Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, known as Sally, grew up in Marathon County, Wisconsin. As an adult she spent a short time working in Washington D.C. before returning to Wausau to marry and raise a family. This series of posts takes us page by page through the photo album of her teen years and young adulthood. She was an active and vibrant gal. These photos show her doing things she could no long do when her mobility became limited in the following decades.

She collected photographs. Lots and lots of photographs. She took most of them and posed in many. This series gives us a glimpse of Sally’s young life, through her own pictures.

Wood for breakfast

The 15th page of Sally’s photo album featured photos of family and camp. The catchy title, “wood for breakfast,” was added by on the album page by someone other than Sally.

The only photo that was labeled was identified only as April 8, 1923.

Given some of the gals were wearing the same clothes in these photos as on the previous page, we can guess that, among other things, this page included a continuation of photos from Camp Wakanda.

Uncle Ed and Evelyn

Sally’s Uncle Ed Aschbrenner is able to hold his young daughter upright with one hand.

Pictured: Edward Albert Reinhart Aschbrenner and Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner.

Location: 922 South 4th Avenue, Wausau, Wisconsin.

Date: ca 1922.

Cousins

This is probably a photo of Sally’s cousin Elsie holding her baby sister Evelyn. If that is true, then the photo was probably taken in the winter of 1922-23 when Evelyn was a little over a year old.

Pictured: Possibly Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner and Elsie Edna Aschbrenner.

Location: 922 South 4th Avenue, Wausau, Wisconsin.

Date: April 8, 1923.

More cousins

Sally’s brother Freddy poses with their cousins, Leone, Erv and Marv. Leone, Erv, and Marv were the three oldest children of Martha Radant and Otto Emil Valentine Aschbrenner. Otto was a brother to Sally and Freddy’s dad, Frederick.

Pictured: From left, Leone Aschbrenner, Ervin Aschbrenner, Frederick Carl Aschbrenner, and Marvin Gottlieb Henry Aschbrenner.

Location: Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1923.

Gathering

Sally and friends are gathering in front of a stone building.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner and unidentified girls.

Location: Possibly Camp Wakanda.

Date: circa 1923.

Railroad ties

Four unidentified young women are posing from the top of a pile of railroad ties.

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Camp Wakanda, near Tomahawk, Lincoln County, Wisconsin.

Date: July 1923.

Tenting

Sally (perhaps) and three friends pose in front of their tent.

Pictured: The girl, second from left, may be Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Camp Wakanda, near Tomahawk, Lincoln County, Wisconsin.

Date: July 1923.

Wood for breakfast

Sally (perhaps) and a friend are sawing wood, presumably in order to cook breakfast.

Pictured: The girl on the left may be Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Camp Wakanda, near Tomahawk, Lincoln County, Wisconsin.

Date: July 1923.

Canoeing

Sally, far left, and two friends let a boy row them in a canoe. It must have been a relaxing ride because one of the girls is reading a book. A Wausau Daily Record-Herald article titled, “Y.W.C.A. Girls To Camp Next Week”, explained that “Girl Reserves advisors will act as recreation leaders, camp counsellors, instructors in nature study, handicraft and swimming, and two young men will be swimming supervisors and lifeguards. There will be a good selection of books loaned by the public library and man of the Girl Reserves plan to earn reading credits while at the camp.” Perhaps the swimming guys also had to help with boating?

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner and unidentified friends.

Location: Camp Wakanda, near Tomahawk, Lincoln County, Wisconsin.

Date: July 1923.

Don’t fall in

Sally sits on a board over the water.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Camp Wakanda, near Tomahawk, Lincoln County, Wisconsin.

Date: July 1923.

Two identified people pose in front of a tent.

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Camp Wakanda, near Tomahawk, Lincoln County, Wisconsin.

Date: July 1923.

Wheelbarrows full of girls

Sally and a friend ride in wheelbarrows, pushed by other friends.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, front right, and three unidentified ladies. The lady pushing Sally might be her friend Lillian Tiller.

Location: Unknown

Date: circa 1923.

Many thanks to Uncle Chuck Krueger for gifting Sally’s photo albums to me. I suppose I’m the only one who is obsessed enough with family history to spend hours and hours doing something with them. Of course, I thought I should find a way to share.

I didn’t join the Krueger family soon enough to meet Sally. She died 15 May 1983, just two weeks after I started dating her grandson (now my husband). I’m sad that I missed getting to know her. I’m glad that she left a legacy of photos that help me see a side of her that maybe even her own family didn’t get to see.

Many of the faces and places in the photographs are not labeled. If you can help identify someone or someplace, correct any mistake I may have made, or otherwise add to the story, please contact me, for example by submitting a comment. Thanks.

Who is Who?

Fred and Alice Aschbrenner family

Sally Aschbrenner, the subject of this series of posts, was the daughter of Alice Rosalie Fehlhaber and Frederick A. Helmut Aschbrenner. She had one brother named Freddy.

Three-generation pedigree chart

Edward Aschbrenner

Uncle Ed was one of Sally’s paternal uncles. He was married to Sally’s aunt Laura.

Uncle Otto Aschbrenner and family

Selected Sources:

“Y.W.C.A. Girls To Camp Next Week,” Wausau Daily Herald (Wausau, Wisconsin) page 7 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/272515506/ : accessed 05 Jul 2020).

The Aschbrenner Family