Schuster, Theresia

Other Events:

• Immigration: 2 Jul 1904, Ellis Island, New York; on the ship Kaiser William the second from Bremen
• Obituary: Aft 9 Jun 1978; Ellis Review

Notes:

Biography:
THERESIA, This, of course, is the one of Klara and Ferdinand's children that I wou ld know the most about. She shared my life since birth and I called her " Momma" when I was little and Mom later.
The bridal gown that she wears in this photo, she made hersel f. It is of silk crepe, embroidered with white seed pearls. . waltz lengt h. Her tiny feet are encased in white satin pumps adorned with a white si lk "pouf" . Her jewelry is a locket, given to her when she and Dad were co urting, but I am getting ahead of myself in the stories. Their wedding w as a simple affair, Aunt Clara tells me. Mass at St. Mary's in Ellis in J anuary. Snap shows wind-blown dresses, but no snow on the ground. Their " carriage" was Uncle Mike's new car (which he drove) complete with glass in stead of isinglass windows. They were attended by Gottleib Heinrich (Dad 's nephew) and Aunt Barbara (Mom's sister). Aunt Clara says they just h ad a nice dinner with the family. She didn't say if or how many Kaisers w ere there, as Schuster's didn't seem to be given to "big blowout" celebrat ions.
She went to work of an early age. She spoke of a time when she was eleve n, working for a farm family. She'd been home over Sunday, and this fami ly came to get her and by the time they reached that house it was past sun down. The chicken house was dark, but she was sent to collect the eggs an yway, without a lantern. She reached into the nest, and to her terror, s he grasped and let go quickly of a large snake, filled with swallowed h en eggs. In my growing up years, the hoe was always very handy during t he warm weather, and no snake of any size was given quarter or mercy in o ur yard.
When she went to Ellis to work, she first worked for Waldo's then in ti me began to work for a banker's family named "Nichelson". Aunt Clara tel ls me. "Theresia had it good there, She had her own room, with a nice cro chet white bedspread on her bed. She learned to cook "good" because the Ni chelson's had everything to cook with. They let me come in and spend t he day with her sometimes, and play with the kids. There was only three k ids at first then a fourth.
I am guessing alot more rubbed off on Theresia ... how to set a table prop erly, the graciousness of a lovely big home. To use linen tablecloths a nd silver service ... Yes, she probably ironed those tablecloths too ... d ifferent from farm kitchens that mostly had oilcloth. These people also e ncouraged her to read, not only in the more familiar German but Engli sh as well.
Grandma Klara collected Theresia's wages every week when she brought the c ream and eggs to town. This money helped out to raise the younger childre n, and I would guess defray the cash costs of the farm. Because it was cu stom, Theresia was given one day a week and church time off, as we ll as an occasional Sunday. She stayed at Nichelsons on her days off, a nd Mrs. Nichelson gave her extra money for doing such things as crocheti ng edges on linens, embroidery and cutwork, hemstitching and such. This m oney she squirreled away and in time was able to buy herself a White Rota ry sewing machine, a dome topped trunk which she filled with nice things f or herself (a hope chest); a set of silver flatware; a Kodak Camera with b ellows and fabric for her own clothes. She was a valued employee, f or it was told to me that the Nichelsons offered her lifetime employment w ith them and a stipend for care in her older years if she would stay unt il the family was raised.
Theresia and Nick were introduced by Mom's friend, Mary (Ziegler) Renge l. Aunt Clara called Mary Rengel, "an untiring matchmaker". It is assum ed that Mary (a German Russian) probably knew other German Russians amo ng who were Uncle John and Aunt Theresia Kaiser. They lived and worked f or a time in Ellis ... John with the railroad. Also assuming Daddy visit ed Uncle John's for I have no knowledge that he ever worked in Ellis. Tran sportation from Park to Ellis was not too much a problem by then, as tra in rides were very available, however by this time (1920-21) Daddy had h is own car ... a Dodge. I have heard Dad referred to as "a high-steppe r" and Aunt Emma called him, "quite a lover-boy."
His photos show a good-looking man, and I understand, quite popular. Popul ar enough to have had a paternity suit slapped on him, and spent some ti me in the hoosegow, because he refused to. . ."Marry the mother of someo ne else's kid." This is probably a good reason why he sought a wife outsi de of his own "Kamradschaffen". He was a generous man, sometimes to a fau lt. He bought his bride to-be a ruby ring, a wristwatch and a locket, a ll of which she wore when she went to church at Park with him on the thi rd Sunday of their announcement of Banns. He gleefully reported a whisp er he overheard "She must anyhow be a school teacher, she wears a wrist wa tch."
