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Philipp Gottlieb Elias Bremser / Katherine Philopena Klein
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Philipp Gottlieb Elias Bremser / Katherine Philopena Klein
| Husband: Philipp Gottlieb Elias Bremser | |||
| Born: | 22 Sep 1864[135] [136] [137] | at: | Heidenrod-Grebenroth, Hessen-Nassau, Preußen, Germany |
| Married: | 27 May 1888 | at: | Bergschwalbach, Rhineland-Palitinate, Germany |
| Died: | 19 Jan 1948[138] [139] | at: | Norwalk, Huron, Ohio, United States |
| Father: | Philipp Nikolaus Karl Bremser | ||
| Mother: | Marie Jacobine Weidenmueller | ||
| Notes: | [142] | ||
| Sources: | [135] [136] [137] [138] [139] [140] [141] [143] [144] | ||
| Wife: Katherine Philopena Klein | |||
| Born: | 11 Mar 1863 | at: | Burgschwalbach, Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany |
| Died: | 25 Apr 1948[145] | at: | Norwalk, Huron, Ohio, United States |
| Father: | Johann Jacob Klein | ||
| Mother: | Katharine Wilhelmine Seel | ||
| Notes: | [149] | ||
| Sources: | [145] [146] [147] [148] [150] | ||
| Children | |||
| Name: | Elizabethe Margarethe Wilhelmine Bremser [123] [119] [120] [121] [122] | ||
| Born: | 2 Nov 1888[119] [120] | at: | Hähnstatten, Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany |
| Married: | at: | ||
| Died: | 2 Jun 1952 | at: | Sandusky, Huron, Ohio |
| Spouses: | Johnson Tucker Beasley | ||
| Name: | Anna Karlena Augusta Bremser [602] [600] | ||
| Born: | 4 Feb 1891[600] | at: | Germany |
| Married: | at: | ||
| Died: | 21 May 1978 | at: | Fort Myers, Lee, Florida, USA |
| Spouses: | Jacob 'Jake' Daniel Miller | ||
| Name: | Edna Bremser [607] [603] [604] [605] [606] | ||
| Born: | 27 Apr 1893[603] [604] | at: | Norwalk, Huron, Ohio, United States |
| Died: | 1 May 1897 | at: | Norwalk, Huron, Ohio, United States |
| Spouses: | |||
| Name: | Wilhelmena Philippina Bremser [608] | ||
| Born: | 18 Jul 1896 | at: | Norwalk, Huron, Ohio, United States |
| Married: | at: | ||
| Died: | 10 Jul 1993 | at: | Norwalk, Huron, Ohio, United States |
| Spouses: | Kurt Nicholas Klein | ||
| Name: | infant Bremser [639] [638] | ||
| Born: | 22 Jun 1901[638] | at: | Norwalk, Huron, Ohio, United States |
| Died: | 22 Jun 1901 | at: | Norwalk, Huron, Ohio, United States |
| Spouses: | |||
Pedigree Chart for: Philipp Gottlieb Elias Bremser
/--Johann Adam Bremser
/--Johann Adam Bremser
| \--
/--Philipp Nikolaus Karl Bremser
| | /--
| \--Catharine Elisabethe Bach
| \--
|--Philipp Gottlieb Elias Bremser
| /--
| /--Johann Daniel Weidenmueller
| | \--
\--Marie Jacobine Weidenmueller
| /--
\--Anna Katharina Maus
\--
Pedigree Chart for: Katherine Philopena Klein
/--Wilhelm Klein
/--Johann Ludwig Klein
| \--
/--Johann Jacob Klein
| | /--Johann Philipp Butzbach
| \--Philippine Christiene Butzbach
| \--
|--Katherine Philopena Klein
| /--
| /--Johann Phillipp Seel
| | \--
\--Katharine Wilhelmine Seel
| /--
\--
\--
[142] The ancestral home of the Bremser family is [the castle] Brömserburg. "From the early 10th to the early 19th centuries it was the property of the archbishops of Mainz. They converted the old fortress into a residence in the 12th century. Originally, it was right on the banks of the Rhine, surrounded by water. Its more than two-meter-thick walls withstood all offensives. Only the southeastern portion destroyed by the Duke Of Longvville. A mine path to the keep bears witness to its invincibility. After being secularirzed in 1803, the castle had several owners until the town of Ruesdeheim purchased it in 1941. Today, it is the home of the vast collections that comprise the Rheingau wine museum. Historic wine presses form several centures are displayed in the garden." "On Oberstrasse, there is a row of beautiful old mansions from various periods, including the Frankensteiner Hof, Ritter'scher Hof and Bassenheimer Hof. Howwever, the Broemserhof, constructed from 1542 onward, is doubtlessly the most beautiful of all the noble manors on this street. This former residence of Ruedesheriim's ancient Boremser dynasty has an impressive Gothic chapel and an ancestral hall with splendid frescoes. Today, the Broemserhof houses a museum." Also in Ruedesheim is St. Jakobus Church. The "Catholic parish church on market square. The church dates form the 14th century and is said to have been built by the knight and Crusader Johann Broemser. The half moon and star on the weather vane atop the chruch tower are a reminder of the days of the Crusades, The church was almost completely destroyed in 1944 during WWII, but was rebuilt of