Skip to main content

A Tribute to Einer Appel

Einer was my stepfather, really more than that. He had a huge impact on my life.


From left to right: Hans, Ingvert, Einer, Henry, Paul - taken about 1936.


Einer, taken around 1940.Here are the five brothers, Back: Hans, Henry, Einer; Front: Ingvert, Paul; taken about 1946.



Confirmation Class: Taken around 1945. Einer 2nd row, farthest right. Virginia Bisgard to his left.


Einer, Graettinger High School Class of 1949.


Einer with his parents, Otto and Bothilde Appel, taken around 1955.


Appels at dinner table:Henry, Paul, Einer, Ingvert, Hans, Gwenna, Bothilda, and Otto - around 1950.


Einer with niece, Kathy Appel, 1958.

Einer married my mother, Dorothy Mesenbrink, in 1970. Einer had been a bachelor for quite some time.




Here we are, a new family.



Milking cows was an important part of farm life. When we got the pipeline in we didn't have to haul the milk to the cooler, and we could sell Grade A milk. This was featured in the Graettinger Times in 1977.


Einer loved horses and slowed down enough to go on a few drives with his ponies. This was in 1985.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Where Did That Dark Complexion Come From?

When I got my DNA results back, the biggest surprise I had was in all the people from the southern states who I shared DNA with. I'm pretty sure that a lot of it is from Salucia Sophronia Squibb , but that certainly doesn't explain it all. The only other unknown line, is that of Martha Brennan Davis , mother of Lillian Davis Stephenson, who was mother of my grandfather, Fred Stephenson. I have thought she was Irish, probably an Irish immigrant, and probably related to other Brennans of Galesburg, Illinois, but there is evidence she was from Indiana. Besides the unexplained southern DNA matches, I have little Irish DNA on this line, not enough for Martha Brennan to be full blooded Irish. But more importantly, the Stephensons had dark complexions. I honestly don't know beyond that where the dark hair and eyes came from. Here is a picture of Lillian Davis Stephenson, my great grandmother. Notice the dark hair, deep set, dark eyes. She doesn't look Irish. Her featur...

John Griest - A Pennsylvania Pioneer

On my mother's side, is an ancestor named John Griest. He lived in Pennsylvania from 1694 to 1751. John's daughter, Sarah, married William Squibb. While most of us will leave no evidence of our existence, John Griest did leave a few things to remember him by. Probably most significant is the office building at the Susquehanna Memorial Gardens near York, Pennsylvania. This building was originally larger, and at another location in York. This beautiful picture was taken by Diane Bowders and published on Yorkblog.com. John Griest built this building around 1740 at its original location on what is now the Lincoln Highway in York. In 1962 it was taken down to make way for a shopping mall and rebuilt at the cemetery. At that time the building looked something like this: The sturdy building was known as Ye Olde Valley Inn, Beard's Inn, etc. and was originally built to protect John's family from Indians, with whom he didn't always have the best relationship. Gries...

The Twenty Children of David Brady - updated 2024

This was originally published December 15, 2014. It was updated in 2021 to provide more information on David Brady's children and a fourth wife. In 2024, information on David Brady's wives, Fanny Cornell and Abigail Filley, David's will, and other details, were added. David Brady, born 1785 in Sussex County, New Jersey, died on his homestead, west of Cassopolis, Michigan, in 1878. He is buried on his farm where he and his family first camped upon claiming his land in 1829. Page 229 of the History of Cass County, Michigan  says that he was married several times and reared a very large family of children, over twenty, of whom however only one, Mrs Phebe Merwin, is now living in La Grange. His widow married Thomas Moore and is a resident of this township. That's quite the statement. Over twenty children. Married several times. Tough to prove, though. David's will goes a long way to clear it all up. Records from the frontier are pretty scarce, and in that time period ...