When Richard Schowengerdt (B3583) and Tommy Dobsch (B31318) informed me early in 1999 that they planned to hold the first ever American Bernbeck/Strack reunion on October 24 of that year, it was clear that I would make every effort to participate. After all, I had brought the members of our Strack I tribe back into the Bernbeck family; how could I not participate? One doesn’t fly across the Atlantic for just a day and so I started to make some plans for a two week stay. When I just about started to think about my arrangements, I heard that Stefan Bernbeck (C33131, 19 years old) would be strongly interested to come along with me. I had always hoped that I would not be the only member of the European part of the family to travel over. Everybody else I had asked had valid reason to send regrets. After making some inquiries into the travel possibilities I made the arrangements for Stefan and myself to fly on October 14, for a little over two weeks.

I was fortunate to have several offers from family members to stay with them. Debbie and Greg Skornia (B313121) had even offered to host us both the whole time of our stay. On the day of our flight I drove from Bad Neuenahr to Frankfurt, where I left my car at the home of Ingrid and Alex Rabenau (D4433). I took the light rail to the airport well in time. At the gate, the agreed upon meeting place with Stefan, I waited quite a while. Just when I started to be apprehensive he finally showed up. He had told me on the phone that he was very tall (about 6’7") but there is a difference between the number and the appearance! Anyway, we had to board soon and he had to work to fit into his seat. The stewardesses recognized his misery and offered to put him up in the last open business class seat. Thus we didn’t get to talk, but both of us had room now. Reunited in Philadelphia we weighed the option to stay overnight since we would arrive at Debbi Skornias home only at 11pm or so. Well, we changed our flight, rented a car and drove down to Baltimore. I met with some former colleagues/friends at my old place of work. One of them had graciously offered to host us for the night and we gladly accepted. To at least partially repay this favor I invited several people for dinner. Stefan was tired, however, and preferred to go to bed. We had fondue at a new restaurant and it was great. Around midnight (already eastern standard time now!) we got home. The next morning I was up earlier than Stefan and had time to exchange news with my hosts. About 8:45am we left and I drove Stefan up to Timonium to show him our former place of residence. I quickly drove by our former church and the church secretary, Gina, almost fell over when I appeared at the door. While we could stay only 15 minutes it was a welcome visit. Then we drove back to Philadelphia, got on our plane and flew out to St. Louis. Upon arrival the high temperature hit us hard. Hauling our luggage to the car rental place took some effort indeed. Well, once we were in the car things started to look bright. A blue sky overhead, a beautiful landscape ahead of us, and the expectancy of the reunion filled our minds and hearts. We drove the route north of the Missouri and, therefore, passed by Augusta, where Georg Münch had settled about 10 years after his wife Charlotte nee Strack (B2) had died. I showed Stefan the Münch plot at the Augusta cemetery. Then we drove on to Dutzow and turned south to cross the Missouri. Debbi had sent me detailed directions to her place and by about 6pm we arrived, now in pretty good shape. While we had never met before in person, we received a very warm welcome indeed.

The Skornia home is a rather new house and turned out to be the best place of temporary residence we could have bargained for. And Debbi and Greg made us feel right at home all the time. I sure hope to be able to return the favor one day.

We had planned to adjust restfully to central time and stayed at the Skornia home the first weekend. There was so much to talk about. Initially I had to tell of the German family, the family union, how we are related etc. After a while I got the upper hand, however, and started my usual quest for more information about our American relatives. Often I would switch on my notebook PC and enter more data, correct others, add photos etc. Alternatingly, people called me determined, focussed or crazy but I don’t mind. Genealogy has become my most important hobby and the Bernbeck family is really interesting. (At the end of our stay I had entered more than 250 new people into the genealogical database and added many more dates for a whole lot more.) But what would the data be without knowledge of the people?

Vera and Raymond Strack (B31221) had also offered to stay with them for a while and so I drove up to Truxton to their farm on Pin Oak Road on Tuesday to stay with them for one or two nights. I’m still amazed at those two wonderful people whenever I meet them or think of them. They are caring for their daughter Evelyn since 50 years now, meaning they hardly ever can get away from home, at least not for long. Yet, Vera has amassed an impressive number of folders with family information. She is much more complete in what she collects than I ever could be. Thus, every time I visit with them I rummage through her folders again and always find data I hadn’t entered before.

 

The next day after I arrived at their home we took an afternoon tour of several cemeteries. Raymond showed me the old Dothage cemetery on a private lot. We then drove on to Strack Church cemetery where we visited again the graves of Karl Konstantin Strack (B3) and his wife Margarethe nee Rennecker and many more Stracks. Raymond hadn’t been there in quite a while an so was happy to see that place again. The next day, just before noon, I left them again to now explore Dutzow again in the hope of finally finding the graves of Charlotte Münch (B2) and her son Otto (B22). Her oldest son Albrecht (B21) is buried in Augusta in the Münch plot. We also still need to find the grave of the youngest daughter Meline Münch (B23) who died during child birth after having been married for a year to Hermann Adolph Mallinckrodt. I made the acquaintance of the owner of the Blumenhof winery and he told me of Carol Muench, a great great granddaughter of Friedrich Münch (older brother of Georg Münch), who would know where on Friedrich Münchs former property the private cemetery would be. I actually made contact with Carol and the week after the reunion we got to see that cemetery.

