Maria Weigel Gruny - Clara's Mother

Compiled by Jim Oehler (jimoehler3 at gmail.com)
Updated November 22, 2017

[Click on any of the graphics below to view a larger image]

Maria Weigel Gruny was born to Joseph Weigel and Theresa Zirngibel on December 6, 1874.  Family oral history has her born in Regensburg, Germany a city at the confluence of the Danube and Regen Rivers in Bavaria. However, her obituary states she was born in Rogging, Germany about 14 miles south of Regensburg.  Audry Carson, granddaughter of Maria, who had the pleasure of living with her on and off for 20 years, believes she was baptized in the Regensburg Cathedral. 

I originally thought she was an only child, but from her obituary and from talks with other family members, I've learned that she was one of four children.  Her three siblings included one brother (unknown name) and two sisters, Matilda Weigel Enhelder (1876-1964) and Theresa Weigel Hofmeister (birth and death dates unknown).  Matilda immigrated to America before Maria, married, had several children and lived in Phillips, WI for awhile before passing away in Park Falls, WI.  Theresa Hofmeister apparently remained in Germany.  

A picture of the city of Regensburg on the Danube and Regen rivers.  Wikipedia picture.

St Peter's Cathedral in Regensburg where Maria is thought to have been baptized.  Picture from Wikipedia.

According to a Port of New York ship's manifest, Maria immigrated to America in 1903.  She left Bremen, Germany on August 15 aboard the ship S.S. Friedrich de Grosse and arrived in New York on August 26.  The ship was built just seven years prior and held nearly 2,200 passengers, the vast majority in steerage where Maria traveled.  Before traveling to America, she had to travel more than 700 km to get to Bremen from where she was living in Germany.  Her last place of residence looks to have been Holklofen, Germany, but there doesn't appear to be any such town.  The hand writing on ships manifests can be difficult to decipher.  There are several .....lofen towns in the vicinity of Rogging where she was born, so presumably she lived in one of those.  She traveled to America by herself and paid her own way. Her occupation was listed as servant.  She had only $15 to her name, and was headed to her sister's Matilda Enhelder in Phillips, WI about 42 miles north of Medford, where she ended up living. However, before moving to WI, her obituary states she worked in Philadelphia for a few months.

S.S. Friedrich de Grosse, the ship that Maria traveled on to America. 
Courtesy www.norwayheritage.com.

Ships manifest for SS Friedrich der Grosse for the trip to the Port of NY
from Bremen, Germany in August, 1903.

She quickly found a husband upon arriving in Wisconsin. She married Joseph Gruny on May 17, 1904 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Medford, Wisconsin.  How or where they met is unknown.  Maria became an official U.S. citizen three years later in 1906. Unfortunately, the marriage didn’t last that long. According to his gravestone, Joseph died on April 8, 1915 at the age of 44. According to my mother and Audry Carson, he died of pnemonia. In the 11 short years that they were married, they had six children: Henry (1905-1989); Hugo (1906-1995); Clara (1907-1983); Anna (1910-1992); Joseph (1911-1999); and Mary(1913-2006), and a boy who died at child birth and was buried on the family farm (year unknown). 

The 1905 Wisconsin census shows that Maria was living with Joseph and his mother Clara, and uncle Johannn on Joseph's farm.  But five years after his death, Maria was now the head of the house at age 44 living with her 3 sons and 3 daughters and farming on the 80 acres that Joseph originally purchased 3 miles west of Medford.  It is not known where Clara and Johann moved to. 



Gruny entry in 1920 federal census.  It shows, among other things, that Maria immigrated to
America in 1903 and became a naturalized citizen in 1906.



By 1930, Mary Gruny was 55 years old and was still farming, but now only her son Henry (age 25) and daughter Mary (age 17) remained on the farm.  Henry married Irmal Gowey (originally from Richland, IA) in August of that year, and took over the farm. Maria was to stay there to live and help, but according to Audry Carson, Irmal and Maria had a falling out and Maria left or was kicked out and went walking into Medford.  Audry's mother, Anna Fleischman, was a daughter of Maria.  I had the pleasure of interviewing Audry in October 2014.  Here is what she remembered about the falling out and where Maria Gruny ended up.



Irmal Gowey Gruny and Maria Weigel Gruny at the family farm.  Date unknown.

"So Grandma came walking into town where my folks live right by the park and she had just a little beat up box or something, my mother said. And then in German she said, 'Anna, ask Tony if I can live here?' Well Tony was at work. When Tony came home from work, Grandma asked Tony. ' Well yeah Ma, you can stay here,' he said.

