(The information below is extracted from a publication of the same name that was donated to the Henry County Genealogical Society by Deanna Thomas Clark. If you want to see the full publication, with photos, charts, and maps, copies have been given to the Deshler Public Library, the Florida (Ohio) Public Library, and the Napoleon Public Library.)
I. Overview
The Holtermann and Bostelmann families immigrated to Henry County, Ohio from what is now Niedersachsen in the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) in the mid-nineteenth century. Our German ancestors are among over three million Germans who have immigrated to the United States of America (U.S.A.). We can annually celebrate our German heritage on October 6, which is German American Day.
The extent, if any, of formal education of our German immigrant ancestors is unknown, although it is known that they could, to a limited degree, read, write and figure. Their U.S.A. born children mostly had grade school educations. Their grandchildren were usually high school graduates. The majority of their great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren and great-great-great grandchildren have applied technology, college or graduate school educations. And with each generation, the family members’ and their spouses’ occupations have become more and more diverse.
Generations later there are bits and pieces of the German language which remain in the family every day vocabulary usage. One common example is the colloquialism to “ret” (clean) up after a meal. However, very few family members are able to speak more that a dozen words of German.
Historically the family was German Lutheran. Today most family members remain Lutheran belonging to a variety of Lutheran denominations. However, some of the family are members of other protestant denominations, others are Roman Catholic, there are a small number who belong to still other faiths and some choose not to belong or be active in a church.
This is primarily the history, as we know it in 2005, of the roots and connections of the children of Dietrich Christof Bostelmann (Dick) and his wife Maria Catherina Holtermann (Mary). Dick and Mary came from The Kingdom of Prussia, which just a few years before was part of The Kingdom of Hannover, to Ohio. They lived in primarily German ethnic communities in Henry County, Ohio and in Nebraska after they immigrated. Dick and Mary’s children lived mainly in the states of Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa and California. Their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren and great-great-great grandchildren have scattered across the U.S.A. The family has kept its linkage through the years since the death of Mary in 1937 through:
- news filled letters accompanied by photographs which made their way together from branch to branch
- annual summer reunions, which were at first called the Holtermann-Benien Reunions, are traditionally held in Nebraska, but have been also held in recent years in Iowa, Washington, Minnesota and Ohio
- e-mail with its opportunities for fast communications
The following narrative sections succinctly include: historical and current data, maps, photographs, genealogy as well as family information and tales.
Although we do not know exact dates, we do know that the Holtermann family traces its ancestry from eighteenth century Germany in The Kingdom of Hannover. The Holtermann family recorded lineage begins with: Johann Christof Luedemann and his wife Maria Florentine Steffens, who were the parents of Anna Catherina Marie Luedemann; and to Hans Hinrich Holtermann, Sr. and his wife Maria Magdalene Precht, who were the parents of Anna’s husband Hans Hinrich Holterman, Jr. Hans, Sr. was a potato-vegetable farmer in Brokel am Rothenburg an der Wumme, The Kingdom of Hannover. Maria Magdalene Precht’s father was Harm Precht. The Precht family lived in Bellen am Rothenberg an der Wumme, which is and was a small village with two houses.
2. Holtermann
Our ancestors Hans Holtermann, Sr. and his son Hans, Jr. were born in the Dier Haus in Brokel am Rothenburg an der Wumme, The Kingdom of Hannover. It was a large brick building with a roof of rye straw and a roll of heather on the ridge. A stork had a nest on one end and hatched two young storks a year there.
Hans Hinrich Holtermann, Sr. and Maria Magdalene Precht were married on October 24, 1828. They had three daughters and three sons, including Hans, Jr. who was born December 10, 1832. Their other two children who are known are:
- Anna Maria was born May 29, 1829 in Brokel am Rothenburg an der Wumme, The Kingdom of Hannover.
- Catherine Margarettha was born October 21, 1830 in Brokel am Rothenburg an der Wumme, The Kingdom of Hannover.
Hans Holtermann, Jr. and Anna Catherina Marie Luedemann, born December 18, 1836 in Hemslingen am Rothenburg an der Wumme were married February 5, 1858 in Brokel am Rothenburg an der Wumme. Anxious about being conscripted in the Prussian draft, Hans raised the money and brought his family to near Okalona, Henry County, Ohio in April, 1870. Hans, Jr. died approximately six months later in Henry County. Hans and Anna had one son (Johann Hinrich {J.H.} born November 15, 1858) and three daughters (our ancestor Maria Catherina {Mary} born November 15, 1860; Anna Doris {Anna} born December 5, 1862; Catherina Minna {Catherina} born May 4, 1865).
3. Bostelmann
Bostelmann, according to some family members, formerly translated as “works with hands”.
Our Bostelmann recorded history begins with Johann and Elizabeth Bostelmann. Johann Dietrich Frederick Bostelmann (Johann) was born December 10, 1832 in Ottingen, The Kingdom of Hannover and died in 1865 in Ottingen. Johann was a tailor and a farmhand. Johann’s wife Catherina Elizabeth (Elizabeth) Borstelmann, daughter of Jurgen H. Bostelmann from Schwitschen, was born in Sohnitsohen am Visselhoevede on August 24, 1820. At sixteen, according to her obituary which was in German, Elizabeth had a high fever which left her deaf.
Johann and Elizabeth were married in 1847. Johann and Elizabeth may have been related with both having the same family name, or Elizabeth may have had the slightly different maiden family name of Borstelmann, even though her father was a Bostelmann. The German immigration records gives both names for Johann with Borstelmann in parenthesis after the family name Bostelmann.
Johann and Elizabeth had six children. The two who were born first were Catherina and Anna and they each lived about two years; the sixth child Maria lived less than a year. The three surviving children were: Johann Heinnrich Frederich (Henry) born March 25, 1852; Dietrich Friedrich Christoph (Dick) born January 1, 1856; Sophia Maria Catherina (Sophia) born October 27, 1858.
In 1868 in The Kingdom of Prussia, Elizabeth was struggling to make ends meet and very concerned that her two sons might be conscripted into the military. Henry, her oldest child, was working as a sheep herder, making wooden knitting needles and knitting socks, gloves, sweaters and caps for his younger brother and sister.
According to a family story known among Dick’s descendants, a Henry County, Ohio farmer named Fred Bostelmann offered to pay the passage of Henry from The Kingdom of Prussia to the United States. Henry, age 16, decided to take his brother Dick, age 12, with him. In May, 1868 when Henry boarded the ship, he helped Dick to hide behind a door of the ship. The crew discovered Dick mid-Atlantic Ocean and insisted that Dick return to his homeland. However Fred agreed to also pay for Dick’s passage. Fred probably was closely related to Henry and Dick and helped pay or paid for the transportation from The Kingdom of Prussia to Ohio of their mother Elizabeth and sister Sophia in 1869. Fred may have been a butcher and farmer, considering that both Henry and Dick became butchers as well as farmers.
And also in 1870, Peter Bostelmann, whose relationship to our family is unknown, immigrated from The Kingdom of Hannover area of The Kingdom of Prussia. Peter settled on the Bryan-Napoleon Pike about three miles west of Napoleon, Henry County, Ohio where he built a notorious tavern-roadhouse. Peter was born in 1835 and died in 1893.
1. Elizabeth Bostelmann & Heinrich Beckmann
Widows, before pensions and social security, often needed to remarry for economic reasons as well as for companionship and love. Elizabeth Bostelmann, widowed mother of Henry, Dick and Sophia, married Heinrich Beckmann December 17, 1869. As earlier recounted, Elizabeth immigrated to the U.S.A. earlier in 1869 with her daughter Sophia, following her sons Henry’s and Dick’s immigration in 1868.
Anna Holtermann, sister of Dick’s wife-to-be Mary Holtermann Bostelmann, married William Beckmann in 1880. William Beckmann’s relationship to Heinrich Beckmann is unknown.
Dick’s and Mary’s daughter Frieda lived for seven years with her paternal grandmother Elizabeth and step-grandfather Heinrich. This was most likely because Frieda’s parents’ home was crowded with their growing family which stressed resources and Frieda could be of assistance to the Beckmann grandparents. Frieda lived with the Beckmanns from when she was seven in 1891 until Elizabeth died in 1898 when Frieda was fourteen.
