Grandma Giermann through the years.




Photograph provided by Judith Jacob

Subject: Johana Lueth Waswo Giermann.
Occasion: Unknown.
Date: Unknown, about the late 1800's early 1900's.
Location: Chicago, Illinois.
Photographer: Unknown.
Relationship to me: Maternal Great Grandmother.

Johana Lueth Waswo Giermann was born August 18, 1848 in Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.  She married Frederick William Waswo on October 10, 1869 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois by Pastor T. Grosse.  Frederick committed suicide on April 2, 1896.  I have no information when she married Mr. Giermann, but the two had no children. Mr. Giermann preceded Johana in death. Johana passed away on May 18, 1935 at age 86 in Chicago, Illinois.

Based on the fashion, hair styles, Johana’s apparent age (born in 1848), here are the approximate dates and details for the portrait:

• Estimated Date: c. 1895 – 1900
• Estimated Age: Late 40s to early 50s

Key Clues:

• Sleeves: The slightly raised, structured shoulder puff (leg-o'-mutton style fading into late 1890s tailoring) was a hallmark of women’s fashion in the mid-to-late 1890s.
• Bodice & Collar: High lace-trimmed collar paired with vertical pin-tucking down the front bodice was characteristic of late Victorian dresses.
• Jewelry & Hair: The long chain with a slide/watch and small bar brooch at the center collar, along with hair tightly coiled and braided at the top/back, closely fit fashion trends around 1898.

In the next few weeks, I will be posting photographs of Grandma Giermann. Most have been provided to me by my Cousin Judith.

In an email, my Cousin Judith wrote:

"Regarding Johanna, ten kids is a lot of kids and  losing your first two and two more after that must have been tough.  Add in the difficulties with the Allen marriage, children, and deaths, the suicide of her husband at age 49 in 1896 leaving her with a large building to manage, the saloon and the sausage business  to deal with, and several kids still at home, she really had to be a strong woman to get through all that.  To top it all off, her father also died in the fall of 1896 ....no wonder she looks a bit hardened and stoic in her later pictures!  And she lived to 80 something.......a lesser woman would have been undone by the vicissitudes of life.....God bless her."