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  • Family Home
    • Surname Index
      • (--?--) — to — Franks
      • Franz — to — Neave
      • Neff — to — Willard
      • Willcockson — to — Zuern
    • Persons Index
      • (--?--)—to—William Delray Alley
      • James Allinder—to—James Beall
      • James Beall—to—Claudia June Bremser
      • Clive John Bremser—to—Daniel Bushnell
      • Ebenezer Bushnell—to—Baby Claggett
      • Benjamin Franklin Claggett—to—James K Crofut
      • Asa Cromeans—to—Levi Jerome Dustin
      • Lydia Althea (Althia) Dustin—to—Bildad Fowler
      • Catherine Fowler—to—Frederick Eugene Gross I
      • Frederick Eugene Gross II—to—Nathan Alexander Hoover
      • Philip Richard Hoover—to—Thomas Kilbourne
      • Dora Kilby—to—Anson Cassim Loveland
      • Asa Loveland—to—Edward Christian McNett
      • Edward Clinton McNett—to—Shawn Newland
      • Judy Carol Newsom—to—(--?--) Phelps
      • (--?--) Phelps—to—John Phelps
      • John Phelps—to—Timothy Phelps
      • Timothy Phelps—to—(Widow) Ridgley
      • Johann Jakob Rieger—to—Betha of Savoy
      • Thomas I Count Savoy—to—Alice Spencer
      • Ann Spencer—to—John Thompson
      • John Thompson—to—Anne Webster
      • Annis Webster—to—Johann Jakob Zuern
    • Four Generations Tree
  • History of the Phelps Surname
    • Possible Origins of the Family in Germany and Italy
    • Spelling and Origin of the Name
    • Welf and Guelph, Possible Ancestors to the Phelps
    • House of Welf vs. the House of Hohenstaufen
    • Origins in Wales
  • William Phelps 1630 Origins
    • William Phelps First Generations
    • William Phelps of Crewkerne, England
    • William Phelps of Tewkesbury, England
    • William Phelps of Dorchester, Colony of Massachusetts
    • William Phelps 1672 Will
  • George Phelps 1634 Origins
    • George Phelps First Generations
    • The Identity of George Parkhurst
    • George Phelps in New England 1634
    • George Phelps 1687 Will
  • Richard Phelps 1633 Origins
  • James Phelps 1786 Origins
  • Phelps Origins in Europe
    • Phelps Origins in Nether Tyne, Checkley, England
    • Decendants of James Phelps of Nether Tyne, England
    • Decendants of James Phelps of Tewkesbury, England
  • Phelps Towns & Villages
    • Tewkesbury, England
    • Crewkerne, England
    • Checkley, England
    • Simsbury, Connecticut
    • Windsor, Connecticut
    • Phelps Tavern of Litchfield, Connecticut
  • Colonial Voyages to Connecticut
    • Researching the Mary and John
    • Warrent and Order Detaining Phelps' Ships
    • About the Ship Mary and John
    • Voyage of the Mary and John 1630
    • Voyage of the Mary and John in 1633/34
    • Voyage of the Hercules in 1633/34
    • Voyage of the Recovery in 1633/34
  • Phelps Arrival in America
    • Nathaniel Phelps of Dorchester, Connecticut
    • William Phelps of Northampton, Massachusetts
    • Elnathian Phelps b. c1734
    • First Phelps Family Ancestors
    • The Great Migration to the Colonies
      • King Charles Persecutes Puritans
      • John Phelps Regicide to Charles I
      • Phelps Entries in the Great Migration Begins
  • Phelps of Simsbury and Windsor
    • William Phelps and the First Local Government
    • Founders of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut
    • Estimated Population of American Colonies 1620 to 1780
    • Crime and Punishment in Simsbury
    • Organization of the Church in Windsor
    • The Phelps Homestead in Simsbury
  • Phelps Family Letters
    • Isaac Ensign and Cornelia Phelps
    • Ensign Letters from Simsbury to Forsyth
    • Correspondance of Oliver Roswell Phelps and Georgia Phelps
    • Ensign Family Letters
  • Phelps from New York to Illinois
    • Nehemiah West Leads the Settlers West
    • Hoosiers vs. Yankees: A Slave State or Not?
    • The (Ill-fated) Boat Party
    • Pioneer Architecture: From Log Cabins to Homes
    • Galesburg Grows Amidst the Jackson Panic
    • Founding of the Knox Manual Labor College
    • Household Skills in Pioneer Galesberg
    • Commerce is Established With Colton's Store
    • Food and Clothing in Early Galesburg
  • Family Origins in Illinois
    • Noble Phelps Moves West to Illinois
    • Knox County Pioneer Noble Phelps
    • Noble Phelps' Prize Farm
    • Premium for Phelps Best Farm
    • Seraphina Princess Phelps and George Avery
    • Ronald Aaron Noble Phelps 1881 Bio
    • Avery Company History
  • Phelps Family in California
    • Bart Phelps, Navy Telegrapher Radioman
    • Bart Phelps, Yerba Buena 1916 Radio Operations
    • Bart Phelps, Wailupe 1921 Radio Operations
    • Bart Phelps, Alaska 1924 Radio Operations
