Family Books:
My name is Lawrence Reinhold. My parents are Josephine and Carl Reinhold. There are twelve children in my family of which I am the oldest of the six youngest. There are eight girls and four boys. I am the youngest boy and have five younger sisters. The age range from the youngest to the oldest is sixteen years almost to the day. For a point of reference, the following are the twelve children from oldest to youngest: Judy, Richard, Barbara, Cary, David, Lois, Lawrence, Marlene, Carol, Carolyn, Kathleen & Valerie. We all had nicknames as children, and in some cases numerous nicknames. Some of those nicknames were not too flattering, but hey, we had fun. We grew up on a 320-acre dairy farm in Taylor County, Wisconsin, just outside the City of Medford. As kids, we worked on the farm until we graduated from high school. Then we left home. My parents sold our farm about one year after I graduated from high school. They moved to Blue Grass, Iowa. My five younger sisters moved with them.
Tears & Joy is an autobiography written by Josephine Reinhold. The Book contains pictures and documents with captions, and tells her story about growing up on a Wisconsin diary farm, marrying, raising twelve children on a Wisconsin dairy farm & retiring.
My mother bought a computer and printer, and starting typing. I say typing because from my mother's point of view, a computer was nothing more than a fancy typewriter. At the time, she did not know anything about computers or software, and for some reason, her computer overwrote part of her data files. The overwritten data files caused my mother to lose part of her Book. She printed all the pages as she wrote, so she had her Book in its entirety. One day, she called me and asked if I would help her straighten out her Book. I was in my early 30s at the time and had no idea the work I was in for when I agreed to help, nor did I realize I was about to embark on a fifteen-year journey which culminated in me writing five non-fiction family history books, including Made In My Likeness which is an autobiography.
Mom gave me her hard copy,
the electronic files that survived, and the pictures and documents that she
wanted included in her Book. I burned through hundreds of hours trying to
reorganize her electronic data to match her hard copy. I finally gave up. In
the end, I bought a scanner and software. I scanned her entire hard copy
into a word processing format.
At the time, scanners were relatively new and
they were expensive. The scanning software was not too reliable. It was not easy
connecting the scanner to my office computer network, and it was expensive.
I learned to run scanning software for pictures and text. I scanned her
photos and documents, which of course I scanned incorrectly, so later I had
to rescan almost every item because I scanned them in too low a resolution,
or the size was too small, or the color was wrong, or I scanned the item in
the wrong format. Also, due to the scanning software’s inaccuracies, it took
hundreds of hours to match Mom’s hard copy to the electronic file for her
scanned book.
In all, Mom’s Book was a mess. At best, her Book
was a rough, first draft. There were large gaps between the times when she
wrote. Mom did not go back and read what she wrote before starting to write
again. She simply started writing. So, there was a lot of duplicative
commentary covering the same event or period. As I worked on her Book, I
called Mom and asked about the chronology of events and wording. Every time
I called, Mom would immediately start with, “Don’t you change what I wrote!”
I always assured Mom that I did not change what she wrote. I explained that
the text did not read right, or did not make sense, or the chronology was
wrong, and so on. I did not “change what Mom wrote.” I eliminated
duplicative text. I move extraneous text to footnotes. I corrected the
chronological order, sentence structure, word order, grammar, and tense. I
slowly combined paragraphs. Over the years, I sent Mom various drafts of her
Book for her review. The work took thousands of hours; actually, it took
years. Then, I started inserting her photos and documents into word
processing files. I soon realized I had huge files that crashed the software
and corrupted the files. In the end, I hired a graphics and computer person
to help me.
The graphics person recommended that I start over
using very expensive, professional grade layout and graphics software to
process the graphic files. She told me what the graphic files parameters
should be for printing and the computer person taught me how to scan the
items within those parameters. Once I upgrade my software and hardware, I
did the entire layout for Mom’s Book. I converted her text from word
processing software to layout software and added the graphic files. Once I
completed my work, I gave the graphic and layout files to my graphic’s
person to professionalize.
Mom’s Book did not have any information about Dad
prior to Dad marrying Mom, or certainly not much. I told Mom she should add
information about Dad. She did, and a good portion of that information came
from my family research. I became interested in researching the Reinhold
family history primarily because the Reinhold side of the family was
supposed to have a different last name and no one seemed to know what it
was.
