1890s/1900 PART 4 – CONTINUED – DAILY LIFE

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PART 4 – CONTINUED – DAILY LIFE – ASIDE FROM FARM WORK

Contents ©2016 by Harold Pfohl

For a guide to the Nieman and Lueder families see link: 1890s/1900 – GUIDE TO THE NIEMAN AND LUEDER FAMILIES

The Young Adults – What Did They Do? Where Did They Go?

All of Joachim and Albertina Lueder’s children, Albert, Otto, William and Martha, became dairy farmers.  Johann and Sophie Nieman’s children were a bit more diverse: Charles and Augusta farmed, John started as a school teacher and became a businessman involved in lumbering in Hermansville, Michigan, and Alvina married a farm boy who became a storekeeper in the Michigan Peninsula very near the Wisconsin border and her brother John.

Farms of Albert, Otto, William & Martha Lueder and Charles & Augusta (md. William Lueder) Nieman

1915 Township of Cedarburg plat – source: Library of Congress

The Lueder siblings lived in close proximity and remained close as an extended family throughout their lives.  They were also close to Charlie Nieman and his wife Minnie.  Charlie and Augusta were brother and sister.  Minnie’s mother (Wilhelmina Mintzlaff nee Lueder) was a Lueder, niece and a neighbor of Joachim and Albertina.

Hermansville, MI, short term home and beginning of business for John Nieman Jr. – Powers, MI, permanent home for Alvina Nieman.

Source – David Rumsey Collection

Education

German-Americans brought with them a culture from Germany that valued education greatly.

The homeland, especially Prussia, placed a high value on universal education.  This had its beginnings with Frederick the Great in the late 1700s.  As a result of defeat in the Napoleonic wars Prussia increased the emphasis on education as well as instituting major reforms in most other aspects of governmental affairs.

For more information on early education in Germany see footnote to this post and see Wiki link:  PRUSSIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

This was carried over into the German-American community in Cedarburg, but without religion as a topic in public schools.  Additionally, there was no oversight from the national level.

The Lueder and Nieman children received an 8^th grade education.  Whether this was at the local one room country school, or at the parochial school in Cedarburg is not known.  High school was instituted in Cedarburg at the turn of the century which would have been too late for both families – the children were adults by then.

John Nieman Jr., started out as a school teacher.  Presumably he had some sort of education beyond 8^th grade to qualify him for that.  In the earlier parts of the 20^th Century “Normal” schools provided a two year course for high school graduates that qualified the students as teachers in elementary schools.  John was born in 1868, and High School in Cedarburg arrived much too late for him.

Farm homes in relation to schools

Cedarburg Township, 1915 plat – Source:  Library of Congress

The map above shows the locations of the Johann Nieman and Joachim Lueder farms in relation to their local schools.

Lueder children:

• Walk to Sherman School (shown as school no. 3), 1.2 miles
• Walk to Immanuel Lutheran Parochial School, 3.7 miles

Sherman School on Bridge Rd.

Sherman School on Western Ave.  The Lueder children may have attended this – but…this picture was taken in the early 20^th century, and it is not known whether or not this building was erected as early as the 1870s and 80s when the Lueder children would have been in attendance.  An 1878 Wisconsin Atlas shows a school house in the location of the Sherman School.

Nieman children:

• Walk to local school (shown as school no. 7), 0.4 miles
• Walk to Parochial School, 3.4 miles

 

Elm Tree School, School House No. 7 – Nieman’s school – ?

This picture is thought to have been of the school that the Nieman children may have attended, on Pioneer Rd. It would have been very convenient for Johann and Sophie’s children. Oral history indicates that this building was modified by an addition and is still in existence.   Note that the 1878 Wisconsin map referred to above shows a school house at the same location on Pioneer Rd. as the 1915 plat above shows as School House No. 7.

 

Die Zweite Kirche as Immanuel’s Parochial School

This image has appeared in previous posts.  The parochial school, formerly the second church structure for Immanuel Lutheran, served numerous students at the turn of the century, but was not so utilized early enough for the Lueder and Nieman children who were adults by then.  Nonetheless, many German-Lutheran children received all of their formal education here.

 

Location of the Immanuel Lutheran Parochial School

Sidebar note: A curious matter regarding this map is that it shows “J. F. Niemann”
just below and to the right of the circled parochial school, but does not show Immanuel Lutheran Church at the right/East end of Western Ave.  John Nieman, Jr., bought that property at turn of the Century, and the new Immanuel Church was completed and dedicated in 1883 when John was only 15 years old.  The date of the map is not available.

“Pa” is William Lueder.  This may be an 8^th grade graduation picture for the township – perhaps the county.  The children appear to be all the same age with the exception of the tall boys in the back left.  The only decipherable word on the sign held in front is “Cedarburg” The number of children is too large for this to have been a confirmation picture, and the age is too uniform for it to be a Sunday school picture.

