Freyermuth Family Album

Generation 2. Jacob Freyermuth (1845-1927) and his second wife, Anna Reitze (1862-1929).

An undated postcard with photographer's mark "Smith & Miller, Photographers, Cochranton, Pa."

Every summer, Jacob and Anna would have the grandchildren visit at the farm. Usually these little visitors were grouped by gender and age. For example, my mother would visit with two girl cousins who were about her size. The kids got to know their relatives and they always had someone to play with. My mom often commented that "Grandmother Anna" must have been a saint to put up with, cook for and clean for all those kids who were, after all, not even hers.

My mother also remembered that "the parlor" was off-limits. The kids would stand in the doorway and dare each other to enter it. Of course, once in a while they would sneak in. Mom and her little cousins were fascinated because there were pictures of people in their coffins, and decorative objects woven out of dead people's hair. Can you imagine how those little girls squealed? (My mom's visits took place in the 1920's, but Jacob and Anna were still practicing the remembrances of the dead that were common practices in earlier times.)

One of Mom's more vivid memories of these visits involved a bat getting into the house. Grandfather Jacob, dressed in his nightshirt and nightcap, chased the bat out of the house with a broom, all the while yelling at it in German.