Category: Family photos

Bio: Gustaf and Lena Medine

This is an excerpt of a compiled genealogy of Gustaf Medine and his descendants. The full compiled genealogy includes a longer biography of Gustaf Medine, and biographies of three generations of his descendants. See the full document on this page. 

Gustaf and Lena Medine were my great-great grandparents. Gustaf emigrated from Sweden, met Lena in Germany, and then they immigrated together to the United States. They settled in DeKalb County, Illinois, where many of their descendants still live. This is a brief biography of their lives in the United States.

Gustaf Andreasson (known after 1882 as Gustaf Medine), was born 7 November 1853 at Mexarp, Mistelås parish, Kronoberg County, Sweden; died 30 June 1927 at Sycamore, DeKalb County, Illinois. He married about 1880 in Germany, Katharina (Lena) M. Schrader, daughter of Ralph Schrader. She was born 1 December 1862 in Schönberg, Holstein, Germany, and died 17 September 1940 in Sycamore. Continue reading “Bio: Gustaf and Lena Medine” →

A snowy Chicago day

Louise and Dorothy Mueller in the snow

This is a photo of my great-grandmother Dorothy Mueller and her grandmother, Wilhelmina Nahrstaedt, after a large snowstorm. This photo was likely taken in Dorothy’s backyard at 1618 Diversey Ave. in Chicago, about 1916. It had apparently snowed so much that the doghouse was nearly covered, and the snow was piled up to the windows in the garage! It looks like Dorothy is having a great time playing in the snow!

Dorothy Marie Mueller was born on December 17, 1908 in Chicago. Her parents were Albert Carl Mueller and Louise Marie Nahrstaedt, and they were active members of the German community in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. Her father and uncle were involved in the brick making industry in Lakeview, which was waning by this time. Dorothy had two older sisters, Gertrude and Edna. The family attended St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, where the girls also attended school until 8th grade. Dorothy would later marry Erwin Wischmeyer in 1934 and have two children.

Auguste Marie Wilhelmina Kaefermann (who normally went by Wilhelmina) was born in Germany in 1856. She married Ludwig Nahrstaedt in about 1877 in Germany, and their first three children were born there. Sometime in early 1891, Ludwig left for the US to find a new home for them in Chicago. Several months later in August 1891, when she was eight months pregnant, she gathered up the three children and followed him to the US. They settled in Lakeview, just north of Chicago, and Ludwig found a job as a teamster for a lumber company. Their daughter Louise would marry Albert Mueller, and they would live nearby at 1618 W. Diversey Ave. Ludwig would pass away in April 1916, likely just after this photo was taken. Wilhelmine would pass away in March 1929. They are both buried at Eden Memorial Park in Schiller Park, IL.

Highlights of My Postcard Collection

Several years ago, when I was writing a blog post about my great-great-grandfather’s tin shop, I really wanted to find a photo of the small town where he had his first shop. The best photo that I found actually came from an old postcard from 1908. It was for sale for a few dollars on eBay, so I bought it! Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for old postcards that depict places where my ancestors lived. It is fascinating to imagine my relatives strolling down those old dirt roads or visiting those long-gone businesses.

In the past several years, my postcard collection has grown to about 900 postcards. Most of these postcards are from Northern and Central Illinois, where many branches of my family are from, but there are also other categories that relate to my interests, such as historic trees, libraries, and steam engines. I decided that these unique cards were too good to keep all to myself, so I scanned the oldest ones and organized them into an online collection. See the whole collection here!

Please enjoy a gallery of a few of my favorites!

DeKalb - N.I.S.N.S. - 1904
My oldest postcard – from 1904! It depicts the Northern Illinois State Normal School, now called Northern Illinois University.

Continue reading “Highlights of My Postcard Collection” →

100 Years Ago Today: Nana’s Birthday

Kaiser siblings in about 1934
Nana and her siblings Mary, Glendora, and Ronnie in front of their house in DeKalb in 1934.

My grandma, who we affectionately call Nana, would have been 100 years old today. Her name was Mildred Agnes Kaiser, named after her mother Mildred Irene, and she was born October 25, 1923. “Millie” was the second oldest child, but she never had a chance to meet her older brother, Vernon. He passed away before she was born when he was just four months old. She grew up on Garden Street in DeKalb, IL, with her three younger siblings, Glendora, Mary, and Ronnie. She had a large extended family, and spent a lot of time with her cousins on both sides of the family.

Continue reading “100 Years Ago Today: Nana’s Birthday” →

Papa’s Centennial Birthday

Emma Medine holding Ed Drake
Emma Medine holding her son, Edwin Drake, in 1920.

This week my Papa would have turned 100 years old. My grandfather, Edwin William Drake, was born on May 2, 100 years ago in Genoa, Illinois. He was welcomed by his parents, Charles and Emma (Medine) Drake, and an older brother, Charles. He grew up on a farm near Genoa, and graduated high school during the Great Depression. He met and fell in love with my grandma, Millie Kaiser, just before she joined the WAVES during WWII. After she left the service, they were married in June 1946. They had two daughters and four grandchildren. He lived in the Genoa area for his whole life. He was a farmer, business owner, public servant, and foreman. He accomplished many things during his life, but his family was everything to him. Papa loved his family dearly, and loved to spend time with them whenever he could. Continue reading “Papa’s Centennial Birthday” →