    • Annabeth Beasley Phelps
    • Harold Bartle "Bud" Phelps III
    • A Generation Passes
  • Bartle Family
    • Bartle Family Genealogy
    • The Daily Journal of Births and Deaths
    • Bartle First American Ancestors
    • Henry Hart Bartle Obituary
    • Henry Hart Bartle 1858-1929 Biograpahy
    • Nathanial Sanburn 1723, Kingston New Hampshire
    • Francis G. Sanburn 1899, of Knoxville, Illinois
    • William Toy Bartle Ministry
    • Nathanial Sanborn, 1814, of Canandaigua, New York
  • Beasley Family
    • Beasley Family Genealogy
    • First Known American Ancestors
    • The Price of Slaves 1850
    • Luther S. Beasley 1925 Obituary
    • John T. Beasley 1883-1950
    • John Beasley and Lizzie Bremser Marriage
    • John T. Beasley 1950 Obituary
    • Jane Beasley Raph Professional Life
    • Jane Beasley Raph 2001 Obituary
    • Annabeth Beasley Phelps, Mother and Provider
    • Annabeth Beasley Phelps 2001 Obituary
    • Brandy Station in the Civil War
    • T/5 Myron K. Ricketts, WWII Veteran
    • A Hero in Our Midst—Mac Butler's "Battlin' Blue Bastards"
    • Ephraim Beazley 1797 Deeds and Records
    • William Beazley 1824 Court Records and Will
  • Bremser Family
    • Bremser Family Genealogy
    • Finding Heinrich Gottlieb Bremser
    • The Family History
    • Coming to America
    • The Search for Henry Bremser
    • Henry Bremser 1864-1848 Bio
    • Henry Bremser 1864-1948 Obituary
    • Elizabeth Bremser 1888-1952 Biograhy
    • Elizabeth Bremser Marriage Letter Home
    • Bremsers Origins in Germany
    • Bremser-Familiengeschichte (Deutch)
  • Christy Family
    • Guy Christy Horseshoes Collection
    • Christy Family First American Ancestors
    • Guy H Christy, Kentucky to California
    • 27th Illinois Infantry Regimental History
    • The Mystery of Harry Haskell
      • The Civil War Medal
      • A Short Biography
      • Harry's Gettysburg Report
      • 125th New York Volunteers Regimental History
      • Harry's Enlistment Record
      • Harry Haskell Obituaries
      • Mystery Revealed
  • Claggett Family
    • Claggett Family Genealogy
    • Claggett First Ancestors in America
    • Robert Clagget 1490 in England
    • Edward Clagett 1670 Emigration to America
    • Thomas Claggett 1703 of London and Maryland
    • Thomas Clagett 1732 Will
    • Samuel Claggett 1821, Revolutionary War Surgeon
    • Samuel Claggett 1846 of Virginia
    • Samuel Claggett and Julia F. Sanford Marriage Contract
    • Bernard Johnson Claggett 1919 Bio
    • The Price of Slaves 1850
    • Julia {Sanford} Claggett 1876 Civil War Claims
      • Deposition of Columbia Claggett
      • Commision Standard Interrogitories
      • Deposition of Sgt. Ereastus Weaver
      • Deposition of Lt.Frank Foot
      • Deposition of Julia Claggett
      • Deposition of Thomas Claggett
      • Testimony of Craven King
      • Testimony of William Francis
      • Testimony of Erastus Weaver
      • Map of Clagget Farm
      • Claim Exhibits
      • Battle of Bull Run
      • Battle of Brandy Station
      • 121st NY Volunteers
      • Complete Commission Transcript
    • Claggett Family Move to Illinois from Virginia
    • Sanford Ramey Claggett 1895 Obituary
    • Ann Claggett Beasley 1898 Obituary
    • Rev. Thomas John Claggett 1816, First American Episcopal Bishop
    • Thomas J. Claggett 1901 Obituary
    • Columbia Claggett 1904 Obituary
    • Brice Clagett, Family Genealogist
    • Claggett Coat of Arms
  • Diuguid Family
    • Diuguid Family Genealogy
    • George Christian Diuguid of Kentucky
    • The English Royal Connection
    • Harriet Diuguid's Letter About Her Ancestry
    • Diuguid Origins in America
    • Origin of the Diuguid Name
  • Klein Family
    • Klein Family Genealogy
    • Klein Origins in Germany
    • Klein Visit to 1922 Germany
  • Notable Family Members
    • 1600-1699
      • John Phelps, Court Clerk at the Trial of King Charles I
      • Anson Green Phelps, Merchant and Philanthropist
    • 1700-1799
      • Richard Phelps, Bell-founder for English Churches
      • Dr. Francis Phelps, Representative and Senator
      • Judge John Phelps, Publisher, Judge, Merchant, and Entrepreneur
      • Noah Phelps, A Spy at Ticonderoga, A Patriot of 1776
      • Oliver Phelps, Land Speculator, Judge, Congressman
      • William Wines Phelps, Judge, Mormon Publisher and Writer
      • William Wines Phelps Letters to Wife
      • William Wines Phelps Revelation Given
      • William Wines Phelps in Church History
      • William Wines Phelps Letter from Liberty Jail 1834
      • Samuel Shethar Phelps, Jurist, Congressman, and Senator
      • Nathanial Sanborn, Pioneer Settler of Canandaigua, New York
