FINDING GRANDMA

One of the first lines I researched almost twenty years ago as a newbie to genealogy was my maternal grandfather’s family.  I was lucky to find much local information because of their residence in Kossuth County, but after the death of my great great grandfather, John Kargleder, his wife, Selma, remarried and moved to South Dakota.  Her second husband’s last name according to marriage records here in Kossuth County was Beichlmair.  As you might imagine, over the years that name was spelled many different ways in official documents depending on who was writing it down.  Within a few years of her remarriage, I could not find a trace of Selma.

Over the last 10 years or so many historical newspapers have been digitized and placed online.  They are a gold mine for historians of every sort.  While researching I have found interesting articles here and there about many relatives and they are a primary source of information for my blog posts.  A few months ago through total serendipity, I happened across the obituary of Selma Kargleder Beichlmair.  Finding that gave me incentive to once again visit the information I had originally gathered on John and Selma and use what I have learned since then to flesh out their stories.  I am so glad I did.

KARGLEDER - HAAS UNION

John Kargleder was born in Bavaria, Germany on March 26, 1826.  In 1862 he came to America and the 1870 census finds him living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, working as a brewer.  He evidently had his own company as the 1871 city directory lists “John Kargleder & Co. – brewers.”  The 1873 directory shows his business located at 624 Cherry Street in Milwaukee with his residence next door at 620 Cherry Street.  (If I ever get to Milwaukee, you can bet I am going to find Cherry Street to see what is there now).

Selma Haas came from Saxony where she was born in April of 1849.  According to census records, her family came to America when she was just a small child.  The 1860 census shows the family living in Milwaukee.  Her father, Carl (sometimes shown as Charles), was a tailor.  He and his wife, Constanze, resided with their five children. 

In either 1867 or 1868, Selma and John are married.  The 24 year age difference between the two seems vast to me.  At just 17 or 18, Selma was young enough to be John’s daughter.  He was actually older than her mother.  So many questions come to mind:  How did they meet?  How did her parents feel about her marrying someone so much older?  Did they encourage it?  It certainly would be interesting to know what brought them together.  Their oldest child, Charles, (my great-grandfather) was born in May of 1869.  They remained in Milwaukee until 1872 when they moved to Minneapolis according to John’s biography printed in the 1884 edition of the History of Kossuth County.

INFO FROM CENSUS RECORDS AND CITY DIRECTORIES

Census records and city directories continue to provide valuable information.  By 1875 John and Selma had two children.  Their second child, Mary, was born after their move to Minneapolis.  Land deeds at the office of the Kossuth County Recorder disclose that in March of 1876, John and Selma purchased 480 acres of farm land in Section 19 of Union (which they named "Willow Wave") and Section 24 of Lotts Creek Townships of Kossuth County.  What led them to choose Kossuth County?  I doubt that I shall ever know.

The 1877 city directory shows John Kargleder working as a foreman for Theo Hamm in St. Paul.  Three years later, the census shows John living alone and rooming with Theodore and Louise Hamm while continuing to work for them.  Records reflect that the Hamms loaned John $4,000 to use to purchase the farmland.  Although I have known about the mortgage to the Hamms for some time, it wasn’t until this last round of investigation that I had a “eureka” moment.  A research detour helped me to confirm that Theodore and Louise were the founders of Hamm’s Brewing Company.  It is amazing to think that my great-great grandfather helped the Hamm family establish their business.

Kargleder Farm located in
Union Township, Kossuth County, Iowa
1896 Kossuth County Plat Book

The 1880 census also finds Selma living as head of household in Kossuth County with her four children:  Charley, 11; Mary, 6; Ella, 3; and Arthur, 2 months.  Exactly when she moved to the farmstead located on the Union Township land is not known nor have I been able to determine when John joined them to live at the farm.  The couple did have one more daughter (Meta) after settling here.  John’s residence in Kossuth County was not to be long, however, as he suffered from Bright’s disease (a form of kidney disease) which resulted in his death in April of 1885 at the age of 59.

Just a few days before his death, John executed a Will leaving all of his property to Selma who was then 35 years old.  Her oldest child, Charley, was almost 16 when his father died and I like to believe that he was a great help to Selma.  She continued to run the farm utilizing hired men and appears to have prospered.  One of those hired men, however, almost took her life.