quarried brick typical of the Rhine area. Of special note are the medieval tombsones with effigies of Ruedesheim's nobility, situated in the northern aisle, as well as the Gothic tyjmpanium above the western portal." -- Ruedesheim web site Henry was always known to his descendants as Heinrich Gottleib Bremser, or Henry Bremser. However, the birth record for his daughter Elizabeth Margarete Bremser gives his name as Philipp Gottleib Elias Bremser, as does his own birth record. He may have adopted Heinrich to differentiate himself from his other brother, also named Philip. ---------------------- The text of the wedding banns (wedding announcement): No. 12 (1888) (- the number was mentioned in the church record) Hahnstaetten, at May 19, 1888 In front of the signing registry officer showed up for the purpose of marriage: 1. The farmer Philipp Gottlieb Elias Bremser, known by person, evangelic religion, born at September 22, 1864 in Grebenroth, living in Hahnstaetten, son of the linenweaver Philipp Nikolaus Karl Bremser and his dead wife Marie Jacobine born Weidenmueller, living in Grebenroth 2. Katharine Philippine Klein, known by person, evangelic religion, born at March 11, 1863 in Burgschwalbach, living in Burgschwalbach, daughter of the stonecutter Johann Jacob Klein and his dead wife Katharine Wilhelmine born Seel, living in Burgschwalbach. Witnesses of his banns (wedding announcement) were: 3. the cabinet-maker Philipp Wilhelm Busch, known by person, 21 years old, living in Burgschwalbach, 4. the tailor Philipp Friedrich Debusmann, known by person, 26 years old, living in Hähnstaetten. ---------------------- Thus it appears that sometime between his wedding and his arrival in the United States four years later he adopted Heinrich (or Henry) as his name. Henry arrived in the United States via Ellis Island on 12 May 1892 on board the Spree. According to his daughter, Minnie, "the voyage took 30 days and the ocean was very rough and the boat rocked and most everyone was sick. They were told that the food in the steerage class was not good and to take a supply of food with them, she told of taking hard boiled eggs and they were so sick the couldn't eat them and gave them to the helpers on the boat." The Spree was built for North German Lloyd, German flag, in 1890. She ran the Bremerhaven-New York and Mediterranean-New York service. She was renamed Kaiserin Maria Theresia in 1899 and ran the Mediterranean-New York service. In 1904 she was transferred to the Russian Navy and renamed the Ural. She was put into the auxiliary naval cruiser service and sunk off Japan in 1905. The Family Prospers After Elizabeth was born, Henry and Phillipina later had four more children: Lena, born in 1891; Edna, was born in 1893 and died at age 4; Wilhelmina "Minnie", born in 1896, who later married her first cousin, Curt Klein; and an unnamed son who died at childbirth in 1901. He was buried over Edna in the family plot in Norwalk. Henry Bremser and his family joined the local German-speaking Lutheran congregation at St. Paul's German Lutheran Church. In about 1923, the number of German-speaking immigrants had seriously declined. The church could not afford to remain independent. It joined with the English-speaking congregation, and all services were conducted in English. In a warm welcome to the united church, the children were taught to sing a traditional German Christmas carol. My then 12-year old mother (Annabeth Beasley) was one of the children who sang for her grandparents in December, 1938. 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. Henry Bremser had three brothers: Phillip, Karl, and Wilhelm. A baby sister apparently died in infancy. Karl followed his brothers Henry and Phillip to the United States on April 12, 1910. Two of Henry's brothers, Phillip and Wilhelm, came to Norwalk from Germany. Philip worked in the masonry business and Wilhelm helped make cement blocks. Henry Bremser started making cement blocks in the basement of their home at 53 E. Elm St., Norwalk, Ohio."He made these mostly in the evenings after working as a mason all day, and Gramma Bremser had to put up with the cement dust filtering all around," according to her granddaughter, Jane Beasley. This small start led to the beginning of the Bremser Coal and Supply Co. on Woodlawn Ave. In 1909, the current operator of the Bell Coal Company learned that natural gas would soon be piped into Norwalk. He interrupted Henry's walk home one day past his plant and offered to sell him the coal company. Henry, while also aware of the possibile