It was a long walk to school from the Beckmann’s home and Frieda’s hands became badly chapped. In cold weather, Elizabeth advised Frieda to urinate on her hands to heal them. Elizabeth gave Frieda one cold boiled potato to take to school for her lunch each school day.
Elizabeth had a stroke which left her paralyzed four weeks before her death in 1898. Elizabeth died following another stroke in Okolona, Ohio on October 25, 1898. Her funeral sermon’s text was John 3:20. “For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.” NRSV
2. Anna Luedemann Holtermann & Frederick Benien
Anna Catherina Marie Luedemann Holtermann, widowed mother of J. H., Mary, Anna and Catherina, remarried about 1871. This was shortly after her husband Hans died in 1870 in Henry County, Ohio. Hans’s death was about six months after the family of six arrived in Ohio from The Kingdom of Prussia.
Anna then married Frederick Benien, whose family was prominent in Okolona, Henry County, Ohio, where it owned a large general store. Frederick was born on November 20, 1839, married Anna when he was approximately 31 years old and died on March 11, 1911. Anna died in 1895 in Nemaha County, Nebraska. Anna and Frederick had three daughters and one son ( Dora born August 17, 1872; Herman born July 21, 1874; Emma born January 23, 1877; Frieda born January 21, 1882).
3. Henry Bostelmann & Maria Wildung
Johann Heinnrich Frederich Bostelmann (Henry) was born March 25, 1852 in Ottingen, The Kingdom of Hannover, and immigrated to Ohio in May of 1868. He died in April 23,1940 in Holgate, Ohio of natural causes. Henry married Maria Wildung on February 23, 1877 in Henry County, Ohio. Maria was probably born in Germany. In Ohio, the Wildung family had a photography business. Maria died May 4, 1921 in Holgate, Ohio of natural causes. On their tombstones their names are inscribed as Hinrich J. Bostelmann and Maria E. Bostelmann.
Henry was a butcher and owned a farm outside of Holgate, Ohio, which is south of Napoleon. The farm is located west on Road 18 out of Holgate, beyond the railroad crossing and on the right (north) side of the road. Henry’s name, although very faded can still be seen painted on the re-roofed green-shingled barn.
Henry and Maria were Lutherans throughout their lives. They had two daughters: Sophia, born December 17, 1877, and Anna, born, June 30, 1880. Henry and Maria were known by their children as “Vater” and “Mutter”.
There is a book written about the Wildungs in the German language in Germany, which has been translated into English. J.H. Holtermann, Henry’s brother Dick’s wife’s Mary’s brother, married Anna Wildung; relationship with Maria Wildung Bostelmann is unknown.
4. Dick Bostelmann & Mary Holtermann
Dick (Dietrich Christof Bostelmann) was born January 1, 1856 in Ottingen, The Kingdom of Hannover. Dick immigrated to the United States in May, 1868. He became a citizen of the United States on October 9, 1877. On his gravestone his name is inscribed as Dietrich.
Mary (Maria Catherina Holtermann Bostelmann) was born November 15, 1860 in Brokel am Rothenburg an der Wumme. Maria was known later in her life as both Marie and Mary. Her obituary and gravestone record her name as Marie. She wrote her name as Mary in a statement she wrote late in life and the family thank you, after her funeral, in the local newspaper records her as Mary. She was confirmed in 1874 and was a strict, devout Lutheran.
Dick and Mary met at a dance. He came to her rescue as she was being teased because of her inability to dance. Dick was devout in his Lutheran faith, but he was less strict in his adherence to some of its admonishments than his wife Mary. They were married January 4, 1878 near Napoleon, Henry County, Ohio with the permission of Mary’s mother Anna. German was the primary language of Dick and Mary’s home. Dick worked as a hired man in Ohio and in Nebraska, even after he had a place of his own. The 1910 federal census shows that the children aged sixteen through eight were living at home on the family farm, a few miles northwest of Chester, Nebraska. Those children living with their parents were: Emma, Edwin (Hap), Gustav (Shorty), Albert and Dorothea. The farm is located 2 miles west of Chester on State Highway 8 and then 1 1/4 to 1 ½ miles north on the west side of the road. It was rented from Evelyn Bond for $123.46 per year with livestock as collateral.
Dick died February 2, 1915 in or near Chester, Thayer County, Nebraska when he had a stroke while butchering. February 5 was the day of his funeral. It was bitter cold and the younger grandchildren were not taken over the icy roads to the funeral services at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church or burial in the church cemetery a couple of miles east of Chester on State Highway 8.
After Dick’s death in 1915, Mary stayed on the farm near Chester, Nebraska with her youngest children. Shorty did the farming. Hap managed local hotel in Chester, which was a serious financial challenge resulting in his needing and taking some family farm resources. Mary’s oldest child George helped them, including providing a horse to aid with the farm work. About 1924 following her son Shorty’s marriage in 1923, Mary had a farm sale and moved, with her daughter Dorothea, to a small house in Chester, a block south of the Lutheran church. This is the house that later became known as Shorty’s house. Dorothea then moved to Davenport, Iowa, to be with her brother Albert and to work there. Mary joined her youngest children Albert and Dorothea in 1925 to be with them and keep house for them.
In 1932, following the marriage of Albert to Elsie Schneider, Mary returned to Nebraska staying in Chester and Oconto. In 1934 she returned to Iowa, became ill and was hospitalized at an Iowa City hospital. Upon her release from the hospital she stayed at the homes in Iowa of her son Albert in Williamsburg and then her daughter Emma, who lived near Alburnett. Mary returned to Nebraska in 1935 to be with her Nebraska children.
Mary liked to keep busy with needlework, including tatting collars. She was also quite fond of making large batches of cookies with her grandchildren. Emery Hobelman, her son George’s oldest grandson, remembers her teaching him to tie his shoes while she was living with George and Anna.
Mary died August 1, 1937 in Chester, Thayer County, Nebraska at her daughter Anna’s home. Although she loved flowers, she was very allergic to them. At the time of her death, she was badly broken out from her allergies. According to some family members today, she also suffered at the time of her death from trichinosis from eating meat that had not been cooked enough for which she was being treated by a doctor in Missouri. The Missouri doctor died before Mary’s death without sharing his remedy-recipe with others. Description of Mary’s symptoms by her granddaughter Lousie Marie Bostelmann Barry, who helped care for her, indicate she may also have had breast cancer which had spread to her lymph system.
All of Mary’s living children, except Dorothea her youngest child who had just given birth to her oldest child Clifford Schroder, were at her funeral. Services were held at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chester which her husband and sons had helped build. The text of her funeral sermon was the first five verses of the 103rd Psalm. “1. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits– 3. who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4. who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5. who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” NRSV Mary was buried at the church cemetery in the second row from the gate, and to her far right in the same row is her husband Dick.
Dick and Mary had twelve children: George born February 14, 1878; Amelia born July 1, 1880; Helen born May 18, 1882; Frieda born April 24, 1884; Marie born May 11, 1886; Matilda born February 13, 1888; Anna born April 11, 1890; Emma born July 18, 1892; Hap born October 12, 1894; Shorty born November 6, 1897; Albert born April 25, 1900; Dorothea born February 11, 1902.
5. Sophia Bostelmann & John Meyer
Sophia Maria Catherina Bostelmann was born October 27, 1858 in Ottingen, The Kingdom of Hannover. Sophia and her mother Elizabeth immigrated to Ohio in 1869. Sophia married John Meyer. They had three daughters (Matilda; Helen; Sophie) and one son (William) born in Henry County, Ohio. Sophia died on October 27, 1890 in Henry County, Ohio. John died December 12, 1908 in Henry County, Ohio.
6. St. Peter Evangelical & Bethlehem Lutheran Churches in Ohio; St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Nebraska
From 1890 to 1903, the Dick and Mary Bostelmann family worshiped at St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church in Florida, Ohio. During that time, George, Amelia, Helen, Marie and Matilda were probably confirmed at the church in Florida. And Anna, Emma, Hap, Shorty, Albert and Dorothea were baptized there. A note written by Dorothea late in life states she was baptized at the same service where her sister Matilda was confirmed. Shorty was baptized on November 22, 1897 and Marie was confirmed April 13, 1900.
