02 May 2023

Life story of Ludwig/Louis Spohr by Amy Spohr Chidester

 


Ludwig "Louis" Spohr

Ludwig Spohr was born in Eger, Bohemia in the Austrian Empire on 6 August 1871, the second son of Karl Spor and Ludmilla Breinl. He was the youngest of seven children. 

His siblings were:
Karl Christof born 26 April 1860.
Anna Elisabetha born 9 June 1861.
Johanna born 18 June 1863, died 3 March 1866, almost three years old.
Rosa Francisca born 3 December 1865, died 13 days later.
Mathilda Amalia born 14 March 1867.
Ludmilla born and died 24 February 1870 (emergency baptism performed by the midwife).

By the time Ludwig was born, only three of his six older siblings were living. 

Ludwig’s father was born with the surname Spor. Both Spor and the spelling variation Spohr were seen during his lifetime. Ludwig was born with the surname of Spohr, and this is the only spelling ever used in reference to Ludwig. 

Karl, Ludwig’s father, was the choir master in the St. Nicholas Church in Eger, Bohemia. The family lived in a house that was directly across the street on the north side of the church. Ludwig was baptized in that church in a baptismal font that was a relic from the medieval church originally on the same site. The north side of the church still has the old gothic entry, and this would be the view the family would have seen as they left the front door of their home.

Ludwig’s family suffered so much loss when he was young.

His mother Ludmilla died 31 January 1873 when he was only a year and a half old.

His father Karl died 19 May 1878 just before Ludwig turned 7.

His oldest sister, Anna Elisabetha, was just shy of 19 years old when she died 2 April 1880. Ludwig had lost both parents, and when he was still 8, he lost Anna, too.

Family Photo of Seifner Bräuhaus

For a time, Ludwig lived with his mother’s parents, Friedrich Breinl and Amalia nee Dotzauer. Both the Breinl and Dotzauer families were from Graslitz, Bohemia. Friedrich’s father, Sebastian Alois Breinl, was the master brewer for the Graslitz manor. As was custom in those times, Sebastian’s oldest son, Anton, became the manor’s master brewer after his father. Friedrich also became a master brewer but could not be the manor brewer. He moved his family to Seifen, Bohemia. He was the master brewer and brewery owner there. The brewery was attached to their home. The home where the family lived faced the road and the other much
larger section of the L-shaped structure was the brewery. This is the home Ludwig would have lived in with his grandparents, an aunt and uncles, and cousins.   
Another view of the home and brewery shows the "L" shaped structure of the building.  This photo is found on a large sign in Ryžovna, Czech Republic, formerly Seifen, Böhmen.  The sign displays photos of the Catholic church, a local band, other homes in Seifen, etc., and a brief history of Seifen.  The caption on the sign under the photo of the brewery is in both Czech (English translation: former state brewery - closed in 1912) and German (English translation: The former state brewery, brewing operations ceased in 1912).  


Byvaly statni pivovar - uzavren roku 1912
Die ehemals staatliche Brauerei, Braubetrieb 1912 eingestellt

When Ludwig was 10 years old, his brother Christof left Bohemia and emigrated to Cincinnati, where his great uncle, Wenzel Breinl, owned a pub and inn. Christof lived with and worked for his great-uncle.

Ludwig's sister, Amalia, emigrated to Cincinnati in August 1883. Ludwig was 12. Amalia’s address and occupation put her living with and working for her great uncle the first few years she lived in Cincinnati, too.

Ludwig and his sister Amalia suffered another terrible blow when their older brother, Christoff, committed suicide in 1884.


Ludwig Spohr
When Ludwig was 15 years old, he followed in the footsteps of his two older siblings and 
emigrated to Cincinnati, Ohio on 13 September 1886. He left on his ocean-bound journey from the port of Bremen, Germany and arrived at the port of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He went on to Cincinnati and lived there for about 10 years and then relocated to the Madison, IL/St. Louis, MO area. He used his given name Ludwig and the Americanized equivalent interchangeably while living in Cincinnati, but after his relocation, he went by Louis for the rest of his life.

