Genealogy by Social Media or

Sand in our veins 

What a great way to spend a couple freezing days in January!
A little backstory:
You should recall by now that Grandma Lizzy (Sand Hesch) had an older brother named Joseph, who lived in Saskatchewan, Canada.  Joe's wife Antonia was a Poser from Pierz. They were married in Buckman  January 14, 1908.  Eventually they had a son, Michael, two daughters, Mary and Agnes, and an adopted son, Erwin. Here's a (new) photo of most of them in the late 40s, tho we don't know what the occasion was.

I know you're wondering where this photo came from, right?  Well, yesterday and today on Facebook we had a genealogical identi-fest, as Christa posted a photo to see if collectively, we could name everybody in the photo. Here's that photo, and yes, we DID!

Right behind Sr Severine and Sr Teresita are their two brothers, Frank and Joe (both wearing suspenders ☺), and the woman sitting on the right is Veronica** (Vernie Sand Wintermeyer), so five of the ten sibs were together for a reunion in Shaunavon, Sask. in 1964.  I remember Gramma reluctantly deciding she couldn't go along.  I suppose it was partly because the car would have been really over-crowded with Frank driving, Catherine riding shotgun and Gramma, Vernie, and the two nuns packed in the back, tho I would pay to have seen it ☺.

Here's what we came up with: Joe standing and his wife Antonia beside Sr Teresita, Frank's wife Catherine behind Antonia. Mary and Agnes, back row, were Joe's daughters, and Rosa, next to him, was Mike's wife, so maybe the photographer was Mike or Pete.  SOME things should stay a mystery, right?

**That's Vernie Wintermeyer sitting next to Antonia, but Christa remembered that John Wintermeyer died in 1959, so that couldn't be him next to Vernie.

Hooray, Christa, and Thank You! 

This was FUN

John & Vernie Wintermeyer

John B. and Vernie Wintermeyer, 1950s

 I'm finding more and more that most families have at least one "background" kid--not necessarily a black sheep, but who maybe moved away, or didn't always have time to attend family stuff, or one who just grew away from the family set of values. Who knows?
I think grandma Lizzy's sister Vernie (Veronica) was in this position in the Mike Sand family (but not the only one).  At least in my experience, Vernie wasn't mentioned much, and was never there when the Sand nuns came home, for instance.  It's possible that her life away from Buckman was a lot better than life on the farm.  Certainly, this photo looks like she was content.  We know from her mom's obit  that Louisa spent her last days at Vernie's in St Cloud, and died there.
Maybe it's just that Lizzy and Vernie weren't close, huh?

These photos are from Jenny, too...and the one to the left is labeled "Henry Block and John Wintermeyer".  It looks like the same yard as above, with peonies in bloom.  Henry, of course, was Lena's husband, so those two couples connected, at least. (I think this ◄John was the Wintermeyer's son John J. born in 1905.  His sibs were Joseph, born in 1908, and Marie, born in 1920).

Aa a reward for making it this far, here's a mystery to ponder:

Jenny said this photo is marked "Grandma and Grandpa Sand", but it's not Mike and Louisa.  They never reached this age or this portliness, tho Mike always had a longer, fuller beard than this gentleman.  We're curious about who they actually were--maybe Block grandparents, or Hoheisel, or Wintermeyer?  

Thanks again, Jenny! ☺

A new "eight women" picture connection

 

When we finally figured out when this picture was probably taken, and why, we posted about it.  I was, of course, most interested in the five Sand women (Grandma, her sisters and mom) and the woman on the bottom right (most likely Charlie Sand's wife, here on a visit from Wenatchee,Washington).  We still don't know the woman with the pitcher, or the kneeling woman on the left, but we figured they were the cooks and servers for one of the three Hesch weddings that took place in 1920.

Then, when Chris sent the picture of Lena Dengel Mueller, I was thrilled, cuz now she fits, too ☺ See?
Added April, 2015:  Lena Sand Block's great grandaughter says the kneeling woman is most likely LENA--of course!  So I've changed the photo to include that ID.  Now, all we need is the name of the nectar-pourer ☺. Thanks, Jenny!

Look closely--mother Louisa is holding Angie's hand, and has her arm around Lena; Jenny mentioned that it might be little Hildegard, 

just out of the picture next to her mom on the left.

That'd be cool ☺