Delk Family History (and more!)

The photos have been updated. To see what is new, click here.

There are new documents updated on the site. Check out the Document Log to see what is new. Will have new photos by the end of the week.

Brian

We know Martha (Maitlen) Delk wrote poems, and yes, I have more to display, but did you know one of her poems was put to music? Check it out on her page, under Documents. The song or poem, is titled “My Little Rosebud.” It may not have been a Top 100 chart topper, but it was good enough to be published and that is all that counts.  I will be posting more documents and photos in the coming week, until then, stay warm and keep in touch.

Brian

And letters to boys of World War One. We have a collection of letters and postcards to and from Frank, Russel and Charlie to Elmer and Martha. In them we learn the little things, who got married, who passed away, what Company is in quarantine because of an outbreak of scarlet fever; you know, the little things. Actually, these letters are a treasure chest of information not only about the Delk family during World War One, but of Weldon, Iowa and the different Companies that the three boys were in. So check out the new letters, they are mostly from Frank and Russel, or Elmer and Martha. Also, on some of them, I have included the scanned postcards with them.

I will be adding more documents in the coming weeks.

Brian

Franklin  was stationed in Germany during World War One, and apparently had  started a relationship with Gretel Neimann. We have had two postcards translated from old German style handwriting and I have posted them along with some photos of Gretel on Franklin’s webpage. One of the postcards disproves the belief that they were married, but in her mind they were. She is truly heart broken. Will post more if we find anything.

Brian

The thing about family history is this; while researching the past, the present keeps adding to it. Good or bad, family history has to be experienced, which is why I have been so slow to add new material. But there is now more documents and photos up, most of them having to do with Charles Wesley Delk and his immediate family. Keep checking on the photo and document  logs, I may sneak stuff in without announcing it.

Until next time, Brian.

I have now added the three surviving children of Charles Wesley Delk, onto this site. While that may seem small, it opens up the door for more photos and documents to be posted. In the coming month I will be putting up photos of Charles and Bernice Delk’s children, some that may have not been seen since they were developed, locked away in some of their photo albums, forgotten about until now. Also, I will be slowly adding the rest of Ethelred’s descendents, at least the one’s I have verified. By doing this, I will be able to connect people in the group photos.

I will up date the Photo log and Document log when items are added before I add more post, so I would look there before here for updates.

Brian

While waiting for my father to gather a few more documents and letters, I thought I would add six more pages of poems from Martha (Maitlen) Delk. There are many more to come. The only thing really holding me back from adding all of them at  once is the sheer number of them. I am a slow typist, so bare with me. Not only that, but these poems, while being little ditties, also represent times in her life. For example, Page 13 has a poem about one of her children who had died as an infant. In modern times we are given medication to help us cope with the hard times, a hundred years ago, my great-grandmother had her poems.

Stay cool in this summer heat.

Brian

Aunt Mary’s diary has been updated, it is now complete through October. Interesting stuff going on in Weldon, Iowa. Peggy is crazy on a couple of days, they listened to King George IV speech, canned a lot garden goods for the cave, spent time in the cave because of a bad storm, and a lot of people visited. This is good stuff for researchers of the Great Depression era house holds. Will have the rest of the diary and an index later in the week.

Brian

Which is what I should learn to do. I was given four cloth samples from Martha Maitlen. I only posted three. The fourth one is now posted and can be seen here. I must say, the story of how Martha and Elmer met should be told, especially after looking at the swatches of dresses that Martha saved along with notes for each one. Look at the dates. First date with Elmer, April 6th, engaged four days later, and married two months later. How well did they know each other before dating? Since they were first cousins, what did their parents, who were brother and sister, think? And, we know that Elmer’s brother Fernandis Orien, had been in communication with Martha before the marriage because of the letters that Martha had saved. Could he have gotten them together? Just speculation. Will post more soon.

Brian