From entries in the Cincinnati city directories, it appears that Ludwig never lived with or worked for his great uncle like his siblings did when they first arrived. He did live at the same address as his sister off and on during those years. And at one point, he lived in the same tenement building as his future mother-in-law, Anna Ott. He had many different occupations, as seen in city directories.



Cincinnati, OH
1888 – driller (Ludwig)
1889 – locksmith
1890 – machine hand (Louis)
1891 – metal worker (Louis)
1892 – sword maker! (Ludwig)
1893 – metal worker (Ludwig)
1894 – locksmith
1895 to 1898 – jeweler (Louis)

In the 1898 Cincinnati city directory, not only did it give his occupation as a jeweler, but it included the note: removed to Madisonville, IL. The correct name of the town he moved to was Madison, IL, but this gives a time frame for his relocation. Since city directories collect information one year and print that information the next year, Louis most likely moved to the Madison, IL/St. Louis, MO area in 1897.
Wedding photo of  Louis (right) and Anna (sitting) and
Louis' sister Amalia and brother-in-law Wilhelm Schaefer
 

A letter in which Louis writes to his sweetheart Anna, is dated December 28, 1897, and sent from Madison, IL, confirming the 1897 move. In that same letter, Louis also talks about his sister Mallie (Amalia) and it is clear from the letter that Mallie and her family also live in Madison. Louis talks of how he dreams of Anna almost every night and he closes with these words: "kisses to my Beloved.” His letter was signed Loui, the nickname he went by. The letter is written in German.

Louis married Anna Maria Ott on 31 August 1898 in Cincinnati, OH. They set up housekeeping in Madison, IL. They had four sons. Louis Christopher was born 23 October 1899 in Madison, IL. Carl John was born 21 September 1903 in St. Louis, MO. Twin sons were either stillborn or died shortly after birth, but the exact date and location are not available.

Madison, IL
1898 – Jeweler
1899 – carpenter
1900 – banker
St. Louis
1903 – machinist (living at 2417 N. 12th)
1904 – machinist
The city directory shows that he lived at 1310 Hebert Street in St. Louis, MO.
1906 - confectionery
Madison, IL
1910 – confectionery
1911 – confectionery proprietor

The St. Louis World’s Fair (technically the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition) ran from 30 April 1904 to 1 December 1904 with an average of 100,000 people attending each day. Over 20 million people saw the exhibition that covered over 1200 acres. Were the Spohr’s among them?

The fairgrounds covered an area greater than any other World’s Fair in the history of the event. Ferris’s Big Wheel gave people an aerial view of the Exhibition. Technological innovations were debuted: the x-ray machine, the electric typewriter, the dishwasher and more. Purportedly, foods that were introduced for the first time at the Fair were the hotdog, the hamburger, the ice cream cone and more. Many of the tales of these foods originating in St. Louis have been debunked over time. Another huge event took place in St. Louis in 1904. This was the first Olympic Games to be held on US soil and the only Olympic Games to be held during a World’s Fair.

Louis worked at a confectionery in St. Louis and then in Madison, and then became owner of his own confectionery.

A confectionery is generally thought of as a candy-making enterprise, but the confectioneries in the St. Louis/Madison area at that time were stores that handled, among other things, cigars, tobacco, ice cream, stationery and periodicals.
L. Spohr Confectionery, 1518 3rd Street, Madison, IL

Louis’s confectionery was located on Third Street in Madison. It was part of a two-story building. On the bottom story were two places of business, Louis’ confectionery and a Billiard Hall owned and run by Anna’s two brothers, Frank and Louis. Above the two businesses were three apartments. Louis and Anna lived in one, and most probably each of Anna’s brothers lived in the other two. Louis would come up from the store at the lunch hour to have his meal with Anna. (Many years later, Anna lived in one while each of her living sons and their families lived in the other two apartments.)

