The first settlers in Minnesota's "wheatlands" arrived on foot - walking from the nearest river port along the Mississippi. They struggled through prairie grass that was often as tall as they were to find the place where they would stop to build. The group of Germans who established New Ulm arrived about 1853. They included the Bernhard Reinhardt family who paddled rafts and walked along the Minnesota River to the point they chose to camp during the first winter. It was an abandoned Lakota camp with teepees containing some blankets and other supplies left behind because there had been a smallpox epidemic among the indians. Some of the Indianr dead were still there,tied to trees in open "burials" leaving them for the birds to pick the bones clean. The dead left behind also warned anyone passing by that there was smallpox in the camp. By 1853 vaccination was fairly common in Europe and where it was not, there had been enough exposure to Smallpox that it was endemic and anyone who caught it did not get all that sick. Small children and elderly were the ones most at risk that first winter these first settlers spent in Indian teepees and although there was some sickness it seemed to be only isolated cases. The Indians returned in the spring and they were angry to see strangers using their camp, including Bernhardt Reinhardt and his family. His ten-year-old daughter, Anna, was among them. She later married my great uncle and as a pioneer settler of the area, she was well-known and highly respected. Her obituary was the featured headline on the front page of the Fairfax Standard. The Fairfax Standard had a number of interesting stories about the RR arriving in Fairfax MN (south central MN) in 1872. The railhead was at Fairfax for some time while supplies for continued construction farther west could be stockpiled. Fairfax was at a crossroad where an E-W roadway met the N-S main road to New Ulm. Back then the area farms were still being developed but wheat seemed to be a preferred crop. Maybe that was because the farmers mostly needed it to feed themselves at first. Fairfax which was a little village with one hotel / restaurant, a general store and a few houses at the time. The hotel was owned by an Irish family who were said to have had a beautiful daughter and six sons. The Irish were clanish and did not welcome mixing socially with the largely German population in the nearby area. Fortunately there was a large Irish settlement NE of Fairfax in Green Isle County (founded by Bishop Ireland) so they could have a social life if they had time for it. The Irish innkeeper's sons were very protective of their sister and the story told in the Fairfax Centennial editions of the Fairfax Standard and in the Centennial book published by the same local newspaper was that German customers were welcome to use the hotel and to eat in the restaurant, but that was all. If any unmarried German farmer were too friendly with their sister as she worked in the restaurant, the six boys would be waiting for him when he left the place. Their warnings to stay away from their sister would be punctuatted with bruising punches that would be enough to discourage any young man. My great uncle Adelbert / Albert Traegner's wife was a very pretty Irish woman who had worked in a restaurant before they married. I have often wondered if she were the same daughter of the Fairfax innkeeper. The Traegner farm was just a few miles south of Fairfax, almost on the main N-S road. Albert probably made frequent visits to Fairfax rather than go farther to New Ulm once the RR came through and the town developed its main street. A lot of the RR workers and track-layers were Irish and they were a rowdy, hard drinking group. For a while after the railhead reached Fairfax the town was pretty much like any "wild West" town with gunfire heard fairly frequently. Gun-toting gamblers and "Shady Ladies" working out of their own rail cars followed the track-layers as they arrived and then left with them when they moved on. One of the first RR-inspired enterprises to go up in Fairfax was a shanty that served as a stand-up bar and liquor store. The owner built it quickly in order to get his stock of bottles on sale as soon as possible. He did a huge business with the RR workers from the moment he opened on the first day. That night he locked up as best he could and went elsewhere to sleep. When he returned the next day he found that his "bar" had been robbed and all his remaining stock was gone. He was not too cooncerned -- he had made so much money the first day that he was able to start over with a more proper building and new stock that arrived on one of the next trains. Leo and I watched an old movie titled "Union Pacific" a few nights ago. It was about rowdy Irish track layers who built the tracks of the first cross-country RR from Nebraska to Promontory