 Community Service 

Cedarburg Township Board meeting

Charlie Nieman on the left.  Church, schools, mutual assistance among neighbors in farming, isolation due to limited transport, lack of electricity – all helped to create a sense of community.  One suspects that the deliberations of this group were helped along by a beer or two – lots of gemütlichkeit, enjoyable companionship.

Augusta Nieman Becomes an Accomplished Seamstress

Augusta spent some time studying “Ladies’ French Tailoring.”  She had exceptional aesthetic taste.

Augusta Nieman

Augusta made her own clothes, including those shown in this photo.  In later years she made her children’s clothes as well.  She was an accomplished seamstress.

 

Augusta’s sewing circle

Augusta is second from the left in front.

 Getting the News

German language daily papers were readily available and broadly subscribed to.

 

German language publications persisted for many years and were common in the upper Midwest, e.g., the Cincinnati paper below:

 

The “Abendschule” was a magazine that the Lueder family subscribed to in the early 20^th Century. 

Correspondence

With the great improvement in railroad equipment and the huge increase in trackage, the USPS became quite efficient with postcards and letters which were a comparatively fast method of communicating.

Augusta Nieman (Mrs. William Lueder at the time of this postcard) kept up a relationship with her cousin, Carrie Boettcher, who wound up in Williamsburg, Virginia from near Augusta’s Fromm grandparents northwest of West Bend.

Postcard, Alvina Nieman Pipkorn to her sister Augusta Nieman Lueder

Near railheads, communication was swift.  The note above was penned in Michigan on February 1, 1910, in response to a letter regarding the birth in Cedarburg (200 miles distant) of Augusta’s daughter, Cordelia, on January 30^th.   It took only two days for the letter to be posted in Cedarburg and arrive in Hermansville.  The USPS had accomplished a great deal over the preceding 50 years.

Northbound – Out of Farming and Into Business

Cedarburg to Hermansville, MI – 200 miles

Source – David Rumsey Collection

John Nieman’s first wife died (more on that in a future post) and he headed to Hermansville, Michigan in the upper Peninsula with a brother-in-law by the name of William Buch to see if he could make some money from the lumber camps.

 

Lumber country and destination for two Niemans

Source – David Rumsey Collection

John did well up there in the 1890s.  In 1901, his little sister, Alvina, and her husband, Albert Pipkorn headed up to nearby Powers, Michigan to open up a store perhaps to emulate John.  The primary motive for leaving the Cedarburg area for Alvina and Albert was religious disagreement among in-laws.

The Buch & Nieman store in Hermansville, MI

Beginnings of a fortune for John Nieman, Jr. – Buch and Nieman, about 1899.

John Nieman is the mustachioed figure by the doorway to the store

Enlarging the store front portion of the photo shows general merchandise for sale as well as meat.

John Nieman made a considerable fortune in his lifetime. Excepting Carl Kiekhaefer (founded and built Mercury Outboards), he has probably been Cedarburg’s most successful businessman. He started as a schoolteacher. After the death of his first wife, he moved to Hermansville, Michigan, where he opened a general store with his brother-in-law, William Buch, to serve the needs of the lumber camps. He was intensely competitive. After succeeding in his endeavors in the North woods, he returned to Cedarburg with keen ambition, a fine mind and aggressive instincts.  His business interests expanded enormously over  his lifetime.

 

John Nieman is the figure right of center with a mustache and a cap, leaning against the logs. Lumbering in Northern Wisconsin was a huge business involving large numbers of people and large quantities of equipment. It was a gold rush of sorts, with vast fortunes being made. John’s fortune started there.  More on lumbering in a future post.

  

Alvina’s husband Albert Pipkorn in front of their store in Powers, Michigan.  They worked hard to make a living but only with modest success.

Homesick for Cedarburg and Family for Many Years

Albert and Alvina remained there for the rest of their lives.  Alvina missed her family and Cedarburg home deeply.  She longed for news from home, and in particular, letters from her older sister, Augusta.  Augusta, married to William Lueder, was raising seven children on the farm, had hardly a moment to spare, and didn’t write her little sister as frequently as desired.

Excerpt from letter, Alvina to sister Augusta 23 years after leaving home in Cedarburg for Powers, MI

“I have seen you so little since I have left home that whenever my thoughts dwell around there it is when you and I were young,.  There does not seem to be a spot anywhere on the old homestead where my thoughts cannot ponder and see some memories.  “Oh for days of yore – Mother’s love and Home.”

 NEXT – SOCIAL LIFE – PARTIES, TRAVEL, HOLIDAYS

 Footnote – Education in Germany

DAILY LIFE – WORKING ON THE FARM

LINK TO HOME PAGE/CONTENTS: HOME PAGE – CONTENTS

PART 4 – DAILY LIFE – WORKING ON THE FARM – PRIDE IN A HORSE, SEEDING, A BARN FIRE, SAWMILL, ELEVATING A BARN, THRESHING & MORE

Contents ©2016 by Harold Pfohl

DAILY LIFE ON THE FARM AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

Labor was manual, horse powered, wind powered, water powered and sometimes steam powered. Gasoline engines were primitive. Steam traction engines were commonplace, but usually so large and expensive that they were purchased by entrepreneurs and employed for community-wide use, e.g. threshing. One engine would be utilized to power threshing machines for numerous farms, and large crews of neighbors would gather to quickly dispatch the harvest labor at each farm. Time was short; the grain could not be left in the field long for rain would spoil it.