And tragedy struck again. On 23 December 1912, sometime in the early afternoon, Louis was late coming up for lunch. Anna went down to the confectionery to see what was delaying him and found him dead. It appeared that he had climbed up on a counter to reach something and fallen and hit his head. His death certificate reports he had a heart attack. He was only 41 years old when he died. It is so sad that he was orphaned as a child and that then his own children were left fatherless at his early demise.


Written by Amy Spohr Chidester, daughter of Carl Spohr Jr., son of Carl Spohr, son of Ludwig "Louis" Spohr & Anna Maria Ott 

08 April 2022

Earlene Rae Bagley McIntosh

My husband's Grandma McIntosh passed away last week, and my mother in law asked if I'd put together a photo slideshow for her viewing.  I've spent the last few days/nights collecting photos from relatives and compiling everything into a slideshow.  The most rewarding part of this project for me was seeing photos of Earlene as a child and young woman, since I had never before seen any photos of her from before her wedding day.  Anyway, here it is:



20 October 2021

Litoměřice Regional Archive video for FamilySearch.org

 

 I just finished making this video for how to use the Litoměřice Regional Archive website that Camille at FamilySearch asked me to do for the virtual Czechia Seminar they're hosting in a couple weeks, and also to post on the FamilySearch.org learning center site after the Seminar.  It took quite a while to record & edit, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  

15 January 2021

Family History Interview Videos


My Mom's Side of the Family:


Interview of Frances Olive Dick Monk, May 2002
(My maternal great grandmother).  Interviewed in the home of her daughter, Beverly Monk Spohr, in Lee's Summit, Missouri by her great granddaughter, Stephanie Chidester.





























Interview of Beverly Frances Monk Spohr 2008 -- full interview
(My maternal grandmother).  Interviewed in her home in Lee's Summit, Missouri by her granddaughter Stephanie Chidester Bradshaw





















(A few years ago I took portions of this interview and added photos from Beverly's life, and made a video of it as a gift for my mother.  But I wanted to preserve the complete interview here).  I'll include a copy of the edited interview video with the photos below too:
Interview of Beverly Frances Monk Spohr, 2008
(My maternal grandmother).






















Interview of Beverly Monk Spohr, 2014
(My maternal grandmother).  Interviewed in San Diego, California the home of her daughter, Amy Spohr Chidester.  Interviewed by two of her children, Amy Spohr Chidester & John Spohr.






















Interview of Carl Spohr Jr, May 2002
(My maternal grandfather).  Interviewed in his home in Lee's Summit, Missouri by his granddaughter, Stephanie Chidester.





























Interview of Carl John Spohr Jr
(My maternal grandfather).  [Date unknown].  The numbers referred to in this interview correlate to numbers written on the back of some old family photographs which are now in the possession of Amy Spohr Chidester.






















Interview of Robert Wilson Monk & Frances Olive Dick Monk, 1982
(My maternal great grandparents).  Interviewed by their granddaughter Amy Spohr Chidester, & her husband Steven Chidester.


Carl Spohr & Beverly Monk's college graduation
(My maternal grandparents).  I thought I'd also include this old video recording here too.  My Uncle David found this old film reel of his parents' several years ago and had it digitized.




















My Dad's Side of the Family:

Interview of Faun Moore Chidester, 2009
(My paternal grandmother).  Interviewed in her home in West Valley City, Utah by her granddaughter, Stephanie Chidester Bradshaw.






















Christmas 1982
My first Christmas -- Stephanie Chidester with her parents, Amy & Steven Chidester, and her paternal grandparents, Faun & John Chidester.






















John Leo Chidester funeral slideshow
(My paternal grandfather).
https://youtu.be/7-lHD79FykE






























My Husband's Family:

Lillie Anne Young Bradshaw's funeral slideshow
(My husband's paternal grandmother).
https://youtu.be/b86tAXDMCuo

















