Florence
writes more . . .
May 18, 2004
Dear Connie
and the Newsletter,
I
am glad to report that I figured out how to use my word processor and the
video eye together so that I can read what I am typing on the big screen and
then copy it off. It comes out in a narrow column that fits very well on a
normal sheet of typing paper.
I
am starting to continue my daily diary (which I have neglected ever since my
eyes have gone blind (legally blind) - - - now I can see quite well getting
around - - - but I am very limited seeing details, like reading music, or
normal print - - - that is what I use the video eye to enlarge anything I
read. This blessed machine has cost us $3000.00. I can still crochet with
my magnifying lamp that I have used for many years - - - However, I don’t
use the dark shades of year any more. I am memorizing much of my music - -
- I am sorry now that my music teachers when I was young discouraged playing
by ear. Now I am a slow learner - - - I find that playing by ear and
memorizing aren’t the same?
Since I do not do the Newsletter any more, I miss getting the letters from
the family. I hope some of you will write to me once in a while and I will
answer with my new system of writing. Love to all, Your Sis, Your Aunt,
Your Grandmother, all our children - - - in-laws, cousins, etc. Florence
Gross
Aunt
Florence,
I
will print off the letters for the newsletter and send them to you as I get
them. Also, will send you the snail mail hand written letters after I
re-type them into the newsletter format I can also enlarge the print to
help make it more readable for you. I love you! Connie
Aunt
Florence shared some of their stories of their
Carribean
Cruise at the Reunion Picnic . . . I asked Florence to put something in
writing to share with the newsletter . . . Florence writes :
Our Carribean Cruise
We left
March 19 by plane to visit our son Father Gerard David at the Holy Spirit
Monastery in Conyers, Georgia. We spent 4 wonderful days with him and the
many monks celebrating their 60th Founding Day.
On Tuesday March 23rd we left Conyers and flew from Atlanta to
Norfolk, Virginia where we boarded a Holland American cruise ship. Settled
very soon in a beautiful promenade deck room on the 6th floor.
It didn’t take us long to find our way around, from one end of the ship to
the top of 12 stories and down.
Needless to say the food and services were fantastic for about 1300 guests.
There was every kind of wonderful entertainment. We didn’t begin to try
doing everything. We limited ourselves to doing site-seeing land tours and
always attended the evening stage shows. We spent a lot of time in the
crowe’s nest up 12 stories using elevators. We could study the landscape
and the cities along the way. I spent much time in the crowe’s nest - - -
This was a perfect place with my poor eye sight. With my good binoculars I
could study everything in view - - - I could even see the window
decorations, etc. Of course, we took land tours of several of the islands
by buses. We were especially happy to visit our U.S. Island of Puerto Rico.
We
returned to Norfolk after the first 11 days - - - most of the travelers left
and a new group boarded the ship for 10 days more. This was spring vacation
time so the second group of passengers were young families, school children
of all ages, high schoolers and college people. They were beautifully well
behaved, very much fun individuals - - - We really enjoyed the children and
the young people.
This happened to be Easter week. There were church services every day. We
attended all the Holy Week Services in a beautiful plush auditorium. When
we came out there would be another group ready to go in. Everyone was very
devout. On Good Friday we were scheduled to take a land tour of one of the
largest islands. We had planned to go. We disembarked the ship early that
morning on a long concrete dock. It was a rather long walk to meet the
buses. I was using my walker and got a bit tired about half way there - - -
I asked Louis if he would push me for a short distance to rest my legs - - -
that was fine until we struck a hole in the concrete and we toppled
(backwards for me with Louis falling on top of me). WOW, What excitement
that caused with the ambulance screaming. As it turned out it wasn’t all
that bad - - - no broken or cracked bones. No goose egg from my head
hitting the concrete - - - not even enough for one stitch - - - the ship
doctor closed the little wound with silly glue. But I did have a tail bone
injury about 1 inch above the tip. Yes, I had several miserable days that I
feasted on pain pills.
I didn’t want to miss the last sage show which was the next day after our
fall. So I took more pain pills and went to the show. There was quite a
long spell between dinner and the start of the show - - - We usually went
early to get a front seat. This particular night, the M.C. came out on the
stage early and announced that we were going to have a fun game called the
“Newly Wed Game”. Here we were right in the front center row. He called
for all newly weds to raise their hands - - - He got a couple that had been
married only 2 weeks - - - then a couple 3 years, then a couple 30 or 50
years and then called for anyone over 50 years. The M.C. knew that we had
been married for 65 years and looked straight at us with our hands barely
up.
