My paternal grandparents, Michael and Mary (Simons) Andes, were Volga Germans. They married in 1892 while still in Russia and immigrated to the United States with their two oldest daughters Elizabeth and Mary. The family sailed from Hamburg Germany on the maiden voyage of the S.S. Patricia and arrived in New York May 19, 1899. The Manifest of Alien Immigrants, at Page 0725, reflects their place of residence was Eidkuhne and passener records reflect their destination was Topeka, Kansas.
A few years after arriving in the United States Mike and Mary Andes were blessed with seven other children, making a total of nine children born to the marriage.
Grandpa worked as a boilermaker for the railroad until sometime after 1915 when he moved his family to Spearville, Ford County, Kansas to begin farming. These early years must have been very hard for our first ancestors in America. While adjusting to a new country and way of life, Michael and Mary lost two daughters, struggled through lean economic times, and endured the unfriendly welcome they sometimes recieved in their new homeland.
In 1923 further heartache and hardship occured when Michael's wife Mary became ill. She died of stomach cancer June 3rd of that year, leaving him with five children ranging in age from 8 to 18 years of age still living at home. The family continued working the farm for a few years following Mary's death, but they were not happy ones; and at some point they returned to the Topeka, Kansas area, where daughters Elizabeth and Helen were residing.
By 1930 Michael was living alone at a boarding house in Topeka while his young children attempted to make it on their own. The youngest, Josephine, ran away from home around 17 years of age and was never heard from again by any of her family members. My father (John) carried a picture of his sister in his wallet until the day he died, but she was seldom discussed in our household because her name often made my father cry. As of this date, September 5, 2010, Josephine was never found. I like to think that someday all nine siblings will once again be reunited in Heaven.
A FINAL JOURNEY
For a short time Grandpa Mike lived with his son John's family in Lecompton, Kansas; but he wasn't happy living away from the area he knew as home in North Topeka. His last days were spent living on Clay Street in Topeka with his son Pete's family. On February 26, 1949 Michael Andes began his last journey, sailing from a hospital room in Topeka toward "The Final Port", where he would be reunited with family members - some of whom he and Grandma may have left standing on a pier in Russia 50 years earlier.
NEWSPAPER OBITUARY
Topeka Daily Capital, February 27, 1949
"Michael Andes, 82, died in a local hospital Saturday afternoon. (February 26) His home is at 1029 Clay, Topeka, Kansas. Mr. Andes was born in Russia in 1866 and came to the United States about 50 years ago. He had lived in Topeka practically all the time since then. A retired farmer and a member of Holy Name Catholic Church, he was predeceased by his wife 25 years ago.
Surviving are three sons, Joseph and Peter of Topeka and John of Lecompton; four daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Ingenthron and Mrs. Helen Lester of Topeka, Mrs. Ann Berberick of Denver and Miss Josephine Andes of California; 21 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 8 a.m. at Holy Name Church with burial in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. The body will lie in state at the Brennan Funeral Home Monday from 3 to 9 p.m. Parish rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. Monday."
A few years after arriving in the United States Mike and Mary Andes were blessed with seven other children, making a total of nine children born to the marriage.
Grandpa worked as a boilermaker for the railroad until sometime after 1915 when he moved his family to Spearville, Ford County, Kansas to begin farming. These early years must have been very hard for our first ancestors in America. While adjusting to a new country and way of life, Michael and Mary lost two daughters, struggled through lean economic times, and endured the unfriendly welcome they sometimes recieved in their new homeland.
In 1923 further heartache and hardship occured when Michael's wife Mary became ill. She died of stomach cancer June 3rd of that year, leaving him with five children ranging in age from 8 to 18 years of age still living at home. The family continued working the farm for a few years following Mary's death, but they were not happy ones; and at some point they returned to the Topeka, Kansas area, where daughters Elizabeth and Helen were residing.
By 1930 Michael was living alone at a boarding house in Topeka while his young children attempted to make it on their own. The youngest, Josephine, ran away from home around 17 years of age and was never heard from again by any of her family members. My father (John) carried a picture of his sister in his wallet until the day he died, but she was seldom discussed in our household because her name often made my father cry. As of this date, September 5, 2010, Josephine was never found. I like to think that someday all nine siblings will once again be reunited in Heaven.
A FINAL JOURNEY
For a short time Grandpa Mike lived with his son John's family in Lecompton, Kansas; but he wasn't happy living away from the area he knew as home in North Topeka. His last days were spent living on Clay Street in Topeka with his son Pete's family. On February 26, 1949 Michael Andes began his last journey, sailing from a hospital room in Topeka toward "The Final Port", where he would be reunited with family members - some of whom he and Grandma may have left standing on a pier in Russia 50 years earlier.
NEWSPAPER OBITUARY
Topeka Daily Capital, February 27, 1949
"Michael Andes, 82, died in a local hospital Saturday afternoon. (February 26) His home is at 1029 Clay, Topeka, Kansas. Mr. Andes was born in Russia in 1866 and came to the United States about 50 years ago. He had lived in Topeka practically all the time since then. A retired farmer and a member of Holy Name Catholic Church, he was predeceased by his wife 25 years ago.
Surviving are three sons, Joseph and Peter of Topeka and John of Lecompton; four daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Ingenthron and Mrs. Helen Lester of Topeka, Mrs. Ann Berberick of Denver and Miss Josephine Andes of California; 21 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 8 a.m. at Holy Name Church with burial in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. The body will lie in state at the Brennan Funeral Home Monday from 3 to 9 p.m. Parish rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. Monday."