I've spent a major amount of time over the last month or two trying to get all our family videos backed up & organized.  (This all started as a way to get everything organized as I've been doing the fun & lengthy project of making family video compilations, which I'm still actively working on now that I've finally gotten them all organized).  But another reason I wanted to get everything organized was to be able to share the videos that I have of family history interviews of my grandparents & great grandparents.  I had a variety of types of files -- a few audio recordings that were recorded on casette tapes years ago by my parents with their parents/grandparents, and others that were video recordings that I had done with my grandparents & one of my great grandmas a few years ago.  There's even one audio recording of Christmas morning in 1982 (my first Christmas), where you can hear my parents and my dad's parents talking on it (this happens to be the only one of these recordings that has my Grandpa John's voice on it, so that's nice to have).  And there's another old audio recording of my parents doing an interview of my mom's maternal grandparents, Mamaw & Bampaw (Bob & Frances Monk) -- unfortunately the audio quality gets really poor at parts of that recording, almost to the point of not being able to make out what was being said.  But I figured it was worth preserving it, even with the poor audio quality, in hopes that we might be able to listen carefully to figure out what they were saying or maybe that there is a way to improve the sound quality in the future to be able to understand it all.  The video recording I did with my my Grandpa Carl was relatively short and was all one one video file, but the ones I did with each of my grandmas and Mamaw (my great grandma) were made up of multiple short video clip files.  So I set out to get them all backed up and to preserve them in a way that could easily be shared with others.  I decided to save them so that the interviews that consisted of several shorter video clips were all saved together as one larger file, and to make video files of all of them (even the ones that were only audio recordings).  So I popped the files into iMovie and added titles.  On the audio recordings I added a handful of photos to each one too.  And I saved those.  So now I have a file for each recording, and they've all been backed up.  I decided to share them on FamilySearch.org, and of course they don't accept video files, but they accept audio files -- I converted them to audio files, then I did some youtube learning for how to adjust the output settings in iTunes in order to save these files at a small enough file size that FamilySearch would allow me to upload them to their website, and I was able to get them all saved as audio files and uploaded to that site.  And I wanted to share them all here too, so I uploaded them to youtube so I could share the video links here on my blog.  (Oh, and I also included the two video files I had of my Grandpa John's and Michael's Grandma Bradshaw's funeral slideshows that I made down below).  Now, the next step is to go back and type up transcripts of what was said in each of these interviews -- I believe I already went back and did that with the video interview of Grandpa Carl, and I know we've started to do it with a couple of the other interviews, but that takes time -- maybe I can get my boys involved with helping type up the transcriptions.


01 March 2020

Colorized Family Photos

When MyHeritage.com recently came out with their photo "colorizing" tool, I was curious to see how well it really worked, and then I had fun colorizing lots of my old family photos:

Many, like this one of my great grandmother, Avagail Taylor Moore, came out quit well.  I was impressed by a computer program's ability not only to recognize different textures like trees, dirt & rocks, sky, clothing, hair, and skin color and apply the correct (or probable) colors; but also by it's ability to apply the correct color to items that you might think would be less recognizable to a computer program, such as a yellow tint for a straw hat, (even though the hat was laying on the ground, so the program didn't only have to recognize that it was a hat because it was on someone's head, but just because of the shape and texture of it, I suppose).  

Avagail Taylor Moore

 Agnes Laura Schaefer Kraatz, 1909 or 1910

Carl John Spohr Sr. & Nettie Dorothy Graham Spohr, 1929


On others, their program struggled a bit with the colors, often showing a woman's dress with a mixture of blue/red/purple in the areas where the light hit the fabric differently, even though when a person looks at these colorized photos, it's easy to tell that the dress should have been one solid color.  For example, in this photo of my great, great grandmother, Lillie Margaret Conners Dick with her baby daughter, Virginia, who passed away not long after this photo was taken, her dress looks like it has a pink/purple tint around the neck, like the rest of the dress is blue, and like the lighter area of the dress across her lap is mostly grey.  


