Greetings from Lake Geneva, Wis. (Sepia Saturday 736)

 

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, Box 342, Potter Co, Pa
From: Gerda (sent from Chicago, Jun 9, 1908)

Käre bror! Undrar hur du mår. Jag är nu på landet, detta är platsen som jag arbetar, men den är så otydlig. Du väntar nog på bref, jag skall snart skrifva. Här är så vackert, jag önskar du vore här. Jag har just varit och badat i sjön idag. Kära hälsningar frän syster Gerda. 

Dear brother, I'm wondering how you are. I'm now in the countryside, this is the place where I work, but it [the picture] is very blurry. You will be waiting for a letter, I will write soon. It is so beautiful here, I wish you were here. I have just been to the lake for a swim today. Love, sister Gerda

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, Box 342, Pa.

From: Gerda (Lake Geneva, Wis, Jul 23, 1909)

Käre bror! Jag är nu på landet, och jag har ej hört någonting från dig på så länge. Jag undrar hur du mår. Jag mår fint. Jag minns ej om jag skref till dig innan jag lemna Chicago, så kanske är min tur. / Här är förtjusande vackert, jag önskade du kunde komma hit. Jag kanhända lemnar här nästa vecka. / Min adr. är c/o Mrs Seipp, Lake Geneva, Wis.

Dear brother, I'm now in the countryside, and I haven't heard from you in so long. I'm wondering how you are. I'm fine. I don't remember if I wrote to you before I left Chicago, so perhaps it's my turn. / It's charmingly beautiful here, I wish you could come here. I might leave next week. / My adress is c/o Mrs Seipp, Lake Geneva, Wis. 

After a few shorter employments in Chicago, my great-aunt Gerda ended up working in the household of a well-known physician, Otto L. Schmidt. (Among other things, he was prominent enough to be one of 25 citizens to have his name engraved on The Illinois State Archives building in Chicago in 1938.  He was also the first physician in Chicago to use X-rays.) His wife was Emma Seipp, daughter of a wealthy Chicago brewer, Conrad Seipp. They were both of German heritage; and had three children: Ernst, Alma and Clara.  

I have written about them before on this blog (some of the posts not linked to Sepia Saturday). For example, you can read more about Otto L. Schmidt in a post from September 2012, and about his wife Emma and the Seipp family in a post from April 2021. 

Here, I'll just repeat that it seems the Schmidts (and at least some of their servants) used to spend the summers at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where Mrs Schmidt's mother had a house - or even two. An article I found online says that the Seipp family built a summer home there in 1888, and after the death of Conrad Seipp, his widow (Catherine Orb Seipp) added a rather large and more modern "cottage" in 1905 - "to also accommodate her large and growing family".

I have also come to the conclusion that the two photos below of Gerda together with other servants were probably taken at Lake Geneva, on two different occasions. My guess is that both these photos show the summer staff at the Lake Geneva houses, consisting of Mrs Seipp's own servants +  those that Mrs Schmidt brought with her from her own household in Chicago. (In case you are wondering, Gerda is standing in the middle of the top row in the first photo, and sitting down on a tree stump or a rock in the second.)

The second postcard above (with the boat) shows the residence of a Mrs. Otto Young. I also found an article about Otto Young and his stone manor. It seems that Young was another German immigrant who arrived in New York in the 1850s, worked his way up in business (involving jewellry and real estate) and ended up very rich. He had a stone manor built at Lake Geneva, and died there in December 1906. I suppose that after his death the manor came to be known as the residence of his widow - and so named on this postcard.

To finish off this post, I recently noticed two more postcards of residences along Lake Geneva, Wis.,  in Gerda's collection of unwritten cards. I have not yet done any research on those names - maybe I'll return to them some other time... (I'm already late with this post as it is!)

