Wedding Wednesday - Gordon Robideau and Lou Etta Libby

Gordon is another one of my great grandmother Lulu's brothers. He was 29 and Lou Etta was 24 years old when they married on January 1, 1922.

The Princeton Union - Jan. 5, 1922, pg. 1

"Gordon Robideau, son of Mr. and Mrs. Nels Robideau, and Miss Louetta Libby, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Libby, were married in Greenbush on New Year's day.  Rev. Chas. A. Mayer performed the ceremony.  The attendants were Miss Flossie Libby, a sister of the bride, and Ralph F. Robideau, a brother of the groom."



Newspaper clipping is from the Library of Congress, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers site:  http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016758/1922-01-05/ed-1/seq-1/

Wedding Weddnesday - Clyde Robideau and Mabel Levi

    Clyde John Robideau married Mabel Dorothy Levi on Sept. 30, 1912 at St. Henry's church in Le Sueur, Minnesota.  Clyde Robideau is the oldest brother of my great grandmother Lulu (Robideau) Elsner which makes Clyde my great grand uncle. 

  The following newspaper clippings were published in The Princeton Union on Oct. 3, 1912:

      Clyde Robideau Weds.
  "Clyde J. Robideau, oldest son of
Mr. and Mrs. Nels Robideau of
Greenbush, and Miss Pearl Levi of
Le Sueur were married at St.
Henry's church, Le Sueur, on Mon-
day morning.  Rev. Vanderlanga
conducted the ceremony and cele-
brated the nuptial high mass.  Pat-
rick Hoey was best man and Miss
Myrtle Levi bridesmaid, while Miss
Vivian Lancaster, a niece of the
bride, acted as ring bearer.  Nelta
Fryeberg and Alice Grimshied, also
nieces of the bride, were flower girls.
Miss Elizabeth Fitzpatrick played
Lohengrin's wedding march and
Michael Hunt and Miss Fitzpatrick
sang, "Thou Art Always Mine."
  The bride was gowned in Roman

 net, trimmed with real Irish lace

                 over a costume of messaline satin
                 and carried American Beauty roses.
                 The bridesmaid's gown was of white
                 lace and she also carried roses.  Roses
                 and carnations were placed upon the
                 altar and the church was otherwise
                 prettily decorated.
                   A wedding repast followed the
                 ceremony at the home of the bride's
                 parents of which about 150 guests
                 partook, and a large number of use-
                 ful and costly gifts were bestowed
                 upon the happy young people.
                   On Tuesday Mr. and Mrs. Robideau
                 left for Edgerley, N. D., where the
                 groom holds a clerical position and
                 where they expect to make their
                 future home.
                   The Union joins the friends of
                 these popular young people in wish-
                 ing them happiness and prosperity
                                                                                            throughout life."


  The newspaper printed that Clyde married "Pearl" Levi, but I think this is a misprint. When I first saw it, I wondered who Pearl was because my research tells me that her name was Mabel.  And I have not found anything that indicates that her nickname was "Pearl".

Newspaper clippings are from the Library of Congress, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers site: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016758/1912-10-03/ed-1/seq-1/

Mystery Monday - Mystery Couple

Thanks to a newly found cousin, I have pictures of Albert & Lydia!  Everyone in the picture is identified with the exception of one mystery couple.  I have been trying to figure out who they are, but have had no luck.  So for now, they are Mr. & Mrs. Mystery Couple.  (I am assuming they are married, but maybe they are brother & sister.)

In this picture we have from left to right: Lydia (Richter) Elsner and her husband Albert Elsner, then Bill Kettelhodt, Lulu (Robideau) Elsner and her husband Erick Elsner, next to them is Fred Elsner, the mystery couple, and Elizabeth (Elsner) Kettelhodt.

In case you forgot how they are all related, here is a reminder:  Albert & Lydia Elsner are the parents of Fred, Elizabeth, Otto, and Erick.  Bill Kettelhodt and Elizabeth were married on Sept. 22, 1913; Erick Elsner and Lulu were married on Nov. 15, 1917; and Fred and Rena (not pictured here) were married April 30, 1913; Otto and Betty were married on Nov. 25, 1919.