Eventually, I compiled the last three chapters of
Mom’s Book from her letters, email, and cards that she sent me over the
years, and from conversation I had with Mom. I first collected and sorted a
huge volume of documents before I started scanning her letters and email. I
typed in the text from her cards. I sent Mom drafts of the last three
chapters for her review. I asked her to place quotes at the beginning of
each chapter as she had done throughout her Book. That entire process took
almost a year and did not include editing the text. Then I added pictures.
It took several years to complete those three chapters.
The following links are to Tears & Joy.
Made In My Likeness is an autobiography. I wrote Made In My Likeness when I was 53-54 years old, give or take a year or two. I was the same age as my mother when she wrote Tears & Joy. In many respects, I wish I had written Made In My Likeness when I was 25. I am sure my pencil would have been sharper and the imagery would have been clearer. But, possibly, the additional 30 years allowed for more context, insight and understanding. I am not sure how I scored in those categories, so I recommend reading Tears & Joy in conjunction with Made In My Likeness. They are companion Books. I don’t think it matters which is read first. In a nutshell, Tears & Joy is written from my mother's perspective while Made In My Likeness is written from her children's perspective as childen growing up, through age 18, on my parent’s farm in Medford, Wisconsin. I also included my brothers and sisters’ perspectives to the extent they gave one. Even my mother’s perspective appears now and again.
When I was in the Marine Corp and later in undergraduate, graduate, and law school, I would tell people about my life on our family farm. They listened, although I doubted they believed my stories. They always said, “You should write a book.” I always laughed, thinking their comments contained more sarcasm than a genuine belief that my story was of interest to others.
My brothers, sisters, and I often discussed growing up over the years, mostly laughing at the experience, but not always. At a point just before Dad died, we were telling stories by email and having a good laugh. There was some concern that people reading our activities might get the wrong impression since each story was individualized without a frame of reference. Also, at one point, I tried to get my brothers and sisters to write a biography about growing up. Some did. Some didn’t. One day it dawned on me that I could write about growing up. I realized I already had a large amount of material. I had all the family pictures and related documents, too. I only needed to write a frame of reference and add some additional thoughts. Still, it took a year to write this Book.
I wrote this Book to supplement Mom’s book, Tears & Joy. Her Book is written from her point of view. Us kids grew up on that farm and we have a point of view, too. Hopefully future family members will become acquainted with Mom and Dad, and their twelve children by reading this Book and Mom’s book. I would like them to know our thoughts, see our life, feel our happiness, anger and passion, and experience our achievements through our own words. Once the twelve of us pass, our family will be so disintegrated that future family members will have great difficulty trying to reconstitute our family — Mom and Dad, and their twelve kids. And even if they put Humpty-Dumpty back together again, they will have no understanding of our life on the farm. I want to keep Mom, Dad and us twelve kids’ spirit alive and together long after we are all dead, and our ashes are blowing in the wind.
The following links are to Made In My Likeness.
The Reinholds, A Family With A New Country And A New Name is an extensive history of Carl Oliver Reinhold's genealogy. The Book contains pictures and documents with captions, and covers a number of families across numerous generations.
While growing up, we heard very little about the Reinhold family (Dad’s father’s side of the family). According to Mom, the Reinhold family did not discuss family history with their children, and neither did they keep many records, nor did they write down much family history.
The Reinhold and Malm family histories
are a compilation of information that Mom wrote down over the years,
genealogical research that I did, and recollections from Mom, Dad, Carrie
Lucille (Reinhold) Kerns, Hazel (Reinhold) Moore, Dorothy (Reinhold)
Nicholas, Gladisy Fuller, Evelyn (Reinhold) Peterson, and Sandra (Lundquist)
Combs. I worked with those folks to compile their recollections of what was
said in the past regarding the Reinhold and Malm families.
I used many genealogical researchers, including
Lylia Hare, to look for information regarding Dad’s ancestors. I personally
did a lot of research, too. After I wrote up the material, I realized I did
not have references for the Swedish research. I sent my work back to the
Swedish researcher and asked him to give me the microfilm references for the
material. He did. I added the references to what I had written. Then some
months later, I realized I had not set him all the research. Consequently,
some of my writing does not contain references to the microfilm from which
the information came.
