Bosquerama, Bosque County's Centennial Celebration, 1954

 

Charlie Rachuig brought the following photos to the recent reunion.  Even though they are a little 'odd,' I knew exactly what they were.

In May 1954, Bosque County celebrated its 100th birthday.  The exact dates were May 1st to May 8th.  (I've done some research and provided links below.)  I made a trip with my grandmother, Mamie Adams Rachuig, sometime in April 1954, I think.  If we were there during the celebration, I don't remember the parade or any organized events.  Anyway, I remember all the men in our extended family had grown beards, which spooked me a little.  I was just 4-years old, so it all made a big impression on me.

Here are a few pictures of the event, which was called Bosquerama.  Click here for 1st photo.  Click here for 2nd photo.  Click here for 3rd photo.

The idea was to dress like people did in 1854; thus the old-fashioned clothes.  Men let their beards grow, and women could not wear make up.  They had a system of fines, or permits for those citizens who needed/wanted to break the rules.  Click here to read an explanation.  Here is a better look at the permit badges and other memorabilia.

Here are some photos of our extended family in their costumes.

Charles A. Rachuig, Julius Rachuig, Charlie Rachuig, & Betty Rachuig at Will & Hilda Krueger's home in Clifton.

Will Krueger, Sr. standing in his front yard in Clifton.

Will Krueger, Jr., Will Krueger, Sr., & Julius Rachuig in Will, Sr.'s front yard.

Same trio as above 'cutting up.'

 
I can identify all but two people in the next photo. Standing left-to-right: Charles A. Rachuig, Edgar Rachuig, Jerry Belcher, Hilda Rachuig Krueger, Evelyn Rachuig Belcher, Jack Belcher, Walter Rachuig, Sr., Hans Mansur, Dorothy Rachuig Mansur, unknown man, unknown woman, & Julius Rachuig.  Sitting left-to-right: Betty Rachuig with Charlie, Will Krueger, Sr., Alvina Beyerstadt Rachuig, & Will Krueger, Jr.
 

 

1940 US Census Records

Some of you may know the 1940 US Census records are now available online.  I've done a cursory review of the records for Bosque County and found several families in our group.  

The most important thing to remember is that the records are not yet indexed by name.  You must search by enumeration district.  To identify these districts you must look at the annotated county maps. You see the census map for most of Bosque County below.  

The enumation districts have numbers that begin with '18.'  The district for the town of Clifton is 18-18.  The map isn't all that detailed, so you may need to do some trial-and-error searching to find your target family.  For example, look at Norse.  It's a small town but it sits on the boundary of two districts: 18-19 & 18-20.  You may have to search both sets of records to find who you're looking for.  You'll see a link to the map on the Census Web site just under the image.  There are 6 map images for Bosque County, and Google doesn't allow much magnification, so you  may want to go to the Census site to get a really good look.  (You can see a highly-magnified view there.)

Link to map on Census Web site.

For example, here is the page showing the Hugo Schulz family in enumeration district no. 18-19.  They appear starting at line no. 31.  (I've provided a link below to the page on the Census Web site, so you can see a highly-magnified view.)

Link to page on Census Web site.

This next page shows Jack Belcher's family on line no. 7.  They also appear in district 18-19.  Jack's wife, Evalyn Rachuig, was the daughter of Julius & Selma Schulz Rachuig. (Click the link under the image to get a magnified view.)

Link to page on Census Web site.