Theresia, frugal and hard working was just about what was needed to try (t hough I don't think she ever did fully) to tame this macho, rainbow-chasin g, butterfly of a man. She one time said. "He was always looking for som ething golden over the next hill." "I'd just get one bedbug infested ho le cleaned up and livable, then he wanted to go someplace else, inste ad of knuckling down and making it where we were." I think the turnarou nd came in their marriage ... at least when he started listening to her so und reasoning ... when they'd been married for about seven years and had f our children. . I was just born. There was a foreclosure on land Dad h ad purchased "on a handshake" the previous year. The year following, wh en it came time to make the payment, he was also confronted with the mortg ages the previous owner had taken on the land, which of course, they cou ld not handle. Mom told me that they were not left completely destitut e. There were good people. Paul Herl just quietly came and chased the ca ttle into his herd. Uncle Mike Zimmerman drove off with the car. The mon ey changers came, sold off what there was and Mom and Dad were out of farm ing for good. Paul sold the cattle along with his and returned the mone y, and eventually Uncle Mike brought their car back. Oh yes, he always lo nged to go back to the land, I'm sure. He enjoyed the farm jobs he had, b ut one must work all year around to feed and clothe a young family. So on after, came the dust storms and the depression. Acquiring land was th en an impossibility.
Mom must have, after this, kept a real tight lid on things. They seldom h ad much money, but they didn't have debts either, just a couple that I rem ember that Mom worried about. A truck that took almost all of his wage s. . she bought home the beans for awhile, and a new Maytag washer. This l atter because-- the Health Department told her they could get out from und er quarantine after Frances had scarlet fever after the house was scrubb ed down and everything was laundered. The last time was to finance the ho me they retired to, and she moved from, to Frances and LeRoy's before h er final illness and death. Yes, a family car was also occasionally finan ced but payments were generally in the range that Mom's earnings could cov er... if Dad decided "sousing"' with his "friends" was more important th an his obligations to his family. I ask myself how many lives would ha ve been so much more pleasant without alcohol? I'm not saying a convivi al type of drinking is wrong. ..that's up to the individual. Even Jesus C hrist used wine at the Last Supper. He condemned no man, for he said, " It is not what goes into the body that defiles it, it is what comes ou t. I interpret that to mean that it is not liquor that is wrong, but how y ou use it, how it makes you behave when you do, and who is affected by it 's use.
Aunt Clara described Mom once as "clever", and I know she was, in spi te of the fact that the cash money she brought home was from domestic wo rk ... washing walls, mending, sewing, butchering chickens, etc. Were we p oor? I certainly never felt so. We had a good up-bringing. Taug ht to be honest in our dealings with everyone and hopefully ourselves. Th is meant learning instead of cheating at school; that there was no free ri de to anywhere; to save for the things we wanted; to chose when we spent o ur own money; the best value for the pennies we spent and that there we re times you never took money for something you did for another. We alwa ys had our penny for the collection plate on Sunday, furnished at fir st by our parents, and later from our own earnings. We lad a little musta rd jar apiece in Mom's trunk for depositing savings. Part of our sitter 's money had to go into that little jar to be spent on tablets and penci ls for school, and our summer's money (when we were old enough to work ou t) went for school clothes, and if we had enough for books. We really lea rned to take care of our books, for there was a good brisk trade goi ng on in schoolbooks at the beginning of school.
We also learned valuable lessons without being aware we were being taug ht lessons for "life". In her book, there were a few cardinal sins. To m isbehave in school; to play hooky; to take something that didn't belo ng to you ... and that included what belonged to your sisters and brothe rs ... (She said, in a good one-liner, " You KNOW what's yours, so keep yo ur hands off the rest "); borrowing at school; to sass our elders or be de liberately unkind to other kids; to laugh at another's misfortune; to cu ss or use God's name in anything but prayer. . and to leave the yard witho ut permission. The biggest sin we could commit in her book was to do some thing that she didn't want us to do, then to lie about it. We could sin a gainst her rules, but barely, if we told her we had overstepped the bounda ry. Then we might get a lecture, but Boy! , if we lied about it, we cou ld expect heavy punishment. She said we needed double because we did t wo bad things. . we didn't mind for one, and lied for two. Paddling and s itting on the chair for a while to think about what we'd done ... and in r are cases to say over and over, "I will not lie again." when we were young er, and grounding when we were older... Her grounding really hurt, for s he made it long enough for one to remember.
"Clever" I would say she was. Hand-me-downs were altered to fit each pers on who wore them ... and we all did. If the material was real good, she c hanged it with some sort of decoration she'd made herself or ric-rack or l ace or something she'd ripped off something else, washed and ironed, th en turned over to the brightest side. I never, as long as she had anythi ng to do with what I put on, wore an ill-fitting garment ... or one that w as spotted or dirty, or unpressed, for that matter.
