12 - Postcard From Sr Agnes - 21 May 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has begun planning her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She has been making arrangements for her travel. The days until she leaves are dwindling.

*****

On May 21, 1936, Grandma Cecile's daughter, Sr. Liliosa (Agnes) Beitel, writes her a quick postcard to let her know that she would like to see her before she leaves.

One thing to remember - back then, and perhaps even now, the novices were not allowed many visits home. Sr. Liliosa was only a novice at the time. She would not make her final profession of vows until later in the coming summer. Novices were allowed maybe one visit a year. They couldn't just hop in a car and drive out to Stayton to see their relatives. Nor were there cell phones for instant communication or laptops for "Skype". The nuns and novices were allowed to have visitors.

As you will see in the message, Sister was concerned that Grandma might come and she would not be there. Here it is:

The envelope:

St. Mary's of the Valley

The envelope

Beaverton, Oregon

Mr. and Mrs. Alois Beitel

Stayton,

R.F.D.1 Oregon

The card:

2:30 P.M.   

St. Mary's of the Valley

Beaverton, Oregon

May 21st - 1936

Dear Mother, Dad and all, [1]

I was expecting to see Marie [2] and a few more from home today but I see it must have been impossible. The reason I am sending these few words is because I'm expecting to have my tonsils removed tomorrow, Friday, and I'll probably be at St Vincent's [3] till Sunday P.M. Of course I would like to see you, mamma, before you leave, so if it is convenient for you to come sometime next week it will be all right.

Love - Sister M. Liliosa

The postcard in the envelope

[1] - Mother, Dad and all, refers to Grandma Cecile, Grandpa Alois, and the siblings still at home, probably John, Tony, Gus (getting married in about a month), Florence "Squeak", and Betty. 

[2] - Marie - Marie Beitel Lulay, my Aunt Marie, the oldest of the Beitel children and half-sister to the rest. She was already married with children

[3] - St Vincent's, a hospital in Portland,

***

Tonsillectomy is an operation that was fairly common when I was a child. Today, tonsillectomy for adults is considered serious surgery. Perhaps more complications are possible for adults, or children just heal faster?

Sr. Liliosa (Agnes) would have been nineteen years old at the time of this letter. Considering medicine has advanced light years since 1936, it seems that this would have been thought of as risky. Sr Liliosa does not give any indication here that she is concerned, or even give details about having been ill.

I don't remember if my Dad or other aunts or uncles had their tonsils removed, so I'm not sure if this was considered normal or not.

May 21, 1936 was a Thursday. Why Sister was expecting her sister Marie Lulay and others to visit, I'm not sure. Had it been a Saturday or Sunday, it would not seem so  unusual.

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Story to be continued...... 

To read Post "13 - Farewell Party at Lulay's - 23 May 1936" click here

11 - Treasury Department - 16 May 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has begun planning her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She has been making arrangements for her travel, including checking on visa requirements.

*****

By now it is the middle of May. She may or may not have yet received the sad letter from Minna, announcing the death of her niece, Elfrieda. It's back to the business of planning the trip. 

Grandma Cecile received a letter from the Treasury Department - the Internal Revenue Service. She must have asked them about whether or not she needed to be concerned with taxes. Not sure if she was thinking about taxes in the United States or abroad, but the answer is fairly simple. 

Again, the subject of whether or not she is a citizen comes up. She does have a passport, so she must have been naturalized by then. 

 Here is the letter: 

TREASURY DEPARTMENT

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

Salem, OREG. May 16, 1936

OFFICE OF THE COLLECTOR

DISTRICT OF OREGON

IN REPLYING REFER TO

Mrs. Cecile Beitel,

Box 207 Rt 1,

Stayton, Oregon.

Dear Mrs. Beitel:

If you are an American Citizen you will not need to attend to any Income Tax Report, but I would suggest that you carry your Citizenship papers with you. Are you an American Citizen?

