Harry NIENABER

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name Harry NIENABER
[1]

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1 Notes on my memories of everyday life in the family
Author: Regina Margaret Willenbrink
Abbreviation: Notes on my memories of everyday life in the family
  NOTES ON MY MEMORIES OF EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE FAMILY (Jean W. Slimmer - Regina Margaret Willenbrink) age 82 Oct 13, 1970 Page 1/Page 2 All records compiled 1970 and 1971 At this writing I am the oldest living member of the Fred Wil- lenbrink-Mary Wolke Willenbrink family and the only living person carrying the name "Slimmer". My husband, Charles William Slimmer, was the only son of an only son of an only son. His father was born during the Civil war (Deep South people call it "Waw [sic!] between the States". Charlie's grandfather died at Chickamauga having been killed by a stray cannon ball before the news reached the troops that the war was over. His grandfather never saw his own son. His grandmother married again and there were half sisters and brothers and Charlie and I met one or two of them, but to the best of my knowledge they are now all gone. Charlie had two sis- ters, Carrie Harting and Bessie Stenken. Bill Harting was the on- ly child of the Hartings and was Charlie's godchild. The Stenken family had ten children, one girl is my godchild and a boy was named after Charlie while he was away in World War I. We were always friendly with the Willenbrink grandparents and visited them often. On Sunday afternoons several of us visited Grandma and Grandpa at their home several blocks away and we were to be home at 5:00 o'clock when Dad came home for supper from the Fire Department. One Sunday we did not come home and Mother had Dad go round to see what the matter. Dad found a party in progress and was so incensed at our mother not being invited, he snatched cake from our hands, and left with us, without saying one word. Nobody ever found out who was to blame, but Dad blamed his eldest sister Annie and would not speak to her for years. As we grew older we knew something was wrong, but did not find out until we were old enough to understand. Then mother told us, but she never shared Dad's grudge and remained friends with the Willenbrink women. I mention this to indicate a trait of Dad's. He was extremely loy- al to his relatives and friends and simply could not countenance disloyalty of any kind. He had a similar experience with our mother's brother, uncle George Wolke. Uncle George's wife Carrie and their daughter bad long before gone to California and Uncle George boarded in Covington. The landlady one day told us George was very ill and poor fellow could not die because he did not know where he could be buried. He had tried to prepare for this, but the company in which he thought he had good stock folded and he lost his money. Dad went to see Uncle George and told him he would be buried on the family lot where Mother was buried, and the landlady reported those two old men sat with each other each one's eyes filled with tears. Beba (Genevieve) had asked Dad to go see Uncle George and now she jokingly says Uncle George is buried in her grave. But it is so nice to know they were very good friends at the last. I especially remember occasional gatherings of the clan at Grandpa's. The party was held in the tailor shop. After the meal the floor was cleared and there was dancing, mostly waltzes and quadrilles. Mother did not dance, but Dad and his sister Annie were especially good dancers, in fact Aunt Annie and Fred Hugen- berg took prizes. Mr. Hugenberg was funeral director in Covington for many years. All the kids enjoyed these parties and at one of them I was wearing a prize ring from a bag of popcorn. Aunt Annie saw it and took a lovely child's ring that had been her daughter Margaret's and asked me if I would trade with her. I wore that ring a long time but don't remember what became of it. Page 3/Page 4 Aunt Annie loved kids and every vacation the whole bunch of us spent a day at her house. Babe went to her house for lunch while she attended school at St. Joseph's. Mary Louise too came to the attention of Aunt Annie while attending school at St.Joseph's and St.Walburg's. Aunt Annie and the second and third husbands lived in what was known as "Helentown" close to St.Joseph's church and school. The Willenbrink temperament and determination are notorious in the family, but whatever patience any of us have, I am sure came from Grandma Willenbrink. She was the gentlest person I ever knew and her soft brown eyes spelled patience itself. Two of her daughters came home widows, each with two children, so her family grew, diminished and grew by turns, but in all the conversations I heard, there was never a word of complaint from her. She never spoke harshly. Aunt Lucy told a story about baby sitting while mother went out for an afternoon. Julia would be at Grandma Wolke's, and Aunt Lucy, then a young lady, would take me in the baby buggy to her house and she and a friend and neighbor, Kate Feldman would take the dime Aunt Lucy got for her baby sitting, go down to the corner grocery, get wieners, pickles and cakes (for a dime?) and have a party. Grandma did not think this was a good