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.

Family, Woods, and Water

The 31st page of Sally’s photo album featured additional photos from the Eau Claire Dells and a few other shots.

Milk for the gals

In this photo, Sally’s friend Elizabeth Lemke is enjoying some milk as she and three other friends pose by a lake.

Pictured: Elizabeth Louise Lemke, front and center, and three unidentified friends.

Location: Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

Sally

Sally poses by some flowers next to Uncle Ed and Aunt Laura’s house.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

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

Date: 1928.

Tucked in the woods

This photo captured a car parked near a house deep in the woods at the end of a dirt road.

Location: Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

Raduechel / Meyer

A struggle throughout this project has been to identify the lady in the striped dress in this photo. Her identity was finally discovered, and this photo is further proof that she is Amelia Emilie Aschbrenner Raduechel, one of Sally’s half aunts. Writing on the back of the photo is as follows:

Sept 1 – 1928

My Sis-in-law sent me these pictures and I already have some of them so I’ll send one to you. This was taken at Phil’s Mother’s home last year. If you have one like this, you can give this to anyone or send it back if you want to.

– unsigned

It’s not known whether Sally was the direct recipient or if this photo was passed down to her by the original recipient. In any case, since it was taken at “Phil’s Mother’s home,” it is safe to say that it pictures Amelia Emilie Aschbrenner Raduechel, her daughter Mabel A. Raduechel Meyer, Mabel’s son, Leslie P. Meyer, and Mabel’s husband Philip “Phil” Conrad Richard Meyer.

Pictured: From left, Amelia Emilie Aschbrenner Raduechel, Mabel Adeline Augusta Raduechel Meyer, Leslie Philip Meyer, and Philip Conrad Richard Meyer.

Location: Wisconsin.

Date: 1 September 1928.

Eau Claire Dells

The last three photos on this page of the album are from the Eau Claire Dells trip that was presented on the previous page.

The Philip Meyer family

This photo is a repeat, though it may be a little clearer than the one found on page 31 of the album. It features Philip, Mabel, and Leslie Meyer.

Pictured: Philip Conrad Richard Meyer, Mabel Adeline Augusta Raduechel Meyer, and Leslie Philip Meyer.

Location: Eau Claire Dells, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

Swimming in the Eau Claire River

The faces are fuzzy so the people aren’t identified, but they are enjoying a dip in the river at the Eau Claire Dells.

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Eau Claire Dells, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

In the Dells

Sadly, this photo is fuzzy too. It sure looks like Sally might be in this picture though. The gal kneeling farthest right sure could be Sally.

Pictured: Aschbrenner relatives. Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner may be kneeling in the front row, far right.

Location: Eau Claire Dells, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

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

Amelia Emilie Aschbrenner and Carl J. Raduechel

Amelia was one of Sally’s paternal half-aunts. She was a half-sister to Sally’s dad, Frederick.

Sally’s grandfather Frederick Wilhelm Aschbrenner was a widower when he married Sally’s grandmother Bertha. Frederick Wilhelm and his first wife had two daughters. Amelia Emilie was one of those daughters.

Amelia Emilie lost her husband, Carl J. Raduechel, to a horrific accident when she was only 43-years old. 48-year-old Carl loaned a rifle to his neighbor. When it was returned, Carl was going to clean it. He didn’t know it was loaded. The Wausau Daily Record-Herald reported,

It was presumed that Mr. Raduechel had started to clean the gun, for all the tools, etc., were found on the kitchen table. From the position of the gun and the body it was evident that in withdrawing the cleaning rod from the gun it slipped, the hammer striking either the stove or the floor and the weapon discharged. The ball entered his breast just above the heart and death came within a few seconds.

– Wausau Daily Record-Herald, Tuesday, December 12. 1911.

Elizabeth Louise Lemke

Elizabeth Louise Lemke was born on 12 Dec 1904 in Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin, to Anna Kasten and August W. Lemke. She was a graduate of Wausau High School and worked at the American National Bank before marrying.

When she was 25, she married Harold John Reinhart, son of John Reinhart and Bertha Graade, on 30 Jul 1930, in Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Harold and Elizabeth had one daughter named Mary.

In 1940, she and her husband lived in Atlanta, De Kalb, Georgia. He worked for the West Bend Aluminum Company in West Bend, Washington, Wisconsin, but it seems he was on assignment in Atlanta.

They lived most of their married life in Wisconsin.

Elizabeth died on 10 Oct 1975 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Aschbrenner Family