Julius & Selma Schulz Rachuig Home on Niels Creek in Bosque County

This following photo shows the Julius & Selma Schulz homestead on Niels Creek sometime around 1906.  I estimate that date using Edgar Rachuig as the benchmark.  He's the baby on the ground.  Walter Rachuig, Sr. and Hilda Rachuig Krueger are the other children.  Selma Schulz Rachuig is sitting in the chair; Julius Rachuig is the adult man standing behind Uncle Walter.  I will need to look up the identities of the two young women and young man.  I vaguely recall they are in-laws and hired hands.

I had a chance to visit the location with Charles Rachuig, Sr. about 10 years ago.  The house was long gone, but my aunt, Mayme Rachuig Haus, took the following picture sometime before it was demolished.  Apparently, owners remodeled it over the years.

Here is the general location.  I recall Richard Rachuig, younger brother of Julius, saying in his memoirs that the Rachuigs helped construct the railroad as it passed through the Niels Creek area.  Here's a map showing the location.

 
The Rachuig family moved to their home on Hackberry Street in Clifton around 1920.  I recall that one of Susan Read's relatives owned the land in the past, or maybe still owns it.  I hope someone can update me.

 

Evelyn Rachuig Belcher in the 1920s

Evelyn Rachuig Belcher (1915-2004) was the youngest child of Julius & Selma Schulz Rachuig, which makes her the granddaughter of August & Henrietta Bernhardt Rachuig and Tobias & Wilhelmina Hunger Schulz.  I don't have an exact date for the photo, but my best guess is the late 1920s.

Link to find a grave Web site.
 

Dorothy Krueger Mansur, 1921-2013

Many of you may know that Dorothy Krueger Mansur died earlier this year.  She was the daughter of Will & Hilda Krueger, grand-daughter of Julius & Selma Rachuig, and great-grand-daughter of Tobias & Wilhelmina Schulz.

Here is a picture of Dorothy with her mother and brother, Will Krueger, Jr. in the early 1920s.  They are standing in front of her grandparent's home on Hackberry Street in Clifton.

She is happy now, but we will certainly miss her.

Dorothy attended last year's reunion.  Here are some direct links to scenes of her in the reunion video.

Direct link to 1st scene.

Direct link to 2nd scene.

Direct link to 3rd scene.

 

Family Photos from Robert Rachuig

My thanks go to Robert Rachuig, son of A. W. Rachuig and grandson of Rudolph 'Rube' Rachuig, for sending me these photos of his branch of the Rachuig family.

The following photo shows Robert's uncle Edwin Bewe ('E. B.') and his wife Winnie.  E. B. was younger brother to Robert's father, A. W. Rachuig.

  
The next photo shows their family in the mid-1950s.  I'm not sure if they lived in Clifton or not.

  
This last photo shows E. B.'s and A. W.'s parents, Rudolph ('Rube') and Huldina Ickert Rachuig, who lived all their lives in Clifton.

 

Trip to Matamoros, Mexico in 1940

Here is a photo of the H. A. Rachuig family on a vacation in Matamoros, Mexico (across the border from Brownsville).  They were visiting Herbert Rachuig's uncle, Richard Rachuig, and his wife Anna.  They are on the left.  

 

The woman in the middle is Bonnie Bess Adams Morton, niece of Herbert's wife Mamie Adams Rachuig, who must have taken the picture.  My mother and aunt are the young girls next to Bonnie Bess.  Herbert Rachuig is on the right.  

I have no idea if the car belonged to Richard and Anna.  I'm certain it was not my grandparents' car.

 

Herbert A. Rachuig, 1906 - 1951

Here are two photos of my grandfather, Herbert Albert Rachuig, while visiting Galveston in 1941.  As you can see is wading in the surf with the family pet, Lu-Li.  She is a Pekingese, which he got from a family in Clifton who bred dogs and lived on Hackberry Street.  I believe their name was Rasmussen.
 

 

My grandfather died in an industrial accident in Warta, Texas just south of Giddings.  He worked for Humble Oil, as did his older brother Walter A. Rachuig, Sr.

Here is an article about the accident.
 