Frieda was confirmed April 3, 1898, at the rural Bethlehem Lutheran Church, north of Florida, as she was living with her paternal grandmother and step-grandfather at that time. Frieda’s name at her confirmation was recorded as “Frieda Ann Louise Catherina Dorothea Bostelmann.” Frieda’s father Dick was confirmed at this church in 1870 with his last name spelled “Borstelmann”. Dick’s and Mary’s oldest child George was baptized there on March 31, 1878, with his name registered as ” Georg Heinrich Friedrich Borstelmann”. The church cemetery is located behind the church.
St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chester, Nebraska, was organized October 9, 1898 with Henry Kuhlmann, father of Hank Kuhlmann (Hank was the husband of Dick’s and Mary’s daughter Matilda Bostelmann.), signing the constitution. He was one of its two original elders and trustees. Also one of its founding members was Chris Kuhlmann, father of Fred Kuhlmann (Fred was the husband of Dick’s and Mary’s daughter Anna Bostelmann.) Its first church building, a small white wooden church, was dedicated in 1900. St. John became part of The Lutheran Church– Missouri Synod denomination August 16, 1901. In 1914 a crowded Christmas service was held in the evening in English. However it was around 1917 before the congregation decided to have one English service every two weeks after the German service. The Church’s cemetery is located one mile east of Chester on State Highway 8.
St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church’s present brick structure was dedicated in 1911 and cost $10,000, plus $5,000 for furnishings. The altar, pulpit, baptismal font and lectern were imported from Germany and a craftsman accompanied them to make sure they were properly installed. (The Methodist Church was organized in 1881 and built its brick building with a pipe organ for a total $28,150 in 1910-12. The Christian Church was organized in 1881 and built its brick building for a total of $18,000 in 1907-08.)
In 1901 Pastor Adolf J. Soldan, after graduating from Concordia Seminary St. Louis, had an opportunity to play for the Chicago Cubs. He turned it down to be the Lutheran pastor in Chester, where he designed the building. Pastor Soldan taught in the parochial school and during recesses taught children to play baseball. Pastor Soldan eventually built another much larger Lutheran church in Madison, Wisconsin across from the University of Wisconsin, served as a prison chaplain and ended his career as a pastor for a small Lutheran Church in Hollywood, California where he presided at Marilyn Monroe’s funeral. He and his family were close personal friends of Dick’s and Mary’s son Albert.
Three have become pastors from the church, including Rev. Albert Bostelmann, youngest son of Dick and Mary. Among the seven who entered the teaching ministry of the denomination from St. John is Wallace (Wally) Bostelmann, youngest child of Shorty and Erna Jungck Bostelmann. Shorty was the third son of Dick and Mary.
1973 was the year the 75th anniversary was celebrated with five church services. The Sunday morning service was conducted by Rev. Albert Bostelmann. Albert’s nephew Orville Kuhlmann also conducted an anniversary service. Orville was the oldest son of Hank and Matilda Bostelmann Kuhlmann. Shorty Bostelmann served on the 75th anniversary committee.
Today St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church has the largest congregation in Chester. There is, also, a Methodist Church. The large, brick Christian Church, where Dick and Mary’s daughter Frieda worshiped as well as some other family members, closed a few years ago.
St. John is where children of Dick and Mary received the following following pastoral acts, as recorded in 1998 in its 100th Anniversary Booklet: Anna Bostelmann and Fred C. Kuhlmann were married in 1906 and Fred’s funeral was in 1936; Emma Bostelmann was confirmed in 1907; Edwin Bostelmann was confirmed in 1908; Gustav Bostelman was confirmed in 1910; Albert Theodor Bostelmann was confirmed in 1914; Dorothea Katharine Bostelmann was confirmed in 1916; Gustoav Bostelmann and Erna Jungck were married and their eldest child Louise Marie Bostelmann baptized in 1923; Gustav Franz Bostelmann’s funeral was in 1974 and his wife Erna Bostelmann’s funeral was in 1990. It is also where Dick’s and Mary’s funerals were: Dietrich Bostelmann in 1915 and Marie Catherine Bostelmann in 1937. Various other Bostelmann individuals are listed in the Booklet, but relationship to our family is unknown. Spellings above are as listed.
7. Nebraska
The Dick and Mary Bostelmann family moved in 1885 to Nemaha County, Nebraska and then briefly to Thayer County, Nebraska. During 1888 and 1889, George (age 10-11), Amelia (age 7-8) and Helen (age 6) were enrolled in school in Nemaha County, Nebraska according to the school census taken in April of each year.
With drought and economic disaster in Nebraska, Dick and Mary and their seven children, who were born at that time, returned to Ohio in 1890.
George, the oldest son of Dick and Mary, went back to Nebraska by 1895. And Anna Catherina Leudemann Holtermann Benien (Anna), mother of four Holtermann children including Mary Holtermann Bostelmann, moved with her second husband Frederick Benien and four children by him to southeastern Nebraska in or near Nemaha County by 1895. Also Anna’s two youngest Holtermann daughters, Anna and Catherina, moved at some time to Nebraska and died there.
Dick and Mary and their nine youngest children made a final migration to Nebraska in 1903 and lived in succession near Diller, Byron and finally Chester. The family mode of transportation in 1885 and 1890 is unknown, however in 1903 the family used a Conestoga wagon.
Lewis and Clark crossed and explored Nebraska as part of the Louisiana Purchase, the Homestead Act bought thousands of pioneers to Nebraska for free land beginning in 1862. It entered the Union as the 37th state with its unique unicameral legislature in 1867.
Southeastern Nebraska is a gently rolling prairie. The soil is somewhat sandy and today produces bountiful crops of corn and wheat. Early pioneers found it covered with deep rooted growth including mixed grasses, wild flowers, plus, thickets of shrubs and trees near water sources. Wild animals at that time included bison, wolves, white-tailed deer, bears as well as much smaller shrews, birds and insects. The earliest homes were hillside dugouts, grassland soddies and log cabins.
Auburn, a community of 3,500 today, is the county seat of Nemaha County. It was formed when the rival communities of Calvert and Sheridan consolidated to obtain the Nemaha county seat in 1882. Some of the early primary streets are still made of bricks.
Chester today has a population of 300 with a large grain elevator and grain storage, two churches, a school, city hall, restaurant, gas station and modest homes. Historically, Chester was platted by the Lincoln Land Company in 1880 and incorporated on December 3, 1883 with the organization of a school district preceding that in 1879 and the first school house erected in 1881 or 1882. It has been home in the past to at least: three hotels, two banks, two newspapers, two livery stables, a skating ring, one saloon, six blacksmiths, four general merchandise stores, several restaurants, several hardware and implement stores, one meat market, two barbershops, two drug stores, three grain elevators, two lumber and coal yards, a dray line, a garage, a cream station and a stock and poultry farm, one dentist, several doctors, a real estate company, a telephone system, an electric light plant and railroad facilities. In 1914, this village of 570 had eight secret societies, as identified by the Chester, Nebraska, Herald: Modern Woodmen; Royal Neighbors; Odd Fellows; Rebekahs; Royal Highlanders; Degree of Honor; Workmen; Women’s Relief Corps.
III. Leudemann-Holtermann-Benien Lineage: Children of Anna Luedemann & Hans, Holtermann Jr; Frederick Benien
As has been earlier noted, Hans and Anna Leudemann Holtermann, Jr. had four children: J.H., Mary, Anna and Catherina. And then after Hans’s death, Anna married Frederick Benien and had four more children: Dora, Herman, Emma and Frieda.
A. J.H. & Anna Wildung Holtermann
Johann Hinrich Holtermann (J.H.) was born November 15, 1858 in Brokel am Rothenburg an der Wumme and died January 25, 1949 in Fikeston, Missouri. He married Anna Margareta Wildung, who was born April 19, 1862 and died in 1942. Henry Bostelmann, J.H.’s sister Mary’s husband Dick’s older brother, married a Maria Wildung; relationship to Anna Wildung Holtermann is unknown.
J.H. signed family correspondence with the name J. H. Holtermann. His letterhead states that he was a real estate dealer, notary public, justice of the peace, fire insurance agent, sold indemnity bonds and did farm management. J. H. and Anna had one daughter and two sons. All three married and none had any children.
B. Mary Holtermann and Dick Bostelmann
Information about Mary can be found on page 27 in the Bostelmann section with her husband Dick.
