Schoolhouse

Anna (Ransom) Feiger graduated from high school in Traverse City in 1928. She later spent a year at the Normal School and afterward taught at the school near Kingsley for a year (1929-1930).



















Kingsley school.

We stopped by in May 2008 and I took a bunch of pictures.



















Looking through the windows- you can see the chalkboards mounted on the walls.

The building is in fairly good shape for being 80+ years old.



















Back of the schoolhouse with attached bathrooms.

The contract that Grandma signed required students to be excused for a week or two in the fall so they could dig potatoes.

Feiger farm, 1910s and 2008.

In May 2008 I went back to Traverse City and Mother, Susan, and I stopped at the Feiger family farm, where my grandfather Harold Feiger lived with his sister Bessie, brother Byron, mother Grace Lee (Chandler)(Feiger)Pierce, and his stepfather Clement Pierce.
























Bessie Feiger, circa 1915.

By chance I happened to take a photograph at almost the same spot.



















The house in 2008.

We went inside, the house is pretty ramshackle by now.
























Kitchen.
























Stairways to upstairs bedrooms.

Upstairs we discovered that the Feigers had insulated the bedrooms using old newspapers, including copies of the Young People's Weekly. They put wallpaper over this and I peeled a few pieces off for a souvenir.



















Young People's Weekly.

A 1902 advertisement for the newspaper indicates it cost 75 cents for a year's subscription. It was described as "the largest, brightest, best and cheapest Young People's Paper in the world." The newspaper was published in Chicago and had a circulation of 220,000.

Feiger & Son Photography Studio

Ernest F. Feiger operated a photography studio in Pomeroy, Ohio from the 1860s until his death in 1900. His son Harry E. Feiger joined him in the business and operated it after Ernest's death.

In 1884, his studio was described: ART GALLERY, FRONT STREET, NEAR REMINGTON HOUSE
E.F. Feiger was born in Lancaster County, Pa., in 1832,and being a poor boy, was employed for some time as a common laborer in some of the manufacturing establishments of his neighborhood. He came to this city shortly before the great fire swept over the business portion of the town, learned the art of photographing, and in 1860 was married to Miss Kate Kiser, and estimable and refined lady. Mr Feiger was twice burned out, the last time losing almost his entire outfit, and in the floods of last February was again so unfortunate as to lose a valuable portion of his specimens. He is proof, however, against fire and flood, for his losses were once repaired and work at his rooms proceeded as thought it had suffered no disturbance. Mr. Feiger uses in photographing only the instantaneous plate, producing a negative in from one to three seconds. This is just the thing for babies, and relieves the necessity for long sitting. He has five cameras capable of producing a picture from the smallest type to one 14x17 inches. His copying facilities can not be excelled in the county, and being a careful and skillful workman, he is enabled to satisfy all. Mr. Feiger's residence is on Lincoln Hill in the midst of romantic surroundings, and so situated as to give a magnificent view of the beautiful Ohio and its rugged and rocky environments. We take pleasure in speaking of Mr. Feiger as exhibiting the results of pluck and honest industry.

Photographs from the studio are frequently sold on the internet auction website Ebay. Below are examples of the backs of some of these photos.

Grace (Chandler)(Feiger) Pierce farmhouse

Grace (Chandler)(Feiger)Pierce (1875-1929) lived with her children Byron, Harold, and Bessie in this farmhouse in the 1900s through 1920s.



















Carolyn and Susan in front of the farmhouse in May 2008.

Frederick Feiger 1850 Census

Friedrich Fiege, known in the United States as Frederick Feiger was living in Lower St. Claire township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania with his wifeCaroline Winecke and their children Frederick, Melusina (listed as Nelson), Henry, and Caroline, along with a 25-year-old man named Christopher Izer on 26 August 1850.
























Click on image to see larger.

Henry Feiger household, 1850 US census, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Lower St. Claire township, page 180, dwelling 1007, family 1053; NARA microfilm M432, roll 748.

Photograph of August Fiege

August Fiege (1835-1899) was born in Offensen and died in Oedelsheim. He was the son of Caroline Fiege, sister of Georg Ludwig Fiege.
























Photograph courtesy of Peter Schräder of Oedelsheim.

Ernest Feiger's Tombstone

The tombstone of Ernest F. Feiger (1832-1900) in the Beech Grove Cemetery, Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio. He was the son of George Ludwig Fiege and Christine Hildebrand.

Photograph of Philip Feiger and Walter Feiger.

Philip Feiger (1874-1907) and Walter Henry Feiger (1871-1935) were the two sons of Philip David Feiger and Julia Ann Krauth.
























Philip Feiger and Walter Feiger. Photo courtesy of Walter and Susan Feiger of Traverse City.

Philip and Julia (Krauth) Feiger's Family Bible.

The Self-Interpreting Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments According to the Authorized Version. By the Rev. John Brown; New Edition by the Rev. Henry Cook. Johnson, Fray and Company, New York.
























The family name is mis-spelled on the cover.

Click on either picture to see larger versions of the image.



















The family Bible is now with Walter and Susan Feiger of Traverse City.

Photographs of Christiana (Hildebrand) Feiger

Christiana Hildbrand was born in 1798/1802. She was married in 1825 to Georg Ludwig Fiege and came to the United States around 1831.

Both pictures were probably taken in the 1860s by her son Ernest Feiger at his photography studio in Pomeroy, Ohio.
















































Christiana died in 1883 in Sutton township, Meigs County, Ohio.

Photographs of George L. Feiger

Two photographs of George L. Feiger (Georg Ludwig Fiege) have been passed down to Walter Feiger of Traverse City, Michigan. These were likely taken in the photography studio of his son Ernest Feiger in Pomeroy, Ohio.

The first photograph was probably taken in the 1860s to early 1870s. It may actually be a photograph of an earlier tintype.


























The second photograph was probably taken in the late 1870s to early 1880s.
























George died in 1883 at the Nease Settlement in Meigs County, Ohio.

The Origins of the Fiege/Feiger Family

The Fiege/Feiger family has its origins in a cluster of villages in the former Kingdom of Hanover, today within the state of Lower Saxony in Germany. These villages are:

- Offensen
- Adelebsen
- Oedelsheim
- Schoningen

Recent research by Peter Schräder, who lives in Oedelsheim and whose mother's maiden name if Fiege, has linked the German and American families.

This blog will present information of the two families, including photographs and copies of documents.