 

Charles & Sally Rachuig Kelly with Aunt Hilda Rachuig Krueger, 1983

Here's a photo my brother Bruce scanned at the recent reunion.  Charlie Rachuig had it in his family's collection of photos.  That's my mother and father with my mother's Aunt, Hilda Rachuig Krueger.  Hilda was married to Will Krueger, Sr.  Her children were Will Krueger, Jr. and Dorothy Krueger Mansur.

I believe they are the home of Aunt Hilda's son, Will Jr., in Clifton.  The date on the reverse is July 9, 1983.

 

A Picture of Charlie Rachuig Back in 1955

I have a similar picture, which I posted in the past.  Click here to view it.  As you read in the old post, I couldn't identify the child, and I actually thought it was a little girl!

Well, my brother scanned some of Charlie's family photos at the recent reunion, and we solved the mystery.  It's Charlie!  I can tell by the annotation on the back of the photo below.  It says 'Gary,' the name his family called him when he was a youngster.

 

The Walter Rachuig Trophy

Some of you may not know that Walter Alfred Rachuig, Sr. (son of Selma Schulz & Julius Rachuig) was instrumental in introducing 10-pin bowling to Australia.  He helped organize leagues in the early 1960s.  The bowling association appreciated his work & named their championship trophy after him.  

Here's an article explaining this story.

Julius Herman Rachuig & Selma Martha Schulz Family Tree Diagram

I've posted a tree diagram for the Julius Herman Rachuig & Selma Martha Schulz family.

An aside: This is my (Chuck Kelly's) line in the family tree.  Julius & Selma are my great-grandparents.  Their youngest son, Herbert Albert Rachuig, was my maternal grandfather.  His younger daughter, Sally Ann Rachuig Kelly, is my mother.

Link to family tree diagram.

Lange - Rachuig Family History from Louis Lange

Here is a family history from Louis Lange, son of Richard & Lydia Rachuig Lange. I've included a picture of Louis from a Rachuig family reunion in the mid-1990s. He's pictured on the left. His cousin, Charles Rachuig, is sitting across the table. Louis was born in 1912. I don't have the exact date of his death, but it was sometime in the late 1990s.

Link to Lange - Rachuig Family History

Alvina Beyerstedt Rachuig

This is a picture of Alvina Beyerstedt Rachuig, wife of Walter Alfred Rachuig, Sr. Walter was the second child and oldest son of Julius and Selma Rachuig. This photo is undated, but it must have been taken around the time of her wedding to Walter (1917).

Evelyn, Jerry & Jack Belcher, Early 1940s

Not sure of the exact date or location of this picture. It came from the Krueger family album.

Edgar & Evelyn Rachuig around 1918

This is a photo of Edgar Rachuig & Evelyn Rachuig Belcher, children of Julius & Selma (Schulz) Rachuig. HOWEVER, now that I think about it, that could be my grandfather, Herbert Rachuig, who was just a year younger than his brother Edgar. They looked quite a bit alike when they were boys. I'm pretty sure the photo was taken at their parents' home on Hackberry Street in Clifton, and I'm very sure they didn't noodle those catfish out of the Bosque River.

(Update from Mayme Rachuig Hause) My aunt has confirmed that the boy in this picture is Edgar - not her father (my grandfather) Herbert.

Mayme Rachuig Hause's Recollections

FOURTH OF JULY 1930-40 IN BOSQUE CO. TEXAS

On this Fourth of July some 50 to 60 years ago, my family would head for the Bosque Co. relatives for the wonderful 4th of July Picnics that were held. Many of the relatives looked forward to the cat fish that would be caught by the method of ‘knoodling. The Bosque River bed was of limestone, and many dark caves under the water, where these very big catfish lived and slumbered. Many of these fish lived to be very old as you can tell by the pictures below. The men usually wore heavy work type gloves, but some of the older men, would not wear them. The fish would be located, and the men would submerge and catch the fish by hand usually in the gills, if lucky. Many a scarred and scratched hand came up with the catch of the day. Usually this was done in the middle of the day, when it would be very hot, and the fish stayed in their ‘little cubby holes’.