The following links are to The Reinholds, A Family With A New Country And A New Name.
The Cornelius Van Laarhoven Family Homestead In Montana is an extensive history of Josephine Van Laarhoven's genealogy. The Book contains pictures and documents with captions, and covers a number of families across numerous generations, including while homesteading in Montana.
My mother's sister, La
Verne (Van Laarhoven) Zastrow did a lot of research on the Van Laarhoven
family, (Mom’s father’s side of the family), but her work was not written up
until I included the information in The Cornelius Van Laarhoven Family
Homestead In Montana.
Mom always spoke about her father’s family, the
Van Laarhoven family. We knew a lot about that family and our relatives in
Holland. Mom's father, his parents, and his brothers immigrated from Holland
in 1911. We also heard a lot about the Rothamer family, my mother’s maternal
side of the family. They immigrated from Germany in 1891. Of course, when
Mom spoke of these families, there was nothing but praise both in the tone
of her voice and the words she used to describe the families—hard workers,
no drinking, good Catholics, endured hardships, and so on.
I would like to thank Florence Strange for meeting with me. Florence gave me the Rothamer book. She told me about the Rothamer families and helped me with pictures for the Van Laarhoven book. Chapter Four contains references from Florence’s work which are relevant to the Martin and Ludmilla (Rothamer) Van Laarhoven family.
I would also like to thank Ad Laarhoven. The information in Chapter One came from Ad’s research unless otherwise indicated, and more specifically, from his eleventh book which he prepared for the Van Laarhoven families in Canada and the United States. Ad prepared nine books representing genealogy for nine branches of the Van Laarhoven family. He also prepared a tenth book containing Van Laarhoven family history. Book number eleven contains information regarding the Oirschot branch. The Oirschot branch is the fourth branch and is a compilation of material from the previous ten books.
Ad learned his family history from his great grandfather who died in 1940. Ad’s great grandfather was born in Breda in 1852, so Ad’s great grandfather’s knowledge of the Van Laarhoven family went quite far back. Ad’s great grandfather told him that his great grandfather’s father’s last name was Van Laarhoven, and when his great grandfather was born, his last name was recorded as Van Laarhoven in the Town of Breda’s records of administration.
Ad’s great grandfather joined the army when he was eighteen. He served in the Grenadier regiment. The Grenadier regiment protected the Netherlands’ royal family and the Regiment’s headquarters was in The Hague. Ad’s great grandfather went to The Hague where his personal information was recorded. Apparently, his great grandfather’s information was incorrectly recorded in that the “van” portion of Ad’s great grandfather’s family name was not recorded in the City’s records.
Ad’s great grandfather married in The Hague and his children received their father’s last name, but without the “van.” In about 1952, Ad reviewed the Town of Breda’s records of administration. He found that his great grandfather’s paternal family name really was Van Laarhoven. He wanted to reacquire the “van” as part of his family name, but at the time, he did not have the money to hire a lawyer and later, he realized that it wasn’t important to reacquire the “van” as part of his family because Ad knew he belonged to the same Van Laarhoven family.
Ad’s research on the Van Laarhoven families covered more than a millennium. The character, nature, and difficulty in ascertaining the content of source material varied greatly. He encountered difficulty in conducting his research due to his inability to read handwriting in the old language, which changed over time to what is now the present way the Dutch language is written. The Dutch language originated from the “Old-Saksisch” language (the language of the old Germans / Teutons) from which evolved several languages including German, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. The Dutch language arose approximately during the 11th Century in the environ northwest of Flandria, southwest Brabant and Holland. Ad learned to read the “Old Saxon Dutch Language,” which enabled him to read documents covering the period from 1000-1400. This was necessary in order to obtain information about the Van Laarhoven families’ forefathers. Ad had to know the historical background for each area where the various people lived and the landscape’s topography during the periods in question. The landscape changed over time. For example, the western part of the “Lowlands” was below sea-level during the period from 300 through 800 and it was not possible to live there. The former inhabitants withdrew to the eastern part of the “Lowlands.”
