I have been looking thru some old letters from my Aunt Clara Louise [Altergott] Caldwell; she passed away this year and I miss her dearly. Here is a letter she wrote October 7, 1995: Dear Esther (and all), As I promised in my last note to you, I will try to give you some insight into what it was like when ---- Daddy's family came to Nebraska when he was just about seven years old. [Note this was 1904] They later came to Colorado, to "Morgan County". Don't know how he and Mom [Amelia Wagner] met, but they were married in Nebraska on September 16, 1916, and lived in the Fort Morgan Area. Amelia, their first-born lived only a day, and then on _____ ___, 1918, Esther (your mother) was born. Two years later, on _____ ____, 1920, Dorothy was born. Daddy's youngest brother, David, was a deaf-mute, and the Sugar Factory helped the family move to Michigan for medical care for Uncle David. At two year intervals, Ruth Amelia Margaret, Alexander David, and I [Clara Louise] were born in Michigan. (I always tease that after Mom and Daddy saw me they said "if they are going to look like her we aren't going to have any more!" Any way, I was the last sibling in the family. Daddy worked in the Steel Mills and in a glass factory in Michigan. Somewhere along the line he began having "lung problems", and was not able to continue a regular every day job. So, he contracted to work for other farmers in the beet fields. This was work that the entire family could be involved with, so we all worked. I guess my biggest, most vivid recollection of that period, was getting up VERY EARLY in the morning, eating a big breakfast, and piling in the family car to head out to work. Mom would pack a big lunch which always included oatmeal-raisin cookies -- and oh were they good!! We did the blocking and thinning, and then in the fall we would be out in the fields doing the blocking and thinning. (I still love lightening, rain, and snow showers because it would mean that we didn't have to go to the beet fields, and didn't have to get up in the middle of the night!) Daddy made sure that we went to school (a one room school house) whenever it wasn't beet working time. I really did enjoy the little one room schools we attended. As Esther and Dorothy grew older, they would work at other jobs in between beets i.e. canning factories, taking care of elderly sick folks, baby sitting, etc. Daddy usually helped the farmer in the fields, so we always seemed to have plenty to eat. He learned harness repair, and shoe cobbling where he could make a little more money. This was about the time high heeled shoes came to be, and daddy was well known for being able to put new heel taps on the high wood heels without breaking them. Women would come for miles around to have him fix their shoes. He also bred German Shepherd dogs for sale, so this helped with money!! During our Michigan interval, Esther and I were always very close. She would "clobber" Alex when he and Ruth would pick on me and wouldn't let me play with them. So, she was my favorite pal. I could always look to her for help and support. At one time she had a job as a nurse for an elderly man, and she "lived away from home". I missed her so badly, but when she came home she had all kinds of stories to share with us -- especially me. One late summer, she and Dorothy were hired by a farmer to cut the tops off from onions. I begged to go too because I wanted to buy a pencil box for school. The farmer paid 3 cents a crate for them, and we worked from early morning until dusk. Dorothy and Esther did very well, and I earned a total of 9 cents -- not quite enough for my pencil box, but the farmer paid me a quarter so I could get one!! One of the things we did in those days was to curl each other's hair! We had kerosene lamps and a curling iron that you would heat in the globe!! There were many burned fingers and ears as we tried to get "prettied-up"! Esther came home from work one time with some lipstick, rouge, and face powder!! She put it on only once, and Daddy sent her to the kitchen to wash it off and threatened her with a beating if she put it on again!! He was very strict, and poor Esther, being the oldest, had to incur his wrath for all of the "new things" we all wanted to experiment with!! We all played out-door games together, but in the house, and in quiet times, Esther and I were almost always together. Ruth and Alex were buddies, and they just didn't want to mess around with me because I was too young! Esther did a lot of "nursing care" during this time. She had a real knack for taking care of the sick, and I guess the wages were adequate. Better than could be made working in the canning factories, etc. So, that is how her interest in nursing came about. I think (but don't know for sure, that both Esther and Dorothy completed the 8th grade in the rural schools, but neither of them went on to Saginaw for high school. There just wasn't enough money for them to live in the "city" and go to school. Mom sewed and