Home was not a place to go when there was no place else to be .. Mom kn ew with seven people living together the place could become unlivable in j ust two days, if everyone didn't clean up after themselves. I can still h ear her say, "Do you know where you got it?" We were expected to put ba ck anything we dragged out ... I still don't do so hot in that quarter . .. Dirty clothes went into the wash basket, we were, expected to hang up o ur coats, change our school clothes after school and get after our chore s. The boys, to bring in kindling coal and water. The girls had jobs li ke setting the table, washing dishes, Folding clothes and simple flat piec es of ironing. Sometimes when we got home from school, and she had the cl othes folded, each person's in a pile, we were expected to put them awa y. We each had a section in stacked orange crates. Once when I asked h er to teach me to cook, she said, "No, I won't teach you how to coo k. "I have to cook for Dad, and nobody I know eats like your Dad." "Sa ve your learning for on the man you marry, and cook like he likes it ." We did make cakes for Sunday dinner, and cookies for school lunches som etimes, but I'm convinced she abhorred the wasting of a grain of flo ur or a drop of milk, that she just couldn't stand to see us leave a table spoon of flour spilled on the cabinet ... that should have been in the coo kies or cake.
Other memorable one liners: "The winter is long." this when we complain ed about washing jars and helping fix produce, for winter's canning . .. or picking the bugs off the potatoes with a can of kerosene in one han d, and a little stick in the other to knock the ugly beasties into the ca n. "if you burn your butt, you sit on the blister." A short blunt less on in chastity. In other words ... You fool around and get pregnant, y ou suffer all the consequences, for there's no extra money around he re to spirit you off to Denver or Kansas City to hide your shame ... or yo ur burgeoning stomach. She said, "There's no shame in a few patches, b ut dirt is another story.." I can still hear her say. . ."Wash your neck a nd ears." That meant. . . Everything ... or "Only a slop puts a silk dre ss over dirty underwear." meaning the prettiest dress can't hide the gri me and smell underneath. "Keep the floor swept, the beds made and the dis hes washed and you don't have to be ashamed of your house, even if the pri est walks in." I know darn well that meant clean curtains, washed window s, dusted furniture ... the whole nine yards ... in her book.
Another choice one: 'The cow has a birthday too." We got that in answer t o, "What am I going to get for my birthday?" We celebrated one birthday . .. Christ's. More: "People can take just about anything you have, but th ey can't take your learning." Thus she spoke of the value of an educatio n. "Finish your High School." In other words, a college education we can 't guarantee there will be money for, but get all you can, while you ca n. It turned out that any of us that expressed a desire for further schoo ling got it, for we each helped the other along. Since Frances did not wa nt to go further, they told me that I could live and work and save, a nd in October they'd take what I could save to help pay off the last $500. 00 of the house mortgage. (We did it the old fashioned way ... we earned i t.)
On marriage: "Marry a nigger if you want to, but make sure you want to spe nd the rest of your life with who you choose." This was not to cost aspers ions on those of another race, it was to point out that marriage in the be st of circumstances was a difficult adjustment ... in other words ... We' re not going to choose your mate, but you'd better be satisfied with yo ur choices or don't make one you can't live with.'
Self educated herself ... she used the books we kids brought home, and esp ecially with Johnnie for he was the First, she was appalled by wasted oppo rtunities. She once said, "I did Okay, until Johnnie brought home an Alge bra book, and there was something I couldn't do without someone else's exp lanation, and Johnnie was learning too, and he couldn't explain it so I co uld grasp it." She was Dad's written word, and the store clerk where she s hopped for groceries always turned the pad around to her for verificati on of the addition. In later years she still read German script and oft en did read letters to other people when they had a letter from a German p arent, and could not read this for themselves.
She once said, "If there's a dance in town the day I die, I want y ou to go to it." this expressed her feelings about a lot of mourning ov er things which you have no control. I think that if I could fault her f or anything in our upbringing it would be this: She did not hesitate to te ll us when she was disappointed, but was extremely slow, if ever to prai se a job well done. She signed our report cards without comment if they w ere good, but if it wasn't, we heard about it in spades. "Get your boo ks home and study harder. " And woe betide you if you didn't show up wi th them.
"You two girls go, and come home together." Yes, there is safety in numbe rs sometimes, but Gawd! How that must have often rankled Rose, a blythe, g ay, laughing spirit to be inflicted with a physically underdeveloped bookw orm who really didn't want to be along.
There, is so much more, but I must move along too. She was as private a nd devout in her last hours as she was in life. No words were spoken, s he just tucked her hands, with her rosary entwined, under her cheek, and w ith closed eyes, she sighed, and was gone.