Ad’s research indicates
the Van Laarhoven families’ ancestors were Vikings who established
themselves first in Breda at about the end of the Viking and Carolingian
era. According to Ad, history in the Netherlands confirms this point. Now
people know that the Van Laarhoven family tree is the oldest family tree in
the Netherlands, even old noble families cannot go back in history to the
13th and 14th Centuries.
One of the most interesting aspects of The
Cornelius Van Laarhoven Family Homestead In Montana was obtaining the
information from Montana. Mom and her sister, La Verne, spoke of their
father’s activities as a cowboy in Montana. They spoke of their father and
grandfather (Cornelius) living in Montana, but not where or why. They also
spoke of the Van Laarhoven brothers running a herd of horses through
Medford’s down town area, which the Van Laarhoven brothers brought by train
from Montana.
One day, on a whim, I searched the federal
homestead database. The government data base had only recently become
available through the Internet. I had no expectation of finding anything.
But to my absolute shock, three of the Van Laarhoven names showed up as
having homestead filings. Mom and her sister, La Verne, never spoke of the
Van Laarhovens’ homesteading in Montana, so I could not believe what I saw.
I thought the homestead information was associated with other individuals,
but I requested the documents anyway. There was no mistaking who the
documents related to once I read through them. All the documents I requested
are contained in Chapter Two of The Cornelius Van Laarhoven Family
Homestead In Montana. Finding this material was the highlight of all my
Van Laarhoven family research.
The following links are to The Cornelius Van Laarhoven Family Homestead In Montana.
The Hare, Preston, Fuller & Decker Families Long Time Residences Of America is an extensive history of William Henry Decker's genealogy. The Book contains pictures and documents with captions, and covers numerous families across numerous generation, and their journey West.
While we were growing up,
we heard very little about
the Decker family (Dad’s mother’s side of the family). What we did hear
mostly had to do with how Carl Oscar Reinhold (Dad’s father) moved his family from
Iowa to Wisconsin to get away from the Deckers. We heard there was supposed
to be American Indian mixed in our blood that came from the Decker side, but
not who, how, where or why. Usually the commentary revolved around the
Decker side’s drinking and their shiftless ways.
I and my siblings (all twelve of us) grew up on a
dairy farm in central Wisconsin. When I worked with Dad in the barn, (from
age 10-18) he told me many times that we had ¼ Indian blood in us, so I
always thought that made me ⅛ Indian. Later, I found the math could never be
as Dad said. When talking to Carrie Lucille (Reinhold) Kerns (Dad’s sister),
she also told me that we had Indian blood, and that Great Grandpa William
Henry Decker (Grandma Nora (Decker) Reinhold's father) called his kids
little Indians.
Dad, Mom and Dad's sisters, Hazel and Carrie
Lucille, all said they were told as children, and as adults, that
William Henry Decker was part Indian. According to Mom, Nora (Decker)
Reinhold told her that Nora’s father's father (William Decker, Sr.) was
married to a Sioux, although Mom doubted there are any records which
substantiates the Indian lineage. Still, Mom said she always heard that Nora
(Decker) Reinhold was 9/10
of everything, plus ⅒ Sioux.
According to Carrie Lucille (Reinhold) Kerns, she
always heard that her grandfather, William Henry Decker, had Indian blood in
him, possibly Sioux, but she never heard any more information about where
the Indian blood came from. In addition, according to Carrie Lucille, her
mother, Nora (Decker) Reinhold, said William Decker did not tell his wife,
Eliza Jane, about the Indian blood until after they were married. As a
result, Eliza Jane would not let her children meet William Decker’s other
relatives who lived around the Independence area. Carrie Lucille said she
never found out who those relatives where.
Anyway, it was my understanding that Grandma Nora
(Decker) Reinhold was supposed to be ¼ Indian. I was interested in finding
the Indian. I had my DNA run. It came back with nothing because running my
DNA follows Maternal (Mother’s DNA). So I ask my female cousin if I could
run her DNA because it followed Hazel (Reinhold) Moore, her Mother's DNA,
that would be Grandma Nora (Decker) Reinhold—came back nothing. So I asked
the DNA company how to find the Indian. They said find a Decker male and run
his DNA in order to find the Indian markers on the father’s side of the DNA.