Yours truly,

Thomas C. Frazier 

Deputy Collector

Post Office Bldg

Salem, Oregon

the letter

I've been on several trips abroad, but never have thought to be concerned with matters of the Treasury, so this letter seems odd to me. Maybe she knew she was going to be staying a while, or thought she'd be working while she was there? Maybe she was just being thorough. 

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Story to be continued...... 

To read Post "12 - Postcard From Sr Agnes - 21 May 1936" click here

10 - Minna's Letter - 6 May 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has begun planning her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She has been making arrangements for her travel, including checking on visa requirements.

*****

Probably in the middle of May, an ominously black-edged envelope arrives from Europe. Written in early May, it is from Hermine (Schiebel) Bernt, who was so overjoyed in her earlier letter to think that her sister Cecile might be visiting soon.

Now her letter comes lined in black, indicating a death. Sadly, only 21 days after Hermine wrote the letter at the beginning of this story, one of her children died, 9 year-old Elfrieda, known as "Fritzi". Once Hermine gets past the sad news she goes on to more family news and thoughts of arrangements for Grandma Cecile's coming visit.

Here is the new letter:

front of the envelope, stamp removed long ago

Front of black bordered envelope:

Mister Alois Beitel 

Stayton, Oregon

North America, USA

back of black bordered envelope:

back of the envelope

Sender: Hermine Berndt, Nieder Mohrau 85 
Post Office Klein Mohrau near Freudenthal
CSR Silesia (CSR means Czechoslovak Republic)

"Nieder Mohrau, May 6, 1936

Dear sister and family !

[Page 1] I received your dear letter yesterday and will answer it right away. I have to admit that I have waited for your letter for quite a while and was tempted all the while to write to you. Now I will give you

Page 1 of the letter

first of all the sad news of our family. One of our children has died and specifically our nine-year old Fritzi [1]

on Jan. 31. Now she is resting in the cool earth already for 3 months. The memory of these difficult days makes me shudder and I have wept many bitter tears over this child that I cannot even tell you. She died as the result of a brain … 
[Page 2] … inflammation [2] and was sick for 14 days. We tried everything to save her but it was useless. She was a very happy girl and always ready for some pranks and everybody liked her. She was never sick until this illness came along which caused her death. A few days before her illness I wrote a letter to you. [3] She had a very nice funeral, the whole village participated and not a single eye remained dry when her teacher gave the funeral eulogy. Everything of these happenings will have to wait for a personal dialog which I certainly hope for.

So, you are definitely planning to attempt this big trip and I hope that you come to us without any mishaps. And Alois does not want to accompany you [4] and you already …..

[Page 3] …..have such big boys [5] and thus it is not absolutely necessary that you remain at home, but we would certainly be very happy if he could come along. I was just in the garden as the older ones came home from school and I received the letter from the mailman. Anna came by immediately and said, quick, quick, here is a letter from Stayton, Oregon. The children are also looking forward but are sad that you are not bringing Betti along. Well, if one could know that she could find relief [6] here one might say, just bring her along. Our doctors here are also very competent and one can be only astounded what healing they accomplish. And regarding the teeth [7], don’t worry, you can get that fixed here also within less than 3 days.

Page 4 of the letter - postscript on the left side

[Page 4] When I was in the hospital last year I had the best opportunity and I had all my teeth pulled and I was very happy when the last one was gone. And now in March I got my new dentures and they fit very well [8]. One feels completely different now and does not get any toothache anymore. So when you are ready to come you will notify us again, we have bus connections from Roemerstadt and Freudenthal, three times a day from Freudenthal, at 6 in the morning, 11 mid-morning, and at 5 in the afternoon, from Roemerstadt 1 ½ hours later. If you would really come then this year with both sorrows and joy would be complete for me. This afternoon I will go to the cemetery to plant some flowers. Then I am notifying Gusti and Johann will also come pretty soon. Have my best greetings from all of us who are looking forward to a reunion.

