There were other Brunken families in Oklahoma. One family was that of the brother of William Leopold Brunken, Gus Brunken. There also were Brunken families in Garfield County.
Garfield County Brunken Families
It appears from their obituaries that the family patriarchs were two brothers who moved to Oklahoma. No connections to the Nebraska Brunken families were found in the limited search that was made. Interestingly though was that many of the individuals in the Garfield County Brunken families had the same given names as members of the Nebraska Brunken families. My suspicion is that they are somehow related to the Nebraska Brunkens and that the connection is back in Germany.
Gus and Ida Brunken Family
- BACK ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: Gustav “Gus” Brunken, Ida (Schlosser) Brunken
- Front: Irene Dorothea Brunken
- WHEN: August, 1914 – Their daughter, Irene, looks slightly older than the following baby picture.
- WHERE: Meno Township in Major County, Oklahoma
- SOURCE: Grandma Brunken’s Album
- NOTES:
- A sticky note attached to this portrait identified this couple as being “Uncle Gus Brunken & Ida”. Possibly it was one of my aunts or uncles who wrote this sticky note, given the reference to “Uncle”.
- From Find-a-Grave, the following information is known about the couple:
“Gustav was born in Platte County, Nebraska. He was educated in a county school and moved to Oklahoma as a young man appearing on the 1910 census in Meno Township in Major county, Oklahoma, where he bought a farm. He met his future wife at a combined church function. He attended Zion Lutheran at Lahoma and she attended Trinity Lutheran at Glenella. She was also born in Nebraska and her parents had also moved to Oklahoma from Nebraska. They were married April 13, 1913, at Zion Lutheran Church at Lahoma, Oklahoma. About 1920, they bought a farm just east of Perry, Oklahoma, where they lived until 1925 when they moved back to Columbus, Nebraska. The Perry farm stayed in the family for many years until it was sold. “
- WHO: Irene Dorothea Brunken – Her parents were Gustav and Ida (Schlosser) Brunken. Gustav “Gus” was a brother of William Leonard Brunken.
- WHEN: Circa 1914 – Irene Brunken was born 17 May 1914 near Lahoma, Oklahoma. So this photograph was taken about August, 1914.
- WHERE: Lahoma, Oklahoma. This photo postcard was probably hand delivered since William and Mary Brunken lived near Gustav and Ida in 1914.
- SOURCE: Grandma Brunken’s Album
- NOTES: A note on the back of the postcard reads “Age 12 weeks – Weight [not legible] pounds.
- WHO: Irene Dorothea Brunken.
- WHEN: Circa 1916
- WHERE: Lahoma, Oklahoma
- SOURCE: Hilda Brunken’s Album
Lahoma Baseball Team
Why this 1909 postcard was in grandmother Brunken’s Post Card album was a bit of a mystery since William and Mary Brunken did not move from Nebraska to Lahoma, Oklahoma until 1910.
The captions on the right corners of the post card read, “1909 LAHOMA OKLA.” and “PHOTO BY ENRIGHT”[1].
On closer examination, the third man from the left looks somewhat like William Brunken’s brother, Gustav “Gus” Brunken. Gus had purchased land near Lahoma prior to 1910 as he was living on a farm that he owned (had a mortgage) in Meno Township, Major County, Oklahoma according to the US 1910 Census.
In 1909, there were also several Brunkens in Nebraska playing on a baseball team – possibly they were relatives of “Gus”.
Last Sunday Captain Zingg and his sluggers from Platte Center defeated the Athletics by a score of 6 to 2, in the prettiest game ever witnessed on the local grounds. It was a snappy game
all the way through, with the exception of the fourth inning, when the slow work of Brunken, coupled with an error, gave the Visitors four runs and the game. Batteries, Platte Center, Greisen, Greisen and Bruckner: Athletics, Brunken and Brunken. Struck out, by Platte Center,
18; by Athletics 16. Umpire, Bruchner.
Brunken baseball players. SOURCE: Newspaper clipping shared by Laurel Brunken
Laurel Brunken cautioned “I am not sure if these Brunkens are even related. I have not seen any first names. I am only guessing since it was published in the Columbus Journal 1909.”
The following article was subsequently found:
The Short Creek Athletes finished training last Sunday and are now ready to meet all comers. Under the management of Will Albers, the old reliable, and Rud Hageman, the witty chief, they ought to be on the winning side. Following is the lineup: H. Brunken, first base; George Hageman, second base; R. Hageman, third base; Wm. Albers, short stop; Louis Newman, left field; Peter Husebush, right field: E. Brunken, center field; O. Brunken, catcher: C. Brunken, pitcher; George E. Syas, substitute. The boys expect to strengthen the team later, as there will no doubt be some changes.
Short Creek Athletes team. SOURCE: The Columbus Journal, (Columbus, Neb.) April 28, 1909, page 1
The Brunken baseball players on the Short Creek[2] Athletes team appear to be Gus’s younger brothers in the following lineup:
- “H. Brunken, first base” – Henry Fredrich Brunken, age 26.
- “E. Brunken, center field” – either Emil Herman Brunken, age 17 or Edward Walter Brunken, age 16.
- “O. Brunken, catcher” – Otto Brunken, age 19.
- “C. Brunken, pitcher” – Charles Henry Brunken, age 24.
Gus was age 28 at this time and had moved to Oklahoma the preceding year.
Gustave Brunken writes his parents that he arrived safely in Oklahoma, and so far is much pleased with the country. He has purchased a span of mules and one horse, and is otherwise ready for spring.
SOURCE: The Columbus Journal. (Columbus, Neb.) February 05, 1908, page 1
Notes
- Barney P. Enright’s biography provides interesting insights about the photographer who took this picture. http://www.cherokee-strip-museum.org/Enright/bpEnright.htm
- “Short Creek” is the name of the small stream that runs through the John Dietrich Brunken (Gus’s father) farm near Platte Center, Nebraska.
Moving Back to Nebraska
- WHO:
- Irene Brunken, daughter of Gus Brunken
- Edwin Brunken, son of Gus Brunken
- Hilda Brunken, daughter of William Leopold Brunken
- Leona Brunken, daughter of William Leopold Brunken
- WHEN: August, 1925 – as per the caption on the picture in Hilda’s album- picture was taken possibly just before the Gus Brunken family moved back to Nebraska.
- WHERE: Probably at the William Brunken home near Lahoma, Oklahoma (Note the vines on the porch in the background and the shape of the roof.)
- SOURCE: Hilda Brunken’s Album
- NOTES:
- In response to the question I asked “When in 1925 did the Gus Brunken family move back to Columbus from Oklahoma?”, Diane Lliteras obtained and forwarded the following email of Sheryl Brunken about the recollection by Edwin “Ed” Brunken:
Just talked to Ed. He can’t say for sure, but his best guess is late June/early July 1925 for a couple of reasons:
He remembers it being warm and suspects it was after harvest season which puts it in that time frame for down there
He also remembers making the trip north in a Model T Touring car with a folding top. In case of rain, it also had curtains.”
- Possibly the car in the picture is the “Model T Touring car with a folding top” that the Gus Brunken family drove to Nebraska.
- In response to the question I asked “When in 1925 did the Gus Brunken family move back to Columbus from Oklahoma?”, Diane Lliteras obtained and forwarded the following email of Sheryl Brunken about the recollection by Edwin “Ed” Brunken:
