Autographs

Sometimes the fun with these pictures isn't so much the image itself but the back. Today we have what appears to be a school picture of Mary Cary Leutz-Rudes. This is confirmed by the back:

Too bad she didn't date it while she was at it. Anybody have a guess how old she is? How about this one?

And the back:

Timeframe: I am guessing that Mary Cary's was done in the 1920's which would make her anywhere from 3-13 and that De Ila's was done in the 1950's but I won't say how old that would have made her. ;-)

Where It Fits: De Ila is the daughter of Merrill Rudes & Mary Caroline Leutz. Mary Cary is the daughter and De Ila is the granddaughter of Leon Leutz & Merle Fritsche.

Jean

From the comments it seems that Jean occasionally sees the posts here and I know this is a day late but I would like to say . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEAN!

**UPDATE** Reversed negative & Reversed negative - revisited

UPDATE: I took this image to Uncle Bob and he says that he not only knows who Mich is but where the name came from and who labeled the back. He says this image was sent to him while he was in the military, he is the one that labeled the back. Furthermore, Mich is in fact A.J. It seems he got the nickname Mich after Mickey McGuire. According to Wikipedia, Mickey McGuire was a character in Toonerville Folks. There were several movies made based on the panel with Mickey McGuire, one with McGuire played by Mickey Rooney. In fact, Mickey Rooney acted as Mickey McGuire for a while before changing his last name to Rooney. I guess that means the mystery is solved, Mich is the one and only A.J.

[The original posts can be found here & here.]

Oops

Well, after saying I was going to try and do better about posting regularly somebody decided to "help" me by "organizing" my pictures, without my knowledge, consent or permission. :-) I am trying to remind myself it is the thought that counts and I really shouldn't hold it against him. I might be rather angry but I haven't called the hit man yet so I think I am controlling myself remarkably well. I haven't even had somebody break his fingers yet. All of that to say I am slowly re-sorting the pictures and figuring out what I have and have not posted and who I have labeled and who I don't and even what I have and have not scanned so . . . without further ado the first post of 2011.

P.S. -- I still love you, Daddy.

**UPDATE** Myrtle?!?!

**UPDATE** After this was posted Aunt Diane called and said that she had always been told that her name was Mertha/Murtha not Myrtle. On further review she seems to be the woman of a dozen names, or at least several. As you can see below (click on the image to enlarge) it clearly says 'Martha Rebecca'. In the 1900 census she is listed as 'Martha', in the 1910 census she is listed as 'Murth', in the 1920 census her name is 'Murtha' and in the 1930 census she is 'Myrtle'. I will have to see if I can track down an official birth certificate of some sort.

The original post (found here) has a poster with this comment:

Are you aware there are 2 St. Paul churches in the Oak Harbor area. Both are old churches. The one in town was, for a short time, was called a Lutheran Church. Rev August Langhorst was there from 1880-1885. The other St. Paul Lutheran Church is about 4-5 miles SE of town. Hope you went to the one in town and looked at its records. If you did, it is strange that the baptism was not recorded.

I haven't made it to either St. Paul's church in Oak Harbor as of yet but I looked it up in a book at the library and didn't see her. I am not even sure which St. Paul's it was from since I didn't know there were two. Thank you for the tip, I will be sure to investigate both and let ya'll know what I can find.

This is a baptism certificate for the daughter of Gustav Leutz & Maria "Warsha". Let's review for a moment here. Gustav Leutz and Mary Theresa Washa were married June 11, 1881 in Ottawa County, Ohio. They had five children:

• Oscar N. Leutz, born March 22, 1882.
• Myrtle R., born November 18, 1883.
• Lorenz, born December 18, 1887.
• Leon, born November 6, 1890.
• Berlin L., born December 1, 1893.

Just to be sure, I double checked and in the 1900 & 1910 census Mary is listed as the mother of five children with four of them living. (Lorenz died in 1889.) Therefore it would stand to reason that all of the children are listed. So, who is this baptism record for? Well, they only had one daughter and so this baptism record is for . . . . Martha Rebecca? According to the record Martha Rebecca was born on November 18, 1883 in Oak Harbor to the spouses Gustav Leutz and Maria Warsha and was baptized at the Evangelical St. Paul's Church in Oak Harbor on June 8, 1884. (Although when I looked through the records of the Evangelical St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Oak Harbor there is no record of this baptism.) My guess is Myrtle is actually a nickname for Martha but I had never even heard it implied that Myrtle wasn't her given name, have you?

Timeframe: Since it is dated I am going to go out on a limb and say 1884.

Where It Fits: Martha Rebecca is the daughter of Gustav Leutz & Mary Theresa Washa. Obviously she is the sister of Oscar, Lorenz, Leon & Berlin. Martha is the wife of Peter Madison and the mother of Bethel. I believe the sponsors, Carl & Louise Leutz, are the siblings of Gustav Leutz. Gustav has a brother Charles that was in the area and Carl was a very common nickname/translation of Charles. Gustav and Charles also had a sister, Louise. Louise was born in Oak Harbor and I don't believe she was married until late 1884 - early 1885 making her still a Leutz.

**UPDATE** We're goin' to the chapel . . . or house

**UPDATE** Florence Windisch married William Michel in Ashtabula County, Ohio on 10 October 1912. She is the daughter of Friedrich Windisch (born in Carroll Township, Ottawa County, Ohio) and Lura Brodock (born in New York). She had a brother Leo and a sister Effie.

This picture is labeled as "Flossie Windisch & William Michle Wedding" with "Merle Fritsche bridesmaid" and "Edward Michel bestman". I am assuming the rest of the people in this photograph are probably family, I just need to figure out who is who.

Timeframe: Sadly I don't have the marriage date for William & Flossie but the large hairbow that Merle seemed to be so fond of was popular in the mid-1910's. Think between 1913-1917 or so. Since Merle is listed as a bridesMAID I assume it was taken before October, 1913. After October, 1913 and it would be Merle Leutz, matron of honor. :-) I knew it was before October, 1913 I just didn't know it was one year almost exactly. I assume this picture was taken on the wedding day so, October, 1912.

Where It Fits: Christian Fritsche & Dorothea Langschwanger had ten children; two of which were Robert & Emilie. Robert married Caroline Hopfinger and they had Merle, the bridesmaid. Emilie married Frank Michel and they are the parents of William & Edward Michel.