Wagonload of kids

Dad and Suely recently provided an interesting photograph of Grandpa and Grandma’s kids plus two others. By now most of the kids in the picture should be relatively familiar (left to right):

1. Esther
2. new kid
3. Ruth
4. new kid
5. Darlene
6. Daniel (way in back)
7. Carl
8. Wayne
9. Alma
10. Matilda

I am told that this photo was taken at the Isaac G. and Sarah Epp Franz farm, that is, where Grandma grew up down the road to the west from the Peter P Buller farm. If I understand correctly, the wagon in which the kids are sitting was often used to collect and haul potatoes. Apparently our family ate a lot of potatoes back in the day, practically living on them when times were tight.

As for the new kids, number 2 in the photo is Elvina Lou Franz, and number 4 is Lois Jean Franz. (Is this where Lois Jean Thorne got her first and middle names?) They are the two oldest daughters of Albert A. and Elisabeth Kroeker Franz. If you recall, Grandma was the firstborn in her family (1906); she was followed by Lydia in 1910 and Albert A. in 1914. In other words, this is a cousin photo one generation back.

Elvina was born in 1936, Lois in early 1939, and Alma in 1938, so we can date this photo between mid-1940 and 1941 (probably closer to the former). To add some context, Grandpa and Grandma were in their mid-thirties, and Grandma’s youngest brother August was fifteen (the five children in Grandma’s family were spread out over nineteen years).