Linking to Sepia Saturday 736

 

G.043.01 - Residence of Mrs Otto Young, Lake Geneva, Wis. (1909)

 

Residence of Mrs Otto Young, Lake Geneva, Wis. (1909)
R.B. Arnold, Lake Geneva, Wis. No 112

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, Box 342, Pa.
From: Gerda (Lake Geneva, Wis, Jul 23, 1909)

Käre bror! Jag är nu på landet, och jag har ej hört någonting från dig på så länge. Jag undrar hur du mår. Jag mår fint. Jag minns ej om jag skref till dig innan jag lemna Chicago, så kanske är min tur. / Här är förtjusande vackert, jag önskade du kunde komma hit. Jag kanhända lemnar här nästa vecka. / Min adr. är c/o Mrs Seipp, Lake Geneva, Wis.

Dear brother, I'm now in the countryside, and I haven't heard from you in so long. I'm wondering how you are. I'm fine. I don't remember if I wrote to you before I left Chicago, so perhaps it's my turn. / It's charmingly beautiful here, I wish you could come here. I might leave next week. / My adress is c/o Mrs Seipp, Lake Geneva, Wis. 

***

So, just like last summer (G.038.01) Gerda is spending some time at Lake Geneva. The address she gives on this card seems to confirm that she was there with the family she worked for in Chicago. Compare an old post of mine from 2012-09-03:  Otto L. Schmidt, Gerda's employer in Chicago 1910.  Dr. Otto Schmidt's wife was Emma Seipp, daughter of Conrad Seipp, a Chicago brewer. 

On a whim, I also googled "Mrs Seipp, Lake Genva, Wis." (... even if that was 112 years ago...) This led me first to a magazine entitled At The Lake - Geneva Lakes Area Magazine, and an article from Nov 20, 2017, entitled In Her Own Words. This article turned out to be about one of the daughters of Otto and Emma, Alma Schmidt Petersen. In 1914, as a young upper-class woman in her early 20s, Alma was travelling in Germany to visit relatives there when WWI broke out; and she kept a journal and wrote letters, which have been preserved and are held at the Newberry Libarary in Chicago. 

This strikes me as quite a remarkable coincidence, as I know that when WWI broke out, Alma's parents' former maid Gerda was in France (and got 'trapped' there during the war). As far as I know, Gerda did not keep a journal (or if she did, I've never heard of it being preserved). But there are some WWI postcards sent from France, which will turn up here later on, if I manage to keep up the blogging.

The same Google search also took me to the website of Wisconsin Historical Society, and a photo of what seems likely to be the very house that the Schmidt family (including their maid Gerda) visited in the summers: Bartholomay House* - built in 1905 for Emma Schmidt's mother, Catherine Orb Seipp. (Follow the link to the website for more details.) 

 

As for the building featured on this postcard, entitled "Residence of Mrs. Otto Young", a search on that takes me to a blog article from 2010 about Otto Young and his stone manor. It seems that Young was another German immigrant who arrived in New York in the 1850s, worked his way up in business, involving jewelry and real estate, and ended up very rich. He had this stone manor built at Lake Geneva, and died there in December 1906. I suppose that after his death the manor came to be known as the residence of his widow, and so named on this postcard.

Really, once again I'm amazed at how much history can be "hidden" in a simple postcard. 

 

Greetings from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (1908) / G.038-039

 G.038.01

No. 12 Along the South Shore, Lake Geneva, Wis.
(M A Pendleton Pub, Lake Genva, W18)

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, Box 342, Potter Co, Pa.
From: Gerda (sent from Chicago, Jun 9, 1908)

Käre bror! Undrar hur du mår. Jag är nu på landet, detta är platsen som jag arbetar, men den är så otydlig. Du väntar nog på bref, jag skall snart skrifva. Här är så vackert, jag önskar du vore här. Jag har just varit och badat i sjön idag. Kära hälsningar frän syster Gerda. 

Dear brother, I'm wondering how you are. I'm now in the countryside, this is the place where I work, but it [the picture] is very blurry. You will be waiting for a letter, I will write soon. It is so beautiful here, I wish you were here. I have just been to the lake for a swim today. Love, sister Gerda

Kommentar: Hoppsan, det verkar som vi har ett annat alternativ till var fotona av "jungfrurna vid sjön" skulle kunna vara tagna. [Jmf ett annat inlägg nyligen: G.033.03, A View from Minnesota (1906).] Här dyker tre vykort upp som visar att Gerda även sommaren 1908 lämnade Chicago för arbete i mer lantlig miljö, denna gång vid Lake Geneva i Wisconsin. 

Jag observerar dock att det första kortet är poststämplat i Chicago. Kollar med kartan, och avståndet mellan Chicago och Lake Geneva är inte mer ca 14-15 (svenska) mil. Det är inte otänkbart att familjen hon arbetade hos i Chicago kan ha haft (eller hyrt) ett sommarställe i Wisconsin. 

Comment: Oops, it seems we may have a contender as to where the photos of "The Maids of the Lake" might have been taken. [Cf. the recent post G.033.03, A View from Minnesota (1906).] Here we have three cards that show that in the summer of 1908, Gerda also spent some time away from the city.

However, I note that even though Gerda says here that she is writing from the countryside, this card was still sent from Chicago. I check the map, and find that the distance between Chicago and Lake Geneva is around 85-90 miles. I'm thinking that perhaps the family she was now working for in Chicago may have had (or rented) a summer residence at Lake Geneva. 

G. 038.02

Plymouth Rock, Sunday School Camp, Lake Geneva, Wis.
No. 121, V.O. Hammon Pub. Co., Chicago

To: Mr. Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, Box 342, Potter Co, Pa.
From: Gerda (sent from Lake Geneva, Wis., July 1, 1908

Käre bror! Jag vill sända dig ett par flickor från Lake Geneva. Hoppas du tycker om dem. Jag önskar du kunde komma hit, här är mycket vackert och jag har trefligt. Skrif snart. Kära hälsningar, syster Gerda.
På framsidan: Känner du igen de här flickorna?

Dear brother, I want to send you a couple of girls from Lake Geneva. I hope you'll like them. I wish you could come here, it's very beautiful and I'm having a good time. Write soon. Love, sister Gerda.
On the front of the card: Do you know these girls?

G.038.03

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton Box 342, Potter Co, Pa.
From: Gerda (sent from Lake Geneva, Wis., July 1908)

Käre bror! Jag önskar dig mycke trefligt och Kära hälsningar från syster Gerda.
Dear brother, I wish you a good time. Love, sister Gerda

G.039.02

The Yerkes Observatory, Lake Geneva, Wis.

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton 342 Box, Potter Co, Pa.
From: Gerda (Chicago, Aug 11, 1908)

Käre bror! Mycken tack för brefvet! Jag vill sända dig ett kort tills jag hinner och skrifva. Jag mår bra, hoppas du gör detsamma. Kära hälsningar från syster Gerda.

Dear brother, many thanks for the letter! I'm sending you a card until I find time to write. I'm well, I hope you are, too. Love, sister Gerda

G. 039.03

[Har vi inte alldeles nyss sett den här vyn? Jo, det har vi...]
[Haven't we just recently seen this view? Yes, we have...]

To: Mr Gust Ekman, Galeton, Potter co, Box 349, Pa
From: Gerda (sent from Chicago, Nov 30, 1908)

Käre bror, mycken tack för kortet och bref. Jag sänder nu fotografiet*, du får ursäkta jag dröjt så länge med att skicka, men har ej blifvit av. Jag mår bra, skall snart skrifva brev. Kära hälsningar från syster Gerda

*Vilket fotografi hon syftar på är oklart, det måste ha sänts i ett separat kuvert eftersom vykortet är poststämplat. 

Dear brother, many thanks for the card and for the letter. I'm now sending the photo*, please excuse that it's taken me so long, I just haven't got round to it. I am well, will write a letter soon. Love, sister Gerda

*What photo she is referring to is not made clear, it must have been sent separately in an envelope as the viewcard has a postmark (which also indicates that she is now back in Chicago).