John Sturm, My Great-Grandfather

My Great-Grandfather

John William Sturm

Son of John & Agnes (Thomas) Sturm

Husband of Beatrice Amelia Mapson

Father of Mava, Arlo & Ardyce

Born in 1896... Passed away in 1968, after a tractor accident

A fine, faithful man.... Wish I had known him

Mystery Tintype Photo... Freeborn County, MN

This very interesting tintype is unidentified!

I suspect that the 'lap' the little girl is sitting in, is more of a 'prop'...

so the little girl is probably the relative.

This was in an old photo album that belonged to Lena (Nelson) Giselson Torry,

the daughter of Mary Rosetta (Grinolds) Nelson.
They family was from the Freeborn County, MN area

I think many of the unidentified older photos are of the Grinolds-Schoonover, et al branch

I'd love to know who the little girl is and even of more interest is the interesting character she is photographed with! 

Johanna Schadt Weber 1844-1905

Johanna Schadt was born November 11, 1844 in Germany, where in Germany is still unclear. She was the daughter of John & Johanna Schadt. According to her obituary she came with her parents to Hollis Township, Peoria County, Illinois in 1848!  However, I'm not convinced that early timeframe is correct.

She was married to Charles Weber, on December 1861, in Tazewell Co, IL. Charles was born July 6, 1820, in Alsace Lorraine, though his family and prior whereabouts are completely unknown. So he was 24 years older than Johanna, and may have had a whole other life before they married!

It is recorded that Charles & Johanna had 10 children: Mary Ann (1863-1865), William Carl (1866-1932), Mary Louisa (1867-1963), Joseph (1869-1870), Jacob C. (1871-1955), Daniel (1873-1956), Julia (1876-1877), Elizabeth (1878-1936), Anna Marie (1880-1958), and William (1895-1897).

Charles & Johanna Weber
year unknown, but I would guess 1890s

Family records list the last son, William born Feb 11, 1895 and died Aug 6, 1897. It seems unlikely to me that Johanna would have a child born to her when she was 50 years old and named him after her still living son William?!  I've often wondered if instead, William was a grandchild that Johanna was raising... but as of now, this child's ID remains unclear.

Interestingly, 3 of Johanna & Charles's children-- William, Anna & Daniel all married members of the Krumholz family, children of Jacob Theodore & Agatha (Kleinhans) Krumholz... who lived nearby.

I've been unable to find any record of the early Schadt family in Illinois.... In 1880, the widowed Johanna Schadt was living with her daughter in the Weber household.  The Schadt parents and the Weber's are all buried near each other in the Trial Cemetery, near Bartonville (Peoria suburb).













After the death of Charles Weber on March 7, 1898, at 77 years of age, Johanna remained living in Hollis Township with the children who remained at home (Daniel, Elizabeth & Anna). Sometime after 1900, Johanna moved into Pekin, IL and lived with her daughter Mary Behrens & family.... it was at the home of Mary, that Johanna died on January 16, 1905 of pneumonia at the age of 60 years.

Trial Cemetery, near Bartonville

I'd love to find out more about the Schadt family... where in Germany they came from and who else was in the family besides Johanna.... And to find out something about Charles Weber would be equally as nice!

Trial Cemetery, near Bartonville

Ruby Bruce... You walked away from your Life... and Your Family...

My Great-Grandmother was a mysterious woman.... mysterious in her life, in her decisions, and in her motives. Sadly, many of her decisions adversely affected members of her family for years and generations to come.

Ruby Julia Bruce was born June 23, 1903 in Monona, Clay County, Iowa; she had a twin sister- Ruth Maude Bruce, and they were the daughters of Owen Rutherford & Sally Estella "Essie" (George) Bruce. The family did not live in Monona long, they were from Central City, Linn County, Iowa and that is where they primarily lived. Ruby had an older brother Maynard (known as Marshall) and a younger brother Erwin, as well as a younger half-sister Myrtle who was born from her Mother's second marriage. Further half-siblings Gloria and Leo from her Father's later marriage were never even known to exist to Ruby. The Bruce siblings grew up in the Central City area, attending school there, their father Owen, an alcoholic who had many run ins with the law was a regular provider and was frequently absent. Her mother Essie relied on her own Father and Grandmother for support and help in raising her young family. After Owen's 1916 prison sentence, Essie remarried to LeRoy Crosby and the family moved to Granada, Minnesota, where Essie's sister had secured them work. Ruby had limited contact with her Father after this point, he was known to have sent a few letter for a time, but eventually contact was lost, it's unclear if she ever saw her Father again after leaving Central City.  In 1917, Ruby moved to northern Minnesota with her Mother & Stepfather--- it seems likely that sometime prior to moving away she must have met John Yore-- as in early 1920, she was still living with her family in northern Minnesota, but on September 15, 1920, Ruby and John Yore were married and promptly moved to the Downing, Missouri area-- where John was from.