The kids (Maria's kids) had a meeting because Tony was only getting $50 a month with two kids. So at that meeting, they asked for a little help - $5-10 a month to help support Grandma. Well it really didn't work out that way. It was really up to my Mom and Dad."



Anna, Audry, and Tony Fleischman.  They cared for Maria off and on for 20 years. 
Audry was a nun for 22 years before leaving the convent at age 38.  Later she married Clarence Carson.

Maria lived with the Fleischman's on and off for 20 years.  For awhile she took a full-time, live-in housekeeping job with the Federspeils, a father and son who had a farm west of Medford.  She did that until the son got married and then his wife took over the housekeeping.  Audry remembers a time she stayed with Maria out at Federspeil's,

" She worked out there and periodically she'd come into town with them and stop by and see my mother. And then once I went out there and got some home sick. I'd go behind the barn and cry. Well they only went into town about once every 2 weeks and I remember one time my hair needed washing, it was sticking out every where, and I asked Grandma will you fix my hair? Come here my child. She got the lard bucket and put lard in my hair to grease it down. I got back home and holy smoke my mom was mad."

In addition to keeping house for the Federspeil's, she would help farmers with calf bearing and was also a midwife. She didn't have any other way of getting around other than her two feet, so she would walk to wherever she was needed, regardless of how far away it was.  Audry recalled, "When I think of her feet and ankles, how they looked – holy Toledo. There were a lot of miles on there."



Maria Weigel Gruny in her 60s.

Audry had a number of memories of the time when Maria lived with her family and her.

"In between jobs she'd live with us. I had to sleep with her because we had the bedroom downstairs and that was my bedroom and my folks had the bedroom upstairs, and my brother had a room upstairs so when Grandma came I had to share my room with Grandma."

 

"Grandma and I would go to midnight mass and on the way home sing German songs. It was nice with the stars out. I learned how to pray the German prayers and German songs and speak a little German."

"I remember one time when [my cousins] Lester and Patty [Hirt], and my brother Donny and I, and our folks [Hirts and Fleischmans] went to the fair in Marshfield or Wausau or someplace and Grandma took care of us kids. Well, we had an upstairs in that house and you know we were playing bear. Lester was the bear and he chased us downstairs and we all got locked in the bathroom down there and we couldn't get out. So there we were all four of us locked in that bathroom and we were screaming and hollering and crying, couldn't get the door open. Grandma had to go next door and that man came over and took the door off and lets us little gypsys out. Lester was in there too. He chased us, and came in the bathroom too and I suppose locked the door. Grandma used to babysit when the folks went out at night. It was nice."

Four generations: Marlene Gruny with her baby son Dean, Marlene's father Henry (who married Irmal),
and Henry's mother Maria Weigel Gruny.  Date unknown.

A few years before she died, Maria went to live in a nursing home in Rib Lake.  She had gotten too much for Anna and Tony Fleischman to handle.  She had Alzheimers or dementia and would occasionally walk off.  Audry again,

"And the only place they found an empty bed was in Rib Lake. I know it hit Mom (Anna Fleischman) hard because [Grandma Gruny] was back in the time when the kids were little. “Well I have to go home now and make supper for the kids.” So it is hard when your mother gets to that point, or your father."


Maria Weigel Gruny died on February 25, 1965, in Rib Lake, Wisconsin, at the age of 90.  Her grave is located at Holy Rosary Cemetery in Medford, Wisconsin. (GPS Coordinates: 45.14094, -90.32153).




Gravestone of Maria Weigel Gruny at Holy Rosary Cemetery, Medford, WI.



Outstanding Questions About Maria’s Life

If you have any insight into these questions, please contact me:

Email: joehler at tds.net

1. Why did Maria Weigel choose to immigrate to Wisconsin?
2. When, where, and under what circumstances did Joseph and Maria Weigel meet?
3. What happened to Clara (Joseph's mother), and Johann (Joseph's uncle) after Joseph's death?

Joseph Gruny - Clara's Father

Compiled by Jim Oehler (jimoehler3 at gmail.com)

Clara Gruny Hirt was the daughter of Joseph Gruny (1870-1915) and Maria Weigel Gruny (1875-1965). Let’s take a closer look at what we currently know about Joseph’s life.

When Joseph Gruny was born on May 29, 1870, in Inzlingen, Germany, his father, Adolf, was 28 and his mother, Clara, was 25. He was baptized in the same Catholic Church that many generations of Gruny’s and other relations were baptized in.

