Charles Fermazin

He was born November 3 1867 in Popowo, Posen

Came to USA in 1876

Today I am writing about the marriage of Friedrich Formazin [Fermazin] and Louise Bonau.  Fredrich married Louise Boanau in Ruhden, Posen, Prussia. He was single and the marriage papers stated his father was deceased.

In researching our family history in Posen, Prussia, [present day Poland] we found Friedrich Formazin was the son of Daniel Formaezyn born about 1785 and Mariana Soblinska. 
FHL # 245334, p.118 marriage 1806

We pick Friedrich Vormazin up in Labischin, Kreis Schubin in 1840 as a 21 year old lad getting married to Louise Bonau. Friedrich Vormazin Formazin married Louise Bonau (possibly Huguenaut name) in Labischin on Dec.6,1840.Per his marriage records he was single, age 21, and resided in Ruhden, his father was deceased at time of marriage, while Louise is also listed as single 24 years and 5 months. Their children were:

August (recorded as Vormazin)

Born: Sep.7,1841 Florentowo

Bapt.: Sep.12,1841

Witnesses: Carl Meyer, August Reddmann, Renate Pinau (? spelling), Eva Meyer

Entry #  264 pages 138-139

Henriette

Born: Oct.9, 1843 Florentowo

Bapt: Oct.29,1843

Godparents: Michael Fenske, Justine Reddmann, Christine Wegner, Anna Schmidt, Justine Lurke

Entry # 358/1843 pages 332-333

Stephan

Born Oct.15, 1847 Bagno

Bapt: Oct. 17,1847 Schubin

Father – Einwohner - resident

Witnesses: Heinrich Brachschein, Justine Brachschein, Daniel Kopicke

Caroline

Born: Aug.13,1850 Rynarzewo

Bapt. Aug. 18,1850

Witnesses: Eduard Zillmmer, Louise Wienkauf, August Bartung

Father – Einwohner

Entry # 271/1850 page 320-321

Two years later two family members die of cholera: Louise and Henriette

Louise Formazin nee Bonau age 34, spouse of  Freidrich Formazin, Einwohner;  died Sep. 25,1852  Rynarzewo; she left behind 3 children

Entry # 120/1852  pages 6,7

Henriette Formazin daughter of Friedrich and Louise Bonau died at the age of 8 years and 11 months on Sep. 27,1852 in Rynarzewo

Entry #  223/1852 pages: 6,7

I know quite a bit about August Fermazin so will write a post about him and his family. One member of his family came to Chicago to see her Grandpa Friedrich Fermazin and stayed on to get married in Michigan. Then of course we lose her in the records. [Friedrich Fermazin came to the USA in 1879 with his third wife, Caroline Hartwig. I am getting ahead of myself. 

I am trying to do more research on Louise Bonau. I think the Bonau name is Huguenaut.  Looking for birth and family records for Louise. I am hoping by finding more out about the Bonau's I might find where the Fermazin's were living before Posen. [Possibly The Netherlands or Alsace Lorraine]

Louise Bonau is not my direct line.  After her death Friedrich married twice more. I am descended from the second family: Friedrich Formazin and Caroline Hartwig.
Source:  FHL film # 0714893 
Alternate spellings: Vormagen, Vormazin, Formazin, Formaeyn, Fermazin

52 Ancestors # 27: Wilhelmina Elisabeth Pluecker Fermazin

MINNIE PLUECKER

                                        

        

My dad always referred to Grandma Minnie as his “mean grandmother”.  I feel that was a misnomer. Misnomer is from the French indicating a lack of fit when it comes to naming according to Webster. So I am going to tell you why. I did not know Great Grandma Minnie. I think I only met her twice.  However, I have researched her and talked to my Dad's cousin Char and gained insight into Minnie's life and times. I gained great admiration and respect for her.
 Minnie did not like my dad and his sister talking at the dinner table or interrupting when she was visiting. Dad said she always told Grandpa that “children should be seen and not heard.” Dad and his sister, Lola, cowered whenever Grandma Minnie spoke.

            One remembrance that Dad told was when I was born: Grandma Minnie sent Dad’s  uncle Leonard to Copley Memorial Hospital that day.

“Robert, are you going to raise her Catholic or Lutheran?”

A long silence ensued. No answer.

Leonard raised his voice. “Are you going to raise her Catholic or Lutheran? Ma wants to know.”

More silence.

