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.
Boating and Iowa
The 30th page of Sally’s photo album included pictures of boating and of a trip to Iowa.
Ed and Laura and the kids
Sally would have been standing on shore when she captured this photo. It seems that Sally was on a trip to a lake with her Aunt Laura and Uncle Ed. Their two girls, Elsie and Evelyn, were pictured too. A third girl has yet to be identified but showed up in many pictures. Elsie was 15-years old by this time, so maybe she brought a friend along to make a trip with family bearable?
Pictured: From left, Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner, Laura Fehlhaber, Edward Albert Reinhart Aschbrenner, Unidentified, and Elsie Edna Aschbrenner.
Location: Wisconsin.
Date: 1928.
The girls
This photo includes Sally along with her cousins and their friend.
Pictured: Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner, Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, Elsie Edna Aschbrenner, and unidentified girl.
Location: Wisconsin.
Date: 1928.
Solo
This photo captured Evelyn getting to take a solo voyage in the boat.
Pictured: Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner.
Location: Wisconsin.
Date: 1928.
The lake
Location: Wisconsin.
Date: 1928.
Ladies in the woods
This photo, presumably on the same trip, features Sally, her aunt, her cousins, and their friend.
Pictured: Back, from left, Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner and Elsie Edna Aschbrenner. Front, from left, Laura Fehlhaber, Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner, and unidentified girl.
Location: Wisconsin.
Date: 1928.
Iowa Trip
“Iowa Trip” was written on the album page on which these photos were found. Iowa trip to where? That remains a mystery. Laura and her girls and that unidentified girl from the previous photos were all there. The man in this photo logically should be Uncle Ed, but not quite sure its him.
Pictured: Laura Fehlhaber, Elsie Edna Aschbrenner, unidentified, Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner, and unidentified.
Location: possibly Iowa.
Date: 1928.
Girls in Iowa
This second photograph in front of the same log building features Sally, her aunt, and her cousins.
Pictured: Elsie Edna Aschbrenner, Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, unidentified, Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner, and Laura Fehlhaber.
Location: possibly Iowa.
Date: 1928.
Robbins, Wisconsin
Where the heck was Robbins, Wisconsin? It isn’t found on any modern maps or online searches. According to the signs, they had a post office, a Northwestern Gasoline station, and sold ice cold Coca-Cola. The photo captures the Ed and Laura Aschbrenner family, with a friend, stopping at Robbins during their trip.
Pictured: From left, Unknown, Laura Fehlhaber, Elsie Edna Aschbrenner, Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner, and Edward Albert Reinhart Aschbrenner.
Location: Robbins, Wisconsin.
Date: 1928.
Lounging in Iowa
Aunt Laura, sitting in the back of this photo, is lounging with others on the lawn. Presumably, based on what was written on the album page, they were in Iowa. You may recall that Sally and her family took a trip to Iowa that was captured earlier in the album. At the time, they visited Sally’s dad’s cousin, “Henry” Heinrich Friedrich August Aschbrenner. He died in 1926, so they weren’t visiting him, but perhaps they were visiting his family? His oldest boys Arthur and John were about 29 and 22-years old by this time, so could possibly be the men in this photo. Arthur had married in 1928 to Elsie Dora Lemke, so it is possible that she is the gal in the photo. The little girl is probably Evelyn.
Pictured: Laura Fehlhaber, back. Others, from left, possibly Arthur Henry Aschbrenner, Evelyn Ruth Aschbrenner, Elsie Dora Lemke, and John Herman Aschbrenner.
Location: Iowa.
Date: 1928.
On the rocks near the rapids
Sally, on the left, poses on the rocks with an unidentified lady.
Pictured: From left, Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner and unidentified.
Location: Wisconsin, possibly Eau Claire Dells.
Date: 1928.
Bridge over calm water
Location: Wisconsin.
Date: 1928.
By the boat
Sarah Schroeder, Frank Aschbrenner, and Laura Aschbrenner pose near a sightseeing boat.
Pictured: From left, Sarah Schroeder Aschbrenner, Frank George Wilhelm Bernard Aschbrenner, and Laura Fehlhaber Aschbrenner.
Location: Wisconsin.
Date: 1928.
Boy
The back of this photo was labeled, “Taken Nov. 8 -1925 age 13 years.” No name, just the date and age. Since it was tucked in the page from 1928 labeled, “Iowa Trip,” we can maybe guess it is an Iowa Aschbrenner. The most likely candidate would be Henry Robert Aschbrenner, born 04 Oct 1912. He was a son of Emma Henning and Heinrich Friedrich August Aschbrenner. The photo would have been taken several years before this trip, but perhaps it was brought home as a memento? Or perhaps this photo has nothing to do with either Iowa or family?
Pictured: Possibly Henry Robert Aschbrenner.
Location: Possibly Iowa.
Date: 08 Nov 1925.
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
Laura Fehlhaber and Edward Aschbrenner
Uncle Ed was one of Sally’s paternal uncles. He was married to Sally’s maternal aunt Laura.
Sarah Schroeder and Frank Aschbrenner
Frank George Wilhelm Bernard Aschbrenner was one of Sally’s paternal ancestors. He was married to Sarah Schroeder.
Heinrich Friedrich August Aschbrenner
Heinrich Friedrich August Aschbrenner, also known as Henry, was a first cousin to Sally’s dad.
The Aschbrenner Family
- Publication date: February 2022
- Pages: 728
- Formats:
- This books explores Aschbrenner family history. Friedrich August Aschbrenner had a son, named Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner, who immigrated to Marathon County, Wisconsin. This book traces thousands of descendants of the immigrant. Detailed biographies are provided for the families of our direct line from Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner through Frederick Wilhelm Aschbrenner and Frederick August Helmut Aschbrenner to Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.
- Winner of the Wisconsin Historical Society 2023 Board of Curators Genealogy/Family History Book Award.
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