A Really Great Grandma

  I would like to start something with this blog where we share stories of family members, past and present.  These can be people who carried a tradition, or did something special within the family, or any really cool story.  Then, other family members can share their bits about the same person.
   I will start with my Grandma Laura Emma (Steltz) Van Hout, my dad's mother. 

Quilt made for Mark Van Hout

What I want us all to share is her sewing of patch quilts, or crazy quilts.  It is my understanding that she made one for every one of her grandchildren.  She used an old, foot-pedal sewing machine.  If memory serves me, my parents got her an electric sewing machine but she didn't like it.  It was too hard for her to control the speed.
  For me, Grandma covered my "baby blanket" and then made me the quilt pictured here.  She also made me a pillow case that I used until it wore out.  I still have it, but it isn't used.  It had a few silk patches on it that could not stand up to use.
   I remember laying down for our Christmas Eve nap and my sister, JoLynda, and I seeing if we had the same patches in our quilts.  We had a few.
   I invite other family to share pictures of your quilts so we can see how much they are alike, yet different.

Looking for Babies!!!

Roger Wollschlager & a Grandchild?

   Calling all family members!!  It has been awhile since I posted to the Van Hout/Stodolski page.  Help me please!  I know we have had some new members added to this family over the past year or so.  Please throw a picture and information up on the Facebook page or even add them on here.  At the very least, contact me so I can make sure they are in the tree.

   Feel free to invite other family members to the page.  The more sharing of family the better.

   No, my cousin Roger is not "new", but that little bundle is only a year or so old by now, so Wollschlagers...give a cousin some help here!  Who is this little guy?

Family Tradition

After writing about family stories, I got to thinking about one of the traditions in our family that had been going on ever since I could remember.  I figured there must be a story behind it, so I turned to my mother, Arvene (Stodolski) Van Hout, for the history behind our Christmas Eve oyster stew.

Here is the story, as recounted by my mother.  For clarity, her dad was Matthew Stodolski and her Grandpa and Grandma she is referring to, are Joseph and Lucy (Beaudry) Stodolski.  The story:
 

"In our family Oyster Stew started with my Dad's folks Grandpa and Grandma Stodolski.  Many years ago, we were not allowed to eat meat the day before a holy day, so we had to have a meatless meal Christmas Eve.  As a very young girl, we would go to Grandpa and Grandma's farm for oyster stew before Christmas Mass at midnight.  We would then come home and Santa would have come, so we had our Christmas.  When the weather was bad Grandpa and Grandma would come to town and Grandma would make stew here. We also had salmon loaf. So it started with the Stodolski clan.

  One time when we had to be in town Santa made a visit, another time I remember we heard noise in the basement and wouldn't you know Santa left the toys there."

 

 

This tradition remained relatively unchanged as far back as I can remember.  I recall going out to my great grandparent's house when I was very young.  When Grandma died and Grandpa was in the nursing home, we began going out to Grandpa Matt's house for oyster stew.  One thing that was added to the meal somewhere along the line, was Grandma Margaret's olive hot dish (for those who didn't want to eat oyster stew).  The tradition of Santa showing up while we were at Grandma and Grandpa's continued, with either Dad pulling out the gifts while we were getting in the car or slipping out while we were at Grandpa's and running home to play Santa.

After Grandpa Matt died, the Christmas Eve meal was moved to our house where my mother and Grandma Margaret would prepare the stew.  One of the things we looked forward to during that meal was whether or not someone was going to find a pearl in their oysters.  It always seemed that my dad would find a small one each year.  Of course, Santa couldn't come while we were eating anymore, so he came during the night.  By then, however, Santa had become that spirit of Christmas we all get when we are too old to believe he exists.  We did, however, continue for a while at least, the gift exchange we had done for years.

The tradition still lives in my family.  I have continued it over the years with varying degrees of excitement by my children.  None of them care much for the stew, so the amount we make is not much.  Tater Tot hot dish replaced the olive hot dish, since we didn't have the recipe and my kids love Tater Tot hot dish.

Like the stories of our families, often our traditions die off with the older generations.  I hope you will share some of your traditions that you either had, or perhaps still have.  We would love to help you keep them alive.

Stories Bring our Family History To Life!

How many of you can remember hearing a story from your parents, your grandparents, or perhaps an aunt or an uncle?  Mine were always telling me about visits by friends and relatives or how Grandpa Matt Stodolski had built something.  I found out early in live that my Grandpa Matt was a man of many talents.

 My mother shared a story with me about my Great Grandma Lucy (Beaudry) Stodolski and how she was known for her fried chicken and lemon pie during the harvest season.  The farmers would travel from farm to farm harvesting and the women would provide the meals for the workers.

Stories like these are what give a family history life!  For those of us who like to build our family tree and are constantly looking for a date, a name, a location, or some other fact to fill a place in our tree, we often forget to also capture those stories we have heard or been told.  Obituaries are great for filling in those blanks, but many also show interests that a family member may have had and may offer us an opportunity to ask other family members more about that person.

