(31/229) 1921-00-00-a.jpg

Ruben Schmidt at age 9 months, posed on the bearskin rug from the bear shot by his great-grandfather Gottfried Schmidt

30: 1919-11-26_Alfred_and_Irmgard_Schmidt.jpg
29: Irmgard Ruhbusch Schmidt and Alfred Schmidt, circa 1919.
28: Alfred Schmidt models his World War I uniform in front of the family farm house, about 1919.
27: Circa 1919 -- Alfred's lack of fear of heights was a real asset when building silos.
26: Circa 1919 - anaother brick silo Alfred Schmidt built. He made $75 a week -- more than many laborers earned in a month -- and saved enough money to buy his father's farm.
25: Alfred Schmidt built brick silos with this signature pattern in 1919-1920, before and just after he and Irmgard were married.
24: 1918-00-00_Alfred_L_Schmidt_ca.jpg
23: Alfred L. Schmidt, second son of Fred & Rika Schmidt, in his World War I sergeant's uniform circa 1918. Alfred was drafted and served as a mess sergeant at Camp Zachary Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. The war ended before he could be sent to Europe.
22: Fred W. and Anna Fredericka Schmidt family, about 1918. Back, left to right, Laura Schmidt Otto (about 29), Edmund (24), Adeline (20), Otto (31), Elsie (32), Eldor (15). Front, Alvina Schmidt Wruck (22), "Rika" (52), Alfred (26), Fred (55), and Hildegard (17).
21: Irmgard Ruhbusch Schmidt when she worked for the family of Jane Bradley Pettit (born Sullivan and adopted by her mother's second husband) in Milwaukee in 1918, the year before she married.