idea and told Lucy she should save the dime, but Aunt Lucy was fun loving and preferred the party. Aunt Lucy said this happened many times, Grandma cautioning each time, and Lucy spending each time, but Grandma never got really mad and de- manding the money must be saved. Kate and Lucy sometimes serenaded us dressed up and playing banjo aid guitar and they had as much fun as we did. They both laughed so much it was contagious. They also played St. Nicholas for us and when I think of how devoutly we prayed kneeling at their feet, I want to clobber somebody. Aunt Lucy told of arriving at our house when we were ready for bed and mentioned little white ruffled night caps to keep our hair from being too tangled for church the next morning. With the Wolke grandparents it was a different story. We never referred to them as Grandpa and Grandpa [sic!] as with the Willenbrink fam- ily. In the German language, or rather German dialect grandparents were "Best Papa" and "Best Mama". This was shortened to "Bespop" and "Besmom", In the Hendricks-Schlomer family it was shortened even more to "Bessie" for grandmother. Lily Hundricks, a friend and schoolmate always called her grandmother "Bessie". I knew "Bessie" very well. She was a widow and lived in one room on Wat- kins Street and made a living by sewing on tailor work. She always had a grandmother cup of coffee on her sewing table and smiled a lot. She spoke softly and her granddaughter Margaret Hendricks reminds me of "Bessie". Bespop Wolke owned the house he lived in, always referred to as the "new house". We lived in his house next door on Lee Street in Covington, called the "old house". Dad and Mother took rooms in the old house when they were married and we lived there until Bespop's death, when our mother acquired both pieces of property. The old house was a large brick building and Bespop had a propensity for allowing poor people to rent the rooms. I remember an old lady in one room, on city relief. A widow with four children occupied first floor rear, while we had the front. Later we had the entire first floor. Grandma Schlomer and her daughter Aunt Maggie had the second floor front. They too made a living on tailor sewing. When Aunt Maggie (not our real aunt, but my schoolmate Lily Hendricks' aunt) married and left Covington, Grandma Schlomer said goodbye to our mother with tears in her eyes and said she would not live long now, leaving old friends and neighbors, Not too many months later she died, and much later Aunt Maggie came back to Covington, a widow with one son. Page 5 ply herself she referred to a wealthy woman in Covington, Mrs. Henry Holtrup, whose husband owned a very fancy cafe at Pike and Madison. Many a poor family received a barrel of flour, a load of coal and food, and they never knew whence it had come. One family of mother and four small children had her constant attention, but when the family grew up and were independent the mother never called on Besmom when she was quite ill and never gave her the slightest notice. Besmom grieved about this. There were other tales about the arrogance of this woman so others too were the object of her scorn. Besmom was a very sensitive, emotional person and could shed co- pious tears merely telling of some misfortune that befell a neighbor or friend. It was for this reason that our mother never told us about her blood mother, whose picture she treasured. She did not want the word "stepmother" to reach Besmom's ears and did not explain until we were old enough to understand. Besmom was as good to our mother and her children as she was to her own daughter Aunt Lou Kreidler; in fact there simply was no difference and Aunt Lou and our mother had a much closer relationship than was true of mother and her full blood sister, Aunt Kate Wolking. Besmom went to great lengths to make up for an unintential [sic!] slight to one of us, and her favorite expression when she tried to make up for it was "Now you sassisfied?" [sic!] Bespop was the true pioneer type and looked the part. As long as I can remember him he was retired, tall, slim, rigged features, gnarled hands, and a beard. He had an engaging, crooked little smile and a twinkle in his eye when something amused him, especially when he watched little children. Anything subtly clever or tricky brought on the ex- pression. He had a philosophy of life all his own and understood hu- man nature to a remarkable degree. He and our Dad had many heated arguments and shouted at each other. But Dad never held a grudge respected Bespop's integrity and admired him for the courage of his convictions. Bespop wore wooden shoes at home, lined with insoles he cut from brussels carpet, but on Sunday for church he wore beautiful boots un- der his trousers a good suit and a Hombug hat that made him look like a church dignitary. Much of the church's income in those days was derived from the rental of pews. Bespop rented a pew on the right side of Mother of God's church, up near the top of the nave. There were about seven seats, and various branches of the family and close relatives were responsible to him for the price of one seat, but I often wonder how many times he took care of the portions at times of temporary financial distress. Families with one seat accommodated by attending