BADERS in FREMONT

Ernest Frederick Bader

Big thanks to my intrepid cousins, Philip Bader and John Bader, who just returned from a fact-finding mission to Fremont, NE, in search of more Bader info! Among other things, they plundered a goldmine of info from the Fremont High School yearbooks, including these senior class photos and bits of doggerel for five of the six children of J. R. Bader.

The dispatch Philip sent to me also includes yearbook pics of the daughters of Frederick Bader (J.R.'s brother), family homes in Fremont, and headstones. I will post these soon, but this is plenty of material for one post! I'll let Philip describe it all in his own words! 


John and I returned last night from a road trip that took us, among other places, to Fremont, Nebraska. As Hugsweier in Germany is the European birthplace of the Bader family (so far as we know right now), Fremont might be called the American birthplace, or at least where the Bader brothers Jacob and Fred first put down solid roots.

At the Keene Memorial Library, we found yearbooks from Fremont High School and managed to salvage photos of most of JR Bader's children and all of Fred's children. The only one missing is the Reverend Carl Bader. The library did not have yearbooks going back to his senior year. 

Captain of the baseball team

ERNEST FREDERICK BADER

Ernest graduated from Fremont High School in 1907. According to his yearbook entry, Ernest's nickname was "Pater". He was junior and senior class president, president of the athletic association, vice-president of the literary society, a 1st Lt. and then captain of cadets (perhaps ROTC, though not sure). He also captained the baseball and basketball teams, ran track and was a member of the men's glee club.

Captain of the basketball team (front row, right)

Here is his brief bio that appears next to his picture:

"'Pater' is a jolly good fellow and all-round athlete. He is not bothered by the girls; it is the girl that bothers him. Bader has tried, with considerable success, to get a corner on offices."

The entry is accompanied by this quote from Tennyson:

"I am part of all that I have met."

Member of the Track team (front row, middle)

Eleanor Olga Bader

ELEANOR OLGA BADER


Eleanor graduated from Fremont High School in 1909. Her entry lists the nickname of "Ella". She participated in women's glee club. Her entry in the yearbook is accompanied by this poem:


"To school she does come,
Good marks she gets some
In her studies all of the while;
Is quite fond "Art",
They say lost her heart,
Not Gibson, but "Baldwin" her style."

Alma Christina Bader

ALMA CHRISTINA BADER

Alma graduated from Fremont High School in 1912. Her nickname was "Snip". Her yearbook entry includes this poem:

"Alma, sweet Alma, whence
came your fame? From
studiousness, talent or simply
from name? No matter
the answer, for whate'er it
be, your virtues are many,
that we can see."

In her short freshman year biography, Alma's occupation was described as a "great Botanist", her disposition was "bashful", and the reason she was liked was her "long hair".

CLARA BARTON BADER

Clara Barton Bader

Clara graduated from Fremont High School in 1916. She was a member of the women's glee club, the Zetalithian literary society, the yearbook staff, and something called Emanon. I think this was some sort of social club, though I'm not certain.

The poem accompanying her yearbook photo is as follows:

"Clara has a fuzzy head,
and her "future", it is said
shall be spent in work of Art,
for she's surely got her start."

Clara's junior year biography reads as follows:

"Our fussy, persnickety member always has the latest style in hair dressing. Is also very witty and whenever she hears a new joke she'll always Springer. Intends at some future time to go to Berlin and study art."

Jean Bader

JEAN RICHARD BADER

Jean graduated from Fremont High School in 1922. He played on the football team and the track team. He was a member of the Hi-Y club ( a precursor to the YMCA), president of the dramatic club, a member of the men's glee club and the F club, served on the yearbook staff and the student newspaper, for which he served as editor in chief as a senior. He also served two years on student council.

According to the text accompanying his senior yearbook photo, Jean had the following characteristics:

"Occupation: falling in love with a new one."
"Means of identification: Will you write this up—"
"Destination: a minister"

Jean was apparently a gifted offensive lineman for the football team. His team biography reads as follows:

"One of our few fairly heavy men. Held down his guard position like a million dollars. Those who got behind him had to get help and climb over, and a few there were who did it. And the way he ambled into the opponents line on offense always reminded us of a gay young Percheron at play. And those Jean didn't hurt, he scared to death. We hate to see Jean graduate."

Jean Bader: Member of the football team

Note from Lisa: it's funny to think this beefy "young Percheron" was the same little tyke seen riding on the moon with J. R. and Emma in this early post!

Also: click here to see a great family portrait of these Bader siblings as small children!

ANCESTORS II

Meet Jacob R. Bader and Emma Emily Elsner Bader (with, I believe, their youngest son, Jean). They are the parents of Carl George Bader.

I just love this photo! It's a postcard addressed to Miss Alma Bader, and signed "Mama," and since I have some other snapshots of Barbara's Grandmother Bader (Emma  Bader) as a much older woman, I am sure this is her in this photo.

According to Barbara's notes, Emma Emily Elsner was the eldest of seven children born to Mary Elizabeth Unland and Ernest Elsner. They were married September 18, 1866, in Beardstown IL. Emma was born August 4, 1867, in Beardstown IL.

Jacob R. Bader was born July 24, 1864, in Hugsweier, Germany. He had three brothers and one sister (none of them named in my mom's notes). I seem to recall that family mythology said that J. R. Bader and/or his brothers made and lost several fortunes, but, sadly, lost more than they made.

Jacob and Emma married on May 25, 1887, in Arlington, Nebraska. Their six children were:

Carl George Bader (patriarch of our clan), born May 23, 1888, Nebraska City, NE.
Ernest Fredrick Bader, born Sept. 20, 1889, Nebraska City, NE.
Eleanor Olga Bader, born Nov 3, 1891, Fremont, NE.
Alma Christina Bader, born July 29, 1894, Fremont, NE.
Clara Barton Bader, born June 2, 1898, Fremont, NE.
Jean Richard Bader, born Dec 31, 1904, Fremont, NE.

On the back of the postcard, Emma writes, "Dear Alma,  If I were not so sleepy, I would write you what we have to eat here. This air seems to make Jean and I sleepy. Mama."

On the front, as you can see, she writes, "How do you like these, Papa thinks they are good." So I assume that's Papa—J. R. Bader—and youngest son, Jean, in the photo with her. Jean was born in 1904, and looks no more than about 10 years old (probably younger), so I date this photo around 1914, when Emma's dress and hat would be right in style.

"L.N. Pritchard, photographer, 437 Umatilla St, Grand Rapids, MICH" is printed on the back of the postcard, but I don't know if that means that's where this photo was taken. The setting looks like a photo booth at a fair or exposition, but I have no idea where or for what occasion.

Here's the youngest photo I've ever seen of Carl George Bader. On the back, it's dated 1908, in Steve's handwriting, so I suppose he was going through these photos once with Barbara, who suggested the date. That would put Carl around age 20, which seems about right. I think he looks a lot like Jim Bader (Carl Jr's son) in this photo.

And one more little piece of ephemera, found among Grandpa Bader (Carl)'s things. This is an old-fashioned calling card, saying that someone would be "At Home" to visitors at a certain time. Unfortunately, there is no name or date (year) to identify it; it might not have anything to do with our family at all. However, I found out that Frieburg im Breisgau is about 20-30 miles south of Hugsweier in Germany, near the French border, in the Black Forest. So if anyone ever wanted to do a really detailed Bader family origins search, this might be a good place to start.