Well, that never happened.
Undeterred, I and a number of other people,
primarily Hares and Deckers, worked for years researching the Hare and
Decker family lines. The Hares are Grandma Nora (Decker) Reinhold’s maternal
line and the Deckers are her paternal line. We accounted for all the women
on Grandma Nora (Decker) Reinhold’s side going back to almost the Nina, the
Pinta, the Santa Marie. All those women were on good behavior as we did not
find any stray kids.
It was different on the Decker side. In all the
research into William and Margarete (Preston) Decker’s background, we did
not find any reference to any Indian heritage in either William Decker or
Margarete (Preston) Decker’s background. In addition to Ms. Foster’s
research, I and Lylia Hare did extensive research on William and Margarete
(Preston) Decker’s families backgrounds. There are no records of William
Henry Decker’s birth, or at least none have been found, but that does not
mean that William and Margarete Decker were not his parents. There is no
marriage record for William Henry Decker’s parents, William and Margarete
(Preston) Decker, or at least it has not been found; and there are no
records regarding William Henry Decker’s father, William Henry Decker, or
they have not been found. Since no records of William Henry Decker’s birth
exist, or at least none have been found; no marriage record for William
Henry Decker’s parents, William and Margarete (Preston) Decker, exist or
have not been found; and no records regarding his father, William Henry
Decker, exist or have not been found, there is always the possibility that
William Henry Decker could have Indian heritage derived from either William
Henry Decker’s involvement with an Indian women or Margarete (Preston)
Decker’s involvement with an Indian man. There is such a lack of information
regarding William Henry Decker and Margarette (Preston) Decker’s family
histories that anything is possible.
I think my Aunt Lucille said it best. She told me
that if anyone was playing with the Indians, they were not advertising it.
Carrie Lucille (Reinhold) Kerns said, There were a lot of Indians around at
the time. If William Henry Decker was part Indian, he most likely was not
broadcasting the information to the World, especially given the times.
The following links are to The Hare, Preston, Fuller & Decker Families Long Time Residences Of America.
This material is a work in progress. The Book is written, but I have to clean up the material due to the number of conversions of software through which this material passed.
Introduction (updated 04.07.2020)
Chapters 1-11 Pages 1-61 (updated 04.14.2020)
Chapters 12-14 Pages 62-99 (updated 04.07.2020)
Chapters 15-17 Pages 100-147 (updated 04.17.2020)
Chapters 18-23 Pages 148-218 (updated 04.18.2020)
Chapters 24 Pages 219-285 (updated 04.19.2020)
Chapters 25 Pages 286-296 (updated 04.20.2020)
Chapters 25 Pages 297-303 (updated 04.20.2020)
Chapters 25 Pages 304-310 (updated 04.20.2020)
Chapters 25 Pages 311-318 (updated 04.20.2020)
Chapters 25 Pages 319-337 (updated 04.20.2020)
Chapters 25 Pages 338-365 (updated 04.20.2020)
Chapters 25 Pages 366-411 (updated 04.20.2020)
Chapters 25 Pages 412-448 (updated 04.19.2020)
The Reinhold Genealogical Photo History is an extensive history of the collective Reinhold Genealogy through pictures. It includes a compilation of family photos and historic documents with captions for numerous families across numerous generations.
The photo history was as difficult to amass as my families’ factual history,
and more expensive. Family members had old family pictures and negatives. I
collected their pictures, documents and hundreds of negatives. I could not
keep all the items. Most of the photos were one of a kind, which included
family photos in Mom and my sibling’s possession. I took selected prints to
a professional photo company and had high quality copy negatives made. I had
prints made from the copy negatives, and I scanned the original pictures.
Then I returned the original pictures to their owners. I bought a light box
and looked through hundreds of old negatives. I selected negatives to make
individual prints, and to make group images on proof sheets. I scanned and
individualized all the images in a layout program so I could add captions
for the photos. Then I sent the layouts to family members and asked if they
could identify the individuals and locations shown in the pictures, and I
asked them to write captions. This project took months up to probably two
years to complete. I inserted captions on all the pictures using the
information from family members and from information written on the backs of
photos. Most of the people who helped identify the individuals and places in
the pictures have passed away. I am very lucky to have started the project
when I did, and to have obtained their assistance in recording their
knowledge. Much if not most of the family’s photo history would have been
lost without their help.