    • 1800-1849 A-M
      • Alfred Aaron Phelps, Wild West Show Rider
      • Austin Phelps, Congregational Minister, Educator
      • Charles Edward Phelps, Congressman, Judge, Author
      • Delos Porter Phelps, Lawyer, U.S. Assistant Treasurer
      • Edward John Phelps, American Lawyer, Diplomat
      • George M. Phelps, Master Telegraph Instrument Maker, Inventor
      • Dr. Guy Rowland Phelps, Founder, Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company
      • Judge James Phelps, Judge, Congressman
      • Judge John Jay Phelps, Publisher, Judge, Merchant, Entrepreneur
      • John Smith Phelps, Lawyer, Legislator
      • John Wolcott Phelps, Brigadier General, United States Volunteers
      • Mary Phelps Rich, Pioneer Saint in Tazewell County, Illinois
      • Francis G. Sanburn, Pioneer Resident of Knoxville, Illinois
    • 1800-1849 N-Z
      • Mary Anne Phelps Rich, Mormon Pioneer
      • Rev. Philip Phelps, Founder, First President, Western Theological Seminary
      • John Wesley Phelps, Deputy Sheriff of Hartford County, Connecticut
      • Stephen Sumner Phelps, Illinois Pioneer
      • Thomas Stowell Phelps, Civil War Naval Officer
      • William Walter Phelps, Congressman, Ambassador, Judge
    • 1850-1899
      • Mary Phelps Jacob, Inventor, Publisher
      • William Lyon Phelps, Educator, Literary Critic, Author
    • 1900-2020
      • Chance Russel Phelps, Private, USMC
  • Phelps Family Arms & Crest
    • About Coats of Arms
    • Arms of the Tewkesbury Phelps
    • Arms of Henry Phelps of London
    • Arms of the American Phelps
    • Arms of the Irish Phelps
    • Heraldic Glossary
  • Selected Family Wills
    • Thomas and Katherine Phylypp Wills 1556, Over Teyne, Checkeley, England
    • William Phelps 1672 Will, Windsor, Connecticut
    • Anthony Phillipps 1648 Will, Nether Teane, England
    • Francis Phylyppe 1648 Will, Checkley, England
    • Thomas Phylypp 1556 Will, Over Teyne, England
    • George Phelps 1687 Will, Westfield, Massachusetts
    • Timothy Phelps 1639 Will, Windsor, Connecticut
    • Natnaniel Phelps 1702 Will, Northampton, Massachusetts
    • Thomas Clagett 1708 Will, Calvert, Maryland
    • Thomas Clagett 1732 Will, Prince Georges, Maryland
    • Julia F Sanford 1727 Marriage Indenture
    • Ephraim Beazley 1797 Wills & Deeds, Spotsylvania, Virginia
    • Ephraim Beasley 1797 Deed Spotsylvania, Virginia
    • Ephraim Beasley 1798 to Elizabeth Beazley
    • Ephraim Beasley 1798 Will, Spotsylvania County, Virginia
    • Henry Beazley 1804 Indenture, Spotsylvania, Virginia
    • William Beazley 1828 Will, Culpeper, Virginia
    • William Beazley 1824 Court Records and Will
    • William Beazley 1852 Will, Culpeper, Virginia
    • Cornelius Beazley 1834 Will
    • Ephraim Beazley 1833 Mortgage
    • John Loveland 1649 Will
    • Ephraim Beazley 1798 Henry Beazley 1815 Indenture
    • James Phelps of North Caroline 1786 Estate
    • Robert Valentine Phelps 1905 Australia
  • About this Site
    • What's New in 2021
    • Contact Us
    • Why This Site
    • Kissing Cousins and Other Inbreeding
    • Major Contributors
    • Most Common Surnames
    • Legal Disclaimer
  • Order "Phelps Family in America" Genealogy
    • Updated Index to "Phelps Family in America" Book
    • Excerpts from the Book—European History
      • Spelling and Origin of the Phelps Name
      • James Phelps of Nether Tyne
      • Descendants of Francis Phylyppe
      • Reverend Elnathan Phelps and Eleanor Bridgman
      • John Phelps, Court Clerk at the Trial of King Charles I
    • Excerpts from the Book—American History
      • Introduction to the American Genealogy
      • William Phelps, First Local Government in America
      • Willaim Phelps, Magistrate in Simsbury
      • Organization of the Church in Windsor
      • Early Massacoh (later Simsbury), Connecticut
      • Early Dorchester (later Windsor), Connecticut
      • Oliver Seymour Phelps, Genealogist and Author
      • Noah Phelps, Spy at Ticonderoga, A Patriot of 1776
      • Maps of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut
    • Excerpts from the Book—American Family Histories
      • Introduction to the American Genealogy
      • William Phelps First Generations in New England
      • Descendants of George Phelps and Phillury Randall
      • Deacon Nathaniel Phelps
      • Will or Settlement Deed of William Phelps
      • Last Will and Testament of Timothy Phelps of Windsor, Connecticut
      • The Will of Immigrant George Phelps of Westfield, Massachusetts
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Elizabethe Margarethe Wilhelmine Bremser

