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.

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.

Ox Blood Lilies

"Recently I read about this beautiful lily being one that the German ancestors brought when immigrating to Texas in the mid 1840’s and later. These were found at a little nursery in Seguin, Guadalupe Co. Texas, where I buy my nursery items for the yard. When these little bulbs were on display just having learned about their history, I just had to have some to put in my yard. The little lily naturalizes, and maybe next year I will be able to bring some to the reunion to share with those who would like one to plant. It just bloomed today, and wanted to share this history and picture with you. These lilies usually are late fall bloomers until frost. Also, the info from the book stated they brought “slips” [cuttings] of all kinds of fruit trees and seeds for their vegetables gardens. The early immigrants knew they would need these to have for food to feed their families. One of the first things that they did was plant a garden and their slips for trees, after building a shelter of some kind.

"Also, information that has been found is that some of the ancestors that landed in Indianola, made a short trip over to the Guadalupe River not far from Indianola, and rafted up the river to Seguin. Most of them went on to New Braunfels and on up to Fredericksburg to live. Other that landed in Galveston went overland to Washington, Lee, Fayette, Austin Colorado and Lavaca Counties.

"We owe a debt of gratitude to them for the hardships these new immigrants made to come to the new world and start a new life in America; some never returned home. If you have the opportunity to read about early Texas history please do, it is fascinating."

Mayme Hause

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.

Richard Rachuig & Anna Kunkel Family Tree Diagram

I've also drawn a tree diagram for the Richard Henry Rachuig & Anna Marie Kunkel family.

Link to family tree diagram.