Point in Utah. There the California and East tracks joined the Nebraska and West system. The movie starred all the most famous Irish actors (Eroll Flynn, Joel McCrea, etc.) . It showed how the track-layers lived and how the businessmen who fed on them were able to set up at every "next railhead". The saloons, casinos, restaurants, laundries and other services were housed in buildings that had prefabricated walls. They were simply taken apart and shipped on to the next railhead or workers camp when the trains moved on. I thought of what I had read about Fairfax in 1872 while we watched that movie. I remember that while I was growing up the wheatlands of central and southwest MN supplied important mills in the twin cities (General Mills) and in Red Wing (where I was born) Winona and other river towns like New Ulm and LeSueur. Recently when we have visited MN I have seen few wheatfields compared to what I remember when I was younger. Corn, soybeans and other crops seem to MN moneycrops now. At least that is how it appears in South-Central MN when I have been there. Maybe wheat is still important farther west in MN -- perhaps closer to the Dakotas. Karen In a message dated 8/5/2009 5:30:58 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: I am interested in the train routes that my family traveled on from Chicago, Illinois to the Wheatland area of Minnesota.? This would be near Minneapolis, Minnesota. Shirley German-Bohemian Heritage Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thanks for the report, Karen, that was inspiring! Looks like everything went fine for you and I'm glad that you are back! Happy Springtime! Aida On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 2:36 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > The first settlers in Minnesota's "wheatlands" arrived on foot - walking > from the nearest > river port along the Mississippi. They struggled through prairie grass > that was often as > tall as they were to find the place where they would stop to build. > > The group of Germans who established New Ulm arrived about 1853. They > included > the Bernhard Reinhardt family who paddled rafts and walked along the > Minnesota River > to the point they chose to camp during the first winter. > > It was an abandoned Lakota camp with teepees containing some blankets and > other supplies > left behind because there had been a smallpox epidemic among the indians. > Some of > the Indianr dead were still there,tied to trees in open "burials" leaving > them for the birds to pick the bones > clean. The dead left behind also warned anyone passing by that there was > smallpox in > the camp. > > By 1853 vaccination was fairly common in Europe and where it was not, there > had been > enough exposure to Smallpox that it was endemic and anyone who caught it > did not get > all that sick. Small children and elderly were the ones most at risk > that first winter > these first settlers spent in Indian teepees and although there was some > sickness > it seemed to be only isolated cases. > > The Indians returned in the spring and they were angry to see strangers > using their > camp, including Bernhardt Reinhardt and his family. His ten-year-old > daughter, Anna, > was among them. She later married my great uncle and as a pioneer > settler of the > area, she was well-known and highly respected. Her obituary was the > featured headline > on the front page of the Fairfax Standard. > > The Fairfax Standard had a number of interesting stories about the RR > arriving in Fairfax MN (south central MN) in 1872. The railhead was at > Fairfax > for some time while supplies for continued construction > farther west could be stockpiled. > > Fairfax was at a crossroad where an E-W roadway met the N-S main road to > New Ulm. > Back then the area farms were still being developed but wheat seemed > to be a preferred crop. Maybe that was because the farmers mostly needed > it to feed themselves at first. > > Fairfax which was a little village with one hotel / restaurant, a general > store and a > few houses at the time. > > The hotel was owned by an Irish family who were said to have had a > beautiful daughter > and six sons. The Irish were clanish and did not welcome mixing socially > with the > largely German population in the nearby area. Fortunately there was a > large Irish > settlement NE of Fairfax in Green Isle County (founded by Bishop Ireland) > so they > could have a social life if they had time for it. > > The Irish innkeeper's sons were very protective of their sister and the > story told > in the Fairfax Centennial editions of the Fairfax Standard and in the > Centennial book > published by the same local newspaper was that German customers were > welcome > to use the hotel and to eat in the restaurant, but that was all. If any > unmarried German farmer > were too friendly with their sister