EMILIE LOUISE (Schöttle) SENN

Emilie Louise (Schöttle) Senn was born in a little town in Germany called Wildberg. It is in the rolling hills on the edge of the Black Forest just south of Stuttgard and south of Frankfurt. We saw the big house she was born in and it was first built around the time Columbus discovered America. Although my ancestors were not in this house the whole time, it seems it was Grandma Senn's father, Gottfried Schottle, who was the first to move in this big house, from our family. The house is built on the side of a mountain and the top two stories of the four stories, can be accessed from the street from the edge of the mountain. The bottom two stories of the house have one side into the mountain. Emilie roomed on the top floor with her sisters. As you look down from the street you can see an old stairway that could have been used by Grandma. Now I know why my mom, me and my daughter have such strong legs. We must of inherited them from her. Walking around the town involves a lot of climbing.

Klara was one of the twins born to Marie, Emilie's sister. Emilie received word that her sister had twins but never made it back to Germany to meet her new nieces. Klara is the first cousin of Emilie's daugthers. Emilie's daughter's thought it was their mother's sisters who were twins. The story got a little mixed up handing it down. A visit to Germany by Esther's daughter Susan proved that the well-known Tante Klara was definitely one of the twins of the family.She, being a first cousin of Esther, Marie and all of the Wilhem Senn's children.

Emilie's town is beautiful and had a nice little river that went through the town. She had two sisters and three brothers. The town spoke the swabish dialect of German. Hardly anyone speaks English even today as most Germans understand English. This dialect made it difficult to communicate but was also fun. Roland and his family Elizabeth his wife and children Malaika and Hiruth brought us to the town and we stayed in the Sonne Bone Hotel. Roland is the son of Emilie who is the daughter of Marie, sister to Emilie. This could get confusing. But Anna, then Emilie and Marie were the daughters of Christina and Gottfried Schottle. Marie and six children and one of her daughters was Emilie named after her Tante and one was Klara one of the twins. Then there is Marie who was named after her aunt from Germany. Marie is one of Emilie Senn's children. Marie and Esther shared that their mother Emilie, went to work in Stuttgard before coming to America. We think she may have been a seamstress. After travelling and touring all day in Germany, we were tired when we arrived in Wildberg. It was about 8 pm. We finally got our rooms and settled down. Roland asked if we would join them for a glass of wine in the dining room. Emlee joined us. And she asked the question, "How old is this place." The owner was in the place but he didn't know. There were some town people too. Then they asked, "what brings you here." We told them we were related to Klara. They knew Klara had retired to a nursing home. And in the hotel she insisted on staying there too. She had gone to her room for the night. They were very excited to know she was here that we went up to get her.It became a reunion. It then came to why we were here. I brought with me four old postcards from around 1904 that were sent to my grandmother from Wildberg. I passed them around. None of these town people could speak English so it was a communication with Elizabeth in the middle. She would tell us what they said and we would share with them. I told them my Great grandfather Gottfried Schottle was the first to own the house one lady from town she recently saw his name on a writeup in the paper. It was about a old Lutheran Sect that was disappearing. It was a very strict sect of the church. Gottfried was instructmental in it's establishment. One lady in the group Estella ---- said the postcards were written in old German and she was very good at it. She said she would translate it for me. Although it would have to be in new German and then we could have it translated to English. The next morning before 9 am she had all 4 postcards enlarged and translated.

Emilie arrived in America, Ellis Island on June 1, 1904. The original boat document is at ellisisland.org. She immediately went to Buffalo to live with her brother Fredrick. Fredrick Schottle married a widow named Barbara and she had two children in which Fredrick was the step father. As Emilie arrived in Buffalo her adventure lead her to a job. She was to be the live-in maid for a family. Emilie was very brave to have traveled alone to this new country on a boat that took forever to cross the ocean. She met my grandfather at the Hari Gari Temple. This was a German club where many German who had recently arrived from Germany could feel at home with their fellow countrymen. It appears from postcards that she started courting grandpa Senn.

Emilie was a member Schwabisher Singabund. This was a German Women's singing club. When my mom and aunt were little their parents would speak German. The children insisted they speak English. The house that Grandpa build, 83 Haven Street. It was duplex. The boys lived upstairs. There were 2 bedrooms upstairs. It was on a dead-end street. There was a cider pile in the field. They use to toboggan down in the winter. They would build fires and cook raw potatoes. She remembers coming home from school in the winter and being cold and her mother rubbing her feet. Rupp's Garage was at the end of the street near Geneses. They went School PS 77 grammar school. And went to Forsdick Masten High School on High Street. Dad build his motor cycle and Mom would ride on the back. They were driving in a field once. She remembers him hitting a ditch and her flying over handle bars and landing in the field.

Emilie had eight children. She had four boys all two years apart and then a span of four years where she had no children. I was told she had miscarriages at this time. She then had four more children, all girls and all two years apart. Since leaving Germany at the age of twenty-three, she never did make it back to Germany to visit her family.