December 2014 Ancestral Newsletter # 35

Holiday Greetings to All! Our Christmas customs, in the 21st century, are similar whether you live in sunny Florida or wintery Wisconsin. We celebrate with decorated trees, Christmas cards, gift giving and holiday parties. Prior to the late 19th century, Christmas was very different depending on the customs you brought with you from your country of origin. Some cultures spent the day in prayer, others celebrated with religious or folk festivals, and some simply went about their regular daily activities. The Puritans went so far as to make Christmas illegal. But America (and perhaps the world now) is a melting pot. We takethe things we like best and make them our own. One of the things people liked in the l800's was American-born Clement Moore's poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas (T'was the Night before Christmas). His poem created the image of Santa Claus and the reindeer that we recognize today. Below is an excerpt from Hildegard Thering's A History of Plain,Wisconsin:

Hildegard also mentions mail carriers in the early 20th century:

This newsletter will continue with the mini-biographies of the Rieder family. This one is about Theresa Rieder and her husband George Lins. Two of the Rieder siblings, Theresa and Joseph, marriedtwo from the Lins family, George and Justina. Theresa Rieder's grandson, Fr. Donald Wiest, compiled the family genealogy in the booklet, The Lins and Rieder Ancestors. Most of the information in this newsletter comes from that source. My mother, June Klug, met with Fr. Donald a couple of times and occasionally corresponded by mail. There is a letter from him on the “A Voice from the Past” page. There is a second “Voice from the Past” on the last page; Hildegard Thering sent a Christmas postcard to my mother when she was a little girl. Have a Merry Christmas everyone! DebE-mail: debby524@netzero.com

Theresa Rieder Lins

Theresa Rieder Back: Joseph, John, Ferry, Theresa, Margaret Front: George Jr., Michael, Georg Sr., Margaret

Theresa was born on March 17, 1855 in Loewendorf, Oberpfalz, Bavaria, Germany. She was the second child born to Georg and Margaret (Daschner) Rieder. Michael, the oldest child was 1½ years old when his sister was born. The family grew to include George, Joseph, Alois (died as infant), Margaret, John, and Xaver “Ferry”. Theresa lived with her family in Germany until 1873 when they immigrated to the U.S.A. They arrived in New York on July 12,1873. The date given below, July 4, 1873 is incorrect. The anecdote was a school assignment written by Bernice Lins Serdy about 1935.

George Lins Jr. married Theresa Rieder on November 10, 1880. In 1882 they bought a farm in the town of Franklin about one mile south of Plain. Below is George's immigration experience as told by his granddaughter, Bernice Lins Serdy, in her school assignment:

George and Theresa (Rieder) Lins began a family and had eleven children:

Cousins Laura Rieder and Emma Lins

Back: Lorraine Weitzer and June WeitzerFront: a friend and Jeanette Haas in wagon

Theresa and George's last child was Emma Lins (pictured above as a child), with her cousin Laura Rieder (Weitzer). Emma married Peter Haas who was a brother to Phillip Haas (newsletter #19). Emmaand Peter Haas had one child, a daughter Jeanette, pictured above with her cousins Lorraine and June and an unknown friend. Much of the information in this newsletter originally came from Emma.

Theresa's brother Michael moved his family to Arkansas in 1886. The following year Michael's wife died and Georg and Margaret Rieder took their two youngest sons, John and Xaver “Ferry”, down to Arkansas to help out. While there John got sick and died; the same year as Michael's wife (1887). Michael remarried in May of 1888 and Georg, Margaret and Ferry moved back to Wisconsin.

Siblings: Ferry, Theresa and Michael

The photo on the right are Riedersiblings who married Lins siblings. Fromleft to right: Joseph Rieder, George Linsand his wife Theresa Rieder Lins, andJustina Lins Rieder the wife of Joseph.

If you drew a line through the center of the photo, top to bottom, those on the left hand side are Lins siblings. Those four on the right side are the Rieders (not counting their married names). _Lins family Rieder familyback: Joe L. John L. Ferry R. Joseph R. Justina L. George L. Theresa R. and Margaret R.

See Joe Lins story in Newsletter #11. He was the boy who had to be pulled through the window of a train to get to America.

A Voice from the Past Father Donald Wiest was the grandson of Theresa Rieder and George Lins.

Below: Robert &June Klug with Fr. Donald Wiest

A Voice from the Past Hildegard Thering was a distant relative and she wrote the book: A History of Plain, Wisconsin.

June Weitzer (Klug) with dog, parasol and a doll with a trend setting spiked hairdo. Ads from 1924.