So who is the mystery couple?  Is it Fred's in-laws, Samuel and Edith Winsor?  Or could it be one of Albert's brothers and his wife, or Lydia's sister and her husband?

In this picture, they have moved a few people around, Bill Kettelhodt and Fred Elsner are gone, but Fred's wife is in this one and now Otto and Betty are in the picture.  From left to right is: Otto and Betty (Hedin) Elsner, Lydia and Albert, Lulu and Erick, Elizabeth (Elsner) Kettelhodt, Rena (Winsor) Elsner, and then the mystery couple.

It looks like Mrs. Mystery Woman has her arm around Elizabeth's waist.  This makes me wonder if it might be Elizabeth's in-laws, Frederick T. Kettelhodt and Ottilie (Kriesel) Kettelhodt.  Bill isn't in this picture but he is in the one above and isn't even standing by his wife or the mystery couple.  And Rena is in this picture but she wasn't in the other one but her husband was.  Maybe they took turns taking the picture.  Were these two pictures taken on the same day?  Maybe they took the first picture before Otto and Betty arrived, so they had to take another family picture.  They all seem to be wearing the same clothes in both pictures.  Erick took his hat off for the second picture and Lydia has a different belt on her dress in the second one, but otherwise I think they are all in the same clothes.

In this one, all the ladies got together for a picture.  Left to Right: Lydia, Betty (Hedin), mystery woman holding a little dog, Elizabeth posing for the picture, Rena, and my great grandma Lulu in her sailor dress laughing at Elizabeth.  (Are they sitting on a wheelbarrow?!)

I noticed that in all these pictures, Elizabeth is always next to the mystery woman.  Is it because it is her mother-in-law, or a favorite Aunt?

Hopefully, someone will be able to help me identify the mystery couple and maybe we can figure out what year these pictures were taken too.  I believe the pictures were taken on Albert's farm which was in Greenbush Township, Mille Lacs, Minnesota.

Wedding Wednesday - Darrell and Elaine Elsner

Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Elsner
June 4, 1941

This wedding photograph is of my maternal grandparents Darrell and Elaine Elsner.  They met in a book binding class they attended at a trade school.

Darrell Marvin James Elsner and Velma Elaine Carver were married June 4, 1941. 

Darrell was born March 10, 1920 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He moved to California with his parents, Erick and Lulu (Robideau) Elsner, when he was a child.

Elaine was born April 29, 1920 in Los Angeles, California.  Her parents were Albert and Olive (Dixon) Carver.

They were married 25 years when Elaine died unexpectedly at the age of 46.

Happenings in Greenbush, Minnesota on December 7, 1911

The following was printed in The Princeton Union on Thursday, December 7, 1911 on Page 7.  It was under the heading of "The Farm Fireside. Gleanings by our Country Correspondents......" under the Greenbush section.

The Princeton Union, Thursday, Dec. 7, 1911, pg. 7

  The school children of district 5 are

preparing for a Christmas program.

  Frank Grow was among the crowd

who attended the dance in Santiago

on Thursday.

  Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Grow and

son, Leland, of Foley were here visiting

with relatives a few days.

   Quite a number of young people of

this vicinity attended the dance at

Santiago last Thursday evening.

  Mr. and Mrs. Nels Robideau and

Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Grow were welcome

callers at Mr. and Mrs. John

Odegard's on Sunday.

  A dance will be given at the residence

of Nels Robideau on Friday,

December 15. Supper will be served

and a good time is assured. Everyone

is invited.

  Mr. and Mrs. Rant Ross, Mr. and

Mrs. Sidney Grow, Mr. and Mrs.

Clyde Ross, Miss Conroy and Miss

Davis called on Mr. and Mrs. Thomas

Grow on Sunday.

  Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Ross and

daughter, Orpha, and Mr. and Mrs.

