Tag Archives: Frederick W Kellermann (1900-1980)

A Gem of Purest Ray $erene

19 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by in Diaries, letters, and manuscripts

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The following is from a page in the album assembled by Frederick William Kellermann (1900-1980):

A Gem of Purest Ray $erene

A special page ought to be allowed for this snapshot:

Seemingly insigificant by occasion, it yet represents a real treasure. Recognizable, of course are Aunt Ida (left, rear) and Granddad (seated, right). Little “Connie” (Ida’s only boy) sits in foreground (right).

The really precious quality of this treasure in not in the view but what lies behind it — literally speaking. On the reverse side is the only extant sample of Granddad’s handwriting — the handwriting so engrained in memory by the scores of letters that he sent Lute and myself while we were “studenten” at River Forest.

Herman-Kellerman-et-al-1918.pg

(Circa 1918–Please lift to read)

Lute will well recall the timeless phrase “Ich will ein check einlegen.” He will also recall with some relish how he used to open the letter with some alacrity and fish out the check before reading the letter — to see if it was for 100 or 150 dollars. Priceless memories!

The photo album is in the possession of Gayle Hirsh, nee Kellermann, who graciously provided the images.

The Eberleins

19 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by in Diaries, letters, and manuscripts

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The following is transcribed from two pages (titled “The Eberlein”) in the album created by Frederick William Kellerman (1900-1980):

Of the Eberlein wing of the relationship — Mother’s side — we know relatively little.The great distance which separated Missouri and Arkansas from Shawano, Wisconsin, kept us as youngsters from meeting most of the Eberleins. Grandpa died some years before Mother married, and Grandma died some 10 years later. This I well recall, since Mother took Ed, Billie (then a year old), and me to St. Louis by Mississipi steamboat (because of a landslide over the railway tracks), left Ed and me at 2106 Stansburg St, and visited her dying mother for six weeks. (I need not suggest why Dad had singled out Ed and myself for this extended sojourn!)

Grandpa and Grandma Eberlein were also of sturdy German stock and migrated by wagon train from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin when mother was a girl of 10. They apparently thrived, for they owned a hotel, which their large brood helped to run. Of the 14 children there were, I think , only 4 boys, of whom we came to know only Fred (my godfather) and Mike. Of our aunts, we came to know Aunt Ida, who married Dad’s brother “Kuns,” because this branch of the Kellermann tribe lived for over 10 years at Troy, Illinois, not far from St. Louis, and Aunt Kate, who spent some winters in our house in Vero Beach during the 1920s. Two of Mother’s sisters became school teachers and their photos appear elsewhere in this album: Aunt Emma, who married a missionary and removed to Australia, and Aunt Ida. I lived for a year with Aunt Ida’s family in St. Louis while I taught school (at Bethlehem Church), where (Dean) Fritz was then pastor. The snapshot of Aunt Ida and Grandpa Kellermann was taken around 1918, I think. (See page 11.)

Mike and Fred were both lawyers and partners in a number of enterprises, including an ice factory, a dairy, and a silver fox farm. How successful they were can only be conjectured from the fact that before the infamous jump in income tax rate they paid over $25,000 in taxes.

Fred visited Mother and Dad in 1900 at 2106 Stansbury St, St. Louis to act as my Godfather; in West Ely, Mis., in 1909 on his way to Arizona; and again during the thirties at Vero Beach. I recall Dad telling me that Uncle Fred has suggested starting a cannery in Vero Beach.

The photo album is in the possession of Gayle Hirsh, nee Kellermann, who graciously provided the images.