Nonetheless, the equipment that was in use was a vast improvement over that of the grandparents pioneering generation half a century earlier.

Electricity and telephones were virtually nonexistent, and local communications were by letter, postcard, and word of mouth. The daily paper was in printed in German and distributed from Milwaukee.

Charlie Nieman  1869 – 1957

A tip of the hat again to “Uncle” Charlie Nieman for all of his wonderful photos.

For the location of the Nieman and Lueder farms see link: FARMS OF JOACHIM LUEDER AND JOHANN NIEMAN

For a guide to the Nieman and Lueder families see link: 1890s/1900 – GUIDE TO THE NIEMAN AND LUEDER FAMILIES

* * * * *

CHARLIE’S FARM ACCOUNT BOOK

Charlie Nieman’s farm accounts of “The Golden Harvest Grain and Dairy Farm – January 1910”

Charlie was meticulous. Using a most elegant penmanship, he accounted for every penny spent and received.

One can learn a considerable amount about an era by scrutinizing account books.  For example, Louis Hoffman owned the Hoffman’s Butcher Shop.  Charlie’s accounts for January 3, 1910, show “Louis Hoffman – Casings 4 lbs. @ 25¢” $1.00 (hog intestines washed and sterilized then used to make sausage).  Charlie, like many farmers, made his own sausage, and almost certainly had a few pigs to slaughter for that purpose.

Also on January 3^rd, “Chas Propp(?) Rev. & teacher’s salary $2.00.”  This would seem to suggest that Charlie and wife Minna were sending their children to the Immanuel Lutheran parochial school.

From a different page.  It is fascinating and amusing to note the accounts and the amounts paid in a very different world, a century in the past, e.g., saloon, $0.35; church, $0.01.

PRIDE IN YOUR HORSES

Otto Lueders at the horse barn on the home farm (Joachim and Albertina’s) – mid 1890s

Horses were not only utterly essential but also subjects of great pride. Our love of and pride in modern automotive chrome and steel does not compare to the magic of a relationship with a large, intelligent, high-spirited animal.  You may love your car, but it doesn’t love you back. Clearly, Otto was proud of this mare and foal.

More pride in the farm horses.

Horses on the Fred Mintzlaff farm, home of Charlie Nieman’s wife, Minnie Mintzlaff.  Given the elevation and the fact that photos were taken with a large, cumbersome view camera, Charlie must have taken this from high up in the Mintzlaff barn through a window, or from on top of a silo.  Either way, it took a lot of effort to make this image.

SEEDING AND HARVESTING PEAS – A CASH CROP

Charlie Nieman seeding peas – 1909

Note the hats worn on the farm for field work!  Some tasks did not involve heavy exertion, but did require walking behind the horses all day long.  Charlie was 40 years of age in this image.

* * * * * *

Horses are very intelligent, have a great deal of individuality, and have working lives of as much as 15-20 years. After spending thousands of hours working together, the bond between man and beast often became very close. Hence we abhor the thought of eating horsemeat as we abominate the idea of eating dogs. The horse on the left was Dan; the one in the middle was Bill. The one on the right was so modest and unassuming that he remained anonymous and in spite of his/her years of arduous service to humanity its identity is lost to history.

Harvesting peas for the Cedarburg cannery, 1910.  Charlie Nieman on the left.

 

Charlie

Johann and Sophie Nieman’s son, John Jr., became an unusually successful businessman.  More on that in a later post, but for the moment, the harvested peas were sent to a cannery that he had built in Cedarburg.

HARVESTING AND THRESHING GRAIN

Cutting and binding grain with a reaper

Source – web

Reapers were in common use.  They saved an enormous amount of time and effort vs the grandparent’s hand scythe.

Threshing time at Nieman’s farm – 1899

The bundles of grain were pitched by hand onto a wagon, piled high and hauled to the threshing machine which had been placed inside the barn.  The steam engine powering the thresher was placed far outside the barn to the right in this picture. The wagon was pulled into the barn, the bundles were forked into the threshing machine, the grain was separated from the chaff and straw.  The straw was blown out the back of the barn onto the pile at the left.  The windmill atop the barn was a commonplace source of power for various tasks such as grinding corn and grain. A separate windmill, seen next to the house, was used for pumping water.

The steam engine greatly eased the heavy and urgent work of threshing.

Modern photo of an antique threshing machine in operation powered by a gasoline tractor

Source http://www.expeditionoklahoma.com

It is interesting to inspect the photo of the threshing at Niemans closely.

