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.

Gals and Kids and Relatives

The sixth page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of photos taken in and around 1920-22.

Lettes Choice

Sally didn’t leave us captions on this photo or others on the page, so we can only guess. Could this have been some sort of school party? Was “lettes choice” a purposeful misspelling of “ladies’ choice?”

Pictured: Unknown.

Location: Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1921-22.

Tree Stump

There is no explanation given for this photo either. A gaggle of gals on a giant tree stump.

Pictured: Unknown.

Location: Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1921-22.

On the Porch

Friends of Sally giggle on a porch. The girl seated in the background of the second photo may be Dorothy Boernke (see next photo).

Pictured: Possibly Dorothy Boernke seated in back. Others unknown.

Location: Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1921-22.

Sally and Dorothy

Sally and her friend Dorothy Boernke. Sally and Dorothy attended Wausau High School together. They were both in the class of 1922 and both took the “commercial course.” Both were members of the Waugonian Club throughout their high school years. [1]

On 28 June 1922, the ‘gossip column’ section of the Wausau Daily Herald reported, “Dorothy Boernke of Wausau spent a few days at the home of Selma Aschbrenner recently.” [2]

Pictured: Pauline Dorothy Boernke and Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Sally’s parents’ home on Highway A in Town of Berlin, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1922.

Cousins?

This photo wasn’t labeled. Sally is seen far back right holding a toddler. It looks like Sally’s brother Freddy in the far back left (the tallest boy). And. cousin Elsie is the girl in the middle of the middle row with the light-colored dress. It is possible that the others are cousins and the lady next to Sally may be one of her aunts.

Sally had a total of 48 first cousins. There were 28 cousins on the Aschbrenner side, 18 on the Fehlhaber side, and two, Elsie and Evelyn, who were related on both sides.

There is a good chance that this photo was taken at the Hamburg, Marathon County, Wisconsin, home of Sarah Schroeder and Frank Aschbrenner on the occasion of their first son’s baptism. Son Glenn Frank Aschbrenner was born 02 October 1921 and baptized 23 October 1921.

“Fred Aschbrenner and family, Julius Schroeder and family, Herman Radant and family, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Krause and Ed Aschbrenner attended the christening of the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Aschbrenner last Sunday.” [3]

Wausau Daily Herald, Tuesday, 25 October 1921.

Uncle Ed probably attended without his wife, Laura, since their second daughter had been born just a month earlier. She probably sent their older daughter, Elsie, along to the festivities.

If this photo was taken on Glenn’s christening day, Sally’s Radant cousins might be in the photo. Esther Radant, would have been almost 12, Violet Radant would have been ten, Raymond Radant would have been nine, and Frieda Radant, six. The girl with pigtails looks a bit like Esther Aschbrenner who was included in a picture on the previous page of the album. There is a lot of speculation and guessing here, but this photo probably does include cousins.

Pictured: Back row (tallest boy), Frederick Carl Aschbrenner. Back row, far right, Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner. Middle row, center in light dress, Elsie Edna Aschbrenner. Others unidentified.

Location: Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: Circa 1921.

Frank and Sarah

This photo shows Sarah Schroeder looking lovingly at her husband Frank Aschbrenner. Frank was Sally’s uncle. Frank and Sarah married on 18 June 1918. Long time readers may remember Sarah as a major player in the 1917 “Girls Gone Wild” story.

A well-told family story is that Fred Aschbrenner, Sally’s dad, was on the school board and Sarah Schroeder lived with them while teaching a mile down the road . While walking to school she had to walk by the farm place where Frank Aschbrenner lived. Somehow she met Frank. Did she just happen to encounter Frank on the way to or from school one day or when visiting the Fred Aschbrenner house? Maybe so, but was it just a chance encounter the next time? In any case, Frank and Sarah found each other and married.

Pictured: Sarah Schroeder and Frank George Wilhelm Bernard Aschbrenner.

Location: Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1921.

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

Dorothy Boernke

Sally’s friend Dorothy was born Pauline Dorothy Boernke, but used her middle name, even into adulthood. She was born 29 September 1904 in Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin, to Mathilda Hohman and Ernest H. Boernke. Years after the photo shown above, Dorothy married Kenneth A. Lubeck, on 28 August 1928, at age 58. They had no children. They lived at 1319 Fourth Street in Wausau. Kenneth died 25 March 1963. Dorothy lived as a widow for 28-years. She passed away 03 May 1991, in Marathon County. She was 86-years old at the time of her death. [4] [5]

Sally’s first cousins

Sally had a total of 48 first cousins. There were 28 cousins on the Aschbrenner side, 18 on the Fehlhaber side, and two, Elsie and Evelyn, who were related on both sides. The following table shows a list of the grandchildren of Carl F. Fehlhaber and Emilie Friedericke Luise Draeger, Sally’s maternal grandparents and the grandchildren of Frederick Wilhelm Aschbrenner and Bertha Auguste Henriette Kluender, her paternal grandparents. Three of the Aschbrenner cousins were half-cousins who were a result of her grandpa Frederick Wilhelm Aschbrenner’s first marriage. That marriage ended when his wife died young.