Sidney Grow and son, Leland, visited

with Mr. and Mrs. John Grow and

family on Sunday.
                                                             

  Most of the people in this article are my relatives!  I'll try to explain who they are, and later on, in a different posting, I will give you more information on each one of them.
  First, Mr. & Mrs. Nels Robideau are my great great grandparents.  Nels and Annie (Grow) Robideau are my great grandmother Lulu (Robideau) Elsner's parents.
  Five of Annie Grow's siblings are mentioned: John Grow, Sidney Grow, Thomas Grow, Alma Grow (Mrs. John Odegard), and Frank Grow.
  At the time this was written, Frank Grow was single and 20 years old;  Sidney Grow, 34, was married to Nellie (Ross), 29, and their son Leland was 6; John Odegard, abt 29, was married to Alma (Grow), 26; Thomas Grow, 27, was married to Ella (Taylor), 22; John Grow, 40, was married to Mary (Burke), 41.
  I wonder how many people attended the dinner and dance at the Robideau home?!  At the time, Nels, 45, and Annie, 38, had 11 children and one on the way.  My great grandmother, Lulu was 15 yrs old.  So there were already a lot of people in attendance!
 





Newspaper is from the Library of Congress, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspaper site: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016758/1911-12-07/ed-1/seq-7/

1910 Census and Marriages

Looking at the 1910 US Census I find that Albert has moved his family to Greenbush Twp (township), Mille Lacs County, Minnesota. He is now a farmer. I also notice that there are only 2 children listed, Otto and Erick. It still shows that Lydia has 6 children, 4 living. So where are Fred and Elizabeth? Fred would be about 25 and Elizabeth would be about 23 in 1910, so maybe they are married and living in their own homes.

First I looked for Elizabeth and Fred in the 1910 Census but was unable to find them. So I looked for marriage licenses because if Elizabeth married before 1910, I will need her married name in order to find her.

I found that Fred, Elizabeth, Otto, and Erick were all married after 1910. So where are Fred and Elizabeth for the 1910 Census? There are a lot of possibilities. One possibility is that since many of the census takers had such bad handwriting, it is hard for the transcribers to make out what the name is. So it could be that it is just indexed in such a weird way, that I haven't found them yet. But I will try looking for them again tonight. (I don't give up easily!)

Here is the marriage information:

Frederick W. Elsner married Lorena Winsor on Apr. 30, 1913 in Mille Lacs County, MN

Elizabeth Elsner married William F Kettelhodt on Sep. 22, 1913 in Mille Lacs County, MN

Erick John Elsner married Lulu Martha Robideau Nov. 15, 1917 in Princeton, Mille Lacs, MN

Otto Richard Elsner married Betty Hedin Nov. 25, 1919 in Princeton, Mille Lacs, MN

The Beginning of my search for Albert & Lydia

When I first started researching Albert & Lydia Elsner, I knew very little.  What I knew from my Great Grandmother Lulu (Robideau) Elsner was:

1. Albert, Lydia, and Fred were born in Germany
2. Lydia's maiden name was Richter
3. They immigrated to the United States through New York
4. They lived in Chicago, Illinois before moving to Minnesota
5. They had a daughter named Elizabeth
6. They had 3 sons: Fred, Otto, and Erick
7. Erick (my ggrandpa) was born in Chicago
 
Added to that was some information that my Uncle had found when he did some research many years ago:
1. Albert Elsner's date of birth - Oct 1857, Germany
2. Lydia Richter's date of birth - Aug 1855, Germany
3. Fredrick Elsner's date of birth - Apr 1885, Germany
4. Elizabeth Elsner's date of birth - Apr 1887, Illinois
5. Otto Elsner's date of birth - Oct 1894, Illinois
6. Erick John Elsner's date of birth - 13 Oct 1896, Huron, Cook, Illinois
7. Erick's birth certificate was a belated certificate filed by Fred W. on Aug 2 or 5 in 1941.
8. Albert & Lydia married about 1884 in Germany
9. Erick & Lulu married 15 Nov 1917 in Princeton, Mille Lacs, Minnesota

I put all this information together and started my research. First I looked at the 1900 Census and found them living in Chicago, Ill.  It lists their names, relationship, race, sex, birth month and year, age, marital status, and number of years married. Albert & Lydia have been married 16 years. The next two numbers - 6/4 indicate that Lydia has had six children, four of whom are living.  This is something new!  I didn't know that Lydia had 6 children.

