In these days of calling parents and grandparents by their first names, this note that accompanied a gift to my father and his brothers harks back to an earlier time. I would guess it was written in the mid-1920s. The Bresslers are the boys’ grandparents (and probably included their daughter, Dorothy). No warm and fuzzy Grandma and Grandpa here, just ‘The Bresslers.’ My father did refer to them as Grandma and Grandpa.
The Bresslers were a big family centered in Pennsylvania, but many of their offspring migrated west to Nebraska. The clippings were copied from Ruth Bressler Claycomb’s scrapbook. The original sources are not usually indicated.
Hezikiah Bressler was a half-brother of my great-grandfather, John Tannehill Bressler. (1903).
Franklin Pierce Bressler was a brother of John Tannehill Bressler. (1933)
Mary Smith Bressler was the wife of Franklin Pierce Bressler. (1939)
Front row L-R: John Tannehill Bressler, Dorothy Bressler, Julia Fair Bressler, Martha Harker, O. A. Harker, Jr.
Back row L-R: Ruth Bressler, John T. Bressler, Jr., Kate Bressler Von Seggern, William E. Von Seggern, Maud Bressler Harker.
April 1911.
Kate Bressler and William Von Seggern married in April 1911 – perhaps at the time of this photo. John, Dorothy, Ruth, Kate, and Maud of the children of John T. and Julia Bressler. Maud married O. A. Harker and their daughter is Martha.
Wayne, Nebraska.
This is the sister of my grandmother (Ruth Bressler Claycomb). Maud Bressler married O. A. Harker. I am not in contact with anyone from Maud’s side of the family, but I sure would like to be.
At the June,1896 Republican convention that nominated William McKinley as their presidential candidate, my great grandfather, John Tannehill Bressler, was part of the group chosen to inform the nominee of that decision. This was back in the day when the nominee did not attend the convention, but waited in a nearby hotel for the results.
Later Grandpa Bressler received this cabinet card with photos of Mr. and Mrs. McKinley with the nominee’s autograph on the back. It would appear that some accident happened to the card and it was repaired with Bressler’s address labels.
Photos taken in Hollister, Idaho, June 1911. The John Bresslers and the Charles Cravens of Wayne, Nebraska are homesteading in Idaho. Charles Craven was the local photographer in Wayne and I think he took these photos (he’s not in any of the photos).
Charles M. Craven homestead, Hollister, Idaho, June 1911. In doorway: Mrs. Hattie Craven. L-R: Ruth Bressler, Mrs. Julia Fair Bressler, Dorothy Bressler, Ruth Ringland, Joe Ringland, Mrs. Harvey S. Ringland, Harvey S. Ringland, and John T. Bressler. Ringland was an officer in the Bressler bank in Wayne, Nebraska.I have posted photos of the Bressler house in Wayne here. You can see they are used to more luxurious surroundings. Within a year of this picture, Ruth Bressler had married Amos Claycomb and moved to Illinois. I believe the Bresslers did not complete the requirement for homesteading. I don’t know much about the Craven family.
Hollister, Idaho, June 1911. Ruth Bressler shack. Dorothy Bressler in hat.John Bressler was a banker and politician (unpopular combination) – This is him standing at an irrigation gate. Dressed very nicely for working in the fields.
These are the families in front of the Bressler homestead with their wagon. Ruth Bressler’s ‘shack’ (her words) marked with a blue check behind the wagon; a barn is at the far left. The barrel on the wagon is to transport water.
John T. Bressler homestead, Hollister, Idaho, June 1911.Here two of the women are leaving for Idaho Falls. Some are actually staying. That looks like a bleak existence. And how many trunks of clothes did they bring so that they could dress like this? The houses must have been full of trunks.
Holllister, Idaho, June 1911. Mrs. Julia Fair Bressler and Dorothy Bressler leaving for Idaho Falls.Richard Bressler, Wayne, Nebraska.
Happy New Year! I’m beginning the 3rd year of This I Leave with my 221st blog post. And I am grateful to the 117 folks who follow this blog and add so much to it.
My grandmother, Ruth Bressler, and her sister, Kate Bressler, attended the Birmingham School for Girls in Pennsylvania.
Seated, L-R: Norabel Tyson, Big Pine CA; Margaret Klass, Tyrone, PA; Maude Budinger, Snow Shoe, PA; Lucile McKee, McKee Mills, PA; Mabel Cook, Belle Vernon, PA; Reba Carskuddon, Lansdowne, PA.
Standing, L-R: Eleanor Franciscus, Tyrone, PA; Sarah Chapin, Milton, PA; Elsa Elder, Dayton, OH; Edith Smith, Birmingham, PA; Mary Smith, East Liverpool, Ohio; Elsie Ness, Pittsburg, PA; Edith McCloskey, Holidaysburg, PA; Kate Bressler, Wayne, NE; Matilda Cook, Belle Vernon, PA; and Ruth Bressler, Wayne NE.
I’ve done my best deciphering my grandmother’s handwriting, but if you see errors in any of the names, please let me know.
This is my grand aunt Dorothy Bressler’s Sunday School class in Wayne, Nebraska. Probably the Methodist church or maybe the Presbyterian. Dorothy was born in 1897 and these girls look 10-12 years old (?) which would put the photo as 1907-09.
I think Dorothy wrote these names on the back. Your guess is as good as mine (the spelling is only approximate): Mary O’Neal, Lizzi Parry, Serena Howser, Hester McNeal, Elizabeth Miner, Dorothy Bressler, Gladys Golder, Edith White, Mary Wilson, and Mrs. Miner. I cannot even identify Dorothy.
The Bressler girls in a class photo from the Birmingham School for Girls, Pennsylvania, 1906. Kate Bressler is 9th from the left, Ruth Bressler is 13th (just behind and to the right of the small child).
This I Leave 