I have been thinking a lot of my Dad lately, which isn't too unusual because reminders of him are everywhere, and I think about him all the time. I have especially been wanting to start blogging about him and his life, his life though my eyes anyway. So here is my first story...
Thomas Andrew Lensing Sr., or T.A. as he was so lovingly called, was born on March 6, 1928 and died on August 19, 2010. A lot of life was lived in those 82 years and I have been having a hard time trying to decide where to begin. That is why you have not heard from me in a while...there are so many memories, so many stories, and so much to say about him that I have developed a serious case of writer's block. I just do not know where to start.
So I decided to start with a photo, two photos in fact. The first one is Dad, in about 1939 or 1940 with his pet white rabbit.
He mentioned this rabbit off and on all his life so it must have been a special pet. Too bad I never asked him if the rabbit had a name... . The only thing I remember hearing about it, other than how much he must have loved it, is how it died...a cat got him. Since I have two indoor cats that I absolutely adore, we will not dwell on that.
Suffice it to say, Dad loved his white rabbit and rabbits in general all his life, which brings to mind a few other memories I have of Dad and rabbits that I want to share.
Dad grew fabulous tomato gardens and he would sometimes plant lettuce, cucumbers, and other wonderful vegetables there. Every summer, every year of my life, as far back as I can remember, he grew tomato/vegetable gardens. And they were organically grown: no pesticides or other poisonous substances were used...he didn't want to kill the birds or other animals visitors he had to his garden. Although he never entered his tomatoes in prize winning contests, I am here to tell you they were one of a kind delicious! If I remember correctly, he usually grew a type called Better Boys. They were big, red, and juicy, and It just wasn't summer without them.
I guess I have drifted off topic from the rabbits so I'll get back on it. Dad's vegetable garden is a blog unto itself for a later date.
There were several wild bunny visitors to his garden over the years and he had to do something to keep them from eating away all of his luscious summer delicacies. So, a plan was hatched (no pun intended). Giving my Dad's love of rabbits, killing them was totally out of the question. So he went to the trouble of relocating them. He would put out live traps and catch them, then take them to a wooded area where there were other rabbits and where he knew they would be OK. That was my Dad, he had a big heart for nature and wild things and I am so proud of him for that.
My other memory is of a little toy white rabbit that Dad had when he was a little boy. This rabbit was made of plaster and about 4.75 inches tall. The little guy stood up on his two hind legs, wore a vest, a dress coat with tails and a tie around his neck. He is a rabbit dressed like a little man - a dashing little man at that. How do I remember such detail? I have it here with me as I type.
Dad acquired this cute little toy, according to Mom, way back when he was a boy growing up in the family home in Scranton, probably for his birthday one year. Now one needs to remember that back in the 1930s, children didn't get the hords of toys that kids do now for birthdays and holidays. So this was a special toy for Dad, maybe one of the very few he received.
He told me that he put this rabbit up in the front window of the attic of his home one year, and the little guy sat up there in that same spot, looking out, until the home was sold many decades later. He remembered that little rabbit all those years, went up to retrieve it and brought it to his home in Little Rock where it was kept until he died.
Mom gave it to me because I did a little plastic surgery on the bunny one year that Dad was so happy with. As old as that little piece of plaster was, it held its shape pretty good but the painting was mostly worn off. So, I took paint to brush one day and gussied that little rabbit up with a new white body, newly painted suit and a new tie around his neck. My choice of colors for the suit and tie were probably a little different than what was originally there, but I digress again.
Dad was so pleased that he thanked me with a big smile on his face. Mom remembered that and gave it to me after Dad passed away and I'll treasure it always. Sometimes when I'm holding it and looking at it I think of the smiling little boy and how his little fingers held it way back then, over 75 years ago. I don't know which came first, the live white rabbit or the toy white rabbit, but one thing I do know is that Daddy loved them both.
Casper and Anna Lensing, my paternal grandparents, were married in September of 1911. Dad always told me that the wedding was a special one, as Anna was the oldest daughter of George and Elizabeth Heim, and very special in their eyes. She was a very petite young woman with a 21 inch waist, which is easy to see in the accompanying photo. This photo always hung in my grandmother's home above the photos of each of her nine children. It was in a large glassed-in shadow box with a beautiful carved wooden frame. Her original wedding veil was inside the box too, wrapped around the photograph, and I remember how I would stand and stare at that picture whenever I was there - there was a magical quality to it, it was beautiful.