With his hands clasped on his lap and head staring down at the floor, Dad mumbled, “I guess, Catholic.”

Leonard yelled, “That’s it then!” and  stomped out of the room.

Mom just sat there holding me and staring at Dad.

Not everyone saw Minnie in the same way. My Dad’s cousin Charalways described Grandma Minnie as warm and gracious. She spoke fondly of Minnie and loved her dearly.  After Minnie’s death, Char rescued Minnie’s set of Lenox fine china, which surely would have been tableware for her sister, Nettie’s cats otherwise.

          Char was raised Lutheran.  Maybe that made a difference. Grandma Minnie taught Bible studies, worked the women’s annual boutique, and sewed quilts and blankets for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Char’s husband and Grandpa were deacons in the church. Grandpa raised my Dad and Lola as Catholic, only because Grandma was Catholic but he was not anti-Catholic, like Minnie. Grandpa used to transport the nuns to the grocery store and shopping in his old Packard, but he never

Figure 1: Grandpa’s car

converted to Catholicism out of respect for Minnie.

      Wilhelmina Elisabeth Pluecker was the daughter of immigrant Germans who came from the village of Kohlgrund in Fulda area of the Hesse, Germany. 

Figure 2: Kohlgrund, Germany is 40 miles north west of Kassel, Germany.

                                   

Hessians.  The Pluecker’s  settled in Aurora, Illinois in 1868, 40 miles west of Chicago. In 1885 Minnie married Charles Fermazin who was an immigrant from Popowo, Posen, Prussia in1876.  He arrived at age 9 and met and married Minnie when he was 20 years old. She was 18. They made their home in Aurora for four years. He was raised on a farm so in 1889, when the opportunity presented itself for the family to farm in Minnesota, they took it. Charles’ half-sister Caroline Steingraber was living in Lakefield, Minnesota so this paved the way for them to settle there.  

       Lakefield had many things to offer. It was a  German Lutheran community with rich farmland at cheap prices. Lakefield had electricity, a dentist office, a hospital, a grain mill, a train station, and in 1897, telephones  and a high school, which would give the older children the opportunity to receive a high school education. The children received their primary education in a one-room schoolhouse.

Figure 3: Lakefield, Minnesota. One room schoolhouse.

Figure 4: Lakefield, Minnesota 1900-1905. Coutesy of Jackson Historical Society.

Figure 5: Lakefield, Minnesota 1900-1905. Courtesy of Jackson Historical Society. 

                   Relatives, German culture, and a Lutheran community  may have been the reason for moving with the chance to farm and raise their children in the open spaces of  Lakefield. German families that moved from Illinois to Minnesota also moved because of economic reasons. Their families were growing and they needed more land. In many cases the land they had in Illinois was more valuable so they could sell off the land there and buy more acres with the same amount of money. Minnie and Charles took the opportunity to lease a 215-acre farm and moved with their three children.  Four more children followed.

            Working the land and being a farmer’s wife was new for Minnie. She wasn’t a big woman. She was about 4’11 inches tall weighing 100 pounds soaking wet.  Like many nineteenth-century women, she dedicated herself to her family. Her experience may be understood only when we give full credit to the respect she herself gave to her role as a wife and mother. And like other frontier women, she believed that hard work, religious faith, and land ownership were prerequisites for family prosperity. 
The family attended church on Sunday in town at Immanuel Lutheran. I pictured Minnie on most days,  waking up before four, making breakfast of eggs sunny side up, fried potatoes, and toast with coffee and fruit.  I imagined that every morning upon awakening she dressed, donned a hairnet to pull her blond hair back, and put on her large flowered apron with a big pocket on each side. She skimmed milk, churned butter, did large washings, and tended her garden.  On some days she baked as many as six loaves of bread, and seven pies. While baking and doing the ironing she made supper, and tended the chickens. Besides washing all the dishes, making the beds, and sweeping floors. she sometimes made 100 pounds of butter, sold eggs and canned. 
All of this was done in addition to caring for her seven children, four boys and three girls ranging in age from two years to fourteen years. Despite days filled with varied activities and surrounded by her children, Minnie missed her mother and sisters. She wrote letters to them, which still exist, where she described her busy life  and mentioned her loneliness.  Winters in southeastern Minnesota were harsh. In 1894, the average temperature was 4.5 degrees, sometimes dropping to 15 degrees below zero with six feet of snow. One of the coldest recorded years was 1907 when the temperature was minus 15 degrees with six feet of snow on Easter Sunday. The fifteen years Minnie and Charles spent in Minnesota were difficult. Besides mild to severe winters, they endured economic to lean years.