I've always loved this photo -- it is so sweet, and it is one of only two existing photographs that we have of baby Virginia -- so I took the time to do a little work on photoshop to see if I could get it looking a little more like it may have looked.  (Although, inconsequentially, for some reason I always pictured Lillie in a red polka dot dress when I had see this black and white photo growing up.  Who knows how accurate the color blue is for the dress, but you have to admit there is something about adding a little color that brings these pictures to life).
Virginia Ann Dick and Lillie Margaret Conners Dick

This is another where the color came out quite well on many parts of the photo, but the pink and blue effect on the grandmother's dress is quite distracting:



So I touched this one up in photoshop too.  The result isn't perfect, but I believe the color of her dress is far less distracting now, and I was also able to touch up a few other spots where the color didn't seem quite right (one side of the skirt of the tallest little girl, the area around the grandmother's hand, and the area around the hand of the little boy who is standing up).  
Jay Smith, Mary Moss, Madge Smith, Cleone Snow (front), Cella Smith, William Smith Chidester, William Smith & Deama Smith

And sometimes the program just struggled to add the correct colors in all the right places, such as this wedding photo of my great great grandparents, where the colorization all looks great, except the best man's sleeve, and the shadows around the bride's face are both red:


But those were really simple fixes in photoshop:
Amalia Spohr & William Schaefer, Anna Ott & Ludwig Spohr wedding 1898 Cincinnati, Ohio 


But the vast majority of the photos that I tested out with their colorization tool came out looking great.  I'd have to say this one may be one of my favorites.  Mostly because the digital copy that I have is not a high quality image, so I wondered if the poor quality of the image might make the colorization turn out poor too.  But I was pleasantly surprised with the results:



I enjoyed the colorized version of this little photo so much, that I just had to take a few minutes to do some minor cleanup of some of the scratches and specks from the original black and white image.  The boy standing on the left with the blue jacket is my great, great grandfather, Ephraim Austin Taylor.
Ephraim Austin, Ada Matilda, Margaret Ellen, William Gross, Minnie Esther, Della Vilate Taylor

And this one was a fun little discovery:  I had seen this photo of my grandpa, John Leo Chidester and his twin sister Jean plenty of times before.  I always found it an intriguing photo, because in addition to the twins, it also showed a little about the family home.  From what I know, they lived in a small rural town and the family wasn't very well off, and I like that this picture shows us a little of what their house and yard looked like.  And you can see the twins' older sister, Bernice, sitting over on the right with her back to the camera.  


But I had never before noticed their older brother, Ross, peaking out from behind the porch where John was sitting before the photo was colorized.  I don't know whether Ross was positioned there to help the babies sit up or to make sure the twins didn't tumble off backwards during the photo, or if he was possibly just playing there (my kids would probably get a kick out of this early example of what they would probably call 'photo bombing').  But I just thought it was cool how adding color could reveal details that may otherwise go unnoticed.  
Jean and John Chidester (and Ross in background, and Bernice on right)

Anyway, although we can't always know if the colors are accurate, especially when it comes to colors of clothing or sometimes hair (I colorized a cute little photo of my dad when he was a kid, but instead of his red hair it showed it as light brown), I do think colorizing these photos is a fun way to bring out certain details and "make them come alive."  Of course, these colorized photos are just a fun novelty, and they can never replace the originals.  But it is fun to see them in a different way like this.  

Lillie Margaret Conners Dick

John George Graham


Mariah Lucinda, Harriet, Dorothy, Hulda Samantha, Mary Louisa, James Harvey Heath Sr., James Harvey Jr., Trissie Jane, & Hulda Maria Holden Heath

Sarah Rees Taylor and sons
John Leo Chidester


Olive Giffin and Lewis Tucker, Lincoln, Missouri


Amy Spohr, Frances Monk, and Paul Spohr

Anna Marie Ott Spohr


Amanda Melvina Smith, James Parker, John William Jr., Mary Mariah, 
John William Chidester, Milton, Dewey, & Hulda Samantha Heath Chidester

Anna & Carl Spohr Jr., 1907 or 1908

Avagail Taylor Moore


Beverly and Carl Spohr (right) and college friends

Eliza Lucinda Smith Chidester


Anna Marie Ott Spohr (front center in white dress) & unknown people

Steven John Chidester
(this is the photo of my dad where the colorization didn't get the color right on his red hair)


Wilhelmina Minnie Schaefer Hilker & Mathilda Amalia Spohr Schaefer (standing), 
Los Angeles Ostrich Farm, California

