Memory Monday...100 years ago on Oct 26, 1912

100 years ago on October 26, 1912, my mother's parents, Adolph Brutke and Helen Gusa were married in Taylor, Texas, USA.

I have always loved this solemn picture of the wedding couple.

Helen made her wedding dress and veil. I wish I knew if it's still around.

Helen loaned it to her sister-in-law, Helen Keene, and she kept it.

I have a photo copy of their marriage certificate, and the bride's name reads:

Lina Guss!!!!

Originally we thought this photo was taken in 1913, but it was actually taken on October 26, the wedding day of my grandparents.

The couple is Pauline and August Gusa, Helen's parents, and her siblings.

Helen also sewed the girl's dresses. How I wish I had one of them!

They are so pretty.

(notice that the carpet in both photos is the same...a clue)

A copy of the marriage certificate.

I love the handwriting!

Genealogy project...framing my ancestors.

I bought this frame at my local dollar store, and then chose my favourite Gusa/Brutke family photos, and printed them out on HP bright white paper at full resolution.

It looks better in real life, of course.

The top photo on the left hand side is Pauline Gusa's mother, the one without a name.

The next photo on the right is my Mother's parents wedding photo taken on October 26, 1912.

They are Adolph and Helen Brutke.

The photo underneath them is Helen's parents, August and Pauline Gusa, with their children, also taken on October 26, 1912. Helen made her sister's dresses and her own wedding dress.

The last photo is my Mother, Susan Brutke, with her new husband, John Williams, on Sept 3, 1955.

I figured that I couldn't possibly get them confused if they are assembled in one frame!

Also I figure that if I work on projects like this, while at a dead end as to finding out any more clues to name searching, it will keep my interest alive.

Great uncle Emil Gusa

Here is great uncle Emil Gusa.

You pronounce his first name like this: Ay-mee-al. 

Not M-ee-el.

One day I'll get the hang of German!

This photo was taken around 1913. 

This is my Grandma Helen's brother.

My Mom kept asking me if I'd found the cassette tape with Uncle Emil talking on it, being interviewed by a relative back in 1975.

So I went looking for it last Saturday, and spent over an hour taking notes from it.

Uncle Emil sounded like quite a character.

Robert said he might be able to turn the cassette into a sound file for the computer, and he could put it on YouTube. Leona suggested that if any relatives wished to hear Uncle Emil's voice, I could password protect the YouTube clip and have the relatives send me a new photo I'd never seen before.

That sounds like a great idea to me!

Once I'd received the new photo, I could then let them access the YouTube file.

I would dearly love to see more photographs.

Photos of Hannivka (Anielowka) Ukraine! (used with permission)

Jerry Frank has given me permission to post these photos of the town of Hannivka, Ukraine, formerly Anielowka. Jerry took all these lovely photos.

It is just thrilling to me to be able to see these scenes!

I would dearly love to visit Ukraine one day, but I know it's quite expensive.

Thank you, Jerry, for allowing me to post the photos here on my blog.

The photo above shows pretty cherry trees in bloom.

All the houses are lined up on one main street; there are no side streets.

Another scene of Hannivka, by Jerry Frank, used by permission.

I am trying to imagine my great great grandparents raising their family here.

It feels so very far away.

A stork's nest in Hannivka.

Photo by Jerry Frank, used by permission.

The cemetery in Hannivka.

Photo by Jerry Frank, used by permission.

Pictures of August Gusa's willow basket.

Here are a few pictures of the beautiful willow wicker basket my great Grandpa August Gusa made.

My Mom had kept this for years, and then when she moved to a smaller place in 1998, she inherited it to me. I've kept it hanging in my linen closet out of harm's way.

The outside of the pretty basket.

Apparently many people from Volhynia had these skills.

It was a lovely summer day today, so I thought I'd photograph the basket along with my laundry on the line! Wouldn't great Grandpa August be pleased?

Pictures of August Gusa's Bible.

My Mom, Susan Brutke Williams, gave me her Grandpa's Bible some time back.

I finally took a picture of it today.

It's printed in German, which I can't read.

Great Grandpa August marked quite a few verses.

I don't know much about him, so looking at his Bible gives me a sense that he loved to read it, and enjoyed marking his favourite verses. I could figure them out by paging through my Bible by chapter and verse. The Bible is very heavy.

I don't believe Great Grandpa August brought it with him from Volhynia.

There is a penciled marking of "1930" on the front page.

According to my Mom, August tore out all personal information and buried it underneath an oak tree.

