The Rhine Family

Tracey Wetterman's mother was Shirley Belle Rhine.  Shirley's father was Ferman Washington Rhine and his wife Katie Leona Clubb.  Ferman's father was Joseph Warren Rhine.

     The Rhine family is believed to have immigrated to America from Germany and the name was originally spelled Rhines.  Most genealogists believe they came through Pennsylvania.  Joseph Warren Rhine was born about 1875 in Missouri.  His pioneer lifestyle was one of settling, moving on, and settling again.  He moved from Missouri to Kansas City, Kansas, then to Seattle, Washington, then back to Kansas City.

     Joseph met and married Arinda Flesher who had been born in Kansas City, Kansas.  Joseph and Arinda had several children.  Their oldest son was Joseph Jr., then Ferman Washington, Elbert, and one other son whose name is currently unknown.  This son drowned while the boys were playing in the bay outside of Seattle sometime before 1912.  Joseph eventually became an engineer for the Dole Packing House in Wichita, Kansas.

Ferman Washington Rhine 1900-1980

 

     Ferman was born on March 25, 1900 in Seattle, Washington and lived a life of hard work and manual labor.  He had grown up farming, but at different times of his life had worked in many varied positions.  He had hung awnings, washed windows, drove trucks, and finally became an auto mechanic.  When the W.P.A. (Works Program Administration) was formed by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression, he got a job driving trucks and helping to build Wyandotte County Lake outside of Kansas City, Kansas.  During this time he noticed that many of the big rig tractors had broken down and that no one seemed to know how to repair them.  He found the man in charge and told him that he could fix them.  He ended up becoming the Chief Mechanic for the whole project.
    After the completion of the Wyandotte County Lake, Ferman joined Auto Transport as a diesel mechanic and repaired eighteen wheelers.

    As a young man in Kansas, Ferman met Katie Leona Clubb.  They were married on March 16, 1921 in Wichita, Kansas.  Ferman and Katie made several trips between California and Kansas trying to find work through the late 1920s, 30s, and 40s having lived in Ontario, California, Bethel, Kansas, Piper, Kansas, Wolcott, Kansas, Pomona, California, and Dolph, Arkansas.
     Ferman and Katie raised five children.  They were Betty Jean, Clifford Jack, Mildred Ruth, Shirley Belle, and Robert Dale.  They stayed in Kansas City in late 1947 when Ferman and his son Jack were having trouble finding jobs, so again the family picked up and moved to Pomona, California.  However, Ferman and Jack still could not find gainful employment so after three months in California the family moved back to Kansas City, Kansas.
     Ferman bought four and a half acres and the family lived in a tent until their permanent house could be built.  Finally, the family had settled down.

The Stimach Boys Go to War

    

When World War II broke out in Asia and in Europe, the Stimach boy's rushed to to join up.  Anthony became a Sergeant in the Army and was stationed with the 8th Army Air Corps in England in the 385th Fighter Squadron.  Frank joined the Navy and served on the USS Saratoga, one of the most celebrated of the US aircraft carriers.  It was torpedoed several times and struck by Kamakazi planes, but was never sunk.  It was also one of the ships used in the nuclear bomb tests in the South Pacific after WWII.  Ed served seven months with the army in Panama and later in Hawaii.  Joe was a Sergeant in the US 3rd Army under Patton and was wounded in France in 1944.  He received the Purple Heart, the Presidential Citation, Combat Infantry Badge, and the Bronze Star for his service.
 
   
 Ed remembers his service this way:  "I enlisted in January 1944 as an aviation cadet.  They had more cadets at that time than they could handle and most of us were disbursed throughout the army where they saw fit.  If I knew they were going to do what they did, I would have joined the Navy.  I really wanted to get a piece of the action!  Here is how it went:  Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis Missouri for 4 weeks in January of '44, then to Sarasota, Florida at a P40 Air Base testing aircraft radio for 3 months.  Then I was in Panama for about 4-6 months.  I returned to the US and went to the infantry out of Alexandria, Louisiana for one month, then to Fort Oro, California, and then to Hawaii for jungle training.  When the 1st bomb was dropped on Japan, they figured they wouldn't need  us, so again, we were scattered.  Someone must have looked at my military file and discovered I had trained and worked on radios and transmitters, so they put me in the signal corps, Radio Intelligence Group.  We operated directional finding units, monitored and located Japanese transmission sites in Hawaii.  I was discharged in March of 1946 at Ft. Logan, Colorado. If the military treated recruits now like they did then, we would have a damn small army.  They twisted my arm to get me to reenlist for four more years, but I had enough points to get out--AND I DID."

     Although the family was large and there wasn't always enough money, there was always enough food for everyone.  Mary Ann, a daughter of Pop and Mary's remembered that her mother could always create something out of nothing.  The boys would also sneak into their neighbor's apple orchard and would often take what they wanted, and Mary would fix all kinds of apple pies, cakes, and best of all--apple strudel.  Ed remembered that there were "about 40 acres of apples and apples sold for about 50 cents a bushel, so the neighbor never cared about us.  He couldn't sell them all anyway."