My paternal grandparents, Michael and Mary (Simons) Andes, were Volga Germans. They married in 1892 while still in Russia and immigrated to the United States with their two oldest daughters Elizabeth and Mary. The family sailed from Hamburg Germany on the maiden voyage of the S.S. Patricia and arrived in New York May 19, 1899. The Manifest of Alien Immigrants, at Page 0725, reflects their place of residence was Eidkuhne and passener records reflect their destination was Topeka, Kansas.
A few years after arriving in the United States Mike and Mary Andes were blessed with seven other children, making a total of nine children born to the marriage.
Grandpa worked as a boilermaker for the railroad until sometime after 1915 when he moved his family to Spearville, Ford County, Kansas to begin farming. These early years must have been very hard for our first ancestors in America. While adjusting to a new country and way of life, Michael and Mary lost two daughters, struggled through lean economic times, and endured the unfriendly welcome they sometimes recieved in their new homeland.
In 1923 further heartache and hardship occured when Michael's wife Mary became ill. She died of stomach cancer June 3rd of that year, leaving him with five children ranging in age from 8 to 18 years of age still living at home. The family continued working the farm for a few years following Mary's death, but they were not happy ones; and at some point they returned to the Topeka, Kansas area, where daughters Elizabeth and Helen were residing.
By 1930 Michael was living alone at a boarding house in Topeka while his young children attempted to make it on their own. The youngest, Josephine, ran away from home around 17 years of age and was never heard from again by any of her family members. My father (John) carried a picture of his sister in his wallet until the day he died, but she was seldom discussed in our household because her name often made my father cry. As of this date, September 5, 2010, Josephine was never found. I like to think that someday all nine siblings will once again be reunited in Heaven.
A FINAL JOURNEY
For a short time Grandpa Mike lived with his son John's family in Lecompton, Kansas; but he wasn't happy living away from the area he knew as home in North Topeka. His last days were spent living on Clay Street in Topeka with his son Pete's family. On February 26, 1949 Michael Andes began his last journey, sailing from a hospital room in Topeka toward "The Final Port", where he would be reunited with family members - some of whom he and Grandma may have left standing on a pier in Russia 50 years earlier.
NEWSPAPER OBITUARY
Topeka Daily Capital, February 27, 1949
"Michael Andes, 82, died in a local hospital Saturday afternoon. (February 26) His home is at 1029 Clay, Topeka, Kansas. Mr. Andes was born in Russia in 1866 and came to the United States about 50 years ago. He had lived in Topeka practically all the time since then. A retired farmer and a member of Holy Name Catholic Church, he was predeceased by his wife 25 years ago.
Surviving are three sons, Joseph and Peter of Topeka and John of Lecompton; four daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Ingenthron and Mrs. Helen Lester of Topeka, Mrs. Ann Berberick of Denver and Miss Josephine Andes of California; 21 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 8 a.m. at Holy Name Church with burial in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. The body will lie in state at the Brennan Funeral Home Monday from 3 to 9 p.m. Parish rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. Monday."
A few years after arriving in the United States Mike and Mary Andes were blessed with seven other children, making a total of nine children born to the marriage.
Grandpa worked as a boilermaker for the railroad until sometime after 1915 when he moved his family to Spearville, Ford County, Kansas to begin farming. These early years must have been very hard for our first ancestors in America. While adjusting to a new country and way of life, Michael and Mary lost two daughters, struggled through lean economic times, and endured the unfriendly welcome they sometimes recieved in their new homeland.
In 1923 further heartache and hardship occured when Michael's wife Mary became ill. She died of stomach cancer June 3rd of that year, leaving him with five children ranging in age from 8 to 18 years of age still living at home. The family continued working the farm for a few years following Mary's death, but they were not happy ones; and at some point they returned to the Topeka, Kansas area, where daughters Elizabeth and Helen were residing.
By 1930 Michael was living alone at a boarding house in Topeka while his young children attempted to make it on their own. The youngest, Josephine, ran away from home around 17 years of age and was never heard from again by any of her family members. My father (John) carried a picture of his sister in his wallet until the day he died, but she was seldom discussed in our household because her name often made my father cry. As of this date, September 5, 2010, Josephine was never found. I like to think that someday all nine siblings will once again be reunited in Heaven.
A FINAL JOURNEY
For a short time Grandpa Mike lived with his son John's family in Lecompton, Kansas; but he wasn't happy living away from the area he knew as home in North Topeka. His last days were spent living on Clay Street in Topeka with his son Pete's family. On February 26, 1949 Michael Andes began his last journey, sailing from a hospital room in Topeka toward "The Final Port", where he would be reunited with family members - some of whom he and Grandma may have left standing on a pier in Russia 50 years earlier.
NEWSPAPER OBITUARY
Topeka Daily Capital, February 27, 1949
"Michael Andes, 82, died in a local hospital Saturday afternoon. (February 26) His home is at 1029 Clay, Topeka, Kansas. Mr. Andes was born in Russia in 1866 and came to the United States about 50 years ago. He had lived in Topeka practically all the time since then. A retired farmer and a member of Holy Name Catholic Church, he was predeceased by his wife 25 years ago.
Surviving are three sons, Joseph and Peter of Topeka and John of Lecompton; four daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Ingenthron and Mrs. Helen Lester of Topeka, Mrs. Ann Berberick of Denver and Miss Josephine Andes of California; 21 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 8 a.m. at Holy Name Church with burial in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. The body will lie in state at the Brennan Funeral Home Monday from 3 to 9 p.m. Parish rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. Monday."
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