Wilhelmine Plath Boock (1855-1939)

by Jim Graupner*

Wilhelmine Plath Boock was an extraordinary woman. It is to Wilhelmine, my great-grandmother, who embodied the virtues of the early prairie settlers: faith, courage, hardwork, sacrifice, and an independent spirit, that I have dedicated my family research. We celebrate her long life, almost 85 years; she died on December 9, 1939 in Milwaukee, visiting her daughters.

Wilhelmine was born on January 16, 1855 in Friedrichshorst, Posen, Germany. Her parents were Carl Ludwig Plath and Wilhelmine Kromrey, Posen, Germany, who immigrated to the United States in 1862, when Wilhelmine was eight years old. Carl Ludwig first brought his family to Montello, Wisconsin, to farm.

In a letter to Gertrude B. Graupner on 16 April 1968, Wilhelmine "Minnie" Boock Broecker wrote, "Grandpa Plath thought that the children would have a better chance in the United States, so they came over in the stearage of a sailing vessel and you can figure that it toook a long time to make the trip. My mother was 8 years old and they did go to Montello and the grandpa was a farmer--but what his objection to that site was that they had to clear the land. [My brother, John, and I looked up the location of their farmsite and drove out towards the river between Princeton and Montello to see it. Immediately, one could understand how dire their situation was in trying to make a living there, in Aldo Leopold country.]

"[So], they traveled to Minnesota via oxen and covered wagon and the first winter was spent in the dugout with the over-turned wagon over it. The location was Prairie Ville and they had to drive to Mankato to purchase the lumber. [Family lore has it that young Christian Friederich loaned Carl Ludwig the money to build their house.] I saw the house as a child. just a plain frame one--but it was much better than to do the clearing in Wisconsin.

"Mother [Minnie's mother, Wilhelmine] was confirmed in New Ulm and when she was 16 years old--married our dad. He [Chr. Fr.] was 45 and had 4 children [from his first marriage with Marie Albrecht, who died soon after their son, Gustav]: 3 boys and a girl. Mary married August Raabe, Fredie died when about 14. George & Gust. were in California where they both died. (That was many years later) Mary was a fine person and would come to our house once a week."

[Boock Family Portrait: (Sept. 02, 1928) dated from a similar photo from Julie Humes. Top left to right: Louis Broecker, Emma Aufderheide Boock, Arthur Boock, Emma A. P. Boock; Albert Peter Boock; Emma Theresa (William) Ruemke; William Ruemke Jr.; and Hermann Hardt. Bottom left to right: Minnie Broecker; Ida Boock Klause; Wilhelmina Plath Boock; Oscar M. Boock; and Frieda Hardt]

The marriage of Wilhelmine and Christian Friederich Boock (May 7, 1871 in New Ulm) produced seven additional children to the family: Ida (1872) married Adolph Klause; Emma Theresa (1874) married Ed Cordes, then William Ruemke Jr.; Albert Peter (1877) married Emma E. Ruemke; Friedricka (1879) married Hermann Hardt; Arthur Lincoln (1881) married Emma Aufderheide; Wilhelmina "Minnie" (1883) married Louis Broecker; and Oscar M. (1886) married Cora Gustman.

Christian Friederich fell ill and died in 1888, at age 62. He left behind his young wife (age 33) with 11 children. Wilhelmine went on to raise the children, manage the blacksmith and wagon building, took over The WindsorHouse on North Minnesota Street and made it into a boarding house and later her home. [It's the brick building in her Family Portrait, above.]

Gertrude Boock Graupner remembered: "Grandma W. Boock moved into The Windsor House then [after her daughter, Emma Therese married William Ruemke, Jr.], where she had roomers and boarders.

"After Aunt Frieda left to live and work in Milwaukee, and later married Hermann Hardt, a widower, Grandma spent the winter months with her children, coming back to New Ulm only a short time in the summer. The house was later sold and taken down.

"In her last years, Grandma was almost blind. She had a cataract removed while visiting in Spencer--at the Marshfield hospital.

[Left Photo: Wilhelmine in Spencer, with her grandson, Norbert Boock, in 1935.]

"Grandma had a spooky habit of whispering, or half-talking to 'spirits' and 'devils.' With bad eyesight, a vivid imagination, and old European superstitions she often, when alone, talked like that; and later, even when we were around her. She died in 1939 in Milwaukee, almost 85, after breaking a hip while visiting in Waterloo. I was teaching in Burlington at the time and visited her a few times. Carl and I were engaged to be married in '39--he also go acquainted with her.

"I still remember her determination, her convictions, and her success in raising a good, gifted family, all of whom were well-known to Norbert and me, and loved by us."

* [Hopefully, I'll learn how to link from this posting to a number of letters and narratives written by Wilhelmine Boock Broecker and her husband, Louis Broecker, as well as letters from Great Uncle A. P. Boock, Gertrude Boock Graupner, and also Plath Family research from Darcy Kleeman Boock. Photo portrait at top of article is a beautiful rendering of Wilhelmine Plath Boock, perhaps in her 40s (ca. 1890s). Information for this piece was taken from work by Gertrude Graupner, Minnie Broecker, Louis Broecker, and Laurie Campbell's "Ancestors of Wilhelmine Ernstine Plath. jfg]