March 31, 1920 Vitzdorf

Dear Parents,

Received your dear letter after waiting for a long time.  Thought maybe your ink was dried up, or the pen lost and paper not to find was.  But, no, it was another reason.  You just did not have time.  As we learned from your letter  was it moving time.  I almost wrote a letter to your old address, it's good that I didn't because you may not have received it.  Did you get another farm, or do you work for wages? 

Dear Parents, now for a bit of news which will surprise you.  The good news is that our family has grown.  The stork visited us on March 16th and left a healthy boy, who was named : Gerhard-Ferdinand Johann Kuehl.  We are very happy and you two are once again grandfather and grandmother.  Nickolaus has had a little boy at the end of February and Hans had one in November 1919. 

Hans is visiting us very often and we always stick together.  He will come again tonight and pick up two piglets which Johannes brought from the Katarinenhof.  Johannes is working there and got them at a lower price.  Dear Parents, did you get a letter from grandfather yet?  Grandmother died in February.  She was only sick for 5 days, her death was unexpected.  She was looking forward to celebrate Uncle Friedrichs Silver Wedding Anniversary, also Anna's wedding to a fisherman.

As we can see from   (this part of the letter was incomplete) your letter, traveling is not that easy.

Herta was thinking a lot about coming to America to see you.  We are not able to travel because of the baby so she thought she could come with her girlfriend.  She asked us if it was OK with us and we advised her to write to you and find out how you feel about it.  Elsa Hansen (her girlfriend) is a very nice girl in good moral standing.  She is very often at our house.  She is tall and strong 21 years old, but she is not related to our family.

(Note)  After 83 years, this is all that remained or could be found of this letter, so it is unfinshed.  The parents mentioned are Johann Gerhard Beeck and his wife Amanda.  The letter was written by Amanda's daughter Marie Dau Kuehl,  who was a step daughter to Johann Gerhard Beeck.  Gerhard and Amanda at this time were farming in Minnesota.

Marie mentions her brothers Nicolaus and Hans and their baby boys.  Matthias Dau was born Ferurary 23, 1920. ( In another letter, Nicolaus writes: My youngest son had to sacrifice his young life for his Fatherland.

He was killed in the WW2 on May 27, 1941.)

Marie also mentions the son born to Hans and his wife Annie.  In a letter written by  Annie and sent to America, she writes that:  Two sons died a soldiers death at age 26 and 28, another son , age 24 died two years later.  The deaths of these four cousins occured  from 1941 to 1943.  In 1948, Annie still had two sons who were prisoners of war in Russia and Egypt.. She had hope that they would be coming home soon.

(Note) Marie mentions her grandparents. ( They would be Johann Friedrich Beeck and Dorothea (Witt) Beeck.) Dorothea died  February 24,  1920 and grandfather  died July 5, 1923 in Burg Fehmarn Germany.

Anna married but never came to America. She died in Kiel.

The silver wedding anniversary was  for Christian Friedrich  Beeck and Anna Margaretha Lafrentz on April 26, 1920.  After his fathers death in 1923 Christian Friedrich Beeck and his wife Anna sailed for America in 1924.