The one I never met
We all have them. Those shadowy mysterious figures in our pasts whom we’d love to sit down with over a cup of coffee, just to try to get to know them.
One of mine — the closest of mine — was born 122 years ago tomorrow.
He was my grandfather.
And I never knew him.
Hugo Ernst Geissler was born 24 March 1891 in Bad Köstritz,1 a town then in the Principality of Reuß jüngerer Linie and now in the district of Greiz, in Thüringen, Germany. Its total population is fewer than 4000 people.2
He died 13 January 1945 in Chicago, Illinois, of cancer, at the age of 53.3 It would be some years yet before my birth. He never laid eyes on any of his grandchildren except my oldest brother, my father’s son by his first marriage.
He would be a stranger to me if he were sitting across that coffee table from me this morning. And yet.. and yet… I have this wistful sense from everything I know about the man that I would have liked him.
I know he spent his earliest childhood there in the village where he was born. The family moved to Gera before he was 10.4 I don’t know, yet, what his schooling was, but we have a photo of a young boy in uniform and I have to wonder if perhaps he wasn’t in some sort of military school.
I know he was in the German Army — a gefreiter — probably closest to a private first class — in the German Army in World War I. His term of service began at least as early as 1912 (he was photographed sitting with his troops in Danzig in 1912) and continued to perhaps as late as 1918 (he wore a German Army uniform at his wedding in February 1918).
Hugo Ernst served in the Grenadier-Regt. König Friedrich I (4.Ostpreußisches) Nr.5 (Danzig) XVII Armee Korps, and in the Danziger Infanterie-Regt. Nr.128 (Danzig; III Bn Neufahrwasser) XVII Armee Korps.
And he met my grandmother Marie somehow in a beer garden in Bremen. They were married on Valentine’s Day 1918 in Bremen. He was out of the Army then, shown on his marriage record as a machinist living in Bremen.5
He and Marie stayed in Bremen until early 1925. Their first-born child, Marie Emma, was born in 1919 and died in 1920.6 Their only other child, my father, was born in Bremen in 1921.7
And Hugo Ernst gathered up his little family and took them to America on the SS George Washington in early 1925; they landed in New York on 6 February 1925.8 He had family already there — two aunts,9 an uncle,10 cousins11 and even three sisters12 who had come before and were waiting in Chicago when he brought his small family over.
And there he worked, hard, in hard-labor jobs, all the years until his death. He was a coal foundry worker and day laborer the entire 20 years he spent in Chicago.
But he laughed. And he made people laugh. For a costume party in the 1920s, he pinned the high-denomination currency of inflation-ridden post-WWI Germany to his suit and ran around the room. When asked what in the world he was doing, he said he was “galloping inflation.” His costume won first place.
He’s the one you see in later photos playing in the lake or in the park or on the playground with his son. He’s the one who made the Sunday tradition of a chicken dinner and a strawberry cake where you didn’t have to ask permission to have a second piece.
He’s the one with the smile on his face when the rest of those German immigrants wore their poker faces. He’s the one even my father’s first wife enjoyed being around.
And he’s the one I wish I had been able to know.
Even if just long enough for a cup of coffee and a chat.
SOURCES
- Kirchenbuch Bad Köstritz, Taufregister Seite 69 Nr. 21 aus 1891, Baptismal Record of Hugo Ernst Geissler (digital image of record in possession of JG Russell). ↩
- Wikipedia DE (http://http://de.wikipedia.org), “Reuß jüngerer Linie,” rev. 17 Mar 2013. ↩
- Illinois Department of Public Health, death certificate no. 1145, Hugo Geissler, 13 Jan 1945; Division of Vital Statistics, Springfield. ↩
- Adreßbuch der Haupt- und Residenzstadt Gera, 1901, p. 29, entry for Geissler, Hermann, ausseher, Moltkestrasse 42 (FHL microfilm INTL 2158071). ↩
- Heiraten (Marriages), p. 41, nr. 5, Geißler-Nuckel, 14 Feb 1918; Kirchenbuch (Church Book), Evangelische Kirche St. Jakobi, Bremen, Heiraten 1911-1930; FHL INTL microfilm 953,273. Also Bescheinigung der Eheschließung (Certificate of Marriage), nr. 135 (1918), Geißler-Nuckel, Standesamt (Registry Office), Bremen. ↩
- “Funerary Records 1875-1939 (Die Leichenbücher der Stadtgemeinde Bremen von 1875-1939),” Die Maus – Family History and Genealogical Society of Bremen (Gesellschaft für Familienforschung e. V. Bremen) (http://www.die-maus-bremen.de/ : accessed 25 Jan 2013). ↩
- Evangelische Zionskirche, Bremen, Kirchenbuch, Taufregister Nr. 3 aus 1922, Baptismal Record of Hugo Hermann Geissler, 12 Feb 1922; FHL microfilm 953275. ↩
- Manifest, S.S. George Washington, Jan-Feb 1925, p. 59 (stamped), lines 4-6, Geissler family; “New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957,” digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Feb 2012); citing National Archive microfilm publication T715, roll 3605. ↩