The straw-stack is huge

The reaper/binder is the spoked machine in the center of the photo.  The diagonal black lines are the belt connecting the steam engine with the threshing machine

 

#1 is a man carrying a sack of grain to the granary, #2,3, & 4 are women on the porch.  #5 is a boy at the engine.  #6 is a man operating the engine and #7 is another man

Man carrying a sack of grain, women in the background

Boy and men at the back of the steam engine

Threshing with all of its dust, chaff, and hard sweaty labor was a singularly laborious and dirty job. However, it had both a pleasurable social side to it and considerable excitement as numerous men and women gathered at each farm to do the work. Feeding a threshing crew huge dinners (the noon meal on a farm) prepared on wood-burning stoves, with no refrigeration in the July and August heat was also a major task.  It was laborious for the women, but the gathering produced the pleasures of company and sharing.

TO THE MILL – GRINDING GRAIN INTO FEED FOR THE ANIMALS AND FLOUR FOR HOME USE

Mill, Cedarburg

Courtesy Edw. Rappold

Cedarburg’s commerce existed to serve the farmers.  The mill, now an historic structure, was a necessity.  Some farm animals ate grain whole, e.g., chickens and horses.  However, for cows, the grain needed to be ground. Wheat needed to be ground in order to provide flour for home usage.  The Cedarburg mill, water powered for many years, served the needs of the surrounding farmers for over a century.  Joachim Lueder had to haul his wagon load of grain bags three miles to have it ground.  That trip would take nearly an hour one way, and would be repeated many times over the course of a year – perhaps weekly.

DOING BUSINESS WITH A FESTIVE AIR

Traffic jam on cattle fair day, Washington Ave., Cedarburg.

Photo courtesey Edw. Rappold

This image was previously used to help illustrate the character of Cedarburg.  With respect to farming, note the type of freight wagon.  Niemans and Lueders likely had a similar wagon to haul their grain to the mill and animals to market and surely enjoyed the occasional farm fest in town.

CATASTROPHE I.

Barn fire – 1890s

Charlie recorded the evidence of a neighbor’s catastrophe.  What caused this fire isn’t recorded.  Barn fires were uncommon but not rare.  Fire could be caused by a spark, by smoking, or by lightning (although lightning rods were normally used).  Fire could also be started by spontaneous combustion which was usually the result of storing hay in the haymow that was a little moist.  Deep inside the mountain of hay mildew and mold would develop, generate heat, and eventually the heat trapped inside all of that hay would ignite the stack.  A barn fire was virtually impossible to stop; fire-fighting equipment was non-existent.

The long belt connecting the steam engine and the threshing machine enabled the powerful engine and the sparks emitted from its smokestack to be far from the easily torched barn.

The consequences of the blazing destruction of the barn reached far beyond the loss of the building.  In the course of a barn fire, cows and horses were often trapped.  Horses, led from a burning barn, frightened by the chaos around them would head for the safest place they knew, back to their stalls in the barn, only to die in the flames.  The anguish for the farmer, hearing his animals screaming, was unbearable and unforgettable.

Depending on the time of year, a season’s crops could be lost.  Shelter for animals and a place to milk cows was gone.  Not only was the costly barn gone, but current income was lost as well.  Neighbors helped as much as they could, boarding livestock until a barn could be raised again to replace the loss.  Fire insurance was commonplace so that helped reconstruction.

CATASTROPHE II.

Ferdinand Gräse

Even worse than a barn fire is getting killed.  Farming was a dangerous occupation.  Ferdinand Gräse, an Old Lutheran immigrant who settled near Kirchayn, died after having his arm torn from his body by equipment that he was operating.  His grandson, Erwin Graese, enters our story in the early 20th Century.

A LOW COST WAY TO ADD SPACE TO YOUR BARN

Adding a floor to Joachim Lueder’s barn – 1899

Detail – Elevating Joachim Lueder’s barn – 1899

This was an inexpensive way to add an entire floor to a barn. It was jacked up and a wall was placed underneath.  In order to raise it, at a signal, ten men simultaneously turned identical jack-screws mounted on platforms to elevate the structure evenly.  Setting this up properly took special skill and an expert would be hired to oversee the work.

SAWMILL AT NIEMAN’S

Portable sawmill, north side of Nieman’s farm – spring 1904

Prior to the existence of the incredible transportation network that we now enjoy (and take for granted), most communities were self-sufficient out of necessity with basic but unsophisticated industry. Local sawmills, metal foundries, brickyards, quarries, and textile mills, were commonplace. If a farmer needed lumber or wanted to sell some, he felled selected trees and arranged for the neighboring sawmill entrepreneur to reduce the logs to boards.  Note – six men are visible in the photo above.  It required teamwork.

MARY AND HER DAUGHTERS BARELY EKE OUT A LIVING MAKING AND SELLING COOKED CHEESE

Mary Lueders (nee Beckman)

Mary, a kind person, had a hard life. She married Albert Lueders, Joachim and Albertina’s eldest son.  Albert and Mary had three fine daughters, Hulda, Erna and Anita.