By Mary Kaiser Conard 1988.

Died:
Died at Sheridan Count Hospital, Hoxie,KS

Theresia married Kaiser, Nicholas 18 Jan 1921, Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA. Nicholas (son of Kaiser, Karl and Nold, Anna Mary) was born 15 Dec 1893, Blyumenfel'd, , Kransnodarskiy Kray, Russia; died 20 Jul 1969, Wakeeney, Trego, Kansas, USA; was buried , St. Michael's Cemetery, Collyer, Kansas, USA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Marriage Status: Never Married

Other Events:

• Military Service: Between 21 Aug 1943 and 2 Feb 1946; WWII, US Army
• Death Record - Civil: 20 May 2002

Notes:

Military Service:
Name:Ferdinand Kaiser
Gender:Male
Birth Date:20 Apr 1925
Death Date:20 May 2002
Cause of Death:Natural
Branch 1:A
Enlistment Date 1:21 Aug 1943
Release Date 1:2 Feb 1946

Death Record - Civil:
Name:Ferdinand C. Kaiser
SSN:512-26-6553
Last Residence:67846 Garden City, Finney, Kansas, USA
Born:20 Apr 1925
Died:20 May 2002
State (Year) SSN issued:Kansas (Before 1951)

Ferdinand married Messersmith, Sylvia Christine [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Death Record - Civil: 8 Mar 2007

Notes:

Death Record - Civil:
Name:Rose M. Bird
Last Residence:67401 Salina, Saline, Kansas
Born:2 Dec 1926
Died:8 Mar 2007
State (Year) SSN issued:Kansas (Before 1951)

Rose married Bird, Hollis 28 May 1946, Collyer, Trego, Kansas, USA. Hollis was born 16 Dec 1926, Quinter, Gove, Kansas, USA; died 15 Jul 1990, Salina, Saline, Kansas, USA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Obituary: Aft 25 Nov 2006

Notes:

Other Info or Events:
NAME:Mary Conard
BIRTH DATE:13 Sep 1928
BIRTH PLACE:Collyer, Trego County, Kansas, United States of America
DEATH DATE:25 Nov 2006
DEATH PLACE:Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana, United States of America
HAS BIO?:Y

Family History Researcher:
Mary Kaiser kept very good notes and newspaper clippings about the Schuster family. In 1984-1988 she wrote about many of her aunts and uncles, those notes have been entered under each persons "notes". Here in a letter to her niece, she tells the history of the Schuster family.

May 7, 1988
Dearest Patty:
Had a chance to get to town to do some photocopying . . . so here's a "Sch uster"' start, I wish that I had more time to write the stories as I did a bout Grandma's house. Names are okay, dates are a bore (but essential, I' ve found) and stories are fun.

I also filled out a set of pedigree sheets for you. This can really get i nvolved for anyone who really does it well and with scrupulous accuracy, a nd I have tried to be accurate as I've copied. The typewritten family li st sheets I got from Fred Schusters wife, Gay who's delving into, Fo ur or five intermarried families from the Furstenthal area. Word has it s he started on file Ferdinand Schuster line and also Freddie Schuster's mot her Rosie Aschenbrenner (married to Uncle Frank Schuster, Mom's brother) a nd found so many families intermarried that she went into more families, a nd as a result the book she was hoping to get published is still in the pr ocess. Since Families keep adding, I doubt that she ever will get a bo ok accomplished. I dabbled in family sheets, but not living close to whe re family, or being able to
visit frequently in Kansas…what I've done amounts to what it is... dabblin g.

From what I can read, and here again lots I want to know, isn't translate d, the Schuster ancestors were originally from the Black Forest Regi on of the German Empire and moved to the village of Furstenthal in Bukowi na (Bucovina). Bucovina means "Beech Woods".

Furstenthal was first settled at the bequest of Austrian Emperor Jose ph in 1803, German speaking settlers were originally from Pfalz, Hesse, a nd the Wertemberg Highlands, among others.
The villages from which our ancestors came are located in the Black Fore st on the Bohemian Czech border. I find Baumgartners and Schuste rs in an account of Bucovina in April 1803, and listed with those who ca me from the area of the Bohemian Woods were names of some of the earlie st among them; Sebastian Baumgartner, Andreas Schuster and Franz Schuste r. By 1808 we also find among the immigrants from the Bohemian Forests; J osef, Ferdinand, Julius and Johann Baumgartner. With my very limited know ledge of German, it seems to say that our ancestors were craftsmen. I re ad accounts where some German Bukovina people come to the area because th ey were skilled salt miners, and Grandma Schuster did say there were sa lt mines nearby. (She gave me and also Rose a crucifix… rosary size ... s he said was obtained at a mission held at the salt mines.) There were poss ibly other mines, as one of the people with our ancestral names was a smel ter, and there are stampers listed in Furstenthal village census.

