Update, Summer 2018:
A cousin in Wisconsin recently sent me a portrait of our great grandparents. I no longer think that the man in my original post is John August Friedrich who would've died before, or very shortly after the photo was taken. The man I mistook for him may be the current owner of John August's old farm, or just a family friend who was kind enough to humor the grandchildren who were visiting—perhaps for John August's funeral—from their home in Tacoma, Washington. I'm still pretty certain, however, that the older woman behind the cow is our great grandmother, Lena Holtz Friedrich.
Original post from 2015:
A cousin in Wisconsin recently sent me a portrait of our great grandparents. I no longer think that the man in my original post is John August Friedrich who would've died before, or very shortly after the photo was taken. The man I mistook for him may be the current owner of John August's old farm, or just a family friend who was kind enough to humor the grandchildren who were visiting—perhaps for John August's funeral—from their home in Tacoma, Washington. I'm still pretty certain, however, that the older woman behind the cow is our great grandmother, Lena Holtz Friedrich.
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| John August and Lena (Hotlz) Friedrich, about 1920 |
We only have one picture of our great grandparents, John August & Lena Holtz Friedrich. It must have been taken in the summer of 1932, just six months or so before they both died.
That's John August on the left [No, it isn't. See update above]. Dave is on the cow's back. Walker's in front, and Lena is just visible behind him. Beside Lena is Edyth, and Richard is the boy who's taken refuge beside his mother. The man resting his head on the cow's rump might be Arthur's cousin, William Albert Friedrich, the only Friedrich descendant who, in 1932, would have still been working in the farming business. John August had sold the family farm around 1920, and his father's farm had long since passed into the hands of Fred Zarwell, who's daughter Mary was William's mother. William may have still been working the Friedrich/Zarwell properties, though in 1932 he was living in the city of Beaver Dam and employed as hay baler. William's wife, incidentally, was Maude Taylor. She, like her brother Charles who married Arthur's sister Clara, were first cousins (eleven times removed) of William Shakespeare.
Arthur is probably behind the camera, and no doubt amused by Edyth's and the boys' enjoyment of the farm's novelties. As we came to know them, it's easy to forget that Arthur (in his three piece suit) was the farm boy and Edyth (in her bib overalls) was the city girl. But Edyth grew up in the relatively urban De Pere, Wisconsin. Her father worked for the Nicolet Paper Company and played violin for a small orchestra. From their back yard she could see the observatory tower of St Norbert College, a respectable liberal arts college on the Fox River. Arthur, meanwhile, was a farmhand, and probably spent more time than he cared to remember with the family cow.
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| Edyth and the boys with John August and Lena on their farm in Beaver Dam, abt 1932. |
Arthur is probably behind the camera, and no doubt amused by Edyth's and the boys' enjoyment of the farm's novelties. As we came to know them, it's easy to forget that Arthur (in his three piece suit) was the farm boy and Edyth (in her bib overalls) was the city girl. But Edyth grew up in the relatively urban De Pere, Wisconsin. Her father worked for the Nicolet Paper Company and played violin for a small orchestra. From their back yard she could see the observatory tower of St Norbert College, a respectable liberal arts college on the Fox River. Arthur, meanwhile, was a farmhand, and probably spent more time than he cared to remember with the family cow.
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