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The Bremsers of Norwalk, Ohio and Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany
The Brömser family originated in the noble von Rüdesheim family of many generations ago. More recently, many Bremser's are from the Rheinland-Pfalz and Hessen-Nassau areas of Germany, specifically the town of Niedertiefenbach. However, you will find the name scattered across many towns and villages of the region, including Grebenroth, Nassau, and others.The Klein and Bremser families emigrated from Germany to in Elyria and Norwalk, Ohio in the 18802 and 1890s.
Family tradition placed Heinrich Bremser's birthplace as Nassau or Singhofen, but Church records did not contain his name. After considerable research, we learned his birth name was Philip Gotlieb Elias Bremser, and he was born in Grebenroth. Henry's wife, Philipina Klein, was born in Burgschwalbach. Their first daughter was born in Hähnstatten. A great many Bremsers are from Niedertiefenbach.
The first of the Klein family to come to the United States were brother and sister Haddie and Henry Klein. Family oral tradition says they left Burgschwalbach, Germany in the mid 1880s. They headed for Norwalk, Ohio, 37 miles from Elyria. Henry Klein first got a job with the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad. Another sister, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Klein (m. Ernst Loeffler) and then Karl Klein came next. These four saved money and sent it to Germany to bring over my great-grandparents, Philipena Klein Bremser and her husband,
The Voyage to America
FJacob Klein's oldest son, Wilhelm II, remained in Germany and attained the highest rank in Forestry. He was married and had three children by his first wife: William (Wilhelm? — killed in WWI), Hedwing (Hedwig?), and Curt. (Curt later married his first cousin, Phillipena's daughter Wilhelmena "Minnie" Bremser.)
The Family Prospers
A new church building was raised in 1924. Several years later, during the depths of the Great Depression, Henry paid for a bell to be installed in the empty bell tower.
The Brothers Form Bremser Coal and Supply Co.
Another Klein brother, Karl, came over later on. He did not fare as well, and returned to Germany within a few years of his arrival. He lived for some time and had a family, but apparently was never very successful. Minnie Bremser Klein, in a letter from 1922 after a visit to Burgschwabach, said he was still struggling.
Apparently life was not easy at times for the children, who lived in the new America but experienced the old-world ways of their father.
Elizabeth apprenticed herself at age 12 or 13 in Norwalk, Ohio to a milliner (women's hat maker) for no pay. After a short time, less than a year, she left her family in Norwalk and moved to Columbus, Ohio. The two ladies who ran the millinery shop in Norwalk got her a job in a shop in Columbus and a place to stay in a Quaker boarding house.
Lizzie Moves to Chicago
Lizzie discovered that the milliner trade was seasonal and the next Christmas she got a job as a saleswoman. She found she liked that work more. The next winter, when hat season ended, she went with a friend to Chicago and got a temporary job at Marshall Fields, the largest retailer and most exclusive department store in the city. She outsold all the other employees and was given a full-time job. It was there that she met Johnson Tucker Beasley, who was selling stationary at the time. They dated and were engaged two months later. Lizzie wrote home, "I am going to be married Friday night at 8:30 and shall be at home to see you some time Sat. depends on trains and John is going to find out tomorrow and I shall let you know later. Now don't say I am foolish as my husband to be and myself are in our right minds. His name is John Beasley... [We] became engaged last Sunday and [I] shall be Mrs. Beasley by next Sunday."
Bremser Coal and Cement Company
Elizabeth and Johnson Beasley faced unbearable challenges during their marriage. Their first child, Robert, was born 11 months after they married and died four days later. Three years later they had twin girls, Ruth and Jane. Only two years later, Ruth died in the 1919 worldwide flu pandemic. In 1920, Betty was born. The doctors said she had a congenital heart defect, and she would die young. Betty lived longer than expected, until she was four-and-a-half.
When the Depression hit, Johnson Beasley lost his well-paying job selling seats for a manufacturer. The stress on John was too great; in 1930 he left the family and found a job in Chicago. He held a variety of sales-related jobs until he became the manager of the Bismarck Hotel in Chicago. Johnson remained in Chicago, largely estranged from his daughters, and died there in 1950 at age 64.
The Daughters Grow Up
After John left, Annabeth and Jane were raised by their mother, Elizabeth Bremser. Unable to pay the mortgage on the house in Kansas City, she moved out and rented it. She worked a variety of jobs and moved 13 times over the next nine years between Norwalk, Kansas City, Detroit and Decatur. She worked as a governess within a children's home for a period. They stayed in Norwalk with her parents. Jane was off to college by around 1935, which Grampa Bremser, at Gramma Philippina's suggestion, helped with tuition.
Elizabeth found a job watching another family's children and was able to get a room in the house for her and Annabeth. Elizabeth and John separated but there is no record of a divorce. She was told she would receive her share of the business when her parents died. Instead, her mother Philippina persuaded Henry to pay off the two mortgages on Elizabeth's home in Kansas City. This enabled Elizabeth and Annabeth to return to Kansas City and live there. Jane, making almost $750 a month at age 20 as a teacher, bought her mother and sister a new stove.
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| Elizabeth Bremser had a heart condition and entered a convalescent home in Sandusky, Ohio in late 1951. This is the last picture of Elizabeth, taken in early 1952. She died on June 2. The picture on the table (shown below) is of her first grandchild, Buddy (my brother), with his parents Hal and Annabeth. |
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| Hal, Annabeth and Bud, Christmas, 1951. Hal was reassigned to the Great Lakes Naval Station, in Great Lakes, Illinois, as the District Public Works Officer in November 1951. Annabeth remained sad for the remainder of her life that she was unable to visit her mother before her death. |
Elizabeth stayed in Ohio and moved to Sandusky. After a heart attack, she entered a convalescent facility, where she died in 1952.
Her daughter Jane had no children. Annabeth, my mother, married Hal Phelps and had two boys, myself (Brian) and my brother (Bud). Bud died in August, 2000. Jane passed away less than two weeks later. Annabeth died in her sleep within six months of her son and her sister, at age 73.