Life appears to have been rather difficult in these early years... a young 17 year old bride who relocated to a very rural, underdeveloped part of northern Missouri, where her husband's family were poor farmers. According to an elderly cousin, Ruby had a baby boy within those first couple of years, who died. A son, Don Carlos Yore was born in 1923.... In early 1925 the family was living near Stiles, Davis County, Iowa... though they were quick to return to Downing, as daughter Helen Elizabeth Yore was born March 23, 1925.

Ruby holding a crying Don & Helen

At some point John and Ruby moved their two young children to Winnebago, Minnesota (where Ruby's sister Ruth was living) and on May 1, 1927, Maggie Henerietta "Hank" Yore was born.

Helen & Don Yore

During 1928, Ruby was apparently ill, with a couple of differently ailments... in March she is mentioned in the newspaper as having been "seriously ill" and then later "recovering".... by September she was having surgery to have her appendix removed.

On September 2, 1929, Ruby gave birth to a son, who died two hours later... from unknown causes. Shortly after this time, the family again left Winnebago and moved to a farm near Vernon Center, Minnesota (about 20mi away), they resided here approximately a year, before moving to Huntley (a few miles from Winnebago)... where they lived about a year before moving back into Winnebago, living at the home of "Ma Spencer", who was an elderly Aunt of Ruth's (Ruby's sister)... while living at Ma Spencer's, Ruby gave birth to premature twin boys (1932 or 1933) and they died shortly after birth and were buried under the weeping willow tree on the property. It is possible that an April 1933 auto accident that caused Ruby a "back injury" could have been around the time of the twins' births. On June 6, 1935, with her mother Essie in attendance, Ruby gave birth to Betty Jean (my Grandmother). Ruby was 31 years old at Betty's birth, and had now given birth to 8 babies, half of which had died.

John Yore was a hard working man, working as a farmer and later with the railroad and eventually the local canning factory. It's been said, that Ruby was never very interested in being a wife and mother-- she was frequently absent, forcing her young children to fend for themselves, and her Mother to care for them. However, I have also found mentioned where she hosted card parties, entertained for her cousin's bridal shower, took her children visiting to local relatives and did other 'normal activies' of the time...

I have often wondered what caused Ruby to be so unhappy with her life and how she could neglect and ultimately abandon her 4 children. Some family stories say that she was 'bored' with motherhood and married life, that her husband worked too often and she'd rather go to parties with her brother Erwin, than stay home and be a mother. While it was common for her to leave for days at a time, on Christmas Day 1940, Ruby left home, never to return.

It is unclear exactly, where she went or who she was with, but two years later in 1942, she was married in Grand Island, Nebraska, to Buckley "Barney" King. This marriage must have been very important for Ruby to get, as she never bothered to get a divorce from her husband!

Ruby's marriage record to Barnie
Somehow, Ruby thought she was only 32...? I guess that's
close to the 39 years she really was....or not...

 Since she lied on her marriage license, it seems likely she lied to her new husband as well... On a side note, not only did she use her maiden name on her new marriage record, but she made herself quite a bit younger too! Eventually the new couple settled in Minneapolis, where in 1944 their daughter Audrey Faye was born. In 1952 Ruby and her husband and daughter moved to Cotati, California. Ruby maintained contact with her siblings and her Mother--- but very limited, sporatic contact with her children. As her daughter 'Hank' also lived in California, she had the most interactions with Ruby.

Essie Crosby, Ruby, Hank & daughter

After 1940, when Ruby left, her older two daughters Helen & Hank were left to care for their little sister- Betty. Later Betty would live with her Aunt & Uncle- Ruth & Alpha Stoddard (Ruth being Ruby's twin), while the other three siblings would remain with their Father until leaving home at young ages. John Yore was deeply devoted to his wife and was heartbroken at her leaving, later developing an addiction to alcohol that plagued him the rest of his life, he loved Ruby until his dying day. John would later obtain a divorce from Ruby, in 1949.

Christmas card John Yore sent his
Mother in 1944, notice he still
signed it "J&R"... sadly the 'R'
had been gone for years at this
point. Must have kept it a
secret from the rest of his family?!