different Masses and there was always a seat, maybe two, unoccupied by the owners. Bespop did all the upkeep work on his property and used his in- genuity to make something that was needed rather than buy it. He and Besmom sponsored two immigrants who lived with them, also there was Besmom's nephew Joe Schmolt. Bespop fashioned an arrangement in the summer kitchen where the boarders could wash up for supper. The wash basin could be tilted into a trough behind the stand and a pipe from the trough took the wash water directly into the sewer line, eliminating the emptying of buckets of wash water. There were no sinks, bathrooms or washstands in those days. Bespop used every trick of economy he could and to him a big soup bone was worth a lump of coal. When that soup bone became red hot in the kitchen stove, it supplied all the heat necessary to bake the family bread without several feedings of coal. He never used a match until absolutely necessary. On the mantel shelf near the stove was a fat little keg and in it were strips of paper rolled tight and thin and he used these to light his pipe from the grating in front of the stove. Bespop was also an expert with knitting needles and made stock- Page 6 ings for the kids in winter. He did not knit as most people do today; neither did he knit Continental as I do, but I could only see one place where the yarn went over the index finger, but fingers and needles flew so fast I could not see how he did it. I watched many times while he talked to a visitor, scarcely looking at the work, but all I could see was the finished work lengthening. There was a brick smoke house on the old house property and Bespop invented his own sausage stuffing machine. Met sausages, goette saus- ages, johnny-in-the bag, hams, etc. were hung in the smoke house. Bes- pop built the fire on a dirt floor in the smoke house and tended the fire until all was smoked to perfection and the family had a supply of meat for the winter. Of course it froze, so we had frozen food then too, but only in winter. By spring it was all gone, and the canning, pickling, and preserving started with the approach of summer, followed in the late fall, about November, by bringing another hog from the slaughter house and another cycle began. There was a workshop that ran the length of the old property in back, opening into the new house yard and in it was every tool I ever saw, including an adze, which few young people today know about. It had a long handle like an axe, but the blade was spoon shaped and turned toward the user. It was used to chip away knots in floor boards to even the surface. There were also strange looking strips of wood with turned up ends, pointed, very much like giant skis. Bes- pop said they were wagon patterns, hut I don't know how they were used. He taught me how to drive a screw by making a little hole with a sharp awl, then pushing the screw trough soap. Then the screw went into the tiny hole and it seated straight, smooth and even. Bespop told amusing tales about his experiences in his new country, America, but the one he told about his first job is typical of his in- genuity. One of his first jobs was to insert the spokes in wagons, probably mostly drays. If a spoke fitted well he laid it aside on his work bench and worked with the more difficult ones. In this way he accumulated a supply of well fitting spokes and when the "boss" came through the shop on an inspection tour he worked with the good spokes and in this way gained a reputation for good and fast work, earning a promotion. One of my fondest memories are the talks between Bespop and our mother, his daughter Mary. If she had a problem she would go next door to Bespop and talk it over with him. He would listen intently and then start his answer with "Ja Kind". He often referred to the children as "kind", but when he referred to my mother as "kind", I could not understand. I knew I was her child, but I could not un- derstand how she was his child. When I was older I recalled the world of tenderness in his use of "Ja Kind", but when he did not get mad, he could be kindness itself. He was a great advocate of family closeness and he preached nothing was more important than one's family. No matter what you preferred to do, family must have first consideration and this was the source of the heated arguments between our Dad and Bespop especially about Dad's trip to Alaska. Bespop's daughter Louise (Kreidler) lived on the second floor of the new house when she married. Their first child Mary resembled her her father Fred Kreidler very much and this probably was the reason Aunt Lou thought Uncle Fred was partial to her. The second child, George (after Bespop of course) was more on the blond side and Aunt Lou developed the habit of calling him her "boy-sel". The "sel" is a German word ending meaning diminutive or little. That's how George Kreidler acquired the name "Boy". Aunt Lou was frail of health and while she sewed for us, our moth- er did more strenuous work for Aunt Lou, especially at housecleaning time. Besmom, Aunt Lou and our mother were excellent cooks. One of Besmom's specialties was a combination of meats. With boarders in Page 7 the house there always was an accumulation of various meat left-overs, She combined them, ground it all up