Re: Texas Germers -Family Ancestors
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In reply to:
Texas Germers - German Ancestors
Paul Germer 5/05/08
Germer Family Information
I will start with the easiest part first.I am Henry Adolph Germer, Jr., son of Henry Adolph Germer.I was born on July 2, 1938 in San Antonio, Texas.I married Nancy Allison Jacobs on June 17, 1961.Nancy was born in Memphis, Tennessee on April 25, 1939.We have two children, Alicia Andrea Germer Nevins (b. 11/4/1965) and Richard Andrew Germer (b. 10/28/1968).I had no surviving siblings.
My father was born on 8/23/1907 and died 12/6/1979.He married Katherine Wilhelmina Gembler on 11/11/1934.Katherine was born 8/16/1905 and died 1/14/1985.They lived in San Antonio their entire lives.
Of my paternal grandparents, I have only a vague recollection of Andreas Germer.He was apparently also known as Andrew Germer.I never met my paternal grandmother, Augusta Jandt Germer, since she died when my father was quite young.I was quite young and have only vague recollections of meeting my grandfather.At that time he was very old and was living in a small room prepared for him in an outbuilding behind his daughter, Emma's, home in Seguin, Texas.I do know he committed suicide sometime in the mid 1940's.I remember attending his funeral with my parents when I was very young.
From my perspective, the Germer family was not particularly close.When I was young, my father made an effort to maintain contact with his three older sisters, Emma, Anne, and Ida, who remained in Guadalupe County.I would guess this was because he was essentially raised by them after his mother's death.He did visit his older brother, Fritz, and younger sister, Johanna, who also lived in San Antonio.
We visited Anne a number of times when I was young.She married Otto Krenz and they had two children:Lillian and Calvin.They lived in the country south of Seguin and Otto worked as a butcher in Seguin.This is the extent of my knowledge of them at this time.
We also visited Ida on a number of occasions.She married a farmer, Frank Schiefelbein, and their farm was located farther from Seguin and closer to Lavernia.From what I can gather, she was born in 1890 and died in 1976.Frank, I believe, was born in 1883.They had at least three children:two boys and one girl.We have had contact with his daughter, Helen Huber who is married to Elmer Huber.Their address is in Livingston, Texas.
Emma was born in November 1889 to Andreas and Augusta and, according to the 1890 census, lived outside of Seguin, south of the Guadalupe River.Records indicate she married Gus Louis Lange on October 31, 1908.Records also indicate that Gus Lange died on March 26, 1922 and the 1920 census states they had a son, Hilmar Lange.I know Hilmar lived in San Antonio and worked for Yellow Freight.
Emma apparently remarried because when, as a youngster I visited her with my parents, she had a husband called Joe Young (Jung?) and a daughter, Geraldine, who was older than I but still lived at home.Their home was across the river from Starke Park, close to the power plant in Seguin.I have driven by the house as an adult.
Johanna was the youngest child of Andreas and Augusta and lived in San Antonio.She visited us on a number of occasions.She apparently was intellectually and/or psychologically challenged.The family believed that it was caused by a traumatic house fire which occurred when Augusta was pregnant with her.She apparently spent most of her life as a live-in companion and caregiver for older women.She also had one or more very short lived marriages.I remember my parents telling me of her death but I do not recall the date and have made no attempt to discover more about Johanna as of this date.
Fritz (son of Andreas and Augusta) lived in San Antonio and worked as a mechanic.We visited him on a number of occasions.His wife was named Ida.They had four children:Louis, Herbert, Walter and Sophie.I recall a visit as a youngster when Herbert or Walter showed us Japanese war souvenirs they brought back from the Pacific.
Fritz's son, Louis, was interested in family history and we made contact around the time of my mother's death in 1985.Louis was born August 25, 1913 and died May 16, 2009.His wife, Maurine, preceded him in death.
The only contact I had with my father's other brothers was with either Arthur or Andrew, I can't recall which.About the time I was in fourth or fifth grade. My father took me fishing on a river (Guadalupe?) which ran behind one of the uncle's farm.
Since finding your web site, I did find a site which had a copy of my Uncle Andrew's death certificate.It stated Andrew S. Germer was born 9/29/1898 and died 4/27/1971.He is buried in San Geronimo Cemetery.
Before my father's death, I talked with him about whether he knew anything about his father's origins.The only thing he could recall was that he thought Andreas was about 16 when he came to Texas.Also, his father had mentioned Magdeburg in Germany.Also, his father had been involved in some aspect of sugar beets, either growing or processing.
I'm sorry for the ramble.I hope you find it useful or at least somewhat interesting.I plan to try to fill in some of the blanks from time to time.