     Throughout their years together, Pop and Mary strove to build a good family with wholesome values.  They also passed on many cultural and familial tradition that are still practiced by their descendants today.  Such as making apple strudel and povititca, and making home-made wine and beer, as well as many other dishes such as T'salma balls.

     Mary died in 196, but Pop lived on to see many grandchildren and great grandchildren.  Pop died on January 12, 1986 after having lived almost 95 years.

     Pop loved the accordion and came to love watching baseball in his later years and his presence was felt whenever you visited Mary, Stella, Helen, or Albert's homes in Kansas City, Kansas.  IN the early 1980s, the family made a video of Pop talking about his early life and how he came to America and many of his stories about the various "adventures" of his life.  It is a wonderful thing to see. 

Florian Stiglich  Born 1867 in Croatia.  Died 1936 in Kansas City, Kansas.
Married
Francis Cindrich  Born 1876 in Croatia.  Died 1924 in Kansas City, Kansas.

Children:
1.  Mary M. Stiglich  Born: Feb 2, 1894 in Croatia.  Married Ivan "Pop" Stimach on August 8, 1911.  Died August 27, 1963 in K.C., Kansas. 
2.  Slava "Stella" Stiglich  
3.  Pete Stiglich
4.  Francis Stiglich  Born:  1899
5.  Joseph Stiglich
6.  George Stiglich


Ivan "Pop" Stimach   Born February 27, 1891 in Pozarnica, Delnice, Croatia.  Died  January 12, 1986 in K.C., Kansas.
Married  August 8, 1911 in K.C., Kansas
Mary Margarite Stiglich  Born February 2, 1894 in Ongiline, Croatia.  Died August 27, 1963 in K.C., Kansas.

Children:
1.  John T. Stimach.  Born May 16, 1912   Married Emma Poje on May 15, 1936.  Died March 26, 1985.
2.  Stella Ann Stimach.  Born December 26, 1913.  Married Joseph Edward Belke on June 15, 1935. 
3.  Joseph M. Stimach.  Born April 4, 1915.  Married Nomi Weber.  Died on December 17, 1996.
4.  Frank M. Stimach.  Born April 14, 1917.  Married Evelyn Smith. 
5.  Mary Ann Stimach.  Born September 26, 1918.  Married George Goodell on April 1, 1944.
6.  Peter Stimach.  Born and died in 1920.
7.  Anthony G. Stimach.  Born April 26, 1922.  Married Dorothy Campbell.  Died on September 14, 1985.
8.  Helen F. Stimach.  Born March 12, 1924.  Married Carl Jorgensen on June 28, 1947. 
9.  Edward F. Stimach.  Born May 6, 1926.  Married Shirley Belle Rhine on October 23, 1948. 
10.  Albert Joe Stimach.  Born September 30, 1929.  Married Dorothy Harris.
11.  Ernest P. Stimach.  Born January 10, 1933.  Married Margarite Snider.  Died on April 24, 1997.

The Stiglich and Cindric Families

Continuing the story of Ed and Shirley Stimach.  Tracey Wetterman's parents, her grand parents, and her great grandparents.

     Florian Stiglich was raised in Croatia and met and married Francis Cindric in Ogiline, Croatia.  Florian and Francis had six children together.  They were Mary Maragrite, Slava "Stella", Pete, Francis, Joseph, and George.

     Sometime in the early 1900s, the Stiglich family immigrated to America.  They traveled on the French liner La Savoy through Ellis Island in New York City.  The trip on the overcrowded boat was a rough one, and at one point the boat was rocking so hard that Slava almost fell overboard.

     Eventually the family made it's way to the Croatian/Serbian community of Strawberry Hill in Kansas City, Kansas.  The Stiglich family moved into a home on Sandusdky that they had to share with other families.  Pop Stimach remembered that there were too many women and not enough kitchens and bathrooms for them to be very happy. 

     The oldest daughter, Mary, met and married Pop Stimac at the St. John's Catholic Church on Strawberry Hill.  It wasn't long before they started having children of their own and in 1912, they had John.  Unfortunately Mary didn't produce enough milk to feed him properly.  Luckily, Francis had also just had a baby, George, and she would feed both babies at the same time.  Usually John would fall asleep before he had finished eating.  Mary Goodell remembered hearing that Francis would come up to feed John and everyday and they would supplement his diet with chamomile tea.

     Mary Goodell remembered that "Grandma would bring lemon drip candies, cookies, breads, sausages and other goodies when she came to visit.  She would try to visit once a week and Johnny would meet her in a buggy at the streetcar.  She always brought material to make the girl's dresses" and would by licorice for the boys.