availability of natural gas in Norwalk, nonetheless said yes. Nearly the entire purchase was funded from savings Bina had secreted away. Another Klein brother, Karl, was brought 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. ------------------------- A Carol for Henry Bremser By 1924, the old St. Paul's German Lutheran Church on the northside of Norwalk had experienced a significant decline in German speaking members. It was finally shuttered and the remaining 12 members joined St. Peter's. Marilyn Field, daughter of the pastor at the time, Carl Wannemacher, remembers welcoming the new members with a rendition of "Oh Tannenbaum." She writes: "We used to have a choir made up of seventh and eighth grade girls directed by Mrs. Augusta Kohlmeyer. The year that Mr. (Henry) Bremser and the other members of the German Lutheran Church joined our church Dad thought it would be nice if we girls would sing "Oh Tannenbaum" in German. (That is, "0h Christmas Tree".) "He thought it would make Mr. Bremser and the other German members who joined feel more at home. We learned all four verses and I still love to sing it today in German, although I only remember the first verse and need help on the others. Dad told Mr. Bremser to be sure and come to the Christmas program and Mr. Bremser was very pleased." (My then 12-year-old mother, Annabeth Beasley, was one of the children who learned to sing O Tannenbaum that year. The carol remained a cherished favorite her entire life, and she always recalled the tears in her grandpa's eyes as she sang in her best German.) A Tower Without a BelI... Until Henry Bremser Came Along In the late winter of 1924, the congregation of St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church in Norwalk, Ohio, wavered between building plans it could afford and a church design it really wanted. Like a wide-eyed Christmas shopper with a credit card, it ordered the church it wanted, and prayed it could pay for it. The question was whether to build a church for $25,000 without a bell tower or spend $31,000 for a building with a bell tower. The congregation couldn't resist the drawing with the bell tower and the vote was unanimous. A Monroeville contractor, Henry Schneider, thought the estimate by architect Granville Scott - with or without a bell tower - was too low. And he was right. Nevertheless, the tower became part of the new St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church, even though there were no plans for a bell to go in it. The bell came later in 1936, during the depth of the Great Depression. Henry Bremser, who owned a coal yard in Norwalk, persuaded the vestry to create a fund for a bell. He had come from Germany where all churches had bells, and he thought St. Peter should have one. The vestry agreed but vowed there would be no bell until it had money to pay for one. Bremser apparently overcame this problem by writing a personal check for most of the cost. The 966-pound bell was cast of copper and tin by a St. Louis company. A hole was cut in the ceiling above a stairway, and the bell was hoisted into place with a rope and pulley. Senior deacons Merrill White and Elmer Christel were placed in charge of ringing the bell on Sunday mornings. Occasionally a deacon would pull too hard on the rope and the bell would flip over the top and become stuck upside down. The custodian, Walter Schlegelmilch, would climb through a trapdoor in the ceiling of the balcony to reach the bell and flip it back. The bell was left behind when St. Peter sold the church to the Salvation Army in 1974. A free-standing bell tower was erected at the new church on Benedict Avenue in 1978, again at the persistence of a German immigrant, Ulrich Mangold. It was designed by a son, Ernest Mangold. The price was $17,677. Three years later, the congregation removed the bell from its old church and re-hung it in the tower in front of the church where Norwalk Lutherans worship today. The old bell that Henry Bremser bought no longer is rung, but there is a device inside to toll it during The Lord's Prayer. The sound of ringing church bells you hear at St. Peter is from a tape player connected to speakers in the tower. The three bells you see in the tower are mostly for show. But one of them has more than esthetic value. It's linked forever to the congregation's past. From "One Hundred Years of Amazing Grace, History of a Lutheran Congregation, 1901-2001." St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church, 243 Benedict Ave., Norwalk, OH 44857 p48 ------------------------- 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. Several years later she met Johnson Tucker Beasley, who was a salesmand for a seating manufacturer. They dated and were engaged two months later. Lizzie wrote home in January 1913, "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." Henry and Philippina Bremser (center) and their family. Back row, L-R Minnie Bremser (Klien), Lena Bremser (Miller), Elizabeth Bremser (Beasley), and Jake Miller; (middle row, L-R) Curt Klein, Thelma Miller, Leland Miller, Gramma Bremser, Grampa Bremser, Jane Beasley, and Marie Miller; (front row, L-R) Annabeth Beasley, Bob Klein, Mary Siefert, and Majorie Miller. 