They were taxed on their personal property. The value ranged from $ 139.00 to $ 321.00 with taxes from $ 1.17 to $ 2.88 per year. The value of their taxes reflected the amount of their livestock. They owned twelve head of horses,  four geldings, four mares, and four colts and four head of milking cows. Other equipment they owned were a buggy, a lumber wagon, two cultivators and a McCormick saw.

Figure 6: Bill of Sale Fermazin selling equipment and stock.

      Why do I think my Dad misunderstood Minnie. I don't think he knew how harsh life was for her on the prairie and how difficult it was to raise seven children after her husband died in 1913. How lonely she must have been after the love of her life passed away. Minnie never remarried but she stayed involved with life and her church. Her boys became deacons in the Lutheran Church. That must have been a wonderful feeling for Minnie.   She truly is one to be admired. I admire her so much for all she gave us: family, religion, work ethic, love,  and our heritage.

Email webmaster for references.

Copyright 2014 Nancy Fermazin Peralta

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Goals for 2020

Work on my Blog to update Family History

 Update on Frederich Fermazin

After further research this yea I have concluded but not proven as yet that

Charles Fermazin and Julia Augusta Fermazin are most likely the children of

 Caroline Hartwig. I am leaning this way after finding Charles Fermazin Immigration records

Took me 10 years to find the immigration records on Charles  Daniel Fermazin aka  Carl Firmazin

FINALLY: His mother Caroline Fermazin and sister Auguste were on board ship with him.

ARRIVED: 13 September 1876: Took them 14 days on the journey

Interesting tidbits:

Attended a class at OCCGS on Hamburg Passenger Lists.
                Went to Ancestry.com and found the entry that day. Since that time I have looked in the Germans to America volume series for the entry.  I found them in Volume 32: January1875-September 1876. In this volume it said they were from Germany going to USA. Not real helpful because it didn't say which state i.e. Illinois, Ohio etc.

When I went to SLC this year I was unable to find any Fermazin's in Popowo, Posen. If they were there they were only there long enough to register in the village before departure. Now I have to find registration lists for that area of Posen.

They were on the Pomerania but listed as TRIMAZIN

No wonder they were missed in previous looks at Germans to America.

Name: Carl Firmazin

Departure Date: 30 Aug 1876

Birth Date: abt 1867

Age: 9

Gender: männlich (Male)

Relationship: Kind (Child)

Residence: Popowo, Posen (Poznan)

Ship Name: Pommerania

Captain: Schwensen

Shipping line: Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft

Shipping Clerk: Aug. Bolten Wm. Miller`s Nachfolger

Ship Type: Dampfschiff

Accommodation: Zwischendeck  {steerage}

Ship Flag: Deutschland

Port of Departure: Hamburg

Port of Arrival: New York

Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 033 C

Household Members:

Name Age

Caroline Firmazin 45

Auguste Firmazin 18

Carl Firmazin 9

Source Citation: Staatsarchiv Hamburg; Hamburg, Deutschland; Hamburger Passagierlisten; Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 033 C; Page: 439; Microfilm No.: K_1721.

Source Information:

Staatsarchiv Hamburg. Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

Original data: Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Bestand: 373-7 I, VIII (Auswanderungsamt I). Mikrofilmrollen K 1701 - K 2008, S 17363 - S 17383, 13116 - 13183.

Description

This database contains passenger lists of ships that departed from the port of Hamburg, Germany from 1850-1934 (with a gap from 1915-1919 due to World War I). The database includes images of the passenger lists digitized from microfilm in partnership with the Hamburg State Archive, available here for the first time online. It also includes a complete index for the years 1850-1914 (up to the start of World War I) and 1920-1923

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?ti=0&indiv=try&db=hamburgpl_full&h=5777529

Things I have collected
First Marriage
Stephan Fermazin was my great great Grandfather Frederick Fermazin's son from first marriage to Louise Bonaau. 
August Fermazin married Ernestine Kurz
Stephan Karl Fermazin
Caroline Fermazin
Henriette died from cholera 27 Sep 1852

Second Marriage was to Justine Braun
Children of second marriage were Charles Karl Fermazin my great grandfather
and Julia Augusta Fermazin

Third marriage to Caroline Hartwig who is the one who came to America
Children of third marriage were
Amelia Fermazin
Reinhart Fermazin
Bertha Fermazin

Ingram, Johan and Sarah and son Evan Ingram and son James Ingram

Will need to update post but wanted to get this down now.