He came right down to us and asked me if I could make it up the steps
(temporary steps with no rails). I said, if there were enough hands - - -
of course there were plenty of hands. So, what do you know, here we were on
the big stage in front of thousands of people ready for fun. Our husbands
were taken back stage out of hearing distance from us gals.
The M.C. started asking us “Gosh awful” sexy questions - - - Luckily I could
hear the 4 questions 3 times before he got to me. I had to think back 65
years. I was about to “renig” on the 4th question which was
“where was the most memorable love making session”. I was about to
refuse to answer when the lady next to me answered the question - - - “It
was in my parent’s swimming pool”. That rang a bell for me - - - I thought
that is great. I’ll just say, “It was Mary’s River and I won’t go into any
detail!” (Mary’s River bordered Louie’s home farm).
So when it came my turn I just said, “It was Mary’s River”. Of course the
adueince gave a hoot and a holler, shouted, whistled, stood up, stamped the
floor, clapped, laughed and about the blew the roof off the ship. The M.C.
could see that the people wanted more, so the rascally M.C. asked me many
more questions about what happened. I tried my best not to say anything too
disgusting or embarrassing - - - but on a question or so the audience took
my question different than I meant it - - - you never heard such a
“haulablew” never in all of my life had I ever received such applause. I
thought they would not stop laughing and howling!
Finally they brought our husbands out to answer the same questions. There
were lots of laughter and clapping. When they came to Louis and asked him
the questions - - - He answered the correct answer for the size of bra that
I wore - - - I could hardly believe that but when he answered that 4th
question by saying “It was Mary’s River” I thought the ship was blowing up -
- - you never heard such laughter and applause! A repeat of how they roared
for me. You guessed it, after that night no asked me how I felt with my
fall, Did I have broken bones, etc., etc. They said we were the funniest
people on the stage, etc. Oh me, I don’t know if we will ever live that one
down. Maybe it is a good thing they didn’t know us before?
We arrived home on the 13th of April. I have had about a month
of tail bone pain, but to think God and everyones prayers I am almost back
to normal and even doing my garden work. Florence Gross
Ernie Fromherz writes
that he will not
be able to attend the
2004 family
reunion and that he has moved. His new address is: 585 Winter St. NE #304,
Salem, OR 97301 h 503 540-7521. (Art’s Ernie)
From: Bob
Fromhartz (one of your many cousins from the fatherland (Germany).
To all interested parties:
Sun May 16, 2004
I apologize to anyone I
might offend and also for occasional spelling errors. The offending is
usually on purpose and the spelling errors are accidental.
This note is to tell a
little of the story of how my daughter Melissa and I found ourselves in
Hartschwand, Germany for three days in May 2004. The story may be a little
long winded, but that is how it has to be.
Before I start there are
some thank you's that should be passed along to those who made the trip
possible. The "Thank You's" are in chronological order as the events
unfolded.
Thanks for my Grandmother
who knew a little Fromhartz history from the Pennsylvania side. I asked her
to tell me what she knew and I wrote it down. I'm guessing that was about
1986 and she left us in 1987 at 92. She gave me some pictures and a copy of
a letter from my Gr. Grandmother Mary Fisher (Fromhartz) in Pa. Our family
came to the USA and settled near Bethlehem PA. My branch of the family
migrated to South Florida three generations ago. Today there are almost
none of the original family left in PA and those who are there are not
talking. The letter states my Grandfather (Harry F.) was born in
Pennsylvania and his birth was recorded in the family bible. She did not
know my Grandfather's Father's name or anymore about him. At this point in
time I set a goal for myself to find my Gr. Grandfathers first name.
Thanks to Daniel Frommherz
from Oregon: Daniel called me one day out of the blue since he had recently
returned to the USA from his own trip to the fatherland and collected a lot
of genealogy. He told me some of what he had found in his own search. I
never knew so many Frommherz/Fromhartz existed. He sent me his family
newsletters and I studied and saved them to try to make a connection. I
guess it was here that I realized I was not Dutch as we were always told.
