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.

Hiking, Kids, and Madison

The 20th page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of photos taken in and around 1924-25. The first pictures are a continuation of her winter hike with the Y.W.C.A. Live Y’ers group. Next there are some family photos. Then, a couple pictures from a trip to the city of Madison.

More Winter Hiking

Sally’s friend Elizabeth Lemke poses with the lunch to be served to the Live Y’ers as part of their day of hiking.

Pictured: Elizabeth Lemke.

Location: C.G. Krueger Cottage, Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1924-25.

Live Y’ers Feast

Members of the Y.W.C.A. Live Y’ers fill their plates.

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: C.G. Krueger Cottage, Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1924-25.

Lunch

Members of the Live Y’ers, including Elizabeth Lemke, enjoy their lunch. Names on the back of this photograph were Eliz., Marg. K., and Erna Z. Maybe the other two women in the photo were Marg. K. and Erna Z.?

Pictured: Elizabeth Lemke, seated, left, and unidentified women.

Location: C.G. Krueger Cottage, Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1924-25.

Hikers

Unidentified hikers enjoy posing for a photo. Names on the back of the photo, likely indicating they wanted a copy of the picture, were Selma, Erna, Anna, Natalia, Ruth Zastrow, and Mabel.

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1924-25.

Friendly Dog

Sally poses with a dog.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Likely Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1924-25.

Cousins at Stratford

This group of girls were likely some of Sally’s Aschbrenner cousins. The photo was taken in front of a brick house which must have been Sally’s grandparents’ house at Stratford. When the grandparents, Bertha Kluender and Frederick Wilhelm Aschbrenner, retired from farming, their son, Sally’s uncle Henry, took over this farm and the elder Aschbrenners moved to a home they had built on Highway 97.

The oldest girl in the photo appears to be Elsie. Between Elsie and her little sister, Evelyn, there are four other female Aschbrenner cousins, namely Alice, Frieda, Margaret, and Dorothy. Could they by top four girls in the photo?

Name	Birth	Death	Parent
Elsie Edna Aschbrenner	1913	1985	Edward Albert Reinhart
Alice Aschbrenner	1915	1981	Henry Herman Heinrich
Frieda Marie Radant	1915	1985	Laura Amalia Henrietta
Margaret Bertha Augusta Poeske	1917	1993	Hilda Amanda Alvina
Dorothy Frieda Aschbrenner	1920	2010	Henry Herman Heinrich
Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner	1921	2001	Edward Albert Reinhart
Norma Grace Aschbrenner	1923	2007	Henry Herman Heinrich
Phyllis May Aschbrenner	1923	2007	Frank George Wilhelm Bernard

The other little girl could be either Norma or Phyllis. But since We are guessing two of Henry’s other daughters, Alice and Frieda are in the photo. And, we are guessing this was taken at what would had become Henry’s farm, it would be fair to guess that the littlest girl is Norma and that perhaps Frank’s family wasn’t at the get-together that day.

Pictured: From top, Alice Aschbrenner (possibly), Margaret Bertha Augusta Poeske (possibly), Frieda Marie Radant (possibly), Dorothy Frieda Aschbrenner (possibly), Elsie Edna Aschbrenner, Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner (left), and Norma Grace Aschbrenner (right, possibly).

Location: Stratford, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1925-26.

Children

If the guesses are right in the previous photo, then this photo captures Frieda Radant, Norma Aschbrenner, Margaret Poeske, Dorothy Aschbrenner, Alice Aschbrenner, and Elsie Edna Aschbrenner. This was taken the same day as the previous picture, on the farm of their Aschbrenner grandparents.

Pictured: Frieda Marie Radant (possibly), Norma Grace Aschbrenner (possibly), Margaret Bertha Augusta Poeske (possibly), Dorothy Frieda Aschbrenner (possibly), Alice Aschbrenner (possibly), and Elsie Edna Aschbrenner.

Location: Stratford, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1925-26.

Maybe Verna

This might possibly be Verna Bertha Aschbrenner. The picture was taken at the brick veneered Aschbrenner home in Stratford, Marathon, Wisconsin, where her father, Henry Herman Heinrich, farmed after his parents retired. Verna was born in 1911. This picture was taken circa 1925-26, so she would have been 14 or 15 years old. Perhaps the family was gathered in celebration of her confirmation. That is just a wild guess, of course.

Pictured: Verna Bertha Aschbrenner (possibly).

Location: Stratford, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1925-26.

Country Road

A grated country road. Most likely in Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Location: Probably Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1925-26.

Trip to Madison

Comments written in the photo album decades after the photos were taken indicate that Sally took a trip to Madison, Wisconsin. You would have thought it would have been news for Sally to have traveled there. The local newspaper reported on Live Y’ers meetings, card parties, trips to summer camp, a trip to a Y.W.C.A. convention in Milwaukee, and even visits home to her parents’ house.

But no mention of Madison.

If there were photos of Milwaukee, we could have pinpointed when she visited because that did make the news.

The Misses Anna Schultz, Mable Butenhoff, Elizabeth Lemke and Selma Aschbrenner leave this evening for Milwaukee to visit over Sunday. While there they will attend the business girls’ assembly held in connection with the national convention of the Y.W.C.A. and one of the convention sessions.

– The Wausau Daily Record-Herald, Friday, April 23, 1926.

Location: Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1925-26.

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

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.

Edward Aschbrenner

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

Henry Herman Heinrich Aschbrenner

Henry was one of Sally’s paternal uncles.

Laura Amalia Henrietta Aschbrenner

Laura was one of Sally’s paternal aunts. She was married to Herman Radant.

Hilda Amanda Alvina Aschbrenner Poeske

Hilda was one of Sally’s paternal aunts. She was married to Fritz Hermann Robert Poeske.

Selected Sources:

“Pretty Wedding Yesterday at the St. Paul’s Church: Miss Elizabeth Lemke Becomes the Bride of Harold Reinhart,” 31 Jul 1930, page 7 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/273058658/ : accessed 15 May 2020), Wausau Daily Herald, (Wausau, Wisconsin).

“Mrs. Harold J. Reinhart,” 13 Oct 1975, page 8 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/273092197/ : accessed 02 Aug 2020), Wausau Daily Herald, (Wausau, Wisconsin).

“Speed of Modern Life Challenges Women of Today,” and “Personals,” 23 Apr 1926, page 14 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/272519183/ : accessed 02 Aug 2020) Wausau Daily Record-Herald, (Wausau, Wisconsin).

The Aschbrenner Family