Sister Minnie [9]"

"The bus stops in our immediate vicinity." [this postscript is written on the left margin of the last page]

[1] - "Fritzi" apparently was a nickname for Elfrieda

[2] - Al, who translated the letter, thought perhaps this was meningitis.

[3] - The letter that begins this story

[4] - Apparently Grandpa did not want to go, this will come up again

[5] - John was 30, Tony was 27, Gus was 25 and FB was 22, all adults

[6] - Aunt Betty (Beitel) Silbernagel had a weak leg as a child and wore a leg brace that was still in the storeroom of the old farmhouse when I lived there. The cause of her disability was thought to have been polio although it was never officially diagnosed. She eventually healed from what ever it was.

[7] - We learned from Sr Agnes' note that Grandma already had her teeth removed before she got this letter, Hermine did not yet know

[8] - Poor Hermine, she had to wait from summer until the next March before she got new teeth!

[9] - Hermine is also like Grandma and has more than one nickname. So far we have seen Minna & Minnie, and our family always called her "Mina"

***

A few other observations of this letter from my friend Al Haunold who translated the handwriting: It is written in old German Gothic script, with excellent  grammar and spelling. He found it easy to read. Al also commented that the black edges on envelopes and death notice are still in common practice. When he was a youngster in Austria, those black edges could be even wider, up to an inch all the way around. These are only 3/8", so you can imagine how foreboding an inch of black ink would appear!

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Story to be continued...... 

To read Post "11 -  Treasury Department - 16 May 1936" click here

9 - What's in a Name?

This week I got an email from one of my cousins asking why I was calling Grandma "Cecile". He always thought her name was "Cecilia".

An interesting question. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it might be worth an explanation in this story. Here are my thoughts.

Names are interesting, they are given to us, we don't have much choice in the matter. Occasionally people decide for various reasons to have them legally changed to something else. Sometimes either people just decide they want to be called something else or sometimes it just evolves - to a nickname. Nicknames can be a variation of the original name (Ronald, Ronnie, Ron), something that a person is known for (Squeak, High Pockets, Shorty, Red) or just a name that comes from who knows where (Bud, Bubba, Dutch, you name it). Some people prefer their middle name and switch to using it.

Then there are spelling and pronunciation issues. How is a name properly spelled? When I was in grade school, it seemed like each name had a proper spelling and that was it. Anything else was a misspelling. I suppose there have always been exceptions. Today some names are spelled the way they sound, or seem to the more "old-fashioned" among us - including myself! - as truly made-up and who knows how they should be pronounced! Of course, there are also language factors - how is a name spelled in a different language?

All of these nuances can be real pain when one is doing family history work. Trying to find names in records when they could be spelled wrong, or changed for almost as many reasons as there are applications makes for an interesting search at times!

So what do I know about Grandma's name? The oldest record I have of her name is on her school report card for the year 1890-91. 

Grandma's report card

It is written as Schiebel Cazilia. On the document where she immigrated to the USA at Ellis Island in 1901, she is entered as Cecilie Schiebel.  On her marriage certificate it is spelled Caecilia Schiebel. Early postcards to her were addressed to Cazilia, Cacelia, Cilly, Cilli, Zilly, Zazelia, you get the idea. Her brothers and sisters seemed to call her Zilly a lot of the time. She signs some of her cards and letters as "Z", which I think is pretty cool. I like the letter "z". I have it in my name and it is not that common in names. Maybe that's why I like it.

Grandma's name in 1901 ship register

Most important here is the spelling and her signature on her passport. If you've recently used a passport, you know how important name spelling is. Everything needs to match exactly or you could find yourself in trouble. On her passport, it is printed and signed as Cecile Beitel. How did she pronounce it when she was signing it? It could be "Seh seel", like Lucille. It might be "Seh seel ee". The latter would be my guess.

However it got that way on her passport, that's the way it officially was for this trip, so that's the way I will spell it for this story. What do I think it "officially" was? I would say it was Cecilia, in English. At least that's my guess!

