From Dot Clarke: 06/16/09

Hi, Henry,

I've been working on the photo identification and have gotten my mother's input as well. Someone had sent her that same photo years ago and had identified some of the people on it and she was able to recognize some from personal knowledge. I think we can add some names to the list. I've attached a Word document that id's people based on position on the photo and then I added a section with each of those names and then a line or two as to who they are and some dates, which factors into some of my guesses as to identities.

My thinking at first was that the little woman in the center of the photo was Margaret Noesges Thome, based on the very marked resemblance to her photo with Nick Thome in which he is seated and she is standing to his side. However, since everyone seems agreed as to the identity of the Hein children, this woman can not be Margaret, who died in June 1910. We think it is almost certainly her sister, Susanna (Noesges) Lipfert Bierschied. Susan was still alive in Jan 1920 and living with the Rahms in Los Angeles. She was apparently deceased by 1930, as I can not find her anywhere and her single daughter Anna Bierschied was living with the Rahms. Thus, it being Susan is certainly consistent with the probable date of the photo. Add to that the presence of her daughters Anna on one side of her and Kate and Lizzie on the other side, and we can't imagine who else that could be.

Since the Thomes and Noesgeses are the subject of this photo, it seems inconceivable that a reunion would take place without the family patriarch being present. But Nick Thome is NOT in the photo. He died in May 1918. So we think the photo has to be after that date.

The question then becomes how much after. Could it have been on the occasion of his funeral or shortly after? Perhaps, since the clothing seems to be lightweight, suitable for summer. However, in May 1918, Kate Rahm would have been 8 months pregnant with Fred, and she is not pregnant (or at least not visibly) in this photo. We are guessing that it is Fred on her lap. He appears to be 6 to 9 months old, perhaps a year old. So best guess on the dating of the photo is spring/summer 1919. By Jan 1920, John Thome had married, and my grandmother is not in this photo, while the other boys' wives were included. So I am pretty comfortable with 1919, although Bob Hein does not look like he is 9 in the photo.

I think that the older boy who is seated by the left arm of Lizzie Schauster is probably John Schauster, who would have been about 10 in 1910. The little boy standing by her right arm may be Henry Schauster, but he doesn't look old enough to be 4 or 5 (b. 1914). One of the children I can't identify in the front row may be Henry. As far as the three women and three children who aren't identified, I could speculate that they could be wives of the Bierschied boys, Charles (who had 4 children, one girl, 3 boys, between 1914 and 1918) and/or Peter (had a son in 1907) but if these are Bierschied wives and children, where are the men? Certainly one of the boys has to be John Hein, b. 1908, but the little boy to the left of Bob Hein can't be him, since he should be older looking than Bob and this little one is clearly not.

So, feel free to argue with me, or to post this and challenge anyone to do any better. One question my mother asked me when I first called her about this was whether I had ever attempted to contact Pete Thome's son, Peter Morgan Thome, who is apparently still alive and living in the Denver area. I haven't, but maybe someone should.......

Please let me know what you think of the logic and the identification.

Cousin Dot