From what Dad told me, Great Grampa Heim built a huge platform stage for dancing and the wedding party lasted three days. It was documented on the front page of the the local newspaper, The Scranton Independent.
Here is the article dated September 15, 1911:
The Scranton Independent
OUR
MOTTO: To Boost Scranton, Logan County, and Old Arkansaw, First, Last,
and Then Some More." (I just love that!)
Lensing-Heim
"On Tuesday, September 5th, at 9 o'clock a.m., during High Mass at the Catholic church at Morrison Bluff, Ark., Casper Lensing and Miss Annie Heim were united in marriage according to the rules and usages of the church by Rev. Martin Fleig.
After the ceremony, the bridal party were escorted by the Morrison Bluff Silver Cornet Band to the hospitable home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Heim, where they were joyously welcomed by a large concourse of relatives and friends.
A long table that would probably seat 30 or 40 people was loaded down with every description of eatables, as fast as one crowd satisfied the wants of the inner man another took their places, and this was kept up all day and far into the night. Several beeves, hogs, etc., were slaughtered to take care of the big crowd. No one went hungry or dry.
Dancing was one of the pleasant features, and the splendid music, handsome men and lovely maids and matrons, all combined with glorious weather and beautiful surroundings, reminded one of some of the famous Aladdan Lamp fairy scenes.
The happy couple were the recipients of many beautiful and costly presents, and their start in life seems indeed bright.
Among those in attendance from out of town were: Herman Lensing of Little Rock; Mrs. Threasia Lyons of St. Louis; Mr. and Mrs. Pete Schmitz and family, Mr. and Mrs. M. J. Heim, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Heim, with their families, Mrs. M. A. Heim and Miss Barbara Heim, all of Ft. Smith; Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lensing and family of Shoal Creek. It is a conservative estimate in giving the number in attendance at 400.
Casper Lensing is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lensing of Shoal Creek, and secretary of the Scranton Mercantile Co.; a young man that makes and holds your friendship and respect by his sincerity, truthfulness and utter abhorence of anything underhanded.
Miss Annie is the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Heim, and by her ladylike manner, sweet disposition and charming personality, has won the respect and esteem of all who have been fortunate enough to meet her.
The Independent, with hosts of others, wish Mr. and Mrs. Lensing all that life holds dear to the young, and that their old age may be tempered and shorn from the winds of adversity."
The photo you see here is from May 1984. The occasion of the get-together was my Grandmother's funeral. Anna Heim Lensing died that year and the family was gathered in Scranton, Arkansas, to pay our respects and say goodbye to "Gram" as we grandchildren called her. At 92 years of age when she died, Gram was the Matriarch of a large and mighty family, as she became head-of-household - though not of her own choosing - in 1936 when my Grandfather Casper Lensing died of pneumonia. More on that later.
Some of us grandchildren are in this photo (I am in back row, second from left) and we are standing on the front porch of the old Lensing homestead - home of Henry and Christine Lensing, my great grandparents. During this trip I remember as we were walking around inside the old, empty, house, I ran into an angry wasp that gave me a sting on the neck I'll never forget. Also I remember seeing some pieces of the original wallpaper still hanging on a few of the walls. It was a pretty floral design with a dusty rose background. Perhaps one of the girls bedrooms??? I peeled a piece off and took it with me and still have it to this day - it was in surprisingly good shape.
On the back of the picture was written the following:
"Home of Henry and Christine Lensing in Dublin, Arkansas, May 1984, on occasion of funeral of Anna Lensing."
A cousin, who I believe took the photo, sent a copy of it to me along with a document with some historical information. It is as follows:
"SETTLEMENT OF LENSINGS IN LOGAN COUNTY ARKANSAS"
"Information provided to (my cousin) in letter dated March 15, 2007, from Fred C. Forst," (physical address and email address redacted by me)
"During the nineteenth century the U.S. Government granted large tracks of sparsely populated public lands to railroad companies with the requirement that the railroad companies construct a railroad through the area. The railroad could then sell the land to settlers to pay for the construction and simultaneously gain customers for their service. Such was the arrangement in the 1870s with the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad (LR&FSRR) that ran between these two Arkansas cities through the Arkansas River Valley north of the river through Clarksville. The LR&FSRR decided to set aside most of their land-grant to Logan County for sale to German Catholic settlers. They encouraged and aided the Benedictine religious order from St. Meinrad Abbey in Indiana, who founded New Subiaco Abbey in 1878, and the Convent of the Immaculate Conception, also in Indiana, who founded St. Scholastica Convent in the Shoal Creek community in 1879 (St. Scholastica Convent later moved to Fort Smith, AR.)
