Grellert Sisters

Introduction – This post illustrates the advantages of researching siblings and collateral relatives when delving into the lives of our ancestors. You never know who within the extended family has possession of family photos or documents or has knowledge of those tidbits of information that bring family history alive. The following is a recounting of Hedwig Grellert Haacke’s early years. Hedwig was Maria Grellert Blumel’s younger sister. Much of her story is also the story of our direct ancestor Maria Grellert Blumel.




HEDWIG COMES TO UTAH
1866-1885
Born to Ignatz August Grellert and Marie Clara Emilie Wasdorf on
October 28, 1866, Graditz, Silesia, Prussia.


The following pages contain the information that we were able to accumulate about the life of Hedwig Louise Grellert Haacke:

Hedwig’s mother, Marie, had tuberculosis and had been ill for quite some time when she gave birth to her seventh child, Emilia Clara. The baby died July 26, 1870, twenty-one days after birth, and Hedwig’s mother died six days later on July 31, 1870, at the age of thirty-eight.

Johanna Minnie, the third daughter, died August 26, 1871, at the age of eight years. She was a sickly child and seemed to sense that her mother would not live long, for she often said, “When my mother dies, I will die too.”

The Grellert family, now consisting of the father and five daughters, were left to do the best they could. Marie was now twelve, Bertha eleven, Emma six, Hedwig five, and Anna three.

The father, Ignatz Grellert, took care of his family until his death, November 15, 1871, leaving his daughters to be farmed out in one home after another – until all were separated. The father died sixteen months after the death of his wife, Marie.

At their mother’s funeral, the older girls remembered seeing their grandparents, and that was the last time they ever saw them. The girls didn’t receive any help from them, and since the death of both parents they were left completely alone.

The older girls were able to do more work, therefore, it was easier to find homes for them. Hedwig and Bertha, being six and five years old, went to foster families, but regardless of their ages, they had to work hard. Anna, the youngest, was adopted by a wealthy family, and she had an easier early life that the other sisters.

The sisters attempted at different times to see Anna, but her adopted parents tried to turn her against them. Emma said, “When we went to the home we could see Anna playing in the yard. Sometimes we could see and talk to her through the fence as we walked by.”

The family that took Hedwig was a poor family, and even at the age of five she had to work hard for her room and board. She would go out in the potato fields with her foster mother and pick up potatoes. The work was only a reprieve from the fighting and quarreling of the foster parents.

The foster mother was kind to her, and Hedwig knew she was safe with her when the father would come home drunk. Hedwig and the mother would go to the attic when they heard him coming home, and would stay there until he went to sleep. When he was drunk, he was very mean to both. The mother was as frightened as Hedwig was. It was during times like these when Hedwig would long for her own mother and sisters.

Hedwig did not see her sisters very often until she became older. She did not have much schooling, but she did learn to read and she had a beautiful handwriting.

During Hedwig’s time with her foster parents, she was very unhappy, and looked forward to the time when she would be back together with her sisters. They treated her more like a servant, and she did not eat with them very often. Hedwig remembered when her foster mother would cut the hard crust off the sweet rolls for her, and they would take the soft sweet part for themselves.

Bertha Grellert Bitters told of the time when she went to a farmer’s home to work for board and room. The farmer was quite well off and had many cows to take care of. The stone stables were up on a hill and they had to be cleaned every day – as clean as they kept their home. It was her job to carry water from the river, which was some distance away. Her load was so heavy that she began to get round shoulders. It was too much for such a young girl. Some of the neighbors went to the city fathers and asked if something could be done. The city officials went and talked with the farmer and in a few days the farmer told her that she was not needed any more; so she had to go and find another place to live.

The Grellert girls moved from one family to another until they were old enough to take care of themselves.

Marie married Fred Blumell while in Germany. When their son Oscar was five years old they came to America in steerage. (Steerage - in a passenger vessel, a section occupied by passengers paying the smallest fares and receiving inferior accommodations.) It took them six weeks to make the trip, which was very unpleasant. They were very happy when they arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah.

When the girls became older, they decided they were not going to be slaves any longer. Bertha who was now eighteen, Emma fifteen and Hedwig fourteen, went to Berlin and found employment. Hedwig first found work in a celluloid collar factory. Here she could be with her sisters and be her own boss while they were living together. They enjoyed being together again.

In the evenings and on Sundays, the girls liked to go to the Tier Gardens. They would set at the table and listen to the band concerts, and meet with the young folks. In was here they heard the Mormon missionaries and attended some of the meetings. They became interested in the Church and before long became anxious to join.

On May 19, 1884, Hedwig was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at the age of eighteen years of age.

The sisters went to see Anna to tell her about the Mormon Church and about their intentions of going to America, however, they did not have any success in seeing her at this time. When the girls were leaving to come to America, they finally managed to see Anna and it was a sad parting, knowing that they would probably never meet again. (Leslie, Hedwig’s son, while on his mission in Germany in 1923, was the only member of the Haacke family who ever saw Anna and some of her family.)