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. The stress on the marriage was great; Johnson moved back to Chicago and they later divorced. The Daughters Grow Up Annabeth and Jane were raised by their mother. Elizabeth Bremser worked various jobs and moved several times between Norwalk, Kansas City, Detroit and Decatur. Unable to pay the mortgage on the house in Kansas City, she moved out and rented it. She worked as a governess within a children's home for a while. Elizabeth later found a job watching another family's children and was able to get a room in the house for her and Annabeth. For a period of time they stayed in Norwalk with her parents. Jane was off to college by around 1935, which Grampa Bremser, at Gramma Minnie's suggestion, helped with. Henry operated the coal company jointly with his mason and contracting business until his retirement in 1923. When Henry retired, the company was split between two sons-in-laws Jake Miller and Curt Klein. Elizabeth, by this time seperated or divorced from her husband Johnson, was told she would her share of the business when Henry and Minnie died. Instead, Minnie 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 18 as a teacher, bought her mother and sister a new stove. Curt assumed control of the coal company and ran it from 1924 until his retirement in 1955. The cement company went on to pour much of the concrete when the interstate highway system was built through the area. When the Depression hit, Johnson Beasley lost his well-paying job selling seats for a manufacturer. For a time, he managed the Bismarck Hotel in Chicago. Johnson remained in Chicago, largely estranged from his daughters, and died there in 1950 at age 64. 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. Obituary Henry Bremser, 84, whose name has been associated with the coal and building supply business here for more than a half-century, died at 5 a.m. this morning at his home 57 E. Elm following a lengthy illness. Mr. Bremser, who founded the Bresmer Coal & Supply company here, was born Sept. 22, 1864, in Nassau, Germany, and emigrated to this country with his wife and family in 1892 and made his home in Norwalk since. A mason by trade, Mr. Bremser later entered the contracting business and is attributed to being the first man in Huron county to engage in cement block manufacturing. In 1909 he purchased the Bell Coal company which he operated jointly with his mason and contracting business until his retirement in 1923. He was a life-time member of the Lutheran church and for the past 17 years was a member of the Norwalk St. Peter Lutheran church. Surviving are his wife, Phillipena Klein Bremser, to whom he was married May 27, 1888, three daughters, Mrs. E.M. Beasley, Kansas City, Mo., Mrs J.D. Miller and Mrs. Curt Klein, both of this city, eight grandchildren and six greatgranddhildren; a brother, Carl, of Germany. He was preceded in death by a daughter who died in infancy. Friends will be received at the residence Tuesday where services will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday followed by rites at 2:30 from St. Peter's church. The Rev. Carl Wannemacher will be the officiating minister. Burial will be in Woodland with the Orebaugh funeral service in charge of arrangements. --Norwalk "Reflector-Herald" January 19, 1948
