Circles. In order to share this circle, I need to provide a bit of my family’s German history. Specifically my maternal grandfather’s. It all centers around a small village in the northern District of Lippe Germany: Varenholtz. When we visited Varenholtz in 1998, we found a landmark never mentioned in any of the oral (where most […]
When A Surprise Truth About Family Story Is Exposed-Do These Three Things
“Fred and August (Rightmeier) came to America in the year 1864 at the age of 14 and 16 years.” – written by Melinda Rightmeier in the family Bible. As we have explored my family history, surprise truth has exposed details that have delighted, given me pause, and stirred up great gratitude for the courage and […]
What Goes Around…..Look For It
…Comes around, or so they say. My maternal grandfather’s roots, Lyman Burdette Rightmeier, centers around a small village in the northern District of Lippe Germany: Varenholtz. During the time his grandfather, Frederick Konrad Regetmeier, lifed there, the region was governed bu Count Simon VI, the son of the staunch Catholic Count Bernhard VIII, who ruled the region and […]
Regetmeier Reunion On The Homestead
My mother’s paternal great grandfather Frederick Konrad Regetmeier, immigrated from northern Germany in the mid 1860’s. He ended up in Jewell County, Kansas, a journey that took a decade. The legs of his trip followed the model of many of his country men at the time: 1863 – left Germany as a stowaway with his brother, […]
How Martin Luther Affected All Of Our Destinies – A Tribute
We do not become righteous by doing righteous deed but, having been made righteous, we do righteous deeds. Martin Luther I am not a Lutheran. Although I appreciate much of their theology, I attended a Methodist Church growing up. A movement that grew out of the Anglican church and although much removed from its roots – the […]
How To Uncover Fake News – Discovering Family Lineage Secrets
Fake News? The thing that interests me most about family history is the gap between the things we think we know about our families and the realities. – Jeremy Hardy In a recent post about a circa 1907 family reunion on the Rightmeier homestead in Jewell County, Kansas, I mentioned a great great uncle, August, […]
Dream-home On A Kansas Homestead
If I were asked to name the chief benefit of the house, I should say: the house shelters day-dreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace. Gaston Bachelard During one of my extended family’s visit to the Rightmeier homestead in Buffalo Township, Jewell County, KS, an aunt found a doorknob […]