C. Anna Holtermann & William Beckmann
Anna Doris Holtermann was born May 12, 1862 in Brokel am Rothenburg an der Wumme and died February 14, 1888 in Burr, Nebraska in child birth. Burr today is a town of under 100 with a large grain elevator and grain storage, a tavern, a post office, and two churches: old, small, white-painted, milled lumber Methodist (founded in 1885) and modern, large, brick Lutheran.
Anna married William Beckmann, a Methodist minister, October 13, 1880. William was born on May 23, 1858, and died in 1930. Relationship if any between William and Anna’s sister Mary’s husband Dick’s stepfather Heinrich Beckmann is unknown. Anna and William had three sons and one daughter.
William married again in 1890 to Mathilda Gerecke. Mathilda was born March 31, 1862 and died in 1943. William and Mathilda had two daughters and six sons.
William and Mathilda, his second wife, share a gravestone at Hope Lutheran Cemetery. On his side is inscribed: Luke 1: 23. It is: ” When his time of service was ended, he went to his home.” NRSV On her side is inscribed, Mark 4: 37-39. It is “37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.”NRSV There is an unmarked gravestone near William’s which may be his first wife Anna’s.
D. Catherina Holtermann & Herman Grueber
Catherina was born May 4, 1865 in Brokel am Rothenburg an der Wumme. She died November 18, 1928 in Nebraska. She married Herman Frederick Grueber, who was born August 17, 1862. They had four daughters and four sons.
E. Benien Connection
As previously noted, Anna Luedeman Holtermann, widowed mother of J.H., Mary, Anna and Catherina, married Frederick Benien about 1871. Anna and Frederick had four children: Dora born August 17, 1872; Herman born July 21, 1874; Emma born January 23, 1877; Frieda born January 21, 1882.
1. Dora Benien & Carl Wohlforth
Dora Benien was born August 17, 1872. She married Carl Wohlforth and moved with him to the Los Angeles area of California. Carl and Dora had four daughters, two who died as infants. Dora died July, 1961.
2. Herman Benien
Herman Benien was born July 21, 1874 and died August 10, 1913. He never married.
3. Emma Benien & J.C. Fitting
Emma Benien was born January 23, 1877 and died July 6, 1960. She married J.C. Fitting and they had three sons and one daughter.
4. Frieda Benien & Harry Patton
Frieda Benien was born January 21, 1882 and died April 18, 1959. She married Harry Patton and they had four daughters and four sons.
IV. Bostelmann Lineage: Children of: Henry & Maria; Dick & Mary; Sophia & John
Johann and Elizabeth Bostelmann had three surviving children: Henry, Dick and Sophia.
A. Henry & Maria Bostelmann’s Family
Henry and Maria Bostelmann had two daughters: Sophia and Anna.
1. Sophia Bostelmann & Christian Tadsen
Sophia Marie Elizabeth Bostelmann was born on December 17, 1877 in Henry County, Ohio, and died on May 9, 1961 of natural causes. Sophia was married October 10, 1901 to Christian “Chris” Tadsen who was born December 29, 1878 in Genoa, Ottawa County, Ohio and died in 1959.
Both had a grade school education. Sophia and Chris farmed and eventually owned Henry’s farm. They had eight daughters and one son, four (three daughters and one son) of whom grew to adulthood.
2. Anna Bostelmann & Christian Walter
Anna Maria Sophia Bostelmann was born June 30, 1880 in Holgate, Ohio and died March 4, 1960 in Florida, Ohio. She married Christian “Chris” Walter on February 22, 1906. He was born April 14, 1882 and died March 17th 1961.
Anna made bread, sweet rolls and dinner rolls, for the family. On Sundays, chicken was often served. The chickens were prepared for cooking earlier in the day: first the heads were cut off and the chickens flopped around on the ground and then were hung from the clothesline. The chickens’ feathers were plucked off in hot water, which soon became stinky, and the rest of the feathers were singed over the open fire from the stove.
Anna and Chris rented a farm, were Lutheran and had two daughters and two sons.
B. Dick & Mary Bostelmann’s Family
Dick and Mary Bostelmann had twelve children: George, Amelia, Helen, Frieda, Marie, Matilda, Anna, Emma, Hap, Shorty, Albert and Dorothea.
These children of Dick and Mary’s were overall recognized through-out their lives as having various attributes in common: physically attractive, hard workers, dry senses of humor, devout in their faith in the Triune God and loving each other. Most carried on historic traditions of the family as they, their descendants and/or their spouses: raised large vegetable gardens that their ancestor Hans Holtermann, Sr. would have appreciated; and valued good meat which would have pleased Dick Bostelmann and his older brother Henry. And, like Dick and Mary, some had their first child very early in their marriage.
1. George Bostelman & Anna Hoops
George Henry Bostelmann was born February 14, 1878 in Henry County, Ohio. George married Anna Clara Martha Hoops on September 26, 1902 in Bryon, Thayer County, Nebraska. Byron was a German settlement where German was the language in many homes. George and Anna were members of the American Lutheran church. They had two daughters and one son. His two daughters married two Hobelman(n) brothers.
Anna was born April 29, 1883 in Auburn, Nemaha County, Nebraska, and died February 12, 1968 in Hebron, Nebraska. Her parents were Wilhelm Hoops and Anna Wilhelmina Bohling Hoops. Wilhelm was born January 21, 1839 in Schwalinger, The Kingdom of Hannover and was a shoemaker by trade. He died May 5, 1936. Wilhelm’s wife Anna was born January 4, 1853 in Taevel, The Kingdom of Hannover, came to the U.S.A. in 1869 and died March 8, 1941 in Byron, Thayer County, Nebraska. Wilhelm and his wife Anna were married in October, 1870. They had twelve children; three of which were stillborn or died in infancy. Wilhelm’s parents were Henry Hoops and Angelica Gebers.
Anna’s sister Sophia was married during the same wedding ceremony as George and Anna to her husband Earnest Harmes. The weddings took place at St. Peters Lutheran Church, located between Hardy and Byron, Nebraska. The four lived to celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversaries together and separately in good health according to a newspaper story. At George’s and Anna’s separate celebration, their pastor delivered an anniversary message. A program was provided featuring several of their musically accomplished grandchildren, great grandchildren and friends. Their grandson Dean Hobelmann acted as toastmaster. And a delicious lunch was served, featuring a beautiful wedding cake portraying an open Bible by their eldest grandchild’s (Emery Hobelman) wife Ruth.
When George and Anna married, Anna’s father presented them, as he did for each of his children, with a farm of eighty acres. George and Anna bought an additional 80 acres. Their farm was located two miles east of Byron, Nebraska, on the north side of the Kansas/Nebraska state line. It was a quarter section, measuring 1/4 mile wide and 1 mile long. The farm was sold in 1909 and the $8,000 from its sale was lost through a bad business investment in a hatchery in Superior, Nebraska, with a brother of Anna’s. Eventually, they had another farm which was 1/4 mile north of Ash Grove School. When times were very hard, George and Anna lived with Anna’s parents and with their daughter Irene and her husband Albert Hobelman and their family.
As their finances improved again in the late 1930’s, George and Anna bought a home in Byron with a barn and small pasture that even had electrical lights. This was after George recovered from a car accident caused by a wooden wheel spoke breaking. His home in Byron was located one block from the home, which was bought at the same time, as his daughter Irene and son-in-law Albert bought their home. George and Albert each bought a milk cow which Albert’s son Emery milked in a $1 a month rented pasture during the summertime.
George had a variety of occupations during his lifetime including farming, operating a creamery, working at an implement business setting up new equipment, and the hatchery. During prohibition he worked at a liquor store when Nebraska was wet and nearby Kansas was dry. The liquor store also sold gasoline and kerosene. And George serviced water meters for Byron, Nebraska and finally was employed as a school custodian until his retirement.
When George could, he was quietly helpful with resources for his parents and siblings. Considered a kind and loving man, he was well thought of and remembered fondly by customers of various businesses in which he worked years later. His grandchildren remember his enjoyment of socializing, his talking with his hands, his reputation for being kind and loving and his smoking cigars. His wife Anna was often ill and concerned about her health.
