Treasure Chest Thursday: Sketch by Gertrude Kramer

Cousin Debby sent this image of a pen-and-ink sketch by our great-grandmother Gertrude Kramer Pape (1859-1919), that was in the possession of her sister Val.  Val is not sure how she got it, but it was likely through her grandmother Rhea, Gertrude's daughter.  It is signed "Gertrude Kramer" in the lower right corner, which means that it was likely done before her marriage (in about 1888) to our great-grandfather John Pape (1851-1945), and that her surname is spelled Kramer and not Cramer.


© Amanda Pape - 2020 - e-mail me!

Sentimental Sunday: My Blog Header

 Just a quickie post here to identify people in the new blog header I put up a few months ago.  Click on the image to view it in a larger format.  I created this collage using PicMonkey.  I've used all these pictures in previous blog posts.
I tried to put the photos in reverse chronological order, but got messed up a little at the end.  From left to right:

1)  My parents, Geraldine Margaret Guokas and Frederick Henry Pape, on their wedding day in Houston, Texas, September 11, 1954.

2)  My paternal grandparents, Elizabeth Florence Massmann and Paul Robert Pape, outside the front door of their home at 2093 West Lunt Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, probably in the late 1940s
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3)  Mark's parents, Jewel Moore and Francis Edward Gresham, on their wedding day in Corpus Christi, Texas, October 26, 1940.

4)  One set of my maternal great-grandparents, Levi Marion Shelton and his wife, Sarianne Spikes.  It was taken in Louisiana sometime in the 1920s or early 1930s, before 1935.

5)  My maternal grandparents, Sara Melzina Wolfe and Charles Peter Guokas Jr., outside the Hotel Galvez in Galveston, Texas, during their honeymoon in late July, 1926.

6)  One set of my paternal great-grandparents, Gertrude Kramer (or Cramer) and John Pape, outside their home at 1043 Sherman Avenue in Evanston, Illinois, probably in December 1918 or January 1919.

7)  The other set of my maternal great-grandparents, Charles (Kazimieras) Guokas Sr. and Elizabeth (Elžbieta Benevičiūtė) Banevich, in Houston, Texas, probably shortly before or after their wedding in January, 1900.

8)  Mark's maternal grandparents, Nancy "Nannie" Flora Jones and Tandy Clayton Moore, probably sometime after they married on August 7, 1901.

9)  The other set of my paternal great-grandparents,  Frederick Henry Massmann and Elizabeth Camilla Dienes, at their wedding on June 5, 1900, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago, Illinois.

10) My paternal great-great-grandparents Jacob Pape and Elizabeth Gierse, taken in Germany probably in the 1860s.

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Tombstone Tuesday: John & Gertrude Pape

My great-grandparents, John and Gertrude Kramer (or Cramer) Pape, are buried in Lot 18, Block 6 of St. Henry's Cemetery on Chicago's north side.

Gertrude Kramer or Cramer was born January 9, 1859, and baptized January 11, 1859, at Sankt Servinus Katholisch [Catholic Church] in Calle Meschede, Westphalia, Germany. Her parents were Joseph Cramer and Catharina Becker, and she had two sisters and one brother. She attended a boarding school in Paderborn, Germany, when she was 18 years old. In 1885 or 1888 she emigrated, and married John Pape in 1888. They had seven children. It appears that she lived almost all her life in the United States in Evanston, Illinois. She may have had family in Fowler, Indiana. She died of liver cancer on August 20, 1919.

John (Johannes) Pape was the oldest of four living sons of Jacob Pape and Maria Elisabeth Gierse. He was born October 25, 1851, and baptized October 28, 1851, in Boedefeld, Westphalia, Germany. John came to the USA in 1880. At least one brother stayed in Germany and at least one other (Anton, along with first wife Regina and son Hugo) also came to the United States.

John became a US citizen on August 15, 1892. Gertrude Kramer/Cramer was his second wife; his first wife and two daughters by her died in Germany. His third wife was Hedwige Agnes Reimer? who died May 16, 1937. John was a carpenter and later a dry goods merchant (Singer & Pape) in Evanston and north Chicago. He died on March 9, 1945, at age 93 from liver cancer, chronic myocarditis and arteriosclerosis.

© Amanda Pape - 2010

Sentimental Sunday: Gertrude Kramer Pape's Stammbuch

I'm going to use this post to address a Fearless Female blog prompt from earlier this Woman's History month:

Did one of your female ancestors leave a diary, journal, or collection of letters? Share an entry or excerpt.

One of the items my cousin Bill found in Great Aunt Martha Pape Bleidt's papers was a 48-page booklet that belonged to our great-grandmother Gertrude Kramer (or Cramer) Pape when she was 18 and attending a boarding school in Paderborn, Germany. It's a little autograph or memory book that she passed around to many people who wrote passages and signed and dated them.