as she worked in the restaurant, the > six boys > would be waiting for him when he left the place. Their warnings to stay > away from their sister would be punctuatted with bruising punches that > would > be enough to discourage any young man. > > My great uncle Adelbert / Albert Traegner's wife was a very pretty Irish > woman who had worked in a restaurant before they married. I have often > wondered if she were the same daughter of > the Fairfax innkeeper. The Traegner farm was just a few miles south > of Fairfax, almost on the main N-S road. Albert probably made frequent > visits to Fairfax rather > than go farther to New Ulm once the RR came through and the town developed > its main street. > > A lot of the RR workers and track-layers were Irish and they were a rowdy, > hard drinking group. For a while after the railhead reached Fairfax the > town was pretty much like any "wild West" town with gunfire heard fairly > frequently. Gun-toting gamblers and "Shady Ladies" working out of their > own > rail cars followed the track-layers as they arrived and then left with them > when they moved on. > > One of the first RR-inspired enterprises to go up in Fairfax was a shanty > that > served as a stand-up bar and liquor store. The owner built it quickly > in order to get his stock of bottles on sale as soon as possible. > He did a huge business with the RR workers from the moment > he opened on the first day. That night he locked up as best he could and > went elsewhere to sleep. When he returned the next day he found that > his "bar" had been robbed and all his remaining stock was gone. > > He was not too cooncerned -- he had made so much money the first day that > he > was able to start over with a more proper building and new stock that > arrived > on one of the next trains. > > Leo and I watched an old movie titled "Union Pacific" a few nights ago. > It was about > rowdy Irish track layers who built the tracks of the first cross-country RR > from > Nebraska to Promontory Point in Utah. There the California and East > tracks joined > the Nebraska and West system. The movie starred all the most famous > Irish actors > (Eroll Flynn, Joel McCrea, etc.) . It showed how the track-layers lived > and how the > businessmen who fed on them were able to set up at every "next railhead". > The > saloons, casinos, restaurants, laundries and other services were housed in > buildings that had prefabricated walls. They were simply taken apart and > shipped > on to the next railhead or workers camp when the trains moved on. > > I thought of what I had read about Fairfax in 1872 while we watched that > movie. > > I remember that while I was growing up the wheatlands of central and > southwest > MN supplied important mills in the twin cities (General Mills) and in Red > Wing (where I > was born) Winona and other river towns like New Ulm and LeSueur. > > Recently when we have visited MN I have seen few wheatfields compared to > what I remember when I was younger. Corn, soybeans and other crops seem > to MN moneycrops > now. At least that is how it appears in South-Central MN when I have been > there. > Maybe wheat is still important farther west in MN -- perhaps closer to the > Dakotas. > > Karen > > > In a message dated 8/5/2009 5:30:58 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, > [email protected] writes: > > I am interested in the train routes that my family traveled on from > Chicago, Illinois to the Wheatland area of Minnesota.? This would be near > Minneapolis, Minnesota. > Shirley > German-Bohemian Heritage Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the > subject and the body of the message > > German-Bohemian Heritage Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Hello, Among my family's old photos there is a very old looking ornate frame with an old photo. The person is not identified. On the back of the frame there is a stamping "M. Czecho-slovakia". I wonder if any one knows what that means? What does the "M" stand for? At what time period would Bohemia have been called as such? My ancestors emigrated from Librec area 1878. Here is a link to see the photo: I hope it will work for you. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/PJ2004/Geneology/MCzecho-slovakia.jpg Thanks, Pam