Name	Born	Died	Parent	Family	Note
Mable A. Raduechel	1891	1969	Amelia Emilie	Aschbrenner	1/2 cousin
Adelia A S Raduechel	1893	1962	Amelia Emilie	Aschbrenner	1/2 cousin
Elmer Charles Beilke	1894	1981	Mathilde A. Emilie	Fehlhaber
Herbert Fred Charles Raduechel	1895	1977	Amelia Emilie	Aschbrenner	1/2 cousin
Edwin Leonard Beilke	1896	1981	Mathilde A. Emilie	Fehlhaber
Frederick Carl William Anklam	1896	1981	Emma Wilhelmine Maria	Fehlhaber
Harry William Carl Anklam	1899	1987	Emma Wilhelmine Maria	Fehlhaber
Clarence Albert Beilke	1900	1987	Mathilde A. Emilie	Fehlhaber
Ervin Anklam	1901	1961	Emma Wilhelmine Maria	Fehlhaber
Clara Anklam	1903	1993	Emma Wilhelmine Maria	Fehlhaber
Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner	1904	1983	Frederick A Helmut and Alice Rosalie Fehlhaber	Both	Sally
Leona Freda Emma Beilke	1904	1985	Mathilde A. Emilie	Fehlhaber
William Martin Otto Beilke	1905	1988	Mathilde A. Emilie	Fehlhaber
Ervin Aschbrenner	1906	1974	Otto Emil Valentine	Aschbrenner
William Otto Anklam	1906	1992	Emma Wilhelmine Maria	Fehlhaber
Marvin Gottlieb Henry Aschbrenner	1907	1957	Otto Emil Valentine	Aschbrenner
Clarence Daniel Carl Fehlhaber	1907	1910	Carl Fredrich Henre	Fehlhaber
Erna Emma Anklam	1908	1998	Emma Wilhelmine Maria	Fehlhaber
Margaret Fehlhaber	1908	1910	Carl Fredrich Henre	Fehlhaber
Frederick Carl Aschbrenner	1909	1936	Frederick A Helmut and Alice Rosalie Fehlhaber	Both	Sally’s brother.
Leone Aschbrenner	1909	1972	Otto Emil Valentine	Aschbrenner
Esther R. Radant	1909	1998	Laura Amalia Henrietta	Aschbrenner
Margaret Bertha Anklam	1910	2002	Emma Wilhelmine Maria	Fehlhaber
Frederick W. Fehlhaber	1910	1980	Carl Fredrich Henre	Fehlhaber
Esther Aschbrenner	1911	1968	Otto Emil Valentine	Aschbrenner
Verna Berha Axhbrenner	1911	2009	Henry Herman Heinrich	Aschbrenner
Violet Mabel B Radant	1911	1988	Laura Amalia Henrietta	Aschbrenner
Raymond Herman Radant	1912	1994	Laura Amalia Henrietta	Aschbrenner
Elsie Edna Aschbrenner	1913	1985	Edward Albert Reinhart and Laura Fehlhaber	Both
Otto Gust Anklam	1913	1917	Emma Wilhelmine Maria	Fehlhaber
Gordan Herbert Aschbrenner	1914	1919	Henry Herman Heinrich	Aschbrenner
Alice Aschbrenner	1915	1981	Henry Herman Heinrich	Aschbrenner
Frieda Marie Radant	1915	1985	Laura Amalia Henrietta	Aschbrenner
Esther Rozeld Viola Anklam	1916	1988	Emma Wilhelmine Maria	Fehlhaber
Margaret Bertha Augusta Poeske	1917	1993	Hilda Amanda Alvina	Aschbrenner
Dorothy Frieda Aschbrenner	1920	2010	Henry Herman Heinrich	Aschbrenner
Alfred Walter Emil Poeske	1920	2013	Hilda Amanda Alvina	Aschbrenner
Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner	1921	2001	Edward Albert Reinhart and Laura Fehlhaber	Both
Glenn Frank Aschbrenner	1921	2009	Frank George Wilhelm Bernard	Aschbrenner
Clarence Aschbrenner	1922	1943	Otto Emil Valentine	Aschbrenner
Harold F. Radant	1922	1995	Laura Amalia Henrietta	Aschbrenner
Wilbert W. Poeske	1922	1933	Hilda Amanda Alvina	Aschbrenner
Norma Grace Aschbrenner	1923	2007	Henry Herman Heinrich	Aschbrenner
Phyllis May Aschbrenner	1923	2007	Frank George Wilhelm Bernard	Aschbrenner
Imogene Emily Fehlhaber	1926	1926	Robert Edward O.	Fehlhaber
Victor Ervin Poeske	1927	1927	Hilda Amanda Alvina	Aschbrenner
Florence Lucille Poeske	1927	1927	Hilda Amanda Alvina	Aschbrenner
Vivian Aschbrenner	1928	1930	Frank George Wilhelm Bernard	Aschbrenner
Poeske	1929		Hilda Amanda Alvina	Aschbrenner	Still living as of May 2020.
Thomas Leigh Aschbrenner	1931	1981	Frank George Wilhelm Bernard	Aschbrenner

Sarah Schroeder and Frank Aschbrenner

Frank George Wilhelm Bernard Aschbrenner was one of Sally’s paternal ancestors. He was married to Sarah Schroeder.

Footnotes and Selected Sources:

[1] “U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012”; School Name: Wausau High School; Year: 1922, ancestry.com.

[2] “Hamburg,” Wausau Daily Herald (Wausau, Wisconsin) 28 Jun 1922, page 7 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/272471350/ : accessed 24 May 2020).

[3] “Hamburg,” Wausau Daily Herald (Wausau, Wisconsin) 25 Oct 1921, page 4 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/272492125/ : accessed 24 May 2020).

[4] “Dorothy Lubeck,” Wausau Daily Herald (Wausau, Wisconsin) 03 May 1991, page 9 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/273427869/ : accessed 25 May 2020).

[5] “Kenneth A. Lubeck,” Wausau Daily Herald (Wausau, Wisconsin) 26 Mar 1963, page 2 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/272858462/ : accessed 25 May 2020).

The Aschbrenner Family