My Father was told he was "Dutch" and as kids we were told the same and that
we came from Hartzmountain. My Father was born in 1916 and I guess it was
easier to be Dutch than be German. Over the years when I would slow down in
my search, the phone would ring and it would be Daniel with just enough
information to prod me into action again.
Thanks to my family for
listening to my rantings as this genealogy disease took me over. My mother,
my wife (Terry) my daughters (Melissa and Robyn). They not only listened to
my theories, they went to Pennsylvania with me and we went searching church
records and cemetery headstones until we found my Gr. Grandfathers grave
with the name I was looking for Charles Sylvanus Fromhartz. Funny as it may
seem while there Daniel came driving through on his way to Pittsburgh from
New York City we missed meeting by a mere hour or so. We stayed another day
to look for his father and somehow we stumbled on a gravestone that was
mostly covered in dirt. I got on my knees and began scraping the dirt off.
It was the grave of Jacob Fromhartz born on 3/15/1828. This matched the
date listed in one of Daniel's letters for Phillip Jacob Frommherz who left
Germany in 1854. The connection was made. I verified his name in the books
"Germans to America" that Phillip Jacob Frommherz arrived in New York on the
ship named the "Charles Hill" on May 19th 1854. Daniel's genealogy book
traced him back but could go no further in America. Anything more would
have been just guesswork. Today is the 16th of May so next Wednesday will
be exactly 150 years. We will celebrate with a toast of schnapps.
This is when fate or maybe
faith entered the picture.
Thanks to Christoph
Wolfsperger of Emmindingen Germany (now reluctantly residing in France.).
We met on the Fontana Dam in North Carolina. We shared a couple days
together, and I told him of my search and told him where I thought my Gr.
Gr. Grandfather might be from in the South Black Forest. I knew the village
was Hartschwand, but I wasn't sure where it was. Christoph was also
interested in genealogy (I hope he didn't catch it from me poor fellow). I
invited Christoph to visit with me in Florida and he did. He brought
pictures of Frommherz graves in Gorwihl, near Hartschwand. But better than
that he brought the 2 genealogy books from Dr. Faller that allowed me to go
back to Joseph Frommherz b.1688. I have since worn these books out and
purchased new revised editions last week in Gorwihl. I studied the books
and made and remade several charts to trace forward in Germany to see if we
were related to anyone in Germany today.
Christoph made this
journey possible. He offered a place to stay, and to guide and translate,
and show us France, Germany, and Switzerland. This offer finally overcame
my fear of flying. That and my daughter Melissa's gentle but constant
pushing. She wanted to go as bad as I did and we finally made the
commitment and bought the tickets.
My daughter and I flew to
Paris, then to Strasbourg France where Christoph picked us up at the airport
and drove us to Epping France. We met Marie Antoinette who is Christoph's
partner in Epping. She is from Strasbourg and she welcomed us into her
home. Everyone we met on this trip, French or German was extra nice to us.
This was a welcome surprise as we all hear stories of problems in France
especially. We can say positively, no one was ever unkind to us in any
way. Everyone smiled and helped us find our way even though it was obvious
we were Americans. In the hotels and restaurants we found the same thing.
Everyone tried to please us.
Day 2: We drove to a
museum in the Black Forest and looked at how the people of the B.F. lived in
the 15 and 1600's. We then drove to a glass-making factory and did a self
tour ending in a gift shop (of course) where we had to pickup a few
souvenirs. We went to Triberg this is a small town with a big waterfall.
We hiked to the top and took lots of pictures.
Day 3: We went further
south to Lake Titisee a very scenic lake with mountains all around it. We
took more pictures and checked out the shops for more souvenirs. We met a
big tall German who began giving us samples of different schnapps. He told
us how he rode his Harley from Jacksonville Fl. to Key West. We kept
testing until Melissa found one she liked and bought a bottle. The big guy
took it somewhere in the back and came out with her name engraved on it.
Christoph told missy it looked like she found a "Black Forest Boyfriend”.