I'm not sure why or when he did this, so I'll have to ask her.

Here is one of the inside pages, with a crocheted book marker.

This is my great great grandfather, August Gusa.

Pictures of Anielowka, Ukraine!

I have found a few pictures of Anielowka, Ukraine online!

To see them, please CLICK HERE.

They are taken by Bill Remus.

I had seen these pictures quite a while ago, but had misplaced the link.

Bill Remus has a wonderful website.

This one: Families of Anielowka and Berestovitz is so interesting!
(The map showing Anielowka and Berestovitz is exactly the same as the one my Aunt Patricia Brutka has in the binder she gave me.)

Bill Remus also had ancestors from the village of Anielowka.

Maria Deutschlander by Rose Clausen-Mohr is a very good read.

I'm very excited to be discovering so much about Anielowka all at once!

Digging in the past fascinates me no end.

Genealogy 101...the SGGEE website!

Each day I wake up with the thought:

"What will I discover online today?"

At first I felt overwhelmed by the complete sadness and darkness of this part of the world; the world of Ukraine in Eastern Europe, where my ancestors on my Mom's side once lived.

When I was a young teenager, I was told my Mom's grandparents had immigrated from Russia, but were not Russians. I couldn't understand that! I was told they spoke German and had moved to Volhynia from Germany, and also Poland. It wasn't until 1991 when my Aunt Patricia Brutka put together a huge binder, with the help of many relatives, that I began to understand better.

For a while I put the binder on a closet shelf and forgot about it.

In 2000 I took a children's writing course by correspondence, and in 2002 I passed with a good mark.

In that time I decided to write about my maternal Grandma, Helen Gusa Brutke.

But every time I began to research the area of Ukraine and its dark history, I was overcome with sorrow and I couldn't continue. I became overwhelmed with the pure stupidity of historical events.

Recently I had success with tracing one of my Dad's family members online, so this past month of July I have once again renewed my interest in Gusa/Brutke history, and maybe this time I will taste completion! 

Today I signed up for membership in the SGGEE, which stands for
"The Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe".

For one month I've looked around their many fascinating pages, and participated online.

Jerry Frank is the webmaster; his ancestors also came from Anielowka, and it might be that we are related somehow. The website is purely fascinating. 

My sister, Leona, doesn't know where I get the stamina to search all the pages, but if you become a member for $40 per year, you can access even more!

I am so excited to see what I can discover regarding my ancestral past.

Hopefully a light is dawning for me, and the darkness of history will for my case be overcome by this light; the light of freedom that I live here in beautiful Canada, and my ancestors did not die in Siberia!

Discovering the modern name of Anieluwka.

My great grandparents, the Gusa family, lived in Anieluwka, Russia, now known as

Hannivka, Rivnens'ka, Ukraine.

This was from the 1860s (approx) until 1910.

Jerry Frank, webmaster of the SGGEE site, let me know the modern name, which was why I couldn't find it on the map! Today I Googled it, and took a photo and am putting it here on my blog so it sticks in my mind.

It's fascinating to find these things online!

Alas, Chernobyl is rather close to Rivne, which is only a 50 minute drive from Hannivka.

Rivne was once ROVNO.

Robert told me how to measure distances on Google maps.

What would I do without Google?

It's become my best friend!

This shows the driving distance from Rivne to Hannivka, just in case I ever get there and travel by car!

All this map viewing makes the geography stick in my head better. 

I feel like I'm in a vortex and all I can think about is Ukraine and the land of my forefathers.

Genealogy 101...Gusa/Brutke Family

For two weeks I have been working on my family tree.

I have actually began to dream about them!

I'm lost in lists and more lists and photographs and clues.

It's a fantastic summertime project, especially during chilly temperatures and monsoon rains.

Last evening I visited my parents and my Mom showed me pictures I don't recall ever seeing before.

I was familiar with this one of my Mom, as I have a colour reprinted copy.

Isn't she adorable? She reminds me of Shirley Temple.

She was holding her hands out to catch a ball!

This is the photo I was after. I have a huge one in an original frame. The frame needs to be repaired.

I wanted a smaller copy, and my Mom had one.

This is my maternal grandparents, my mother's parents.

Helen's maiden name was Guse. I'm having a difficult time tracking them down online!

They changed their surname from Gusowski. I believe that's the correct spelling.

Yes, it's Polish, as Helen's father, August Guse, was born in Poland in 1866.

Helen was a wonderful seamstress, and she made her wedding dress.

Her sister in law, Helen (Brutke) Keene borrowed it for her wedding and refused to give it back!

