Thursday, April 19, 2018


Sarah Wiedrich Suffers a Loss
Often people suffer misfortune because of natural events, house fires or political events but Sarah suffered hers at the hand of her son-in-law. After her husband died Sarah had difficulty meeting financial obligations. After all she was a woman born in 1868 and she is now almost 80-yrs-old. Her large house went up for sheriff’s sale and she may have harbored some hope when her son-in-law, Neal bought the house. But while Neal would allow her to continue to live in the house she bedroom would be a small room under the stairs. Any of her treasures and family heirlooms would have to fit in her bedroom. Neal then proceeded to take everything else to the town dump. Years later he would regret doing this because he said he could have received lots of money for those antiques. Never mind that he threw out portraits of her ancestors that were over 100 years old. In the small pallor she had her chair where she would be squeezed between the front door and the wall. Even in death Sarah would suffer the loss of her heritage when her granddaughter would throw out letters written to her from mother Matilda. The granddaughter would say she didn’t know any Matilda.
#52 Ancestors 2018

Monday, April 9, 2018

52 Ancestors: A Woman of Strength - Hazel Bristol Wiedrich


52 Ancestors: A Woman of Strength – Hazel Bristol Wiedrich
My grandmother was the strongest woman I ever knew. Hazel Bristol Wiedrich faced adversity her entire life. Her father was a man who came from a family who thought of themselves as cut above the rest. Her mother, Mattie was the proverbial woman from the other side of the tracks. When she was three her father died of cancerous tumors that necessitated amputating his arm at the elbow. Her father’s sister wanted to raise Hazel, but her mother declined. This was a little bit confusing since Mattie was somewhat mean spirited to her and inserted herself in all of Hazel’s friendships. Her mother did wash and had boarders and would eventually marry one of them, John Isaac. As a small child Hazel injured her shin which never would heal. She would under go more than a dozen operations before a surgery where her incision would be left open for a “fresh air treatment”. This caused the bone to disintegrate to the point that amputation was necessary. The doctors could not convince her mother that what her daughter had was different than her husband. The leg only needed to be amputated below the knee, but Mattie insisted on the amputation at the top of the thigh. This was before WWI and medicine was not as it is today. Many people didn’t survive amputation and so they complied. They also required her beautiful auburn waist length hair be shorn. Some believed long hair sapped your strength and so off went her hair. She survived the amputation but in photos taken at that time her appearance shows the toll it took. Her mother told her she needed to have a trade since no man would ever marry her. She learned haberdashery. Then one day my grandfather, Edward Wiedrich delivered ice to their home and a romance began. She married at the age of 25 and her mother continued to insert herself by going on the honeymoon with the couple. The next year found Hazel pregnant with her first child. Mattie went to the police station to insist her son-in-law be arrested for getting her daughter pregnant. Her daughter’s brother-in-law was a police officer present at this event and said all in the station had a good laugh. Eventually Hazel had four daughters. Money was always tight. They lost a home and later a farm. When they moved to New Jersey things were no better. They lived in a truck. My poor one-legged grandmother had to climb up into her home where there was no running water or electric. They lived like this for 5 years. But like always she not only made do but never complained and saw only the brighter side of life. This was during WWII when life was difficult for everyone and my grandfather only made it worse. He left for a year to be a merchant sailor. He sent no money home for the family and when he returned brought no money back. Fortunately, the oldest daughter worked as did my 12-yr-old mother to help support them during those difficult years. Then my grandfather decided that life was better in Florida and moved my grandmother and two of the daughters to Tampa. There they still had the truck to live in until they moved into a small cabin in DeSoto Park. A few years later they finally had a house. All the while Hazel always looked on the bright side, never complaining. She also lived with several physical problems. She had cataracts, became deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other, and developed diabetes all in her twenties. She used crutches until her later years when she was forced to go in a wheel chair. She was the strongest woman I know and the most outstanding person who saw the positive side of life whatever the circumstances.

#Hazel Wiedrich, #52 Ancestors Strength, #51 Ancestors 2018