and what else she put in I don't know but when they were formed into cakes and browned in a skillet, they tasted better than any hamburger I ever ate. Another specialty were "New Year's Cakes". Besmom poured a special batter between two disks, finely cerated like a waffle iron. The disks had long iron handles and were hinged at the back. The disks were closed and with the batter between pushed into a grate fire of red hot coals. She would then turn out the cakes onto a table or bread board, pick up the edge and give the cake a swift roll with the palm of her hand. The hollow rolled up cakes were then piled onto a platter, pyramid fashion, the whole sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with coffee or wine. They were crisp much like the present day cake ice cream cone, but the flavor was incomparable. Mother and Aunt Lou told about real real house fastivities[sic!] on New Year's Day and every house was open to visitors who appeared with- out fail, and everybody was ready for them. Besmom had what was in those days a beautiful parlor, with lovely lace curtains to the floor, beige carpet with pink and red roses, horse hair furniture (some of which-recovered is still in the family), fire in an open grate, a painted plaster pug dog on the hearth. On one side of the hearth was a fancy black enameled coal hod with pink and red roses painted on it. Inside was a removable metal coal hod and a pair of long coal tongs hung on the side of the fancy hod. Aunt Lou's bed room was next to the parlor and I went over on beau night to watch and help Aunt Lou dress. I thought she had beautiful clothes and I remember one dress especially of pale pink and green silk threads woven into tiny checks, and it was trimmed with many buttons of a Louis 14th lady's head, surrounded with a fancy metal border. I could stay until Uncle Fred Kreidler arrived and after he said a few words to me, I went home to dream of how wonderful it would be to grow up and dress like Aunt Lou. Aunt Lou made clothes for Julia Schmolt, at that time in St. Elizabeth Hospital, but I did not know this until much later, when I also learned that the materials mostly were bought by Mrs. Middendorf, Besmom's niece and cousin to Julia. I do remember visiting Julia Schmolt with Aunt Lou and then going across the hospital yard and attending Benediction in the chapel. Father Gory always held the services and to this day his resonant voice and devout praying haunts me, although I was very young at the time, not more than ten years old. When I started school we began the German language the same as English and I soon became puzzled by the difference in the language I was studying and the language spoken at home. I seldom talked about what was on my mind, but I finally inquired and was told what I was learning was real German, but the language at home was Low German and what I was told was real German was high German. This was not entirely correct. High German was mostly the language of Bavarian Germans and low German belonged mostly to Prussian Germans. Actually neither was a language, but both were dialects. This mixture of German and dialects became very interesting and I listened very closely to Bespop's conversations with friends and neighbors. He could tell by the dialect from which part of Germany the speaker came. I learned many dialect words from Besmom who sent me to the corner grocery. She could only tell me in dialect and I would repeat to our mother and she would tell me what to get from the grocery. In one of Bespop's conversations with a neighbor I listened as usual, pondering words and phrases. By that time I had come to understand much of the dialects and I suddenly found I was more interested in what was being said than in comparing dialects. There was much prejudice in those days too, a lot of it directed against Catholics. Something evidently that had a lot of publicity puzzled Bespop and Page 8 he told his friend he decided to talk it over with a trusted friend, a priest. The priest, he told his friend said "Let the seas rage, let the winds howl - you don't make the rules, let those responsible for the rules carry the load ~ as for you, hold fast to your Faith, obey the rules until they are changed, and let the storms roll by." Bespop told his friend "That's good enough for me", and I have decided that's good enough for me too. Bespop's daughter, Mary Wolke Willenbrink, our mother was a very unusual person, She had a manner, a bearing, a dignity apart from all the people around her. This was all the more remarkable because she had no more education than her friends, neighbors and other members of her family, but she never lost that innate quality of refinement. She never fell into the habit of the language of those around her; she never used a coarse word or phrase and cautioned us against the use of what she called "rough language" and it was never permitted in our home,- not even popular slang. She knew nothing of her mother whose picture she cherished and the only person I knew of to speak to her of her mother was a drayage business man in Covington. She told me this man spoke of her mother as a very fine lady whom he admired very much. Babe, in looking at the picture of Christina Ricke Wolke, seems inclined toward the theory Christina