by Polly Brehm Horn

Gale Martin of the Marion County Historical Society will present our German-American Ancestors at 7:30, Tuesday evening, January 10^th in the Myers Inn Museum Meeting Room. This free presentation is open to the public.

When I married Jack Brehm the stories around the dining room table were fascinating because his great grandmother came to the U.S.A. from Germany in 1880 . Her fare was paid by a Countess. Not knowing there was ever royalty around, I was amazed to learn that Nelly Lytle and her sister from Delaware went to a resort in Baden, Germany, where Nellie met and married Count Botho zu Eulenburg. Augusta Simmler was one of 4 daughters and two sons of Joseph and Ida Simmler of Griessen (in Baden), Germany. She had a job as a maid for the Countess in the resort. When the Countess came to Delaware, she paid fare for Augusta to follow her.

Augusta sailed on the ship Aller from Bremen to England then to New York where she went through Elis Island on October 4, 1890, at the age of 24. Speaking little English she followed her nose and discovered donuts and bought a large bag of them for her train ride to Delaware, Ohio. After that trip she would never eat a donut again.

At St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Augusta met a blacksmith, Joseph Brehm, who was born in Bavaria but immigrated from Baden-Baden, Germany two years before Augusta,. they married, raised ther family in 28 Moore Street in Delaware and became the grandparents of my husband Jack Brehm. When Joseph was too old to blacksmith, he and his sons worked in the Delaware Chair Factory each carrying two chairs home for the women to cane the next day. They got fifty cents a chair.

When SHOWA was built one of the directors told me Honda chose this area because of the work-ethic of the German-Americans.  Come to Martin’s presentation to learn more about these immigrants.

Visit the Myers Inn Museum 12-3 Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays or 10-3 on Saturdays. For more information call 740-965-1154 and leave a message. We will return your call.

(12/29/2016)