I base my assumption that our people were craftsmen with information fr om a 1822 census
lists and among the glassworkers in Furstenthal were Anton and Michael Gas chler, Franz and Jacob Schuster. Christoph Gaschler was a smelter. List ed under private handworkers and listed as cobblers were Johann and Micha el Schuster. As Village Justice, a Johann Baumgartner served from 18 59 to 1888. I found others serving equally as long, so this did not seem o ut of reason.

Here again we have Families living in villages, each with their own fenc ed in yard withhouse, barn, well, etc, as in Russia and the Alsace. He re again are solely Catholic villages and villages of other faiths . . . a gain marriages to only ones of their own religion and "Komradschaffen" a nd from their own villages or ones of the same faith nearby. There w as a small exception to this. In both Franzfeld and Furstenthal lived oth er German speaking people who were Jewish. They stuck together and on t he fringes of the city (village). Jews married no one of another Fai th or Culture. They were the moneychangers who had the taverns that on ly men frequented; they traded in grain and merchandise ... and sometim es in illegality. Jews and Catholics did not associate with one anothe r, the Jews being 1ooked down upon here, as in Russia. To this there w as one exception . . . when their children were needed to make up the scho ol rolls to have enough students needed to receive money from the governme nt. (This was given without interference from the government).


Village life apparently follows the European way. Cattle were herded in to the woods to graze every day by the cowherd who was paid by an assessme nt of all the villagers. (Remember in the story of Heidi where Peter, t he goat-herd took the goats up on the mountain to graze each morning and b rought them back at milking time?) Geese were tended to by goosegirls in m uch the same way. Theresa did not say whether they had a swineherd or no t, but one was common in many accounts.

I don't know if all the little Furstenthalers went to school, but the litt le Schusters did by the time they were six, both boys and girls. The gove rnment gave money to the villages, provided there was an enrollme nt of 40 pupils for three consecutive years ... this "might" have be en an inducement to have ala available students in school. The governme nt did not specify the curricula and each taught in their own language a nd according to their own culture. They studied usually under the villa ge priest and a schoolmaster trained for such. Many times the church a nd school were the same building ... i.e. a room set aside in the chur ch or eventually added on to, and in later years a building nearby. In ad dition to what we know as the 3 R's, they started to study Latin in the fi rst grade ... Latin was the language of the Catholic Church's Mass. Relig ion was the 4th of the "R's", but first in the order of importance. There sia said learning English reading was comparatively easy for her as she 'd learned to learn to read and write the German Gothic Script and the Lat in Roman letters. Boy! that's a tall order, as far as I'm concerned, f or six or seven year olds.

In many ways, you could say their social life, too, revolved around the ch urch. Religious Holidays were the ones most celebrated. Lent was strict ly observed, Theresia said, with no meats and fasting every day for t he 40 days. We did not celebrate birthdays, nor was it customary f or us in Nick and Theresia's family to gather anywhere for Thanksgiving, I ndependence and Labor Days etc. These were days used for catch-up work be cause the whole family was home. We went to a Catholic School and were o ut of school on Holy Days, however no servile work was done on those days,

In the yard, our Schuster family had a cow, chickens, pigs, etc. in the Eu ropean way. Their cow went out with the cowherd each morning and ba ck at night. Agricultural fields were outside of the village, as we ll as a large community garden. Theresia referred to thunder as "God's Po tato wagons" going across the sky, because thunder sounded like the pota to wagons coming into the village in the fall. There for winter feed f or the cattle, they planted corn (or cane-type crops) interspersed with pu mpkins. In, the fall they would gather the grains then bind the stalks a nd put the pumpkin under the feed "shocks". This they would feed the catt le over the winter. They found it surprising when they came to this count ry, that Americans ate cattle feed... referring to the pumpkins. Theres ia said the terrain was alot like Montana, but with the hills all cover ed with woods. Since the area was "woody" they did not use twists of str aw for household cookery.

