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.

People and Indian School

The 47th and final page of Sally’s photo album featured many pictures of people. Sally was back in Wausau by then, beginning her life with Norman. Some photos have been labeled (after the fact) as being from “Indian School Tomah Wisconsin.”

Alice with an Easter Lily

Alice Aschbrenner poses with an Easter Lily.

Pictured: Alice Rosalie Aschbrenner.

Location: Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1933-1940.

Sally and… maybe Phyllis

Sally poses with a girl. The girl is likely a confirmand. Unfortunately, the photo is not labeled.

A guess was made that the girl might be Phyllis May Aschbrenner. But, a daughter of Phyllis has confirmed that the girl in the photo is not her mother. Back in 1923, Sally was a one of the sponsors at Phyllis’ baptism. As a godmother, it would have been appropriate for Sally to be at the confirmation and to have a photo taken with her goddaughter. But alas, this is not Phyllis and the girl remains unidentified. If you have an information to identify the girl, please comment.

Pictured: Unidentified and Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1933-1940.

One confirmand

This girl is unidentified. Another confirmand, perhaps?

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Unknown.

Date: Unknown.

Two confirmands

More unidentified girls. More confirmands, perhaps?

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Unknown.

Date: Unknown.

Canine fun

Sally and a friendly dog.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1933-35.

Indian School at Tomah

The album page had a notation indicating that these photos were taken at the Indian School in Tomah. Sally and Norman must have had some involvement. According to Wisconsinhistory.org, The Tomah Indian Industrial School opened in 1893. The boarding school intended to teach Indian children how to shed their cultural background and to become more like white, middle-class Americans. While the school organizers and Sally and Norman’s hearts were in the right place, many of us in modern times see fault with that mission. We don’t know in what capacity Sally and Norman served.

Sally at the Indian School in Tomah.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Tomah, Monroe, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1933-35.

Sally and Norman pose with a student at the Tomah Indian School.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Tomah, Monroe, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1933-35.

Sally poses with students at the Tomah Indian School.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Tomah, Monroe, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1933-35.

Underwood Chapel

Norman poses outside the Underwood Chapel. He is the guy on the right in the back row of the group of men. The Underwood Chapel can be identified by its unique arch over the door. Norman was the long-time superintendent of the chapel, having been appointed in 1924.

Pictured: Norman Arthur August Krueger (back, right).

Location: Underwood Chapel, Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1933.

Hiding in a crowd

Sally, almost hidden, is pictured in a crowd. See if you can find her. Give up? She is near the center of the photo showing part of her face behind a gal in the front row. Some of these people look familiar from a photo on the previous page of the album. A guess is that Sally was working with the youth in some sort of volunteer capacity – possibly with the Underwood Chapel.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner (center).

Location: Unknown.

Date: Unknown.

The End

We’ve come to the end of Sally’s album. It’s amazing to look back at how she’s grown up from her first photo to the last. Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed this journey through her youth and young adulthood.

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

The Aschbrenner Family