Family members who attended the early reunions always spoke sentimentally about the fun and love always present at Broida Reunions. Here is what was snail-mailed to family members after the big 1937 event. The newsletter must have been typeset, as the typewriters of the day could not do such formatting and font changes- something that we can now do at home in no time.

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family treasure chest.

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

The Broida family held reunions in both Youngstown, Ohio, and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania (about 65 miles away), two of the main cities of Broida family settlement. There were meetings and committees and newsletters and much planning to make the reunions a success, which they always accomplished. Reunions were held in the 1930s-1950s, and then there was a lull until two in the 1990s.

The picture of those who attended is a long picture that must be rolled up for storage, hence some of the cracks in the images. Numerous family members still have this photo, and a copy may also be found in the Broida Family Collection, Saul Brodsky Jewish Library in St. Louis, Missouri.

A Broida Reunion News of 1937, written after the reunion, states there are many missing faces from the photo- over 300 attended the event. We do know that many of the descendants of John Broida attended, and there are a number of other Broida lines represented.

We are posting here sections of the photo, in hopes that crowd-sourcing will help us identify the people in the picture. We do know four persons and have included an annotated image with names.

Please contact us if you have information that would help identify some of the persons in these images. (We will not post information about those still living, but would like to know the information for our files.)

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family photo and ephemera collections.

2) Saul Brodsky Jewish Community Library, St. Louis, Missouri. http://brodskylibrary.org/archives.php. A small family reunion was held here with cousins from St. Louis and Colorado, to explore the collection.

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and lmm, jrw.

A recent visit to the Weidner Robinson Cemetery was an opportunity to see the burial spot of Henrich and Catharina Weidner, as well as their replaced tombstones. To keep the ravages of time, weather, and vandals at bay, the original tombstones were moved to the Newton Historical Museum, Catawba County, North Carolina. (See last week’s Tombstone Tuesday: Heinrich and Catharina Weidner.)

Their replacement stones have the original German inscriptions, although in a more readable way than just getting every letter possible on each line with words broken between lines.

English versions of the inscriptions were added to the other side of the replacement tombstone.

Catharina’s replacement tombstone is also in German on one side.

The other side also features an English inscription.

Weidner Robinson Cemetery also includes a stone with information concerning the family history of the Henrich Weidner-Catharina Mull family.

Thankfully it is all in English.

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Heritage Ramblings post on the original Weidner stones- http://heritageramblings.net/2014/08/05/tombstone-tuesday-heinrich-and-catharina-weidner/

2) All photos taken by James R. Whitener, July, 2014.

3) Weidner Robinson Cemetery on Find A Grave- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2227187&CScn=weidner+robinson&CScntry=4&CSst=29&CScnty=1668&

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Catawba County, North Carolina, previously a northern part of Lincoln County, was formed in 1842. Those with ancestors in Catawba Co. might also want to search records for adjacent counties, as the area had also been a part of  Bladen County until 1750, Anson County 1750-1753, Rowan County 1753-1777, and Burke County, 1777-1782. Catawba County is located in North Carolina’s Piedmont, in the western portion of the state.

Catawba County sits amidst ridges and rolling hills in the northern section, and  flatter areas in the south, with the Appalachian Mountains off to the west, and the coastal plain as one heads east. It is rich with waterways, important for early colonists for many reasons, including transportation.

Named after the Catawba Indians who roamed the area in the early years, German settlers migrated there in the late 1740s, as did English and Scots-Irish families. The Northern Irish Presbyterians, ‘Orangemen,’ Scot-Irish, English, and Scottish immigrants settled mostly in the southeast portion of what is now Catawba County.

The higher section of the county was similar to the Rhine Valley of French Germany, and many of the German families migrated to this area. They would have not been as homesick, perhaps, living here, and would have known the crops and animals that would thrive in such an area. The Germans included Rhenish Palatines, Swiss, Saxon, and other groups. Their religions included Lutheran, Mennonite, Moravian, Dunkard, Reformed, Anabaptist, and other Protestant sects.

