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.

Farm and Family

Sally’s album starts in about 1920 when she was a teenager. Her early photos show life on the farm, surrounded by family.

Sally

The first photo in Sally’s photo album is a photo titled, “Sally.” What an appropriate way to start this series! Sally was a teenager when this photo was taken in front of her parents’ home in the Town of Berlin, Marathon County, Wisconsin. The photographer caught her with her eyes closed, but she was decked out in fur and had a dog by her side.

Sally, was christened Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner. She was born 07 May 1904 in the Town of Berlin, Marathon County, Wisconsin. She grew up on the family farm on Highway A.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Highway A, Town of Berlin, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1920.

Sally’s Family

Sally was the oldest child of Alice Rosalie Fehlhaber and Frederick A Helmut Aschbrenner. She had one sibling, brother Frederick Carl Aschbrenner. He was called Freddy. Sally photographed her family at home on the farm.

Pictured: Alice Rosalie Fehlhaber Aschbrenner, Frederick Carl Aschbrenner, and Frederick A. Helmut Aschbrenner.

Location: Highway A, Town of Berlin, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1920.

Before Lawn

The third photo in her album featured her home. Sally titled it, “Before Lawn.” Unfortunately, the faces in the photo were not identified, though it appears to be Sally on the right, Sally’s cousin Elsie in the middle and Freddy on the left.

Pictured: From left, Frederick Carl Aschbrenner, Elsie Edna Aschbrenner, and Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Highway A, Town of Berlin, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1920.

Black and Whites

The Aschbrenners raised dairy cows, so it is appropriate that cows were featured early in the album.

Pictured: Aschbrenner dairy cows.

Location: Highway A, Town of Berlin, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1920.

Princess

Princess must have been a special cow to have her photo taken. The man leading the cow is possibly Sally’s dad, Fred Aschbrenner wearing a hat and scarf with his suit coat.

Update: We don’t know for sure who is holding Princess. But Jim replied that she isn’t a cow. She is a heifer. This city girl would never have come up with the word heifer on her own. But Princess was too young/small to be a cow. There are still questions about Princess. Was the heifer sort of a pet? Was it leaving to go to another farm, hence the need to get a picture? Over time a dairy farmer has more heifers than he can use. They are born faster than he has room for them, even allowing for the fact that half the calves are male, which are neutered and fed/sold for veal/beef. The farmer doesn’t cull cows at that rate as he gains heifer calves so he sells some. With lots of dairy farmers around, probably to one of them, especially to a young farmer growing his herd, in an era of growth.

Pictured: Princess the dairy cow and (possibly) Frederick A. Helmut Aschbrenner.

Location: Highway A, Town of Berlin, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1920.

Snow Scene 1920

This photo was titled, “Snow Scene 1920.” It is a photo of a snow-covered Highway A near the farm.

Location: Highway A, Town of Berlin, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1920.

Jumping

The last photo on the page has no explanation. If you look closely, you can see that someone is jumping from rock to rock. The photo may have been taken relatively close to home. Marathon County Wisconsin is home to many areas with interesting rock formations, including an area called the Dells of Eau Claire which has nothing to do with either the Wisconsin Dells or the city of Eau Claire. Rib Mountain also has its share of interesting rocks. If you are familiar with this particular rock configuration, please comment and let us know where it is found.

UPDATE: Jim, our amateur geologist and professional soil expert, replied that this photo was surely from the Wisconsin Dells. You can find a very similar photo on “21 Natural Wonders in Wisconsin.” In the Eau Claire Dells, the geography is much more horizontal. The rock in central Wisconsin is too hard for mother nature to create such a scene. Limestone, sandstone or similar would be needed. You find that farther south, in the Wisconsin Dells.

Pictured: Unknown.

Location: Wisconsin Dells.

Date: circa 1920.

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

Elsie Aschbrenner

Sally and Elsie were double 1st cousins. Their mothers were sisters and their fathers were brothers.

The Aschbrenner Family