George loved to walk. He died July 16, 1967, in Deshler, Nebraska, after being struck by an automobile while walking along a highway. This delightful man, with a wonderful sense of humor who enjoyed teasing and poking family and friends in the ribs, at the time of his death was starting to suffer from the effects of aging.
2. Amelia Bostelmann
Amelia Anna Dorothea Bostelmann was born July 1, 1880 in Henry County, Ohio and died there September 12, 1901.
Amelia had typhoid fever the previous year and suffered from ‘female problems’. Amelia never married and did not have any children. She was a Lutheran throughout her brief life. She was dearly beloved by her siblings.
3. Helen Bostelmann & Henry Norton
Helen Margreta Bostelmann was born May 18, 1882 in Monroe Township, Henry County, Ohio and died October 15, 1980 in San Diego, California.
At times during her childhood, Helen went to live with her uncle Rev. William Beckmann and his family. They charged their groceries, paying for them monthly and she was occasionally given instructions to pick up groceries after school. Not understanding the involvement of money, she, when eight years old, selected some candy. When the bill came, her uncle beat Helen for charging candy. In her later years, this sweet lady was still bitter about the injustice of it.
Helen left school after fourth grade. During her teen years, she worked as a nanny in Wapakoneta, Ohio.
Helen married Henry F. Norton September 5, 1900. Henry was born August 25, 1870 on Kelley’s Island, Erie, Ohio. Henry was born Henry Norden, but after his parents died he went to live with a physician and changed his last name to the doctor’s last name which was Norton. He died July 24, 1936 in Denver, Colorado of a ruptured appendix after refusing to see a doctor.
Helen and Henry had four sons and four daughters. She had thought life would be easier after her marriage. However it was much harder with a large family and moving around following her husband in the building trade. This included: North Carolina by the ocean in a house built on pilings; Ohio; near Greeley, Colorado; Denver, Colorado. For a time in Colorado the family lived in a sod house where bugs would come through the walls and, thus, beds could not be put against the walls. And in Colorado the family would move into a home which Henry was building as soon as it could be lived in and then the family would repeat the process with other houses.
After her husbands death, Helen took in washing, had financial help from her daughters and sons, moved to California, and lived for a time with her aunt Dora Benien Wohlforth. One son, Herman George (Rusty), died in Italy during World War II and Helen had a small income from the life insurance that he left to her.
Helen was a Lutheran. She lived comfortably for many years with her daughter Marie and Marie’s husband, Frederick Johann Herman Stolte, and their family in San Diego.
4. Frieda Bostelman &: John Krause; Alfred Davenport
Frieda Louise Bostelmann was born April 24, 1884, in Monroe Township, Henry County, Ohio and died October 27, 1968 in Belleville, Republic County, Kansas after a series of strokes. Frieda was loved by the people in the communities in which she lived. And she was known for her beautiful legs.
Frieda married John Krause January 26, 1905 and joined the Christian Church, where her husband’s family were prominent members, although she brought her two children by John up in the Lutheran Church. John was born August 18, 1883 in Bloomington, Illinois and died November 23, 1907 in Thayer County, Nebraska of tuberculosis. John left money upon his death to pay for his children to go to college. John and Frieda had one daughter and one son.
Frieda married Alfred Henry Davenport on August 10, 1917. Alfred was born March 14, 1883 in Narka, Kansas and died September 28, 1952 in Chester, Nebraska after a series of strokes. Alfred had polio as a child which left one leg shorter and much smaller than the other. Alfred’s vocabulary was colorful at times and he was particular about what he ate. Alfred was the uncle of Frieda’s brother Hap’s wife Millie. Alfred and Frieda had two daughters.
Alfred had been married earlier to Anna Elura Croch. He took her to Arizona in an attempt to restore her to good health. Elura died of tuberculosis leaving Alfred with their one son. She was born August 12, 1884 and died January 16, 1916.
Frieda worked as a telephone operator from after her first husband John died until she retired. When Alfred was physically able to do so, he worked as an oil tanker driver and at Ford Motor Company in Chester in sales and repairing vehicles. Alfred and Frieda also, for a time, managed the Davenport Hotel in Chester which was owned by a Fred Davenport, who was probably an uncle of Alfred’s. Frieda’s daughter Lucille remembers its large lobby and open stair case. And Lucille remembers being chastised by her mother Frieda for climbing it as a toddler and one bad fall down it.
Frieda is buried at the Chester Cemetery, north of Chester on the east side of U.S. Highway 81. Sharing a gravestone with her is her second husband Alfred H. Davenport. His first wife is to his left. Nearby, across a driving path to the north, is Frieda’s first husband John Krause. In the row directly in front of his grave are a couple who are probably his parents, Charles E. Krause (May 4, 1844 to April 11,1921) and Elizabeth Krause (December 28,1850 to April 13,1904). A marker by the gravestone indicates that Charles was a veteran and, thus, served during the Civil War 1861-65.
5. Marie Bostelmann & Ernst Achterberg
Marie Frieda Bostelmann was born May 11, 1886 in Humbolt, Richardson County, Nebraska and died March 10, 1964 in Broken Bow, Custer County, Nebraska. She married Ernst Heinrich Achterberg, who often had a twinkle in his eye, October 9, 1907 in Chester, Nebraska. In 1957, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with: a dinner with members of the First Lutheran Church near Buffalo and relatives; an anniversary service conducted by their pastor; an open house with a four tier cake topped with a gold numeral fifty served by the Ladies Aid.
Ernst was born May 11, 1882 on a farm north of Deshler, Thayer County, Nebraska. He died February 25, 1972 in the Broken Bow Community Hospital. Ernst had a great love of children. On the farm he would take his young descendants walking in the fields and pastures.
Ernst’s parents were Julius Herman Achterberg, who was born March 8, 1849 in Brundoff, Pomen, Germany, and Johanna Friedika Ernerina Achterberg, who was born March 2, 1845 in Germany. They were married in Germany in 1873. Julius died August 30, 1932 in Thayer County, Nebraska and Johanna died December 1, 1918 in Thayer County, Nebraska.
Ernst and Marie had a grain and livestock farm in Nebraska which was seven miles southwest of Oconto in Custer County. The rolling road by the farm was dirt and became very muddy and unpassable during rainy weather. Their son Paul who was single made his home with them and helped with the farming. Much of the work was done by hand, including hoeing. Running water was a pump in the kitchen. A wash house was next to the house where Marie did the washing and where the milk separator was kept. Marie enjoyed starting her mornings eating her cereal with orange juice, not milk.
When family came to visit, delicious fried chicken and mashed potatoes were served. There was a very large vegetable garden and many lilac bushes. In the summertime, watermelons were put in the livestock tank to chill them and then enjoyed by the family. Going to Buffalo Lutheran Church on Sunday to worship included staying after for a potluck mid-day dinner.
During the last years of her life, Marie was crippled from falling and breaking her hip. After that, she walked with crutches, cane or walker.
Marie and Ernst retired to Broken Bow, Nebraska in 1960. In Broken Bow, Ernst encouraged children to play on his lawn and would sit for hours watching them either on the back step or in the yard. When toys were broken he would fix them and when there were arguments, he would arbitrate. He also daily walked “routes”, as he called them. Friends would put out chairs for him to rest in the shade on hot days and invite him in to warm himself and visit during cold days.
After Marie died and shortly before Ernst died, he moved to Rest Haven Manor. Also a resident of Rest Haven Manor was his daughter Adela, who never grew up mentally after suffering from disease early in her childhood.
Marie and Ernst were Lutheran and are buried at the Buffalo Lutheran Church Cemetery. They had three sons and two daughters.
6. Matilda Bostelmann & Hank Kuhlmann
Matilda Katherine Bostelmann was born February 13, 1888 in Auburn, Nemaha County, Nebraska and died March 2, 1965 in North Platte, Lincoln County, Nebraska. Her husband Hank was born February 18, 1882 in Urbana County, Illinois and died February 28, 1960 in North Platte, Nebraska.
Before strawberry-blonde haired Matilda was married, she worked for a doctor. Later she put what she learned from her employment to good use caring for her eleven children. Throughout her life, Matilda did not cut her hair. Her children and grandchildren fondly remember the meat and head cheese she canned.
Matilda married Henry Edward Kuhlmann, Jr. (Hank) October 6, 1907 in Chester, Nebraska. Hank had a sixth grade education. When Hank first started farming near Chester in 1906, he had his father’s registered herd of horned Herefords which he financed with a loan from a bank. Hank herded his cattle on the open range in Thayer County.