Unfortunately, Albert preferred beer to farming, spent his time in taverns and became obese. Tante (Aunt) Mary made “cooked cheese,” (gekochter kãse) carted it to town with horse and wagon, and sold it to stores, barely making ends meet. Tante Mary and the girls also did the farm work.  Not surprisingly, daughters Erna and Anita never married. Hulda died in 1905 at the age of 14.

MILKING COWS

Cows were milked by hand

Source – http://tauranga.kete.net.nz

Note the rope tied to the cow’s leg.  Many a men and women were seriously injured by a kicking cow.  That could end a farmer’s career.  Not all cows tolerated milking passively and a kick from a beast that big and powerful could do serious damage.

HOEING FIELDS

 

 

Source – Pinterest.com

Women helped with the physical labor in every way that they could.  They worked in the fields, the barn and with animals to the extent that strength and time permitted.  Farming was a full partnership in every respect for both sexes.

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE MILK – TO THE CREAMERY NEARBY

Creamery at the NW corner of Granville Rd. & Bridge Rd.

A creamery a quarter mile from Joachim and Albertina Lueder’s farm received their milk.  It served the dairy farmers in the area for many decades.

PUTTING THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE

To put the hard labors of the Niemans and Lueders into perspective, below are two photos of the Doukhobor sect of Russian immigrants pioneering on the Canadian prairies at the turn of the century. The scene is appalling.  They did this for religious reasons, namely freeing their brethren, animals, from such labor.  They were also poor.  The photos are not a joke.

In actuality occasionally Ukrainian husbands and wives did act in place of animal motive power out of stark poverty.

By comparison, Niemans and Lueders were very well off indeed.   They had come a long way in the half century since their grandparents settled in the new world.

NEXT – DAILY LIFE – ASIDE FROM FARMING TASKS

 

 

GRANDCHILDREN OF THE PIONEERS – PROSPERITY AFTER DECADES OF WORK

LINK TO HOME PAGE/CONTENTS: HOME PAGE – CONTENTS

PART 3 – CEDARBURG TOWNSHIP – TWO GERMAN -AMERICAN FAMILIES, THE GRANDCHILDREN OF THE PIONEERS

Contents ©2016 by Harold Pfohl

Section II of the blog deals with the turn of the Century in rural German America.  Part 3 serves to introduce the generation that came of age in the 1890s, grandchildren of the immigrant pioneers.

Their daily work, social lives, births and deaths, religion, and the building of a fortune will form the core of the story in future posts to the blog about this period of time.

The homes and standards of living in the years immediately after immigration were modest in size and quality. Even though land was comparatively cheap, farming required great expense for buildings, implements, horses, cattle, and other livestock. Money was invested in the farm, and it took quite a few years before there was enough profit to enhance life with amenities and to even consider building a modern house.

The focus narrows to two families:

Nieman: Joachim and Marie Niemann, the immigrants, used their profits to pioneer numerous farms. Their eldest son, Johann, stayed put on Pioneer Road (see map below) in Cedarburg.  Johann married Sophie Fromm, Johann and Johanna Fromm’s eldest child and only surviving daughter. The young couple invested their profits in improvements, creating a particularly lovely farmstead

Lüders:  The immigrants Johann Lüders Sr. and his wife, Eva Dorothea, put their profits into expansion of their holdings in Cedarburg Township.  By 1873 total holdings in the Lüders name amounted to 260 acres, perhaps the largest estate in the township at the time. Johann and Eva Dorothea sold 80 acres to their son Joachim on October 19, 1869.

The family disasters that hit the Lüders (See: Luders – Success, Tragedy, Grief, Perseverance) sapped their aggressive optimism. Although Johann and Eva’s son, Joachim, was a pillar of the community and church, Joachim’s ambition seems to have been understandably quenched by the deaths over seven years of his first wife and each of their three children. Joachim’s second wife, Albertina Brüss, had immigrated with siblings; their parents were deceased in Germany. Expansion of Joachim’s farm (see map below) had to wait until his youngest son, William, took over.

JOHANN AND SOPHIE NIEMAN

Johann had a friend and neighbor named Arndt (80 acres abutting Johann on the NE corner of Nieman land – see map above) who was very fond of Sophie Fromm. The distance by horse and buggy from Johann’s Cedarburg farm to Sophie’s home on Glacier Drive northwest of West Bend, Wisconsin was nearly 23 miles which was considerable for a team of horses pulling a buggy (4 mph for a walking horse plus stops – horses aren’t machines and need rest).

So he asked Johann to come along to keep him company. Johann said he would.  In time consumed that trip would be akin to traveling the breadth of Wisconsin today, but on a dirt road behind a team of horses.  The two men must have been very tired and dirty when they showed up on Sophie’s doorstep.