might have come from aristocratic people of the Georgian area of Russia. So there just might be some gentle breeding way back, but there is no real evidence. Besmom's memorial card, at her death, definitely said she was born in Schleswig-Holstein, a Prussian area. Bespop's wooden shoes, his knowledge of Hollanders , etc. lead Babe to believe he might have come from northern German near the Holland Border. I don't quite agree because Bespop, Besmom, the other Rensmans, the Willenbrink grandparents and other relatives, such as the Koesters, all spoke the same dialect. This leads me to believe they all came from Prussian areas. Bespop left Germany at the time of completing his apprenticeship, according to his conversations, because he did not want to lose his experience by going into the Prussian army, required of all German young men at the time. He may have served his apprenticeship in northern Germany but his knowledge of Bismarck and "der Kaiser" (Hohenzollern) seems to indicate Prussian birth. By the way, the Kaiser's name was originally Zollern and became HohenZollern (high) only after the family's descendants forced themselves into the higher ruling class. So our ancestors did not come over on the Mayflower. They were a part of that great influx of European immigrants that formed the back- bone of this Country. In Bespop's time Germans alone were coming to America at the rate of 50,000 in one year. People of strong moral fibre, industrious and frugal, they were accustomed to self-denial and self-sacrifice. That was the only way they could get here. In Amer ica they managed to save something of their earnings and these savings became the nucleus of that great American institution, the building and loan association, to them known as the "Bau Verein". The association in turn helped them build their homes and accumulate savings for secur- ity in old age. As far back as I can remember, Bespop belonged to the Allgemeine Bau Verein. Later this became the General Building & Loan Association and all branches of Bespop's family at one time or another had accounts in this same association, down to the present time when two of us have accounts there. This covers a period of more than a hundred years. I was fond of all the grandparents, but the hearness of Bespop and Besmom and their philosophy of close family relationship in life, left a cherished legacy. This was shown most pointedly when Aunt Lou died and left a husband with three small children, it never occurred to anyone there would be any other plan than to keep the family together and care for them, and Uncle Fred had become such an integral part of the family, he wanted it that way too. When he married Annie Kinzler, he could not tell his children and asked our mother to do it. Mary cried, but Boy took it rather philosophically. The baby had died in mother's care and I think our Dad felt the loss of the baby as much Page 9 as the baby's father. Mother said several times Dad paid more attention to that baby than he did to his own. Several of the fourth generation have mentioned their admiration for our father, Fred Willenbrink Sr., their grandfather. The can laugh at his boisterous declamations, but admire his straightforward principles, strongly one way or another, never on the fence. He was a died-in-the-wool Democrat and I think he would have voted for the mule rather than a Republican. I am sure if the first several generations could come back for a moment and see the many fine young people in the fourth and fifth gener ations, with inherited qualities tempered and enhanced by the new blood of marriages, they would be pleased and proud, especially in these days of a youth element with heads in the clouds and feet on shaky ground but I wonder what the world will be like when the tots of the sixth generation grow up because I shall not be here to see it. Page 10 Correction in family record of George Wolke-Bernard Willenbrink families:- Early in 1974 I found an error in the record of Kate Willenbrink-Harry Kleemeier record. Two children, Harry Jr. and Bernetta Kleemeier is not correct. It should be Edward and Bernetta Kleemeier; Edward, I learned is still living and has two children, a boy and a girl. Ber- netta married Al Boering or Broering and lived in Lewisburg area of Covington, and also had two children, a boy and a girl. She was not living in 1974. This information was given to me by Loretta Vocke Bowman, daughter of Mary Willenbrink Nienaber Vocke. The two children of Edward Kleemeier and Bernetta Boering or Broering are direct descendants of Mary Willenbrink Nienaber Vocke and her parents Bernard an Margaret Taubken Willenbrink. Jean Willenbrink Slimmer and Charles W. Slimmer, of the Kopp-Slimmer family had in-laws in the family of Annie Kopp Kleemeier family, named Kleemeier but there is no relation between this Kleemeier family and the Willenbrink-Kleemeier family. When the Kopp-Kleemeier found out from me (Jean W. Slimmer) I had Kleemeier relatives, they we very interested in tracing relationship, but so far as could be established, there was no relationship, either by blood or by marriage. (This merely for the record if anything should come up regarding future tracing. Page 11 Supplement to paragraph on Mary Wolke Willenbrink, Memories page 