The Hank Kuhlmann family sold their farm, which was 1 1/4 miles west of Chester on the south side of the road, and left Chester when the Lutheran congregation voted to continue to worship in German. Hank felt strongly that they were Americans and should worship in English so he took his family to North Platte where they could worship in English at a Lutheran Church.
Hank and Matilda became ranchers on the outskirts of North Platte with extensive land holdings and attractive, well-built, substantial barns and house. In North Platte, they raised prizewinning Polled Herefords from five of the first seven bought in 1917. By 1975, Kuhlmann cattle had been sold to every state in the union and throughout the world. A small part of the family ranch is now a state park, as it at one time was Buffalo Bill Cody’s Scouts’ Rest Ranch. In 2005, the very large, original wild animal and horse barn was refreshed with 120 gallons of red and white paint donated by Sears, 150 gallons of shingle preservative and 8,000 feet of battens. A burglar alarm system was also installed in the house and barn in 2005.
Matilda and Hank had seven sons and four daughters. After Hank’s death, he was inducted into the Polled Hereford Hall of Fame in 1975 in Kansas City, Missouri. The cowboy hat Hank wore was bronzed and is part of its historical display. His wife Matilda was also honored for deserving special recognition and equal honor with her husband.
Hank and Anna’s husband Fred Kuhlmann were double first cousins as their fathers were brothers and their mothers were sisters. Bostelmann sisters’ Matilda’s and Anna’s descendants have been particularly close because of the three-way family ties they share. This Kuhlmann and Block lineage is further explained below.
Hank and Fred’s Kuhlmann grandparents resided in Rellingen, Germany. They were Wilhelm Ferdinand Kuhlmann, who was the son of John Schulhalter Kuhlmann and Catherina Maria Behnken Kuhlmann, and his wife Catherina Magdalena Seider, whose parents were Jacob Seider and Anna Magdalena Berhrmann Seider. Three sons (Christian “Chris”, Hienrich “Henry” and Willhelm “Bill”) of Wilhelm and Catherina (eight children: 5 sons and three daughters) immigrated to the area of Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A. in approximately 1869 landing in New York City.
Hank’s father was Henrich Eduard III “Henry” Kuhlmann, Sr., who was born on Feburary 13, 1851 and died on February 18, 1922 in Wichita Kansas. Henry married Maria “Mary” Louise Block July 11, 1878 and they had nine children; she was born March 31, 1858 in Illinois and died August 3, 1942 in Colorado. When Henry first came to the U.S.A., Mary spotted him and said to her sisters, “I’m going to marry that man!” And she did.
Mary’s sister Minnie married Henry’s brother Chris and her sister Emma married Henry’s brother Will.. The Block sister’s parents were Friedrich “Fred” Christian Klinger Block and his wife Christine Bueschel Block. Fred was born March 29, 1828 in Landeburg, Frankfurt, Germany and married Christine July 26, 1853. Christine was born July 5, 1827. The Block sisters’ paternal grandparents were William J. Block who was born May 17, 1812 in East Prussia, Posen Province, Germany (now part of Poland) and died January 27, 1901 in Champaign, Illinois and Willemina Corrnelius Block. In Germany the Blocks owned an island where they had a hotel and green house.
Henry and Mary Block Kuhlmann moved with their children to Nebraska in a covered wagon in 1887, raised Hereford cattle and homesteaded enough places so each of their sons had some land. The home place of Henry and Mary was 4 ½ miles west of Chester on the south side of the road. Henry homesteaded enough places so each of his six sons had some land. Henry loved to plant trees.
Henry was a founder and leader of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chester. His and Mary’s gravestone bears the inscription: “I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. 2 Tim. 4: 7 & 8”
7. Anna Bostelmann & Fred Kuhlmann
Anna Dorothea Bostelmann was born April 11, 1890 in Hardy, Nebraska and died March 23, 1982 in Hebron, Nebraska of natural causes. She married an affluent farmer Fred Christian Kuhlmann on March 5, 1906. He was born September 24, 1878 in Champaign, Illinois.
Fred died July 17, 1936 in Omaha, Nebraska. There are two different stories told by Bostelmann-Holtermann relatives regarding Fred’s death. One story is that he died of stomach cancer. The other one is that Fred had gone into his barn while doing morning chores and was attacked by a hobo with a pitchfork.
Dick Bostelmann, Anna’s father, was working for Fred on Fred’s farm at the time of Anna’s and Fred’s courtship. Fred had previously courted Anna’s sister Marie. Marie was sent away by her parents, and then Fred began his courtship of young Anna. Anna was sickly throughout her adult life and complained about it. After Fred’s death, Anna’s nearby siblings helped her with the physical tasks around her place, as did their children.
Fred was a double first cousin of his wife Anna’s sister Matilda’s husband Hank. Information about Fred’s grandparents and great-grandparents is found in the Matilda Bostelmann and Hank Kuhlmann section just before this section. Fred’s parents were: Johann Christian “Chris” Kuhlmann and Wilhemina “Minnie” Block Kuhlmann. Chris was born December 28, 1845 in Halstenbeck, Germany and died August 29, 1907 in Chester, Thayer County, Nebraska. He married Minnie June 25, 1873 who was born January 1, 1856 in Illinois and died November 30, 1939 in Nebraska. Minnie was a sister of Chris’s younger brother Heinrich Eduard III “Henry” Kuhlmann, Sr.’s wife Maria “Mary” Louise Block. Chris and Minnie are buried in the Lutheran Cemetery near Chester.
Anna and Fred were Lutheran. Both German and English was spoken in their home. They had one daughter and two sons.
8. Emma Bostelman & George Thomas
Emma Sophia Bostelmann was born July 18, 1892 in Florida, Henry County, Ohio and died October 26, 1974 in Center Point, Iowa after a series of strokes. In her last years, this gentle, caring lady suffered with the effects of aging.
After leaving school in the fifth or sixth grade, Emma joined Frieda and worked in a general store in Chester. She met George Heckel Thomas at a country fair while he was visiting cousins. They were married on March 4, 1919 in Burr, Otoe County, Nebraska by Emma’s uncle, Rev. William Beckmann.
George preferred to write his first name as “Geo”, although he always pronounced it as George. He was born July 12, 1891 in Dwight, Livingston County, Illinois and died December 7, 1968 in Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa with pneumonia and heart problems. His parents were Cyrus Thomas, Jr. and Mary Heckel Thomas (German Roman Catholic), who farmed near Dwight, Illinois. His Thomas grandparents were Cyrus Thomas, Sr., who was very active in politics as well as farming, and Harriet Laidich Thomas (Pennsylvania Dutch). The Thomas family traces their roots in the U.S.A. to pre-revolutionary time when it was prominent in business and politics in Pennsylvania.
George and Emma farmed in Iowa. They first farmed near Humeston, Wayne County, Iowa, and after a short time moved to Otter Creek Township, Linn County, Iowa, to be near to George’s brother Manning. They rented several different farms before settling on a farm, 1 ½ miles west and 1 ½ miles south from Alburnett on C Avenue Extension on the east side of the road. George raised and bred purebred Scotch Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs.
Emma’s three children were always very pleased as youngsters when Emma’s single sister Dorothea, who worked in a bakery, came to visit. She brought a special treat with her each time of a bag of broken bakery cookies which supplemented the usual home-baked cookies Emma made. After Dorothea married, Emma assisted Dorothea with the large amount of sewing and mending needed for her little sister’s children.
Emma and George had two sons and one daughter and were pleased by their children’s many skills and achievements. Dean and Muriel were valedictorians of their high school classes. All three of them were outstanding in basketball, and the boys, particularly Heg, were also in baseball while Muriel was in softball. All three played musical instruments in the school band, and their daughter Muriel was also an accomplished pianist. The three were 4-H members, became county officers of this youth organization and showed milking shorthorn cattle in 4-H, receiving county, state and national awards.
Emma’s back was broken in an automobile accident in the late thirties when the family car had a tire blowout while traveling on a gravel road. Emma subsequently spent a very lengthy time in a cast and quietly suffered from it the rest of her life.
