Relatives, Friends
& the family homestead
In the fall
of 2002, we returned to Freeport with my grandmother's ashes.
These photos were taken on that trip.
All photos copyright 2002, Robert Bike
Mom, at the church
where she married Dad on December 4, 1943, in Elizabeth, Illinois.
Their wedding photo was taken on this very porch.
Mom with her friend, Barb Bremer.
This is the renovated
farmhouse that my ancestors built.
The farm was homesteaded in 1848.
The Bike farm. Barn and machine shed shown.
The Bike homestead in Buckeye Township, Stephenson County, Illinois.
Richland Creek, flowing through the Bike homestead.
The dilapidated barn on the Bike homestead.
This is the home I grew up in at 1319 S. Carroll Avenue, Freeport, Illinois.
House showing the two maple trees.
My bedroom was upstairs,
on the back right.
I planted the trees on the right, and the tree that is now a stump in front
of them.
This is our rental car, in Krape Park.
Mom with the Cruiser, in Dubuque, Iowa.
Mom with the Cruiser, showing our North Carolina plates.
Claudia with Barb Fiene at Grandma's funeral.
Mom with Ida Otte at Grandma's funeral.
Remarkable
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Mom with Joe Janshen at his farm southeast of Freeport. Joe passed away in 2010.
Joe has an amazing collection of memorabilia from the WLS National Barn Dance.
Playful silhouettes at Joe's farm.
Joe prefers Farmall tractors. They all run.
Some of the WLS memoribilia.
Patsy Montana record.
Joe collects various tools and signs, too.
Do you know what all these tools are for?
My first job was detasseling corn for the Dekalb Seed Corn Company.
Joe Janshen with another of his old Farmalls.
Joe also collects posters from farm auctions.
Posters from 1861 and 1879.
Old circus posters.
Joe demonstrating how a shoulder yoke works. Looks like hard work!
Remember Oak Brand ice cream?
Another old Farmall.
More silhouettes in front of Joe's barn.
Joe's barn.
Joe's farmhouse.
Mom & Claudia with Donna & Jim Neubauer.
The Neubauers' children,
Scott & Lorna.
Scott is in school learning to be a minister.
Lorna died in an auto accident shortly after this photo was taken.
|
Remarkable
Stories, Volume 1 by Robert Bike Only $11.99 paperback; only $0.99 ebook. |
John Wagner, my father's cousin.
John's parents, Inez and John. John father was my grandmother's brother.
John Wagner's grandparents.
This chair was made by my great-great-great grandfather more than 150 years ago.
Another view of the heritage chair.
The chair is still solid after all these years.
This chalk drawing, on John's wall, is a companion to the artwork in my home, apparently by the same artist.
Some of the Wagner antique tools.
John Wagner played
with this wagon as a boy.
Note that it was made by Wagner Mfg. Co. in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
John's farm was settled by our ancestors, my great-great grandfather.
The Wagner farmstead.
The Wagner farm house, built in 1894, is over 100 years old.
John Wagner with one of his cats.
|
Remarkable
Stories, Volume 1 by Robert Bike Only $11.99 paperback; only $0.99 ebook. |
My mother with her
childhood friend, Lucille Eberle Servatius Miller,
at Grandma Wienand's burial site in Oakland Cemetery.
My mother with Mrs. Henrietta Wurtzel.
Relatives Ralph and
Violet Stearns. Ralph is Arthur's son,
and Arthur is Grandma's brother.
Relatives Jim & Esther Bushelle. Esther is Ralph's sister, Arthur's daughter.
Claudia, Mom & I at Grandma's memorial service at St. John's Church.
Barb Fiene with Claudia, Mom & I.
Latest Copyright March 26, 2013