This post talks about the mill owned or rented by John Ingram in Llananno Wales and about their son James Ingram and his coming to the US. 

His son James Ingram was born, according to my records, in 1828 in Radnorshire and because of trouble "drinking wine with the maids" came to the US. He paid someone $600 to serve for him in the Civil War. He had four wives: Mary ?, Rose Ann Brown Ewing, whom he married three months after Mary's death, Eleanor Steward Miskimen, and Sarah Clark. \par  \par In John Ingram's will (married to Sarah) he was living in Bridgeville when he \par died he mentioned a granddaughter, Diana Ingram.  The children listed were \par John, James, Sharlot Thomas, Sarah Worthing, Mary Jones, Elizabeth Worthing, \par Ann Black, and noted his son Evan was dead and left nothing to Evan's heirs. Evan's heirs had been adopted by his brother James Ingram. \par This will was witnessed by William Carothers and George Carothers.  The will was probated in December 1870.}

\ansi\ansicpg1252\cocoartf1504\cocoasubrtf810{\fonttbl\f0\fswiss\fcharset0 Helvetica;}{\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;}{\*\expandedcolortbl;;}\pard\tx560\tx1120\tx1680\tx2240\tx2800\tx3360\tx3920\tx4480\tx5040\tx5600\tx6160\tx6720\pardirnatural\partightenfactor0\f0\fs24 \cf0 MELIN 10. \par  \par C/P12 (p.36). Felin llwyn bedw, parish of Llananno (SO 103 738): on as mall brook tributary to the R. Eithon. \par  \par I quote Tucker: 'The name is marked on the Ist ed. 1" OS map, but is not shown on the Tithe Maps for Llanbister or Llananno, nor on the 6 "OS map of 1904. There are no signs on the ground, but the position indicated would seem to be the only possible site in the vicinity. [He was right'] This is a very doubtful mill site, however. \par  \par The OS 2" sketch map of 1816, held at the National Library of Wales, shows the mill on the cast side of the brook south of the road. The ground in the immediate area is very disturbed and broken, and it is impossible to make any sense of that which one sees today. The brook still forms the boundary between the parishes of Llanbister and Llananno as it did at the time of the 1st edition OS 25" plan published in 1889. \par  \par This plan shows an interesting diversion of the boundary from the brook]. It suddenly diverges from the stream and follows a pecked line marked 'Tk.S.', which in 'OS speak' means 'Track of Stream'. It then swings sharply to the south west at a point marked 'F.W', which means 'Face of Wall'. I think that the 'Face of Wall' was the end wall of a roofless building (marked A on Fig.3)) which shows quite clearly and scales to about 20ft. by 15ft. on plan. The 'Track of Stream' may well have been a short leat lead\'a8ing from the brook to an undershot wheel on the end of the bulldlng. There is also a further roofless building (B), which scales to about 20ft. by 1Oft. on plan. \par  \par Building A is, I think, probably the ruined mill. By 1904 the 2nd edition of the 25" plan does not show these particular features, although the boundary follows the same course across the ground. The site is on the Llananno side of the boundary, not in Llanbister. \par  \par There certainly was a Felin LIwyn beclw, and the Llananno Census returns give its occupants: \par  \par 1841   'Llwyn beddw Mill', John Ingram (50), miller, with his wife Sarah and three children; \par 1851   'Llwynbedow Mill', Joseph Thomas (22), miller, with William Thickens (61), 'Miller (Servant)'. \par  \par There is no record of the mill after 1851 in the Census returns, and one must assume that it went out of business between 1851 and 1861. It was most probably a corn mill of eighteenth century construction, and it is possible that it was built on the site of earlier medieval or post medieval mills since it would appear to have had an undershot wheel. \par  \par That the mill at least of eighteenth century date is made more certain by its association with the farm Maesllan which lies in Llananno parish about a kilometre to the north west. The Tithe Map for Llanano shows that field \par no. 1954 corresponds more or less to field no. 1063 on the OS 1st ed.25" plan. The Tithe Apportionment of 1841 records that this field, which straddles the boundary between Llananno and Llanbister, was called'Mil\'a8lfold' and that it belonged to the Maesllan farm. The Tithe Map shows a small building in the same position as Building A, with the parish boun\'a8dary taking a sharp turn around it in the same way. \par  \par MaesIlan Farm and Corn Mill were advertised with about 150 acres of meadow and pasture land to be let and entered upon at the next Lady Day in the Hereford Journal for 28th August, 1808, and again similarly described for letting five years later in the issue for 13th January, 1813. Mr G.Hughes, who has farmed locally all his life, told me that he had been told that if one dug into a bank by the western edge of the Millfold field, the ashes from a drying kiln could still be found. \par  \par Edmund Mortimer had a water mill at 'Thlananno' in 1304. Later, in the account of the Mortimer estates for 1356/7, it was recorded that the mill house at 'Lanhannow' was newly made using the lord's timber, and roofed with task work for 18s, and one grindstone was bought for. 16s. 8d. The 'farm' (lease) of Llananno Mill was let to David Lloid andDavid ap Cadwgan and was worth \'a34 in 1392/3. 11 While I am not saying that this was indeed the site of the medieval mill in Llananno, it is by the main river for the area. Furthermore the A483 road which passes by it is an old north south 'through road; so the connection is notimpossible. \par  \par Records from Llananno Parish Register, transcribed by Lloyd Lewis. \par  \par Baptisms \par Abode              Occupation        

