By Meredith Stanton Vaselaar
Adrian Branch Librarian
A couple of months ago, Elizabeth Schutz called me to tell me about a quilt her mother had been working on before she died. Elizabeth’s mother was Wilhelmina (Mersch) Schutz (1907-1971), and her father was Fred Schutz. The quilt was something her mother had worked on over the years – with very special additions. Wilhelmina had gathered quilt blocks from her friends, or in honor of her friends, and each special block had a name embroidered on it. In some cases, the name was a signature, with that person embroidering their name; in other cases, someone else wrote the name and embroidered it.
The quilt pieces became Elizabeth’s after her mother’s death, and it wasn’t until later that the quilt was completed. Since then, it has been in Elizabeth’s possession. Last year, Elizabeth made a very generous donation to the Adrian Branch Library Fundraiser project. Since then, we have spoken often on the phone. I have enjoyed these conversations greatly. It was during the course of one of our chats that Elizabeth mentioned the quilt. She wanted to give it a good home, and would it be of interest in Adrian?
If you know me, you will know that my response was, “Are you kidding?! Of COURSE this would be of interest in Adrian!” A few weeks ago, the quilt arrived in the mail. I was so excited to take a look at it, and was not disappointed! I counted 49 names on the quilt, almost all of the names I recognized as local, either current, or from days-gone-by. I told Elizabeth that my plan was to eventually display the quilt in the newly renovated Library so that people could come in and see it. I am hoping this can be done sometime this Fall.
Before then, however, I am going to ask for the public’s help in finding out the history of the ladies whose names appear on the quilt. I am hoping to also find a photo of each lady. Then, I will put together a brief biography of each person named on the quilt. To that end, I will include the names as I found them (in some cases, I might have the name spelled incorrectly, so bear with me); I added some maiden names, but I know I am missing quite a few. PLEASE correct any errors that I might have listed (specifically, if I have a maiden name incorrect, etc.). With each lady, only a first and last name were embroidered on the quilt block; except for two, with only initials for the first name.
I am searching for each name in our local history books, but as you can imagine, that is time consuming. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.
If any of the following ladies are known to you, and you can provide information for this project, please stop by the library, send a letter, email, or call me. (Information provided at the end of this article.)
Here are the names (listed alphabetically):
Ina (Barclay) Armstrong; Iva Barclay; Lorraine (Kuhlman) Barclay; Rosa (Lane) Barclay; Wilma Barclay; Celia/Cecelia Bergman; Anna Blumeyer; Clara (Baldwin) Bonnett; Lizza Bonstad; Elizabeth “Babe” (Pass) Brabender; Mary Brabender; Jerry/Gertrude Carrigan; Mary (Ruther/Ruether) Coyour; Kate (Arends?) Eshleman; Mary Belle (Herr) Eshleman; Anna (Duwenhoegger) Freob; Margaret (Sassen) Fritz; Ana (LeBrun) Goedert; Mary Goedert; Susan (Schutz) Goedken; Susan (Meyer/Schutz?) Henning; Sophie Henricks; Anna (Neubert) Jepson; A. Jueneman; Agnes Klenken; Christina Klenken; Gertrude (Brabender) Lais; Mayme Lutmer; Lillian Merrill; Elise Mersch; Helen (Ecker) Mersch; Mary (Bauer) Metz; Anna Morman; Mary O’Connor; Monica O’Connor; Tilla Olson; Molly O’Malley; Edna (Kluender) Owens; Arlene Pass; Lena Rust; Bertha (Bonness) Schutz; Martha (Ruther/Ruether) Schwab; Grace Smith; Lena Steinhoff; B. Sweeney; Bessie Terry; Mary Weis; Alvina Wilhelm; Emma Wills.
If you can give me any information on these ladies, I would greatly appreciate it. Please contact me at the Adrian Branch Library:
507 483-2541; mvaselaar@plumcreeklibrary.net; address: 214 Maine Avenue, Adrian, MN 56110