A man named Anton Hellmich, editor of Amerika, a German-language newspaper in St. Louis, bought some of this land for speculation purposes. On 5 November 1879, he sold 440 acres to Herman Lensing, a recent immigrant from Prussia (Germany). For the tract, he received $3000.00. The deed was recorded on 5 December 1879. Herman Lensing was the vanguard of the immigrants from Germany that are the concern of this story. Three of his brothers, Bernard, Henry and Johan, would follow sometime in the next two years. Joseph Buss also came with three Lensing brothers. It was Henry Lensing who would make the permanent settlement in Logan County.
Henry Lensing's parents were Johann Heinrich Lensing and Maria Adelheid Dieks of Westphalia, Prussia. This couple must have initially lived in Borken then moved to the nearby village of Burlo where they are recorded in church records as Henricus Lensing and Aleida Dickes (Dicks or Diks). Borken is west of Muenster in the modern German state of Nordheim-Westfalen, not far from the Netherlands border. The death card of Henry Lensing states that he was born in Kloester Burlo, Westphalia. "Kloester" means cloister, but I have not been able to find any information about a monastery in Burlo. Henry Lensing's birth is recorded in the baptismal register in Burlo as 14 February 1836. (Over the years, several member of the family, including Fr. Michael, General, Cooky and Nicky have visited Burlo and found this baptismal register in Burlo, a tiny potato-farming community-with outstanding beer at the local tap!! The register is presumably still there today if anyone should ever wish to see the entry.)
As best I can determine from existing county records, information from my mother, and from those unreliable parish records, three of Herman's brothers, Bernard Joseph, Johann Joseph and Johannes Henricus (Henry), came to America about 1881....Of the brothers Henry was the only one who was a long-term resident of Logan County. All who carry the name and trace their ancestry to Logan County are descended from him and his eight children, including Casper Lensing. Henry immigrated with his wife, Maria Anna Roesing, and at least one daughter. Maria Anna, his first wife died at Shoal Creek on 31 August 1881. Later, on 11 November 1884, Henry married Christine Duelmer with whom he had eight children, including Casper Lensing who would marry Anna Heim. Henry lived until 1924 and is buried in St. Scholastica Cemetery, Shoal Creek, Arkansas, as is his wife Christine. (We have visited this cemetery in Logan County during past family reunions. We have also visited the old homestead of Henry and Christine Lensing, an abandoned house, where their family was reared.)
Casper and Anna had nine children: Helen, George, William (later Fr. Michael), Dorothy, Mary Jane, Leo, James, Casper (Cap) and Thomas, all born in Scranton, Arkansas, in Logan County."
In the passage above, the names in BOLD represent the direct descendents of Johann Heinrich Lensing. Members of my family tree. So the "begats" go like this:
Johann Heinrich Lensing married Maria Adelheid Dieks, parents of
Johannes Henricus (Henry) Lensing married Christine Duelmer, parents of
Casper Martin Lensing married Anna Crescence Heim, parents of
Thomas Andrew Lensing married Emma Jean Burris, parents of
Barbara Louise Lensing (Me)
Below is a photo of Henry and Christine Lensing and their children (the family of my grandfather Casper Martin Lensing, back row, second from left) If sources are correct, here are the names: Back row: Aloise, Casper, Teresa, Herman, Henry. Front row: Joseph, Henry, Anna, Christine, Rosa. It is very possible that the house in the background is the very one that is in the photograph at the beginning of this entry - the old abandoned house that once belonged to the Henry Lensing family. (German only spoken here!)
Hello - thanks for giving my blog a read.
First of all I'll get some housekeeping things out of the way: This blog is written for your enjoyment, and I also hope you learn a few things about the family you did not know. The text on this blog is copyrighted, the photos are not. If you are family or friends and like one of the photos you see here in my blog, please help yourself to a copy - just do not claim to have taken them yourself.
If you read anything I have posted and have something factual to add, I would love for you to contact me and let me know so I can add it to the blog. I am always interested in more family history information.
You will notice that most of the information is of our human family members, but I will also included our furry family members as well. They are important too - they help make the lives we live more enjoyable and worthwhile.
So sit back and learn a little bit more about the Lensing and Burris families, not to exclude the Heim and Herrington families, of course.
I hope you enjoy your time here and as my dear Great-Aunt Emma Burris Crites used to say as we would back our car out of her dusty, gravel driveway, "Ya'll come back soon!"