During World War II, with both of their sons (Dean and Heg) serving in the army, George needed to have a hernia operation. George and Emma’s nephews’ Orville and Kenneth, who were the oldest sons of Matilda and Hank Kuhlmann, came to the rescue. They took time from their own commitments with their Polled Herefords and families, somehow arranged for the necessary gas rations and stayed at the Iowa farm and did the chores.
Emma loved to entertain her children, grandchildren, and her siblings and their children and grandchildren. She served a hearty meal at noon ending meals with her delicious pies with their wonderful tender, flaky crusts. This was followed mid-afternoon with a variety of sandwiches piled high on platters and maraschino cherry cake. Entertainment when weather permitted was usually a soft ball game on the front lawn.
Emma and George worshiped at the Evangelical United Brethern Church in Alburnett and then at the Methodist Church in Central City after they retired there. They are buried at Cedar Memorial in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
9. Hap Bostelman & Millie Hutson
Edwin Dietrich Bostelmann (Hap) was born October 12, 1894 in Flat Rock Township, Henry County, Ohio and died March 26, 1961 in Garden Grove, California of cancer. His youngest brother Albert, a Lutheran minister, visited him for about a week just before he died and gave him communion.
Hap fought in World War I. After he got home from the war, Irene Kuhlmann Hartnell, a niece of his by his sister Matilda and her husband Hank, remembers that his wife-to-be Millie sat on his lap all afternoon.
Hap married Mildred Belle Hutson (Millie) March 3, 1918 in Chester, Nebraska. Millie was born August 16, 1901 and died April 7, 1995 in Eckert, Colorado of natural causes. Millie’s ashes were scattered at the Chester Cemetery. Millie was a niece of Hap’s sister Frieda’s second husband Alfred Davenport.
Hap worked for the roads department in California and later in a factory. He and his wife owned the 2B’s Malt Shop (2 B’s = Bostelman & Bostelman) in Garden Grove, a city in the Los Angeles area of California. It started out as a small place, with just ten stools at a counter and grew into a large place with fourteen stools and tables. Millie was quite well known for her wonderful, delicious pies and the hamburgers that she and her daughter-in-law Leota (Ronald’s wife) produced. This was before the days of fast food restaurants like McDonalds and national chain cafes like Marie Calendars. One of their better known customers was Richard Nixon, who was very fond of their pies. Hap and Millie’s whole family worked there from time to time.
The family was Methodist. Hap and Millie had three sons and two daughters.
10. Shorty Bostelmann & Erna Jungck
Gustav Franklin Bostelmann (Shorty), also known as G.F. and Gus, was born November 6, 1897 in Florida, Ohio and died January 29, 1974 in Chester, Nebraska of heart problems. Shorty was over six feet tall as a man, but when he was fifteen years old he had not come into his full height. It was then that he received his nick name while being the shortest man on Chester’s town baseball team.
Shorty was noted by his siblings for his intelligence. He attended school at County School # 95 Pleasant Hill. His father Dick died when he was in sixth grade. He attended School District # 54 sporadically during the rest of that year and not at all for the next two years, as he was needed by his mother and younger two siblings to farm the family farm. However, he did take the county tests annually and got scores of 90 to 100 on each test in each area, except for sixth grade when his lowest score was a 97.
Shorty married Erna Jungck April 29, 1923. He and Erna lived in what had been Mary’s home in Chester, one block south of the Lutheran Church. Erna was born June 12, 1900 and died August 16, 1990 with heart problems and cancer. Erna’s parents were Edward Karl Freidrick Jungck, who died in 1982, and Emma Catherine Magdaline Meyer Jungck who passed away in 1948.
Both Shorty and Erna had grade school educations. Following the death of his sister Anna’s husband Fred Kuhlmann, Shorty helped her doing the handyman work which constantly needed to be done. Shorty was employed in different government positions. During the Great Depression, he worked for the Works Progress Administration helping build U.S. Highway 136 between Fairbury and Hubbel near Gilead. Weekends he serviced the machines that were used. Today it is identified on maps as a scenic highway. For years he worked at the Port of Entry, where trucks were checked. After the children left home, Erna worked as a telephone operator and cooked in a café. In their later years, Shorty and Erna were grounds keepers at the Chester Lutheran Church and Cemetery. Without complaining, they took care of the lawns, using push mowers until they were unable to do so.
The family were Lutheran and every year attended the all day Deshler Church Mission Festival. Shorty and Erna had three sons and three daughters. “The Lord is my Shepherd” is inscribed on their tombstones.
11. Albert Bostelmann & Elsie Schneider
Albert Theodore Bostelmann was born April 25, 1900 in Florida, Ohio, and died April 29, 1988 in Storm Lake, Iowa. Albert died of a combination of things including polyps in his throat and prostate cancer. Three days before he died he took a driver’s renewal test and passed it. Albert married Elsie Schneider September 11, 1932 at St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church in What Cheer, Keokuk County, Iowa. Elsie was born November 24, 1908 and died August 13, 1988 of a heart attack during a car accident.
Elsie’s parents were George Schneider and Mary Christine Nanke Schneider. George was a farmer. George’s father was a coal miner who first mined coal in Pennsylvania, after immigrating from Germany, and then near What Cheer on his own land. After the mines were depleted, he bought more acres, expanding his property, and began farming. Mary’s family are descended from Johann, also known as John, Nanke who was born August 20, 1809 in Neudorf, Posen (which at times has been part of Germany and other times part of Poland) and Henriette Denzin Nanke, who was born November 30, 1813. Johann and Henriette emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1859 and had seven children (five born in Europe). Johann was one of the founders of St. Martin German Lutheran Church, later to be known as St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church. Johann died April 7, 1889 and Harriet died March 10, 1893. Their son Gustave Nanke (born October 10, 1841) married Ernestine Neumann, and one of their nine children was Elsie’s mother Mary.
Albert graduated from Concordia Seminary in Springfield, Illinois. He went to seminary because a close friend in Chester, Nebraska had decided to go there to become a minister and urged Albert to accompany him. Within a short period of time, the friend changed his mind and dropped out, however Albert remained. Albert’s three brothers (George, Hap and Shorty) were very helpful, with the additional assistance of their seven living sisters (Helen, Frieda, Marie, Matilda, Anna, Emma & Dorothea), in raising the money to support him while he studied to become a minister. Albert graduated and became a minister for The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod serving in Iowa, Nebraska and during World War II as a U.S.A. Army chaplain stationed in the U.S.A. and the European theatre.
Albert strongly believed in the importance of building a church school before building a church. He thought that the Roman Catholics had capitalized on an idea that Luther originated of building parochial schools for educating the children before building a church building.
Albert first worked in the Davenport area after being ordained as he developed a mission. Teaching in the school which he founded, he needed help from another teacher. A Lutheran in the area highly recommended a young woman from What Cheer, Iowa. Albert wrote to her and offered that young woman, who was Elsie, a job. She accepted the position and went to live in a house with Albert, his sister Dorothea and mother Mary.
Albert tried to enlist several times, was turned down because of his age, but was finally admitted into the armed forces. He studied for his chaplaincy at Harvard University and then his wife and children moved with him around the country while he was stationed in South Carolina, Missouri and Florida. This gave the five an opportunity to become a close family as they experienced the challenges of daily living, including segregation challenges, which were foreign to them, in the South.
During his military stint, Albert landed with the Allied forces on D-Day, accompanied them and was ordered to Germany. At that time, he found his nineteenth century high German language which he had learned from his parents and their peers was not quite the same as twentieth century German language. During his chaplaincy with Allied Forces in Germany, family legend has it that he preached one Easter Sunday with soldiers from both sides in attendance.
Back in civilian life and in addition to his ministerial work, Albert wrote devotional books in German for Concordia Publishing House and was a beautiful, picturesque letter writer to family and friends.
For many years, Albert served Christ Lutheran Church in Norfolk, Nebraska. He built up the church grade school through adding new additions and increasing attendance. Three services were needed to serve the congregations’ worship needs. A couple of single sisters in the congregation owned a significant building downtown which they turned over to the church. Since Albert was the executor of their estate, he had to collect rent from the businesses which included the largest downtown bar. Old timers probably enjoyed seeing Albert go into the Brass Rail to collect rent. After he left, new pastors built a new, larger church.
Albert and Elsie had one son and two daughters. His children fondly remember his athletic ability and teaching them to play tennis and softball.