Don't forget, if you want to see the inserts closer, just click on either of them.

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Story to be continued......

To read Post "10 -  Minna's Letter - 6 May 1936" click here

8 - Southern Pacific - Visa Question - 2 May 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has begun planning her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She has put down her deposit on the ship travel. 

*****

That was a few days ago, April 29. The calendar had turned now to May, and Grandma must have been doing her homework. She must have questioned the man at the train station about the costs of visas for travel.

Not to be confused with the VISA credit card of today - there were no VISA credit cards back then not until 1958 - Grandma Cecile is asking about the permit to travel in another country for a limited amount of time. Perhaps she asked when she paid her deposit, perhaps she wrote a letter, or maybe called on the telephone. However she asked, by May 2, Albert Noth was dutifully sending her an answer.

A couple of observations. This letter had only three cents  postage on it, but for the visas, Mr. Noth

The envelope - note the simple address

indicated twenty-five cents postage would be due. I'm not sure why the extra would be unless it would come in a larger envelope, or would be a rush mailing or even air mail. Air Mail began in the United States in 1918, so it was an option in 1936. history of air mail

 My other observation is the simple address. No matter how maligned the US Postal Service may be these days, I don't believe they deserve it. They manage to do amazing things for ordinary people every day. This is one example from history. How they can get a letter from one place to the next in a matter of probably one day or maybe two in this case is quite a feat. And for 3 cents....

Here is what Albert Noth wrote:

"Salem, Ore. May 2nd.1936....

Mrs. Cecile Beitel,
Stayton, Ore.

Dear Madam :-

The German Visa will be 50 cts plus 25 cts postage, No visa is required for Czechoslavakia on U.S. passports

A Visa for Poland would cost 4.00 plus postage too and from Chgo 50 cts .

You dont need to send any money for Visa you can pay for this all when you get your ticket, but if you desire a Poland Visa pls write me and I will take care of it for you at once.

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Yours truly,

[signature of Albert F. Noth]"

The letter - on a half sheet of paper

One other interesting note. Mr. Noth makes a point of telling Grandma that if she wants that visa for Poland to let him know and he will get it for her. The cost is $4.25 postage included. Later, when Grandma is in the Old Country and heading for her brother's house in Poland she regrets not purchasing her visa at home. Over there she reported that it "almost cost six dollars". Every penny counts! 

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Story to be continued...... 

To read Post "9 - What's In  Name?" click here  

7 - Southern Pacific Receipt - 29 April 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has begun planning her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She received a note from the Railroad Company telling her that the ship line required a deposit to hold her berth on the voyage.

*****

Grandma was not taking any chances. The letter asking her for a deposit was dated and mailed April 28th, 1936. Now we see a receipt from Southern Pacific that is stamped April 29th.

That tells us two things. For one, mail only took one day to get from Salem to Stayton even back in 1936. The other is that Grandma must have headed from the mailbox to Salem immediately. Well, she had to grab the check book and her purse first! But she got there to put down her $25 deposit the day after the letter was written. She wasn't going to let that berth get away! 

It must have taken a while to get from Stayton to Salem in 1936 as Highway 22 was not there in its present form. Even when I was a child, we used to have to go through Aumsville and around past the prison to get from Stayton to Salem, a longer more winding route. In those days (20+ years later) it was still a big deal for us to make a trip to Salem to go shopping. The traffic was not nearly as bad as it is today, however!

Even though this receipt is from the Railroad, the deposit is for her berth on the ship. The receipt identifies the fare is "for ONE ticket from New York, NY to Prague". The signing agent was A.F. Noth, the same man who had written Grandma from Salem, requesting the deposit. So far Grandma has not purchased her rail tickets.

I included the back of the receipt so that you can see what was there. Nothing was ever filled out on it.

Receipt for Grandma's deposit for travel from New York to Prague

Back of the receipt - nothing filled in

To see any of these images up closer, simply click on one of them and you will be able to view them all.

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Story to be continued......