  Vicar \par 9. Apr. 3    1814 Evan son John & Sarah Ingram  LletherServantDavid Morgan \par  \par Marriages. \par 9524.04.1812JonesIsaacSLlanbister \par IngramMaryXLlanannoBanns \par  \par 217.12.1813IngramJohnXLlananno \par LewisSarahSLlanannoBanns \par  \par 823.09.1839ThomasGeorge22BachelorBlacksmithSMaesyrhelem \par IngramCharlotte20SpinsterServant maidXCriggin \par Thomas ThomasBlacksmithJohn IngramMillerBanns \par  \par 2926.02.1846JonesDavid26BachelorServant manSTynyberth, AbbeycwmhirIngramMary22SpinsterServant MaidXLower Llethr, LlanannoJoseph JonesFarmerJohn IngramlabourerBanns \par  \par 3414.05.1849LloydWilliam30BachelorServantXCwmporth, AbbeycwmhirIngramAnne24SpinsterServantXCrychell, LlanannoBenjamin LloydGrocerRichard Ingram     *Banns \par  \par [S = Signed    X = mark] \par Witnesses in Italics \par  \par

 His son James Ingram was born, according to my records, in 1828 in Radnorshire and because of trouble "drinking wine with the maids" came to the US. He paid someone $600 to serve for him in the Civil War. He had four wives: Mary ?, Rose Ann Brown Ewing, whom he married three months after Mary's death, Eleanor Steward Miskimen, and Sarah Clark. \par  \par In John Ingram's will (married to Sarah) he was living in Bridgeville when he \par died he mentioned a granddaughter, Diana Ingram.  The children listed were \par John, James, Sharlot Thomas, Sarah Worthing, Mary Jones, Elizabeth Worthing, \par Ann Black, and noted his son Evan was dead and left nothing to Evan's heirs. Evan's heirs had been adopted by his brother James Ingram. \par This will was witnessed by William Carothers and George Carothers.  The will was probated in December 1870.}

Love Letters, Lies, Half-Truths – Who Knows?

Nancy Ames, twenty-one, was dressed beautifully on her wedding day. A broche with Lou’s picture graced her left shoulder. Full eyebrows, hazel eyes, and dark brown curly hair were piled on top of her head.  Lou Hansen, twenty-five, wore a black silk suit, a top hat, and a diamond stickpin in his lapel. His salary was $ 90.00 a month and he owned a 1903 Oldsmobile, a well-to-do gentleman by any standards.

“I do,” said Lou as he slipped the one-carat ruby ring, engraved with “Nancy 1906” on Nancy’s finger. Nancy placed a matching eighteen-carat gold ring inscribed “Ludwig 1906” on Lou’s finger.

They moved into a Queen Ann-style house, lavishly decorated in romantic and feminine décor with a green Persian rug in the center of the drawing room. Palm trees adorned the rooms. The wood, marble and brass were highly polished.

