While on my trip to South Dakota this summer, a cousin of my mother stopped by my aunt’s house in Watertown while I was staying there. She brought a hefty notebook along full of family photos and history. Included were some snapshots of the old homestead, where my great grandparents farmed and where my grandfather … Continue reading Albert Fromke’s Farm
In my pursuit of learning more about the family history, I discovered the names of three siblings — three brothers — of my great grandfather, a farmer born in Prussia who settled in South Dakota named Albert Fromke, which for some reason had been lost and not been passed down. Just discovered more siblings of my … Continue reading The Missing Fromke Brothers | Friedrich Wilhelm, Carl August & Emil Gustav
God’s Spear I was about to use the word remembering, but then I don’t have any memories of him, though he did babysit me quite a bit during my first two years on Earth. So I replaced it with honoring instead. I miss him. I wish he had been around longer. He had a cousin … Continue reading Honoring Grandpa Fromke
My great grandfather was named Albert, and I’ve been wondering where the name originated — within German society, culture, history. In looking through famous Germans with the name I came across a Duke of Prussia named Albert. The family was steeped in Lutheranism, so learning about Duke Albert has been eye-opening. He was the first ruler in Europe … Continue reading Albert, Duke of Prussia
Yesterday I read about a woman I’d never heard of before.1 Adaline Fromke was born on March 30, 1839 in Prussia. Could she be my great grandfather’s aunt? Adaline is of the same generation as my great grandfather’s parents, Carl Fromke and Caroline Radde. Is she Carl Fromke’s sister?2 She married a man named Lietzke. … Continue reading Adaline Fromke
Yesterday I received a message from a woman about her brother. Hi Aaron, I commented on your blog post about Karl Kaaz but WordPress won’t let me follow up. My brother farmed some Fromke land. Was your grandparents’ place south of Mazeppa Church? I forwarded her message to my mother, who wrote me back. … Continue reading Fromke Farmland
Years ago I came across some information on the surname Fromke. I had lost my notes if I made any at the time and had a hard time finding the material again, until 2006. I wrote about it back then, thankfully links included, in a message to the Fromke mailing list at RootsWeb. The name Fromke … Continue reading Fromke Family Origins
Via a Google search I discovered my great-great uncle’s grave. He is buried in the Grant Center Cemetery in Grant County, South Dakota. Although I have yet to prove any relationship, I am running on the theory that August Fromke is a son of Carl Fromke and Caroline Radde and brother of my great grandfather Albert August Fromke. … Continue reading August Fromke’s Grave
Logging into one of many Ancestry.com accounts to access free Civil War records, I noticed someone had sent me a message. It was regarding a family with my mother’s family name Fromke. They lived in Pottangow, Pomerania, while my ancestors lived to the south, about 50 kilometers away, in Borntuchen and Grobenzien. (I can never remember my … Continue reading Fromke, Framke, Froemke, Frumpke
My great-great uncle August L. Fromke was born in August of 1873 in Germany. After immigrating to South Dakota in 1887, he married Anna L. Radtke, probably in 1898. She was born in April of 1875 in Wisconsin. In 1900, they were living in Grant County, South Dakota, near August’s brother, Albert August Fromke, my great … Continue reading My Great-Great Uncle August L. Fromke
AARON HILL’S NOTEBOOK 