Independent minded and stalwart

My maternal grandmother, Elizabethe (Lizzie) Margarethe Wilhelmine Bremser (2 Nov 1888-2 Jun 1952) was born in Hähnstatten, Germany. She arrived in the United States on Ellis Island at age 3 on May 12, 1892, with her parents, Henry and Phillipina Bremser, along with her sister Anna Karlena (Lena), age 2. The family settled in Norwalk, Ohio, where they knew other German immigrants. Her father gradually built up a cement, masonry, and coal business and the family had five more children.

Leaves home at age 14

In 1901 at age 12 or 13 she apprenticed herself to a milliner (hatmaker) for no pay. She apparently disliked her parent's "old world" approach to raising her. According to her daughter Jane, Lizzie had continuing conflicts with her father. In 1902 at age 14, she quit school. With her mother's financial support, and the help of the two ladies who ran the hat shop in Norwalk, she got her a job in a shop in Columbus and a place to stay in a Quaker boarding house. In 1909, she was listed in the city directory as a Milliner in Norwalk. (City of Norwalk Directory pub. W. M. Lawrence, 1909. p 9)

Moves to Chicago

Lizzie discovered that the millinery trade was seasonal and the next Christmas she got a job as a saleswoman. She found she liked that work more. The next winter at age 17, when hat season ended, she went with a friend to Chicago. She got a temporary job during the Christmas season 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.

Seven years later she met Johnson Tucker Beasley, who was a salesman for a seating manufacturer. Joh was from Lexington, Illinois. They dated and were engaged and married within two months.

Marries John Beasley

Lizzie wrote a letter to her parents and two sisters on Wednesday, April 15, 1903: "I am going to be married Friday night at 8:30 and shall be at home to see you some time Sat.... 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." The couple was married on April 18, 1913 in Chicago.

Three children die young

John and Elizabeth were married in the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Chicago. The witnesses were Lizzie's best friend, Hazel Liggett, and John's brother, Guy. They had five children. Their marriage proved to be full of tragedy.

Their first child Robert Johnson Tucker Beasley was born on Feb 9, 1914 but he lived only four days. Johnson and Lizzie separated for a few weeks, broken up by the grief and stress of losing their son.

Three years later, in 1917, they were living in an apartment in Detroit when they had twin girls: Jane Elizabeth and Ruth Beasley. Ruth was sickly and frail. She died only 19 months later, two days after Christmas, on December 27, 1919, during the flu epidemic.

The family moved to Des Moines, Iowa. and their third daughter Mary Elizabeth (Betty) was born on July 3, 1920, only five months after Ruth died. Betty was a "blue baby," born with a heart valve defect. Doctors told John and Lizzie that Betty would not live long. But Betty beat the odds and lived until she was five and a half years old. She died two days after Christmas, on December 27, 1925. Elizabeth was pregnant with their fifth child when Betty died. The family moved again, this time to Kansas City, Missouri, where they bought their first home. Annabeth was born there six months later, on July 16, 1926.

