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Rev. Hermann Wilhelm Fiegenbaum
and
Sophia (Gusewelle) Fiegenbaum

Family Photos

 
photo of Hermann W. & Sophia (Gusewelle) Fiegenbaum family
Edwardsville, Illinois; 1899.
Courtesy of Carol Seynhoven Fiegenbaum
 

Sophia (Gusewelle) and Hermann Wilhelm Fiegenbaum.

This photo was taken at Edwardsville, Illinois to mark the occasion of Sophia and William's Golden Wedding Anniversary, as the inscription on the back of the photo shows (see below). Bruce Fiegenbaum, William and Sophia's great grandson, has added the biographical note.

 
reverse side of previous photo
Edwardsville, Illinois; 1899.
Courtesy of Harriet L. Fiegenbaum and Judith (Fiegenbaum) Miller
 

Reverse side of the photo shown above.

 
photo of Hermann W. & Sophia (Gusewelle) Fiegenbaum family
Edwardsville, Illinois?
Courtesy of Carol Seynhoven Fiegenbaum
 

In the front row, from left to right: Rev. Hermann Wilhelm Fiegenbaum; Lydia Mary (Fiegenbaum) Jacoby; Sophia (Gusewelle) Fiegenbaum.

In the back row, from left to right: Amelila Bertha (Fiegenbaum) Blume; Dr. Julius Henry Fiegenbaum; Martha Lizette (Fiegenbaum) Lynch; Frederick Adolph Fiegenbaum; Dr. Edward W. Fiegenbaum.

 
photo of Hermann W. & Sophia (Gusewelle) Fiegenbaum family
Edwardsville, Illinois; c.1885-1899.
Courtesy of Carol Seynhoven Fiegenbaum
 

Rev. Hermann W. & Sophia (Gusewelle) Fiegenbaum family.

This is a photo of the extended Fiegenbaum-Gusewelle family. It is believed that everyone has gathered at the home of Dr. Edward W. Fiegenbaum, 306 Main Street, Edwardsville, Illinois.

Harris V. Lynch has observed that the photo must have been taken before 1900, for both he, born in 1904, and his brother, Edward, born in 1900 (or 1902?), are nowhere to be found. The Lynch family is the group at the far right of the front row. It would appear the Harris' older sister, Sophie, the fifth child in the family, is being held on her mother's lap. Sophie was born in 1894.

A more exact date for this photo requires better science than we have available to us at the moment. The same, unfortunately, holds true for the identities of everyone pictured here. At best we offer only a preliminary attempt to pick out each family, and then leave you to your own devices. If you are able to offer us any help, we would be most grateful if you would contact us.

Rev. William and Sophia Gusewelle are seated in the middle of the front row.

To the right of them, seated or standing on the ground, is the Clay H. and Martha L. (Fiegenbaum) Lynch family.

The far left of the front row is occupied by the Fred A. Fiegenbaum family. If the photo was taken on or shortly before 1895, the year of her death, then the woman seated with this group is Fred's first wife, Maria Emilia Kriege. Fred and Emilia had eight children; seven are present in the photo. Their seventh child, Julius, was born and died in 1888. The youngest child, Caroline, was born in 1893; we assume she is the infant seated on her mother's lap. The young man on the far left of the back row of this family has been identified as George Edward Fiegenbaum.

On the right side of the steps (the man is holding a hat in his hands) is the Dr. Julius & Sophie (Pitts) Fiegenbaum family.

The family seated on the porch, behind the railing, seems to be the Rev. Henry & Lydia (Fiegenbaum) Jacoby family.

That leaves just two more families in the photo. They are seated from the top, middle of the steps (the woman holding the baby), down and to the right, immediately behind the Lynch family.

The gentleman with the light beard is, I believe, Dr. Edward W. Fiegenbaum. I am assuming that the girl in the white dress standing by his right shoulder is his daughter, Edna Fiegenbaum. The boy seated at his knee is his son by his first wife, David William Fiegenbaum. In front of David is Mary Emma (Springer) Fiegenbaum, the doctor's second wife; she is holding their second child, Margaret.

By process of elimination, the man on the steps with the darker beard, clasping his hands between his knees, is Charles H. Blume. His wife, Amelia B. (Fiegenbaum) Blume is seated on a chair at the top of the steps and she is holding one of their two sons.

The small boy standing boldly in the middle of the steps, immediately behind Grandma Sophia, is my "orphan." I do not know to which family he might belong.

 

Hermann Wilhelm Fiegenbaum's family

Sophia Gusewelle's family

Hermann Wilhelm Fiegenbaum and Sophia Gusewelle were married 27 September 1849 at St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Their children:

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