Weather was apparently cooler, as it was not the custom for our Schuste rs to build summer
kitchens (as it was among the Kaiser people) so it probably wasn't somethi ng they did in the old country. Later photos of houses in Furstenthal al so show no little enclosed porch like affair around the main entry do or as was custom in South Russia, so I am guessing, the wind was not as hi gh and they had fewer flies. In both the Schuster and Kaiser's European c ultures, the front gate to the family home area ... a large one through wh ich to drive the stock, wagons, etc. usually had an ornate archway, the la rge gate was adorned', and a little side gate that just admitted people ne xt to this large one was also decorated. A rather aside from the sto ry is an oddity in toilets between my parents culture. The Kaiser toile ts were usually a deep pit with the toilet "shed" on top ... had maybe t wo holes, and a little lower one built on the side. When full, the shed w as moved. The Schuster toilet was a covered seat, one holer that sat fl at on the ground with a "trap door" in the back. Through this it was oft en cleaned out, along with the henhouses, hogs sheds, etc. (in the old cou ntry, each yard had it's "Mistplatz" . . . literally manure place.) Eventu ally this was all put on the fields and gardens. I doubt that this was le ft long in the buildings as it was Theresia's habit when I was growing u p, to clean the henhouses once a week, and this had to come from her "Upbr inging".

The Ferdinand Schuster daughters raised good gardens ... Do you suppose th ey knew something, God given, that our generation, with it's commercial fe rtilizer, could learn something from? They were all scrupulously clean ho usekeepers. No bedbugs, lice, or dirty kitchen grease in their homes.

I digressed there, I'm afraid. Grandpa Ferdinand was the last of his brot hers and sisters left in Austria, Grandma once said. He wanted to come wh en they did, but he was enlisted as a cobbler in the Austrian Army ... I t hink this was a little like the militia as in colonial days in America. M ilitary men drilled as a group in each of their villages in readiness f or whatever wartime action was asked, (or commanded) of them. He seem ed to be home, from Mom's stories, most of the early years of Ferdinand a nd Klara's marriage, Austria was not at war, and if it was, he most like ly cobbled for the army staying in the village. I would guess that he ca me from a line of cobblers, because the name Schuster means "One who mak es shoes or footwear (shoemaker.)" At any rate, he was afraid to apply f or passport out of Austria before his military time was up: There must ha ve been some unrest, (Mom said there was usually a lot of that ... with o ne ruler trying to gobble up another to fill his own coffers.) They final ly went to a Jew, who forged passports for the family for them to get o ut of the country. About the trip from Bucovina to Bremen, I have not hea rd anyone tell stories. Theresia said they had a little room on the sh ip and that most of them were very seasick, though Grandma Klara seem ed to be able to take care of the young family of seven aged from 13 yea rs to five months. . . Frank, Mary, Theresia, Barbara, Stephanie, Palus, a nd Jakob. They boarded the "Kaiser Whilhelm" on the 18th of June in Breme n, Germany, and arrived at Ellis Island on the 5th of July, 1904.
(Interestingly: The Kaiser's came also on the "Kaiser Wilhelm", embarki ng at Bremen in 1907 and 1908.)

Ships that other Kaiser arrived on.... (text handwritten, not legible)

They came to Ellis because that was where the rest of Ferdinand's family a nd other Furstenthalers had settled. (Another interesting note: Both Kla ra and Ferdinand come from relatively small families as compared to lar ge families that were general norm in Europe. Klara had one brother, Anth on Baumgartner. Ferdinand's brothers were Frank and Joseph, and his sist er was Franziska (translated Frances) who married Franz Augustine. The bo ys had large families, but sister Franziska only had three children. O ne possible explanation: Many times small families were the result when o ne parent died, and the other did not remarry.

In an old account about Ellis, I read where at first the European immigran ts settled like the
European ancestors in small homes in Ellis and went out to the land to wo rk it, though I don't know if by the time our Schusters came this was t he case. An incident sticks in my mind…after Bob and I were married we 'd visited, along with Mom and Dad at some of the Aunt's houses in Elli s. Mom pointed out a gravel road straight south of Ellis, and at one tu rn in the road she said, "This is the first place we lived when we ca me to America." I asked, "You must not have lived there very long?" She sa id, "No, it wasn't very long after that, that her Daddy bought the place w here we called 'Grandma's House"'. I have no idea now where that place s he pointed out to me was. I don't know if they just lived there, rente d, or bought and sold.

I don't know if this is all, but some of the land is described as: NE 1 /4 of Section 33 in TWP 13 S.
Range 21 , W of the 6th PM. Listed in book BB, page 12 in the County of T rego, State of Kansas.
This information was copied from a cutting ... and I will go into this wi th another tale.

Upon Klara's death (at which time all her children were still heirs) the f amily decided that each of the others would sell their portion of the inte rest to the land to the youngest son, Engelbert. The others could keep th eir oil rights on the oil leases or sell them back. The inherited oil rig hts ended at the death of Klara's children. Theresia sold her's back to E ngelbert at the time Grandma Klara's estate was settled. So far as I kno w, there were no pumping wells on the property, though in 1939 a lessor br oke a 1935 lease agreement, and action to clear this was taken. Possib ly to lease to someone else, or to keep the rights in the estate.

