The 1909 wedding of Angela Sand and Anton Gerwing

Pierz Journal, July 22, 1909

July 22, 1909

Remember my whining about German naming traditions before on HH?  The idea that the first son was named after his dad's father, and the first daughter was named after her mom's mother, etc...makes families easier to trace over the years, but MUCH harder to distinguish between 3 or 4 cousins all named John or Peter, or John Peter, or Anna, Mary or Angeline, all born in the 1880s.

We're talking about an Angeline Sand, daughter of Nicholas and Christina Sand from Meire Grove, Stearns Co, west of St Joseph, Mn.  Was her dad a brother to Michael, or a cousin?  Brother makes sense cuz of the names of their children but cousin makes sense too because the Nick I was thinking of married Katherine Didier.

Oh well, this'll get worked out and I'll change what I've goofed on.  In the meantime, it's 1909, and we have an account of a letter to Maud Berg, a friend in Pierz, from Anton Gerwing (the groom up there in the pics).  He says he married Angeline Sand from Meire's Grove in June (see photos!).  Apparently, Maud's brother (?) had also moved to California, and in July, sent a newsy letter home, along with his subscription to the Journal.  Luckily, this got him column inches and we find out about land prices and speculating on crops in California...not to mention explaining some lovely wedding pics from my files.