Pearl and Berniece Graham


Ivan J Moore with his truck



Courtland Oliver Dick


Nettie, Clifford, Florence, John George, Susie Florence, Susie Estell, 
Kenneth, Cora, Berniece, Pearl, & John Henry Graham

Nonnie Schaefer, St Louis, Missouri

Ivan J Moore & Avagail Taylor Moore


Ross, Smith, James Rasmussen, James Parker, John, Jean, 
Bernice, Lucinda, Ross Rasmussen, and Gwen Chidester

Anna Marie Ott Spohr & Maria Ann Strunz Ott

Beverly Frances Monk Spohr


Eliza Lucinda Smith and James Parker Chidester


Faun Moore Chidester

Florentina Constantina Fritz Dobbins


Four Generations: Beverly Monk Spohr, Amy Spohr, 
Frances Dick Monk, and Lillie Conners Dick

Frances and Virginia Dick


Steven Chidester (front row, far right) third grade class

Thomas Parley Rees & Sarah Jane John Rees and baby


Beverly and Carl Spohr's wedding day


Beverly Monk riding pony

Marion Smith (friend), Carl John Spohr, 
Cora Augusta Graham Davis, and Nettie Dorothy Graham Spohr 


Courtland Oliver Dick

Eliza Lucinda Smith Chidester with her twins, Mary Jean and John Leo Chidester

Ephraim Austin Taylor


Ethel, Edith, Levi Ray, Jessie, Ruby, Leonard, 
Estella, Amy, Lucinda Elvira Hyatt Paramore Hunt, Leland, and Levi Alderman Hunt

Faun & Gwen Moore


Frances Monk with Amy, Paul, and Beverly Spohr


Faun Moore and John Chidester, wedding

Frances Olive Dick Monk


Henrietta Graham Dunn, Eugene or William Graham, John George Graham, Pearl Dowling, Gus Graham, Ruth Dowling, 
Barb Clarkson, _, Frances Clarkson, 
Elva and Edwin Fleming


Ivan and Guy Moore

Faun Moore


Hulda Samantha Heath and John William Chidester (couple on left)

Ivan J Moore & Edith Hunt Moore

John Leo Chidester


Lillie Margaret Conners

Louis Christopher and Carl John Spohr, about 1909


Louis Spohr, Carl Spohr, and Jimmy Lively


Lucinda and James Chidester

Ludwig "Louis" Spohr


Robert & Frances, Herbert & Mary, Jim & Millie, 
Mildred Monk Jefferis, Beverly, Mary Maude and William, Bob Monk, & Robert Jefferis

Beverly Frances Monk & Frances Olive Dick Monk


Carl John Spohr Jr.


Cora Augusta Graham & John Henry Graham, 1920

Courtland Oliver Dick -- 4116 Wayne, Kansas City, Missouri


Ruby Hunt (left), high school graduation

Carl John Spohr Jr.


Courtland Oliver Dick (left)

Frances Olive Dick (right) and friends

Ivan J Moore


John and Susie Graham, 50th Anniversary

Louis Christopher Ott, Franz Joseph 'Frank' Ott, & Maria Anna Strunz Ott, Cincinnati Ohio

Louis Spohr and Florence Graham Spohr

Ludwig Spohr confectionery, 1910

Nettie & Carl Graham


Robert Wilson Monk & Frances Olive Dick Monk


Sarah James Flake & Joseph Hyrum Levi family

Ivan J Moore


Mary Jean and John Leo Chidester


Ludwig Spohr at his Confectionery, between 1904 & 1912


Nettie Dorothy Graham Spohr



Twins, Jean & John Chidester


And these are the four family photographs that we have which were taken in Böhmen.  We haven't identified these individuals yet, although each one was taken in or near some of our Bohemian ancestral hometowns there:

Man with some sort of musical instrument in Graslitz, Böhmen

Portrait of a soldier in Leitmeritz, Böhmen

Four men in Carlsbad, Böhmen

A family in Carlsbad, Böhmen