HIDDEN TREASURES

So there I was, rooting around in my mom's things the other day, looking for something else, and I found these two items. I knew they had to go up on the blog!

This is a formal portrait of J. R. Bader, immigrant from Hugsweier, Germany, proprietor of the Bader Furniture Company, father of Carl George (Sr.) and founder of our family line in America.

There's no photographer's mark or any other identification on the photo, but it says "J. R. Bader" on the back in Barbara's handwriting (the very careful script of her later years, when writing had become a challenge for her). And look at his face: his expression looks so much like our "Grandpa Bader," Carl Sr. (Except for the mustache, of course!)

Again, no date on this photo, but J. R. Bader died in 1929 at age 65, so I'd guess this was taken sometime in the  mid-'teens or early 1920s.

Here is a page from the Marriage Certificate of our McAfee forebears, George McAfee and Francis Elizabeth Cowell. 

As you can see, although they may have met on Prince Edward Island, they were married in Worcester, Mass, where they raised their family—Harold, Edna (future bride of Carl Sr.), Mary Ellen ("Minnie"), and George Wyman.

It's interesting that both sets of great-grandparents married in the same year. J. R. Bader married Emma Elsner  on May 25, 1887, at  Arlington, Nebraska; George McAfee and Francis Cowell married September 24, 1887, at Worcester.

Love must have been in the air in 1887! Fortunately for all of us.

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.