There has been interest in hearing more about our Grandmother Ruth's life. We are blessed to have a written account that was published by two of her grandchildren the year she turned 90. I will be sharing some of that with you over the next several days.
We go back to the beginning, Grandma's own grandfather, Freiderich Schmidt and how he started his family. In 1876 at the age of 13, Freiderich emigrated from his native land of Germany to settle in America. He came west and lived for a time in Minnesota, first as a farmer, and then as a policeman. His first wife, Augusta was a small, slim woman, but strong in spirit. They lost a son, Oscar to pneumonia while in Minnesota.
In 1901, Freiderich went out to North Dakota to check out the possibility of homesteading there. He claimed land near Minot when it was covered with snow, but when he went back in the spring, he found the land too rocky. In 1902, he claimed the land near Kongsberg and moved his family there. He was excited to begin this next chapter of his life on the land that he had heard was so rich. At first, the family lived in a tent north of the railroad tracks with their young children until a home was built. The house was built into a hill south of the tracks and had a second story on he same level as the ground. It quickly became the "best chicken coop around" once the family moved into their new home. Their new home was a "catalog house"; the parts were ordered from the Sears catalog and arrived via the train. Once the pieces arrived, they were assembled. Grandma described her grandparents house as being "quite nice". It had a furnace, a big barn, a water shed and an ice box. It even had a bathroom, indoors. There was a tank of water with a motor attached and as long as the tank was kept filled, the motor pumped water into the house. It was a comparatively modern home for the times.
Grandma recalled her grandfather Schmidt as being a man who always felt younger than he really was, so when he heard of the wealth and excitement to be had in Texas, he decided to give life a try there. While there, he again met with tragedy. His wife, Augusta ate a bad onion and became very sick. Her condition worsened and she became horribly ill, she was sick for a week and a half and then died. Friederich was suddenly a widower. He had been in Texas for nearly three years when he returned to North Dakota.
After being back in North Dakota for a just a few months he traveled back to Germany. He missed being married and he thought about a family friend who had a daughter that would make him a good wife! Once in Germany he quickly convinced Maria to marry him and return with him to North Dakota. His courtship was helped along by a dream that Maria had had about a white horse that made her think that it was surely God's will that she marry Freiderich. He promised Maria that America had great and wonderful things to offer. By marrying him she did indeed avoid the horrors of World War II.
3 comments:
The union of FCF Schmidt and Maria Pieper in Germany resulted in the birth of Ursula in Mercedes Texas in 1930. She and I were married in 1949 and had 62 1/2 years of marriage when she died on Feb. 29th of 2-12. She was the last of that famiy you have described. I have a great picture of Fred taken in the Kongsberg state bank that I woull like to send to you if you will supply an email address.
Don Wunderlich
I would love to hear more of the story. My grandfather Richard bought the original Schmidt in the early 1920's for 5000 dollars It was not totally paid off until sometime in the early 1940's Marie was on the final papers for the sale as Fredirick had passed on. Recently I have made contact with Norma since the death of Ruth.
My mother, Marie Schmidt, was a daughter of Carl Schmidt, Fred's brother. She and her husband Delbert Rawlins moved to Washington state in 1936, but often spoke of Kongsberg and the church she'd attended there. Her sister, Ella Martinson, invited us to attend church with her and other relatives in Kongsberg about 10 years ago. That was the first time I'd seen where many of our relatives are buried.
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