Fearless Female - Elisabeth Barbara Nilkowski

I have written and posted pictures about some of the Fearless Females on the branches of my family tree. Another of these strong women was Elisabeth Barbara Nilkowski, my great- great-grandmother.

I don't know too much (yet) about Elisabeth's childhood. From her marriage record I have learned that she was born on 15 April 1865 in Alt Muensterberg which was at the time in West Prussia in Germany (that area is now in Poland). Her parents were Johan Nilkowski and Maria Schild.

On 4 November 1886, Elisabeth married Christian Fasel in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Her first son, also named Christian, was born on 24 August 1887 also in Gelsenkirchen. His birth record states that his father Christian had died on 8 June 1887 (I do not know how, but he was a miner). So Elisabeth was widowed at age 22, just a few months before her first child is born.

Sometime before January 1889, Elisabeth married Gerhard Linnemann. Between 1889 and 1899, Elisabeth and Gerhard had six children in Gelsenkirchen. Two of their children (both named Rudolph) died as young children.

Gerhard Bernard (1899)

Wilhelm Julius (1890)

Rudolph (1893-1896)

Georg Adolf (1895)

Elisabeth Maria (1897)

Rudolph (1899-1891)

In 1904, Elisabeth travel from Bremen to the America to meet her husband (who left in December 1903). The picture above was probably taken in the year before they left. I don't have many details about the Linnemann family during their early years in the America. They spent time in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and settled in Monessen, PA.

By 1915, her son William had moved to Chicago, and the remaining Linnemans had moved the Monseen. Children George and Elisabeth had married. In 1918, her husband Gerhard committed suicide while the family was out for a walk. This strong woman had to endure yet another tragic loss and was widowed again at age 53. The newspaper article stated that he had been injured in a coal mining accident years ago and had "seemed irrational as a result" and would "take to spells of anger and brooding".

Elisabeth Barbara with her daughter Elisabeth and grandchildren Agnes and Frank in Monessen

In 1920 she was working as a Stuart at Turner Hall in Monessen, as was her son Christian. Elisabeth (who also went by Barbara) lived with her sons Christian and Gerhard, both never married, for the next 17 years. She died in her sleep of a heart attack in 1935 at the age of 70 and was buried next to her husband in Grandview Cemetery in Monessen.

Elisabeth was known as "Mem" to her grandchildren (her daughter's children). Below are a few snapshots of Elisabeth from our family memorabilia. I have yet to find a picture of her smiling, but thinking of her life and losses, she may have become one tough woman.

 

 

 

 

Fearless Females - Girlfriends!

A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future,

the key to sanity in a totally insane world. ~Lois Wyse

 

In honor of Women's History Month and our Fearless Females, I decided to post a couple girlfriend pictures! (click on any image to enlarge) Above is my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Linneman Speck, circa 1920. She is flanked by two friends and they appear to be dressed up for something. At the top her daughter wrote "cowgirls? or cowboys!"

 

 

Girlfriends and sisters, Marian and Minnie Cubbage, circa 1935. These great-aunts had three other sisters: Leah, "Babe" and Marge. 

 

Agnes Speck mugging for the camera with girlfriends, circa 1937.

Elizabeth Linneman Speck (left) and Agnes Speck (3rd from left), my great grandmother and grandmother. The back of the photo has "Neptune Cottage 1939" written on it.

Agnes Speck Cubbage with neighbors Irene and Virginia, New Providence, NJ, 1955.

 

 

 

Fearless Female Friday - Agnes Speck Cubbage

In going through the pictures of my grandfather's time in the Navy during World War II, I often think about how hard it must have been for his wife, Agnes. I am sure that she was thankful that Art stayed stateside during the war and was only stationed in Illinois and Virgina. Art was 31 years old and had two young children, which is probably why he ended up as a Yeoman.

Art was inducted into the Navy in April of 1944, just a few weeks after their second son, Jeff, was born. Art, Agnes, Jeff and older brother Corky (almost 3 years old) were living in Akron. When Art left for Basic Training, Agnes and the boys moved to Pittsburgh to live with her mother and stepfather (Elizabeth and Charles Merz).

I think of what is must have been like for Agnes, with an infant and young boy, her husband away for two years, and living with her mother during a war. D-Day would be just a few months into Art's time of service. It's hard to imagine her life and the uncertainty of that time.

Here are some pictures of Agnes with Corky and Jeff during that time, both probably taken in 1945. I can guess that these were sent to Art while he was in the Navy.