Niemans’ had orchards early in their life on the farm and Johann took along a bushel of his best apples. He and Sophie hit it off and friend Arndt lost out. “All is fair in love and war,” and those of us who are descended from Johann and Sophie are quite grateful for this turn of events. Arndt’s reaction and whether or not they remained friends is not recorded!

Johann Nieman

Sophia Fromm on the right

It would have been very difficult for Johann, a farmer, to make frequent trips to see Sophie. Very likely, these photos of Johann and Sophie were taken and exchanged at a point when they had become very fond of each other. The original photos are daguerreotypes, a primitive, complex, and expensive but beautiful process with wonderful rendering of subtle details. The photos would not have been taken as a casual matter. Date – maybe 1864-5.  Johann’s grandfather died in 1865 and Johann’s parents, Joachim and Marie, headed north to Hamburg, Wisconsin, with their other children for more pioneering.  Johann must have had a lonely life with the sudden absence of that clan filling the house on Pigeon Creek.  He and Sophie were married on September 16, 1866.

Carl (Charlie) and John Nieman Jr.

Sons Carl (Charlie) on the left and John Jr. on the right were born to Johann and Sophie in 1869 and 1868 respectively.  Judging from the size of the boys, the photo was likely taken in the mid-1870s.

Sophie and Johann Nieman with daughter Augusta (b. 1874), photo 1876

Last child, Alvina Nieman, b. 1877

The photo appears to be a Lutheran confirmation picture.  Alvina would likely have been around 13 or 14 years old, which would date this image to about 1890-91.

The above image has been seen in every post on this blog.  The children were born in this Germanic pioneer home on Pigeon Creek and the family lived there until 1885 when their new home was completed.  Photo – 1890s, sisters Alvina on the left and Augusta on the right.

This image has been seen in recent posts on the header.  By 1885, Johann II and Sophia were in their 40’s, had established their family of four, and were prospering. They completed their new home on Pioneer Rd. that year at a cost of $1680.53. Included in this figure were the following items: lumber $844.85, carpenter $225.00, mason $175.00, and painter $145.00, which together accounted for $1,389.85 of the total!   Photo 1890s

 

L-R: Alvina, Charlie, Augusta

Johann and Sophie

This lovely, carefully composed winter photo clearly shows great and justifiable pride in the beauty of their new home. Alvina, Charles, and Augusta are in the sleigh, and Johann and Sophia are at the fence. Since then, the house has been only moderately modified and remains in the Nieman family.

Note also the farm buildings which are comparatively new.

Sophie and Johann with their children, Alvina, Augusta, Charlie, and John Jr. in about 1900.

The children’s stories include:

• Alvina – flight to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan – avoidance of religious conflict
• Augusta – married William Lueder, nine children, one starved to death, and a second died of whooping cough
• Charlie – courted his wife for eight years and wondered why she was in such a hurry when she pushed to get married
• John – catastrophe and a fortune

JOACHIM AND ALBERTINA LUEDER

This photo has been seen in previous posts.  It is the only known picture of Albertina and Joachim with their children, L-R: Martha, William, Albert, and Otto in about 1879 – 80.  Joachim and Albertina’s first child, Albertina Jr., was born in October, 1864 and died in July, 1866.

Martha Lueder

Albert Lueder

Otto Lueder

 

William Lueder

Joachim and Albertina’s children as young adults.

Their stories include:

• Martha – farm wife, young widow, poor
• William – married Augusta Nieman, migraine on his wedding night, migraines all of his life.  Tough for a dairy farmer.
• Albert – liked beer better than farming – that was a problem
• Otto – farmed next door to younger brother William

Joachim and Albertina’s home on Bridge Rd., about 1902. William Lueder married Augusta Nieman in 1899 and a few weeks later his father, Joachim passed away. Albertina lived on with the young couple until she died in 1906.  This is the only photograph that we have of their home.

Christ Burns, an Irishman, originally purchased the Lueder’s 80 acres from the U.S. Government in 1850, then sold it to a man named Eichstadt in 1854, who in turn sold it to Johann Lüders Sr., Joachim’s father, on November 10, 1860.  It has remained in the family since that time.

Very likely the stone portion of the cottage was originally Irish, built by Burns.  It was a frequent practice to acquire land, clear it, build a farmstead, and then sell it for the improved value.  This was a form of intelligent real estate speculation meeting the demand for farms created by the large numbers of immigrants coming to the Midwest.

Johann Lüders Sr. bought the farm for his son Joachim. Joachim lived here with Henrietta and their family of three until she died in 1863. He then married Albertina Brüss and they raised their family of four here.  The Victorian section seems to have been added in later years.

Very likely the stone portion of the cottage was originally Irish, built by Burns.  It was a frequent practice to acquire land, clear it, build a farmstead, and then sell it for the improved value.  This was a form of intelligent real estate speculation meeting the demand for farms created by the large numbers of immigrants coming to the Midwest.

As noted above, William and Augusta Lueder were married in 1899. Four years later in 1903, they completed construction of this lovely home on Bridge Rd. at a cost of approximately $3,000. Augusta had a very fine aesthetic touch which is evident.  Photo from 1927.