Many of these settlers later moved to Southeast Missouri, which is what happened in our line of Whiteners.

Catawba County was the home of Heinrich Widner and his wife, Catharina Moll. The couple were German immigrants who married in Pennsylvania, but, like many, migrated to the Carolinas by 1750, probably using the Great Wagon Road. They would have submitted their land claim to the Crown through the Governor.

The land is still owned by Widner descendants- one generation after another has inherited the Widner land, which has never been sold after receiving the original land grant.

Henrich and his wife settled near a spring to have fresh water. That same spring feeds the above lake on property owned by his descendants.

The French & Indian Wars were occurring regularly during this early settlement, and the families would have been very isolated due to frequent raids and depredations along the frontier. The American Revolution influenced those in this area as well- battles at King’s Mountain, Cowpens, and Ramsours Mill would have taken their sons, their livestock and crops, and caused much hardship among the settlers.

It most probably was not as romantic a time as seen in the movies. But the colonists persevered, and descendants now can walk their paths in Catawba County, North Carolina.

Notes, Sources, and References:

1. Please Note: As stated above, the Weidner homestead and cemetery are on privately owned land. The original Weidner headstones have been moved to protect them and may be seen at the museum of the Historical Association of Catawba County; see http://catawbahistory.org/museum-of-history for more information. Also, the Weidner-Robinson Cemetery has been recorded on Find A Grave and 86% of the stones have been photographed- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2227187&CScnty=1668&CSsr=201&
2.  Photos by James Whitener, taken on his family trip to Catawba County, NC, July, 2014.
3. Wikipedia entry for Catawba County, North Carolina: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catawba_County,_North_Carolina
4. Catawba Co. NC at the NCGenWeb Project- http://www.ncgenweb.us/catawba
5. Catawba County Land Grants on US GenWeb- http://www.ncgenweb.us/catawba/media/SouthWest.jpg
6. Interesting information on the Great Wagon Road- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wagon_Road
7. Links to our recent blog posts on Heinrich and Catharina Weidner:

“Tombstone Tuesday: Heinrich and Catharina Weidner”- http://heritageramblings.net/2014/08/05/tombstone-tuesday-heinrich-and-catharina-weidner/

“Wishful Wednesday: Heinrich Weidner and Catharina Moll in Catawba County, NC”- http://heritageramblings.net/2014/07/30/wishful-wednesday-heinrich-weidner-and-catharina-moll-in-catawba-county-nc/

Don’t forget our search box if you want to learn more about this family!

Please contact us if you would like a higher resolution image.

Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

These original tombstones for Henrich Weidner and his wife Catharina Moll are in the Newton Historical Museum, Catawba County, North Carolina. They are carved out of soapstone native to the area, and were, of course, hand carved after the deaths of Henrich and Catharina, in 1792 and 1804, respectively. Soapstone is easy to carve, but also deteriorates easily. The Catawba County Weidner family donated the original headstones to the county historical society, to protect them from the elements as well as from vandalism. They have been replaced with copies where the Wideners were originally buried near Jacob’s Fork River.

The person who carved the stones used every inch of the stone, sometimes breaking a word with a few letters placed on the next line. The stones were carved  in German, the language Henrich and his family probably spoke much of the time, especially in their early years in the colonies.

Translation of headstones:

Henrich We-

idner was

born in

year 1717 on

19 Octob-

er and is d-

ead in y-

ear 1792 on

31 July an-

d is age wa-

s 75 year-

s and 7 mo-

nths

ATMC= (Unknown)

Catharina We-

idner was b-

orn in ye-ar 1733 on 24 M-

ay and is de-

ad on 26 A-

ugust 1804 and

is age was 7[1]

years 7 months

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Images taken by James Whitener, July 2014, in the Newton Historical Museum, Catawba County, North Carolina.

Please contact us if you would like a higher resolution image.

Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog, James Whitener, and pmm.