours last weekend scanning in more photographs, and am digging back in to researching the family. Started putting some pieces together. I will try to post some more info this weekend, but for now, here are a few new (old) photos.




William Dederick with one of his sons, probably Arthur or Walter, circa 1864-1867




Elsie Ann (Weaver) Dederick with third son, Willard Dederick circa 1870





William and Elsie Ann Dederick, date unknown. This was scanned from a tin-type photo, and came out quite well, I thought.

Grandparents-Dederick side

Willard Wright Dederick was born on October 18, 1869 in Roann Indiana. He was the third son of William Dederick and Elsie Ann Weaver. His older brothers were Arthur Sylavanus born in 1862 and Walter Crafts born in 1865. Elsie Ann died in 1878 when Willard was almost 9. According to my father, Willard and his cousin Edson Colt, built the first bandsaw mill in Indiana, which they operated until around the turn of the century. At that time Willard went to work for the Wabash Railroad as a florist, growing plants for station yards and dining cars. Wishing to operate for himself, Willard built a greenhouse on Road 15 in Warsaw, IN. in 1906. He operated that greenhouse, later with assistance from his son Forrest, until his death in 1946. Willard's greenhouse was located a short distance from the home of Jeremiah and Ellen Melissa Herrin. Willard married their oldest daughter, Eva Marie in 1908. They had 2 children, Helen Marie in 1910, and Forrest Thorald in 1913. Marie would die tragically as the result of an accident, in 1937.





Jeremiah and Ellen Melisa Herrin, probably about 1935.






From left to right, unknown, Mary Margaret Herrin, Helen Elizabeth Herrin, Ellen Melissa Herrin, and Eva Marie (Herrin) Dederick with daughter (Helen) Marie, spring 1911.

Starting Out

Well, this is something that I have been thinking about doing for a long time. I have been interested in genealogy since I was in the 7th grade (I'm almost 40 now), and had to do a family tree for a class project. My dad was able to provide me information going back several generations, while my mother hardly even knew who her grandparents were. Since all of my grandparents had died before I was born, I found learning about them, and their ancestors, was a way to connect with them. My family has saved many things through the years, so I am blessed with boxes of old letters, old photos, old sermons (my great-grandfather Simeon Dederick was a minster), and many old family heirlooms. I still have yet to go through all the letters, and sadly I don't know who many of the people in the photos are, but I hope to post those pictures and letters here over time, and maybe someone else out there searching for their ancestors will see a name or a face that they recognize. To get started I will post a couple of pictures, and parents/grandparents.




My father, Forrest Dederick and his sister Marie, probably taken about 1917, Warsaw, IN.








Forrest about 1928 or so.


















Me: Cheryl Dederick

My Parents:

Forrest Dederick
B. 7-27-1913
D. 3-28-2001

Patricia Westfahl
B. 3-19-1931
D. 8-25-1995


My Grandparents:

Willard Wright Dederick
B. 10-18-1869 D. 6-6-1946
Eva Marie Herrin
B. 3-8-1889 D. 12-14-1967

Herman Westfahl
B. 1-31-1886 D. 10-22-1944
Minnie Itzakowsky
B. 7-1-1888 D. 2-16-1943