12. Dorothea Bostelmann & Orville Schroder
Dorothea Katherina Bostelmann was born February 11, 1902 in Florida, Ohio. Throughout her life, she enjoyed being recognized as the youngest of her siblings. She wrote lovingly to generations of her relatives with lengthy, uniquely spelled letters to them about her life and her opinions.
Dorothea rode a retired race horse to school. She started school at age seven at County School # 95 Pleasant Hill. She graduated from high school in Chester, Nebraska.
As Dorothea was unable to find work in Chester, her brother George gave her the money in 1924 for transportation to Davenport, Iowa where she joined their brother Albert. Hap had also invited her to join him in California, however that was further away and it cost much more to journey there. In Iowa, Dorothea worked as a nanny, at Continental or Independent Bakery Company, at Grants and at Woolworth Five and Dime. She also cared for her mother Mary when Mary was hospitalized in Iowa City.
Dorothea married Orville Vernon Schroder, whom she met through Lutheran activities including a young adults group, on February 15, 1936 at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa. This was a church which was started by Dorothea’s brother Albert. Orville was born April 2, 1905 in Sunburry, Iowa. His parents were John Frederick Schroder, who was born in Iowa, and Celia Ernestine Lensch Schroder, who was born in Germany. Celia was his third wife. His first wife died after having one daughter. John’s second wife was Celia’s older sister, who died in childbirth. Olga Lensch was the child born at that time and lived to be in her seventies. Although at first thought dead, someone spotted a little finger moving and put her in the oven in a cigar box. The Lensch family history is traced back to 1570.
Dorothea and Orville served leadership roles within the The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. Orville and Dorothea farmed an Iowa farm with rolling hills which had belonged to his family since he was four years old.
Dorothea and Orville had two sons and two daughters.
Orville died September 9, 1980 in Blue Grass, Iowa with a massive heart attack. Dorothea died of congestive heart failure February 15, 1994 in Davenport, Iowa. Six months before she died, one leg was amputated because of gangrene.
C. Sophia & John Meyer’s family
Sophia Bostelmann and John Meyer had four children: Matilda, Helen, Sophie and William.
1. Matilda Meyer
Matilda Meyer was born in approximately 1875.
2. Helen Meyer
Helen Meyer was born in approximately 1877.
3. Sophie Meyer
Sophie Meyer was born in approximately 1879.
4. William Meyer
William Meyer was born August 22, 1881 and died in September, 1979 in Henry County, Ohio.
V. Spelling
In earlier times, precise, consistent spelling was not as important as it is today and some people, including our ancestors, had rudimentary spelling knowledge and ability.
An English language version of a name was historically often spelled with one “n” versus a German language version of it with two “n”s. Hannover was spelled with one “n” in American maps in earlier times whether referring to it as a city, state or country. The city of Hannover is spelled with two “n”s in many American maps currently, as has always been done in German maps. And today there is no Hannover state or country.
The oral history and written examples of the spelling of the Bostelman(n) name are divisive, different and confusing. Among the explanations given are: making clear that the family was Lutheran by spelling it with two “n”s; spelling the name with two “n”s because there were many with the same name in Ohio who spelled it with one “n”; wanting to differentiate the family from a Bostelman family who had an unsavory reputation; spelling it however they felt like doing it at the time. In records of immigration, confirmation, and marriage as well as family letters, it can be seen inconsistently spelled with one “n” and with two “n”s.
Four of Dick and Mary Bostelmann’s children decided to spell their family name consistently with one “n”. George, the oldest child of Dick and Mary, changed the spelling of his Bostelmann name about the time that social security was created in 1935. Frieda, Emma & Hap, who joined other protestant denominations, also spelled the family name with one “n”.
And to add to our understanding, Rhoda Schroder Weinbach, eldest daughter of Dorothea Bostelmann Schroder, points out that many people changed their names after immigrating here to a more phonetic spelling in English. In Northeastern U.S.A., an “r” is pronounced more like “ah” and the German rolling of an “r” also gives it a different sound. A “r” might have been dropped in the U.S.A. so a name was spelled the way it sounded to someone. Plus, German, with its particular spelling, pronouncing and grammar, was the language most often used at home and at school for our ancestors through the early years of the twentieth century. Our ancestors worked very hard to learn how to speak and write in English while living in primarily German speaking communities in the U.S.A.
VI. Epilogue
This is the second edition of this limited printing of the Holtermann and Bostelmann family history. There was enough interest by family members to print additional copies than the fifty which were first printed. It also gave me the opportunity to correct a few errors and to add several facts which had come to my attention.
Most readers of this limited history are probably divided between those who are:
• wondering about my sanity in clarifying and recording our shared chronicle
• grateful that someone else has done the work
• interested to see the information and research they shared
This work is a testimony to the Holtermann and Bostelmann stammbaum {family tree} and the remarkable friendships that we have shared through the years between siblings, in-laws, cousins and generations. Thus, it has been accomplished with love, appreciation and curiosity.
Profuse apologies for any errors contained in this narrative. I have tried to be accurate as have the others who have aided in this work. However, there are undoubtedly mistakes within in spite of our best attempts to avoid them.
The time lines include historical highlights and basic Holtermann and Bostelmann family facts. They do not include fundamental information about other ancestors; these are found only in the narrative.
The choice of personal names for individuals was arbitrary. Often people used different personal names at different times. Some descendants prefer one name over another of our individual ancestors. For this writing, the goal has been to be consistent, to avoid using different names for the same person and not to use the same name for different people, if it could be avoided.
There have been many changes over the years. A hundred years ago, back in 1905, in the U.S.A.: the average life expectancy was 47, only eight percent of homes had a telephone, the average wage was 22 cents an hour, sugar cost four cents a pound and eggs were fourteen cents a dozen, women washed their hair once a month using borax or egg yolks for shampoo, two of ten adults couldn’t read or write, six percent had graduated from high school and marijuana, heroin and morphine were available over the counter.
Stories, photographs and recipes recorded here from any one family branch could be repeated in other branches with minor adjustments. And there is undoubtedly more information hidden away in Holtermann and Bostelmann descendants storage areas and in official records which has not been found at the time of this writing. Contact has been lost with Mary’s Holtermann and Benien families and Dick’s sister Sophia’s family. And it is frustrating not to know the maiden name and parents of Dick Bostelmann’s beloved mother Elizabeth. Maybe you will be inspired by the efforts contained in this narrative to locate some of the missing information and to record the family stories of your branch!
Heartfelt thanks to numerous living and deceased cousins and family members who share the same lineage for their helpful input. This includes: H.R. Holtermann, Mary Holtermann Bostelmann, Marvin and Maxine Thieroff, Marlene Eberle, Emery and Ruth Hobelman, Peggy Saathoff, Patti Vice, Dean and Deanna Hobelmann, Alice and Mel Stolte, Lucille Myer, Al Achterberg, Don Achterberg, Elaine Gray, Carol Glass, Irene Hartnell, Donna Bailar, Nickie and Bruce Kuhlmann, Barb Collins, Emma Bostelman Thomas, Muriel Kelly, Lloyd Thomas, Carissa Clark, Pat O’Hern, Louise Barry, Dwayne and Avis Bostelmann, Ardith Warneke, Wally Bostelmann, Allan and Margaret Bostelmann, Rhoda and John Weinbach, Aletha and Ethan Voges, Nathan Voges, and Nanette and Matt Nelson. Also helpful were Clark family friends: Lucille Foster with editing and Roseann Grippo with research.
I, Deanna Dee Thomas Clark, am the writer of this family narrative. I am the great-great-great-great granddaughter of Harm Precht; great-great-great granddaughter of Hans and Maria Precht Holtermann, Sr., Johann and Maria Steffens Luedemann and Jurgen H. Bostelmann; the great-great granddaughter of Johann and Elizabeth Borstelmann Bostelmann (Beckmann) and Hans and Anna Leudemann Holtermann, Jr. (Benien); the great-granddaughter of Dick and Mary Holtermann Bostelmann; the granddaughter of Emma Bostelman and George H. Thomas; the daughter of Cyrus Dean and Isabelle Hoge Thomas, the wife of Glen E. Clark, the mother of Andrew Clark and Carissa Clark and the grandmother of Vashti Clark.
December 2005