[149] Her name is spelled in various sources as Philobena, Phillapena, and Philapena. The chosen spelling is from her 50th wedding anniversary program. According to her daughter, Minnie, "mother told me her father was very opposed to Mom and Dad getting married." Phillipina was pregnant with their first child when they married: they married on 27 May 1888 and their first child, Elizabeth, was born 2 Nov 1888. The first of the Klein family to come to the United States were brother and sister Marie Henrietta "Haddie" Klein and Henry Klein. According to oral family history, Henrietta lost her wallet and all her money on the boat coming to America. Haddie and Henry headed for Norwalk, Ohio. According to Henry's niece, Minnie Klein, "...Henry got work at the old Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad roundhouse and Haddie found work for a family as housekeeper." Another sister, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Klein (m. Ernst Loeffler) and then Karl Klein came next. Marie Henrietta was known as Haddie most of her life, as was her daughter Hedwig. Henrietta's or Haddie's husband Johann Andrew Opel came to America from Germany on 23 December 1882 and settled in the Norwalk, Ohio area, where he and Haddie Klein met. They were married on 20 January 1887 and moved to a farm south of Deerfield, Michigan on Rodisiler Highway. It was later called the Carl Goetz Farm. Johann, Henrietta, and baby Marie are all buried in the Deerfield Cemetery (Lot#262) in Deerfield, Michigan. The four siblings saved money and in 1892 sent it to Germany to bring over their sister, my great-grandmother and father, Philipena Klein Bremser and her husband, Heinrich Gottlieb Bremser. Philipena, nicknamed "Bina" according to her granddaughter Annabeth Beasley, was the daughter of Johann Jacob Klein and Katherine Wilhelmine Seel. Philipena was the second of six brothers and sisters: Wilhelm, Philipena, Henry, Haddie, Elizabeth, and Karl. Jacob 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, and Curt. Philipena and her family arrived on Ellis Island in New York Harbor at age 29, on May 12, 1892, on board the Spree. According to her daughter, Minnie, "the voyage took 30 days and the ocean was very rough and the boat rocked and most everyone was sick. They were told that the food in the steerage class was not good and to take a supply of food with them, she told of taking hard boiled eggs and they were so sick the couldn't eat them and gave them to the helpers on the boat." With Philipena Klein Bremser on the ship manifest were her husband, Henry Bremser, and their two daughters, Elizabeth, age 4, and Anna Karlena ("Caroline" on the manifest), age 2. Philipena's father, Johann Jacob Klein, also made the trip with Philippina's brother Karl. The ship manifest reports Karl's age as 16; according to our information, he would have been 14 or 15 in 1892. We can only assume that if, as reported, Karl had arrived earlier in the United States and helped raise money to bring his father and sister's family over, he must have returned to Germany and come back to America with his father on the "Spree". Minnie Klein wrote in 1984, "[Henry] had trouble finding employment and was advised to go to Loraine where he might get work in the ship yards. Whatever happened I don't recall [my mother] telling me, but her father [Jacob] became very discontent and wanted to go back to Norwalk where he could see more of the other 4 children. They moved back to 102 Milan Ave. in Norwalk before winter set in at a time when there was no work for masons which was Papa's trade. They were in such desperate circumstances that Aunt Lizzie got Mama [Bina] a job as Chamber Maid where Aunt Lizzie worked as cook. Papa stayed home and took care of the two small children and spent much of his time knitting stockings for the girls. As time went on Grandpa Klein became discontent and homesick to go back to Germany. Nothing would content him but they promised if he would be content until Spring Mama and Papa with the girls would take him back and remain in Germany, but nothing satisfied him and he became very ill just from homesickness and passed away early in 1894." "Bina was still working at Gardners as much as she could, but became pregnant with Edna and when the Gardner's saw how miserable she was, Mr. Gardner got Papa a job at the old Lais brewery, and he would have to go to Sandusky to cut ice on the Bay and often told how he walked the whole distance to and from Sandusky, something unheard of in this modern age. As time went on and Papa was better able to master the English language conditions improved for them and they purchased the Homestead on [357] Elm St. (This was sometime prior to 1896.) Winters were always hard since there was no mason work to be had, no heated concrete in those days. "To carry them thru the winter, Mama took in washing and ironing, if my memory serves me right she did as many as 21 washings in a week with an old wooden tub wash machine that had to be hand operated, pushing the handle back and forth for hours. Often during those winters when Papa had little or not work they would have to run up a grocery