embroidered, and crocheted in the evenings all the time. She ad Daddy would go to town and buy yard goods -- enough of the same bolt to make dresses for herself, and all four of us girls!! Bet we were something to see parading down the streets! She also made Daddy's and Alex's shirts, but they had "store bought" trousers!! We all wore cotton slips and bloomers, which were the product of Mom's Singer and her talents. She never bought a pattern of any kind. Hand-me-downs were the order of the day, and we did get good use of any clothing that we had. As the runt of the herd, I even got to wear out all of Alex's outgrown clothes, and OH did I hate those darn BVD's!! Esther, Dorothy and Ruth were all confirmed in the Lutheran Church in Saginaw, and they were very proud of it. We always did go to church, and Grandpa Altergott [David Altergott] was always encouraging us to learn the Bible. In about 1930, when I was just 4, we moved into Saginaw because Daddy's health was declining, and we could no longer work beets. He did work part time in a cobbler shop, and Mom took a job as a housekeeper-cook for a rich family there. Esther worked in the nursing field, and I can't remember what the other girls did. "Little Esther" is this the ind of information you want? Will write more later, if it is. Love always, Clara If anyone has information on the Altergott family who immigrated from Schwed, Russia 1904; David & Alice [Frick] Altergott, Heinrick, Julia, and Dorothy or the George & Anna M. [Soolmeier] Wagner family who immigrated from Frank, Russia please contact me. Thanks, Esther McKinley "God bless you and keep you safe for those who love you." EEM _________________________________________________________________ See what you’re getting into…before you go there http://newlivehotmail.com/?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migration_HM_viral_preview_0507

Hello, fellow GV's: In a recent email, Esther McKinley quoted from a letter, in part, "... Daddy's youngest brother, David, was a deaf-mute ... ". This really hit home for me since my father and all his siblings were congenital deaf-mutes. (Medical science in those days could not come up with an explanation.) They are the sons of Jacob Zeiler, b. 11 Sep 1873, in Saratov. His Gr.Gr.father was Andreas Zeiler who migrated from Marklieker, Germany to Frank Russia in 1766. Jacob's deaf-mute sons were Elmer Zeiler, b. 26 Mar 1903 Walter Heinrich Zeiler, b . 24 Aug 1906 Fredrich Zeiler, b. 12 Nov 1907 Arthur Zeiler, b. 24 May 1911 I am one of three children of Walter H. Zeiler, all of whom have normal hearing as does our only Zeiler cousin. I have 5 children, 12 grandchildren and an 8 month old great-granddaughter -- all of whom have perfectly normal hearing. I have 5 Zeiler nieces and nephews all of whom have normal hearing. My larger question to all the GV's from Frank is this -- are there other cases of children being born deaf-mute? Walter J. Zeiler, Dearborn, MI Esther McKinley <heartlandks@hotmail.com> wrote: I have been looking thru some old letters from my Aunt Clara Louise [Altergott] Caldwell; she passed away this year and I miss her dearly. Here is a letter she wrote October 7, 1995: Dear Esther (and all), As I promised in my last note to you, I will try to give you some insight into what it was like when ---- Daddy's family came to Nebraska when he was just about seven years old. [Note this was 1904] They later came to Colorado, to "Morgan County". Don't know how he and Mom [Amelia Wagner] met, but they were married in Nebraska on September 16, 1916, and lived in the Fort Morgan Area. Amelia, their first-born lived only a day, and then on _____ ___, 1918, Esther (your mother) was born. Two years later, on _____ ____, 1920, Dorothy was born. Daddy's youngest brother, David, was a deaf-mute, and the Sugar Factory helped the family move to Michigan for medical care for Uncle David. At two year intervals, Ruth Amelia Margaret, Alexander David, and I [Clara Louise] were born in Michigan. (I always tease that after Mom and Daddy saw me they said "if they are going to look like her we aren't going to have any more!" Any way, I was the last sibling in the family. Daddy worked in the Steel Mills and in a glass factory in Michigan. Somewhere along the line he began having "lung problems", and was not able to continue a regular every day job. So, he contracted to work for other farmers in the beet fields. This was work that the entire family could be involved with, so we all worked. I guess my biggest, most vivid recollection of that period, was getting up VERY EARLY in the morning, eating a big breakfast, and piling in the family car to head out to work. Mom would pack a big lunch which always included oatmeal-raisin cookies -- and oh were they good!! We did the blocking and thinning, and then in the fall we would be out in the fields doing the blocking and thinning. (I still love lightening, rain, and snow showers because it would mean that we didn't have to go to the beet fields, and