6 - In the past, I don't remember why, I wondered about the possibility of a connection between Mary Wolke, our mother, with Alsace Lorraine that territory that wavered back and forth between France and Germany Recently I read an article setting forth that there was at one time a great deal of persecution of Catholics in Alsace-Lorraine, causing some of its Catholics to leave and take refuge in Russia. This/a has bearing on Babe's opinion, judging from the features in the picture of Christina Rucke, Mary Wolke's blood mother, that she stemmed from Russian stock. It is possible that Mary Wolke's ancestors stemmed from Russians and the refugees from Alsace-Lorraine. There is nothing to substantiate this and the connection is pure conjec- ture, but no record rejects or confirms it. It would be interesting to know what the maiden name was of Christina Rucke. (Georgian Section of Russia)Aunt Jean Slinmer-1972 Page 8 Information compiled by "Regina Margaret" Jean Willenbrink Slimmer during 1969 and 1970. Fred Willenbrink Sr. - Mary Wolke Willenbrink Family Fred Willenbrink Sr. was the son of Bernard A. Willenbrink and Margaret Taubken Willenbrink. He was born February 2, 1864, and family records are at St. Aloysius parish house, Covington, Ky. Mary Wolke (baptized Anna Maria Willenbrink was the daughter of Gerhard Wolke and Christina Ricke (or Rucke-umlaut) Wolke. She was born November 22, 1865. She was baptized, made her first Communion, received Confirmation, was married and buried from Mother of God Church, Coving- ton, Ky. Church records seem to indicate her birthday as November 21, but she claimed November 22 and often spoke of being married in Septem- ber of 1886 and becoming 21 years of age two months later. Children of Fred Willenbrink Sr. and Mary Wolke Willenbrink Julia AnnaMarried Ben Wieck Regina Margaret (Jean)" Chas. W. Slimmer Frank Richard Reuben (Dick) " Mary Brake-then Berta ----- Genovieve Ann LorettaRemained Single Catherine MarieMarried Harry M. Ohlhaut Hildaguarde Louise" George Kluemper George" Margie ----- Fred Bernard Josepha" Muriel McKinley Mary Dorothy Josepha Christina (Babe)" Arthur Nolan Mary Louise" Thomas L. Grever Mary Wolke Willenbrink died at age - approximately 60 years. Fred Willenbrink Sr. died at age - approximately 80 years. Julia Wieck died in 1960 and Ben Wieck several years before that. Arthur Nolan died in 1945 Chas. W. Slimmer died in 1945 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Washington as a World War I veteran. Richard (Dick) Willenbrink died in 1959 George Kluemper died in 1970 Most of the Willenbrink and Wolke dead are buried in Mother of God Cemetery. but I think Julia and Ben Wieck are at St.John's. Page 9 Family of Bernard A. Willenbrink, father of Fred Willenbrink Sr. Bernard A, Willenbrink was a German immigrant and his wife, Margaret Taubken Willenbrink was probably also a German immigrant. They ac- quired property on West 13th Street, Covington, Ky. along Linden Grove Cemetery on the other side and all their children grew up and married or died as of that address. The property is still in the hands of descendants, and occupied by Margaret Holtman Teipel, daugh- ter of their daughter Lucy Willenbrink Holtman. Grandfather Willenbrink was a tailor owning his own business. In those days men's suits were not made in factories as they are today. I don't know how the suits came together, but each privately owned tailor business specialized in one garment and Bernard A. Willenbrink made vests in his tailor shop. His property ran back from 13th Street to Watkins, his tailor shop facing Watkins. There was a considerable grade downhill from 13th to Watkins. His home property on 13th Street was hemmed in by various outbuildings, such as coal shed, wash house, toilet facilities, etc. Between the coal shed and wash house, a brick walk led to an open stairway downhill to a small yard and the shop. Mary Wolke worked in the tailor shop as an expert buttonhole maker. Fred Willenbrink Sr. also worked in his father's shop as a cutter. That is how they met. Children of Bernard A. and Margaret Taubken Willenbrink Anna - Married Henry Borgemenke-then Bernard Niehaus-then Anthony Miller [sic!] Fred - Married Mary Wolke Mary - Married Henry Nienaber-then Anthony Vocke Kate - Married Harry Kleemeier Henry- Married Josephine Henn Leo - Bachelor ~ Died middle age Lucy - Married Ben Holtman Anna Willenbrink Borgemenke had two children-Harry and Margaret Borgemenke. Harry died middle age. Anna then married Ben Niehaus, a jewelry store owner. There was one son, Bernard Niehaus. Became a CPA and lived in Cleveland for many years. Anna then married Anthony Mueller. In this marriage she ac- quired two step-children, Antoinette and Edward Mueller. Mary Willenbrink married Henry Nienaber. There were two children, Mayme and Harry. Harry died a young man. After Mary married Anthony Vocke, Mayme took the name of Vocke, The other Vocke children were Bernard, Sam and John, Loretta, Betty. Kate Willenbrink married Harry Kleemeier and there were two children, Harry and Bernetta. After the father's death, Bernetta, married, had her mother live with her. The mother, Harry Jr. and Bernetta are dead. Henry Willenbrink married Josephine Henn and they had seven boys after the death of the