The old house survives in the new.  The core of the right side of the house is composed of the wooden section of the old house

* * * * * *

As was the case with most Victorian farm homes, it was not insulated. The upstairs north side center room served as a convenient refrigerator in the winter for storage of smoked meats and perishables. It is interesting to note that these young people, only in their late 20’s and with only 80 acres of land for a small dairy farm, could afford such a home at the time. This was not uncommon. Construction material (mostly wood) was abundant, and the forests of Northern Wisconsin were still yielding timber in vast quantities. Land was so plentiful relative to population that fathers often bought farms for their sons.

NEXT – DAILY LIFE – A BARN FIRE, SAWMILL, SEEDING, PRIDE IN A HORSE, ELEVATING A BARN, THRESHING

 

 

TURN OF THE CENTURY IN A GERMAN AMERICAN TOWN

LINK TO HOME PAGE/CONTENTS: HOME PAGE – CONTENTS

PART 2 – CEDARBURG – A GERMAN AMERICAN FARM TOWN AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

contents ©2016 by Harold Pfohl

The advances that had been made across the upper Midwest and West of the United States over the latter half of the 19^th century resulted in profound changes for the small German-American farming community of Cedarburg as well.

One of our subjects, Johann Nieman (1842 – 1922), emigrated as a 10-year-old boy in 1852.  (see post:  Pioneering)  He traveled north of Milwaukee with his siblings, parents and grandfather by ox-cart.  The road, such as it was, was a dirt track, although for heavily trafficked routes it might be a plank road which was a luxury:

Source: rootsweb.ancestry.com

In 1907, the Interurban electric railway (passengers only) reached Cedarburg and in 1908, it reached Sheboygan, a 57 mile route.  It operated hourly.  For 30 cents, 65 year old Johann could ride rapidly from Cedarburg to Milwaukee in comfort.

Milwaukee – Sheboygan Interurban

Source: Harold Dobberpuhl

The contrast is so incredible that only one who experienced it, such as Johann, could truly appreciate the magnitude of change.  This example is just one of the many facets of change so profound that it is hard to mentally connect the terrain and society of 1900 with that of the emigrants in the wilderness of 1850.  Hard work, frugality, cooperation, intelligence, character and advances in engineering and manufacturing had created a prosperous world utterly alien in material terms to that of the 1850s.

While the Interurban was an extraordinary advance for access to other communities along the line, the horse remained the primary mode of transportation.  Social interaction was limited by the range of a trip by horse from home – not far.  Romance, parties, festivities were affairs of a neighborhood, and nearby extended family.  In the absence of wide and rapid travel, the consequence was a relatively static culture.

Cedarburg at the turn of the Century

With all of that change, what was a German American farming community in the 1890s/1900 like?

This post provides a brief sketch of Cedarburg, a largely Germanic town, in a county that was almost wholly German as well.  It would be a stretch to say that the Cedarburg of that time was typical of German American communities, but it certainly had many elements that were common to that ethnic group.

Source – Germans in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Historical Society

The above map shows Ozaukee County as having greater than 60% of its population with German ethnicity. Cedarburg was likely well in excess of that.

Source LOC, 1915 township plat

Cedarburg was a community of 1,626 population (1900 census) serving the needs of the surrounding farmers and through some of the manufacturing, e.g.,  wire, nails, woolen goods, beer, etc., serving more distant customers as well.

Source Wisconsin Historical Society – Sanborn maps

The above is a header from an insurance map from 1893.  These were published for commercial insurance companies (maps not sold to the public) for many communities across the US. It notes the 1893 population at 1800, which conflicts with the 1890 census of 1361 and the 1900 census of 1626 per Wikipedia.  The census is likely accurate.  The map  lists the various commercial and manufacturing concerns in Cedarburg.  There was an amazing amount of enterprise in the community.  We would be hard put today to find a town of comparable size with such extensive industry and commerce:

• Brewery
• City Mills
• Elevator Co
• Foundry
• Rattan & willow W. Co
• Wire Nail & Screw Co
• Woolen Mills
• Flour mills
• Excelsior Shoe & Slipper Co.
• Frank Chickory Co
• Hilgen Mfg. Co
• Elevator (J. Zaun)

And three hotels.

It is of particular interest to note in the header of the inspectors assessment respecting fire prevention in the Cedarburg community:

• Steam & Hand Engine
• No independent hose carts
• Water Facilities Not Good!!!

