Grandparents!

My daughter, Catherine, with my mother, Marti in front of Schmidt's Sausage Haus in German Village, Columbus, Ohio.  

Grandparents are a wonderful thing in this world.  My parents are close to our four children (their only grandchildren).  My children can convince them to do things they'd NEVER do with me or my brother.  My mom makes silly faces, my dad will wear princess hat or a flamingo hat (for some reason, my youngest adores putting hats on grandpa).

My grandmother, Esther Grelle Brueggeman, lived with us part time (Christmas break and summer).  Grandma B would let my brother and I give her pop-a-wheelies in her wheel chair when we pushed her.  She also let us ride in it when she was sitting in her chair.  She freely shard her crist-o-mint lifesavers.  I don't remember Grandma before she was in a wheelchair (I do remember the 3 tiered candy dish in her dining room and my cousins trying to convince me to sled down her stairs, but I'm a big chicken and their was a turn on those steep, old stairs. . .).  I'm the youngest of the grandkids.

My older cousins remember more.  Susan remembers Grandma coming over after church every Sunday for a meal.  Grandma spent a lot of time petting Sweetie-pie the cat.  Grandma laughed a lot and would bake something (like pecan rolls) every time Susan or her sister did something spectacular (like bowling.  they were amazing at bowling).

It's the small joys with grandparents.  They look at us as if we're magical and we just KNOW they love us.  My father never knew is grandparents.  I wonder how Ernst August would have doted on my dad.  

1931 was a very odd year. The 8th reunion.

Only 27 people gathered for the 8th reunion on July 19, 1931 in South Euclid, Ohio. Otis Brugge is the first of Martin’s descendants to appear in the big book.  The notes from that meeting say that Otis F. Brugge (from Cleveland Mississippi) was guest of honor and was given an autographed souvenir.  

Three of the 27 were not descendants (or married into) of Clamor, leaving 24 relatives gathered).  Edwin and Esther Grelle Brueggeman’s niece, Helen Brand (Alma Grelle Brand’s daughter from Seymour, Indiana) and Ernst August and Emma Long Brueggeman’s niece and nephew, Edwin and Margaret Miller (Emma’s side) were in attendance.  All others were from the Akron/Cleveland area.

In 1931, the Great Depression was affecting americans.  Herbert Hoover was president and the Empire State Building was completed just months before our reunion.  Albert Einstein was doing research, Edison applied for his last patent.  The Star Spangled Banner was accepted as our national anthem.  Prohibition was still in force.  There was a huge drought.  The polio epidemic was growing, the Iron Lung was developed in 1931.  

The only children present were the Krausman Children (Russell, Ernst and Marie).  In many cases, only the husband/father of families was present.  There is nothing in the meeting notes to explain the attendance.  Rudolph did not, as he has in the past, add names to the sign in.

Edwin and Esther Brueggeman had 3 young children at the time, who did not attend.  According to Joyce Vaseliv, Marjorie Brueggeman’s daughter in law, either Marjorie or Lois told her that the three children (Edwin, Marjorie and Lois) were sent to Seymour, Indiana where Esther’s family was during the polio epidemic.  Susan Young, Lois’ daughter does not remember Lois telling her that, nor does James, their younger brother who was not born yet.  Neither Susan nor James discounted the potential.  I am still waiting to hear from Carolyn (their sister who is still living, Donna (Lois’ daughter) and Marjorie’s children.  I do know Marjorie told Joyce many stories of her childhood.  Lois also talked to Joyce, and to me (her niece) about her childhood often.  Someone MUST have been watching the three children, though and I am assuming it was Alma Grelle Brand, Helen’s mother and Esther’s sister.  With so few children there, I am assuming that the family was concerned about the spread of polio and were protecting their children.  It would make sense, given Joyce’s account, that Alma and Helen took Edwin, Marjorie and Lois back to Seymour with them and Alma watched the children so Edwin and Esther could gather with family.  