I don't believe Ruby ever 'remarried' Barnie King, so I would assume their 1942 marriage to be invalid... I guess back then you could get away with things like that easier than today!? It wasn't only her husband who suffered, but Ruby's children who had certain degrees of trauma related to her neglect and abandonment. The specifics of which I must refrain from discussing indepthly, as my Grandmother Betty (age 76) and her sisters Helen (age 87), Hank (age 85), and Audrey (age 68) are all still living. (It seems unfair and inappropriate to analyze the relationships Ruby had with her daughters and how that impacted the decisions they made and the paths their lives when down... but it is safe to say the ripples are felt even today.)

Delayed birth certificate Ruby obtained in 1963,
with the false 1902 birth year

After years of making herself younger- Ruby decided it would be beneficial to age rapidly! So she obtained a delayed birth certificate with the incorrect birth year of 1902.... probably to allow her to obtain Social Security a year sooner.


It doesn't appear that her second marriage or shot at motherhood were any more appealing to Ruby then her previous efforts. She remained married to Barnie, though daughter Audrey spent a lot of time with Ruby's brother Marshall and his wife Jo, and would remain close to them.



Ruby never lost her love for a good 'party'-- though I have difficulty imagining a short, fat woman in her mid 50s finding bars where she fit in and found the attention she was seeking.... But apparently she did.

Her partying lifestyle was not kind to her health-- and on August 30, 1973 she suffered a major heart attack... and died ten days later, on September 8, 1973, after battling heart disease for at least a decade.

Obituary, ironically
lists all her children?!

At her death she left surviving, her husband, her ex-husband, 1 son, 4 daughters, 1 brother, 1 sister, 1 half sister (plus 2 unknown half siblings), and a slew of grandchildren, most of whom she never had any interest in knowing.

It is fascinating to me, to think of the decisions Ruby made in life.. and I wish I had a better understanding of her motives. I'm sure her choatic upbringing had some bearing on her later life, and shaped some the choices she made...
But those she left behind ask "why"?


Fittingly, after her death, she was cremated and her remains spread in the Pacific Ocean... so even in death, Ruby was spared the confines of a final resting place.

Jacobina Krumholz Weber..... Wife... Mother... Gardener

My Great-Great Grandmother- Jacobina (Krumholz) Weber was born in Hildmannsfeld, Baden Baden, Germany, on April 9, 1874. The daughter of Jacob Theodore Krumholz, Sr and Agatha Kleinhans, she was the fifth, out of eight children and the last to be born in Germany.

Jacob & Agatha Krumholz & Family
(Jacobina is the last female in on the right in the back row)

On April 20, 1877 the Krumholz family arrived in Philadelphia on the SS Nederland, which had embarked from Antwerp, Belgium. They settled in Woodford County, Illinois.

Mary Rosetta Grinolds... For many years, a mystery...

Mary Rosetta Grinolds was born 4 October 1833*, most likely in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of John Matthew Grinolds & Sarah "Sally" Matson. The exact location of Mary Rosetta's birth is unclear, sometimes she is listed as being born in Pennsylvania and other times New York. Her parents started out in Herkimer County, NY and by 1840 they were living in Steuben County, NY... but it seems they lived in Pennsylvania for a brief time, as Mary Rosetta and some of her siblings are often listed with that as a birthplace. Often times she is listed as 'Polly', a common nickname for Mary, and later in life sometimes as 'Rosetta'. It took many years of research to establish just who Mary Rosetta was and who her family was.

Her parents later moved to Juneau County, Wisconsin, and at some point Mary Rosetta met Ole Nelson and they were married 25 December 1855, probably somewhere in Wisconsin, though the exact locale thus far remains a mystery. A short time later they relocated to Freeborn County, Minnesota-- though some of her children have Wisconsin show up as a birthplace, it seems likely they were born in Minnesota, with the exception of child #4- John Charles Nelson born 10 April 1865, during what must have been a brief stay (or just a visit perhaps?) to Wisconsin.

Ole & Mary Rosetta would have at least 9 children, including: Sarah Almira (wife of William Blair), Matthew Gillfillen "Gill, Stephen Luther, John Charles, Lena Sophia (wife of Reinhart Giselson), Mary Rosetta (wife of Charles Hall), Job Vincent, Elmira (died as infant), and another son who also died in infancy. It is likely that there were other children who also died as infants.

The Nelson family lived and farmed in Nunda Township, Freeborn County, Minnesota for many years and sadly it is there that Mary Rosetta succumbed to ovarian cancer on 8 July 1877 at only 43 years of age. [*Her death record gives her age at 44 yrs 10 mos 4 days, which would make her birthday 4 September 1832].