first child, a girl, The boys were Henry, Bernard, Elmer, Leonard, Joseph, George and Lewis, Lucy Willenbrink married Ben Holtman and they had one daugh- ter, Margaret Holtman Teipel, now occupying the Willenbrink home- stead. Page 10 When Anna Willenbrink, sister of Fred Willenbrink Sr., married Anthony Mueller, her third husband, h1er two stepchildren, Antoinette and Edward were grade school age. Edward, as a teenager, died. Antoinette finished school and became of age, Mary Wolke Willenbrink's sister Kate married Frank Wolking. His nephew, Charles Wolk- ing, married Antoinette Mueller, establishing a marriage relationship between the Wolking-Willenbrink-Mueller families. Charles and An- toinette Mueller Wolking had six daughters, all of whom became Bene- dictine nuns and are at present at the Villa Academy home for Bene- dictine nuns in Crescent Springs. The Willenbrink's always accepted. Antoinette as a cousin, the same as Margaret Borgemenke, her half sis- ter, but there was little association until recent years when I (Jean) became better acquainted with the nuns at card parties at the Villa. The Anton Willenbrink (Willenbring according to church records) mentioned in Babe's notes taken in Mother of God church records, was a brother of Bernard A. Willenbrink, father of Fred Willenbrink Sr. He lived on Sixth Street, near Mother of God Church in Covington, Ky. One of his family married into the Lutter family, living in the same neighborhood and this established a relationship (blood lines) between the Willenbrink-Lutter families. This relationship is now in the fourth generation. Anna Rensman Wolke, second wife of George (Gerhard) Wolke, was a sister to Mr. Rensman, father of Charles, William, Mathilda, Julia and Elizabeth Rensman. Elizabeth Rensman married John Middendorf Sr. of the Middendorf Funeral Homes establishing a marriage relationship between the families of the Wolke's, Willenbrink's and Rensman's, There are no blood ties, since Anna Rensman Wolke was not the blood mother of Mary Wolke Willenbrink. There were blood ties with Mary Wolke Willenbrink's half-sister Louise Wolke Kreidler as Anna Rensman Wolke was the blood mother of Louise. The knowledge of the Middendorf-Willenbrink relationship was given me (Aunt Jean) by Leona Middendorf, daughter of Elizabeth Rensman Middendorf and John Middendorf Sr. Our mother, Mary Wolke Willenbrink never told us Anna Rensman Wolke was her stepmother. Grandmother Wolke was so good to our mother and to all of us mother did not want any hint of "stepmother" to enter the picture. Grandmother Wolke never made the slightest difference between her own daughter Louise Wolke Kreidler and her step-daughter Mary Wolke Willenbrink. Our mother cherished the picture of her own mother but never told us who the lady was until we were old enough to under- stand, Leona Middendorf also told me Anna Rensman Wolke had a sister, Julia Rensman who married a Joseph Schmolt. Both parents died, leav- ing Joe and Julia Schmolt. Joe lived with Grandmother Rensman Wolke until he married Emma Wilke. Julia Schmolt, his sister, was an invalid from a childhood disease. Her legs never matured and she lived in a wheel chair, first at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Covington and later in 3t.Francis Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio, where she died at age about 70. She was a striking looking person, never beautiful, but very intelli- gent and never lost touch with the outside world. She could never be considered a charity patient She earned her way by taking care of the diet kitchen at St.Elizabeth's and later by expert needlework at St.Francis. While bedfast at St.Francis she embroidered an al- tar cloth which was sold to St. Patrick's in New York for $300.00 and the nuns then regretted they had not asked $500,00. Henry - Died as a young man Charles - Died as a child of approximately school age. Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15/Page 16 Family of Gerhard Wolke, father of Mary Wolke Willenbrink Gerhard Wolke was definitely a German immigrant. He came to the U.S. as a young man after serving apprenticeship in Germany as a wagon maker. There is no record that has been found of his birth date, but he lived to be in the eighties. He was known to his family, friends and relatives as "George" and for several generations each family named a child "George™ after him. He was much admired by his family and all who knew him and all his business was conducted in the name of "George". Only Church records revealed the fact his name was really "Gerhard". Some people say George if [sic!] a derivation from Gerhard, but in the German language they are two separate names. Wagon making was a highly skilled occupation and required accurate fitting of parts, especially in the manufacture of the forerunner of the modern heavy duty trucks, called drays. Drays were much like a railway flat-car built low. This flat bed was made of heavy timbers with iron strips around the edge of the bed with holes drilled through the iron and into the bed. The wheels extended above the bed of the dray with the axle just beneath the level of the dray bed and extending out from it. Bar- rels of sugar, flour molasses, vinegar, wine and whiskey were rolled up a short, portable ramp onto the dray bed and when the load was in place, heavy upright poles were inserted into the hole in the iron rim around the bed, fencing in the load. The drays were hauled by heavy work hor- ses, two, sometimes four horses, according to the size of the load. The drivers were skilled handlers of horses, and were as adept in maneuvering the dray into position at the unloading point as are the truck drivers of today, in fact I am inclined to think it took more ingenuity to maneuver the horses, and watching the drivers of these drays was facin- ting [sic!]