Grandma Giermann, circa 1910's

Provided by Judith Jacob

Restored Portrait by Joseph Frank Forrai

Subject: Johana Lueth Waswo Giermann.
Occasion: Unknown.
Date: Unknown, about the 1910'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.

In the next few weeks, I will be posting photographs of Grandma Giermann. Most have been provided to me by my Cousin Judith.
 
Today, I have provided two photographs. The top one was provided by my Cousin Judith. The bottom one is the same photograph that was restored by my father, Joseph in the 1970's. Obviously, there were multiple copies of this portrait. You may ask, why the photograph was restored?
 
My mother found a fragile copy of the portrait at my Grandmother Lucy's house in the late 1960's. My father had built a townhouse, we lived on one side and Grandmother Lucy lived on the other side. Mom and dad helped her move from Richard and Ring to the townhouse. This was the only portrait we had of Grandma Giermann. My dad made several copies. Mom framed one, and it hung on the 'wall of the relatives' in our home.
 
You might think these are two separate portraits because Grandma Giermann is facing the opposite direction. My dad reversed the negative and printed the restored portrait with Grandma facing both directions. Dad and Mom decided they liked the above portrait the best. I guess you can consider it poetic license of the restoring photographer.

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.

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."

Inside Grandma's House

Photograph Provided by Judith Jacob

Subject: Johana Lueth Waswo Giermann's House
Occasion: Unknown.
Date: Unknown.
Location: 5328 Leland Ave, Jefferson Park, Chicago, IL
Photographer: Unknown.

Last week we had a view of Grandma Giermann's house from the outside. Today we have a view of the inside, the front parlor. This picture was provided to me by my Cousin Judith.

If you look carefully, you will see a gentleman sitting in a chair on the left side of the picture. The picture is too fuzzy to make out who it is. My guess would be either Robert or Albert Waswo.

It is a grand looking home, and I would love to have Thanksgiving dinner there.

Grandma's House

Subject: Johana Lueth Waswo Giermann's House

Occasion: Unknown

Date: 1913
Location: 5328 Leland Ave, Jefferson Park, Chicago, IL
Photographer: Most Likely, George D. Waswo.

I thought with being November and the holidays fast approaching, most people remember family and friends. The song over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go, comes to mind. So this week and next, I will post pictures of Grandmother Johana's house.

With the leaves on the trees and two young men on the porch in shirt sleeves, I doubt very much this photograph was taken in November. Mostly likely during the Spring or Summer of 1913. I zoomed in on the two young men on the porch. The resolution is poor, but I can tell neither of the two men are my Grandfather George. I am guessing the one standing is his brother Robert and the one in the back ground Albert. If you remember from earlier posts, Albert was a breached child. While he was able to work, he could not care for himself on his own. Initially Grandmother Johana cared for him until her death in 1935. After that his sisters Minnie and Alma cared for him until his death in 1948.


The Traulsen Family, circa 1906.

Subjects: (Clockwise starting lower left): Alma Bertha (Reichardt) Traulsen,  Lucy Albertine Helene (Waswo)Traulsen, Alma Helen Wolff Traulsen, Arthur Herman Traulsen, Henning William Traulsen.
Date: After November 1906.
Location: Milwaukee, WI.
Occasion: Unknown.
Photographer: W. L. Stein, 452 Mitchell St., Milwaukee.

This is a framed photograph. I carefully removed it from the simple thin black wood frame and scanned the photograph. I was hoping for some information on the back of the photograph or in the frame, but there was none. I remember this photograph hanging on the wall of my Grandmother Lucy's home on Richard and Ring Streets in Milwaukee.

This photograph was taken by the same photographer that took Lucy's 8th grade graduation picture in the Spring of 1906. Henning passed away in November 1906, so I am assuming this photograph was taken in late 1906 or 1907. Lucy appears to be approximately the same age as her graduation picture. Since this is a family photograph, I would assume if Henning were alive, he would be in it as well.

My mother did attach a small note on the back of the photograph with the date of death of Henning Sr.  She also taped a picture of her family circa 1930. This will be posted at a future date. I remember this photograph hanging in our home in the hallway with the other family photographs.

Arthur Herman Traulsen

Subject: Arthur Herman Traulsen, age 29(second row on the right).

Occasion: Military Photograph, World War I

Date: 1918

Location: Unknown

Photographer: Unknown

Arthur Herman Traulsen was born was May 25, 1889 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From a previous post, he ran a bakery on Mitchell Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after 1906 the year his father Henning Traulsen passed away. He married Linda Borgwardt on February 12, 1922. He passed away on May 3, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Art and Linda had three children, two are still living, and they have four grandchildren. I know very little about my Great or Grand Uncle as he passed away when I was one year old. To date, this is one of the few photographs that I have in my collection of him.

The photograph, itself, is very fragile. It was printed on a very light weight photographic paper. Unfortunately, there is no information printed on the back of the picture except for the date 1918. I remember, my Grandmother Lucy pointing at the young man in the second row on the right and exclaiming it was her brother. I believe Grand Uncle Art served in the Army. Hopefully, other family members will be able to share more information.

Alma Helen Wolff Traulsen

Subject: Alma Helen Wolff Traulsen

Occasion: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Photographer: Unknown

Alma Helen Wolff was born on November 23, 1865 in Schneidemuhl in the Province of Posen, Germany. Alma arrived in the United States on October 12, 1882.

Henning and Alma were the parents of my maternal Grandmother Lucy Albertine Helene Traulsen. They were wed on October 15, 1886 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Alma passed away on March 8, 1941 after battling cancer of the pancreas for about one year. She was buried in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but I do not know what cemetery.

This photograph was glued to a piece of wood that was carved and painted. There are many layers of varnish over the picture and frame. I remember this being called decoupage. Unfortunately, over the years the varnish gets cloudy, so the picture no longer is in sharp focus. The above is a photograph I took of the actual piece. There is no information or date on the back of the picture. There is a small sticker with Gimbels on it. I am assuming this was done at the department store in Milwaukee.

I know very little about my maternal Great Grandmother. If my Grandmother Lucy told stories about her mother, I just do not remember them. Any comments from other family members would of course, be greatly appreciated.