     Mary and her sister, Stella Belke, also remembered how the Croatian wives would get together and bake lots of povitica and strudel as well as cookies and other sweets.  Stella continued making povitica for the rest of her life.

Ed Stimach and Shirley Belle Rhine

Ed and Shirley are Tracey Wetterman's father and mother.  For their 50th Anniversary celebration I put together a little history for them in 1998.  Ed "corrected" much of it and I present it here.

The Stimach Family History

Ivan John "Pop" Stimach

     The original spelling of the name was Stimac and was Croatian in origin.  Ivan "Pop" Stimac was born in the village of Pozarnica in the Delnice area of the state of Zagreb in Croatia on February 27, 1891.  His father was also named Ivan and his mother was Mary Mufuic.

     Pop was one of seven children of Ivan and Mary.  He had three sisters who died while they were very young and three brothers.  Anthony, Joseph, and a third brother who also died very young.  Pop's father had been a store and tavern owner, but had lost his business due to illness and had moved the family to Pozarnica before Pop was born.  Pozarnica was a very small village and Pop described it as having only "four houses as the complete town."  Pop's mother, Mary, sold homemade wine and whiskey and was also a herbalist or "pharmacist" for Pozarnica and the surrounding area.

     Pop described his father as being "over six feet tall with brown hair" and his mother as being "tall with black hair and a round face."  In Pozarnica, Ivan worked in timber and farming, but by the early 1900s he was unable to work due to old age and Mary had to support the family financially.

     Pop's older brothers came to the US seeking work in the lumber industry and on October 20, 1908, Pop immigrated on the French ship "Lan Riniere" through New Orleans.  He was only seventeen years old at the time and had to borrow the money for the trip from Anthony.  The trip had cost him $250 and Pop had to pay his brother 40% interest on the loan.  So much for brotherly love.  Ed remembers his father telling him that when he left home, his mother, Mary, accompanied him to the train station on an ox cart.  He took the train to France and from there departed for America.

     When he arrived in the US, he was hungry and he noticed a young boy selling a large basket of apples.  Pop only had a five dollar bill, which was a lot of money in those days, but he hadn't yet learned enough English to communicate well.  He approached the boy intending to buy one apple and pointed to the basket of apples and held out the five dollar bill.  The boy was very happy as he took the money and ran off leaving Pop with a large basket of apples.  Needless to day, Pop ate a lot of apples for the next week or so.  He found work as a lumberjack about seventy miles from Oaksgrove, Louisiana, where he stayed and worked for four months making $4.00 a day.  He would saw down trees and split them into stakes.  

     After working for a time in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Pop met a man named Clepcheck, who worked with him as a lumberjack.  Clepcheck invited Pop to come and visit his family on Strawberry Hill in Kansas City, Kansas.  While visiting, Pop attended a wedding at St. John's Catholic Church and met Mary Stiglich.  It was love at first sight as the two were married three months later in 1911. 

     Pop's mother died on the day she learned that Pop had married Mary. It's been surmised that she was very upset because she knew that when Pop married in the U.S. that he would not be returning home to Croatia.  However, Pop's older brother, Anthony had sent all the money he had earned home to his wife in Croatia and eventually returned home.  Unfortunately, World War I broke out and Anthony was captured and sent to a Prisoner of War Camp where he died of lice infestation and disease.  Pop's father died the same year.

     Pop and Mary lived at 319 Barnett on Strawberry Hill and joined St. John's.  They made their first major purchase three years into their marriage when they bought a large dresser.  Pop had many jobs over the years in Kansas City, Kansas.  He worked in construction, stone masonry, and helped build the viaduct connecting Kansas City, Kansas with Kansas City, Missouri.  During the Depression he worked in the government's Works Project Association.  It paid $6.00 a week and they  built infrastructure like roads, bridges, water lines, dykes and dams.

     Pop and Mary had eleven children.  They are John, Stella, Joseph, Frank, Mary, Anthony, Peter, Helen, Edward, Albert, and Ernest.  Peter, however, died only two days old.

David Leslie Wetterman Married Maegan Boell on Oct 20th, 2018

Married at the First United Methodist Church in Caldwell, Texas by Pastor Wayne Calder.

Picture of Johann Neutzler

Found this information out today searching the web.  All the dates and names match up including cousins from the Wetterman book, so I'm 95% certain this is correct.

Anna Amelia Wachmann's mother was Carolina Neutzler.  Her parents were Johann Neutzler and Eleanora.  She had a sister named Johanna who married Carl Friedrich Welhelm Neie.  Johanna and Carl were the parents of Bertha Rost, Welhelm, Emil, Emma Augusta Kunkel, Richard, Ida, and Otto Carl.  These were all 1st cousins of Anna Amelia Wachsmann and Ida's letter to Anna is found in an earlier post.  Unfortunately, Ida died shortly thereafter at the tender age of 12.

Here is a picture of Johann Neutzler and Eleanora.