bill at a store at the intersection of Townsend and East Main. I always remember wanting do go along, and that was no short walk. But the owners of the store — [their] name was Erb — and they were also German and he would always give us a piece of candy or a wiener. When spring came and papa started back to work, he first thing Mama would aim to do is get that grocery bill paid, and I recall definitely her telling it would be nearly a hundred dollars for a winter's groceries." In 1901, Bina "was pregnant... she got very large and she was of small stature and for the last month or so... she could hardly walk. She always sat in the rocker...and Lena and Lizzie would push Mamma around in that rocker. When her time came to deliver they had old Dr. Schuerer come to the house, no hospitals in those days, I was taken over to the Yeagers and can still remember her walking me back. The Dr. decided Mama could not give birth to the baby and it was either he save Mama or the baby, and Papa wanted Mama sound and the child had to be cut away. All I remember Mama said he was a very big baby and he was buried in the same grave as Edna. "As time went on, Grandpa had better mastered the language he got plenty of work, but Grandma continued to take in washings and irons. At some point Papa became interested in cement blocks and it was known he was the first to manufacture cement black in Huron Co. and he made them in the basement. You may recall there were stone steps leading to the basement and he fixed a ramp so he could wheel the sand and stone into the basement and carried down the bags of cement. When he would empty a bag of cement it sifted thru everything even the house and mama nearly went crazy. He would pound out whatever number one nite, the next nite he would carry them out one by one to cure, and the pound out more and that was a routine nite after nite. "At this time a Mr. Bell owned the buildings on R. R. property and got to know him quite well. One morning as Grandpa walked thru his property enroute to go uptown, cross-lots, as we called it in those days, Mr. Bell stopped Dad and ask if he would be interested to buy his buildings, since it appeared in the newspaper that natural gas was going to piped into Norwalk and that would ruin his business, which was mainly coal. Dad jumped at the chance, I knew [the price] for many years, but it has left me, but it was not a big price, since mama had almost enough money saved up to buy and she was so anxious to get rid of that cement dust she gladly gave Dad the money. This was the start of Bremser Coal and Builders Supplies. Lena worked for Dad for a period of time, until she and Jake were married and then I took over the office, if my memory serves me right, I must have been about 16 [in 1914]. "I never had a high school education. I was in my Freshman year and they started having the girls who were interested and had the required grades to play. In my... middy blouse and skirt and tennis shoes, but the school did not furnish them. I went home from school all elated that I was going to play and told Mama she said I would have to tell Papa, that was the blow, Papa said if that was what I was learning in school, I was to get out of school and go to work. There were no laws in those days that could stop him. Practically every one of my teacher called Papa but he wouldn't give an inch. I had to quit school and did housework for a family named Wingiter that lived at the southwest corner of Prospect and League. I worked there until Lena and Jake were engaged [in 1914] and then Papa made arrangements for me to go to Business College, on the third floor of the building that for years was our Post Office. He paid for a 12 month course, at the end of 9 month I was permitted to take substitute work thru the Christmas Holidays, but Papa told me I could not take a steady job when I finished my 12 months, that Lena & Jake were going to be married. I faintly remember the [wedding] day was to be Aug. 12 [1914], I could be wrong. "When I started working for Papa I had to be to work at 6:30 in the morning and worked until 5:30. On days when Papa would be working out in Country jobs Mama would bring me over some lunch at noon. These were long hours, tiresome and lonely since few customers. The business didn't flourish in those days, so to keep busy, I cleaned a room adjoining the main office, painted it and bought a sewing machine, took a course in dress making and that started my sewing and fancy needle work career. The business was started with the old blind horse that Papa