We then went to Frieburg and saw the beautiful Cathedral from the 11th
century. We went as high in the steeple as we were allowed and took
pictures the town and the cathedral is a very impressive place. We ended
the day in Christoph's hometown of Emmendingen, Germany where we had dinner
at his mother's house. Fresh spargel, (asparagus) ham, and potato's in a
white cream sauce. With dinner we had a very good local wine. Missy and I
were becoming quite the connoisseur's. We had great meals every day and
somehow we both actually lost weight on the trip. Me, because I didn't have
my daily ration of beer and Missy because we did a lot of walking and
climbing.
Christoph taught us a lot
about the different wines and fromages (cheese). With every meal we learned
more. From schnapps, to wines, to which glass to use for red and whites, to
how to carve a trout without getting a mouthful of bones. (I wasn't real
good at the last one.)
Day 4: We made our way
back to Epping, by traveling the "wine road" through the Rhine valley and
the Alsace wine growing region of France. We stopped along the way for wine
tasting at a Wolfsberger winery (no relation) and Christoph bought 12
bottles. He later gave us two to bring home to Terry. Christoph is
beginning to show the wear and tear of translating back and forth from
German to English and then to French. At one point he began speaking German
to Missy then he started speaking English to the French wine salesman. He
had to take a break to get his brain files back in the correct order. The
day ended at his home in Epping where Marie Antoinette had been preparing an
unbelievable Alsace meal for us. We began with a Burgundy wine followed by
a Bordeaux to compare the two. They were both great. The first course was
a beef bouillon type of soup that had small round dumplings made from the
bone marrow of the beef that would come later. It was delicious. Then we
had the beef roast with potato's and several vegetables for a salad. After
the main course they brought out the fromage (cheese). We had goat, Brie,
Munster, and one, which was like Swiss without the holes. We had some of
each. Then on to dessert which was a homemade rhubarb pie. It was very
good and Antoinette said it would not keep, so we had to each have 2
slices. Sometimes life is tough....We finally rolled into bed at about
midnight. It was a great meal. Missy is a very fussy eater. She ate
everything that was put before here. I was really surprised. She not only
ate it all, she went for seconds. Thank you again Antoinette.....
Day 5: This was the day
I've planned for and thought about for so many years to the South Black
Forest for our Hartschwand homecoming. How would we be welcomed? Or would
we be welcomed? We would soon find out.
We took the autobahn and
passed Strasbourg, Frieburg, the Rhine valley, and Basal. We were going 200
KPH or somewhere around 120 mph. We felt very safe with Christoph driving.
His Audi is made for the autobahn. We made it to Bad Sackingen at about 3
p.m. and began to go north into the Black Forest. The villages got smaller
as we went and in about 20 minutes we were in Hartschwand. It is very small
and beautiful. Houses are scattered among pasture and forests. We stopped
on a hill and could see the Rhine valley and some low mountains in
Switzerland. Then we could see the Swiss Alps behind the low mountains.
They were very high and covered in snow. The altitude in Hartschwand is
about 3000 ft. We looked around a little and stopped at house #40 in Burg
(about a mile from Hartschwand) Missy noticed that it was on our sheet as a
Frommherz house, so Christoph and I went up and knocked on the door. A
woman answered and began talking to Christoph in German. She seemed very
nice and looked at my chart, which I made years ago showing where the two
families connected. After about 10 minutes her husband Otto came out and
began examining my chart. Christoph kept talking to make the sale. He said
Otto was a little skeptical, but when he saw his birth date and the names of
his children on the chart he began to warm up. He invited us in and we sat
at his table and began explaining the chart and the connections. He was now
interested. I think at first they were in shock that they really had
American cousins. His wife Maria and his son Thomas also were interested.
I put my hand on their table and told Otto that Daniel Frommherz of Oregon
told me all the Frommherz men had big hands. He put his hand next to mine
and they were the same. Christoph said that was a turning point in
convincing him we really were related. Otto and Thomas took us down the
road to a house where two old ladies lived. One was 81 and the other 83.
They were sisters and one was married to a Frommherz. We sat with them and
went over the chart again. They brought out a local newspaper article that
was written about the house that was built by a Frommherz in 1844. The
house has the 1844 date written along with an inscription that is common for
the area. It translates to: Long ago, I came to a foreign country. There
was written on a wall "Be deeply religious and be silent, respect the
property of others. Dear Lord, watch over this house with favor. Save us
from fire, bad crops, expensive times, masons and carpenters.” The last
part an apparent joke by the people who had worked on the building. We
would go to the hose the next day.
