Fourth Generation
94. Caroline "Lydia"
KRUMWIEDE was born on 31 Jul 1902 in Buckley, Iroquois County, Illinois.50,98
(The Sprehe Family records have July 29, 1902, but the county records agree
with July 31. Lydia's birth was registered twice, presumably to correct spelling
error. The first registry had both Krumwiede and Sprehe spelled incorrectly.)
She died on 7 Dec 1970 in Watseka, Iroquois County, Illinois.261
Memories of Aunt Lydi:
For many years, Aunt Lydi was the hostess for the New Year's Day Christmas
Party for the descendants of Henry Charles Krumwiede.
The ritual began the day after Thanksgiving. Aunt Lydi prepared a bowl of slips
of paper containing the name of each and every person in the family. Each family
began on the day after Thanksgiving to call her, and she would do the "draw"
assigning a name for each family member to buy a gift. I believe she also wrote
the names down in a ledger so that if the pieces of paper were lost, a phone
call would set it right.
No one was allowed to buy a gift for a member of their own family, so I often
have wondered how, as the slips of paper went down in the bowl, this could be
totally avoided. One possibility, of course, might be that Aunt Lydi's family
took what ever was left in the bowl and that she made sure that all members of
her own family were assigned early on in the draw.
I'll have to ask Verda about this. Perhaps she knows.
It seems to me that for a time Aunt Caroline Krumwiede Seggebruch might have
hosted this party. I'll have to ask Dale and Rhoda about that one.
According to George A. H. Krumwiede and his brother "Fritz," the
New Year's Day Christmas Party began when they were teens. So, as I write this
shortly after George's 90th bierthday in 2001, this means the tradition has been
going on for approximately 75 years.
Today, there is no gift exchange, Aunt Lydi has been dead many years, and the
party is a potluck dinner, held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Onarga, Illinois,
and overseen by Louise Fritchley Krumwiede and Carol Ecker Krumwiede. Card playing
is a big part of the day, as it has always been. Attendance levels are often
determined by the weather. Those at a distance attend usually only if they can
be assured of dry roads and no sudden snow storms.
Caroline "Lydia" KRUMWIEDE and John TESKE were married on 17 Feb 1924 in Buckley,
Iroquois County, Illinois.50
John TESKE (son of August Wilhelm TESKE and Louise
BRUTLAG) was born on 11 Nov 1900 in Cissna Park, Illinois.261 He died on 27 Sep 1978 in Watseka, Iroquois County,
Illinois.261 Caroline "Lydia"
KRUMWIEDE and John TESKE had the following children:
293 | i. | Viola TESKE was born on 7 May 1925 in
Buckley, Iroquois County, Illinois.50
She died on 14 Sep 1993 in Paxton, Ford County, Illinois.261 She was buried in St. John's Lutheran Cemetery, Ash
Grove Twp., Onarga, Illinois.100 | 294 | ii. | Erna TESKE was
born on 4 Oct 1927.50 She
died on 5 Feb 1928.50 She
was buried about 8 Feb 1928 in St. John's Lutheran Cemetery, Ash Grove Twp.,
Onarga, Illinois. | +295 | iii. | Robert Leroy TESKE. | +296 | iv. | Verda Irene TESKE. |
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