My grandmother, Nancy Ames Hansen Worthing, was nothing more to me than a name on a family tree before I took on the task of writing about her.  I was always curious about the grandmother for whom I was named. That curiosity leads me to find out more about her.  I know a little about her from Mom’s faded recollections, census records, newspaper articles, divorce papers, pictures and a death certificate. Nancy died from a brain tumor when Mom was twelve years old. My mom, Grace’s memories faded throughout the years. Mom remembered her walking her to school and as the mother who held her close, hugged her a lot, and read stories to her in bed on rainy days. To honor and remember her, Mom and her cousin Margaret named their daughters Nancy.  

Nancy grew up in a one-room shack on Lake Koshkonong, Wisconsin. They lived a hardscrabble life. She was born in 1883, the eighth of twelve children, three living older brothers and three living younger brothers.  Her father, Ira, was a Civil War veteran who suffered from alcoholism, PTSD, and chronic pain from measles pneumonia. Newspaper accounts stated, he sold his wife’s garden for booty. Ira started out married life as a farm owner, then laborer, then a fisherman living five miles from his nearest neighbor.

Nancy’s mother, Cornelia, died from pneumonia and starvation in childbirth when Nancy was nine years old. Her three older brothers were sent out on their own and she and her three younger brothers lived with their father for three years. Ira died when she was twelve. Nancy was sent to the Sparta Orphanage until age seventeen. After discharge from the orphanage she worked as a servant in Wisconsin and Illinois. I think she met her first husband, Lou (Ludwig Hansen) while living in Illinois.

Lou lived next door to Nancy’s brother, Hiram. Lou, too, was orphaned at age twelve in New York City. I have no information on how Lou ended up in Illinois or where he met Nancy.

Blanche was born in 1908. Soon after, the marriage deteriorated. Nancy and Lou divorced in 1913. After the divorce, Lou publicly humiliated Nancy accusing her of having an affair with a man named, J.P. Glass. Lou published accusations in the newspapers with contents of letters Glass had sent to her.

The newspapers throughout the Midwest carried headlines:

Values wife’s love at $ 10,000. L. Hansen

claims former spouse’s affection alienated

by J. P. Glass of Plainfield. Plethora of burning

love letters claimed as evidence by plaintiff

against former clergyman.

The article went on to say:

 Mrs. Hansen got a divorce in Wheaton, September 10, 1913.

             Her present address is unknown. She is said to be living in Chicago . . . .

                         Hansen said that Glass convinced Mrs. Hansen that he was her soul mate.

                         Hansen says in his bill that that he told Glass’ wife

                         that her husband was not faithful but he admits that he could not

                         convince her that he was telling the truth. Mrs. Glass took in Mrs.

                        Hansen as a [domestic] servant after she left her husband.

My mother died not knowing about these published letters.  Our neighbor, Mrs. Hamer once told my mother that there was a scandal about her mother’s first marriage but would not give Mom any details. It was only while I was doing genealogy research that I stumbled on to the newspaper articles.

On the envelopes of a letter postmarked Joliet is: “Nancy, read this when you are all alone. Be sure no one sees you. Then destroy.” Obviously, Glass did not want Lou to find the letters. Nancy did not destroy the letters. I picture her feeling infatuated with Glass and possibly thriving on the attention. If her marriage was in trouble the attention by Glass must have boostered her ego and made her feel desirable

Excerpts of a letter bearing the date of September 18, 1912:  “I am sending you $2—am sorry it is not more—will probably make up some day. I received your letter and card O.K. It is always safe to write in care of J. & S. at Joliet, for no one else will see any letter that comes there. [Glass was working as a railroad conductor at this time.] Of course we could not do any talking when you were over: for there were too many ears and eyes. But I want to give you credit for being close mouthed. You are all right, kid.  No one will ever learn anything from you.” This leads me to believe that Nancy answered Glass’ letters and that while she was working as a domestic servant at the Glass household,  Mrs. Glass and the children were around so she and Glass could not talk. I am not privy to what she may have written but I hope she asked Glass to stop.

 Glass was sneaking around trying to see Nancy. He wrote to her saying: “I will be in Aurora next Tuesday, September 24 and if O.K. will come at 10 in the forenoon or 3 in the afternoon, whichever is best for you. Let me know for I don’t want to take any chances. Write me to the same place as before or if any other day is better for you, I can meet your convenience. Think over that telephone proposition I made you and make the brute treat you right or leave him. You can take care of yourself. You have done it with him thrown in. Besides you know you have friends. Good-bye till I see you. Yours with love.  J.P.”