Then the fish were strung on a long pole until the men felt that it was enough for the huge fish fry in the back yard of the Rube Rachuig’s on the Bosque River, or in town at Aunt Hilda Krueger’s home just outside Clifton, at the time. The men would clean the fish, and cut it into great slabs of fillets, and then the women would fry them in the old iron wash pot filled with boiling hot lard. It would fry to a crispy cornmeal coating on the outside, but deliciously cooked through and through on the inside. Of course, there was plenty of home made sauerkraut, potato salad, homemade dill pickles, fresh tomatoes, onions, slabs of fresh home baked bread, fresh churned butter from the farm, piled high in the butter dish, fresh yard eggs, jams and jellies from the orchard, home cured hams and bacon, canned vegetables from the garden and the goodies afterward of cookies, pies and cakes. MMM makes my mouth water even now. Can you imagine the daily work there was for farm families back then? Yet, their time was managed so well that they always were free, except for milking daily, on the weekends for family and church on Sunday and 84 domino parties with friends and family on Saturdays..

The men drank the favorite beverage of the German families, beer, some of the time it was home brewed and bottled. (Dad even put up his own beer during probation of the 1920 and early 30’s. Mother still had his capping device long after he died. One year, his batch of beer blew up and exploded all over the place.)Uncle Will Krueger, also provided home brewed grape wine and peach brandy. (Uncle Will never gave out his recipe for peach brandy before he died, which everyone loved to have before bedtime.) Nehi orange and strawberry, root beer and Grapette for the kids, and most likely tea, but the cold sodas were the preferred drink for the younger ones.

The younger cousins would all love to go down to the river to swim when we were out at the Rube Rachuig’s. Laughing and splashing around. Then back to the yard to play under the huge oak trees in the yard. It was always so shady and cool in the yard, as in those days there was no air condition, just the oscillating fans in the house to use at night.

Those were the good ole’ days and most all of them are gone now, but the memories flow back into my memory this Fourth of July in Texas 2009.

Julius Rachuig, Jack Belcher, Walter Rachuig, Hugo Schulz, Edgar Rachuig, and Bernhardt "Ben" Schulz.




Bubbie Rachuig-Sally Ann-Mayme Ruth-Uncle Walter Rachuig and catfish.







Fourth of July 1946 ‘Knoodlers’:

Mr. Bertelsen, Jack Belcher, Herbert Rachuig, Ed Rachuig, Will Krueger, Sr., Ivan Holz, Charlie Lamb and Walter Rachuig.

Aunt Huldina Ekkert Rachuig-Alvina Beyerstedt 1935.
















Rachuig ladies and friends 1935:

Huldina Rachuig, Hilda Krueger, Alvina Rachuig, Dorothy Krueger, Ruby Rachuig, Mildred Rachuig.















Dorothy Krueger-Mildred Rachuig 1935.


















Leonard Dave Rachuig, Unknown Rachuig, Mayme Ruth Rachuig, Dorothy Krueger, Sally Ann Rachuig, and Mildred Rachuig; in the Bosque River by Uncle Rube Rachuig's place 1934

Kelly Family Visits Krueger Family - 1953

Charles, Sally [Rachuig], Chuck, and Bruce Kelly visited Will and Hilda [Rachuig] Krueger on their farm near Clifton TX in 1953.

Others appearing in the clip are Will Krueger Jr. and Jack, Evelyn[Rachuig], and Jerry Belcher.

Julius Rachuig, Morgan TX - 1953

Granddaughter Sally [Rachuig] Kelly, and her sons Chuck and Bruce, visit Julius Herman Rachuig on his farm near Morgan TX, 1953.

Rachuig Family in Sugar Land TX - 1953

Julius Herman Rachuig and descendents visit Mamie Adams Rachuig, late widow of Julius' son Herbert Albert Rachuig, in Sugar Land TX, 1953.

Edgar and Herbert Rachuig As Young Boys

These are pictures of Edgar Herman Rachuig and Herbert Albert Rachuig cutting up in front of their parents' (Julius and Selma Rachuig) home on Hackberry in Clifton, Texas. The date must be around 1914. Their sister, Evelyn Rachuig Belcher, gave me this picture.

Julius Herman Rachuig and Children, Clifton, Texas (1947)

The location is Hilda Rachuig Krueger's home in Clifton, Texas. From left to right: Walter Alfred Rachuig, Sr., Hildegard Marta Camilla Rachuig Krueger, Edgar Herman Rachuig, Julius Herman Rachuig, Herbert Albert Rachuig, and Evelyn Elanora Rachuig Belcher. The children are in order of birth beginning with Walter. Julius's oldest child, Selma Olga Rachuig, died in 1902 when she was 8-years old.