My Notes and Comments about Nonnie Schaefer’s Letter

As far as I know Carl never received copies of the family papers mentioned in the letter that Nonnie offered to give him (I only assume this because I never found these papers at my grandparent’s house). I would love to have copies of those papers – when I first found this letter I sent a letter to Nonnie’s address, thinking that there might be a slight chance that some of Nonnie’s descendants might still live there, but I never heard back. I haven’t made any contact with any of Nonnie’s descendants yet, so I don’t know if someone out there still has these papers or not.

As far as the information in the letter, it confirms some of what I already knew from handwritten genealogy notes and pedigree charts I’d found at my grandparents’ house.

Although I didn’t know that Ludwig’s and Amalie’s father, Carl Spohr, was a choir master, as was written on the ribbon that Nonnie mentioned in her letter, I knew that Carl’s (I wish all of our ancestors would have been more thoughtful of us descendants who are interested in genealogy when they decided to name all their little boys ‘Carl’ and ‘Louis’ generation after generation and make it nice and confusing for us. Oh wait, my son’s middle name is Carl, after my Grandpa. Great names – just makes it a little harder to keep everyone straight.) father, Franz Spohr, had the same occupation. According to Ludwig Spohr’s birth certificate, it says that Franz Spohr was a “Cantor in Graslitz,” and I’ve had the word ‘cantor’ translated to mean a choir master for the church.

I’m not sure how the man and woman in the photos are related exactly. On the back of the photos the names Gustav Breinl and Lydi Breinl are written. The parents of Ludwig (Louis) Spohr and Amalie Spohr Schaefer were Carl Spohr and Ludmilla Breinl – could Lydi Breinl be Ludmilla Breinl? But who is Gustav? How are they related to Ludmilla Breinl?

I don’t know about the “Seifner Bräuhaus” photograph either – Seifner refers to the Bohemian town of Seifen.  And we do have brewers in the family – according to Ludwig Spohr’s birth certificate, Ludmilla Breinl’s father, Friedrich Breinl, was a “braumeister,” (or a master beer brewer). I don’t know if this photo was of his brewery or that of another relative.

I knew about the “small inheritance” that Nonnie mentioned in her letter. I have copies of estate papers sent to America from Europe that are written in German and name both Ludwig and Amalie.

The statue of L. Spohr that she refers to is Louis Spohr, a composer, who all of the descendants say was a great uncle, but who I have yet to find an exact relationship for between his family and our Spohrs. My grandparents have a painting of a man hanging in their home that they think may have been of this composer. A book has been published about this Louis Spohr, and I have a copy. I will post some selections from that book that are of genealogical interest at a later time.

I don’t know how Josef Diez and his family in Germany are related to us, but would love to find out more about that if anyone knows about him.

Letter from Nonnie Schaefer

This is a copy of a letter written by Nonnie Schaefer Ross that was sent to my great great grandparents, Carl John Spohr (senior) and his wife, Nettie Dorothy Graham Spohr, in 1974.

“Mr. and Mrs. K. C. Ross
R. 2, Box 156
Tavares, Florida 32778

Tavares 1/8/74
Dear Nettie + Carl:
I’m finally getting around to answering letters after the X-mas rush. Also I’ve been trying to look up some papers I thought I might get some information.
The things I remember is that I believe Mother + Uncle Louie came from Eger. I remember our mother saying it was on the Austria-Bohemian border but that may all be Germany now.
A paper I have is dated 1899 from Eger, Böhmen so that must be where they were from. It is all in German so there is very little I can make out.
Our mother’s mother was named Breinl and I’m sending pictures which you can keep as I have another set. Relatives once owned a brewery and our mother + your father at one time received a small inheritance. That was when we were all very small.
I also have a ribbon which belonged to mothers + Uncle Louie’s father on which is printed . .
DER EGERER – MÄNNER – GESAUG –
SEINEMEHREN – MITGLIEDE
UND EHEMALIGEN – CHOIRMEISTER
HERRN CARL SPOHR
So I take the word EGERER would mean in the town of Eger.
I also have an article and picture of a statue of L. Spohr, which is all in German too so we looked it up in an encyclopedia and found the enclosed. I don’t remember or know if he was a great or great great uncle. He may be the one you have a picture of. This was all in Cassel, Germany.
I’m glad Carl is interested in looking up some of this history and hope we can find out some more. I will have some Xerox copies of the papers and send them if he wants them.
I have a record of some of his violin music which we bought a long time ago.
As I said if he would want the Xerox copies of the article + statue, also the papers which I think is a birth record I will have them made.
The last we heard from the relatives was in 1952, where we sent care packages to an Aunt + Uncle who had a daughter Lydia. Their last address was Josef Diez (Family)
22b Osouu Kreis Wittlich
Rheinland-Pfalz
Germany
I always thought I would write but worried if any are still living.
I hope this may help some so let me know sometime. He can have some of those things if he wants them, being a Spohr.
Love to all,
Nonnie
P.S.
I don’t believe any of the Spohrs
Had middle names. We didn’t.”
[Included in the letter were 2 short typed paragraphs about Ludwig Spohr, the German composer and his musical life; a list of 9 family history questions; a photograph of a building with the caption, “Seifner Bräuhaus;” a photograph of a man with the caption, “Gustav Breinl;” and a photograph of a woman with the caption, “Lydi Breinl.”]