. Gerhard Wolke's first wife was Christina Ricke (or Rucke-umlaut). She was probably also an immigrant. She died when Mary Wolke Willenbrink was three years old. Of this marriage there were three children:- George - Married Caroline Kohler (or Koehler) of Delphos, Ohio - children Edna and Leander. Leander died as a child about school starting age. Edna married after she and her mother went to Hollywood California, where the mother died. George remained in Covington where he died and is buried on the lot of Fred and Mary Willenbrink in Mother of God Cemetery. Kate - Married Frank Wolking - children George, Xavier, Mary, Elmer, Freda, and Frank. George died many years ago, married, Elmer died in recent years; Frank many years ago. At this writing Xavier (married a Lavanier girl) lives in Ft. Mitchell, Mary is in a nursing home, the widow of a Bresser boy, and Freda living in Ludlow. Elmer and Freda, unmarried lived together until Elmer's death. All remained in Kenton County, Ky. George had one son, George Jr.-mother Dolly Busman Wolking. Mary - Married Fred Willenbrink Sr. - see page l. Gerhard Wolke then married Anna Rensman and there were three more children: Louise - Married Fred Kreidler - Two children, Mary and George (Boy). Louise died at the birth of a third child, Aloysius. Mary Willenbrink, her half sister, took charge of the infant and it lived nine months. Mary and Boy lived with Grandpa and Grandma Wolke until Grandma's death, then Julia Willenbrink kept house for the children, Uncle Fred Kreidler and Grandpa until Grandpa's death, when children and father lived with Mary Wolke Willenbrink's family until their father, Fred Kreidler married Anna Kinzler (or Kintzler). Mary died at their new home at age 25 or so, Boy married from this home. Page 17 Babe's (Mary Dorothy Joseph Willenbrink Nolan) Notes From Mother of God Church Records. Mother of God Parish was founded in 1841 (See Diocesan History Book- Babe and I have one at our home on Arcadia, Lakeside). (Jean's Note)-Bespop Wolke often spoke of Bishop Teobbe and Father Kuhr, Bespop was one of the early perpetual benefactors of the Mother of God Church and is so listed in the yearly bulletins.) October 23, 1957 - Anton Willenbring - Catherine Middike (no doubt Dad's uncle). (This evidently is a marriage record. October 9, 1959 - Bernard Anthony Willenbrink-Margaret Elizabeth Taubken. This is the marriage record of Grandpa and Grandma Willenbrink's wedding. Born December 186l-died age 2 months, 3 days ~ Henrius Willenbrink Born 11-21-65 Anna Maria-Gerhard Wolke and Christina Rucker (umlaut) sponsors - John Wilhelm Teppe and Maria Loysa Rucker. (This is our mother Mary Wolke Willenbrink and she said her birth- day was November 22, 1965.) (Jean- I was sure there was some relationship between the Willen- brinks or Wolkes with a Tepe family living on Twelfth Street, near Hermes in Covington, two maiden ladies of which family I knew well. I presume the relationship was with the Wolke family and may have just a friend relationship, according to the above note). (Jean-From the above it is plain that Bespop's real name was Ger- hard, but as long as I knew him he was "George" to his friends and family. All business transactions that I knew of were in the name of "George". He had a son named George, grandson in this son's family was named "George". Each of Bespop's daughters had a son named George and I remember of at least one great grand- son named "George" - and then when Charlie died and I came back to the family in Covington and attended Mother of God Church, I learned in one of the yearly bulletins the right name was "Ger- hard". George's were falling all over each other in the family 30 that nicknames were invented to distinguish one from the other. Bespop was dearly loved by all his family and highly respected among, friends and neighbors up and down Lee Street and all over town.) Page 18 Fred Willenbrink Sr.Mary Wolke Willenbrink Born Feby. 2,1865Born Nov. 22, 1865 Married September 14, 1886 Julia Anna (Wieck) 7- 5-1887 Regina Margaret (Slimmer) 10-13-1888 Frank Richard Reuben 1-29-1890 Genovieve Anna Loretta 4-27-1892 Catherine Marie (Ohlhaut) 3-19-1894 Hildeguarde Louise (Kluemper)12- 9-1896 George 8-27-1898 Fred Joseph Bernard11-28-1899 Mary Dorothy Josepha Christina (Nolan) 7-22-1907 Mary Louise (Grever)10- 7-1914 Page 19 Paternal GrandparentsBernard A. Willenbrink Margaret Taubken Willenbrink Maternal GrandparentsGeorge (Gerhard) Wolke Christina Rucke-umlaut Christina's childrenKate, George, Mary Anna's childrenHenry, Charles (died young) Louise (Kreidler)

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Title Sippenforschung Ohlhaut
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