bought with the business. I'll never forget she went a certain gate all day, but once she became familiar to her new home back of 53 E. Elm and knew she was headed for the barn could she trot! Time went and Papa bought a team of horses and larger coal wagons, but soon trucks came in use and our first truck was a Ford and a man by the name of Henry Blakely drove the truck. Time went on and more cars were being used and a man by the name [blank] had a garage on Townsend Ave. close to where Route 20 branched in. He purchased coal from us and one day he came in the office and wanted to sell Papa a Reo car, Papa's answer was " I can't learn to drive a car" and the man said, "But Minnie can learn." "No" was Grandpa's reply, "She's too young." He persuaded Papa to let him take me out for a trial run and when he came back he said, "Minnie will have no trouble." That was the beginning of my driving days, no learner's license required, I just started to drive, and learned that Mrs. Mich Newman was the only other woman driver in Norwalk. That situation soon changed." In 1922, after the end of World War I, Phillipena (Bina) Klein Bremser and her daughter Minnie went back to Burgschwalbach for a visit. During that trip, Minnie Klein met her cousin Curt. He later followed Minnie to the United States and they were married in New York in about 1926.
[123] Lizzie came to the US through Ellis Island with her parents in May 1892 when she was four years of age. Her daughter Annabeth said Elizabeth apprenticed herself at age 12 or 13 in Norwalk, Ohio to a milliner for no pay. After a short time, less than a year, she left her parents' home and Norwalk for Columbus, Ohio. The two ladies who ran the shop in Norwalk got her a job in a shop in Columbus and a place to stay in a Quaker boarding house. 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 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 seating at the time. They dated and were quickly engaged and married only two months later. She was engaged and only announced her marriage plans three days in advance in a ltter to her parents in a letter home: Chicago, Ill 4-15-3 My Dear Father Mother and Sisters, I have a letter to write to you all tonight that will be the biggest and I hope the happiest most pleasant surprise you have had in a good many years. I am going to be married Friday night at 8:30 and shall be at home to see you sometime 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. I have known him two months became engaged last Sunday and shall be Mrs. Beasley by next Sunday. This may all be very strange to you. But if I had known this man for 5 years I could not care more for him than I do this moment. He has just left. We made out a list of all our friends and shall send out our announcements Friday. No one but Hazel knows anything about it. We shall be married at the Baptist church here in Chicago and I quit my position Friday at noon. We have all arrangements made. I am getting the best man you shall ever want to know and I know you will all like him. He is very tall + dark + is 30 years old. He knows what he is doing and so do I. Just remember that I have for the past years always known what was best and right for me to do and a better, cleaner and good man I know I never shall want. I am nearly 24 years old. You all realize if I am ever to be married now is the time and I do love the man. I don’t know how you people will all take this but just remember I have always been God's child and will do nothing wrong and but what I think is right. I am one of the many happy girls to night and I want you all to be happy with me. I have not shed one tear and mama dear just every time you think of your daughter getting married just smile and remember the last time I said I never would get married and what little use I had for the men. It is nearly 11 o'clock and I have lots of little things to do before the event and with lots of love I send you this knowing that you understand that I am doing what is right in the sight of all business, thoughts and God. Your Elizabeth 4324 Lake Ave Will let you know later about trains. Their first child was born slightly less than nine months later, indicating perhaps the reason for their sudden and speedy marriage. Jane Beasley Raph recalls Lizzie's birthplace as being Burgschwalbach, however her birth certificate says Hähnstatten. She is buried in the family plot in Woodlawn cemetery in Norwalk, with her parents Henry and Philopina Bremser, her aunt and uncle Minnie and Curt Klein, and her two daughters Annabeth and Jane.