“1 hose cart, 1,500′ hose, grades generally level, street lights kerosene lamps”

The map for Cedarburg consists of three sheets, (see:  Sanborn 1893 map Cedarburg) and it sheds a little light on the era to note the concerns of the insurance authorities of that time, e.g, the Woolen Mills:

Source: Wisconsin Historical Society – Sanborn maps (Note – Sheboygan St. is renamed Washington on modern maps.  There was no Washington Ave. in 1893 when the map was drafted)

The notation above the woolen mill reads:

“NIGHTWATCHMAN WITH CLOCK 12 STATIONS. ROTARY F. P. (FIRE PUMP) DRIVEN BY WATERPOWER. 2 ½ INCH F.P.-?- (PIPE?) & 50 FOOT HOSE CONNECTED ON EACH FLOOR & ATTIC. TANKS OF SALT WATER & BUCKETS ON EACH FLOOR. PICKER ROOM IS IRON LINED AND LIVE STEAM CAN BE TURNED ON INTO SAME. POWER: WATER & STEAM. FUEL: WOOD. LIGHTS: KEROSENE LAMPS. HEAT: STEAM”

The rapidity of change in Cedarburg is illustrated in the two photos below, taken about 40 years apart – about 1860 to 1900:

Looking north on Washington Ave. (earlier named Sheboygan & note – dates on this image have been seen as 1856 and also 1865)

Source: Edw Rappold

Looking north on Washington Ave (earlier, named Sheboygan)

Source: Edw Rappold

The scene immediately above has changed far less with the passage of more than a century from 1900 until now, 2016, than it did with the passage the preceding 40 years.

Source: Edw Rappold

What began as agricultural land was soon absorbed by the expanding town. The large house on the far left in the previous photo at the top of Washington Ave:

replaced the barn and junkyard for agricultural implements – about 1900.

Grist Mill for Milling Grain in Cedarburg – photo 1872 – Courtesy of Edw. Rappold

The windmill from the pioneering era continued in use until it was destroyed by fire in 1894 (Lisa Curtis “Cedarburg”).

Source Russ Waters,

Source – Bob Wundrock Collection

Remnants of the windmill surrounded by a mature community.  The decayed structure was finally torn down in 1947.

Source: Edw Rappold

The water powered grist mill was built in 1855 and the wind mill and the water powered mill operated during the same period.  The wind mill, dependent on wind currents was unreliable.  The water powered mill continued in use (eventually converted to electrical power) well past the middle of the 20th Century.

Source: Edw Rappold

The church was at the center of social, spiritual, and musical life as well as nurturing brotherhood and sisterhood among the parishioners.  The structures above sequentially served Immanuel Lutheran Church.  The pastor for 46 years was Rev. Ernst Strassburger.

Source: Edw Rappold

Cedarburg Traffic Jam – Cattle Fair Day – village streets of that era were a mess.

Horse and wagon we expect to see.  Storefronts remain familiar.  But mud?  The village streets were usually unpaved mud, ruts, dirt and dust.  The sidewalks were boardwalks at best.  Horses were present on the streets in large numbers, and were stabled next to and behind storefronts and houses throughout downtown Cedarburg.  What went into the front end of a horse came out the back end dramatically changed.  A single horse left behind 20-25 lbs. per day of solid evidence of its existence, together with copious quantities of urine.  All of those hundreds of horses on Market Day in Cedarburg ensured that the streets were well fertilized.

Trucks did not exist and consequently livestock headed to the Cedarburg butcher were either led or driven.  A small herd of pigs would occasionally be observed moving down the main street, Washington Avenue.  Such streets could not be readily cleaned and their smell would have been reminiscent of a barnyard.

Boot scrapers were a common sight embedded in the concrete by steps leading into commercial and residential buildings including farmhouses.

Understandably, sidewalk cafes were not a prominent feature in Midwestern small towns.

Source: Edw Rappold

Downtown Cedarburg, about 1910 – note all of the hitching posts for horses.

Source: Edw Rappold

One wonders how much the sprinkler wagon helped.

Germanic Culture in the Community

The Germanic culture of Cedarburg and the values embodied in it changed only slowly over the last half of the 19^th century. This was largely due to the limits on travel and communication for most people given that travel was constrained by the speed of a walking horse and communication by the U.S. Postal Service. Railroads, the Interurban and telegrams were used only in special circumstances.

What had changed was the expectation of material success and independence as a result of hard work, frugality and acceptance of risk.  One could succeed in the “New Country.”  The hardships of pioneering had paid off.

Culture was enhanced by German language daily newspapers and weekly magazines. For music the community had a brass band and band shell.  Churches had pipe organs which played great masterpieces of traditional hymns albeit usually played with modest skill.  The church choir provided an outlet for those who love to sing. Services were held in German in the local churches which had very Germanic architecture and decor. Education was highly valued and high school instruction commenced at the turn-of-the-century. For the most part, farm children received formal education only through the first eight grades.

Society wasn’t remotely as fluid as it is now and as a consequence culture was comparatively static.

NEXT – TWO FAMILIES, NIEMAN AND LUEDER, AND DAILY LIFE IN RURAL CEDARBURG IN A TIME OF PROSPERITY AND OPPORTUNITY

 

Johann Nieman

Sophia Fromm on the right

Johann Nieman & Sophie Fromm (Sophie is on the far right)

Joachim Lueder

Albertina Bruss

Joachim Lueder & Albertina Brüss