Day 6..... We met Otto
and Thomas and drove to the Frommherz family home in Hartschwand (about 2
miles). The home is occupied by Maria Schmidt. She is 75 and full of
energy. Her husband was Adolph Frommherz. When Christoph introduced me to
her she told him I was big and great like a Frommherz. She was also a great
lady. She milks her cows, bakes her bread, tends her bees, pushes a cart up
the hill with milk to give or sell; I'm not sure which. She filled us with
Frommherz stories. Her son Otto came in. He is a part time metzger
(butcher) He brought out the schnapps and the celebration began. Otto 2
brought out his own Black Forest ham and 2 types of wursts with Maria's
delicious homemade B.F. bread. Then there was beer and more schnapps. We
had a great time and they treated us like family. What more could we ask
for. They all had many questions for us about America. Christoph's head
was spinning trying to translate back and forth. They were all trying to
talk at once. This is the home probably built by Hans Jacob, father of
Phillip Jacob. Phillip Jacob was 16 when the house was built and came to
America 10 years later. We took lots of pictures of the house, the
inscription, and the family. As Christoph put it, "It's like being in a
Frommherz museum". Otto's 1 and 2 then took us to an older house, which was
occupied by Frommherz's many years ago. The present owner and his wife are
collectors and have turned the entire house into a real museum. They opened
especially for us when Otto 2 called them. (It was Sunday and Mother's day)
they gave us a complete tour. The house was set up like it would have been
in the 16 and 1700's. We then had more schnapps to celebrate. We were
really beginning to like this place.
Day 7.....We went to Bad
Sackingen and did a little shopping a nice town that has everything (even
Macdonald’s). We walked to the Rhine on the south side of the old town and
crossed on the old covered footbridge that Daniel told me his Grandfather
told him about through stories from his father. Half way across we heard
shouting and someone ran passed us with another guy chasing and yelling
stop. Maybe if he yelled in English I would have tried it. We didn't know
what was going on, but apparently the chasee stole something from the
chaser. Maybe it was staged to make Missy and I feel at home.... We went
across to Switzerland and took more pictures. We then went to the
Rhinefalls. They are in Switzerland and the biggest falls in Europe.
Christoph took a different route back through the mountains. Beautiful
scenery everywhere. We made it back to Otto 1's at 4 p.m. We talked for an
hour or more and then said our good-byes. It was a sad time for us all. We
drove down to the town of Egg, where Daniel’s relatives live. We went to
the house of Andrea Frommherz's parents in Egg. A very nice home where they
fed us and we talked family history for a couple hours. Andrea speaks
perfect English. This gave Christoph a much-needed break.
Day: 8..9..10..We left our
nice hotel in Segeten (about a mile from Hartschwand). The hunters had a
good night and were taking care of four deer from the morning hunt. The
menu surely had fresh deer on it that night. We returned to Epping making
one last trip through the Rhine valley and the wine country of Alsace. The
next day Christoph dropped us off at a hotel in Strasbourg. We had another
sad goodbye. Christoph is a true friend... the kind who is hard to find.
We promised to meet again soon. Maybe for a hike some time in the future in
the North Carolina Mountains.
We went sightseeing in
Strasbourg and met with Rosamarie Simon and her family. Rosamarie is the
daughter of Maria Schmidt and the sister of Otto 2 the metzger. We met her
husband Ranier, their daughter Stephanie and their son Christian. We talked
for a while and exchanged pictures. Then another sad farewell in front of a
1000 year old church in the old center of Strasbourg.
Missy and I had great
experiences and met a lot of family. Now I could feel the ties to America
pulling us home. Air France brought us to Miami and when we finally made it
home we celebrated.......with schnapps...................
Bob and Melissa
Bob & Melissa,
Welcome
to this branch of our family tree! Your stories are WONDERFUL! cg
Daniel
Frommherz writes for the newsletter:
Hi, Connie well it seems that I
have missed the May 1 deadline “sorry”, I guess this is my lead in to dear
family and friends, so here is my installment for our next newsletter. This
first part of my note to all of you is simply an explanation of my project
dedicated to all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles through the newsletter.
