Is Meets Was

Free download or a printed copy is available now at Lulu.com. The Epub version is coming soon to Amazon. com— Pioneers of Vanderveer Park . This is the true story of two people, Conrad and Augusta, who began their lives in Germany when the Civil War was raging in America and Otto von Bismarck was leading Prussia into wars with Denmark, France, and Austria. Conrad and Augusta lived the immigrant's dream of finding opportunity in a foreign land and culture—pioneers. Conrad and Augusta were among the leaders in the transformation of the farmlands in the middle of Brooklyn, New York into neighborhoods filled with homes. This development, whose name and whereabouts were familiar to all who once lived in Brooklyn, is now all but forgotten—Vanderveer Park. Vanderveer Park and its sister development, Bay View Heights, included most of the area between Cortelyou Road and Kings Highway and between Flatbush Avenue and Troy Avenue. Conrad was the builder of the Cortelyou Club ...

When I first became hooked on genealogy, I quickly focused on my mother’s side of the family.   Mom's grandparents  must have been an integral part of the first couple of years of my life. My brother and I about 1947 on East 35th St. near Flatbush Ave. I remember walking from our apartment on Flatbush Avenue to their home on Albany Avenue in Brooklyn, N.Y. It was a perfect summer day, and I was feeling very happy. I was walking with my mother and brother. I remember I was wearing one of my prettier dresses and my perfect, white, Buster Brown shoes. We were passing a neighborhood park with a wrought iron fence. I forgot to watch my steps, and I smelled my mistake. I had stepped in dog poop, and my little white shoes were no longer perfect. I looked up at Mom, and I could tell she was very annoyed. I began to cry. This was not my first misadventure with dog poop. I had been repeatedly cautioned to watch my steps, but I continued to get lost in the world around me ...

August and Conrad in 1888 and again, fifty years later, in 1838 My maternal great grandparents, Conrad Bals  (1864-1953) and  Augusta Schulze  (1866-1947), immigrated from Westfalen, Preussen to Brooklyn, New York in 1887 and 1888, respectively. Although my memories of them are faint, I was fortunate that they were still alive when I was born. Nine years ago, I created a slide show to tell the story of Conrad and Augusta and to share copies of Bals family photographs. I sent a CD with the slide show to each major branch of the family. Recently, my cousin, Michelle, asked for a copy of these photographs. Rather than burn another CD, I decided it was time to include the slideshow on my blog. To see the slide show I created 9 years ago, just click here:   BALS FAMILY HISTORY Enjoy.   © 2011, Cathy H Paris

Conrad with Murphy and Reilly Brooklyn, New York  c. 1922 After a week of scrutinizing old church records at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, I have a story to tell. As the seeds of the Revolutionary War in America were being sewn, across the waters in rural Prussia, in the small villages of Hembsen and Beller, Johan Bals and Agnes Kineke were born. Hembsen and Beller are neighboring villages separated by less than a mile of farmland. It was 1764. Agnes, the youngest of five siblings, was born in the winter, on February 20. She was baptized that same day at Saint Peter’s, the Roman Catholic Church in Erkeln. Erkeln is a town 1.5 miles to the north and east of Beller.   Johann, the first of 7 brothers and sisters, was born in the spring, on June 24 to be exact. Johann was baptized the day after his birth at Saint Michael’s in Brakel. Brakel is a town laying 2.5 miles to the north and west of Hembsen. While Agnes and Johann grew up in neighboring villag...