- For Augusta Paula (Graumüller) Schreiner: 1900 U.S. census, Cook County, Chicago, Illinois, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 914, p. 71A (stamped), dwelling 210, family 528, Frank Sweiner household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Feb 2012); citing National Archive microfilm publication T623, roll 282. For Anna (Graumüller) Nitschke: 1910 U.S. census, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 1272, p. 20A (penned), family 344, Anna Nitckle household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Feb 2012); citing National Archive microfilm publication T624, roll 275 ↩
- 1920 U.S. census, Cook County, Chicago, Illinois, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 1878, p. 3A (penned), dwelling 37, family 53, Amel Gramuller; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Feb 2012); citing National Archive microfilm publication T625, roll 348. ↩
- For Elisabeth Marks: 1920 U.S. census, Cook Co., IL, pop. sched., ED 1789, p. 2A (penned), dwell. 25, fam. 33, Herman Marks household. For Willy and Alfred Benschura: Manifest, S.S. George Washington, 9 January 1924, p. 137 (stamped), lines 15-16, Alfred and Willy Benschura (NARA T715, roll 3439). ↩
- For Hedwig “Hattie” (Geissler) Knop: 1910 U.S. census, Cook Co., IL, pop. sched., ED 1358, p. 7B (penned), dwell. 106, fam. 148, Hattie Knop. For Elly (Geissler) Nasgowitz: Manifest, S.S. President Harding, January 1923, p. 131 (stamped), line 1, Elly Nasgowitz (NARA T715, roll 3244). For Martha (Geissler) Benschura: Manifest, S.S. President Arthur, 19 March 1923, p. 125 (stamped), line 2, Martha Benschura (NARA T715, roll 3269). ↩
Judy, what a lovely tribute to your grandfather. Wow, he died at such a young age.
What a clever idea for a costume. He sounds like he was a wonderful, hard-working, and loving family man.
Thanks, Jana. He sure seems like someone I would have liked to know… sigh…
Hi Judy,
I want to let you know that this post is listed in today’s Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/03/follow-fridayfab-finds-for-march-29-2013.html
Have a wonderful weekend!
Jana, you’re far too kind as always. Thank you!
You told this so beautifully Judy. It’s wonderful that despite the fact that he died before your birth, you are able to share so much about him.
Thanks, Michelle, and what’s really remarkable about it is that my father was so very secretive about his family. I’m amazed at times I ever learned anything from him about his side of the family at all.
Such a wistful post…just my feelings on some of my ancestors whom I would have loved to know as well. My grandfather was secretive about his family too. Only found out what I knew from my grandmother, who shared the stories with me. Well-written tribute, Judy!
Thanks, Deb. The word “wistful” is so right to describe how I feel about this… how we all feel about this.
Thank you, Judy. Your story brought tears to my eyes. My paternal last grandfather died when I was three months old and my maternal last grandmother died when I was nine months old. I grew up with no grandparents to love and spoil me. I’m always felt – deprived?
But it isn’t just grandparents. I’ve often wished for my mother to sit across the table from me and share a cup of tea. Not to pick her brain about genealogy, but just to be there. At age 70, I am now the oldest remaining member of my family. I miss them so much!!
I do understand, Dee… I do. I too have no living parents today, and there are times… oh, there are times…
I love the “galloping inflation” costume. He sounds like a really interesting person.
I loved that story, Karla — one of the reasons why I sure think I would have liked him.
I have one of those, too, Judy — a grandfather I never met. The thing is, I thought he was dead. Turns out my grandmother’s “he died in World War I” was her way of saying, “We got a divorce and he’s dead to me!”
Too late I discovered he was alive and well in Oklahoma until I was 28 years old. Two years later I got an address for his second wife and corresponded a little with her. I finally got two pictures of him, too — not from her but from a third cousin whose grandmother kept the family photos that her siblings sent her.
It’s too bad you never had a chance to meet him, Barbara. What a shame.
I have a grandfather I never met too, Judy. The hardest thing is that he was alive until I was 30ish years old and I had no relationship with him because my mother had no relationship with him. Her parents divorced when she was about 10 and after that she rarely saw him. I count my blessings, though, because my grandmother remarried so I did have a Grandpa but the mystery around my biological grandfather is strong. I wish I’d been interested in genealogy back then because I definitely would have contacted him – but in respect to my mother I never did. Sigh.
Sigh, for sure, Debi. Sorry you didn’t have the chance to at least meet him.
What a wonderful tribute to your grandfather. It was sweet and really enlightening as to his personality and his life, even though you only knew him through family stories and the genealogical records you have found.
One of the things I find so fascinating about your posts, Judy, is your very detailed attention to detail and source bookmarks. I appreciate that and have tried to follow your example on my blog. I fall short, however, most of the time. It is one of the things that I must continue to work on.
Thanks for the kind words, Judith! Much appreciated.