To get to Grandma's we went east on Highway 40, turned South on the ro ad by the Riga elevator and to the North of Grandma's was a place called " Round Mound". It was a raised round area of earth, a landmark, as it wer e. I can't remember just how for we went South before we turned West (f or a little tad of a ways), then the yelling started, "I see Grandma's hou se first."

Stories aren't so profuse, and I've heard this expression more than onc e. "Tight-mouthed
Schusters". As an example, quite a number of years ago, I wanted to sta rt a genealogy of our
families, and Mom said to me, "That's all past history and none of your bu siness." However, during the raising of children, they couldn't help but s ay some things to tell us just how lucky we were in our generation. In o ne case I was told that the older girls worked out as farmer's wife helpe rs at an early age.. Mom by the age eleven. This leaves the conclusion th at they must not have lived in Ellis and gone to their land during the gro wing season. (The older girls received no more schooling after they ca me to America.)

Cash money was always a need, and I've been told that Grandpa Ferdinand wo rked on the railroad. One of his jobs was to walk the tracks from Ell is to Riga and back…out down one track and back on the other to see that t here was nothing ... ties loose, loose spikes or loose rail plates. . th at would impede the train's progress. On Sunday's he fudged a bit and t he family would meet him in the buggy at Riga and he would ride back in to Ellis, so they could all attend Mass together. Apparently it was the f amily, not he, that did the farming with horses and lots of manual labor.

Theresia once referred to her Father as a complete autocrat. She, by t he time this story was told was married with children of her own, and I mi ght add that my parents weren't terribly strict as parents of some of my f riends. She had begun to work for a family by the name of Waldo in Elli s. Mrs. Waldo had given her a hat, and when they picked up Grandpa Ferdin and at Riga, he saw her wearing the hat, and ordered her out of the bug gy to walk home and get her shawl, because only fast girls went about with out their shawls. I asked Theresia if she did, and she said, "No, Mamma ( Klara) told daddy (Ferdinand) that it was a bigger sin to miss Mass th an to go to church in a hat ... American women already did." By the way, a ll earned money Mom made at her household jobs in Ellis was turned ov er to Grandma Klara.

Grandpa Schuster died in 1912. 1 had heard that it was complications of t he flu, but in talking to Uncle Englebert he said, "It could possibly ha ve been cancer of the stomach, or the result of a severe injury. He had w orked placing ties on the railroad, and in the process someone hit him sev erely across the stomach area." In 1912, 1 don't suppose that there was mu ch a doctor did for you, but give you something to dull the pain. Grand ma Klara buried her man, when the youngest child was only nine months old.

What stamina these women we know as Grandmas and Great Grandmas had. I 'm sure this came from the Grace of God. I may as well add this thoug ht of my own, since I've had it many times… And the Apostle Paul, notwiths tanding, who said, "At the head of the woman is the man.".. ."She should p ray with her head covered". . ."That she should keep silent in the church. "… "That she should always submit." My thought is this that the older I ge t, it becomes apparent that it was the women our lives... both yours and m ine, that were the true pillars of family. They didn't "rule" with a velv et glove... more like a warm furry mitten. Mamma did not have to rule wi th a spanking or yelling. It required only a certain set of her mou th or an almost discernable shake of her head. It was your Great-Grandmot hers, both Kaiser and Schuster that were the warp that wove the fabr ic of the family, and kept it intact. Although I didn't know my Grandmoth er Anna Mary Kaiser (the stories tell of her strengths), I did know my Gra mma Klara. There is only one answer as to why we flocked around her at ho lidays, that she became such a cause for excitement when she came and stay ed with us for awhile and that answer has to be LOVE, freely and openly gi ven. . you knew it ... you felt it... she never said it. We never h ad to be told to "Kiss Grandma and hug her". We did it naturally --- joyf ully. We hung around her chair watching her crochet, or darn socks, or pat ch overalls. We also learned early that we were not to disturb her when s he held her rosary or read from her German prayer book, because... "Shh h, Grandma is praying."

I will insert this bit here, as I don't want to lose it among my note s. In a 1945 census of
Furstenthal the name Schuster is no longer listed, though there are a numb er of Baumgartners,
Gashlers, Artmanns and Kuffners. In the upheaval during and after the Sec ond World War a
large percent of German Bukovinans went to Germany under very trying circu mstances. Most of them that live in Germany settled in the Worthgau and E ast Upper Silesia Areas.

