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 Postcard mailed to "Mrs. Alois Beitel, Stayton, Ore." The postmark is Mount Angel ORE May 15, 9 AM 1915. The message is written in German. It is signed "Anna/Annie F." This could be one of the first notes to the Beitels in Stayton, as they moved out to Stayton from Nebraska in 1915.
The people on this postcard have been identified by Bill Schmidt, grandson of Frank. They are the children of Juliana (Franzel) and Joseph Schmidt, of Humphrey, Nebraska. Left to right: Marie, Louis, Frank, Carl, Joseph and Anna. Marie was already married to Frank Fugger. Anna was married to Frank Froemel, and was the sender of the postcard.
For those not so well acquainted with the extended family, you may be wondering why there are photos of Schmidts here and what they have to do with Beitels. Not even my Dad could explain that easily, except to say that they knew they were some sort of distant cousins. The best understood connection was that of Frank Froemel to Cecilia (Schiebel) Beitel. They were first cousins. Frank married Anna Schmidt. But I think the connection goes farther back than that because Joe Schmidt, Anna's brother was a marriage witness for Cecilia and Alois's wedding. Cecilia has a great-grandmother named Theresa Schmid. Notes from Bill Schmidt indicate that Frank Froemel and Anna Schmidt were third or fourth cousins, so there must have been some connection. Like Dad said, they all knew each other and knew they were somehow related. Best of all, they were good friends.
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| Postcard style photo. Someone wrote on the back of the card, "Schmidt wives". This postcard is one of a series of four, with the Schmidt brothers, the Schmidt girls, and the Schmidt siblings (above) being the other three.
Thanks to Bill Schmidt of Beaverton, Oregon, these women have been identified. From left to right: Theresa (Louis's wife), Mary Boesch (soon to be Frank's wife) Bill's grandmother, Anna (Carl's wife), and Molly (Joe's wife). Bill also relayed that these photos were taken in the winter (note the snow on the ground) of 1912 in Nebraska, probably Humphrey, before his grandparents were married. He was quite sure it was Nebraska, because he has a large group picture of all of them in the same location, including the "Old" Joe Schmidt. "Old" Joe never visited out in Oregon.
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| This portrait has been labeled by someone as "Frank & Louis Schmidt". I am not sure who wrote the names. The boys appear to be dressed as altar boys. The photography studio was J. Bethscheider of Humphrey, Nebraska. They most likely served at St. Francis Church, in Humphrey.
Bill Schmidt verified that these are indeed his grandfather Frank and Frank's brother Louis, and they did serve at St. Francis Church.
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| This photo was done in the old photo/postcard format, but it was never mailed. Someone wrote on the back, "Joe Schmidt's half sister, Mom's 2nd cousin". Mom in this case refers to Cecilia Schiebel Beitel. I do not know anything about the people in this photo other than that.
I would guess that this photo was taken in Europe, because of the way they are dressed, but I don't know that for sure either. The countryside resembles both the area around Nieder-Mohrau and the hills of Stayton and Silverton, Oregon. If anyone recognizes these people, please let me know. Thanks. Elizabeth
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