Such an autograph book, called a Stammbuch or Album Amicorum (book of friends), was quite common among young German women especially in the late 1800s. The title page of Gertrude's book, pictured above left, is Zum Andenken v. Therese, which roughly translates to "The souvenir (or memory or memento or keepsake) from Therese." This would probably be Therese Weither or Weitler whose entry is first in the booklet, signed in Paderborn and dated January 29, 1877, shortly after Gertrude turned 18.

One of the pages (at right) has this intricately detailed title, Wohin? which translates to "Where?" Most of the entries in the book appear to be written in old-style German Gothic handwriting, which makes them difficult to read.

There are two pages with beautiful glued-on German scraps or die-cuts which are known as Oblaten or Lackbilder. The one at left, Zur Erinnerung, translates to "For Remembrance," and the one below right, Gedenke mein, translates to "Remember Me."

There are 31 entries and signatures in the Stammbuch, most done in Paderborn in February and March, 1877. One of the signatures (below) appears to be that of a Pape - I can't tell if the first name is Amelie or Emilie or Ottilie. I've learned that Pape is a rather common last name in Germany, and that Gertrude's future husband John Pape had only brothers, but perhaps this is one of his cousins - maybe she had something to do with John and Gertrude meeting?

Even more interesting are two entries near the middle of the book. Both were signed in Boedefeld (Bödefeld), which is the hometown of John Pape. The first (below right) was signed by Maria Gierse on April 6, 1883, and the second (below left) by Florentine Gierse on May 4, 1888.

John Pape's mother was Maria Elisabeth Gierse, and he had an aunt named Maria Florentine (and three other aunts with the first name of Maria as well). Gertrude emigrated to the United States in either 1888 or 1885. Perhaps her Stammbuch was signed by some of John's cousins, or maybe her (future?) in-laws shortly before she married John (which supposedly happened in 1888), or during a later visit home.

If anyone out there can translate the writing on these two pages (click on their pictures to view an enlargement), I would love to know what they say!

ETA February 2015:  Helpful folks in the German Genealogy Facebook group (especially Mathias Steinke) say the one from Maria Gierse reads: 

Wenn still an gottgerechter Stelle zum Herrn empor ihr Geist sich schwingt, dann liebe Fräulein Kramer gedenken Sie mein und schließen in ihr Gebet mich ein. Zum Abschiede gewidmet von Ihrer Sie stets liebenden Maria Gierse, Boedefeld, 6.4.1883

and translates as

When, at the God-appointed moment, your spirit soars silently to the Lord, then dear Miss Kramer think of me and include me in your prayers. Dedicated for remembrance to the farewell by your loving Maria Gierse, Boedefeld, 6th April 1883. 

The second one, from Florentine Gierse, reads:

Das Herz, das sich am meisten Gott hingibt, ist am besten bewacht. Ihre stets dankbare Schuelerin Florentine Gierse, Bödefeld, den 4.5.88

and translates as

The heart, which is most devoted to God, will be protected most. Your ever thankful pupil Florentine Gierse, Bödefeld, 4th May [18]88.



© Amanda Pape - 2010

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: Gertrude Kramer Pape, Fearless Female

The Fearless Female blog prompt for March 2 is:

Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

This photo is of a paternal great-grandmother, Gertrude Kramer Pape. She was born January 9, 1859, and baptized January 11 at Sankt Servinus Katholisch [Catholic Church] in Calle Meschede, Westphalia, Germany. Her parents were Joseph Cramer and Catharina Becker. She attended a boarding school in Paderborn when she was 18 years old. In 1885 she emigrated, and married John Pape in 1888. They had seven children. It appears that she lived almost all her life in the United States at 1043 Sherman Avenue in Evanston, Illinois, in a house that was apparently still standing a couple years ago. She died on August 20, 1919, of liver cancer, and is buried at St. Henry Cemetery in Chicago.

This image, generously provided by my second cousin Bill from his grandmother (my great aunt) Martha Pape Bleidt's collection, is actually a hand-colored postcard photograph. I chose this photo because I love hand-colored black-and-white photographs, and I love old postcards.

I also chose it because it was taken when my great-grandmother was about the same age as I am now. Based on the postmark on the back, it had to be taken on or before August 2, 1912, when Gertrude would have been 53 - my age in about a month. The postcard was mailed from what looks (from the postmark) to be Fowler, Indiana. I'm not sure why it was sent from there; perhaps one of my great aunts or great uncles was living there at the time, or Gertrude had family there. Here's the back of the postcard (also from Bill):

And here's what my father has to say about it: "The handwritten letter looks like an old German script J instead of a G which would fit. J. (John) Pape, my grandfather and your great grandfather, had his place of business in 1912 at 6949 N. Clark St. in Chicago. This is not too far from Howard St., the dividing line between Evanston and Chicago. The post card looks like it was written in old German."

© Amanda Pape - 2010