The Bukovina of the Hapsburg era (the era in which our people were ther e) has been described as a model for a United Europe. Home of some 12 nat ionalities, none of which were a majority. Bukovina inhabitants exercis ed a mutual toleration for the ethnic and religious differences of their n eighbors. Bukovina, now a part of Rumania, is located on the East Si de of the Carpathion Mountains. From a topical map by Dr. Karl Stum p, it appears that the terrain is the type that would be situated betwe en flatlands and mountains. (I would describe it, as rolling foothills. M aps show that Furstenthal is located bout 50 km south of Czernowity, the c apitol. (Present day name Cervovcy) Present day name for Furstenthal is Vo ivodeasa. These name changes were made when the USSR annexed this territo ry, which now lies behind the Iron Curtain. (See maps in the back of the f amily descriptions in the book.

(This is a letter to Rose (Kaiser) Bird's daughter Patricia (Bird) in 198 8. She was interested, thought she might have time for family histor y. ?? established herself in landscaping business and has no time to ma ke inquiries, etc. Doing these things is an ongoing thing. You read, you a sk, you come to dead ends, but has been an absorbing hobby for me.)

IN CONCLUSION

I have read over the little vignettes about each of my Aunts and Uncles a nd I find a word repeated in each of them ... each has been described as " special", and each one is. Each one has a quality about them that you can 't dump collectively into the description that they are a family of "go od or poor taste", "Interesting or boring," agricultural or craftsman, a nd I have come to this conclusion..... God made each of us special in o ur own way, and each of us should praise Him for the uniqueness that has b een given to each of us.

You may pick up a family photo and say, "There's a big 'family' resemblanc e." And while the set of a mouth here, or a similar nose or chin, I thi nk that we find only one real resemblance and that is that each is a Chi ld of God and each one different and special as a snowflake.

I've heard it told that you can understand yourself better if you can unde rstand those that have gone before you. Maybe that is true, but I don't re ally think that is the case necessarily. There is only one thing that mak es us truly family and that is the love we share with one another.

And so I hope you will enjoy this little booklet, made in love "speciall y" for you, a "special" part of our "special" big family.

Mary Conard
May 1988

Obituary:
Mary Conard, 78, of Danvers, MT, died Nov 25, 2006, at Benefis Hospital, Great Falls.
She was born Sept 13, 1928 to Nicholas and Theresia Kaiser in Collyer.
Following her graduation from high school she attended business school in Denver where she met Bob Conard, who was stationed at Fitzsimmons Army Base.
They were married on Nov 6, 1950 and made their home on the family ranch north of Danvers.
She was a farm wife first and foremost but was also ative in the Danvers Extension Homemakers, National Farmers Organization, Council of Catholic Women, the Danvers Altar Society and a member of St Wenceslaus Catholic Church.
Survivors include her husband, Bob; daughters, Bobbi (Andy) Ungerer, Philomath, OR, Barb (Rick) Clark, Lander, WY; son, Don (Lori) Conard, Danvers; grandchildren, Michelle (Mark) Plesko, Emily Ungerer, Jennifer Conard, Matt Conard, Wyatt Conard, Erin (Ken) Wolfley, Anna Clark; and sisters Rose Marie Bird, Salina, and Frances Wagoner, WaKeeney.
She was preceded in death by her brothers, Johnny and Fritz.
At her request there was no funeral services. A private family gathering will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the charity of one's choice.

Mary — Conard, Robert. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Health: had scarlet fever as a child

Frances married Wagoner, Leroy 10 Apr 1950, Collyer, Trego, Kansas, USA. Leroy was born 13 Jul 1924, Angelus, Sheridan, Kansas, USA; died 10 Nov 1983, New Almelo, Kansas, Wisconsin, USA. [Group Sheet]

Carol married Matthews, Chris [Group Sheet]

Teresa married Robbins, Dean Leroy [Group Sheet]

Arthur married Kyle, Sandra Lee [Group Sheet]

Arthur married Muehlenburg, Cris [Group Sheet]

Arthur married Bray, Mary Ann [Group Sheet]

Robert — Rindahl, Linda. [Group Sheet]

Robert — Denny, Rhonda. [Group Sheet]

Patricia — Bruce, John. [Group Sheet]

Patricia — Hacker, Gary. [Group Sheet]

Roberta — Ungerer, Carl. [Group Sheet]

Donald — Dalton, Lori. [Group Sheet]

Barbara — Clark, Rick. [Group Sheet]

Illa — Dennington, John. [Group Sheet]

Donna — Washburn, Loren. [Group Sheet]

Sandra — Cline, Randy. [Group Sheet]

Jerold — Weber, Anastasia. [Group Sheet]

Edward — Albers, Marjorie. [Group Sheet]

Arthur married Bond, Sandra Carol [Group Sheet]

Arthur married Biehler, Anita M. [Group Sheet]

Kenneth married Gruver, Nikole Renea [Group Sheet]