Arbuckels' Ariosa Coffee - Starbucks of the 19th Century Cattle Drives

[I posted this entry by mistake to this blog.  I intended it for a local history blog I do for my home town.  I was going to delete it, but then I thought our ancestors may have drunk Arbuckles' Coffee, so I left it.] 

During this year's spring break, I went to the George Ranch Historical Park south of Richmond and videoed some of the special programs they presented to visitors.  (I posted several videos last week.)  

This week I made an 8-minute video about the fascinating story of Arbuckles' Ariosa Coffee.  As the interpreter explains it, Arbuckles could be considered the Starbucks of cattle drives.  They found a way to keep the coffee fresh, plus they offered coupons and treats to their buyers.  There's nothing new under the sun.

Link to video of Arbuckles' Coffee

2012 Family Reunion is on Saturday, July 21st, in Norse

I want to remind everyone that the family reunion this year is on Saturday, July 21st, at Our Savior's Church in Norse.  We had a very enjoyable time there last year, and Helon Ruth Viertel Knudson has reserved the hall for us.  It's a bright, roomy place with everything we need. The surrounding country-side is beautiful -- so, you'll enjoy the drive out there.  Join us on the 21st.

Here's a link to a Web site with information about Our Savior's Church in Norse.

Emilie Zuehlke Bernhardt

I'm very sorry to report that Emilie Zuehlke Bernhardt died recently in Waco.  She was mother to Herman and Fred.  I want extend my sincerest sympathy to them and their families for the loss of their mother.  (My thanks go to Dorothy Krueger Mansur for notifying us of this news.)

1940 US Census Records

Some of you may know the 1940 US Census records are now available online.  I've done a cursory review of the records for Bosque County and found several families in our group.  


The most important thing to remember is that the records are not yet indexed by name.  You must search by enumeration district.  To identify these districts you must look at the annotated county maps. You see the census map for most of Bosque County below.  


The enumation districts have numbers that begin with '18.'  The district for the town of Clifton is 18-18.  The map isn't all that detailed, so you may need to do some trial-and-error searching to find your target family.  For example, look at Norse.  It's a small town but it sits on the boundary of two districts: 18-19 & 18-20.  You may have to search both sets of records to find who you're looking for.  You'll see a link to the map on the Census Web site just under the image.  There are 6 map images for Bosque County, and Google doesn't allow much magnification, so you  may want to go to the Census site to get a really good look.  (You can see a highly-magnified view there.)
 

Link to map on Census Web site.

For example, here is the page showing the Louis Larson family in enumeration district no. 18-18.  (Louis was the husband of Lydia Rachuig.)  They appear starting at line no. 35.  (I've provided a link below to the page on the Census Web site, so you can see a highly-magnified view.)

Link to page on Census Web site.

This next page shows Emma Krueger on line no. 15.  Notice she runs a hotel in Clifton (distric no. 18-18).  (Click the link under the image to get a magnified view.)
 

Link to page on Census Web site.


Here is the page recording Hans Hanson's family in district no. 18-19.  They start on line no. 37.  Hulen (on line no. 39) later married Mildred Rachuig, daughter of Rudolph & Huldina Rachuig.

 

Link to page on Census Web site.