I recently made a good connection with the Scharnatta family up in Canada.  They descend in our tree from Marie Stodolski, who married William Scharnatta.   As I have been interacting with our family members from the Great White North, I have noticed how they share little bits of information as they try to remember people from their past.  "Hey, do your remember so and so who used to live on the corner?" or "Do you remember that family we used to always visit?"  As we have those conversations, these are the stories we need to keep alive.  The smallest story now may be a really cool story later on.  They are also windows into our past.

So if you are asked to provide information for a family tree, remember to also share things you are not asked for...stories, exciting events in a family, or just fond memories of a family member.  If nothing else, write down the stories from your family so they are not forgotten.  We never want our family tree to die, and the stories about the lives of the family are what give it life.

Our Earliest Beginnings

The Dutchman who educated me on the meaning of the name "Hout" recently did a little more digging on our family.  He began with Anton (Antoon) Van Hout, the man we consider the patriarch of our family and who brought the Van Houts to America.  We always had a name for his father, Peter, or Petrus and his mother, Elisabeth.  It is at this point that our information was sketchy.

Come to find out, Peter spelled his last name "van Hout" instead of what we use..."Van Hout".  We also had Peter's father as Coenraad, though there was no documentation to back it up other than what people have in their assorted family trees.  No mention of a "Coenraad" was found in the Netherlands, but instead his name was Christiaan.  He married Johanna Bastiaans in 1813.

Following the naming conventions of the time, it is possible that Peter van Hout had more than the four children I originally had listed.  Another daughter was found, named Johanna, who should have been the oldest, being named after her grandmother.  However, there was no son listed with the name Christiaan, which is what Peter's first son should have been named.  Instead, it was Hendrikus.  So it is possible that Peter and Elisabeth had a son named Christiaan who died early.  The only way to confirm or deny that would be with church records.

Christiaan van Houdt (another name change) was the son of Justin Hout and Gertrude Smits.  They were married in 1786.

Justin Hout was one of four children (that I know of) from the 1751 marriage of Jan (Joannis) Joosten van den Hout and Jenneke Dirck Tonis.

So starting with our oldest ancestor, our name has seen itself go from "van den Hout" to "Hout" to "van Houdt" to "van Hout" to the final spelling of "Van Hout".   It is interesting to see how last names change over time, as well as first names.  Anton Van Hout is also found as Antoon, Antonius, and Anthoon.  A challenge, for sure, when trying to do family research and the name is so much different than what we are used to.

The Scheele Clan

Mathias & Mathilda Scheele

 After my visit with Kermit Scheele, I was able to really begin sinking my teeth into adding more people and information into the Scheele branches of my tree.  Mathias and Mathilda (Stielow-pronounced "stee-low) Scheele are my 2nd Great Grandparents on my mother's side and are currently the furthest back I go with that family.

Scheele Family Farm

They lived on a farm northwest of Big Stone City, SD until 1911 when they moved into town. 

Mathias Scheele and his horses

 Mathias and Mathilda had six children, five girls and one boy.  The picture below does not show their youngest child, Irene.  This picture was taken before 1909, the year Irene was born.  Irene died at the young age of 28 from a pulmonary ailment.

Mathias Scheele family, pre-1909

Family names that fall under the Scheele branches include Maack, Madden, Rammer, Kargleder, Stodolski, and Johnson.  These, of course, break down even further to Slobe, Reymund, Vosburg, Hammerstrom and others.


It has been a huge learning experience working on these families whom I was not overly familiar with.  We have some pretty amazing people in our family and I am proud to be getting to know some of them.  Facebook has made it possible to meet, at least virtually, many relatives I would have never met at all.

If you are a descendant of Mathias Scheele, please feel free to add something to this story.  Also, if you have any old pictures you wish to share, please do that as well.  Don't be afraid to add some new pictures as well!

War Without a Rifle

Private Kermit Scheele

Back in July my wife and I visited my1st cousin 2X removed on my Mother's side, Kermit Scheele.  Kermit is 88-years-old and lives in an assisted living apartment in Washington, DC with his dog, Ling Ling.  During our visit, Kermit  told us about his experience in World War II.

It seems he was drafted in June of 1943 and processed into the Army in Minneapolis, MN.  In January of 1944, he was sent over to England.  When he got there, he had no idea where he was or what he was to do.  A duty Captain, from Michigan, welcomed him and sent him to some barracks to get situated.  While he was there, one of his duties was to pick up Anti-Aircraft brass (casings of the shells fired at the German bombers).

He was later sent to Cheltham and then on to Cherburg, France during Bastille Day.  There, he was responsible for escorting a group of 12 female journalists who were traveling around getting stories to send to a Soldier's hometown.  Kermit was never issued a rifle or even fired one and never did have one his whole time in Europe.

The same Captain (now a Colonel) that met him upon arrival put Kermit in for a commission and he became a 2nd Lieutenant in the Adjutant General Corps.  Kermit was discharged from the Regular Army and entered the Reserves in Richmond, VA where he served until 1953.