 
 
 
 

After another day at the Skornia home the big reunion day came. In the morning, Richard Schowengerdt and his wife Emiko visited and we met later at lunch again at the Elijah McLean Restaurant which also served as the venue for the reunion. There I finally met Tommy Dobsch and his wife Mary Ann in person. By about 1:30pm our relatives started to show up and one by one, we got to know more people. A total of 82 people were counted later. Not bad for just one branch of the Bernbeck family! Debbi had rented a beamer (projector) and I set up her notebook to work with it. After some preliminary introduction by Richard, elected speaker of Strack I, he turned the reunion over to me. I had been given 35 minutes to talk. Well, I gave the best wishes of the German family and the council and proceeded to talk about the history of the family union, and why we lost contact to such a large part of the family at the end of the 19^th century. Then I showed them some of the relations we have by using the data set in Brothers Keeper, my genealogy program. Ancestor Lukas Cranach the Elder didn’t quite leave the same impression as the side relative Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, but the well-known stories about Johann Joachim Fabell, for example, amused the audience quite a bit. Then I went back in time to our famous ancestors. When I finally hit the year 220 AD with the last known ancestor of Charlemagne everyone set in silence. This must have been either in awe or (more likely) in exhaustion. A look on the watch showed that I had talked for an hour longer than originally planned! Oh well, nobody complained. A few more speeches followed and then it was time for the dinner. Richard had planned for some dancing afterwards (German music, of course!), but people started to leave by 8:15pm and Debbi and I were the last by 9:15pm! In any case, all the comments we got later were overwhelmingly positive.

Quite important: it was decided to hold reunions again. To avoid conflict with our German reunions one would meet only in odd years. An official reunion would be held every 4 years, i.e. next in 2003, and would involve all our American relatives, not just those of Strack I. The people from close by would meet in the odd years between two larger reunions, i.e. next in 2001 (similar to our small reunions in odd years). Hopefully, I will be able to participate again. So many of our family members originating in Missouri are now close to my heart and always on my mind. I extended an invitation to everyone to come to Germany for the big 2000 reunion and, quite likely, a few Strack I members will be able to make it. Let us make them feel at home just the same way Stefan and I were made to feel at home in Missouri! Since the family treasurer picked up the bill for the beamer rental no loss was incurred by the organizers of the reunion. Those who want to see and read more of the reunion should visit Richards wide web site: Bernbeck-Strack I Reunion.

On Sunday I went, together with Greg, to the Washington Historical Society to meet Ralph Gregory, a well respected 90 year old local historian, who talked about Daniel Boone. There I also met Dorris Keeven who offered to be of assistance in my quest for small cemeteries in and around Dutzow. During the last week of our stay I first took up the offer of Bettie Boffa (B31317) to stay with her for two days. Bettie lives in Augusta in a house commonly known as the "Swiss chalet".
 

When I arrived there were many other visitors, all relatives from the reunion. Bettie collects many items and she is always proud to show them to everyone. The next day her aughter Anita Kay Humphrey (B313171) visited with her family of 4 and I was able to take a photograph of 4 generations. Grandma Boffa actually as several native American Indians in her ancestry. Hopefully, one day I can add those data to my Bernbeck data set!

The next day in the afternoon, after I had left Betties home, I met Kimberly Collette (B313751) at the Augusta winery, the one Georg Münch had founded. One can sit outside and have a wonderful overlook of the Missouri valley. Kims mother, Joyce Hoelscher (B31375), showed up after a little while and we had a picnic together. We had sampled some wines and while we were not overly expressed I found a very good white Port wine and promised myself to buy a bottle only to forget that later! Wednesday was set for our quest for Charlotte Münchs grave. From Friedrich Münchs writing one can calculate that 10 family members should be buried in that private cemetery. Carol Münch and Dorris Keeven met with Tommy, Mary Ann, Stefan and myself at the Blumenhof winery and Dorris offered to drive us all in her minivan. The old Münch farm is in a rather desolate state, but we found the cemetery easily. Yet, only 6 gravestones are in it, and neither Charlotte Münch nor her son Otto are buried there.

The search must continue! We all talked about the different possibilities where they might be buried instead and Dorris then drove us to another old Dutzow cemetery. No familiar names appeared there, however. She then offered to show us the location of the old farm of Baron von Bock, founder of Dutzow which happens to be located right next to the Blumenhof winery. Then Carol Münch had to leave and so did Tommy and his wife. During the whole morning Dorris became ever more impressed with my "zealousy" in trying to find out more about our relatives. Thus we went out to lunch together and drove on to the grave of Paul Follenius, co-leader of the Giessen Emigration Society with Friedrich Münch (and his brother-in-law), and further to Strack cemetery. Yet the next day we met again, this time in Warrenton, Warren Co., at their Historical Society Museum and - with the help of Dorris - I went through many obituaries of family members. Again, this proved "additive" to my data set. We promised to stay in touch and in return for her assistance I helped Dorris to find out more about Gottfried Duden, the man who really started the German mass emigration to Missouri through the publication of a book back in 1829 and is buried in Bonn, i.e. close to my place of residence.

The last day we packed and in the evening I went together with Debbi to a cinema opening in Union, a few miles south of Washington. Greg is not all that fond of such occasions and stayed home with Stefan. While Debbi and I were out Kim and her mother had come to visit to bring me a bottle of white Port from the Augusta winery, because I had liked it so much. What a wonderful thought on their part. I was only able to call them and thank them for their gifts. Saturday came and Stefan and I drove back to St. Louis, returned the rental car and flew back to the "old country". At the airport in Frankfurt we parted since he had to fly on to Zurich. Both of us were tired but full with wonderful memories. We promise to come and visit again! In the meantime, however, everybody is invited to come to "our" reunion on June 17 and 18 of this year!

© 08. April 2000
Otto-G. Richter