Still, the biggest challenge lay in handling the
graphic files. There are about 2,000 graphic files. They consist of photos
and documents. At the time I was amassing the photos, hard drives were not
large enough to hold all the graphic files, and larger hard drives were very
expensive. Also, mobile data storage devices could not hold large graphic
files, or not many, so it was very difficult to move files from one computer
to another, and to back up my data. The computers also lacked the power and
memory to process the material effectively. The network cards were slow,
which made transferring large files, and large amounts of data very time
consuming. I continually upgraded my computers, including my network
hardware and software, so they processed the work, or processed it faster.
I bought a used Apple external hard drive for my
graphic’s person so she had a bigger hard drive to hold files. At the time,
it cost me $500, a huge sum of money. She cleaned, sized, and included about
1,500 graphics files in the Books’ layouts. At some point, the hard drive
died causing all the files to be lost. I finally completed all the pictures
to be included in the family books after some considerable effort using
backed up files stored on cds and five years later. I inserted the lost
files into the layouts, which meant most of the layouts had to be resized
and some aspects had to be reconstructed. I also inserted additional
pictures and documents. I could not complete the Books until all the
historical documents were discovered, scanned, cleaned, and included in the
Books. Processing the graphics files, even with professional help, was a
huge project separate and distinct from the research portion, the writing
portion, and obtaining the pictures.
The following links to The Reinhold Genealogical Photo History.
Pages 30-46
Pages 47-62
Pages 63-77
Pages 78-92
Pages 93-107
Pages 108-122
Pages 123-139
Pages 140-154
Pages 171-186
Pages 187-203
Pages 204-218
Pages 219-233
Pages 234-250
Pages 251-255
Summary:
The Books would not have been possible without the burst of computer technology and the arrival of the Internet that occurred during that fifteen-year period. The Internet and email allowed me to access people and data that were otherwise unavailable to me, for example, all the Swedish and Norwegian researchers, and the federal homestead database. The advances in computer technology allowed me to do work I would have had to pay professionals to do. Originally, I planned to print all the Books in hard copy using a professional printer and graphics person. I planned to write the text, but I expected the graphics person to process all the pictures and handle the layout. I also expected the graphics person to work with the printer in printing the final Books. I obtained several bids over a 5-10 year period. The quotes were always high, actually too high to make printing a small number of the books realistic. By the time I was finally ready to print the Books, technology had progressed to the point where I could prepare the Books (text, graphics, & layout) in an electronic format myself. Printing them in an electronic format was realistic and perhaps preferred. Certainly, it was substantially less expensive. In the end, I prepared the Books in an electronic format compatible for commercial printing, printing using a home computer, or reading electronically. I burned the electronic files to DVDs and sent them to family members, and made them available through download from my website. None of this was possible when I started working on the Books.
I cannot say that I regret the inquiry into my family history, or the work required to create the Books. I worked over fifteen years on the material and spent at least $20,000, not to mention travel costs, or the number of software programs and the amount of computer hardware which I bought and had to learn, or the number of times the hardware and software changed over that fifteen-year period. Tanya Tan (Tanya is my wife. She is Chinese and immigrated from Malaysia) and I travelled to parts of the United States looking for family graves to collect information on those identified by their markers. We took photos of gravestones. We met with and collected photos from family members. I learned a lot about my family history from those folks. I spent hundreds of hours talking with extended family members and researchers by phone. I conversed by email and regular mail with them. I worked with many different people to collect and compile the information in the Books. Just managing a project of that size was an experience in itself.
Learning my family history was interesting particularly when read in conjunction with early European and early American history. Researching my ancestors’ lives (including their wealth, religiosity, and children) brought insight, particularly in the context of world events. It was easy to see how world events devastated individual and family lives, especially economic events. I could see a young man’s aspirations wiped out by events so beyond his control that he and his family appeared to be nothing more than leaves blown away by a hurricane.
The historic information definitely changed how I view an individual’s life. Still, though it was interesting, exciting, challenging and informative, I would never do it again, not ever! I believe my Aunt La Verne captured the essence of family research best when she said, “After all these years, I think the person who gains the most from the research is the person who did the research.”