Mary Rosetta had a larger number of brothers and sisters-- some of whom stayed in New York, others coming to Wisconsin & Minnesota. Her brother- John Grinolds and her sister- Almira Schoonover, lived in Faribault & Freeborn County areas in Minnesota, and must have kept in contact to some level with her family.

While her identity was unclear for many years, slow strides have connected her to her parents & siblings. Other things, such as where she is buried, still remain a mystery. I would very much like to find her burial location, but am beginning to think she must have been buried on the family farm, because no nearby cemetery has any record of her.

More Family 'Treasures'.....

When I first began genealogy, my Great-Grandpa's youngest sister 'Aunt Jo' was a big help. She had been gathering information on our family for many years, and though not a real researcher, she had amassed a lot of data. In her later 80's, she was still very sharp, living in the home of her husbands Grandparents. During one of my visits to her farm, Aunt Jo was tatting litte embellishments for towels and other fancy work. As she began a new project, it became this little butterfly, which upon completion gave to me. Aunt Jo was a dear, special lady who passed away at the age of 90, and this little butterfly is a sweet reminder of that lovely Aunt.

My Grandpa Willard Weerts had many treasures in his old age... hundreds of them in fact. During one of his visits he gave me this Mickey Mouse toolchest... which itself was loaded with mini treasures. Grandpa had an after school job at a Winnebago hardware store, and he saved up his wages and purchased this little tool chest. Later he would serve in World War II and he Step-Mother Stella (Loveall) Weerts kept this chest and other treasures for him, in a drawer in a built in corner cabinet at home. After the conclusion of the War, Grandpa returned home and this toolchest was right where it was when he left. Some 50 years later, Grandpa gave the chest and it contents to me.... He was very sentimental about these family treasures from yesteryear and instilled in me as a child the value of these tangible items... and because of him, I am the proud guardian of many invaluable family 'heirlooms'.

The exact beginning of this quilt is uncertain, but as far as we know my Great-Great Grandma Sally "Essie" (George) Bruce Crosby [see prior punch bowl story] began this quilt... But for some reason she didn't finish it?! Though she completed many other lovely projects... When in old age, Essie moved to California with her daughter, most of her possessions (which were few) were left behind. Her daughter Ruth (Bruce) Stoddard, whom I always called Great-Grandma, though was actually my Great-Grandma's twin sister [a complicated story for another day], came to have this unfinished quilt top. Grandma Stoddard also worked on this quilt, but never completed it... and in time my Grandma Betty (who was raised by her Aunt Ruth aka Grandma Stoddard) aquired this still unfinished quilt... and puttered with it a bit herself before having her Mother in-law once and for all complete this quilt. Looking at its handstitched quitling, you can see many different hands completed the work, as the stitchings style and size slighly varies.

My Grandma has treasured this quilt since its completion and gave it to me just this year, as she wanted someone who knows about the women who created it. Its a true treasure and even though I don't even know what the pattern is called, I'm honored to keep it and display the work of 3 different generations.
My Great-Grandma- Laura Maine had many salt & pepper shakers on a shelf abover her window. These turkey shakers were always my favorites... and amazingly after her death, these shakers made their way to my Grandparents and Grandma quickly passed them onto me. My Great-Grandma was born Laura Nelson in 1913, in rural Freeborn County, MN... Her early life was spent in Freeborn County, until her family moved to North Dakota in the late 1910s ,and later to Cass County, MN, where Laura met Hiram Maine.... and in 1930, 5 months after her 16th birthday, she married Hiram... who was 9 years her senior. Hiram & Laura worked hard and raised 6 children... and remained on the family homestead their entired married lives.

Grandma was a very special lady and when she died in 2004, just shy of 91 years, she left a huge legacy... and these Turkeys... which are some of my favorite things!

Beatrice (Mapson) Sturm was my Great-Grandmother.... she passed away in 1948 when only 46 years old... My Father never knew his Grandma, who was by all acounts a sweet, lovely person. Growing up, I'd seen a couple of photos of her but that was really it... and since her daughter Mava, my Grandmother, passed away when I was just shy of 7, I didn't have any first hand stories of her either.

Ten years ago, when visiting my Grandpa in Arizona, I mentioned never having seen, much less having had, anything of Grandpa or Grandma Sturm's... He went to the china cabinet and removed a few items-- one of which was this green depression cake plate, in the cameo pattern. Not only do I like green glass, but I had a few other pieces of this pattern from other relatives, so it was extra nice to get this cake plate.  It now sits on top of my china cabinet--- where I see it daily and think often of the Sturm ancestors I never knew.