            From one of the other letters written by Glass it appears my Grandmother did not have clandestine meetings with him?  “Dear Nancy,

Where the Dickens have you been all afternoon? I have been hunting all over h _ _ _ for you since 3 o’clock.  I looked for you at the transfer station and when you did not come, I went up to the house twice and found no one at home….”

Some of the neighbors looked me over when I rang the bell, but if anyone says anything just tell them I happened to be in town and came up to pay you for some work you did for us and arrange to have you come and do some more. I don’t want to do anything that will cause talk or make any trouble, but I can’t tell you how disappointed I felt. Now, dearie, let’s not try to make any more dates by mail, but you come over the first chance you have and manage some way to see me on the side and we will talk it over and make arrangements. I am so impatient to see you that I could fight some one. I wish you had a phone – it would make things so much handier.

Hoping for better luck next time, I am your loving affinity. J.P. He sounds like a cad to me and that Nancy was not interested in carrying on with him. She may have been gone that afternoon or just not answered the door, or afraid Lou would come home and find Glass there. I want to believe this was a one-sided affair on Glass’ part.

Glass wrote to her again and again on September 12 1912 he wrote:

“Dear Nancy, I have wanted to talk to you so long and never had a chance, as there was always someone around. Dear girl, you do not know how much you mean to me. I would not say that I love you, for I am not sure that I ever really loved anyone or that I know what real, true love is.

But I will say this much, I think so much of you that if we were both free and you would have me, I would marry you tomorrow…. Yours, J.P.” Neither was free. Just wishful thinking on his part. He was married with three children and Nancy was married with one child.

            Nancy’s divorce papers state that Lou beat her and infer that she was in the hospital from the beatings. The papers also stated his affairs with lewd women in Chicago, and that he once held a revolver to his wife and daughter’s heads. Lou was in contempt of court for not paying alimony and child support. During the marriage and the divorce proceedings, Nancy hid her daughter, Blanche, with her brother Marvin in Janesville, Wisconsin, sixty miles away.

            Lou responded to the charges by claiming Nancy was out all night with other men and came home intoxicated. After the divorce, Nancy worked as a maid in an affluent Wheaton, Illinois household. There she met and married Charlie Worthing, the chauffer. They married on September 15,1915 and moved to Truro, Iowa. I know when they lived in Truro that they belonged to the Worthing Baptist Church. Nancy was an Eastern Star and Charlie was a mason.

            I know a little more about my Grandmother, Nancy’s life. However, much of what I’ve found provokes more questions. Did circumstances turn out the way they did because her role model growing up was a mother aged beyond her years from raising twelve children on the prairie in a one-room shack? Or a father who was an alcoholic? Did being an orphan and working as a servant lead her to marry a young, wealthy man (Lou) who showered her with affection and worldly goods? Was she a distraught wife? Did Lou beat her? Did Lou actually hold a revolver to their heads as the divorce papers state? Was she involved with Mr. Glass romantically or were the Glass’s sheltering her from Lou? Was she infatuated and craved the attention Glass showered her with? Did she marry Charlie for love, security, or escape from publicity? Did Charlie offer her the anonymity of living in Truro, a town of 300?

            The discovery of finding these published letters long forgotten, brought sorrow to so many more unanswered questions and me. Of the letters published, there were only the ones written by Glass. Although the newspaper indicates Nancy wrote back, Glass must have destroyed them. The letters only provide a glimpse into my Grandmother’s life. I wonder if my Grandmother ever imagined her granddaughter would find these newspaper articles. I wish to paint a picture of my grandmother being mistreated in her first marriage and living “happily ever after” in her second marriage. However, from my own experience, I know there is always some truth to rumors and innuendos. I want to think my grandmother was not having a clandestine affair with Mr. Glass. I want to believe she was very humiliated and saddened by the exposure of the letters. And that she was infatuated with Glass’ attention since her marriage did not work out. I hope she found some happiness in her Truro life raising her two daughters, Blanche and Grace.

            I knew Lou from a child’s view. After Blanche died, Lou came to live with us. He had no relatives.  My mother felt sorry for him being alone and elderly. He lived with us for six years until he died. I remember him as a bitter, mean, nasty old man who only loved his mint condition Model T Ford and his  parakeet. He always told my sister and I at the dinner table that, “Children should be seen and not heard”. In other words no talking about our day I remember him baby sitting for us one night and chasing us through the house with a razor strap. We hid behind a rocking chair for hours until our parents came home after midnight.