Pam: The term "Czechoslovakia" was coined in 1918, not before. The picture looks older, I would say before that time. One would need to know for what purpose this picture was taken. In 1878 your ancestors were Austrian Hungarians from Bohemia or Moravia. I don't know what this M stands for, unless they were from Moravia, instead of Bohemia, do you know? Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia were combined to form a new country from Austrian monarchical lands and they called this combined area the Republic of Czechoslovakia, as of 1918. The men's fashion in that picture looks to me like pre-WW1 (1914-1918), because after WW1 they did not wear these pointed collars anymore. They had starched white shirt collars without the points, but the collar then, was still separate from the shirt and was delivered from the laundry in a round satchel. Then, in the late 1920 they started to have regular men's shirts, pretty much the way they are now, but still VERY starched. Do you know the person in that picture and what was the reason for this photograph? Usually they photographed groom and bride separately as well as together at the wedding photographer, or it might have been for a professional promotion, or perhaps even an enlargement of a passport photo?, But it could also be that someone brought a frame from what was already Czechoslovakia and gave it to your relatives and they put an old picture in it. Do you know? Aida On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 5:00 PM, PJ Vazquez <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hello, > > > > Among my family's old photos there is a very old looking ornate frame with > an old photo. The person is not identified. On the back of the frame > there is a stamping "M. Czecho-slovakia". I wonder if any one knows what > that means? What does the "M" stand for? At what time period would > Bohemia have been called as such? > > > > My ancestors emigrated from Librec area 1878. > > > > Here is a link to see the photo: I hope it will work for you. > > > http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/PJ2004/Geneology/MCzecho-slovakia.jpg > > > > > > Thanks, Pam > > German-Bohemian Heritage Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Aida: The photo has no identification as to who the person is. The only reason I think that it might be from my Bohemian ancestors is the fact that the frame appears to be made in "M. Czecho-slovakia" My Bohemian ancestors emigrated in 1878 from Oberberzdorf near Reichenberg. They were Wohlmann, and Herrmann. What you say makes me wonder if perhaps the photo could have been one of the sons who did not emigrate in 1878 with the parents and 3 young children. My gr gr grandfather had a set of older children with his first wife. So perhaps one of them sent the picture. The frame could have been newer than the photo. Thanks, Pam > Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:25:40 -0700 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Ornate photo frame "M. Czecho-slovakia" > > Pam: The term "Czechoslovakia" was coined in 1918, not before. The picture > looks older, I would say before that time. One would need to know for what > purpose this picture was taken. In 1878 your ancestors were Austrian > Hungarians from Bohemia or Moravia. I don't know what this M stands for, > unless they were from Moravia, instead of Bohemia, do you know? Bohemia, > Moravia and Slovakia were combined to form a new country from Austrian > monarchical lands and they called this combined area the Republic of > Czechoslovakia, as of 1918. The men's fashion in that picture looks to me > like pre-WW1 (1914-1918), because after WW1 they did not wear these pointed > collars anymore. They had starched white shirt collars without the points, > but the collar then, was still separate from the shirt and was delivered > from the laundry in a round satchel. Then, in the late 1920 they started to > have regular men's shirts, pretty much the way they are now, but still VERY > starched. Do you know the person in that picture and what was the reason > for this photograph? Usually they photographed groom and bride separately > as well as together at the wedding photographer, or it might have been for a > professional promotion, or perhaps even an enlargement of a passport photo?, > But it could also be that someone brought a frame from what was already > Czechoslovakia and gave it to your relatives and they put an old picture in > it. Do you know? > Aida > > On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 5:00 PM, PJ Vazquez <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > Hello, > > > > > > > > Among my family's old photos there is a very old looking ornate frame with > > an old photo. The person is not identified. On the back of the frame > > there is a stamping "M. Czecho-slovakia". I wonder if any one knows what > > that means? What does the "M" stand for? At what time period would > > Bohemia have been called as such? > > > > > > > > My ancestors emigrated from Librec area 1878. > > > > > > > > Here is a link to see the photo: I hope it will work for you. > > > > > > http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/PJ2004/Geneology/MCzecho-slovakia.jpg > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks, Pam > > > > German-Bohemian Heritage Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > German-Bohemian Heritage Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message