A Ten-Minute Video of Our Recent Family Reunion

Here is a link to a ten-minute video I made of our family reunion at Our Savior's Church in Norse, Texas on Saturday, July 21, 2012.  My brother Bruce scanned pictures which I will post in a few days.  I also have very good pictures of the Old Rock Church near Cranfils Gap.  It has connections to our extended family.

 I identified people as best I could.  I didn't leave anyone out intentionally. 

 

Hans Mansur, 1926-2012

Hans Mansur on the left with his wife Dorthy on her parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  Dorothy's parents Will & Hilda Rachuig Krueger in the center.  Her sister-in-law Mary Hoff and her brother Will Krueger, Jr. on the right.

 

I'm sorry to report that Hans Masur passed away last week.  He was Dorothy Krueger Mansur's husband.  Dorothy is the granddaughter of Julius & Selma Schulz Rachuig and Julius & Emile Krueger.

Hans always enjoyed (and helped organize) the Rachuig-Schulz reunions.  He wasn't a blood relation, but he was very close to my branch of our family.  He's enjoying a heavenly family reunion now.

Here's is a link to a brief obituary.
 

A History of Bosque County (Texas), 1986

I'm not certain if other family researchers have known about this resource, but it was new to me.  It's a history of Bosque County (Texas) published in 1986.  I found histories of various branches of our extended family (e.g., Ickerts, Bernhardts, & Krugers) as well as information on various communities where branches of the family lived.  I'll have to take a closer look at this resource.

I also noted that the Chisolm Trail (a major path for Texas cattle drives) passed through Valley Mills and Morgan.  I never knew this.

Link to history of Bosque County.

W. T. Block Overview of German Immigration to Texas

My thanks to my aunt, Mayme Rachuig Hause, for sending me this overview of German immigration to Texas.  I need to research the Wendish church in Serbin because there are indications my branch of the Rachui/Rachuig/Rachuy family attended the Lutheran Church in that community.  

Regardless, Block provides a good general survey of German immigration to Texas.

Link to W. T. Block article.

Helon Ruth Viertel Knudson

Here's a picture of Helon Ruth Viertel Knudson as a toddler.   Her maternal grandfather was Rube Rachuig.  Her paternal grandmother was Anna Kamilla Schulz.  The picture was taken sometime in the late '30s.

The 2012 Family Reunion is Saturday, July 21st, in Norse

I want to remind everyone that the family reunion this year is on Saturday, July 21st, at Our Savior's Church in Norse.  We had a very enjoyable time there last year, and Helon Ruth Viertel Knudson has reserved the hall for us.  It's a bright, roomy place with everything we need.  The surrounding country-side is beautiful -- so, you'll enjoy the drive out there.  Join us on the 21st.

Here's a link to a Web site with information about Our Savior's Church in Norse.

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.