I spoke with other people about family research. One person was the fellow who help me make copy negatives and prints of the old family photos. He had just finished compiling and printing old family photos for his family. He said in reference to family research, “No good deed goes unpunished” and then he proceeded to tell me of his ordeal.
My own thought is, never do work for free. Then, why did I do it, and for free? Well, it caught my interest, especially the old photos. I wondered about the people in those photos, and the trials and tribulations which they endured. At the time, I was representing foreign nationals immigrating to the United States. I could see the burdens they endured. I listened to their reasons for immigrating. I wanted to understand, or at least, to try to understand my ancestors’ reasons, and to learn something about them. I spent a year or two reading numerous books on old European history, and considerable early American history for the areas where my ancestors lived. Learning the history helped me understand the time during which they lived, and why and how they moved to the United States from Europe, and why they moved across the United States. I also did the work for those who will come after me. I have no children, but there will be others like me who will wonder as I did.
Audio Files:
On June 9, 1975, two or three days after graduating from high school, I joined the United States Marine Corp. While I was in the military, I went through boot camp in San Diego, California and then I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California where I drove trucks for the infantry. Later, I went through Marine Security Guard training at Henderson Hall, Arlington, Virginia and served as a Marine Security Guard at the American Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, the Law of The Sea Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, and at the American Embassy in Bonn, Germany. My finally duty station before leaving the Marines was at Quantico, Virginia.
My family sent me audio tapes while I was overseas just has they had done for my brothers. My parents sent audio tapes to my brother, Rick, while he was serving in Vietnam and to my brother, David, while he was serving in Southeast Asia. Both were in the United States Air Force. I recall making those tapes and receiving them while I was still at home. I was pretty young at the time, but I looked forward to hearing from Rick and David. I know my parents and my sisters liked those tapes, too. I enjoyed hearing all about their exotic adventures in those faraway lands. Rick and David used to tell about their activities in the military, and with the local ladies. Rick told us about the fighting in Vietnam. His stories were scary stuff.
My parents continued the tradition of sending audio tapes when I left for overseas. I only wish more of those tapes had survived. The recording you are about to hear came from one of many tape recorded messages I received. Many of the tapes have not survived because of time and because, when a tape was received, it was listened to and then a new recording was made on the same tape, and the tape was sent back. As a result only four of these audio tapes have survived. One tape I made and sent to my parents, and my sisters who were still at home. One tape I made and sent to my sister, Marlene. There are two tapes which my mother and my sisters recorded.
The audio you are about to hear was made by my mother and two of my sisters. Carolyn talks about leaving home and finding and apartment and Valerie says hello and tells me about her grades. Of my five sisters, Marlene is just a little younger than me. Then comes the twins, Carol and Carolyn. Next is Kathy and Valerie is the baby of the family.
The following links are to Audio files from an audio tape made on November 21, 1977. I hope you enjoy listening to this tape. It was quite enjoyable receiving tapes like this one while I was overseas. This cassette tape was sent to me while I was in Bonn, Germany working at the American Embassy. The girl, Melody, that my mother refers to was a German girl I liked. Melody Ross was her name and she was my first love. I would have married her if things had turned out differently. In the end, her parents did not want her coming to the United States with me. They liked me a great deal and I do not think they had a problem with me marrying Melody, it was just that I was going to be leaving the military and was not sure what I would be doing after I left. Naturally, they did not want their only daughter moving away, and then, all the way across the ocean to another country. Maybe Melody and I would have been married if I had stayed in the Marines, or had I stayed in Germany. But as life had it, I was sent back to the United States and she stayed in Germany. I was heart sick.
Audio Track No. 1: Josephine Reinhold speaking to her son, Lawrence Reinhold, while he was stationed at the American Embassy in Bonn, Germany.
Audio Track No. 2: Josephine Reinhold
Audio Track No. 3: Valerie Reinhold
Audio Track No. 4: Kathleen Reinhold
Audio Track No. 5: Valeri Reinhold
YouTube Files:
Interview with Grandma Josephine September 2012. The question her grandson, Graham Saunders, asked her was, “Why did you have twelve children?”