General Notes

[Joanne's Tree.1 GED.GED]

2  PLAC 181
2  SOUR S332582
3  DATA
4  TEXT Date of Import: 14 Jan 2004


[daveanthes.FTW]

Sources of information include:
   Mrs Elizabeth Klein Canfield, Mrs Mildren Klein Gilbertson, the journal  "The Way We Were" written by  Luella. M (Klein) Schwalen  (lms) and the book, "The Klein Family", by Pat Wiff

    During his younger years, my father and  his brothers slept in the loft over the blacksmith shop.  To keep warm, they covered themselves with feather beds  and used them also for mattresses. Grandma kept a large garden and she encouraged the boys to catch fish from the river to supplement their larder. At that time, fishing nets were in wide spread use. The boys also caught turtles which were kept alive in a large barrel in the cellar.  The turtles were considered a delicacy and were shipped to Chicago where they were sold.
     When it came time for dad to get an education, he was enrolled in a Catholic parochial school. I suppose that the other children attended the same school.  When he was in the third grade, he ran a foul of tone of the many rules and was punished by having his fingers rapped severely with the sharp edge of a ruler.  He refused to return to school and that ended his formal education for the time being.  In spite of that,  he was quick to learn and became well educated due to his extensive interest in reading. He seemed to have a natural inclination to excel in mathematics.
     Grandma Klein was a devout Catholic and studiously observed all the rules of the church. She worked diligently on Saturday so the Sabbath might be observed as a day of rest.  She deprived the family of much needed food and clothing in order to contribute her small monies to the church.  Dad contended the priest demanded the tithe be met even though the family went without.  Grandma took in washings in order to feed the family and begged at the butcher shop for the unwanted livers which at the time could not be sold. Because of his experience at school and the resentment of the demands made on the family's meager income by the church, dad disassociated himself from the Catholic faith. After marrying my mother, he joined the Methodist Church and remained faithful to it thereafter.  Much later, Grandpa Klein left the church and some of the boys followed his lead.
      With the first real pay-check dad received, he bought, at grandmother's suggestion,  the vacant lot next to their home. (He owned this lot until in the 1940's.)  It was put to use as the family's vegetable garden. Dad told the story about having to ride the street car to his work. He had no money to buy his lunch and carried a pancake in his pocket to fill that need. As he rode along, the pancake came out of the pocket and fell onto the floor. He was terribly mortified by the episode and did not tell us whether he retrieved the pancake from the floor or went off and left it.  I think this must have happened in Dubuque since I am quite sure there were no street cars in Bellevue.
      That dad admired and loved his mother very much was evident in his conversations. He told this story many times to illustrate her sagacity: The neighbors chickens ran large and wrecked havoc on grandma's garden. Verbal complaints got her nowhere. After  dark one night, she took some eggs from the house and left them under the leaves of a large rhubarb plant.  In the morning, when she was sure she could be seen, she calmly went into the garden and picked up the eggs.  Within a short time the neighbors chickens were confined within their won fenced yard.
      Grandma Ignatz  Klein died in 1896 long before I was born so I have no memory of her.  She died of breast cancer and suffered greatly.  Dad was desolate because there was nothing to alleviate her pain and spent much time at her bedside.
        In 1890, William Klein and Frank Mussman came by train to see Franks's uncle who lived on a farm just west of Grandpa Reiss.  Grandpa Reiss met the two boys at the depot and offered William a job on his farm.  While he worked there, he became acquainted with Anna Reiss. Willia got interested in the carpenter's trade when he helped build a barn for grandpa Reiss. The boss carpenter was a man named Christian Baer.  William worked for him for a few more years.
   One winter William Klein attended Tilford Academy in Vinton, Iowa. He intended to study the piano but gave that up in favor of the violin since there was no piano for him to use for practicing. Anna and Emma Reiss (twin sisters) were students at the academy and them became acquainted with Sherman Robinson, another student.
   The two couples attended the social gatherings. Mother told me that she can Emma would deliberately change partners and the boys never knew the difference.  The twins were so identical that the resemblance continued throughout all their lives. The only time that Aunt Emma visited in Ellsworth, Leonard (Luella's husband)  could not tell them apart.
    Anna and Emma graduated from the academy in 1892 but I am not sure that either William Klein or Sherman (later Uncle) finished their schooling.  after graduation, Anna taught school until she was married to William Klein in 1893.

          From the Book  "Harvesting the Rice (Reiss) Crop" by Pat Wiff Chapter 7 (pg 322)
MARRIED
Tuesday, March 21st, 1893, Mr. William. F. Klein and Miss Anna, daughter of
     Mr. and Mrs. George Reiss,  in the presence of about 60 guests. Promply at 8 o'clock P.M., the wedding march was played by the bride's twin sister, while the bride and groom and attendants took position under an arch of evergreen from which was suspended a beautiful wedding bell. They were united in the holy bonds of matrimony by Rev. Hammond. After congratulations an elegant supper was served in the dining room, after which a social hour was happily spent. A number of elegant gifts were received by the worthy bride and groom. The worthy couple are highly esteemed by all who know them and begin life's voyage with the best wishes of their large circle of friends. Mr . K. is a graduate of Tilford Academy, Class of  '02. He is an energetic young man and well deserves the good fortune which has come to him. Their future home will be in Cedar Rapids.

W. F. KLEIN DIES OF HEART ATTACK. April 1957.
William F. Klein, 89, a well known Ellsworth resident, died of a heart attack Monday at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Canfield. His passing came as a great shock to the members of his family and his many friends. He was one of the oldest residents of this community.
Mr. Klein, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ignatz Klein, was born in Jamestown, WI., October 17, 1868. He spent his childhood in Grant County and in March 1893 was married to Anna Sophia Reiss at Vinton, Iowa. They lived in Iowa until 1914 when they moved to Ellsworth. Mrs. Klein died April 3, 1948.
Surviving are four sons--Walter of Denver, Cob., Sherman and Oliver of Ellsworth, and Marion of Los Angeles, Calif.; four daughters--Mrs. Elizabeth Canfield of Ellsworth, Mrs. Guy Wiff of Spring Valley, Mrs. Leonard Schwalen of Salem, Ore., and Mrs. John Gilbertson of Beldenville; ~ brothers--John Klein of Bellevue, Iowa, and Michael Klein of Dubuque, Iowa; three sisters-~Mrs. Anna Garlich and Mrs. Francis Mueller of Bellevue, Iowa; and Mrs. Josephine Frost of Dubuque, Iowa; 21 grandchildren and four great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, two children, a brother and a sister.
While at Ellsworth, Mr. Klein engaged in carpentering and in farming. He was a member of Hancock Lodge, F. & A. M.
Funeral will be at 2 o'clock this afternoon from the Ellsworth Methodist Church with Rev. Lloyd Mauer officiating. Interment will be at Maple Grove Cemetery. The grave side services will be in charge of the Masons