The next three columns indicate where each person was born, their father's birth place, then their mother's birth place. The next column is the year they immigrated - 1887. The last column is the occupation. I am always curious about the occupations of my ancestors and I see that Albert was a Saloon Keeper!  How exciting!  I wish I could have asked my grandpa about that.  He was too young to remember anything, but maybe his family talked about it now and then and he could have had some stories from those times.

So the 1900 Census has a lot of good information, but also brought up a new question for me.  What happened to the other two children?  I see that there is an age gap between Elizabeth and Otto.  Could one or both of the children have been born between 1887 and 1894?

A Jaunt Down Memory Lane with Grandma Elsner

When I was 7 years old, my parents divorced and Mom moved with my sister and I to an apartment in Culver City, California. It was in the same complex that Grandpa and Grandma Elsner lived. (They were my great grandparents) I used to go to their apartment just about every day. I spent most of the time indoors with Grandma while Grandpa was usually outside in the carport "tinkering".

Grandma would play cards with me and we would sing songs and she would teach me things. She had a straight stitch sewing machine that she would help me sew very simple things on. Usually it was just a square or rectangle of fabric sewn together on three sides. Kind of like a pocket. And I thought I was really making something great! I would proudly take them home and put Barbie things in them.
 
She used to let me help her cook too. I got to stand on a stool next to the stove and stir things and shake the pan when we made popcorn! I would help her fix lunch for grandpa too.

After lunch was over and we had cleaned the kitchen, Grandma would want to take a nap. So we would go lay on her bed and she would close her eyes and I would ask her to tell me a story. So with her eyes closed, she would tell me the story of Goldilocks, or Jack and the Beanstalk, or sometimes she would recite children's poems like Little Miss Muffet. And sometimes, she would tell me about her family "back east". She had 14 brothers and sisters and I liked to ask her their names just so she would recite all their names for me. She would tell me about the farm and how having that many kids around was good help on the farm. Since she was the eldest daughter, she helped care for the young ones. Her parents names were Annie and Nels Robideau. Annie's maiden name was Grow. She told me that when she would get mad at her mother, she would take something her mother used a lot like a pair of scissors or her thimble and hide it! Her favorite place to hide things was in the wall. There was a loose board on the house and she would hide things in there. She said that if anyone ever knocked the house down to build something else, they were going to find a lot of her mother's "missing" things!
  
Sometimes she would tell me about Grandpa's family. About how they came to live on a farm in Minnesota not far from where she lived. She told me about how Grandpa's father, mother, and eldest brother came from Germany to the United States through New York. Their names were Albert, Lydia, and Fred. She said that Albert & Lydia lived in Chicago before they moved to Minnesota and that Grandpa Erick was born in Chicago. She told me that Lydia's maiden name was Richter and Grandpa had a sister named Elizabeth and two brothers, Fred and Otto.

There are many more memories I have with my great grandparents that I will write about later. After all, this is a blog, not a book!

I hope you enjoyed this jaunt down memory lane.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Erick and Lulu Elsner at Knox Berry Farm.

This is a picture of my great grandparents, Erick and Lulu Elsner.  Erick was born Oct. 13, 1896 in Chicago, Illinois and died April 20, 1975 in Los Angeles, California.  His parents, Albert and Lydia, and his eldest brother, Fred, immigrated from Germany in 1887.  He grew up on a farm in Minnesota with three siblings, Fred, Elizabeth, and Otto.  He married Lulu Robideau in 1917 and they moved to Minneapolis where they had a son, Darrell (my grandfather) in 1920.  At some point, they moved to Arizona.  Grandma Lulu told me that they moved away from Minnesota because she had bad allergies and the doctor told them to move to a drier climate.  Eventually they would move again and settle in Los Angeles, California.