I wonder what happened to it.

Helen was 21 when she was married, just like me!

She was married 70 years before I was.

Isn't this another adorable photo? It was taken in San Antonio, Texas, at the McMahon Studio.

These are my mother's cousins.

Their mother is Helen (Brutke...sister to Adolph Brutke, my mother's father) and their father is Edward Keene. My mother often played with their younger sister, Louise, as she was the same age as her.

I just love old photos!

Gusa Family; Pauline and August Gusa

I'm on a roll...don't stop me!

This is my maternal great grandparents, Pauline and August Gusa.

Aren't they cute?

I love great grandpa's beard. He always looks spiffy in his pictures.

The house where they lived, circa 1936 or 1937.

My Mom says they built it all by hand themselves.

This is the family the road is named after in the Eola Hills in Yamhill County, OR.

Unfortunately the house burned down around 30 years ago.

My great Grandpa August Gusa when he was younger.

Isn't he handsome?

He was born November 2, 1866.

He died June 30, 1948. (age 82)

Just for the record:

Pauline (Hein) was born April 1, 1865

She died April 1, 1950. (age 85)

I think it was very unique she died on her birthday.

Family Tree...Great Grandma Pauline Gusa

This is my great grandma, Pauline (Hein) Gusa.

She lived up on a hill, close to my Mom's family.

My Mom mentioned today that she remembers visiting their home with her mother, but Grandma Pauline was always puttering in her pantry and didn't greet her granddaughter Susie with a hug as that wasn't the way back then. Isn't that sad?

The girl standing in the background is Pauline's daughter, Julia. (my great aunt)

I remember aunt Julia at campmeeting in the 1980's in Portland OR when we would visit each summer.

She always greeted me with a big hug!

This lady who I blogged about the other day is Pauline's mother.

I assume her name is Wilhelmina Kuhn, as my Mom is doubtful and claims that my aunt Pat may have been guessing at the name. Sigh....

Genealogy is very fascinating.

Pretty soon I'll begin dreaming about them all, I just know it!

Two weeks ago I was in Volhynia in one dream, and it was beautiful.

Family Tree

I'm hard at work, scanning in old photos which I borrowed from Janet Trotter, a second cousin of mine.

Isn't this a cute picture?

From left to right these are the names:

Lydia, Robert, Bertha, Ewalt Brutke; children of Adolph and Helen (Gusa) Brutke.

Next are Helen's brothers, Henry and Bill.

I wonder what in the world they are balanced on?

(please click on the picture to see it large)

A family clue!

I have been researching my family genealogy.

Thanks to Margaret Houben, my sister in law, who piqued my interest in genealogy again, I began looking for my great great grandma's name. According to my Mom, there was no record of it, as the photo above showing my great great grandma has no name on the back.

(she is Pauline Hein Gusa's mother.)

So I double checked the huge binder of family history my dear Aunt Pat Brutka put together in the 1990's, and lo and behold, there was a pedigree chart way at the back, and it lists her name!

Do you know how excited I am? I was successful on my first attempt!!!!

Her name is Wilhelmina Kuhn. I believe Kuhn is her maiden name, as her husband's name which is listed above hers is Johanne Gainske. There is no record of her birthdate or her marriage. I would love to know how to track these dates down, along with copies of her certificates. She lived until 98.

Memory Monday...Gusa Family

100 years ago in 1910, this family was preparing to leave their homeland near Rovno, Russia, now known as Ukraine. My Aunt Emma gave me this picture when I was a teen-ager, and my Mother kept it, making copies for all of us first. I was around 14 or 15 when the thought of "ancestors" began to intrigue me. For years I didn't clue in to the difficult life those relatives lived while in Russia at the turn of the last century.

My goal this year is to research the country from which the Gusa Family emigrated, along with the political situation, etc, in order to write a children's novel based on the life of my maternal Grandmother, Helena, whom I never met. She isn't shown in the picture above, taken in 1913, as she was married in 1912. However, she sewed her sisters beautiful dresses, and I've always been interested in that fact, as I inherited her love of sewing.

I've borrowed a few thick volumes on Ukraine's history, and it amazes me that I haven't had nightmares yet. I'm so thankful that my great grandparents had the foresight to escape in 1910, and create a new life in America, settling in Taylor, Texas first, until they paid off their ship indenture by picking cotton, and then relocating to the beautiful Eola Hills in Amity Oregon.

It's quite the story. I'm sure there is such a story in most of our backgrounds. I long to unearth it and share it with the world.