Joseph Smith, from Providence, Utah, was the one that helped to convert the Grellert girls and baptized them. He also helped make the arrangements, through the emigration fund, to borrow money for their transportation to Zion. The girls were to pay back the money after they arrived in America and found employment.

The girls came by steerage and had to ride in the bottom of the boat, with the noise and the smells. The long voyage was very unpleasant. Hedwig said she was so seasick that she did not care if she died. She said later in life that she would like to go back to Germany some day, but never wanted to cross the ocean by boat.

When they came to Zion, one of Karl G. Maeser’s dear friends had given them a parcel to deliver to him, and they guarded it well. The girls had met Mr. Maeser in Germany while he was there on a mission. When they delivered the parcel to his home in Provo, they found it was limburger cheese. The girls laughed and said, “If we has known what it was we would of thrown it overboard.”

When the girls first came to Utah, Bertha went to work for Mr. Maeser, who was head of the B.Y.U. Academy in Provo. He wanted the Grellert girls to attend school to learn the English language and then teach German, but this offer did not appeal to the girls. He even offered Bertha a chance to go to night school while she was working in his home, but she refused for she wanted to be free to do other things. In later years she realized how foolish she had been as her life would have been much easier.

Arrangements were made by the Grellert girls to start paying their emigration loan. The money was sent to a Mr. Joseph Smith, the missionary who had made the arrangements for them, until all was paid for. Mr. Smith gave them no receipt, but the girls knew in their hearts that they had paid the full price. In later years, he came to Hedwig and wanted the money for their emigration debt. They never paid him again, but their friendship was not the same after that and the girls felt bad about the way it had turned out.

Hedwig, for a living, did house work, and she was employed by all types of people. One lady was so fussy that it seemed she was always doing things to keep Hedwig working all the time. One day, Hedwig ironed the pillow cases, and just because they were not folded the way the lady wanted them, she put them back to be washed again. Hedwig later obtained employment in the Simon Bamberger home in Salt Lake City. She liked to work for them since the pay was good. She stayed with them for a long time. Many times, in later years, she spoke of the services she had done for them.

Hedwig had many friends, as she was full of fun, kind and cheerful at all times. She said she had a number of proposals for marriage, and she had been asked to marry in polygamy. She liked the fellow as a friend but she wanted to stay out of polygamy and have a husband of her own.

Bertha met Fraugott Bitter and married as his second wife on July 6, 1887. They lived in Farmington and then later moved to Providence, Cache County, Utah. Here they raised their family, which consisted of eight children.

Hedwig and Charles Haacke were married on the same day as Bertha and Fraugott Bitter’s, on July 6, 1887, in the Logan Temple. Hedwig had known Charles in Germany, as the Grellert girls had become acquainted with him while they were living in Berlin.

Emma married John Nilson, May 28, 1870, and raised a large family of nine children. Most of their children, at the present time, now live in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Marie and Fred Blumel first lived in Farmington, and then in the spring of 1899, they moved to Canada, in and around Lethbridge and Magrath, Alberta.

The families met often when all of their children were young, and had many happy times together.

In later years, when the Grellert girls were asked about their early life, they would answer, “We had no easy life, we don’t want to think about it, and want to forget it all.”


Source: Chapter II from REFLECTIONS ON THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. HAACKE AND WHENCE CAME NINE BROTHERS, a family history written by the children of Charles and Hedwig Grellert Haacke. The primary contributors were Don Haacke, Helen B. Haacke, and Melba H. White. A copy of this family history is among Frances Blumel’s possessions in the care of Denise Blumel Strate. On the title page was written, “To Dad – Love Bruce and Jean Blumell April 5/95. We are so glad that Marsha Judd let us borrow this record and photocopy it.” In appreciation to everyone who wrote, contributed, copied and shared this history. Hopefully, it will now reach an even larger audience. M. Blumell

Note: After typing this chapter I checked the death dates of the Grellert sisters’ grandparents. Their paternal grandfather, Johann Joseph Grellert, died March 1875. My records show he was born 6 Sep 1778, so he would have been 96 at the time of his death and in his early nineties when his grandchildren were orphaned. I have no death date for the paternal grandmother, Hedwig Bauer. The maternal grandfather, Johann Gottlieb Wasdorf, died 27 Sep 1871, two months before his son-in-law died. Their maternal grandmother, Anna Rosina Vogt, died 9 July 1857. If these dates are correct, the grandparents were either dead or very old when the Grellert children were orphaned.

In 1922, one of Hedwig’s sons, Leslie Carl Haacke, went on a mission to Germany. Just before he left, he looked up the youngest Grellert sister Anna. Anna was married, her last name was Thiel, and she and her husband and son lived in a farming district called Nederlongseifersdorf. Thei
r daughter Zelma lived in Berlin, and Leslie also met her. It was described as a joyous reunion.


Charles and Hedwig Grellert Haacke Family Photo in possession of Carol Blumel Wright, Magrath, Alberta, Canada