James thought the polio epidemic would not be in play because he remembers it.  He had once told me of a neighbor who was paralyzed from polio and that they weren't allowed to swim locally because of polio.  I’m writing this in January of 2024, just after the Covid pandemic.  The first two years of Covid were definitely long and draining.  Covid is not as deadly as it was at first.  I can’t imagine a disease that cripples children lasting so long.  I do understand wanting to protect your loved ones from the disease so much that you isolate as our whole country did that for years.

As attendance patterns are emerging (I haven't looked past the 8th reunion yet, so this is based on a very small sample), which relatives attended and did not attend.  Families with small children who were at the past three reunions and lived locally did not attend.  Older members of the family who had not previously attended were present.  I imagine many conversations about how to safely gather given the polio epidemic.

It is interesting, too, that Otis appears alone from Cleveland, Mississippi.  At this point I have no idea if he traveled alone or with his family.  At the time, he had a wife and young children. Linda’s son from a previous marriage, Edward Bond (1917),  Peggy (1924), Otis (1926), and Martin (April 30, 1931, so he would have been less than 3 months old).  It’s hard to imagine traveling such a distance at the time with young children.  Perhaps another artifact will shed light (we do have many letters).

The Big Book and the 5th reunion.

 Ernst August Brueggeman brought a Deposit Journal to the 5th reunion.  He was the first to sign in to the reunion that year, or ever. He wrote his name, birthdate and address.  A total of 82 people signed the book, most for themselves, but some for their children.  For 95 years we've followed their lead (though we no longer sign our birthdates, we've added the clan, phone numbers, email addresses.

When I was a child, one of my favorite things about the reunion was that book, which my family always called "the Big Book," because, well,  it's BIG.  I felt so grown when I wrote my own name in the book.  I loved looking back at other years to see who was there.

Now that I am secretary for our family, I get to REALLY study the big book.  I've wanted to get the pages on ancestry and have a spreadsheet of all who have signed our book.  I started yesterday.  The 5th reunion covered 2 1/2 pages.  The third page also had notes on the meeting.  I took photos of each page and uploaded them to Ernst August's gallery on ancestry, tagging each person on the page.  I started a spreadsheet and have the name and birthdate in alphabetical order (I didn't add addresses, which I may regret later).  

Seven of the nine original branches were represented.  As I type this, the very last name entered, Eugene Victor Brueggeman, is still with us.  He is the only cousin still with us who attended that reunion.

As I was typing in the names, I couldn't help but be struck by who signed with whom, the birthdates, and which ones wrote for their families rather than having each sign their own names.  Clearly, a 2 year old wouldn't write their own names.  I don't see my grandmother's name, but my grandfather was there with three of his children. His name and my aunt Lois' name (she would have been the youngest at the time) are in the same handwriting as Emma Louise.  My grandfather and aunt don't have their birthdates or addresses, so I'm assuming ing Emma signed them in.Two pages later, my uncle Eddie and Aunt Margie are signed in, with Uncle Eddie's birthdate (no year, just the city and state for the address and Aunt Margie's birthdate and address blank.  They are in the same handwriting, which matches Emma's on the other page.  The only other names on that page are Rudolph Brueggemann, his wife Ruth, and their two boys:  Clifford and Eugene.  Those are in the same penmanship as the meeting notes, signed by R.F. Brueggemann (I assume Rudolph).

Throughout the pages, there are some immediate family signing together,  and cousins, etc who were signing together.  I can only assume it was much like our current reunions. . . you see a cousin, talk to them and sign the book.  Names were added because, well, we get distracted and we knew they were there.  You write all the information you can for you brother, your nieces, your parents. . . but the bulk of your time is not making sure paperwork is done, it's enjoying relatives you don't see nearly often enough.

No one came from Sophie or Martin's line.  That makes sense, though, because Sophie's family would have been in Pensacola while Martin's family was in Memphis.  In 1928 it would be hard, on a pastor's salary, to bring your family to Ohio for a one day event.  

As I find time, I'll be photographing, tagging and adding to my spreadsheet.  I can't wait to see our family grown and change!