didn't have to get up in the middle of the night!) Daddy made sure that we went to school (a one room school house) whenever it wasn't beet working time. I really did enjoy the little one room schools we attended. As Esther and Dorothy grew older, they would work at other jobs in between beets i.e. canning factories, taking care of elderly sick folks, baby sitting, etc. Daddy usually helped the farmer in the fields, so we always seemed to have plenty to eat. He learned harness repair, and shoe cobbling where he could make a little more money. This was about the time high heeled shoes came to be, and daddy was well known for being able to put new heel taps on the high wood heels without breaking them. Women would come for miles around to have him fix their shoes. He also bred German Shepherd dogs for sale, so this helped with money!! During our Michigan interval, Esther and I were always very close. She would "clobber" Alex when he and Ruth would pick on me and wouldn't let me play with them. So, she was my favorite pal. I could always look to her for help and support. At one time she had a job as a nurse for an elderly man, and she "lived away from home". I missed her so badly, but when she came home she had all kinds of stories to share with us -- especially me. One late summer, she and Dorothy were hired by a farmer to cut the tops off from onions. I begged to go too because I wanted to buy a pencil box for school. The farmer paid 3 cents a crate for them, and we worked from early morning until dusk. Dorothy and Esther did very well, and I earned a total of 9 cents -- not quite enough for my pencil box, but the farmer paid me a quarter so I could get one!! One of the things we did in those days was to curl each other's hair! We had kerosene lamps and a curling iron that you would heat in the globe!! There were many burned fingers and ears as we tried to get "prettied-up"! Esther came home from work one time with some lipstick, rouge, and face powder!! She put it on only once, and Daddy sent her to the kitchen to wash it off and threatened her with a beating if she put it on again!! He was very strict, and poor Esther, being the oldest, had to incur his wrath for all of the "new things" we all wanted to experiment with!! We all played out-door games together, but in the house, and in quiet times, Esther and I were almost always together. Ruth and Alex were buddies, and they just didn't want to mess around with me because I was too young! Esther did a lot of "nursing care" during this time. She had a real knack for taking care of the sick, and I guess the wages were adequate. Better than could be made working in the canning factories, etc. So, that is how her interest in nursing came about. I think (but don't know for sure, that both Esther and Dorothy completed the 8th grade in the rural schools, but neither of them went on to Saginaw for high school. There just wasn't enough money for them to live in the "city" and go to school. Mom sewed and embroidered, and crocheted in the evenings all the time. She ad Daddy would go to town and buy yard goods -- enough of the same bolt to make dresses for herself, and all four of us girls!! Bet we were something to see parading down the streets! She also made Daddy's and Alex's shirts, but they had "store bought" trousers!! We all wore cotton slips and bloomers, which were the product of Mom's Singer and her talents. She never bought a pattern of any kind. Hand-me-downs were the order of the day, and we did get good use of any clothing that we had. As the runt of the herd, I even got to wear out all of Alex's outgrown clothes, and OH did I hate those darn BVD's!! Esther, Dorothy and Ruth were all confirmed in the Lutheran Church in Saginaw, and they were very proud of it. We always did go to church, and Grandpa Altergott [David Altergott] was always encouraging us to learn the Bible. In about 1930, when I was just 4, we moved into Saginaw because Daddy's health was declining, and we could no longer work beets. He did work part time in a cobbler shop, and Mom took a job as a housekeeper-cook for a rich family there. Esther worked in the nursing field, and I can't remember what the other girls did. "Little Esther" is this the ind of information you want? Will write more later, if it is. Love always, Clara If anyone has information on the Altergott family who immigrated from Schwed, Russia 1904; David & Alice [Frick] Altergott, Heinrick, Julia, and Dorothy or the George & Anna M. [Soolmeier] Wagner family who immigrated from Frank, Russia please contact me. Thanks, Esther McKinley "God bless you and keep you safe for those who love you." EEM _________________________________________________________________ See what you’re getting into…before you go there http://newlivehotmail.com/?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migration_HM_viral_preview_0507 ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GER-VOLGA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message