Prior Family Research
15
While the “Three Cousins” were not able to determine much about the relatives and ancestors of their grandmother, Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse and did not compile a report of their findings, they did make notes and identify records about Barbara. Included below are letters and notes by Helen, Julius and Norma that summarize the state of knowledge about Barbara Kraus in 2004.
Helen’s Letter
Helen sent the following letter in response to the many questions I had asked her about the Kraus family. She notes that she has no documents relating to Barbara and in the letter she summarizes what she knew from family lore about Barbara and the Kraus/Krauss family.
June 8
Dear Dale,
I will send you the information I have on grandpa. If you want to write a history of them you like to have them. Just remember I have no papers of any kind on grandma{Barbara Kraus]. Just remember some things that I was told by Aunt Martha [Martha (Kassel) Kirmse]. She apparently spent time with grandma in her last days. She said she came from the Kulmback area which was famous for its beer. (She may have lived in a town near Kulmback. She had a brother Adam, a sister that was married to a Krause and a sister that was married to a Schuetz. Those were things that your Dad, Norma and I were trying to figure out.
On census it has George & Renode Krauss children Johanna & Catherine which we thought were the ones. There is a Renorde Krauss buried in Longtown cemetery in 1910 but no tombstone. Cousin Amanda said that George went to an “Alten heime” old folks home in St. Louis, died and was buried there. George was a casket maker & undertaker which he did for grandpa in 1915.
Not sure but thought the Schuetz name was Annie. Amanda remembers her Dad (August Karl) going to some Schuetz funeral when she was a little girl in the worst weather with horse & buggy and after she got old wondered why it was so urgent for him to go to that funeral. I think Norma tried find Kraus information but with exact names, birthdates & originality of where they were born it is hard to do.
Your Dad wondered if her name was Kraus why her husband’s name was Kraus but seems like Dad said one Kraus had another spelling (Krauss or Krause). I never heard where she landed or when. I have a picture of her taken in St. Louis so she must have been up there! Don’t know how J&B [Julius and Barbara] met either.
Thought George and Renata were married at Hutschdorf according to some memos written down by Hildegarde. Later came to America with a child. Saw a picture of Adam in front of his house in Germany but can’t find the picture now (found it !) I have no clue on the Schuetz sister. Grandma’s relation are a complete puzzle.
There is a George Krauss that was a charter member at Longtown yet in the Friedenburg history book is says his wife was Wilhelmina Wirth & daughter Johanna born 1864 & Catherine born 1867. Also an Adam Krauss born Jan. 11- 1865 in Zersitz Bavaria Immigrated 1886 so there may be others with the same names.
I remember they always called him The Krausen Uncle. If he had a daughter that married a Dunn would make sense. I remember James Ernest Dunn & wife came here onced & he also was curious how the relationship between Kirmse & Dunn connected.Maybe you can figure it out!
Helen
Barbara’s family history and unknowns identified above have been explored . Also included with the letter were pictures, documents and information resources about her.
Julius’s Letter
Helen included this page from a letter that she received from my father, Julius Henry Kirmse:
Am thankful for the information you gave on Julius and Barbara Kirmse. All I can add is something Dad once told. As I remember it, Barbara had a sister in on of the near towns, probably Frona[Frohna] She married a non Lutheran and her sister Barbara did not associate with her any more. The husband had a blacksmith or carpenter shop. Any way he made coffins. The reason I remember it is that when a coffin was needed people would cut a corn stalk to the length of a diseased and take to the man. It seems the name was Krause. But, wasn’t that Barbara’s name before she married?
An other thing I am wondering about is that Grandma lived 9 years longer than grandfather. Where did she stay. I have no memory at all of her when mother and us were quarantined with whooping cough at the home place. Might have been with one of her daughters, Dorhoffer or Hacker?
My father, Julius Henry Kirmse, did tell me about visiting relatives in Perry County, Missouri when he was a young boy (Helen thinks he was about 9 years old). While they were there, someone came down with whooping cough. And, his family was quarantined with relatives for several weeks before they were allowed to return to Oklahoma. As best I remember, my dad said his family was quarantined at his Kirmse grandparent’s home.
If Julius Henry was 9 years old, both of his Kirmse grandparents would have been alive. I have no idea as to why my dad did not remember his grandmother. Maybe the children were kept away from her for fear of exposing her to whooping cough. Possibly as he suggests in the above letter, the grandmother may have been staying with one of her daughters to avoid contact.
Norma’s Summary
Norma summarized the results of her search for information about Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse in the following notes:
These appear to be the final notes that Norma made regarding the Kraus family and ancestors of Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse. Norma died in 2000 so these notes were probably written a few years earlier.
This summary is referenced and discussed in later chapters that address the issues raised in these notes.