Frederich Baumgarten, born in Brandenburg, Germany, came to America with his parents, Frederick & Sophia (nee Schultz) Baumgarten. They were aboard a ship which was headed for Brazil where an uncle lived. Their ship caught fire and the passengers were rescued by another ship in the same shipping lane. The rescue ship sailed to New York. New York Passenger Lists Record shows both he and his mother having arrived in New York on April 13, 1870 on the ship Holsatia, having sailed from Hamburg, Germany. Their ages coincide with family stories.

The Baumgartens did not have sufficient funds to proceed to Brazil. They had relatives in southwest Iowa and contacted them. On their way to Iowa, they stopped over in Chicago and were there at the time of the Great Chicago Fire which occurred in October 1871. He was always a bit upset because his mother had left him with the landlady while she went out to watch the fire. From there the family proceeded to Iowa.

His father rented a farm in Douglas Twp., Page Co., Iowa. About a year later, he purchased the farm in Nodaway Township, Page co., Iowa, they lived on until Walter was married (March 9, 1922). Then Fred and Sophie moved to a home at 722 N. 15th Street in Clarinda, Iowa.

He maintained correspondence with the relatives in Germany and in Brazil until about the beginning of WWII. The writer of these notes has no knowledge of names of those relatives.

He told his granddaughter (the writer of these notes) that the house they lived in in Germany was a two-story square house. The animals lived on the ground floor. Heat from their bodies help warm the second story where the people lived. He said there were four families - each having a corner of the second floor, with a common cooking area in the middle. It made the house his father built seem like a palace!

He suffered from what was then called "Hay Fever", as did his mother. He had to sleep with a window open all year round. His wife, Sophie, suffered from what was called "asthma of the heart" needed to sleep with the window closed to keep out pollens, etc. After they moved to Clarinda, they slept in separate bedroom which seemed strange to the writer when she was a little girl.

The house in Clarinda had a furnace which burned coal and had steam radiators. They were very frugal and primarily lived in the kitchen which had a coal cook stove. The rest of the house was never very warm. They had an ice box on the enclosed back porch, but only bought ice when there was a family dinner or some similar occasion.

It galled them to pay for water. They felt on the farm it was "free" (overlooking cost of windmill, etc.). At one time they had a cat who had learned to get in the kitchen sink, pat the faucet and drink from the drips. Each accused the other of not turning off the faucet and wasting water until one day they saw the cat at work! One was supposed to only flush the stool if you had a bowel movement!

He made "jumping jack" toys of string and cardboard which he "danced" for his grandchildren. He had never learned to drive or owned a car. They kept chickens in the garage so they had fresh eggs. He enjoyed the large garden and flowers. Each year he put out the beds of cannas in the front of the house. He also had two short rows of grapes. These grapes went toward his wine-making.

His eye sight was very poor the last years of his life. No doubt glaucoma and/or macular degeneration or even cataracts which were not diagnosed.

After his wife, Sophie, died he continued to live alone until he was no longer able to do so. Primarily after a chunk of coal fell on his foot and broke some bones in it. He first lived with Walter and Laura on the "home place" but eventually they had to call on the other two sons, Albert and Willy, to take their turns at caring for their father.

Frederick died a natural death due to the frailties of old age, as the old church records would have described it.

He is buried in Immanuel Cemetery near Clarinda, Iowa along side his wife Sophie and his father and mother Frederick and Sophia.

[written June 2006]