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.

 

Robert E. Hewitt, Jr.

I received a note a few months ago from my aunt, Mayme Rachuig Hause, saying Gloria Hewitt's husband Robert, died.  His funeral was in Clifton.

Gloria is a Krueger and Dorothy Krueger Mansur's first cousin.  I'm a little unclear on the identity of Gloria's parents; maybe someone can fill me in.   I would like to add the Kruegers to my genealogical data base.

Link to obituary for Robert E. Hewitt, Jr.

 

Bosquerama, Bosque County's Centennial Celebration, 1954

Charlie Rachuig brought the following photos to the recent reunion.  Even though they are a little 'odd,' I knew exactly what they were.

In May 1954, Bosque County celebrated its 100th birthday.  The exact dates were May 1st to May 8th.  (I've done some research and provided links below.)  I made a trip with my grandmother, Mamie Adams Rachuig, sometime in April 1954, I think.  If we were there during the celebration, I don't remember the parade or any organized events.  Anyway, I remember all the men in our extended family had grown beards, which spooked me a little.  I was just 4-years old, so it all made a big impression on me.

Here are a few pictures of the event, which was called Bosquerama.  Click here for 1st photo.  Click here for 2nd photo.  Click here for 3rd photo.

The idea was to dress like people did in 1854; thus the old-fashioned clothes.  Men let their beards grow, and women could not wear make up.  They had a system of fines, or permits for those citizens who needed/wanted to break the rules.  Check out the explanation here.  Here is a better look at the permit badges and other memorabilia. 

Here are some photos of our extended family in their costumes.

Charles A. Rachuig, Julius Rachuig, Charlie Rachuig, & Betty Rachuig at Will & Hilda Krueger's home in Clifton.

Will Krueger, Sr. standing in his front yard in Clifton.

Will Krueger, Jr., Will Krueger, Sr., & Julius Rachuig in Will, Sr.'s front yard.

Same trio as above 'cutting up.'

I can identify all but two people in the next photo. Standing left-to-right: Charles A. Rachuig, Edgar Rachuig, Jerry Belcher, Hilda Rachuig Krueger, Evelyn Rachuig Belcher, Jack Belcher, Walter Rachuig, Sr., Hans Mansur, Dorothy Rachuig Mansur, unknown man, unknown woman, & Julius Rachuig.  Sitting left-to-right: Betty Rachuig with Charlie, Will Krueger, Sr., Alvina Beyerstadt Rachuig, & Will Krueger, Jr.

 

An Online Site With Galveston Immigration Lists

Dorothy Rachui and I discussed immigration lists at the recent reunion. I told her the Galveston Historical Association had put Galveston's immigration lists online.  Here is the link to their site.

I'm disappointed because it's not as good as I remembered it.  Actually, I confused this with the search facilities available to visitors at the center.  It has several kiosks for various searches of their data base.  

Regardless, I thought I'd post this link in case anyone wanted to use it.  You'll see that the Bark Gessner is listed among the ships in the data base.  It's the ship on which August Wilhelm Rachui/Rachuig sailed to Galveston in 1868. (I just tried searching for August, but had no luck.  I'm not sure if this site is working.  I may have to contact them.)

A Still Photo from 2012 Reunion

Family members at the Rachuy-Rachuig-Rachui-Schulz Reunion on July 21, 2012:  We are standing in front of the meeting hall at Our Savior's Church in Norse, Texas.

  

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.

Will Krueger, Sr. - Member of the Bernardt Band

Here is a photo of Will Krueger, Sr. when he was a member of the Bernhardt band. He appears to have been an euphonium player. I'll have to dig through Uncle Will's ancestry to see if he was a Bernhardt descendent. His wife, Hilda Rachuig was the granddaughter of Henrietta Bernhardt, so maybe he was admitted to the fold as an in-law, or maybe anyone could join.



Here's another picture of the Bernhardt Band. I presume it predates Uncle Will's picture. I know the Clifton Museum has pictures and memorabilia of the band - they must have been popular.

Kruegers

My aunt, Mayme Rachuig Hause, sent me this photo of the Krueger family. They settled in Washington County & migrated to Bosque County with several other families, including the August Rachuigs. These joint migrations indicate the closeness of the ties between these in-laws.

You see Ida, Robert, Otto & Lena in the back row. Emma, Emilie, & Will, Sr. are in the front. (Will married August & Henrietta Rachuig's granddaughter, Hilda Rachuig.) I don't have a date or location for this picture.

The Julius C. Krueger Family Around 1900

The annotation says it all. I'm surprised that Uncle Will has light colored hair. He looks quite a bit like his mother. I don't have exact dates, but they may have had this photo taken in Washington County, Texas (down by Brenham).

[Update: I take it back about the location. It has to be Clifton because I recognize that woven-cane chaise longue. It appears in several studio pictures taken in Clifton.]

Christmas Card from the Rich Rachuigs to the Otto Kruegers, Early 1950s

Many thanks to Gail Ferguson for sending me a scan of this Christmas card. Richard & Anna (Kunkel) Rachuig sent it to Otto & Martha (Bernhardt) Krueger, Gail's grandparents sometime in the early 1950s. (That's my best guess.) Rich & Anna lived in the Rio Grande Valley. They mention that their son Hubert and his family (who lived in Michigan) paid them a recent visit.