[602] Based on notes compiled by Majorie Miller Barr. Her arrival on Ellis Island is recorded under the name "Caroline".
[607] "Edna was a beautiful child and had red hair." -- her sister Minnie.
[608] Niece Annabeth Beasley said that in the period after WWII, Minnie and Curt would send a box of Rinso soap back to family in Germany. They would slip open the bottom of the box and insert cigarettes, because cigarettes were more valuable than cash and were the currency of the time in post-war Germany. It is said that Minnie met her first cousin and future husband Curt Klein on a trip back to Germany in 1922. He is the son of Aunt Minnie's brother, Wilhelm. Uncle Curt's father was a game warden, or Forester, in charge of a portion of the local forest.
[639] His sister Minnie wrote of his birth, "Mama was pregnant... she got very large and she was of small stature and for the last month or so... she could hardly walk. She always sat in the rocker...and Lena and Lizzie woujld push Mamma around in that rocker. When her time came to deliver they had old Dr. Schuerer come to the house, no hopspitals in those days, I was taken over to the Yeagers and can still remember her walking me back. The Dr. decided Mama could not give birth to the baby and it was either he save Mama or the baby, and Papa wanted Mama sound and the child had to be cut away. All I remember Mama said he was a very big baby and he was buried in the same grave as Edna."
@1 [14172] [S173]
- @4Data:
Emigrated to this country...in 1892
@1 [14173] [S764]
@1 [135] [S56]
@1 [136] [S52]
@1 [137] [S57]
@1 [138] [S58]
@1 [139] [S59]
@1 [140] [S53]
- @2Page: Section 11-East side of Ave. F.-Row 4 & 5
@1 [141] [S54]
- @2Page: Section 11-East side of Ave. F.-Row 4 & 5
@1 [143] [S60]
@1 [144] [S61]
- @2Page: p. 48
@1 [145] [S62]
@1 [146] [S53]
- @2Page: Section 11-East side of Ave. F.-Row 4 & 5
@1 [147] [S54]
- @2Page: Section 11-East side of Ave. F.-Row 4 & 5
@1 [148] [S63]
@1 [150] [S60]
@1 [119] [S16]
- @4Data:
Miss Bremser was born in Germany, migrated with her parents to the USA when about four years of age. The Bremser family is German, and the had lived near Frankfort.
@1 [120] [S52]
@1 [121] [S53]
- @2Page: Section 11-East side of Ave. F.-Row 4 & 5
@1 [122] [S54]
- @2Page: Section 11-East side of Ave. F.-Row 4 & 5
@1 [600] [S167]
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[601]
Her age on the date of arrival 12 May 1892 in the passenger manifest is given as 1 yr, 9 mos.
@1 [603] [S53]
- @2Page: Section 13- Ave. E -Row 1 & 2
@1 [604] [S54]
- @2Page: Section 13- Ave. E -Row 1 & 2
@1 [605] [S53]
- @2Page: Section 13- Ave. E -Row 1 & 2
@1 [606] [S54]
- @2Page: Section 13- Ave. E -Row 1 & 2
@1 [638] [S173]
- @4Data:
Preceded in death by a daughter who died in infancy.
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