To read Post "8 - Southern Pacific  Visa Question - 2 May 1936" click here

6 - Southern Pacific Company - 28 April 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has begun planning her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She has made her reservation with the tour company and gotten her passport. Word is spreading about her plans among her family. Now she hears from the Railroad company.

*****

The Travel Agency must have arranged the reservations on both the train and the ship for Grandma Cecile. Now it is time to put down a deposit to hold her space. Why the request comes from the Railroad Company and not the steamship line, I am not sure.

The envelope - (smoke damage 1985)

The following letter came from the Southern Pacific Office in Salem, Oregon. It is apparent that Mr. Noth was a man of few words and not a great typist.

Here is the letter:

Salem, Ore.April 28th.1936...

Mrs. Cecilia Beitel

Stayton, Ore.

Dear Madam :-

Hamburger Steamship Co line holding berth A Room 604 Europa June 6th. they request that we send them a deposit of $15.00 .

They claim New York want[sic] hold space unless they et[sic] a deposit can you favor me with a deposit of 15.00.

Yours very truly,

(signature)

ALBERT F. NOTH.T.A.

SP CO.,

the letter - it is a full sheet of paper, I cropped the image to save space

This "Suggested Itinerary" probably came along with the above note. I'm not sure when Grandma acquired it, but it seems to fit in here. The Itinerary shows that Grandma would travel by train from Salem, Oregon, to Chicago, Illinois and on to New York.

The cost of First Class would have been $135.15 plus $24.75 for a Pullman car or Tourist Class was $117.95, plus $8.25 for a sleeper car. The cost of the sleeping compartment for one night these days is more than the cost of the first class trip across the country back then!

There was another option listed under Fare Information, but I can't decipher the handwriting. It did not appear later on her bill, so it must not have been something she chose.

Here is the document:

front

back - smoke damage is from 1985 house fire that these materials survived

To see any of these images up closer, simply click on one of them and you will be able to view them all.

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Story to be continued...... 

 To read Post "7 - Southern Pacific  Receipt - 29 April 1936" click here

5 - Sr Agnes's Letter to Betty - 19 April 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has begun planning her trip to see her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. After she started making reservations, one of the first things she had to do was get her passport. That has been done.

*****

Word has gotten to Grandma Cecile's oldest daughter, Sr. Agnes Beitel, that her mother is planning the big trip.  Apparently Sister must have received a letter in an Easter card from her little sister, Betty, that contained the news of Grandma's intention. Betty, one of my aunts, was going on 12 years old at the time.

Sr. M. Liliosa/Agnes in her early years

It is interesting to note that Sr Agnes was still using the name Sr. Mary Liliosa. At that time, when someone joined the convent, they chose a new name to reflect their new life. Sr Agnes was one of the Sisters of St Mary of Oregon (SSMO). Most of them had "Mary" as a first name which was just represented by "M.", and then a second name which they would be called, as "Sister M. Liliosa" as she signed the letter here.  Years later, the organization decided that the nuns did not have to do this, and they could return to their original names. Sr. Agnes was one of the ones who chose to return to her family name. Funny, I always wondered why she did, as I thought Liliosa was a much prettier name than Agnes.

The letter in this post is the first letter contained in Grandma's collection. It is a reply from Sr Agnes to Betty. It also contained  a small Easter card that appears to be hand made.

Easter card, approx.3.5"x2.5"

It was addressed to: 

Miss Betty Beitel 

Stayton

Route 1 Oregon

The postmark: 

Beaverton Oregon April 21 1936 8:30 AM

The return address:  

St Mary's of the Valley 

Beaverton, Oregon

(The SSMO were originally called St Mary's of the Valley.)

We learn several things in this letter:

 Sr Agnes was surprised by the news, so Grandma must not have said much about it before this.

Grandma must have just had all of her teeth pulled and was about to get false teeth. Maybe that's why she isn't smiling in her picture? 