An aerial view of Inzlingen, Germany today.  Provided by Wikipedia (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aerial_View_-_Inzlingen1.jpg)

According to the 1900 and 1910 Federal censuses, he immigrated to the United States in 1899 at the age of 28 along with his mother and his uncle Johann (referred to as John in the censuses). The censuses make no mention of his father. He presumably passed away prior to their immigration or did not go with them. I currently have not record of Adolf other than his birth.  Eventually Joseph, Clara, and Johann made their way to Medford, WI where Joseph purchased 80 acres of land approximately 3 miles west of Medford, off of current State Hwy 64. There they established a farm.

Gruny entry on 1900 U.S. Federal Census from Ancestry.com.
Dates are birth dates of individuals followed by their age at time of census.

When they arrived, they likely did not find farmland ready to plow. At the turn of the 20^th century, north-central Wisconsin was on the downward slide of the lumber boom. Most of the land was cut over with stumps protruding from the ground and perhaps some new young forest growth (Jensen 2006). It would have taken considerable work to get the land ready to be tilled. But the land was cheap and taxes were low compared to their homeland, which was just what numerous poor immigrants from Germany, perhaps including Joseph and his family, were looking for when they came to America.

1913 plat map of Medford, WI showing 80-acre Gruny farmstead approximately 3 miles west of Medford.
Provided by Ancestry.com

Current condition of original Gruny farmstead.  Image taken September 2012.  Provided by Google Earth.  

CLICK HERE TO VIEW GRUNY HOMESTEAD IN GOOLE MAPS.

Pictures of what the Joseph Gruny farmstead looks like in 2014. 
Pictures taken from the side of Hwy 64 by Jim Oehler.

Both the state of Wisconsin and railroad companies encouraged immigration from Germany between 1852 and 1905 the time frame that Joseph and his family immigrated to Medford. In fact, the state of Wisconsin stationed an immigration commissioner in New York City. The commissioner would pass out pamphlets to newly arrived immigrants who touted the cheapness and fertility of Wisconsin land. They also passed out railroad tickets that would provide immigrants free passage to Wisconsin (Jensen 2006).

With the significant decline in the lumbering business, which resulted in a decline in lumber products being transported by rail, railroad companies had good incentive to get Wisconsin’s lands settled by farmers. They wanted surplus farm products to be transported on their railways to the growing populations both south and east. Railroad companies would go to the extent of sending company representatives to Germany to talk up the benefits of moving to Wisconsin, in some cases resulting in entire communities organizing to immigrate. The Wisconsin Central Railway established an immigrant house in Medford, providing free boarding for two weeks to give the newly arrived a chance to settle in (Jensen 2006). Perhaps Joseph and his family stayed in that house.

Joseph married Maria Weigel on May 17, 1904, at Holy Rosary Church in Medford, Wisconsin. When and where he met Maria is currently not known. Unfortunately, the marriage didn’t last that long. According to his gravestone, Joseph died on April 8, 1915 at the age of 44.  According to my mother, he died of pnemonia.  In the 11 short years that they were married, they had six children: Henry (1905-1989); Hugo (1906-1995); Clara (1907-1983); Anna (1910-1992); Joseph (1911-1999); and Mary (1913-2006).

Joseph Gruny headstone located at Holy Rosary Cemetery, Medford, WI.
GPS Coordinates: 45.14094, -90.32153

Curiously, I have record of two other children born prior to Joseph and Maria’s wedding and even prior to their immigration to America.

Adolph Gruny was born in 1892 and died in 1981 in Wausau, Wisconsin. He shows up in both the 1900 Federal Census (above) and the 1905 Wisconsin census as Joseph’s son. My mother conveyed a story about Adolph being given to Maria Weigel as she boarded the ship to America. Apparently Adolph’s biological family could not afford another mouth to feed and wanted him to have a better life in America. According to my mother’s story, Maria hid Adolph under her skirt and stowed him away on the ship. According to Jensen (2006), this was not an uncommon way of stowing children onboard to get them to America. Based on the census records though, it would have been more likely that Joseph’s mother Clara would have been the one to stow Adolph away. By the 1910 Federal census, Adolph was no longer living in Joseph’s home. We do know that Adolph lived a long life in Wisconsin, eventually settling in the town of Marathon where he farmed for many decades.

Henrich Gruny was born in 1891. When he died is unknown. He shows up in the 1905 Wisconsin Census as the 14 year old son of Joseph, but does not show up in the prior 1900 Federal census nor the 1910 census. Where Henrich came from or what became of him is currently unknown.  A colleague of mine suggested that Henrich may have been an indentured servant to Joseph and his family, something that was apparently quite common at that time.  Perhaps Joseph sponsored Henrich's immigration to America and in exchange worked and stayed in Joseph's home for a time. 