As you know I have been working very hard on aunt Florence’s address book
which is for the most part something from us for those coming along after we
are all gone from this good earth. This way we will have left something for
them to know about our lives and us. One of the things that so impressed me
about all the hard work done by Aunt Florence is the extent she went to
gather information on two of the lines to the family the King and Fromherz
lines. However as you and I both know there are all the men and women who
married into the line. Naturally they have lives too but it is
disappointing that they seem to have been expected to drop their heritage
and become absorbed into our individual families. I think that it is a
shame that this has happened so as I gather new addresses and current email
contacts I have been asking for information on the little things that make
up our lives. I created a template that is the same for everyone. I will
post or mail it in the newsletter with the hope that you will all email me
with updated information. One of the things that is new is asking for the
maternal and paternal parents and grandparents of your spouses. While I was
investigating my own line of heritage I discovered how little we knew of my
grandmother’s families. While I have a long way to go I have found a lot of
information that gives us clues to why we do some of the things that we do
smart or dumb it’s all good. Double click here for more information on
Daniel’s
Genealogy Special Project
Letter from
Jim & Connie Gale – Family News for the newsletter . . .
Winter of 2003 brought us 6
months of snow. . . We had enough snow to build a 7 foot snowman in the
front yard on Thanksgiving Day with our family Di, Joe & Mac Abbas and Tami,
Jay, Amaya and Tayla Gale. Check out our family picture! . . . and yes we
had to dig ourselves out of snow many times this past winter.
I had rotator cuff repair
surgery on my right shoulder in January 2004. I was in a shoulder
immobilizer for 2 months! I had to sleep with it for 2 months, and wasn’t
released to drive for 2 months (really grounded
L)!
I could only lift a coffee cup! Jim had to wait on me hand & foot including
helping me get dressed, fixing my hair, (couldn’t raise my arm above my
head, and I am so right handed that I didn’t dare use the curling iron with
my left!), fixing meals, doing wash, vacuuming and carting me around. I
went back to work on limited duty after 3 weeks. I even needed a trackball
for my computer. Didi came up for a week to help care for me right after
the surgery, and dig out snow! Then Tami and the girls came up for another
week to help out and dig out snow!
February brought about an
abnormal test result which then spun off into more tests, biopsies and a
surgery to tell me that I don’t have a cancerous lesion . . . not yet anyway
. . . but need to follow-up every 3-4 months for the next 2 years!
In that same time frame I was
notified by my employer that there was a management restructure happening
and that all the manager positions in the Eastern Washington and Northern
Idaho region would be eliminated by the end of June 2004. Stress being what
it is, I then broke out with rashes, and being the control-freak that I am,
the rashes weren’t anywhere that most people could see! Then I broke out in
Shingles, not very much fun either and yes again not visible to most
people! So I look fine on the outside, but am not really fine! April
brought the letter that said the last day of my position (and 18 everyone
else’s positions) was June 11, 2004. I then came down with a sinus
infection that went into my chest and triggered asthma! What a wreck! As
of today, my health is much better, and I am laid off and looking for a job.
Jim & I took some time for R &
R in May and flew to Guadalajara, Mexico. We brushed up on our Spanish and
spent two weeks in Ajijic (pronounced Ah’ – hee – heek) which is situated on
the shores of Lake Chapala and tucked in the mountains. Click on this link
for Jim Gale’s
Mexico
Journal 2004.
We flew home via Portland so we could attend my Dad’s (Jim) 80th
Birthday Party, then flew home to Spokane.
We stopped in Medford on our
last product run and visited with Walt and Eleanora. Walt shared a recent
story of Max’s Mean Rooster. It seems Walt & Eleanora went to visit Max on
his place in the country. Max has also taken in Walt’s beloved Yellow Lab
“Abby”. Usually, when Walt visits, Abby protects Walt from the mean
rooster. On this particular day Abby got distracted and went to happily
greet Eleanora, leaving Walt unescorted. This mean rooster took advantage
of the situation and ran over and pecked Walt just below the knee! Walter
was rather insulted by the rooster as his wound bled like a stuck pig!
(Walt is on anti-coagulant therapy for his CHF). Hey, Aunt Mary, do you
think this would qualify for Walter’s Kangaroo Court sentence for 2003
Family Reunion absenteeism?
Don’t forget to send me your
NEWS for our newsletter. . . It’s as easy as a double click on
congale@ispwest.com. cg
