愛德華Mosblech (1884 – 1956)

Eduard Mosblech is my maternal great-grandfather. Eduard was born in St. 路易, Missouri on October 24, 1884, to German immigrants Gustave Mosblech and Bertha Mosblech nee Monse. 通常寫為Edward，但發音就像將援助和病房放在一起, Eduard was as unique as his name.

I struggled with writing much about him because the stories I heard about him growing up were not positive. 愛德華用鐵拳統治了他的房子，並沒有對包括我曾祖母在內的任何人表示異議, Magdalena. 愛德華不是一個暴力的人, 但是我的祖父母和媽媽形容他是冷酷而遙遠的.

When Eduard would come home from work, he might announce that he wanted to go look for a picture. After making this announcement, Eduard希望每個人都參加搜索, 等. 這種練習導致了與我的祖父的著名爆發, 吉爾伯特·埃利斯, after Grandpa married Eduard’s seventh child, Alvina Mosblech.

It is easy to disparage Eduard but recently my view has softened a little. 愛德華和馬格達萊納養育了十四個孩子. They also suffered the loss of one of their children, when 4-year-old Loretta died from diphtheria in St. 路易’ Isolation Hospital.

Despite the financial challenges of raising such a large family, Eduard put every child through Catholic grade school. 一旦孩子畢業了八年級, 愛德華希望他們上班. 今天看起來似乎很苛刻, 但這很不尋常 1910 -1930 for children to complete eighth grade. Many children had to work to support the family.

One of the mysteries around Eduard was the manner of his death. 警方發現，愛德華在鐵街腳下的密西西比河中漂浮. 多年來，, 我的祖母和她的幾個姐妹認為有人殺死了愛德華. 他去世後，, his second wife Mary inherited all of Eduard’s possessions.

在 2006, I was able to access a copy of Eduard’s death certificate. 死因裁判官無法確定是自殺還是兇殺. 然而, a couple of things struck me. He died a few days after Great Grandma Magdalena’s date of death, which was May 10, 1945. The death certificate also did not note any other injuries.

When I told my mother I thought it might be suicide because he missed Great Grandma and was not happy in his second marriage, 她告訴我，警察以為他在曾祖母去世的周年紀念日跳入河裡. 目擊者報告說，那天一個年長的男人從橋上跳下來.

愛德華不是一個群居的人, 但是我不知道當時和他的背景我們本來可以期望有很大的不同. 然而, 他對孩子的教育和死亡方式的奉獻表明了那些隱藏的感覺的深度. History should be kind.

別起來