Here's another photo from Lanelle Schminke Sonntag that I've never seen before. I think it could be a wedding picture, but I'm not sure. If I'm right, it was probably taken around 1900.
Gus's younger brother, Richard Rachuig, talks a lot about Gus and Tillie in his history of the Rachuig family. Rich moved around West Texas and New Mexico with his brother and sister-in-law before settling down in Olney, Texas and later in the Rio Grande Valley.
I'm not sure where Gus and Tillie (my mother says they always called her Aunt Tillie) finally settled. I think Tillie finally settled in Clifton after she became a widow because my mother says they visited her every time they went to Clifton during the 1930s and '40s. My records show that all of Gus and Tillie's children died very young.
Lanelle Schminke Sonntag gave me this photo of her aunt, uncle, and mother at the 2009 reunion. I may have met her aunt and mother at a reunion, but I can't remember. I do remember meeting her Uncle Louis.
This is another photo Lanelle Schminke Sonntag gave me at the 2009 reunion. I think it's meant to be a light-hearted pose because brother Gus seems to be holding sister Lydia's purse.
Their brother Rich says in his family history that Gus suffered from chronic stomach trouble. He appears to be very thin in every picture I've seen.
Lanelle Schminke Sonntag provided this picture at the 2009 reunion. Although the boy on the right is annotated as Uncle Fritz, I think he's August and Henrietta's 5th child (and 3rd son), Frederick Julius. (This is the first picture of Frederick I've seen.) I presume his nickname was Fritz. The other boy is August William, Jr., their 4th child and 2nd son. I think the family always referred to him as Gus.
Fritz died in 1899 at age 22. Uncle Rich, a younger brother, mentions his death in his family history. Their father, August Wilhelm, Sr., also died in 1899. Rich says they had heavy medical bills that year, and the crops weren't good.
Lanelle Schminke Sonntag gave me this photograph at the 2009 reunion. I have an unannotated copy in my files. The handwriting identifies each child. One surviving child is missing, Johanna Martha Rachuig Lange. Family members have told me the long distance kept her from visiting Clifton as often as her other siblings.
The location is the front steps of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Clifton, Texas.
(UPDATE) At first I thought the man was mislabeled in this photo, but then I realized the woman is Lydia Rachuig. Therefore, I'm reasonably sure the man is correctly identified as her first husband, Richard Lange, and the label should replace Lydia for her sister Johanna. (They both married Lange brothers.)
Lanelle provided this photo at the 2009 reunion. I believe it's mislabeled. I'm sure it's a wedding picture, and Otto Lange was her husband. (Otto was the brother of Richard Lange who married Johanna's youngest sister, Lydia Rachuig.)
I don't have the date of their marriage, but it must have been around 1893. They lived in New Mexico. Otto died young, as did his brother. Their older son Accue was killed on the front-line in France during WWI.
(UPDATE) After correcting the photo shown above, I realized this can't be Richard Lange. I'm now reasonably sure this is Lydia's second husband, Louis Larson. I have a picture of them in late 1924. It's hard to tell exactly, but I think this is the same man.
Lanelle Schminke Sonntag provided this picture of her grandparents. I'm not positive, but this looks like a wedding photograph to me. I don't have the date of their marriage, but it must have been in 1907 or early 1908. Richard died very young in 1912. Lydia later married Louis Larson.
Richard's brother Otto married Lydia's older sister Johanna Martha Rachuig. I believe Otto also died at a young age. Otto and Johanna moved to New Mexico. Johanna lived there for most of her adult life. Their oldest son Accue E. Lange died in combat in France less than a month before the armistice that ended WWI.