Uncle Tony Beitel - one of Sr Agnes' brothers - must have been sick, but she doesn't say what had been wrong. 

Aunt Betty was involved in 4-H, as many of her descendants still are today. 

The Sisters were just building the chapel in their Motherhouse in Beaverton. 

Sr Agnes was expecting news of plans to build a new church in Sublimity. That still hasn't happened to this very day!

Here is the letter:

beginning of the letter

J.M.J.

St Mary's of the Valley

Beaverton, Oregon

April 19, 1936

"My dear Betty,

I received your very interesting little letter and didn't think it would be fair if I didn't answer with a letter addressed just to you.

You surely did tell me some surprising news. - especially about mamma. I'm anxiously waiting for mamma to tell me more about it and of course I'm strongly expecting to see her before she leaves. If she had to have her picture taken [1], won't I get one? I hope she is feeling well without her teeth and will feel still better when she gets her new ones.

Betty Beitel Silbernagel

How is Tony [2]? That was another big surprise. I thought his birthday was April 9th instead of May 9th, and prayed real hard for him that day. I can't keep the birthdays straight anymore so I guess some day you'll have to write them out for me. Nevertheless I guess my prayers didn't hurt Tony and I do hope he is feeling strong again.

I was surely glad to hear that you won 1st prize in your 4-H Club Work and I'm  quite proud of you. And yesterday was the day of the fair wasn't it? It reminds me of the time I went with Helen Froemel [3] to present her 4-H Work at the county Fair.

By the way, what did you get for Easter? - and I want to thank you all very much for the little box you fixed for me. Did you all go to Bernt's [4]?

One more thing I have been wondering about is this? - What are you going to do or rather where are you going to stay when mamma is gone?

Today is visiting Sunday and I was in the parlor with Sister Annette (Hilda) [5] to see Helen Huettner, who works at St. Vincent's. I think mamma knows her, at least she said she was at (y)our home the other year.

The men have been putting up the steel frame for the new chapel the last week. It is surely noisy business but we are all over anxious to see it going up. Have they started the Sublimity church yet?

Today is certainly a big day for little "Margaret" [6] and one I hope she  shall never forget. When she comes I shall have "a little something" for her. Tell Stella [7] and Ruth [8] I appreciated their letters very much and give Marie [9] and all  my love. I would like to send a word to them, too, but it is hardly possible today so you shall have to tell them all I said. Thank them also for the goodies they sent to me for Easter.

Now don't forget to write again and also don't forget to pray for your loving sister,

Sister M. Liliosa"

[1] - Sr Agnes is expecting a photograph, but you don't get extras from Passport photographs

[2] - Tony Beitel, one of Sr Agnes' brothers

[3] - Helen Froemel Meissner, a cousin from Mt Angel, Oregon, she would be a member of the wedding party of Anna Krantz & Gus Beitel later in the summer

[4] - Bernt's, probably was the Joe Bernt family in Mt Angel, Joe Bernt was a first cousin of Grandpa Alois Beitel and they did a lot of socializing

[5] - Sr Annette Huettner, I believe the Huettner's were cousins of the Froemels. In 1996 when I traveled to Humphrey, Nebraska, with Sr Agnes, my Dad - John Beitel, and Uncle Florence & Aunt Virginia Beitel, we met another of Sr Annette's relatives, Lorraine Huettner. I think Lorraine was one of her sisters, but don't remember quite for sure. I do remember that she made terrific rhubarb jam and was a fantastic and prolific quilter!

[6] - Margaret Lulay Berning, not sure what the occasion was, possibly her First Holy Communion?; she was one of Sister's nieces, Margaret was going on 7 years old

[7] - Stella Lulay Neal, another one of Sister's nieces

[8] - Ruth Lulay GrosJacques, sister of Margaret & Stella, another niece

[9] - Marie Beitel Lulay, mother of the previously mentioned girls and older half-sister of Sr Agnes

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Story to be continued....  

To read Post "6 - Southern Pacific Company - 28 April 1936, click here