NEWS ARTICLES HELP TO TELL HER STORY

Evidently John used to tease the hired men about the fact that Selma would likely be a young widow due to their age difference and would be quite a catch.  One man, Martin Bader, took his words to heart.  By 1888 Selma had become close to another worker, Frank Beichlmair, who she would later marry.  Bader had made several attempts to court Selma, but she did not take him seriously and paid no attention to his advances. Her budding romance with Frank appears to have set him off.  On a Thursday morning in February, Bader was repairing the kitchen floor with Selma in the room.  When she took a cup and started to go in the pantry to make some coffee, he suddenly jumped up, drew a revolver and fired at her.  The bullet struck the cup, smashing it into a thousand pieces.  He fired a second time at her and the bullet whizzed past her ear.  She screamed and ran to the window to call for help.  Thinking he had hit her, Bader turned the gun on himself, firing three times.  None were mortal wounds.  He drug himself from the house and was later found lying in a haystack.  He was taken in by a family in Algona where he was treated by Dr. James Barr.  Laudanum was prescribed for pain.  Bader could neither speak nor read much English.  In pain and without realizing what he was doing, at some point he was able to reach the laudanum bottle at his bedside and he drank the entire container.  The overdose killed him.  An autopsy was performed and an inquest held after which the jurors determined that the deceased came to his death by an accidental overdose of laudanum.

Selma married Frank Beichlmair several weeks later and they continued to live at the Kargelder home in Union Township.  This time her husband was five years younger.  They would have a daughter, Alma, the next year.  By this time some of her older children were reaching adulthood and establishing lives of their own.  Charles married Anna Rammer in 1891 and apparently resided on a farmstead in Lotts Creek Township.  It is unknown whether or not this was on the property owned by Selma but he is shown as a renter on the census. Eventually the Kargleder farmland located in Lotts Creek Township was sold to Theo Chrischilles who held the mortgage on it.  Wherever Charlie lived, his residence was in the path of the famous 1894 cyclone that swept across the county.  The barn on the place sustained the worst damage, having one side completely removed.  There was no mention of injuries to any family members.

Oldest daughter Mary was married to S. P. (Pete) Christensen in 1893.  At the time of their marriage Pete managed a feed barn in Algona but would later go on to be elected Kossuth County Sheriff.  To this marriage two sons would be born.  Sadly, Mary passed away quite suddenly shortly after giving birth to her second child, Harold, in 1898.  She was buried next to her father in Riverview Cemetery.  The two little tikes were placed in Selma’s care.  Pete remarried in 1899 and the census taken the next year shows older son, Elmer, living with Pete and Harold still residing with Selma. 

It is believed that it was the lure of cheap land in South Dakota that caused the entire Kargleder/Beichlmair family to move near Big Stone City.  In 1902 Charles purchased 160 acres in Lockwood Township of Roberts County, South Dakota.  The farm was located within easy walking distance of Big Stone Lake.  One can only imagine how much fun his children must have had fishing and swimming there.

WHAT HAPPENED TO GRANDMA?

Kargleder graves in Riverview Cemtery, Algona
R to L: Mary, John and Selma

It was at this point that I was unable to find a trace of Selma.  Cemetery records indicated that she was buried in a plot next to John Kargleder, but gave no other details.  A stone was on the plot with the year 1909 carved into it, but the rest was unreadable.  Was Selma buried here or was a stone erected in her honor?  I exhausted my sources at the time, local newspapers weren’t available online, and even a friend on Ancestry was unable to find her.  I resigned myself to the fact that I might never find out what happened to Selma.

Several years ago while doing unrelated research on behalf of the genealogy society in the local historical newspaper website, a search request entry popped up with enough information to make me curious.  It appeared that it could be an article about the Kargleder family.  I clicked on it and there was Selma’s obituary.  She had died March 22, 1909, in her home near Clinton, Minnesota.  Sadly it stated “this death occurred after five months severe illness.”  Like John, she was just 59 years old at death.  Her body was brought back to Algona and laid to rest beside John and her beloved daughter, Mary.  

I had finally found Grandma.

Until next time,

Jean

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