Gruny entry in the 1905 Wisconsin census showing the Joseph had two sons, Adolph and Henrich.

Gruny entry in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census clearly showing Adolph and Henrich are no longer living in the Joseph Gruny home, but showing the addition of two biological sons and daughters including my grandmother Clara.

After Joseph died, Maria lived at his farmstead with her mother-in-law Clara and Uncle Johann who continued to help with the farm until at least 1920, when that year's federal census show's only Maria and the kids (including the additions of Anna, Joseph, and Mary) living on the Gruny farmstead.

In my next blog entry we’ll explore the life of Maria Weigel Gruny, who must have had a difficult life raising six kids on a farm without a husband.

 

Outstanding Questions About Joseph’s Life

If you have any insight into these questions, please contact me:

Email: joehler at charter.net

1. Why did Joseph Gruny and his family choose to immigrate to Wisconsin?
2. Why didn’t Joseph’s father, Adolf, immigrate with them?
3. What city did Joseph and his family depart from Germany and where did they arrive in America?
4. When, where, and under what circumstances did Joseph and Maria Weigel meet?
5. Under what circumstances did Joseph attain custody of Henrich and Adolph before their marriage?
6. What happened to Henrich Gruny?
7. What happened to Clara (Joseph's mother), and Johann (Joseph's uncle) after his death?
   

Jensen, Joan M. 2006. Calling This Place Home: Women on the Wisconsin Frontier, 1850-1925. Minnesota Historical Society Press. 448 pp.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2069117.Calling_This_Place_Home

Remembering Grandma and Grandpa Hirt





Louis and Clara Hirt - Christmas 1969



I was only 12 years old when Grandma passed away of cancer in 1983.  I remember her as a sweet woman who would take me for walks in her backyard during family visits, when I was bored by sitting around their house while the others were reading the National Enquirer (Grandma was an avid reader and it was the only opportunity my older brother and sisters had to read such a publication), or watching TV (the Brewers or 60 minutes if my Grandpa had anything to say about it). 

Marriage photo - Oct 1927. Louis and Clara on left.
Witnesses Henry Gruny (Clara's brother) and Anna Gruny Fleischman (Clara's sister) on right.

We would visit them on many Sundays, making the trek from Withee to Medford, WI in our very large, blue, and fake wood paneled station wagon (a GM product of some sort purchased from my uncle on the Oehler side of the family).  No one cared about seat belts back then and I loved sitting or sleeping in the way back, which these days is reserved for either groceries or the dog.

Grandma and Granpa Hirt's Old House in Medford, WI.

We always had the same thing for dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's - sloppy joes made with Campbell's chicken gumbo and tomato soup as main ingredients, one of the red Jellos with cut up bananas, and iceberg lettuce with Grandpa's french dressing.  I don't remember ever having anything else.



I remember them having this great old van.  As I look back on it now, it reminds me of a VW Vanagon, but I believe it was a Dodge.  There was no way a VW product would be in a yard of a Midwesterner.  Detroit reigned supreme back then.  The back seats of the van were bench seats that ran along side the back windows rather than perpendicular to them.  I remember someone saying that Grandma and Grandpa used to camp in the van when they went on fishing trips.  I'm sorry I really didn't know them when they still took those trips.  I would have loved to go along!  I love to fish and camp!

The last place Grandpa worked, Handel Motor Company in downtown Medford.  Interestingly, my second oldest sister Jane married into the Handel family and helps run the business - an auto repair and used car dealership.

Grandpa had his favorite chair much like Archie Bunker, and no one was permitted to sit in it.  If you did something that he didn't agree with or thought was a bit foolish, he'd call you a rummy, short for rum-dumb.  He was rarely without a handheld transistor radio with an earphone stuck in his ear so he could listen to the Brewers if they weren't on TV. He loved to play cards (I think cribbage was a favorite), but I was too young to ever play with him.  Being an auto mechanic most his adult life, he was a lifelong blue collar Democrat and loved to argue with my mother, who even though she was an independant, voted for Ronald Regean once or twice.  Interestingly, Mom is now an ardent Democrat just like Grandpa!

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT GRANDMA AND GRANPA? 

SHARE YOUR MEMORIES FOR OUR BENEFIT AND THE BENEFIT OF FUTURE GENERATIONS.  POST A COMMENT AND TELL ME HOW TO CONTACT YOU TO GET YOUR STORIES.