Family Reunions

This summer I will be heading out west with my husband for the Schwiebert Family Reunion. This event happens every five years and alternates between Kirchwalsede Germany and somewhere in the US usually some spot in north western Ohio. Not this year. No sir! We are headin' for Pasadena, CA.

Schwieberts from all over the world attend the reunions and it is so interesting to meet new cousins and catch up with old cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. My direct line is through my grandmother Lydia Schwiebert Burke. Her parents, Fred and Emma (Freytag) Schwiebert lived in Deshler, OH.

Both of their parents immigrated to Ohio from Germany and both were born in Ohio. They had 12 children all but one reaching adulthood. I have two children and cannot possibly imagine having 12 are you kidding?

While attending the reunion in 2010 in Kirchwalsede Germany we stayed at the fabulous Green Hunter Hotel or Zum Grünen Jäger which was very close to the lovely church my Schwiebert ancestors built St. Bartholomew. We got a nice coffee mug with a painting of the church on it as a souvenir.

Thankful Thursday - Family Photos

Oh it's been a while since I have been here and life has really gotten in the way of my family searches. I think I am back on track now and motivated! That is key, motivation. My mom found an envelope of old photo's from my Burke side of the family in Henry Co. Ohio. What a great find!

The image above is of my Great Grandfather Cecil Burke and two others Bob Robinson and John Donovan standing outside the drug store where they worked in Deshler, Ohio. If anyone knows the name of the store, please let me know.

I love this photo. What great hair these young men had back then. My GG Cecil married Nora Herman and her father Adolph Henry Herman and his brother in law Lee Barnes once owned the Ross House which was a popular railroad stopping spot in 1914. It burned down in 1919. This is according to writing on the back of a newspaper photo in the Toledo Magazine July 30-August 5, 1989. If you know anything about the Ross House, I would love to hear it!