John was a traveling salesman. When the Depression hit, John's good job of at least nine years with the American Seating Company of Chicago ("Exclusive Manufacturers of Furnishings for Theatres, Churches, Schools and all Public Buildings") went from a salaried, expense-account position to a position as a Manufacturers Agent. It meant he didn't get paid if he didn't sell. John drifted deeper into debt and was frequently absent. Lizzie struggled to manage the mortgage payments each month, embarrassed when the grocery bill went unpaid at times.

Friction in the Family

John's daughter Jane recalled years later that he was known as a "high expense man," which was family code for "alcoholic". Jane remembered talk of his womanizing and drinking "on the road." Both John's and Lizzie's fathers also drank excessively. The tensions occurred in whispers supposedly out of Jane's hearing. John drifted deep into debt. In 1930, John forced Lizzie to agree to a second mortage on the house. Foreclosure loomed ahead, a dreaded specter.

In 1930, John left Lizzie and his two daughters, Jane and Annabeth, and moved to Chicago. Lizzie's mother, who made a side income selling eggs, doing laundry, and selling butter she churned herself, frequently sent Lizzie money. Lizzie finally could not keep up the mortgage, and decided to rent the house and live with family. They moved a number of times over the next nine years, living with her parents, then with her sister Minnie and husband Curt Klein, and with family friends. Over the next nine years, Elizabeth Bremser worked various jobs and moved several times between Norwalk, Kansas City, Detroit and Decatur.

In 1934, during the depths of the Depression, Elizabeth worked in a cafeteria. She was unable to care for Annabeth, who spent the summer in a children's home. Elizabeth and Jane got a room in a neighbor's home, the Penniwells. Elizabeth got a job in a sorority home. 

In 1935, they moved back to Norwalk, Ohio and into another family's home, the Lexa's. Jane's grandfather Heinrich Bremser agreed to help put her through college. In 1935, Jane attended Drake University in Des Moines as a freshman, where she worked in exchange for room and board. She later transferred to Bowling Green State University which she graduated from in 1940. (From there she moved the University of Michigan and received her masters in 1945. She earned an Ed.D. in 1955 from Columbia University's Teachers College.).

In 1936, Elizabeth and her daughters spent the summer in Lexington, Illinois at Ray and Ruth (Beasley) Rickett's home. Annabeth had several cousins her age living there and no doubt made some friendships. However, when fall rolled around, they moved back to Des Moines where Annabeth started in the fifth grade. In the spring of 1936, Annabeth was in school in Norwalk and living with her big sister Jane in the Robin's home. Elizabeth then got a job in the Wentz' Childrens' Home in Norwalk as the Director of Girls and a counselor.

Return to Kansas City 

In about 1939, Heinrich, heavily pressured by his wife Bina, agreed to give their daughter Lizzie an early inheritance: he paid off both mortgages on the house in Kansas City. Lizzie and Annabeth moved back to Kansas City. After 11 moves in seven years, the Lizzie and Annabeth returned to Kansas City. ane, making almost $750 a month at age 18 as a teacher, bought her mother and sister a new stove. Annabeth worked part time as a secretary for a Kansas City department store while finishing school. She graduated from Southeast High School in Kansas City in 1943. She also worked for a brief period in the test kitchens for TransWorld Airlines. 

During the summer of 1943, Jane worked in a glider factory. She said she could never forget the penetrating smell of the glue. In early 1944, Jane married a serviceman, Art Budden Jr. Jane's intellectual, independent attitude contrasted with Art's conservative, quiet nature, and they separated and divorced within two years. 

In 1947, Annabeth volunteered at the USO where she her future husband Hal Phelps. They married in 1947.

Elizabeth and Johnson were separated the rest of their lives. While family members said they were divorced, John's 1950 obituary describes him as being survived by his wife. While living in Chicago, John mostly managed hotels. He died in Chicago at age 67 on Saturday, April 1, 1950 of a heart attack. He was buried in the Lexington, Illinois cemetery.

Lizzie remained in Kansas City through at least 1947 and then moved to Sandusky, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie, about 19 miles from Norwalk. After a heart attack, she entered a convalescent facility in Sandusky where she died of a heart attack on June 2, 1952 at age 64. Lizzie was buried in the family plot in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Norwalk with her children Robert and Betty. When Jane and later Annabeth died, they too were buried near their mother and siblings.

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